U.S. airstrike blasted 60-foot-deep crater in al-Mansour district of western Baghdad (MSNBC)
Posted on 04/08/2003 5:21:34 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
A U.S. bomber dropped four 2,000-pound bombs on a residential complex in Baghdad today where "extremely reliable" intelligence indicated Saddam Hussein and one or both of his sons were present for a meeting.
U.S. airstrike blasted 60-foot-deep crater in al-Mansour district of western Baghdad (MSNBC) |
A U.S. military official said coalition forces bombed the al Saa restaurant block at 3 p.m. Baghdad time based on information from a "sensitive intelligence source," report Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times. The source said Saddam and senior Baath Party leaders were meeting with 30 intelligence officials in a facility behind or beneath the restaurant.
Although there are no guarantees Saddam was killed (he reportedly was seen entering the building and is not believed to have left, but unknown is whether the building connected to one of Baghdad's many underground passages through which he could have escaped), officials say it is likely he and his sons were killed. The location, in an upper middle class residential section of Baghdad where Saddam was depicted milling about in a dramatic video several days ago, is now little more than a big crater perhaps 60 feet deep.
Intelligence sources developed on the ground in Baghdad led U.S. military officials to believe Saddam and his son Qusay were attending a meeting there along with upwards of two dozen other top Baath Party officials. U.S. sources believe Saddam’s other son, Uday, may also have been present.
NBC News reported the intelligence information was considered so reliable that officials determined it justified a massive attack in a residential area despite the administration's overall policy of avoiding targeting such areas.
A military source told the Washington Times that the bombed site in the Mansur residential neighborhood is used by the Iraqi Intelligence Service, or Mukhabarat.
Played on Iraqi television, the bizarre video featuring a jovial and high-fiving Saddam adored by cheering crowds, also revealed background views of Baghdad, which the Times intelligence source said provided information on Saddam's whereabouts.
 'Bunker-buster' bombs in hangar bay aboard USS Constellation |
Shortly after the intelligence was developed on Saddam's whereabouts, a nearby Air Force B-1B bomber dropped the four GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, bombs on the target building. A reporter on the scene said at least 14 people were killed, according to the Washington Times.
Broadcast correspondents say British intelligence had broken a code used by Iraqi leadership, helping to pinpoint the location.
Ironically, the plethora of intelligence leading to the strike is troublesome to some wary analysts, who say there may have been too many sources confirming Saddam's location. Maybe, they speculate, he put out the word that he would be at the leadershp meeting to promote the belief that he's dead – a belief that might in turn distract Allied attention and facilitate Saddam's possible escape to Takrit, or even to Syria.
Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the attack, U.S. sources are increasingly confident that Saddam was killed.
"Early indications are positive," a U.S. official told Fox News' Rita Cosby. "We have reason to be optimistic." But it will take about three days, reports Fox, to confirm whether Sadddam and his sons were indeed killed in the blast.
"We are confirming that a leadership target was hit very hard," said Marine Maj. Brad Bartelt, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, according to the Times. "Battle damage assessment is ongoing."
Though bomb-damage assessment is in progress, the big question looms: How can Saddam's death, if it occured, ever be verified? Among the factors mentioned by analysts are communications that U.S. surveillance would be able to intercept, and, believe it or not, DNA. One Fox News analyst says the U.S. does possess a sample of Saddam Hussein's DNA.
In fact, the announcement by the Joint Chiefs' public information officer that it will take three days to determine conclusively whether Saddam was killed may indicate a focus on DNA, says forensic scientist Dr. Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner for New York City. Baden told Fox News that three days is how long it takes to complete DNA testing.
On March 19, in the first event of the war, coalition forces carried out a massive bombing raid on one of Saddam's homes in south Baghdad. Although there was much speculation that he was killed, intelligence agencies now believe Saddam survived that initial bombardment.
I'm glad we didn't spare the ordinance.
Seems to me that a little river-diversion project is called for...
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Dan Rather, that sly dog... Did he smuggle out one of Saddam's cigar butts?
Well, we could always start THAT rumor!
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