From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #29 =============================== In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere (validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra). Visit Our Home Page At: http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/ See the Undeniable Evidence At: http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence Kindly Archived At: http://www.kymhorsell.com/BOZO/archives/ Iraqi Body Count: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting latest news stories and other data for you... ------------------------------------------------------------ Ideally Iraq should not be run by the coalition... or by the UN... it should be run by Iraqis. -- PM Tony Blair, Parliament, 2 Apr 2003. The important thing is oil should be $US20/bbl. It absolutely is a trigger point... we conceive it COULD be a trigger point. -- Gen Vince Brooks, Briefing, 2 Apr 2003. The "red line" is real to them, or at least it's real to us. ---------------------------------------- Wed, 02 Apr 2003. Russia launches spy sat Boys plan anniversary bombing Army moves into refugee camp PM rounds on critics of war Conservatives "fed up" with protesters US beefs up its S Korea force SK pres urges parl to approve troop dispatch to Iraq US surrounds Karbala US forces "secure" Karbala: report US prepared to pay "very high price" US rescues POW POW rescued in Nasiriyah: US Temp set to soar in Iraq at wk's end: forecasters Did the US defence secretary get it wrong? Emperor George Marine who said no to killing on his conscience We don't understand Iraqis, admits US officer Al-Jazeera most sought-after on the web US internet users are visiting foreign sites in huge numbers for news Powell sees Turkeys Powell arrives in Turkey to seek backing for Iraq war Flu virus may be more contagious than thought: experts SARS kills another 9 in China: officials MEL to get water bans AMP sells the farm Markets Continuous war news Moscow. RUSSIA LAUNCHES SPY SAT! Russia's space forces today launched a satellite for "military purposes". The space forces' press says the satellite would be used by the Defence Dept. It blasted off from the N Plesetsk cosmodrome on the top of a Molniya-M. Space forces chief Col-Gen [!] Anatoly Permonov says the satellite was the 222nd to be launched on the Molniya-M from Plesetsk, and the 216th to reach orbit. LA. BOYS PLAN ANNIVERSARY BOMBING! Police have arrested 2 students they say were planning to celebrate the anniversary of the Columbine Massacre with a bombing. A police rep says the pair, whose names are being withheld because of their age, found instructions to make a pipe bomb on the Internet [!!], but were missing a key ingredient. [The bit that goes bang?] He says a journal kept by 1 of the boys indicates they wanted to plant the bomb during the wk of Apr 20, to mark the anniversary of the 1999 massacre. Nablus. ARMY MOVES INTO REFUGEE CAMP! Israeli tanks and choppers have moved into Tulkarem refugee camp in the N W Bank, firing heavy machine guns. Witnesses and security sources say 2 Israeli helicopters, 10 tanks and numerous military vehicles moved into the camp. Local residents say the choppers fired several missiles at unidentified targets as the heavy armour moved into the area. It's not clear if anyone was hurt. PM rounds on critics of war Hobart. The PM has again defended the length so far of the war in Iraq. About 60 anti-war protesters demonstrated outside Mr Howard's Hobart hotel this morning. Mr Howard has addressed a group of Tasmanian business people and cited criticism of the Iraqi war, which started a fortnight ago. He says he will not predict how long it will take but has no doubt what the ultimate outcome will be. "I restate the objective now the operation has started and that is the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime. Anything short of that would be unacceptable to the US, the UK and AUS," he said. The removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Serbian regime both took time, Mr Howard said. The PM is to meet families of troops in Hobart before opening the W Coast Wilderness Railway tomorrow. Conservatives "fed up" with protesters Washington (USA Today). Dozens of flag-waving rallies for American troops in Iraq look like spontaneous, grass-roots gatherings. But many are orchestrated by conservative political groups, just as anti-war protests are led by peace groups and activists on the political left. Rallies for the troops took place this weekend in cities and towns including NY, San Francisco, Miami, Cleveland, Honolulu, Jacksonville, Concord NH, Harrisburg, Pa, and Kingsport, Tenn. More rallies are expected. Free Republic Network, an Internet group that promotes "front-line conservative activism," organized "Liberty Weekend" Mar 22-23. Nat'l director Bob Johnson says an estimated 150,000 people attended more than 100 "Rally for America" gatherings. Co-sponsors of the rallies include 9 other conservative groups, including the American Conservative Union, Young Americans for Freedom and the Liberty Belles, a gun rights organization for women. In addition, Free Republic co-hosts "Activism 101" seminars for newcomers with the Leadership Institute, a Virginia-based group that trains future leaders for the conservative political movement. Among the seminar topics: "Planning and Executing an Effective Rally." Free Republic chapters stage modest fundraisers, but most expenses are paid by participants. "We don't have anybody buying signs or renting trucks," Johnson says. "We pull money out-of-pocket and fund it that way. We're 30 or 40 y behind the leftists." Republican Party organizations in Maine, Minnesota and N Carolina have given support by publicizing the rallies on their Internet sites. But Johnson says the nat'l Republican Party "has never been involved in anything that we do." US beefs up its S Korea force Tokyo. The US will bolster its military muscle in S Korea as tension surrounding communist N Korea and its suspected nuclear weapons program mounts. Washington's announcement came yesterday as Pyongyang played its own part in escalating security concerns across N Asia by reportedly test-firing a ground-to-ship missile, the 3rd such test in just over a month. The US military said a number of stealth fighter jets, some F-15 fighters, their crews and a select army taskforce would be drawn from the 1000s of military personnel who travelled to the Korean peninsula to conduct month-long land, sea and air exercises alongside S Korean troops. Those exercises end today. "Extending (the stealth fighters') training time in the Korean theatre of operations affords an excellent opportunity to further enhance inter-operability while also enhancing deterrence," the US military said. Pyongyang, which has criticised the training as "provocative" and a "preparation for war", will be incensed. In what is seen as a further effort to grab Washington's attention and deliver a message to Japan after Tokyo launched a spy satellite last wk designed to keep tabs on N Korea, Pyongyang test-fired its 3rd anti-ship missile this year. Unlike the previous 2 tests that flew into the Sea of Japan, Japan initially said yesterday's missile landed in the sea about 60km off N Korea's W coast towards China but later played down the incident by refusing to confirm it. US State Dept rep Richard Boucher said yesterday Washington had imposed sanctions against a N Korean firm and a Pakistani company for swapping missile components in exchange for expertise in developing a nuclear program. Pakistan has vehemently denied the allegations. SK pres urges parl to approve troop dispatch to Iraq Seoul (AFP). Pres Roh Moo-Hyun urged S Koreans to back his pledge to send troops to Iraq, saying support for the US now was essential to resolving the N Korean nulear crisis. "For a peaceful solution to the N Korea nuclear issue, solid S Korea-US cooperation is very important," the president said in a speech to the Nat'l Assembly to rally support for the dispatch of 700 non-combattants to Iraq. Roh's backing for the war has triggered the biggest challenge to his administration since he took office in Feb. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in opposition to the dispatch of troops to back the US-led campaign and Roh's own Millennium Democratic Party is deeply split. Opinion polls show some 80% of S Koreans oppose the war. N Korea, in a deepening standoff with the US over its nuclear weapons drive, has condemned Roh's backing for the war. Roh said it was in S Korea's interest to back Washington now, not because it was a principled act, but because the nation would need US support for a peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis. Lawmakers have twice put off voting on Roh's motion to send troops, and were expected to put the motion to a vote either later Wed or on Thu. Rho said his rationale for sending troops was to protect S Korea from war triggered by the stand-off over N Koreans nuclear weapons ambitions. Washington has said it is seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis triggered nearly 6 m ago but has not ruled out the military option. N Korea says it will be the next target of a US attack one the Iraqi war is over. "As you have seen in the Iraqi situation, the US will not make its decision on the N Korean nuclear issue in line with principles," said Roh. However, he said as long as S Korea opposes an attack on the N, "there will be no war on the Korean peninsula." Karbala. US SURROUNDS KARBALA! US forces have encircled the holy Shi'ite city of Karbala, securing all major exit routes in the face of only light Iraqi opp'n. Cmdrs of the 3rd Inf had expected a day-long battle to seize the perimeter of the city, just 110 km SW of Baghdad. But in the end the operation was completed within 3 hrs. Rather than tackle Iraqi fighters who might be positioned further inside Karbala, US forces are instead continuing their drive on the Iraqi capital. US forces "secure" Karbala: report Doha. US forces have launched a 2-pronged assault on Iraqi troops on each side of the Euphrates River, S of Baghdad. US forces have encircled the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Karbala, securing all major exit routes in the face of only light Iraqi opposition, and are now advancing further north. Commanders of the US 3rd Infantry had expected a daylong battle to seize the perimeter of the city, just 110 kilometres SW of Baghdad. But in the end the operation was completed within 3 hours. Military sources say rather than tackle Iraqi fighters who might be positioned further inside Karbala, US forces are instead continuing their drive on the Iraqi capital. Military officials had previously said that Karbala, which is believed to have been defended by Rep Guard units, is the last major hurdle on the road to Baghdad. The US attack follows days of intensive bombing of the Republican Guard's Medina, Baghdad, Hammurabi and Al Nida divisions. The Rep Guards are regarded as Iraq's best trained, best armed and most loyal forces. General Richard Myers, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said attacks from the air