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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, April 6, 2003

Tank raid shows 'we can go anywhere'

By David Zucchino
Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD AIRPORT, Iraq — If the boldness of yesterday's armored column attack deep into Baghdad stunned the city's defenders, the very idea of such a daylight dash left the American tank commanders a bit slack-jawed.

An American soldier helps clear a presidential palace in Baghdad, where coalition forces caught Iraqis off guard yesterday.

Associated Press

"We all thought they were kidding when the battalion commander said we're going to drive tanks up into the middle of Baghdad," said Capt. Jason Conroy, an Army officer who took part in the operation. "I told the lieutenants, and they all dropped their (briefing) books."

Before it was over, the column had thundered through a Republican Guard gauntlet, killing 2,000 to 3,000 Iraqi fighters officials at Central Command in Qatar said today.

One American tank commander was killed in the three-hour foray into the heart of Saddam Hussein's capital, which American commanders said was designed to stun an Iraqi leadership that had claimed in news conferences that U.S. forces had not yet crossed the Euphrates River more than 20 miles southwest of the city's outskirts.

During yesterday's strike, an Iraqi general was captured when his car nearly collided with a U.S. tank as he drove to work in Baghdad, tank crews said.

"We marched through town and knocked on Saddam's door and said 'We're here, we're taking over,' " said Conroy, 30, whose bullet-riddled tank barrel was emblazoned with the message: "Courtesy of the red, white and blue."

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Col. David Perkins, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade described the attack as both a tactical and psychological blow to Saddam's regime.

"This is supposed to be his city, yet we drove right through it," Perkins said, his face still caked with dust and grime from the battle.

"This shows we can go anywhere in the city at a time of our choosing," he added. "The world saw today that the American Army is in fact not bogged down."

The dawn raid came less than 48 hours after U.S. forces seized the international airport here. And it sent a strong signal that U.S. commanders are determined to take the fight to the capital quickly and decisively.

The battle left U.S. forces in control of the two main highways leading north into the capital and west from the city center. The United States also laid claim to the southwest corner of Baghdad.

Subsequent armored columns can use the highways to strike deeper into other parts of the city. Thirty anti-aircraft batteries were destroyed in the raid, which will reduce the threat to U.S. warplanes.

Perkins said the attack was designed to shock Iraqi leaders into reconsidering a drawn-out defense of the city.

"We are here in strength. For those who think they can continue to fight the Americans, that is fruitless," Perkins said. "A lot of people in the regime who thought things were going well will have second thoughts."

The Republican Guard forces mounted an intense counter-attack, commanders said. Each of the 29 Abrams tanks and 14 Bradley fighting vehicles that roared into the city was peppered with holes from small arms and grenades. Upon their return, some were still smoking.

U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion secures areas on the grounds of the newly renamed Baghdad International Airport.

Associated Press

The tank commander who died, a staff sergeant whose name was not immediately released, was struck in the face by grenade shrapnel, said 1st Lt. Shane Williams. Six to eight other Americans were wounded, tank crews said.

One Abrams tank, hit by a rocket propelled grenade, caught fire and had to be destroyed by another Abrams despite what Perkins called a "valiant" effort to put out the flames.

Returning tank crews, resting in the shade of their vehicles at the Baghdad airport, described a battle in which Iraqis fired from roof tops and highway overpasses. Even so, they said, Republican Guard forces were taken by surprise and caught in the open.

"It was a very good hunting day," said Williams, standing next to a tank with the words "creeping death" painted on its barrel. The tank was littered with windshield glass from a car that had rammed it.

Tank crews said that at least three civilian vehicles tried to crash into the American column. In one case, returning forces said, a man in a white headband with explosives strapped to his chest was shot dead in his car a few feet short of Perkins' armored personnel carrier.

"That car was cheese," said Sgt. Carlos Hernandez, adding that it was hit by perhaps 500 rounds.

At least two U.S. soldiers were wounded when Iraqis poured small arms and grenade fire on the Abrams tank crippled by the rocket-propelled grenade that tore into its engine and set the tank ablaze.

The crew escaped, said Hernandez, who helped try to douse the flames with fire extinguishers and 20 bottles of water. He added that he and others beat back the flames long enough for a crew to begin towing the tank.

But the blaze, fed by fuel, erupted again and Perkins ordered the Abrams destroyed to keep it out of enemy hands. Perkins said that intense Iraqi small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire was threatening his men.

The tank was destroyed with a shell fired by Williams from his Abrams. Afterward, Hernandez piled .50-caliber rounds inside and tossed two incendiary grenades down the hatch.

"It's hard to be the only officer in the U.S. Army to personally destroy an Abrams tank," Williams said. "Doesn't look too good on the résumé."

Schwartz said that when the captured general told him the Republican Guard really didn't want to fight, he turned and walked away in disgust. The armored attack helped drive some Iraqi tanks north, where the U.S. 7th Cavalry destroyed several of them, Capt. Conroy said.

"This is unprecedented, to take an armored task force into the center of a major metropolis and be able to say: 'We're here — we're taking over,' " Conroy said.