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<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Five men stood in a circle outside police headquarters here yesterday, somberly comparing notes on the day's devastation.</p> <p>"Any dead?" Daniel Joseph asked.</p> <p>"Two guards were killed," Albert Paul Younan replied.</p> <p>"I lost three," Joseph said.</p> <p>"What about the factory?" another man asked.</p>

The United States declared Saddams Baath party dead late Sunday, with the war's commander telling Iraqis that the instrument of theior deposed dictator's power was dissolved and promising to purge its influence from the country it dominated for 35 years.General Tommy Franks message delivered in Arabic by an announcer on the coalitions information radio, broadcast a clear message over the AM radio waves across postwar Iraq:Any activity by Baath Party holdouts who opposed United States occupation would not be tolerated.'The Arab Baath Socialist Party is dissolved,' Franks said, but high difficulites remain in eliminating it.American Administrators are struggling to balance...

Al-Qaeda 'crushed' by the US war on terror AL-QAEDA’S failure to launch any major attacks during the Iraq war is adding to a mood of cautious confidence that the organisation’s back has been broken. "They have suffered a number of absolutely crushing blows," said Nick Fielding, a journalist and the co-author of Masterminds of Terror, published this month by the Edinburgh-based Mainstream Publishing . In US intelligence circles, the belief is growing that al-Qaeda is "nearly crippled", the Washington Post newspaper reported. Cofer Black, the head of the state department’s counter-terrorism office, told the newspaper it was "no coincidence" al-Qaeda...

US official says Iraqi scientists helping on arms By Carol Giacomo WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Captured Iraqi scientists have started cooperating with the United States, giving U.S. officials renewed confidence that there are unconventional weapons in Iraq and they will be found, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Wednesday. "The people we have found are already leading us to other people as well as to computer files and to documents," he told the National Defense University, an elite school for America's military officers. "With these sources of information, we can say with a high degree of confidence...

The White House said yesterday that Saddam Hussein may have ordered the destruction of some chemical and biological weapons on the eve of the war and suggested that the swift military invasion could have prevented the Iraqi dictator from using what remained of his arsenal. A day after President Bush said U.S. air strikes early in the war may have killed or severely wounded Saddam, preventing him from using mass destruction weapons or effectively commanding his troops, his spokesman yesterday said there is evidence some weapons may have been destroyed. "The president says that we have evidence now that we...

Gorny/Moscow (dpa) - Russia, the possessor of the world's largest stocks of chemical weapons, completed the first step in fulfilling its international obligations by destroying 400 tonnes of mustard gas, a Kremlin spokesman announced on Saturday. ``We have nothing to hide,'' said the head of the commission for disposing of chemical weapons in the Volga region, Sergei Kiriyenko. Kiriyenko was speaking from the town of Gorny where the first Russian facility for the elimination of chemical weapons was built with the help of German funds totalling 40 million euros. ``With the amount destroyed thus far, one could have annihilated a...

<p>President Bush yesterday said coalition forces in Iraq may never find weapons of mass destruction, raising the possibility that dictator Saddam Hussein destroyed or relocated his arsenal before he fled Baghdad.</p> <p>But the president said he is nevertheless convinced Saddam had such weapons and hid them for a dozen years, stretching back to Iraq's 1991 surrender in the first Gulf war.</p>

Bush Says Iraqi Weapons May Be Destroyed 28 minutes ago Add Politics - AP to My Yahoo! By RON FOURNIER, AP White House CorrespondentLIMA, Ohio - President Bush (news - web sites) raised the possibility Thursday that any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were destroyed before or during the U.S.-led war, suggesting for the first time that coalition troops may come up empty in their search. AP Photo (AP Video) Latest news: · US detains Iraq's Tareq AzizAFP - 5 minutes ago · U.S. Forces Said to Take Custody of Aziz AP - 8 minutes ago · Iraq's Aziz in...

BAGHDAD - Six Iraqi scientists working at different Baghdad research institutions were ordered to destroy bacteria and equipment and hide more in their homes before visits from U.N. weapons inspectors in the months leading up to the war, the scientists say. In separate interviews, all of the scientists said they were involved in civilian research projects and none knew of any programs for weapons of mass destruction. It was not clear why their materials, ostensibly for nonmilitary research, were ordered destroyed. But their accounts indicate the government of Saddam Hussein may have had advance knowledge of at least some of...