and ground have reduced the combat capability of 2 Rep Guard divisions by more than half. US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld said: "They are being attacked from the air. They're being pressured from the ground. And in good time, they won't be there." US prepared to pay "very high price" Qatar/Washington. The US is prepared to pay a "very high price" in coalition casualties to capture Baghdad and oust Saddam Hussein, a senior US Centcom official said yesterday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US casualties in the 13-day-old Iraq war had so far been "fairly" light. He compared the situation to World War II when "there would be nights when we'd lose 1000 people". But he said the time may be coming "when things are going to be much more shocking" for US forces in Iraq. The warning came as the US military investigated 2 incidents in 24 hours in which jittery American troops shot and killed Iraqi civilians. In the first, at least 7 Iraqi women and children were killed when the driver of their van failed to stop at a checkpoint nr Najaf, central Iraq. Hours later, US marines killed an unarmed Iraqi nr Shatra when he drove a utility fast towards a roadblock. US Centcom said initial reports indicated the soldiers nr Najaf had acted properly. A rep blamed the deaths on Iraq's guerilla tactics and its practice of using women and children as shields. The incidents came days after 4 American soldiers were killed at a checkpoint by a suicide bomber in a taxi. Navy officer Captain Frank Thorp said Iraq had an apparent strategy to "challenge us at checkpoints, which has caused us to be on our toes and ensure that these are not suicide bombers... so the blood of this incident is on the regime of Saddam Hussein". Marines who shot the Iraqi driver in the 2nd incident said they thought they were under attack. "I thought it was a suicide bomb," one said. The incidents have fuelled concern in coalition ranks that the battle to win over the Iraqi people could become more difficult as the civilian toll mounts. Washington. US RESCUES POW! American troops have rescued a 19 yo female soldier held POW in Iraq since she and other members of her unit were ambushed on Mar 23. Pte Jessica Lynch went MIA 9 days ago with 11 other US soldiers from the 507th Maint Co when their unit was ambushed nr Nasiriyah after "taking a wrong turn". 5 other members of her unit were shown on Iraqi TV. Lynch had been listed as missing, but was ID-ed by the Pentagon today as a POW. POW rescued in Nasiriyah: US Doha. US military officials say their troops have rescued a US Army soldier captured in Iraq. The officials and members of the woman's family in the US have identified the soldier as Jessica Lynch, 19, from Palestine, W Virginia. Ms Lynch's relatives in the US says that, although in hospital, she is "alive and well". However, CNN reported that Ms Lynch suffered multiple gunshot wounds during the rescue. Her condition was said to be stable. Jim Wilkinson, a rep for US commander General Tommy Franks, says Lynch was rescued about midnight Iraqi time from a hospital in the S Iraqi town of Nasiriyah. It was in Nasiriyah that 5 members of the US 507th Maintenance Company went missing and were later shown on Iraqi state television on Mar 23, provoking US outrage. White House rep Suzy DeFrancis says Pres George W Bush was informed of the rescue in an afternoon briefing by Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld. His reaction was "that's great", DeFrancis said, quoting the Pres. Temp set to soar in Iraq at wk's end: forecasters London. Much of Iraq is set to see the 1st really hot spell of the y by the coming weekend, although there is less likelihood of further sandstorms, Brit weather forecasters said. Forecasters with the domestic news agency Press Association said temperatures were likely to rise to about 38 degrees Celsius by Fri, and to hit 47 degrees Celsius during the weekend. The hot weather is expected to make conditions much worse for both sides in the brutal war now unfolding in Iraq. "This is the 1st major heatwave of the season but it looks more intense than is usual for this time of year," Michael Dukes at the PA WeatherCentre said. "It will be a dry heat and there is no indication that the sandstorms will return any time soon because the wind is coming from a different direction. "We would expect temperatures to drop back down early next week," he said. Did the US defence secretary get it wrong? Editorial (The Guardian). "If Donald Rumsfeld were the Brit defence secretary, the House of Commons would be demanding his resignation -- and baying for his blood. But he holds that position in the US administration, so his job is quite safe. Even though he is the architect of the chaos in this war ... "This war wasn't only unnecessary. It was rushed into with inadequate forces and technical back-up. It has now been revealed that Mr Rumsfeld was told 6 times by his military chiefs that many more troops were needed. He ignored them .. All the miscalculations, arrogance and stupidity come from political leaders, secure in their comfortable offices and homes ... There must come a day of reckoning for those responsible." Wall Street Journal Editorial, Apr 1 "An unbending rule of Washington life is that the one thing critics can never forgive you for is being right. That is worth keeping in mind amid the obloquy now being heaped on Mr Rumsfeld ... "Mr Rumsfeld is a payback target now precisely because he bucked the military status quo. He has fought for more (and smarter) defence spending against a Congress that would rather build more highways and subsidise more corn fields ... He has challenged the army brass to do as well as the Marines in introducing technology and mobility into their strategic doctrine ... All in all the Rumsfeld plan seems to be succeeding very well." EJ Dionne Jr Washington Post, Apr 1 "It is not good for a Republican administration to be confronting open criticism from military leaders, both current and former, who let it be known that Mr Rumsfeld underestimated how many American troops would be required for this war. He was too convinced, his critics say, by his own theories that American technological prowess made 'boots on the ground' less important. "Mr Rumsfeld resolutely denies this, but no Republican can feel easy about being accused of letting theory get in the way of military realism. That's a criticism Republicans have directed against Democrats since the Vietnam war. God forbid that Republicans should look like impractical intellectuals or overly confident management gurus who ignore the experience of the generals." Tim Hames Times, Mar 31 "Mr Rumsfeld has been attacked for favouring a 'fast and light' approach to war and arrogantly disregarding Pentagon advice. Those who admire the defence secretary are meanwhile whispering that the 'steady and heavy' formula backed by General Tommy Franks is typical of the conservatism and inertia of the military ... "This debate is not only premature but preposterous. It also fits a pattern. At precisely this stage in the Kosovo and Afghanistan adventures, the same sentiments were being expressed ... None of this, though, will be of consequence in the end. The core assumptions on which military action was launched have not been disproved and neither 'fast and light' nor 'clean and kind' have been discredited." Maureen Dowd NY Times, Mar 30 "The incoherence of the battle plan -- which some retired generals say is 3 infantry divisions short -- has made the guts and stamina and ingenuity of American forces even more remarkable. Rummy was beginning to erase his fingerprints. 'The war plan,' he said, 'is Tom Franks's war plan.' Tommy, we hardly knew ye ... Rummy was too busy shaking his fist at Syria and Iran to worry about the shortage of troops in Iraq. As one administration official marvelled: 'Hasn't the guy bitten off enough this week?'" Emperor George Washington (The Guardian). This war is un-American. That's an unlikely word to use, I know: it has an unhappy provenance, associated forever with the McCarthyite hunt for reds under the beds, purging anyone suspected of "un-American activities". Besides, for many outside the US, the problem with this war is not that it's un-American -- but all too American. But that does an injustice to the US and its history. It assumes that the Bush administration represents all America, at all times, when in fact the opposite is true. For this administration, and this war, are not typical of the US. On the contrary, on almost every measure, they are exceptions to the American rule. The US was, after all, a country founded in a rebellion against imperialism. Born in a war against a hated colonial oppressor, in the form of George III, it still sees itself as the instinctive friend of all who struggle to kick out a foreign occupier -- and the last nation on earth to play the role of outside ruler. Not for it the Greek, Roman or Brit path. For most of the last century, the US steered well clear of the institutions of formal empire (the Philipines was a lamentable exception). Responsibility was thrust upon it after 1945 in Germany and Japan. But as a matter of deliberate intent, America sought neither viceroys ruling over faraway lands nor a world map coloured with the stars and stripes. Influence, yes; puppets and proxies, yes. But formal imperial rule, never. Until now. George Bush has cast off the restraint which held back America's 42 previous presidents -- including his father. Now he is seeking, as an unashamed objective, to get into the empire business, aiming to rule a post-Saddam Iraq directly through an American governor-general, the retired soldier Jay Garner. As the Guardian reported yesterday, Washington's plan for Baghdad consists of 23 ministries -- each one to be headed by an American. This is a form of foreign rule so direct we have not seen its like since the last days of the Brit empire. It represents a break with everything America has long believed in. Talk like this is not that comfortable in America just now; you'd be denounced fairly swiftly as a Saddam apologist or a traitor. The limits of acceptable discussion have narrowed sharply, just as civil liberties have taken a hammering as part of the post-9/11 war on terror. You might fall foul of the Patriot Act, or be denounced for insufficient love of country. There is something McCarthyite about the atmosphere which has spawned this war, making Democrats too fearful to be an opposition worthy of the name and closing down nat'l debate. And things don't get much more un-American than that. Marine who said no to killing on his conscience LA (The Guardian). The 1st American conscientious objector from the Iraq war will give himself up at a marine base in California this morning. He said he believed the war was "immoral because of the deception involved by our leaders". Stephen Eagle Funk, 20, a marine reserve who was due to be sent for combat duty, is currently on "unauthorised absence" from his unit. He faces a possible court martial and time in military prison for his action. Mr Funk, who is originally from Seattle and is half