Posted on 04/06/2003 10:41:59 AM PDT by kattracks
U.S. troops take Kerbala after fierce fight
By Kieran Murray
KERBALA, Iraq, April 6 (Reuters) - Moving street to street, U.S. troops pushed into the centre of the holy Shi'ite Muslim city of Kerbala on Sunday, after fierce battles with Iraqi paramilitaries threatening U.S supply lines north to Baghdad.
By the evening, as they mingled with thousands of relaxed and smiling residents they felt confident enough to say that the city where Shi'ites rose up against President Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War was effectively under their control.
"The Fedayeen have lost a powerbase," Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Holden, of the 101st Airborne Division, told Reuters, referring to Saddam's fiercely loyal black-clad supporters.
"All roads here lead to Baghdad and now we can drive those roads. They are secure, the threat of ambush is very minimal."
Forces loyal to Saddam crushed the 1991 uprising within weeks. Against U.S. forces it was a different story.
In blistering heat, U.S. tanks rumbled through the dusty streets and armed reconnaissance helicopters passed low over rooftops, identifying sniper positions for artillery units.
On the ground, army troops took cover in doorways and against walls as they moved past Iraqi corpses, some blown to bits by artillery fire, across the city centre.
Dozens of Iraqis and one U.S. soldier were killed in intense fighting on Saturday and overnight.
There was still some resistance throughout Sunday morning. Heavy gunfire erupted when suspected paramilitaries popped up on rooftops or from doorways of narrow garbage-filled streets.
ONE MORE FIREFIGHT
In one firefight, dozens more Fedayeen were killed or fled.
"I don't think they stand a chance, to be honest, because we just have overwhelming firepower. But they've certainly got balls, you have to say that," said Army Staff Sergeant Todd Morton, who shot dead a fighter trying to jump into a bunker.
But overall resistance was weaker on Sunday. By early afternoon the city was relatively quiet.
"I think they took a look at what happened yesterday and decided to back off," said Captain James McGahey of the 101st, or "Screaming Eagles," who led the U.S. thrust to the centre.
At the end of the day, U.S. officers said they had taken out all military targets in the city, capturing Syrians and men from three other countries who were fighting with the Fedayeen.
Sweat poured off the U.S. troops as they sprinted across intersections and ducked behind walls under a baking sun.
"We're not used to this type of environment. The heat out here, it's just ungodly," said Staff Sergeant Travis May.
The American thrust into Kerbala came as advance U.S. forces tightened their grip around Baghdad, 110 km (70 miles) to the north, on the 18th day of a war to overthrow Saddam.
It followed a similar U.S. sweep through Najaf, another holy Shi'ite city in central Iraq, to root out paramilitaries who could threaten U.S. supply lines stretching up from the south.
CHILDREN PLAYING
On Saturday night U.S. forces pounded Iraqi positions with artillery fire. Iraqis fired back with rocket-propelled grenades, mortar and AK-47 rifles.
"They certainly are persistent. These guys will take our fire, wait for us and when we're underneath their positions they'll fire straight at our turrets," said U.S. Sergeant Jeremiah Sample from the 1st Armoured Division.
In the city centre families cowered in mud and brick homes. Hundreds of people gathered on street corners and in doorways, wordlessly watching the slow American advance.
Some children were playing in the street, running by dead bodies and pools of blood where fighters had been killed and their corpses dragged away during the night.
By Sunday evening, U.S. soldiers, who had come under intense fire when they entered the city, stood around relaxed in school courtyards, many without their helmets and bullet-proof vests.
Residents, initially cold towards them, turned out in their thousands. Relaxed, waving and smiling, they said "Good, good, good." Children raised their thumbs in the air.
Najaf and Kerbala, home to the holiest Shi'ite shrines in Iraq, rose against Baghdad in 1991 after Iraqi troops were ejected from Kuwait by U.S.-led forces. Saddam loyalists showed little mercy in crushing those revolts.
On Sunday afternoon, thousands of residents took their revenge, tearing down a giant bronze statue of Saddam with ropes -- and a little help from American soldiers with blowtorches.
04/06/03 13:26 ET
NOT ANYMORE.
Fatima, a daughter, was Ali's mother.
Now, Cooperstown is my idea of a holy city, but not everybody likes baseball...
Peace through superior firepower.
They are also the Muslims who have "saints," "relics," and "holy places." All of which the Sunni Muslims are really dead set against. Somebody up there likes them, apparently, because the oil-rich Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia is Shiite territory. Big embarassment to the Sunni Saudis, who are not above ocassionally indulging the Shiite penchant for suffering and martyrdom, either.
IMHO, it would be a mistake to put too many of our eggs in these calamitous cultists' basket. Just because they are losers with a weird cult of victimhood, doesn't necessarily make them like "OK" allies.
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