IRAQI scientists claim they were ordered to destroy bacteria and equipment and hide more in their homes before visits by United Nations weapons inspectors ahead of the war.Their accounts indicate that the government of Saddam Hussein may have had advance knowledge of at least some of the inspectors’ visits and that it was concerned about any material that could raise suspicion. Six scientists said they worked for civilian research projects and none knew of any programmes for weapons of mass destruction. "An hour or two before the inspectors came to the university, I got my orders from the chairman," said...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Six Iraqi scientists working at different Baghdad research institutions were ordered to destroy some bacteria and equipment and hide more in their homes before visits from U.N. weapons inspectors in the months leading up to the war, the scientists told The Associated Press. In separate interviews, all of the scientists said they were involved in civilian research projects and none knew of any programs for weapons of mass destruction. It was not clear why their materials, ostensibly for nonmilitary research, were ordered destroyed. But their accounts indicate the government of Saddam Hussein may have had advance...

SADDAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Baghdad (AFP) - Some 30 US tanks rolled deep into Baghdad early Saturday, marking a new step in the advance on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's seat of power, a commander said. Colonel Will Grimsley said the tank battalion task force from the 3rd Infantry Division punched their way toward the heart of Baghdad on a road leading from the capital's main airport, 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the southwest. Grimsley, commander of the division's First Brigade, said the raid was a show of force a day after US forces seized control of most of the airport...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Six Iraqi scientists working at different Baghdad research institutions were ordered to destroy some bacteria and equipment and hide more in their homes before visits from U.N. weapons inspectors in the months leading up to the war, the scientists told The Associated Press. In separate interviews, all of the scientists said they were involved in civilian research projects and none knew of any programs for weapons of mass destruction. It was not clear why their materials, ostensibly for nonmilitary research, were ordered destroyed. But their accounts indicate the government of Saddam Hussein may have had...

Pentagon: No Major Iraqi Forces Remain By MATT KELLEY .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Fierce fighting and air strikes have completely destroyed the ability of Iraq's regular army and Republican Guard to mount conventional fighting, and no major military forces remain in the country, the Pentagon said Friday. Though parts of forces and pockets of resistance remain, military officials were detecting no indications of any command and control ability on the part of Saddam Hussein's forces, nor any communication between remnants of forces, a Defense Department official said. ``There is no question the regime has lost control and...

SADDAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Baghdad (AFP) - US army troops fought their way Sunday to the Tigris river north of Baghdad, destroying an Iraqi tank battalion in the process, to complete their share of the encirclement of the capital, a US military official said. Major Ross Coffman said the army now held the western half of the planned ring around Baghdad, with the marines in process of joining up the eastern half, and the Tigris marking the boundary between them north and south of the city. "The army owns from river to river on the west side," said Coffman, who...

The commander of the US-led air campaign in Iraq says Republican Guard units outside the capital Baghdad are "dead", following intense bombardment. "The Iraqi military as an organised defence in large combat formations doesn't really exist anymore," Lieutenant-General Michael Moseley told Pentagon reporters. General Moseley also announced that coalition aircraft had begun a 24-hour patrol operation over Baghdad to be able to respond to needs of troops on the ground. The announcement came after US forces - backed by tanks and armoured vehicles - made their first incursion into the Iraqi capital. They fought skirmishes with Iraq's elite Special Republican...

The ease with which United States-led forces have sliced into the heart of Iraq has raised questions about the fighting ability and cohesiveness of Saddam Hussein's much-celebrated Republican Guard. Contrary to expectations, the advance to the suburbs of Baghdad has been unnervingly swift. The famed Republican Guard with its 70,000-strong corps has put up slight defence, certainly not enough to stall or block the progress of the invading forces. “This latest advance does raise questions. What has happened to the Republican Guard? Have they been wiped out, or have they withdrawn from circulation to regroup in Baghdad?" asked French military...

Thank goodness for the accuracy of the Iraqi Info Ministry

Elite Iraqi Guard division defeated-US Marines BAGHDAD, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Marines said on Friday that the Nida division of the Iraqi Republican Guard had been defeated by U.S.-led forces pushing towards Baghdad from the southeast. The division "has ceased to exist as an effective fighting force," a U.S. military officer told Reuters correspondent Sean Maguire, travelling with the Marines. The officers said that two of three brigades in the division had been destroyed and one was unaccounted for. The Republican Guard, said to be fiercely nationalistic and loyal to President Saddam Hussein, comprises about 70,000 soldiers in six...