Filipino, was approached by a recruiting officer last year. At the time, he said, he was depressed after dropping out of a biology course at the University of S Cal in LA. He was working part-time for a vet and in a pet shop. His family and friends were surprised by his decision, he said, because they had known him to have liberal political views and not to have been interested in the military. Mr Funk said many recruits were envious of those who were being sent to the Gulf. "They would say things like, 'Kill a raghead for me -- I'm so jealous.'" As a Catholic who attended mass most Suns during training, he eventually decided to take his concerns to the chaplain. "He said, 'It's a lot easier if you just give in and don't question authority.' He quoted the Bible at me and said, 'Jesus says to carry a sword.'" At shooting practice, although he scored well, the instructor told him he had an attitude problem: "I was a little pissed off and I said, 'I think killing people is wrong.' That was the crystallising moment because I had never said it out loud before. It was such a relief." He became concerned about the reasons for the conflict in Iraq. "This war is very immoral because of the deception involved by our leaders. It is very hypocritical." He is opposed to the use of war as a way of solving problems. Mr Funk, who is being counselled by conscientious objectors from the 1991 Gulf war, said he had gone public to try to dissuade other young people who had not thought through their reasons for joining the forces. This morning, accompanied by his lawyer and former conscientious objectors from previous wars, he will arrive at his home base in San Jose, change into his uniform and give himself up. We don't understand Iraqis, admits US officer Camp as-Sayliya (The Guardian). 2 wks into the war in Iraq, some senior military commanders are beginning to admit that American understanding of the Arab world is limited and that they still have to convince the Iraqis that they are liberators, not occupiers. In one of the most low-key assessments of the war so far, a high-ranking American officer said it would be "unrealistic" to expect Baghdad to fall within days. "There is a big cultural difference between the US and the Arab world. That makes it hard," said the highly experienced officer, who has been closely involved in the planning of the war. "We Americans are not very good at judging what a totalitarian regime is like, looks like and acts like. There is an info psychology front that we are trying to push but we are probably not as sophisticated about it as we would want to be." The officer described the Iraqi regime as "resilient" but said it relied on immense pressure to maintain loyalty. Iraqis would turn against their govt "sooner or later", he said. In a rare departure from the intense campaign run by the Pentagon and Centcom in Qatar to present the motives for war in the best light, he accepted that many Iraqis were still not convinced that the US and Brit forces on the ground were coming as liberators. He compared the Iraqis living under Saddam Hussein's regime to the Germans in the 1930s living under Adolf Hitler and said that in both countries the extent of repression and a sense of nat'lism both severely limited resistance. Intercepts of comms between Rep Guard units have indicated they are being weakened by the intensive ground and air assault. But the regime was not about to collapse, the officer said. Many analysts expected the Shias in the S of Iraq in particular to welcome the arrival of Brit and American forces because of the persecution they have suffered at the hands of the regime. But the south has provided some of the stiffest resistance of the war so far. The officer also appeared to distance himself from the increasingly critical vocabulary used by generals giving the daily briefings at Centcom, who have begun to label Iraqi paramilitaries as "terrorist death squads". "We have to watch about falling into the trap of a certain type of language that describes things," he said. He said the decision to rush armoured forces N towards Baghdad in the first hours of the ground invasion was an example of commanders taking one of the "windows of opportunity" sometimes presented during a war. "You will have to let historians judge how all that worked out. It was an attempt to take advantage of a very interesting window of opportunity that opened up. I salute the man that took it." Al-Jazeera most sought-after on the web LA (AP). In spite of being mostly knocked offline, the Web site of Arab satellite TV news network Al-Jazeera was among the most sought-after on the Internet last wk. The Web portal Lycos reported that "Al-Jazeera" and variant spellings became its top search term last wk, with 3 times more searches than "sex." Al-Jazeera drew intense interest from Web surfers after it carried Iraqi TV footage of dead and captive US soldiers in Iraq. US television networks had decided not to air footage of the corpses. Al-Jazeera later honoured a US request to stop until families could be notified, a statement from the network said. The Internet's leading search engine, Google, said "Al-Jazeera" was the term that showed the greatest increase in the wk ending March 31. Google does not report absolute rankings of search terms. Hackers also homed in on Al-Jazeera, bringing down its Web site early last wk in what the Web host called an attack characterised by a flood of bogus traffic. Hackers calling themselves the "Freedom Cyber Force Militia" later diverted visitors to the English site to a page with a US flag. The managing editor of Al-Jazeera's English site, Joanne Tucker, said steps were being taken to make the Web pages impervious to hacking attempts. US internet users are visiting foreign sites in huge numbers for news on the war, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project released Tue. In the conflict's 1st 6 days, 10% of Americans who use the Internet visited the sites of foreign news organisations, the study said. This compared to 32% who visited Web sites of US television networks for war news. The telephone poll surveyed 999 Internet users and had a 4% margin of error. Besides Al-Jazeera and Arabia.com, there are plenty of English-language news sites with an Arab perspective. Jennifer Salan at the Arab American Institute in Washington said they include Lebanon's privately owned Daily Star newspaper, as well as The Jordan Times and Saudi Arabia's Arab News, both govt-owned. As the Web troubles mounted last wk, Al-Jazeera launched a subscription service that sends brief news items in Arabic or English as text messages to cell phones. Text messaging is a popular form of comm in Europe and Asia, but has yet to catch on in the US. The service was not accepting subscriptions to US cell phone numbers. Ankara. POWELL SEES TURKEYS! US Sec of State Colin ("What is this shit they want me to tell the Security Council?!") Powell has met his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to mend ties that were strained in the run-up to GWII. Just minutes before Powell arrived at the Turkish For Min'y, riot police arrested 50 anti-war protesters. Powell told reporters on the plane to Ankara that the US wants Turkey to support US military operations in the region. Turkey frustrated the US last m when its parliament narrowly voted down a US request to allow 62,000 US soldiers to operate from bases in the S of the country, to open a N front on Iraq. Powell arrives in Turkey to seek backing for Iraq war Ankara (AFP). US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Turkey on a mission to win Ankara's support for US military operations in N Iraq, after rows over the war against Baghdad damaged the relationship of the NATO allies. Relations between the US and Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO, have deteriorated since the Turkish parliament last month narrowly rejected US plans to deploy 62,000 troops here to open a N front in the war. Powell told journalists travelling on his plane that Washington was no longer asking Turkey to approve the deployment of the US troops on its soil, but now wanted Ankara to support US military operations in N Iraq. But he said there was still a "level of disappointment" in the US over Turkey's failure to allow the deployment to go ahead. The Turkish parliament's decision was criticised last wk by US Deputy Def Sec Paul Wolfowitz as a "big mistake", which he said had made the war in Iraq longer than necessary. In Ankara, Powell was expected to continue hammering home Washington's opposition to Turkish troops crossing over into northern Iraqi territory, an area controlled by Kurdish forces allied to the US. Ankara fears that Kurds there could declare an independent state, setting a dangerous example to its own large Kurdish population just across the border in SEern Turkey, which has only just started to recover from a separatist rebellion that left more than 36,000 people dead since the mid-1980s. Washington, for its part, is anxious to prevent any confrontation emerging between Turkey and the Kurds, which would provide an unwelcome distraction from its main war aim of toppling Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein. On a rather hastily-arranged trip Powell is to meet the Russian and German foreign ministers, Igor Ivanov and Joschka Fischer, 2 of the strongest opponents to the US-led war in Iraq. Flu virus may be more contagious than thought: experts HK. The pneumonia disease SARS may be caused by a virus that is tougher and more infective than was initially thought, experts said. These worries have been sparked by a sudden cluster of atypical infections in HK, which accounts for nearly a 3rd of the more than 1,600 cases worldwide of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). SARS has been blamed on a coronavirus, in the same family as the common cold virus. An unrelated virus called a paramyxovirus has been found in some samples taken from patients and may also play a role. Until now, the sketchy data about SARS suggested the pathogen is not hugely contagious -- certainly unlike the flu virus, for instance, which infects people quickly and efficiently. The reason: hotspots in the SARS epidemic are restricted to several countries and to an "inner circle" comprising victims, health workers caring for them and close relatives. That suggests the virus is caught through close contact, such as by inhaling heavy droplets from someone close by, who sneezes or coughs. But this reassuring assumption may change, specialists said. The outbreak of SARS may have taken on a "new form," David Heymann, head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) communicable diseases unit said Tue, referring to a cluster of cases in a 33-storey apartment block in HK's Kowloon district. A total of 185 residents have come down with SARS's flu-like symptoms, prompting the complex, Amoy Gardens, to be placed in quarantine. Vertical transmission like this has sparked worries that the SARS agent could be spread by touch; inhaled at some distance via fine airborne droplets; or possibly water-borne, carried in waste-water pipes for instance. Antoine