Posted on 03/24/2003 12:46:29 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner
Most of the people are happy to see us
Matthew Fisher CanWest News Service
The United States Marine Corps received a joyous welcome from Iraqi civilians and soldiers alike yesterday as they crashed deep into Iraqi territory on the great march to Baghdad.
All along the road, for many kilometres, Iraqi civilians and soldiers waved, blew kisses and gave the thumbs up to passing marine vehicles. Many of the Iraqi soldiers have thrown away their combat boots and parts of their uniform, either to show they are no longer combatants or to exhibit their displeasure with leader Saddam Hussein.
"Canteens, grenades, abandoned positions -- they even left the Iraqi flag in place before they retreated," said 1st Sgt. Miguel Pares, a New Yorker from Spanish Harlem and the top enlisted man in Bravo company, 3rd Light Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division.
"I wanted that flag so bad but we had to continue moving along.
"All the peasants were cheering us, even the soldiers. They gave us the thumbs up, they blew us kisses. I couldn't believe all the boots that were lying on the road. The soldiers just left them there.
"Man, this is an army in full retreat."
What the Iraqi civilians and soldiers saw was a huge procession of armour and artillery and every other piece of military equipment imaginable as the entire United States Marine Corps' 1st Division moved toward Baghdad.
This big push began on Thursday night and was completed yesterday and now the marines are ready for further assaults on the towns and cities that lie between them and Baghdad.
The rules of being an embedded journalist prevent me from saying exactly where I am, but we have moved a staggering distance and so has the entire 1st Division. They just seem to have picked up the entire division and transplanted it. This morning we set out very early; the days tend to begin at 4 a.m., 5 a.m. if you are lucky.
At this pace, it won't be long before, as some of the soldiers like to say, the marines will be knocking on Baghdad's door.
There was no hostility to speak of. There were some Iraqi civilians and as we drove there was an increasing number of Iraqi soldiers and there were incredible scenes. Scenes of many Iraqi citizens joyously welcoming the Americans. Also, saying with their arms, "Praise be to Allah" for being delivered. They were thanking the Americans for that.
In one instance, a vehicle ran over Iraqi machine guns piled on the roadside.
"I wasn't surprised at the reception we got," Sgt. Pares said. "It is what I expected here. Whatever the world thinks of what we are doing, the Iraqi people view us as a force that is freeing them.
"I saw a lot of kids and I started to think of my own kids back at home. God Bless America for giving our children a chance. These kids were so thin. They sure didn't get their share of Iraq oil money."
Clearly, most of these people are very happy. However, it must be said they are Shias. The area we have been travelling through is predominantly Shia. Saddam Hussein is a Sunni and the Sunni strongholds lie around Baghdad and to the north so perhaps this is expected.
I was in an armoured personnel carrier, but had a reasonable view. People around me seemed to express real joy. They were not compelled to come to the side of the road, certainly, and they seemed to be freely cheering the Americans.
But we have been travelling so quickly that there simply hasn't been an opportunity to speak to them.
This march has been so quick into Iraq, we haven't had time to take prisoners in many cases. The prisoners want to surrender, but the Americans simply drive straight past them. I imagine the prisoners are being taken into custody behind us, but not in this area. They're just left to go about their business. Most of them are left walking along the road, perhaps trying to go home.
Meanwhile, the radios crackle with news of lopsided victories and advances and the mood of the marines is upbeat.
The older marines gathered around a small gas burner last night to toast the victory so far and the victories they believe lie ahead.
The fires from oil wells set alight by Saddam Hussein's retreating army provided a magical backdrop as the sergeants and officers discussed the long road to Baghdad that lies ahead.
It seems quite incredible how this is organized. To get a big military force on the move requires fantastical logistical planning and the planning that must have gone into this is truly extraordinary. We do not want for food or water or ammunition or anything else where we are.
Every section of the Marine Corps is represented. You can see the engineering crew with all the bridges they would use to cross rivers. The tanks are up here, the armoured personnel carriers are up here, the artillery is up here, an enormous number of fuel trucks are up here to power all of these vehicles.
It is an enormous force of 40,000 or 50,000 men.
It is a staggering achievement to move all this stuff across hostile territory.
Now, as the sun sets, there is nothing but dust and dirt and grit.
Every few minutes, we can see the sky illuminated, I think, by air strikes. There seems to be action not too far away from our location.
We can also see in another direction the glow in the sky from oil-well fires. You can see those over great distances.
Where I am now, I am near the front of the force or perhaps at the front of the force, but the whole beast is moving and it is moving relentlessly toward Baghdad, there is no doubt about that.
March 22 Timeline
10 p.m.: Iraqi TV reports fighting with U.S. troops near the town of Najaf, 160 kilometres south of Baghdad. The report said the local leader of the ruling Baath Party was killed.