Division of Iraqi Guard Said Destroyed By NICOLE WINFIELD .c The Associated Press CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) - American forces, which crossed the Tigris River in the drive toward the Iraqi capital, destroyed the Baghdad Division of Iraq's Republican Guard, the U.S. Central Command said Wednesday. U.S. forces had entered what U.S. commanders call a ``red zone'' near Baghdad, and Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks warned that it might be an area where the Iraqis would consider using chemical or other weapons of mass destruction. ``There may be a trigger line where the regime deems (there is a) sufficient threat...

U.S. Takes On Guard Defending Baghdad By MATT KELLEY .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States has begun a major ground offensive against the Republican Guard units defending Baghdad, entering what is expected to be the fiercest combat of the war in Iraq. The Pentagon is still hoping Saddam Hussein's regime will collapse before troops are drawn into bloody urban warfare in the capital, Defense Department officials said Wednesday. The Republican Guard forces targeted in the ground assault are the main military forces standing between American invading troops and Saddam's centers of power in the capital of...

American forces, which crossed the Tigris River in the drive toward the Iraqi capital, destroyed the Baghdad Division of Iraq's Republican Guard, the U.S. Central Command said Wednesday. The U.S. forces seized the strategic town of Kut and routed the Republican Guard division force that had been guarding the highway leading to Baghdad. Check Delivery Options | 50% Off-Click Here! ``The Baghdad Division has been destroyed,'' said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks. He said that two other Republican Guard divisions had been engaged around the city of Karbala and that coalition forces had seized control of a dam on Lake al-Milh....

Allied forces were 20 miles from the outskirts of Baghdad last night after smashing their way through the front lines of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard. The Pentagon said that two divisions had been "destroyed". A US marine pauses after securing a bridge over the Tigris, vital for the advance on Baghdad Allied bombs and missiles rained down on the Iraqi rear defences preparing the route into the capital. In a swift advance on two fronts, US forces moved as far as 40 miles from their start positions. From the south-east, marines captured a key bridge across the Tigris at the...

BAGHDAD, April 2 (AFP) - Seventeen members of the Baghdad division of Iraq's elite Republican Guard have been killed and 35 wounded, its commander told Iraqi television Wednesday, after the United States reported the division had been destroyed.

U.S. "destroys" Baghdad Republican Guard division AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, April 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. commander in the Gulf said on Wednesday U.S. troops had destroyed the Baghdad division of the Iraqi Republican Guard near the town of Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of the Iraqi capital. "Our land component initiated a two corps attack to destroy Republican Guard positions defending Baghdad. First Marine Expeditionary Force attacked the Baghdad division near the town of al Kut. The Baghdad division was destroyed," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a news conference. Brooks said the U.S. forces had also fought two...

<p>U.S. forces advanced even closer to Baghdad Wednesday, wiping out one Republican Guard division and nearly destroying another as they geared up for an all-out assault on the Iraqi capital.</p> <p>Some American units are reportedly within 19 miles of Baghdad, while others are within 30.</p>

<p>In the 13th day of the ground campaign, coalition forces are moving closer to Baghdad, said Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The Baghdad Division in Kut and the Medina Division of the Republican Guard, he said, are no longer "credible forces."</p>

Coalition Crushing Republican GuardApril 2, 2003 Declaring Iraq's Republican Guard divisions are "no longer credible forces," Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal told a Pentagon briefing Wednesday that U.S.-led forces moved to within 30 miles of the Iraqi capital and were meeting only "sporadic" resistance from Saddam Hussein's prized fighters. The Army's 3rd Infantry Division and the First Marine Expeditionary Force launched a two-pronged attack toward Baghdad, and both reported breakthroughs as units entered the so-called "red zone" within range of the guns and missiles defending the capital. U.S. officials say Iraqi resistance will be the most tenacious in this zone....

Medina, & Baghdad divisions.