Danchin, a HK-based French microbiologist, said the Kowloon cluster showed SARS could spread "at the same rate of a simple cold virus, the difference of course being that the symptoms are far worse". Mr Danchin, who is head of the Pasteur Institute's research unit at Hong Kong University, noted that coronaviruses can survive outside the body for 2 or 3 hours. Mr Danchin said HK, because of its great population density ran bigger risks of transmission than elsewhere. But if the SARS virus turns out to be temperature-sensitive, its spread there could be halted by the coming of warmer weather, he said. A study published on Mon in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by Toronto doctors who investigated the 1st 10 Canadian cases of SARS said "droplet secretions or direct or indirect contact" were the likeliest modes of transmission. A team of University of HK doctors highlighted one of the most baffling aspects of SARS -- some people fell sick after apparently minor contact with an infected person while others who were closely exposed to a patient remained healthy. They were struck, though, that the wife of a patient who stayed in the same hotel room as him while he was infectious did not fall sick, which raised important questions about transmission and individual vulnerability. SARS kills another 9 in China: officials Beijing. China says the mysterious flu-like virus known as SARS has killed 9 more people in the S province of Guangdong, taking the nationwide toll from the disease to at least 43. Chinese officials say he disease, which originated in Guangdong, has also infected 361 people there, taking the number of infections officially in China to well over a thousand. Earlier today, Canada announced 2 deaths from SARS, bringing to 6 the number of deaths there. Until the latest deaths announced in China, HK has been the epicentre of the outbreak, with nearly 700 cases and 16 deaths. Melbourne. MEL TO GET WATER BANS! Vic Prem Steve Bracks has given in-principle support for the intro of permanent water restrictions in MEL to help achieve a 15% water saving by 2010. Anything to help the rice farmers! Mr Bracks says new water regulations are being considered and aspects of current Stage One restrictions could remain in MEL even when water storages return to adequate levels. MEL's water storage are currently 43.2% full, and the city faces increased water restrictions if Apr's rainfall is below average. AMP sells the farm Sydney. AMP is about to surrender its title as AUS's largest landholder, yesterday putting its vast N AUS cattle holdings up for sale by tender. The financial services giant said it had decided to sell Stanbroke Pastoral Co because of "significant expressions of interest from a number of parties, at a time when market conditions for a possible divestment are favourable". Large property holdings are being keenly sought, with livestock prices having risen 20% immediately after this year's rains. Likely bidders for AMP's holdings, valued as high as $550 million, include AUS's No. 2 cattle owner, AUS Agriculture Co, Kerry Packer's Consolidated Pastoral Co, and Heytesbury Beef. The sale comes as AMP's other property interests, held in statutory funds, are under attack. Westfield Trust and Centro Properties have taken 20% stakes in AMP Shopping Centre Trust, and Gandal has taken a 15% stake in AMP Diversified Trust. AMP has taken other action to free $1 bn of funds, to support its UK life operation Pearl. This includes selling its credit card business to American Express, and last wk selling its UK home loan portfolio to Newcastle Permanent. An insurance analyst said agricultural holdings were fashionable in the 1980s but had fallen from favour, partly because they were difficult to value. Sydney. MARKETS! The ASX finished a little higher today, with the All Ords closing up 3 pts to 2,847. +++ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS 9 pm Saddam Hussein in a statement tonight said he'd only committed 1/3 of his force so far, and the Coal'n advance on Baghdad would fail. It's been a PR disaster for the Pentagon. Iraqi authorities say at least a doz civilians have been killed in Hillah, S of the capital. A local hosp said 33 civilians were killed and 300 injured. There's also a report 15 were killed in truck attacked by an Apache chopper. The Red Cross has confirmed dozens of civilian deaths in the area, and about 280 injuries -- almost exactly as claimed by Iraq. They describe the scene as "horrific", with civilians killed by American cluster bombs. Iraqi TV showed cluster bomb frags, said to be found around Hillah. The news will fuel Iraqi anger and int'l concerns about civilian casualties in the "quick and clean" war. Gen Brooks said Iraq "is a very threatening environment" in explaining why the US rules of engagement were changed to allow troops to shoot civilians first and check later. Bartalah. Iraqi TV has shown civilians killed and injured in a Christian village. It says a large proportion of the pop were cas in US attacks. Al Jazeera says 21 civilians were killed and 75 wounded in the Bartalah region, E of Mosul. 9.30 pm Analysts say the Coal'n forces have made a "very significant move". If it's true they've by-passed Karbala and occupied parts of Kut, then the Coal'n has penetrated the first ring of defences around Baghdad. They will now push ahead to the outskirts of the capital and wait for the 100,000 re-enforcements already on the way. The initiative is now with the Coal'n. The main supply routes need Karbala and Kut need to be occupied. The Coal'n need to clear Iraqi forces out to at least mortar range. The fact that Karbala was by-passed so easily probably means Iraqi division there was severely hit in aerial bombardment. The US says Jessica Lynch was found at a hosp in Nasiriyah and 11 other un-ID'ed bodies were also found there. The Iraqi Info Min says because Rumsfeld has told so many lies, he is no longer being taken seriously in the US. His comments came after several articles appeared in the US that were strongly critical of the Def Sec and his alleged "interference" in military planning. 10 pm Simon Henderson, Saddam's Biographer, speaking from London. Talking about Saddam's failure to appear last night on Iraqi TV. Saddam seldom makes public appearances. TV appearances are seldom live. Very few of his appearance to date in the war have been him. Maybe some were recored wks or m before. Full marks to Iraqis for subterfuge. They probably recorded many options to be shown at later dates. He likes a bit of mystery about his appearance. He likes to be the father of Iraq, but doesn't like to be seen. He's paranoid the Americans will drop a bunker buster on his head if he appears in public. He would like to go down fighting and be seen on TV doing it. He might take the exile option and think of coming back later as the "great saviour" later. But the Americans wont allow that. Henderson's surprised about how loyal the Iraqi officials are. Not so much the close ones. But he expected perhaps an ambassador abroad to defect. Saddam has savvy advisors with a "world view". He himself doesn't have a world view. Saddam has been playing the Islamic card since the end of GWI. It doesn't ring true in the Middle E. Baathist thugs have murdered Shi'ite religious figures. There's a ruckus in AFIC. The Islamic federation of AUS. PM Howard has been invited to a function, but some Muslims say the PM is likely to try to exploit it for propaganda purposes. They want him un-invited. Others say they need to make contacts with the govt. It is the right time to talk to the PM about the war, they say. Some groups have threatened to withdraw from the Federation if the PM attends. But his appearance looks set to go ahead. 10.10 pm 6 have been killed and a doz injured in Davao, S Mindanao, Philippines. There's been a bomb blast in the S port city. It was later said at least 14 were killed and 13 wounded. 6 died on spot, and 14 were later confirmed dead. The victims were mainly cigarette vendors and passers-by. Police had been expecting attack based on intel. The MILF have denied the attack. Police and officials have strong evidence the group was responsible for a prev attack at the local air port. They suspect a sub-group of the MILF were responsible this time. The All Ords closed up 3 pts to 2,847. The AUD is trading around 60.30 US c. The Nikkei closed up 1%. Wall St closed up 1%. The FTSE was up 1.1% a short time ago. Gold is trading around $US330/oz. 10.30 pm Peter Lloyd. Things are moving at a rapid pace. The US has attacked all 3 div of the Rep Guard S of Baghdad, dropping daisy cutter bombs. The Baghdad Div has been completely destroyed by USMC, according to Gen Brooks. The US 3rd Inf will attack the Medina Div. Brooks said attacks would continue for the "next several days", but could end sooner, he wouldn't say. Centcom believe they have inflicted heavy damage on at least 2 of the Rep Guard divisions. The Coal'n is now approx 32 km from the capital. The advance to the capital will probably beat its 48 hr time-line. POW Jessica Lynch has been rescued. The action came just in the nick of time, to divert attention from growing civilian casualties and cluster-bomb attacks on Iraqi villages. The daring rescue was announced at Centcom, by Gen Brooks. A US special forces chopper flew in to rescue the 19 yo POW at midnight. The operation was carried out in total darkness, using night vision equipment. Footage was shown at the Centcom briefing. Lynch was snatched from the appropriately-named Saddam hosp nr Nasiriyah. Brooks said there was no shooting inside the hosp, which he said was an enemy HQ. But there was a fight from the Marines getting in and out. Outside the city, Marines covered the operation with a noisy diversion. Lynch had a broken arm and legs, and gunshot wounds. She's expected to live. Brooks said a tip-off came from someone in the hosp. He said 11 other bodies were found there, and some of them are Iraqis. Some of them are thought to be from a group taken POW. About a doz Americans went missing from a convoy that got lost when it took a wrong turn into Nasiriyah. The US calls this an "ambush". The bodies have been air-lifted out for forensic ID. The 11 bodies came from both the hosp morgue and shallow graves outside the hosp. At least 2 of the dead are Americans, says Brooks. 