Facts about the war
Advertiser News Services
| AMERICA AT WAR: HAWAI'I IMPACT | |
| • | Students show support for U.S. troops at war |
| AMERICA AT WAR | |
| • | U.S. airstrike targets Saddam and his family |
| • | Drums may hold chemical weapons |
| • | Mission: Seize the palaces, 'don't ever let go' |
Casualties
U.S. military: 91 dead, eight missing and seven captured
British military: 30 dead
Iraqi forces: Coalition commanders estimate that at least 3,000 Iraqi solders have been killed in the defense of Baghdad.
— Advertiser news services
Q & A
Q. What is sarin?
A. It is a toxic chemical developed in the 1930s by Nazi Germany as a pesticide. It is 500 times more toxic than cyanide, experts say. A drop can kill an average-size person. Sarin kills by paralyzing muscles around the lungs, suffocating the victim. It can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled as a gas. Because sarin is difficult and dangerous to make, experts say it's not a good weapon for unsophisticated terrorist groups to use. The U.S. government has stockpiles of sarin — more than 5,000 tons stored nationwide. Russia has about 11,700 tons of sarin. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein approved a 1988 attack on a Kurdish city involving sarin and other chemical weapons; 5,000 people died.
Quote
"There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad, at all."
— Mohammed Sahid Al Saha, Iraqi information minister
By the numbers
19 — days since the war began
68.5 — life expectancy of females in Iraq. It's 80.2 years for females in the United States
800 — tanks Iraq had before the war. All but a "couple of dozen" have been destroyed or abandoned.
1,700 — sorties flown by coalition aircraft in the past 24 hours
2,000 — anti-war protesters who demonstrated about a mile from the castle where President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a summit yesterday
7,000 — Iraqi prisoners of war
86,000 — Iraqi prisoners of war in the 1991 Gulf War
274,000 — number of men conscripted annually into military service in Iraq
The time
Iraq's time zone is 14 hours ahead of Hawai'i time.
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Persian Gulf weather
Tomorrow's forecast:
Baghdad — Day: 93 degrees, partly cloudy. Night: 67 degrees.
Basra — Day: 102 degrees, partly cloudy. Night: 74 degrees.
Kuwait City — Day: 99 degrees, partly cloudy. Night: 73 degrees.
Unit spotlight
British 7th Armored Brigade
Basra woke up yesterday under British control after a raid led to a full-scale assault and swift occupation of Iraq's second-largest city. British commanders said their troops met only "limited resistance" from paramilitary fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein.
Home garrison: Hohne Garrison near Fallingbostel, Germany
Units: Part of the 1st Armored Division, the brigade is nicknamed "The Desert Rats" and includes the bulk of the armored units sent by the British Army.