Near Kut, southeast of Capital (location of said division)Iraqi TV says top officials meeting right now

<p>CENTRAL IRAQ (CNN) -- U.S. forces engaged members of Iraq's elite Republican Guard on Wednesday, part of a fresh coalition push toward Baghdad.</p> <p>CNN's Karl Penhaul, who is embedded with the U.S. Army's V Corps, 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment, talked with anchor Daryn Kagan about the U.S.-led assault.</p>

<p>NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stock markets rallied sharply early Wednesday on the belief that the end of the war in Iraq is drawing nearer as U.S. troops got closer to Baghdad.</p> <p>Shortly after 10:00 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average (up 177.22 to 8247.08, Charts), theNasdaq composite (up 40.34 to 1388.64, Charts) and the S&P 500 index (up 18.66 to 877.14, Charts) all scored gains of 2 percent or more.</p>

Republican Guard Division Routed at Kut By CHRIS TOMLINSON .c The Associated Press NEAR KARBALA, Iraq (AP) - Advancing on Baghdad from both the southwest and the southeast, U.S. ground forces penetrated the Iraqi capital's ``red zone'' defensive cordon Wednesday, destroying one division of Saddam Hussein's battle-hardened Republican Guard as they crossed the Tigris River. In the southwest, lead elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division pushed through a gap west of Karbala after a night-long bombardment of the Shiite holy city some 50 miles from Saddam's seat of power. Members of the 1st Marine Division were even closer, about...

U.S. says it "destroys" Republican Guard division By Peter Graff AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar, April 2 (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday its troops had destroyed one of the six divisions of the elite Republican Guard defending Iraq's capital, and had inflicted serious damage on two others. "Our land component initiated a two corps attack to destroy Republican Guard positions defending Baghdad. First Marine Expeditionary Force attacked the Baghdad Division near the town of al Kut," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters. "The Baghdad Division was destroyed," Brooks, deputy director of operations for the warfighting Central Command, told...

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Army Times/Mansfield News Journal (Ohio) EAST BANK OF THE EUPHRATES RIVER, Iraq - Two American M1A1 Abrams tanks were destroyed Tuesday by fire from what officers believe was an Iraqi truck-mounted anti-tank gun. It was the first time an Abrams has been destroyed by enemy fire in its 20-year history. But the Abrams preserved one important record: All eight crewmen survived without serious injury. No crew member has ever died in an Abrams because of enemy action. The two tanks were lost as the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment pushed to within 80 miles of Baghdad Tuesday...

About a month ago, ex-addict Penny Wood avoided a prison term by agreeing to let authorities use these before-and-after photos of her to steer people away from the ravages of methamphetamine use. Now, she regrets the deal, saying the fliers have become an embarrassment for her, her children and grandchildren. (AP Photo/Pekin Times, Tazwell County State's Attorney)

UN experts are to destroy four plastic containers filled with mustard gas registered by previous UN disarmament inspectors and recently found north of Baghdad. Spokesman Hiro Ueki said chemical experts had visited the Al-Muthanna military site today to prepare for the destruction of the containers. Ten 155 millimetre artillery shells will also be destroyed. "The destruction process will begin tomorrow and is expected to (take) four to five days to complete," he said.

Canberra's darkest day By Peter Clack Sunday, 19 January 2003 Two people are dead and three more were feared to have perished yesterday in the most devastating fire disaster in Canberra's history. There were unparalleled scenes of chaos in Canberra's suburbs as a massive week-old bushfire finally burst through the city's western perimeter on a 10km front and destroyed up to 100 homes across 19 suburbs and rural settlements.

While Keiko the killer whale frolicked in a western Norwegian fjord Tuesday, a local whale expert warned that Keiko may not survive the winter. If he doesn't attach himself from humans soon, it may be best to destroy him, he said.Niels Oeien of the Institute for Marine Reasearch in Bergen, who specializes in sea mammals, says Keiko may also represent a threat to Norway's major salmon breeding industry.'Reports are coming in now that the killer whale is disturbing fish farms within the Skaalvik Fijord,' Oeien told Aftenposten Multimedia. 'If there are more such episodes, he should be destroyed.'Oeien's remarks may...

Grizzly Gulch Fire grows to 6,200 acres By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer LEAD-- A combined 684 federal, state and local personnel continued to fight the two-day-old Grizzly Gulch Fire Monday, as a federal Type 1 Interagency Management Team took command of the fire. Federal fire information officer Maj. Mark Johnston said the fire grew to 6,200 acres overnight and was 10 percent contained by mid-day Monday. The fire remains the Rocky Mountain Region's number one priority, Johnston said. Three homes have been destroyed by the fire but the occupants were not injured, Lawrence County Sheriff Rick Mowell told the...