10.40 pm Geoff Thompson, S of Baghdad. The Marine artillery battery he's with was not used at all, today. There was some enemy mortars and shooting this morning, but his group moved position. They are covering the advance to Al Kut, and have captured a key bridge across the Tigris. They have secured the important rd "Route 6" NW to Baghdad, on E side of the R. They've cut off the Rep Guards so they can't get back to Baghdad. They hear the Rep Guard keeps backing off, keeps running. There is some concern about small-scale guerrilla tactics used by the enemy. But there was jubilation here today about the rescue of POW Lynch. It's a boost to morale. The Americans don't like hearing of KIA or POWs. Elsewhere, on the 2nd pincer, troops are surrounding Karbala. They moved past a choke point between a huge reservoir and the city. The "Karbala gap" -- about 2 km wide. The 3rd Inf went past the gap earlier. They barely got any artillery fire from Rep Guard in the area. Cmdrs say they destroyed nearly all the opp'n there. The plan to take Baghdad. The Coal'n will most likely use the model of Basra, say analysts. They will surround the city, allow some people out who want to leave. They will find the HQ of the city's defenders, and attack them with precision bombing. With the help of CIA undercover agents they will make quick raids using special forces. The US will use the same guerrilla tactics they complain about on the Iraqi side are outside the Geneva Convention. Snatch raids to catch top officials. Assassinations to "decapitate" the command structures. Within the past hr, Mr Powell says Turkey has agreed to allow the US to use Turkish soil to re-supply their forces in N Iraq. The proposed post-Saddam Gen Jay Garner govt will have 2 doz ministries, each headed by an American. Each will have an Iraqi advisor. It will transition to Iraqi civilian govt within about 90 days. Critics say the US-led govt will not have the legitimacy of a UN admin, and won't attract int'l funding needed for rebuilding. That's OK -- use the Iraqi oil money! Iraq has about $150 bn in outstanding debt. 11 pm Centcom briefing for today. Gen Brooks indicated the Coal'n is now making "real progress". His briefing was up-beat. 5,400 POW's have been captured according to Centcom. 5 STIX missiles were found in the Al Fao peninsula. These are probably what has been fired into Kuwait. Significant number of Iraqis are helping the Coal'n to ID military targets. The Iraqi Info Min says Iraq has some units S of Najaf area and nr Karbala. They have attacked Coal'n forces and destroyed 3 tanks and 8 APC's. Iraqi commandos managed to gun down 1 Apache helicopter that was seen falling down & burning. The commandos also destroyed 9 APC's. Centcom has blamed Iraq for using the cover of historical buildings in Nasiriyah for cover. But Iraq has complained it was trying to fend off low-flying US aircraft that threatening to crack important structures. Brit tanks have continued intermittent fire on targets on the S edge of Basra. Civilians leaving the city have mixed feelings. Some just want to get away, ASAP. Others say they don't want soldiers fighting on their land. The city has been surrounded for the past wk. Umm Qasr. Fuel tankers are coming out of the port. Children are jumping on the back of many lorries. It's a bit of a game for them, say local cmdrs. After 3 of 4 days of trying to win the hearts and minds of the locals, they now want to wring their necks. There's a more relaxed air in the town, they say. The water supply in town has reached almost 90% of the population. It was cut from Basra a wk back. Is it the kind of place to walk around the back streets at night? No. Life has improved a lot over the past few days, say reporters. They still see columns of black smoke rising up nr the city from time-to-time. There was a significant artillery attack on Basra last night. The Brit big guns -- Challenger 2 tanks -- were firing most of the night. Bright flares lit the night sky. They were used to illuminate specific buildings in the city. The Brits say their fire was aimed only at the C of the city. They say their target was ID-ed as an intel building, were Saddam's loyal officials were thought to be located. All night the tank crews kept getting comms about the Iraqi Air Force being prepared to bomb their position with chem weapons. Their gas masks are always at the ready. They say the Iraqis were hiding in civilian compounds and they fired on them only when they came out. They say there were no civilian casualties. ---------------------------------------- Thu, 03 Apr 2003. US closes on Baghdad Blackhawk down French aid UN to discuss NK Bombing Army kills and wounds refugees Total war on terror Hijack Downer falls in behind US WHO warning Killer flu New AUS flu case Alex speaks Tourism whammy People smuggler War on grass MEL pop incr Continuous war news Mumaniyah. US CLOSES ON BAGHDAD! Closing to within 50 km of Baghdad, US forces have seized 2 bridges over Iraq's major rivers and swept past battered Rep Guard units. A US general says 1 of the key Guard divisions defending the city of Kut has been destroyed. The US Army's 3rd Inf Div and the US 1st Marines EF launched a 2-pronged attack toward Baghdad. Both have reported breakthroughs as units entered the so-called red zone within range of guns and missiles defending the capital. Washington. BLACKHAWK DOWN! A US def official says an army Blackhawk has been shot down over C Iraq, killing 7 of the 11 troops on board. He says the transport was apparently brought down by small arms fire nr Karbala, S of Baghdad. The region's been the site of heavy fighting as US troops move to within 50 km of the capital. Helicopters have been at the C of several deadly incidents during the war. [Another report says a US F/A-18 was also shot down; it was hit by an Iraqi SAM. The Navy pilot was killed]. Paris. FRENCH AID! The first batch of French humanitarian aid is on its way to Iraq -- with a convoy of trucks packed with 60 tonnes of blankets and food setting out from the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Paris-based aid group Solidarite says the landmark's been chosen as a symbol for the mission. The aid's funded by donations totalling nearly $A300,000 that's poured in over the past wk. For Min Dominique de Villepin says Coal'n forces in Iraq must take responsibility to ensure aid gets into the country. NY. UN TO DISCUSS NK! The UN Sec Council agreed today to meet next wk to discuss the NK nuclear crisis for the 1st time. The Apr 19 meeting will fall more than 3 m after NK first announced its intention to withdraw from the Nuc Non-Prolif Treaty. It follows lobbying from the US, which has been pressing condemnation for NK's failure to meet its internat'l obligations to prevent the spread of nuclear arms. It's OK for Pakistan and India, of course! London. BOMBING! A small bomb has exploded outside the Brit consulate-general in Ankara. The Brit FO says the blast occurred nr the visa section of the building shortly after midnight local time. It caused minor damage but no injuries. There have been a series of anti-war protests in Istanbul in recent days by those opposed to Brit and US-led military action in Iraq. Gaza City. ARMY KILLS AND WOUNDS REFUGEES! A man has been shot dead and 6 other people were wounded, 2 of them seriously, when the Israeli army raided the refugee camp of Raffia. Palestinian security sources say the 18 yo man died after being shot during the raid. Manila. TOTAL WAR ON TERROR! Philippines Pres Gloria MaCapagal Arroyo has ordered total war on terrorism after the latest bomb attack in the S ravaged Davao City's bustling port area. The blast killed at least 16 people, incl 2 children and a nun. The country, 1 of Washington's biggest supporters in the war on terrorism, has already been on high alert, which officials say prevented a higher death toll. Havana. HIJACK! The Cuban govt says a hijacked Cuban ferry with 50 people on board is drifting in internat'l waters off Cuba and its hijackers are demanding fuel to reach the US. It's the 2nd hijacking in 2 days, after a Cuban armed with a grenade hijacked an airliner to Fla. The Cuban govt says the latest hijackers have threatened to throw hostages overboard. The FBI is sending hostage negotiators out to the boat. Canberra. DOWNER FALLS IN BEHIND US! For Min Alex Downer will push AUS's case for new Sec Council resolutions on post-war Iraq when he meets with UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan today. AUS wants the UN to take a leading role in post-war Iraq. At least, that's the cover story. But first it must convince the Americans and the permanent members of the Sec Council that refused to back military strikes to disarm Iraq. He told ABC TV it's the view of the "Coalition" that there will have to be new Sec Council resolutions. HK. WHO WARNING! The WHO is urging travellers to avoid HK and China's neighbouring Guangdong prov, where 100s more cases of SARS have been reported. It's the first warning the UN body has issued for health reasons, with previous travel warnings concerning war or other conflicts. WHO authorities say they don't think the spread of the disease has peaked. Canberra. KILLER FLU! 3 patients in NSW, WA and the NT remain under observation for suspected SARS. Melbourne. NEW AUS FLU CASE! A 3 yo girl has been placed in isolation in the Goulburn Valley Hosp, after she showed signs of respiratory distress. She had recently arrived from Canada. In other SARS news, some Vic grammar school students have been ordered home from S China. They will return home via Tokyo, not HK. Canberra. ALEX SPEAKS! For Min Alex Downer says 2 Aussies detained in camp X-Ray in Cuba, accused of terrorism links will be detained indefinitely. He was passing the message along after meetings with his bosses in Washington. Adel man David Hicks and SYD man Mamdouh Habib are being held without charge at the US facility on suspicion of links with al-Qaeda. Mr Downer says he didn't have permission to raise their cases during talks with Pres George Bush Jr and other Whitehouse officials in Washington. Brisbane. TOURISM WHAMMY! Aussie inbound tourism faces a double whammy with the Iraqi war and SARS. AUS Tourism Export Council dep MD Greg Thomas says a survey shows the Iraq War has and will continue to impact significantly on the ind'y. Mr Thomas says it's still too early to ascertain the impact of SARS, although in Asian markets it could be greater than the uncertainty caused by the war. Perth. PEOPLE SMUGGLER! A judge says a 53 yo Middle E man who helped another man travel to AUS had traded in human misery. The accused, originally from Iraq, has been sentenced to 2.5 y jail for people smuggling. In Nov 2000, he met another man at KL airport and told him he'd have to pay $US1,000 to be taken to Indonesia. In sentencing him, Judge Jenkins told the accused he'd crossed the line and traded in human misery. That should be left to Qld travel agents! Sydney. WAR ON GRASS! 