U.S. troops roll deep into Baghdad

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U.S. armored forces rolled into the heart of Baghdad today, smashing through Iraq's Republican Guard to reach the ultimate destination of their two-week surge across southern Iraq.

Lt. Jeffrey Goodman, left, and Lance Cpl. Jorge Sanchez drag a wounded civilian away from his burning vehicle during an advance on Baghdad by the 2nd Tank Battalion. The man was injured when he raced into an ongoing battle. Associated Press

"American armored combat formations have moved through the heart of Baghdad, defeating the Iraqi troops we have encountered," said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.

However, witnesses in central Baghdad reported seeing no U.S. soldiers there.

Asked if the Army units were on a probing mission, Thorp said, "They're not coming out."

He declined to specify how many U.S. soldiers were in Baghdad, most of which remained under Iraqi control as of midday. Thousands of U.S. troops had reached the outskirts yesterday — the 3rd Infantry Division arriving from the southwest and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force from the southeast.

Explosions and machine-gun fire could be heard across Baghdad, and armed Iraqis in pickup trucks and police cars raced through the streets. Members of the Fedayeen, a militia led by Saddam's son Odai, appeared in downtown for the first time since the war began, identifiable by distinctive black uniforms.

At Baghdad's airport, captured by U.S. troops yesterday, soldiers used explosives to clear abandoned buildings and examined an extensive underground complex below the airfield.

An Iraqi woman carrying a baby fled from Baghdad today as coalition forces poured into the capital. Associated Press

Although U.S. officers said their hold on the airport was firm, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf contended today that Iraqi forces had retaken the facility.

"Today, we butchered the force present at the airport," al-Sahhaf said. He also alluded to planned "creative operations" by Iraqi fighters that might include suicide attacks.

On the southern outskirts, Marines engaged in close-quarters fighting today with pro-Saddam volunteers from Jordan, Egypt, Sudan and elsewhere, according to Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines.

"It's like a jihad. They were given a rifle and told to become a martyr," said McCoy, whose troops used bayonets while battling in the reeds of a marsh.

Southwest of the capital, units of the 3rd Infantry captured the abandoned headquarters of the Republican Guard's Medina division — one of Saddam's best-trained units — in the town of Suwayrah. Outside the base were dozens of artillery pieces, anti-aircraft guns, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

As the U.S. troops drove into Suwayrah, hundreds of young men in civilian clothes waved from the roadside.

"Look at all the Republican Guard waving at us," said Staff Sgt. Bryce Ivings of Sarasota, Fla., suggesting the men on the roadside had quickly changed out of their uniforms.

At another location south of Baghdad, 3rd Infantry soldiers found an ambulance that was carrying cases of grenades, a rocket propelled grenade launcher, and boxes of classified Republican Guard documents.

"We see these ambulances racing around all the time, now I'm going to have to think twice about them," said Staff Sgt. Thomas Slago of Los Angeles.

As U.S. forces entered Baghdad, there was no definitive word on Saddam's whereabouts.

An Iraqi television broadcast yesterday showed Saddam — or someone posing as him — greeting civilians in the streets of Baghdad and giving a speech urging Iraqis to strike back at the attacking forces. A reference in the speech to a downed U.S. helicopter was interpreted by American officials as a sign Saddam probably did survive a strike intended to kill him on the opening night of the war.

"Saddam Hussein is no longer really a factor in this war," said Group Capt. Al Lockwood, a spokesman for the U.S.-British forces. "If we capture Saddam Hussein alive, so be it. We will put him on trial for war crimes. But if he is not alive, that will not affect the way we carry out this campaign.

The Iraqi capital was first breached by a reconnaissance force of the 3rd Infantry Division. When Thorpe was asked if the U.S. Army's V Corps and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were on a probing mission, Thorp said, "They're not coming out."

"That's not the intent to come back out," he said. "They're in Baghdad."

Columns of Army and Marine armored vehicles advanced from the south yesterday, meeting occasionally stiff resistance from the Iraqi army, as well as Republican Guard and Fedayeen forces.

"They're pretty much cut off in all directions," Air Force Capt. Dani Burrows said this morning. "Pretty much what you've got here is a chokehold around Baghdad."

A senior administration official said U.S. forces would continue to apply pressure on enemy forces in Baghdad and the remainder of Iraq not under allied control.

U.S. forces in Baghdad were expected to root out paramilitary soldiers and Baath Party enforcers.

As neighborhoods are "disinfected," the senior official said, coalition forces and a new Iraqi interim government will begin to provide food, water, electrical power and healthcare, taking over the work of Saddam's government.

Danger remained tragically obvious yesterday.

In another suicide bombing, three U.S. soldiers died when a car carrying two women — one of them apparently pregnant — exploded at a checkpoint in northwest Iraq. The U.S. military death toll rose to at least 66.

U.S. officials said Saddam's repetition of an Iraqi claim that a villager shot down a U.S. helicopter on March 24 did not constitute conclusive proof that he was still alive, but strongly suggested it. Military officials said the helicopter incident remained under investigation.

When Iraqi television later showed a videotape of what it said was Saddam walking through a crowd of cheering Iraqi citizens, it seemed like a highly unusual event for a man known to be obsessed about his personal security. It could not be determined if the person shown was a double for Saddam.

U.S. analysts said the videotapes could have been made days ago.

They also said Saddam might have fled during the electricity blackout that cloaked Baghdad in darkness Thursday night as U.S. forces reached the outskirts of town. The blackout persisted yesterday through much of the city.

"The tape does not give us firm conclusions one way or the other," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

West of Baghdad, soldiers from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division consolidated their control of the airport, which was seized over-night after a fierce, six-hour battle. It no longer is known — at least to U.S. forces — as Saddam International Airport.

"The airport has a new name now — Baghdad International Airport — and it is the gateway to the future of Iraq," said U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks.