Free Republic

Apr 06, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Having penetrated Baghdad and neutralized its most potent defenders, U.S. troops Sunday were still facing intact Republican Guard troops north of the city and scattered irregulars who wielded control inside. Coalition planes dropped thousands of leaflets on the city, imploring citizens to stay inside their homes. U.S. officials told MSNBC that a large group of Republican Guard had communicated their willingness to surrender, but whether they were part of the force to the north was not known. MSNBC also reported that in the north of the country a U.S. warplane may...

<p>April 6, 2003 -- GIs delivered another humiliating blow to Saddam Hussein's rotting regime when they captured the headquarters of the Republican Guard's Medina Division southwest of Baghdad yesterday.</p> <p>Two tank companies and an infantry company of the 3rd Infantry Division waltzed into the vipers' nest of the vaunted Medinas utterly unopposed.</p>

Analysis: Iraqi forces are crumbling Matthew Gutman Apr. 5, 2003 Exiled Iraqi Army officers and Israeli experts barely raised an eyebrow at the relative ease with which coalition forces gained a choke hold on the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Saturday. Following a 3rd Infantry Patrol into the what was dubbed "the heart of Baghdad," air force Capt. Dani Burrows told reporters at central command in Qatar that Baghdad is "pretty much cut off in all directions." "Forget what they tell you, no one in Iraq is wiling to die for Saddam. The Iraqi people are tired," Salam A., an...

The mood changes as the marine invasion gains momentum James Meek outside Baghdad Saturday April 5, 2003 The Guardian For years, the story of the Republican Guard has been told as an epic in waiting, the story of an elite, well-equipped, motivated force, loyal to Saddam Hussein, outgunned by the US, no doubt, but ready to force America to fight and slog and shed blood if it tried to take Baghdad. In the cold light of yesterday morning, in a furrowed field by a shelled school building not far from the capital, the reality could be seen and heard. Three...

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...

SUWAYRAH, Iraq — U.S. Army soldiers Saturday captured the headquarters of the Republican Guard's Medina Division in this town about 35 miles southeast of Baghdad. Two tank companies and an infantry company of the 3rd Infantry Division rolled through the headquarters unopposed and quickly took over the entire base. It appeared that the Republican Guard defenses had completely collapsed. Outside the base on a three-mile stretch of road were hundreds of bunkers and foxholes and dozens of artillery pieces, anti-aircraft guns, tanks, and armored personnel carriers. All of them had been abandoned by Iraqi troops. No troops could be seen....

<p>As the US Army's Third Infantry Division began yesterday to lace together a steel chain of US armor around Baghdad, the soldiers who fight on the ground, and the planners who move them, were left wondering: What happened to the Republican Guard?</p>

One of the most mysterious aspects of this highly mysterious war is the absence of casualties. People get killed in normal wars. Who is getting killed in this one? Not American or British soldiers. The British death toll so far is under 30 and most of the victims have died in accidents. The American death toll is not much higher. As a percentage of those engaged, casualties represent less than one tenth of one per cent. For purposes of comparison, during the Second World War casualties in Bomber Command of four per cent per sortie - say 300 dead aircrew...

American marines advanced to the Baghdad city limits this morning, meeting scant resistance, and stopped at the brink of entry, awaiting orders. Overnight and early today, there was a shattering bombardment of what remained of the Nida division of the Republican Guard, with artillery shelling Iraqi tanks from as much as 20 miles away and B52's firing from above. The reports from 155 mm. guns were so powerful that they blew off the tarps and broke the windshields of nearby American military vehicles, officers said. The First Marines raced behind the Nida division, whose burnt-out tanks littered the roadside. Local...

The main Iraqi force facing American troops on the outskirts of Baghdad is now the Iraqi Army's Special Republican Guard and internal security units that are charged with defending the interior of the city - all told, a force of about 15,000 to 20,000. An unknown number of regular Republican Guard and other Iraqi Army soldiers are also believed to have drifted back into the city. But American commanders are not certain whether they are an organized force or are simply troops looking to escape the battlefield. A hodgepodge of Iraqi soldiers are still deployed on the outskirts of the...

ANALYSTS' VIEW-Where is Saddam's Republican Guard? LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. forces took Baghdad airport on Friday, the biggest prize yet in the war to oust President Saddam Hussein. Below are comments by defence and military analysts on why there was so little resistance at the airport; where Saddam's Republican Guard units may be, and possible U.S. plans for taking Baghdad. SERGEI SUMBAYEV, COMMENTATOR FOR KRASNAYA ZVEZDA (RED STAR) RUSSIAN ARMY NEWSPAPER, MOSCOW "There are only two battalions of U.S. forces at the airport, 1,500 men. It is clear that they will not enter Baghdad now because they have...

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...

Have been listening to CBS Radio News, about 1 1/2 hours ago, they had a direct report from a CBS Embedded with the Marines, who said that a Mercedes-Benz failed to stop at a checkpoint, and a .50 cal machine gun ventilated both the Benz and the driver. Said driver turned out to be the commander of the Al Nida division. Since then no mention of it for an hour until just now a newsreader on the channel said that the Marines had shot an Iraqi General at a checkpoint who had Saddam's phone number on him.

<p>U.S. Army and Marine Corps ground forces smashed two of President Saddam Hussein's prized Republican Guard divisions and then moved relentlessly yesterday to attack other units to clear a direct invasion path to Baghdad.</p> <p>American divisions moved within 15 miles of the capital and began chasing down two other Republican Guard divisions in a two-sided buzz saw of tank fire from the ground, and bombs and missiles from allied jets and AH-64 Apache helicopters. One U.S. military official said Baghdad's outer ring could be cleared of Republican Guard troops in the next two days.</p>

U.S. troops move to 10 km from S. Baghdad NEAR BAGHDAD, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. troops pushed to within 10 km (six miles) of the southern edge of Baghdad on Thursday, and were preparing to fight for control of the city's airport, U.S. officials said. U.S. military sources in the area told Reuters correspondent Luke Baker that advance armoured units of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division had met little resistance as they continued their northward thrust towards the city's outskirts. Elements of four elite Iraqi Republican Guard Divisions were reported to be moving south to defend the city, but...

<p>WASHINGTON - American rockets pounded Iraq's elite Republican Guard, which was heading south from Baghdad today in a desperate bid to protect the capital, military sources said.</p> <p>The Iraqi units aimed to bolster positions south of the city and guard Saddam International Airport, which are under threat by the U.S. advance.</p>

Attack From 2 Sides Shatters Republican Guard By PATRICK E. TYLER KUWAIT, April 2 — In a sweeping advance, Army and Marine forces closed to within 20 miles of Baghdad from two directions today after crippling or destroying two divisions of the Republican Guard that had blocked their drive on the capital. The Third Infantry Division battled forward today from a starting point north of Karbala, 45 miles from Baghdad, cutting through and routing disorganized Iraqi forces with no reports of American casualties on the ground. Rest of article: Attack From 2 Sides Shatters Republican Guard

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...