8 people have been charged following raids on NSW S coast properties that netted $300,000 worth of cannabis. Police say 6 raids were carried out simultaneously on the homes at Mt Warrigal, Albion Pk, and Oak Flats about 9.30 am yesterday. A large sum of cash and elaborate drug cultivation equipment were seized from the properties during the raids. Canberra. MEL POP INCR! MEL's population swelled by more than 50,000 last y while Brisbane continued to record the country's largest annual growth rate. SYD is still the most populous city with 4.2 mn, an increase of nearly 43,000 in the y to Jun 2002. The ABS says Perth has added 20,600 to its population, Adelaide's grown by 6,300, and Hobart has only increased by 740. +++ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS Midnight. IT'S DAY FOURTEEN. In Baghdad, a maternity hospital is thought to have been attacked by Coal'n aircraft in the W of the city. Medical staff are said to be among the dead. 3 doctors on duty at the hosp were wounded. Iraqi TV is reporting there was "several casualties", but gave no further details. Al Jazeera showed pix of internal damage, ceilings down, broken glass, but no people. BBC says "several people" were killed. The US denies all knowledge of the incident. Ted Coppel, nr Karbala. US Marines have moved through a "choke point". It was the most dangerous phase of their move to Baghdad. The Coal'n had thought they would be fired on by Iraqi forces. There was some fire, but US forces quickly moved through. Iraqis were using some historical area as a refuge. The bombing of Baghdad is continuing. Centcom says it's destroyed a major comm centre in the capital. Yemen fighters have just arrived in Baghdad. Secular Iraq has linked up with terror-trained Muslim guerrilla fighters. About 150 of them went to a hotel housing W journalists and said they were there to fight against Blair, Bush and Sharon. They walked through the hotel, brandishing AK-47s and calling on the world's Muslims to rise up and fight for Iraq. Reality check for the Coal'n. There will be no popular uprisings until Saddam Hussein is dead and gone. 0.45 am On a rusting ship several Iraqis are stranded only a short distance from home. They aren't soldiers, but smugglers. They didn't want to reveal the ID to reporters -- the Iraqi govt would kill them or their family. They were caught off the coast when the war started. The capt lives in Basra. He wants the Brits to liberate Basra. The smugglers are now surrounded by Brits in Kuwait. They just want to get home to see their family. Trapped, just a few miles from home. Centcom says on Tue 1,900 missions flown, 800 strike missions. 17 mn meals will be eaten by US troops in Iraq this m. They drink 1.5 mn L of water per day and consume 57 mn L of fuel. 1.11 am The 24 hr bombardment of Baghdad continues. BCC reporters saw 2 B-52's slowly circling to the E of capital. [These were possibly involved in dropping 6 cluster bombs on Rep Guard positions]. A few mins later, 2 jets fighters over the C of city. There was some response from AA units. At least 1 SAM responded. the official line is the Coal'n advances are trivial. "They are manoeuvring in the desert", said the Info Min. They still have not taken a major population centre, he said. After driving around the city, reporters say there are no dug-outs, tanks or fortifications in the capital. It isn't clear how the defence of Baghdad will operate. 4 reporters that were detained in an infamous prison in Baghdad have been released. They say they were not hurt but they could hear other prisoners being beaten or tortured. They were interrogated for 1 wk, and then suddenly released. There were no specific formal charges, by they say they were accused by interrogators of being spies. 1.30 am Dusk in Basra. All seems quiet. At noon, mortar fire was coming from the city, aimed at the Brit checkpoint. The Brits fired back with Challenger tanks, hitting the building they think the fire was coming from. Jets had earlier bombed intel building in the city. More than 90% of the pop are said to have drinking water restored. On the N of the city there's a gap in the Brit line that will allow people and maybe militia to go in and out. In a uni N of Najaf, Coal'n forces say they've have found a mine-making factory. 1.35 am A Navy F-14 Tomcat has crashed in S Iraq. The 2 crew were rescued. 2 am The Coal'n says 50 oil-filled trenches have been fired around Baghdad. Bridges have also been rigged to explode as Coal'n forces advance on the capital. US troops have crossed the "red line" they say may spark a chem or bio attack on Coal'n forces. [In other reports from Centcom and the Pentagon, Saddam is dead and the order to use WMD can not be given]. 2.05 am 6 450-kg cluster bombs dropped by B-52's on Rep Guard positions guarding Baghdad. Each bomb contains 10 "bomblettes" designed to destroy tanks. The Coal'n says it's the first time the weapons have been used in the war. Elsewhere, Iraqis have shown the remains of US cluster bombs they said were dropped in civilian areas in S Iraq. [Later reports said about 100 Iraqi tanks were destoryed in the attack]. Iraq has denied one of its Rep Guard divs has been "destroyed", as claimed by Centcom. The Iraqi Info Min said the claims were "lies and illusions". He claimed the Coal'n forces had lost more men and equipment than it was willing to admit. Some reporters are questioning whether they are unwitting tools of the Coal'n forces, given some info from the Iraqi side has eventually proved out, and some info from Centcom has proved "inaccurate". The info war is part of the battle, they say. 5 am Kurds say they're ready to move forward and take the oil towns of Mosul and Kirkuk. They say their spies in Kirkuk had been rounded up and possibly executed in the past 24 hrs. Iraqi forces had abandoned most positions in Kurdistan and fallen back into Kirkuk. After 10 days of airstrikes on Iraqi forces nr Mosul, they have now withdrawn 7 km closer to the city. From his bunker in Baghdad, Saddam has written an open letter to the Kurds. It was read by the Info Min on Iraqi TV. It's addressed to a Kurdish leader in the N of Iraq. Saddam warned him not to co-operate or surrender to the Coal'n. Both of us have the one country. There is a "danger" in co-operating with the enemy. Do not go ahead on this path. As an honourable nat'list you should fight for your country when attacked. Your manoeuvres have been seen and understood. Co-operation will bring "no honourable result". Analysts interpreted the letter as a possible sign of increasing desperation from the Iraqi regime. It was also possible it was a message to Iraqi forces in the area to stiffen their resistance. [The return message eventually was a suggestion that Saddam quit Baghdad]. 5.30 am CNN says the Iraqi Info Min has been correct about some things that were denied by Centcom -- the destruction of tanks and some casualty numbers. Now he's denying the Coal'n is as close to the capital as Centcom says. CNN concludes the Info Min is trying to portray on Iraqi TV the position the regime wants it's people to believe. But other analysts have indicated Iraqi TV is only visible on its satellite services, and only visible outside the country. Messages from several embeds indicate the 3rd Inf and other units are rapidly advancing to the outskirts of Baghdad. They say they've 1/2-ed their distance from the Iraqi capital since yesterday. Some say they will be on the outskirts of Baghdad by this evening, local time, or possibly early tomorrow morning. The Iraqi govt has appealed on govt TV for the public to turn in coal'n spies operating in Baghdad and elsewhere. The S Korean parliament has approved the deployment of 700 non-combatant medical troops to Iraq. The decision was the subject of large demos in SK in the past wk. About 1,000 protesters hit the streets after the announcement. 5 were arrested. Turkish Cypriots have offered a package, incl land concessions, to their Greek counterpart to get the peace settlement in Cyprus back on track. Gold prices have fallen $US5 to $US330/oz as US troops move closer to Baghdad. The Dow and Nasdaq opened higher in early trade. The Dow rose about 2.5% on the news US forces were within 20 km of Baghdad. The Nasdaq rose more than 3%. 5.50 am Stock markets in EU ended sharply higher today. The FTSE was up 2%. Germany was up more than 5%, France ended more than 4% higher. The Swiss market was up 7%. A strong rally is underway on Wall St. The Dow is up over 2.75%, the Nasdaq is up 3.6%. Airlines are participating in the rally. In the US more than $3 bn in aid has been proposed, but it could be knocked down. Airlines say their survival is crucial for the US economy. 6 am It's midnight in Baghdad. Air raids have started again, within 30 km of the capital. Elsewhere, US soldiers have updated protective clothing on fear of chem attack. There are rumours that Iraqi radio chatter has been discussing chem weapons. The US is advancing to Baghdad on 2 fronts, from Kut to the E and Karbala to the S. Some Coal'n troops have crossed the "red line" and everyone is jittery about chem attacks. Coal forces have searched warehouses on the outskirts of Basra and have found tons of food. They also found weapons. The complex was used by the un oil-for-food program. A CNN embed says he's seen signs of an attack on Iraqi armour in the area of Basra. Apparently cluster bombs have been seen dropped in the area, raining down "a wall of fire and lead" on enemy troops. Since it's used to soften up armour, the embed concludes, there must be a column of Iraqi armour moving somewhere in the area. Brit cmdrs say they are confident of taking control of the city. Brit PM Tony Blair told Parliament a bomb that hit an Iraqi marketplace was "not one of ours". He also accused Iraqi forces of having plans to damage holy sites with a view to blame the Coal'n falsely for the damage. Saddam did the same in 1991, he said. He called on the Muslim world to witness the Brit effort to protect holy sites. Their willingness to risk holy sites underlined the true nature of Saddam's regime, he said. Centcom later released footage showing, they said, great care on their side to avoid firing on some holy sites. "We chose not to fire back", said Gen Vince Brooks. "It's protected by us", he added. Reporters described later that Iraqi irregulars did not actually fire from a mosque pointed to by Centcom. They had hidden there, and run out to another site where they fired at Coal'n forces. At Najaf the embed with a group moving N said a "chance" encounter had happened today. Iraqi vehicles and a US convoy intersected at a crossroads. The Iraqis used RPG's to fire on the US trucks. The US convoy backed up, and did a head count, then called in Apache choppers that fired Hellfires on the group of Iraqi vehicles. Smoke is now rising from the intersection. 2nd-ary explosions showed the Iraqis were carrying more ammo was hidden underneath wheat. The embed said missiles and more RPG's had been found in the Iraqi trucks. 6.20 am The ICRC has confirmed a maternity hosp in Baghdad has been bombed. Iraq says 25 were killed and 25 wounded in the attack yesterday. The ICRC was also "shocked to find a horribly high number of casualties in Hillah". 