9:05 p.m.: Explosions reported in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
9 p.m.: The Pentagon says coalition forces have moved beyond the city of Nasiriyah and have taken over two key crossings of the Euphrates river.
8:30 p.m.: More explosions are heard in Baghdad. The BBC's Andrew Gilligan says parts of the city remain in darkness.
7 p.m.: U.S. marines leave Basra in huge convoy of tanks and head north towards Baghdad, the BBC's David Willis in Basra reports.
6:30 p.m.: A series of fresh explosions rock Baghdad, and some of the lights around the presidential palace go out, the BBC's Andrew Gilligan in Baghdad reports.
6:20 p.m.: Iraqi state television shows President Saddam Hussein chairing meetings with top government officials and expressing satisfaction at the performance of the Iraqi army.
5:35 p.m.: Iraq appeals to the United Nations to condemn U.S.-led invasion. In a statement to the UN Security Council, Iraq says the invasion is a threat to world's peace.
5:25 p.m.: The Pentagon abandons plans for sending its 4th Infantry Division through Turkey into northern Iraq. The troops will now be sent through the Suez Canal.
4:30 p.m.: The International Committee of the Red Cross says its workers in Baghdad have seen at least 100 injured people, who were presented by the Iraqi authorities as war-wounded.
4:20 p.m.: A series of fresh explosions rock Baghdad and anti-aircraft fire is heard.
3:20 p.m.: U.S. troops largely secure the town of Nasiriya, with only a few pockets of resistance remaining, the BBC's Gavin Hewitt reports.
3 p.m.: George W. Bush says the U.S. will accept "no outcome except victory," but he acknowledges the campaign "could be longer and more difficult than some have predicted."
2:30 p.m.: Three journalists with British commercial TV network ITN are reported missing in southern Iraq after coming under fire on their way to Basra.
2:15 p.m.: An Australian journalist is reported to have been killed and several other people injured in a suspected car bombing near the village of Khurmal in Kurdish-held northern Iraq.
2:10 p.m.: U.S. commander of coalition forces, Gen. Tommy Franks -- giving his first public briefing since war began -- promises campaign will be "unlike any other in history."
1:40 p.m.: Plumes of smoke rise above Baghdad, produced by pools of oil and fuel set alight around the city as a defensive measure by the Iraqis, the BBC's Paul Woods reports.
12:55 p.m.: The BBC's David Willis says U.S. and U.K. forces are now confident they have taken control of Iraq's second city, Basra.
12:30 p.m.: Fresh explosions rock Baghdad.
12:20 p.m.: U.S. military spokesman says southern Iraqi town of Nasiriya has fallen.
11:05 a.m.: Iraqi health minister says three people killed and 207 injured in overnight raids on Baghdad.
10:30 a.m.: UK chief of defence staff Michael Boyce says an entire Iraqi division has surrendered in the south; Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon says regular Iraqi units "appear" to have pulled out of the city of Basra.
9:20 a.m.: "Massive" contingent of U.K. forces including elements of the "Desert Rats" has crossed into Iraq, officials say.
8:37 a.m.: U.S. Marines officer says a "major battle" is taking place on the western outskirts of southern Iraqi city of Basra.
8:25 a.m.: An Iranian military commander says two more allied rockets fell in south-west, close to Iraqi border, on Saturday.
8:00 a.m.: Iraqi military denies surrender of entire 51st Division.
7:12 a.m.: UK military spokesman says seven crew dead after mid-air collision involving two helicopters.
6:40 a.m.: Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad al-Sahhaf says 207 civilians wounded in the bombing of Baghdad overnight.
5:56 a.m.: U.K. military HQ in Qatar says seven crew members missing after two Royal Navy helicopters involved in collision over international waters in the Gulf at about 0130.
3:20 a.m.: About 70 missiles are reported to have pounded Iraqi Kurdish areas controlled by Ansar al-Islam, a hardline Islamist group, accused of having links to al-Qaeda.
2:36 a.m.: Air attacks on Baghdad resume at dawn, with reports of at least three missile strikes and powerful explosions rocking the city centre.
2:19 a.m.: American B52 bombers return to UK airbase.
12:24 a.m.: Iraq denies torching oil wells, saying troops had set oil-filled trenches ablaze in an effort to prevent coalition warplanes from finding their targets.
War in Iraq. Ran with fact box "March 22 Timeline", which has been appended to the story.© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
It seems quite incredible how this is organized. To get a big military force on the move requires fantastical logistical planning and the planning that must have gone into this is truly extraordinary. We do not want for food or water or ammunition or anything else where we are.
I'm thrilled to the point of tears.
Now, if only I could get my hands on 8 C-141's so that I can get these pallets out of here, airborne to Kuwait! (Speaking for a friend of mine.)
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