100s of civilian casualties were brought to the hosp in just over 48 hrs, said a rep. He said there were lots and lots of dead bodies that had been dismembered by the explosions they'd been subjected to. While warning that tough fighting lays ahead, Centcom says the Medina and Baghdad divs of the Rep Guards are no longer credible fighting forces. Aid agency Oxfam in London says humanitarian reasons were cited for launching the war in Iraq. But securing the supply lines for aid doesn't seem to be a priority. They have warehouses of equipment and supplies ready to ship to the country. But they haven't been able to get the green light to move because of security fears in S Iraq. US papers and some (conservative) commentators are down-playing civilian deaths in the Iraq war, on the basis the regime has killed many more during its 30 y reign. But EU observers say this is just the bald man fallacy. It could equally be used to argue the 9/11 attack -- at least part of the reason for the war in Iraq -- involved an insignificant number of deaths compared with the annual "regime toll" of US road or tobacco-related deaths. The price of oil is down to $US28.56/bbl. A BBC cameraman has been killed after stepping on a landmine in N Iraq. [Later reports say the Iranian cameraman was killed after he stepped on a landmine nr Kifri, N Iraq. Another journalist was slightly wounded in the incident]. Amnesty Internat'l has called on Iraqi troops to stop posing as civilians. They also called on the US to take greater care to avoid civilian casualties. Commonwealth war graves in France have been vandalised with anti-Brit and anti-US graffiti. Slogans and swastikas were daubed in red paint on walls. Cemeteries contain the gravies of 11,000 allied soldiers, incl 400 Aussies. In a related story, AUS has asked Turkey to boost security at ANZAC Day ceremonies this y. Both France and Turkey have seen large anti-war demonstrations. Snr police in WA say AUS is not prepared for a terrorist attack. They say the resources needed exceed any one state and, in some cases, the whole country. In a recent simulation they found there were almost 600 burns from a bomb attack, but only 140 burns beds are available in the whole country. $56 mn container X-ray scanners installed at Aussie ports have hit pay-dirt. Guns, illegal imports, and quarantine threats have been turned up. But now 24 kg of heroin worth $24 mn has been found. A 24 yo Vietnamese man was arrested in connection with the find. The Aussie over-the-horizon radar is up and running. It started as a dream, overcame fin'l problems and has finally become reality. HF radio signals bounce to Earth from the ionosphere, scanning up to 24 mn km sq of AUS N-ern coast. It replaces old microwave systems. The system will mainly target drug and people smugglers. In the light of the war on Iraq the govt hopes it will deter potential terrorists. Previously the govt had denied there was a connection between the War on Terrorism and increased risk of terrorism in AUS. SARS is now in 17 countries. The WHO has taken the unprecedented step of issuing a public health warning. It will review the situation daily. People are advised not to travel to HK or China. More than 2,000 victims are infected world-wide. Almost 80 have died. 100s have been quarantined in HK. About 1/2 the population is wearing surgical masks. 70 cases have been reported in the US -- no fatalities so far. People are in masks at JFK in NYc. Dozens in AUS are being treated, but there are no further confirmed cases. DFAT has issued travel warnings. A Gold Coast school rugby team returning from Asia will be banned from school for 10 days as a precaution. A US Navy F/A-18 had been shot down over S Iraq. Iraqi TV showed images of the wreckage is says was downed by a SAM. There are no other details yet. Midday A Blackhawk troop transport chopper has been brought down by small arms fire in S Iraq. 7 Coal'n soldiers have been killed. A US cmdr says about 500 enemy troops were killed when they made a bid to take back a key bridge about 30 km SW of Baghdad. Iraqi civilians have welcomed Coal'n troops for the first time as they near the capital. Locals also warned Marines of "car bombs" up ahead. It turned out they were talking about land mines scattered over the road over a bridge. 5 pm The UN and Amnesty Internat'l are appealing for an amnesty on the use of cluster bombs by the US. But the appeal is likely to be ignored in the heat of battle. Iraq says 14 people have been killed and another 40 wounded in the city today. Reporters say today was the biggest air attack in the war to date. 6 pm Al Jazeera reporters have been ordered out of Iraq. No reason was given by Iraqi officials. Reporters from the news service will continue to cover the war from Jordan and Kuwait. 7 pm 40 engineers working at Pine Gap have gone on strike. It may affect the ability of the US to prosecute the Iraqi war. Pine Gap is the C AUS facility used to process US military comm world-wide. Aussies working at the site have always complained they were a token. But their latest gripe involves an e-mail from the big boss back in the US saying he disagrees in-principle with equal pay. Aussies get about 1/2 the pay of their US counterparts at the base who do the same job. Their employer is allegedly Raytheon. But their exact employer-of-record is a defunct US company. There are some other problems with back-tracking documentation to obscure small nations. A discrimination case with the AIRC was thrown out because it couldn't be established who the employer is, and what the men actually do at the base, nor what anyone else at the base do. Or what Raytheon do. Analysts say it could cost $20 bn to repair Iraq's electricity grid and infrastructure. The US has been using special bombs to destroy generators and power lines. US officials are pushing for the replacement of the Iraqi phone network with an American-made system. Initially a mobile system would be used. Could be useful for tracking post-war phone chatter! 7.30 pm Coal'n forces have just arrived at Baghdad Internat'l airport, about 20 km SW of the C of the capital. They are preparing to fight for final control of the city. 9 pm Iraqi officials say 8 civilians have been killed in the past 24 hrs. It seems they were in a marketplace in the SE of Baghdad that was hit. The Iraqi Info Min says it is "completely untrue" elements of the 3rd Inf are at the Int'l airport. Laughing, he offered to take reporters to Saddam airport to see for themselves. [They later did, and found nothing]. He says the US is trying to give an illusion to the rest of the world. They are like a snake in the desert, and have no place in Iraq, he says. He says the Americans are "not anywhere near" Baghdad. On the contrary, he says, they are trapped in various places t'out Iraq. They are trapped nr Nasiriyah, Umm Qasr, and other towns. But they are not anywhere really, he says. Brit cmdrs have denied using cluster bombs around Basra. [This was later revered]. 10 pm Coal'n special forces say they've been in and out of 2 of Saddam's palaces in Baghdad. Earlier, Gen Brooks said marines had choppered into a palace about 90 km from Baghdad. It was a known residence of Saddam and his sons. No-one was at home, but some documents were seized. 11 pm Reporters have asked Gen Brooks where the Rep Guard is. Brooks says the Guard are "moving around". He also says a busload of about 50 Rep Guard surrendered W of Kut today. The US says it has "very credible intel" that some elements of the Rep Guard have moved into Shia neighbourhoods of Baghdad and have rigged up explosives and chem weapons traps that they're predated to use, and then attempt to blame on the US. One of the Iraqi divisions that had been destroyed by the US have been reported firing artillery back at advancing forces nr Karbala. 11.30 pm A Brit military analyst says the laughing Iraqi Info Min illustrates the regime has been isolated from the rest of the world. They don't appreciate the true gap between a modern W army and their own primitive military forces. They are in denial. [The BCC reports a group went out to the Int'l airport after the talk by the Info Min. They went all over it. They talked to everyone. They found no-one. There was no sign of Coal'n forces anywhere near it]. The WashPost says the US will put a former Chair of Shell in charge of Iraq's oil immediately after the war. US force have captured all S approaches to Baghdad. They have also cut the N road between Baghdad and Saddam's home town, Tikrit, denying Iraqi forces movement. US troopers say a key bridge had been 1/2 destroyed when they captured it. They believe retreating Iraqi forces had been unable to complete their assignment, or were in too much of a hurry. The US had to use the left-hand lane of the bridge to advance to Baghdad. ---------------------------------------- Fri, 04 Apr 2003. Markets US captures Baghdad airport Bus bombing kills 6 6 killed in W Bank and Gaza NK attacks US Rumsfeld attacks Syria Hijackers threaten passengers Qld storms kill 1 US will not ask for more Aussies Downer plays down diffs Hornets in action Record Aussie homicides Killer flu to miss AUS 80% get flu shots AUS household debt Skase chase ends Continuous war news Sydney (midday). MARKETS! The Dow closed down 45 pts (0.5%) to 8,240 overnight. There was a negative report on the services sector, and dole payments reached their highest levels in 12 m. The Nasdaq closed about even. The All Ords is presently down 9 pts. The Nikkei is also trading down. Washington. US CAPTURES BAGHDAD AIRPORT! US troops have captured Baghdad airport with tanks and armoured units against almost no opposition from Iraqi forces. ABC reporter Bob Schmidt with the 3rd Inf says he was standing on the airport tarmac when he filed his report. Schmidt says US forces encountered very little resistance from Iraqi forces. He said some units of the 3rd did encounter some scattered firing from foot soldiers and men in utes. Rostov on Don. BUS BOMBING KILLS 6! Emergency officials say a passenger bus was blown up today in the Chechen capital, Grozny, killing at least 6 people and wounding 11. A duty officer at the Emergency Situations Ministry's office for S Russia says the bus was torn apart by a remote-controlled land mine hidden in a pile of trash on the side of the rd. The officer says 6 people were killed, but a Chechen justice ministry official says 8 people died and 8 others were hospitalised, incl 3 in grave condition. Gaza City. 6 KILLED IN W BANK AND GAZA! Israeli troops looking for weapons-smuggling tunnels in a Gaza refugee camp have killed 4 armed men and demolished 5 homes. E of Gaza City, next to the border with Israel, a man was shot dead and another wounded as they picked vegetables nr the Israeli communal farm of Nahal Oz. In the W Bank, 2 people were killed by army fire. In the early morning army raid, soldiers backed by 35 tanks, 4 attack helicopters and more than a doz bulldozers entered the Rafah camp. Tokyo. NK ATTACKS US! N Korea has accused the US of double standards over human rights, saying the country has the poorest human rights record. State news reports the foreign ministry saying the US, with the poorest human rights record, is not qualified to talk about human rights. The KCNA news agency also reports that the secretive NK leader Kim Jong-Il has made his first public appearance in almost 2 m. Washington. RUMSFELD ATTACKS SYRIA! US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld has accused Syria of continuing to provide banned supplies to Iraq. Rumsfeld has told a news conf he believes Syria has ignored US warnings and is still providing supplies to Iraq. Last wk, Rumsfeld told reporters the US would hold the Syrian govt responsible for reported shipments to Iraq of material, incl night vision goggles, calling them "hostile acts". Havana. HIJACKERS THREATEN PASSENGERS! Cuban authorities say armed men who hijacked a ferry have today threatened to kill the 40 passengers if they are not given enough fuel to travel to the US. They say the hijackers already tried to reach the US the prev day, and Cuban authorities say force will be used if the hostages' situation becomes critical. The passenger ferry was anchored a few meters off the docks on the port of Mariel, 50 km W of Havana. The men, seized the coastal ferry in Havana yesterday and demanded to be taken to the US. Brisbane. QLD STORMS KILL 1! Residents of many parts of SE Qld are mopping up today after a series of violent storms in which 1 woman died. The woman was killed and her husband narrowly escaped injury when a large hum tree crushed their caravan during a storm about 4 pm yesterday. Another man escaped injury after a tree fell on his car on Tunnel Ridge Rd, also at Lansborough. A rep for electricity distributor Energex says around 16,000 homes were without power from the N end of the GC to the Sunshine Coast during the storms. Washington. US WILL NOT ASK FOR MORE AUSSIES! In his first briefing for Aussie reporters at the Pentagon, Gen Dick Myers says the US has no plans to ask AUS for extra military support for the assault on Baghdad or other battles in Iraq. NY. DOWNER PLAYS DOWN DIFFS! Aus For Af Min Alex Downer has played down differences between the US and UN over their respected roles in post-war Iraq. Following talks with UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan, Mr Downer told reporters it was important to set aside false debates. He says the UN is not saying it wants to take over the whole of Iraq, neither is the US saying is doesn't want to see any UN involvement in the country in a post-war environment. As long as the UN obeys its instructions everything will be fine! Canberra. HORNETS IN ACTION! The head of AUS's Middle E forces Brig Maurie McNarn says RAAF F/A-18's have been pounding elements of Iraq's 10th army division. They are equipped with aging T-55 and T-62 tanks. PM John Howard says the past 48 hrs in Iraq have vindicated his support of the military operation. Canberra. RECORD AUSSIE HOMICIDES! The number of homicides in AUS jumped to a record level [as usual, the journos are using raw figures -- not rates] last y, with babies the most common victims of murder or manslaughter for any single age group. New AIC figures show a 20% increase in homicides last FY, with 381 deaths, compared with 317 the prev y. But there has been a 25% drop in the number of people killed by firearms, with knives or other sharp instruments the most common weapons. Canberra. KILLER FLU TO MISS AUS! AUS health officials predict AUS will be spared the killer pneumonia which has killed 79 people world-wide. But a 3 yo Canadian girl is in MEL hosp after monitored as a possible case of SARS. The girl's parents arrived in AUS from Canada last weekend. The Commonwealth dep chief medical officer John Matthews is confident AUS has sufficient safeguards to prevent the virus reaching epidemic proportions. Canberra. 80% GET FLU SHOTS! New figures show nearly 80% of older Aussies were vaccinated for free against the flu last y. The high vaccination figures come as 3 strains of influenza hit AUS and a deadly pneumonia spreads through the world. The Aus Inst of Health and Welfare has found that of 2.4 mn Aussies aged 65 and over, 1.9 mn of them were vaccinated against the flu last y. Another 1.1 mn or about 20% of Aussies aged 40-64 were also vaccinated. Canberra. AUS HOUSEHOLD DEBT! The RBA's gov Ian MacFarlane says the Bank hasn't changed its assumptions about the int'l economic outlook. He says AUS's central bank is more pessimistic than many US economists but there have been no recent changes in its outlook. Mr MacFarlane has also stepped up warnings to households about rising levels of debt. But he says he doesn't think the rise in household debt will lead to a financial bust like that of the early 1990s. Canberra. SKASE CHASE ENDS! After 12 y and a taxpayer bill of $2.67 mn, the Chase for Skase is finally over. The fed govt has dropped its investigation into the missing $mns the late Christopher Skase managed to take beyond the range of Aussie justice. He died on a Spanish island nearly 2 ya from stomach cancer. The Skase bankruptcy trustee, Max Donnelly for Ferrier Hodgkinson, says interviewing Skase's widow Pixie, daughter Amanda Larkins, and her husband Tony, there are few assets worth pursuing. +++ CONTINUOUS WAR NEWS Midnight. IT'S DAY FIFTEEN. A BBC embed in C Iraq says the attitude of marines has changed markedly. Far from being hailed as liberators, they now feel hunted. Every civilian is a potential enemy combatants. TV showed marines patting down a farmer and his family. Their dilapidated farmhouse was being searched because it was close to a nearby US base camp. Their home was searched for pro-Saddam materials. An old lady sat on the floor inside, bright yellow packets of unopened rations at her feet. The marines later searched visitors to the farm. They found nothing. The Iraqi Info Min says the US has used cluster bombs in Baghdad, killing 16 civilians today. Reporters in the city have given mixed reports. Some say it seems possible. Others say they haven't seen any sign of such weapons. And they wouldn't be used in a city, since they're used to attack armour. They appear to have been used nr Hillah, however. Iraqi TV says Brit soldiers are killing people in their homes in Basra. Such reports are believed by people in Baghdad, and there's a lot of concern about what will happen when Coal'n forces move in. Where are the Iraqi troops? 0.30 am Brussels. Sounding out discussions. Colin Powell has met with about 20 EU ministers. He says he came to listen, and find out what the EU wants. But the US wants at least one UN Resolution to bring some legal endorsement for a post-war Iraq. But the French and Germans don't want to sign up for anything that will legitimise the war. Nor do they want to pay for it. But the US is pushing the humanitarian aid button. In what is said to be a "significant development", Brit forces have moved across a key bridge to the W of Basra and have established a base to the E of the waterway. "Poking a toe into the city and see what the response is", said a Brit cmdr. Hit and run operations have been proceeding. There was one early this morning, trying to send a message to both Saddam loyalists and other citizens. BBC World News is still reporting Brit forces have been using cluster bombs on the outskirts of Basra. [Later reports quoted a Brit cmdr that said the weapons were used only on the outskirts of the city, where concentrations of troops were likely]. 0.30 Press conf, Brussels. NATO Sec-Gen George Robertson says the org'n is in good shape. He says all members agree the UN should have a part in post-war Iraq. The war should be finished ASAP. There is a role for NATO in post-war Iraq. All talks were cordial, he says. He says he is always optimistic, but not stupid. There is "a sense of consensus developing about the future". Robertson says NATO is moving toward committing troops to Afghanistan. He says Colin Powell came to tell NATO what was happening in Iraq, what would happen in post-war Iraq, and to listen to member nations. 0.40 Colin Powell, press conf, Brussels. Says Operation Iraqi Liberation is going well and slowing but skillfully killing the Iraqi military. Humanitarian aid is starting to flow. The S part of the country is a US possession. We hope it will end soon and be successful for the US. But we want to talk about a new Iraq that will do what we want. A govt that will do what we want. A govt that will use its oil wealth to pay its debts. We need the entire int'l community to pay for the rebuilding. Coal'n military commanders will secure the country and the people. We will find and destroy all WMD and all infrastructure and the Iraqi army. We will bring in US administrators immediately. Eventually some responsibility will be passed to a puppet regime. We need help to do this. As the Coal'n said in the Azores, the UN has a role to play in the clean-up operation. We need some UN resolutions to give this the appearance of legitimacy. We have serious and heated disagreements with other countries. We came to opposite conclusions. But we must put that all behind us for the sake of Iraq. It is the obligation of all of us to fix the mess the US has created. A French woman in the audience asked Powell about her husband in Iraq, who had been "shot at" by Coal'n forces. Mr Powell said he was looking into the situation, but there were no info at present. He rejected a suggestion that US diplomacy had failed. The US had taken a bold diplomatic step. We had not gone off unilaterally. The US had decided after several months to take action. But the US would not step back. We didn't think a 2nd resolution was needed. But we made an effort to get a 2nd res. But we decided not to go with it. Now we have a Coal'n of 50 nations that in a period of 2 wks that has been skilfully conducted and with great skill we've almost won. Great skill. He said the US had found protective gear that suggested chem weapons. Their WMD were probably located throughout the country. He was quite confident they would be found. The regime will be removed. Those guilty of crime against humanity would be brought to justice. 1 am Troops are about to seize Baghdad Int'l airport. The Coal'n has also been targeting the bunker of Saddam Hussein. Residents of the capital are taking a "business as usual" approach and no military preparations are evident. The latest Pentagon figures say at least 50 US troops have been killed, 7 are still POW's, and 16 are MIA. The Pentagon says a Hornet that was shot down was probably too high for an iraqi missile and fear it may be another victim of a Patriot battery. 1.11 am The Brits say crowds have gone on a looting rampage in Umm Qasr. The US says "numerous" "senior" Iraqi military leaders are now being held POW. BBC World News says they have to be careful to distinguish between some elements of the 3rd Inf -- which are close to Baghdad -- and the main body of the Coal'n forces which are much further from the capital. 1.20 am BBC World News. Rageh Omaar, in Baghdad. The Info Min had offered to take reporters to Baghdad Int'l airport -- to show them whether or not Coal'n forces were there or were about to capture it. So they did. A group of reporters were taken on a bus about 15 km from the city. And there was nothing there. Omaar says they saw a few guards, empty arrival and dept lounges, some old Iraqi airline planes. They went to the dir of airport and asked him what he'd seen. He'd seen nothing. They saw nothing. They then drove back to their hotel in Baghdad. Omaar says he also hadn't seen civilians fleeing the city, as reported by the US. He also says all the Iraqi officials seem to be quiet at ease. What plans have they made that allows them to be so relaxed? Especially if there are American troops only kms from the city. It doesn't add up. SARS deaths have reached 78 word-wide, according to WHO. The Pentagon says it's intercepted no comm from Saddam Hussein since the war began. Several Al-Samoud 2's have been found on a farm in C Iraq. The location had been used to fire on Kuwait. 2 am Baghdad. Another exercise to refute reports from the Pentagon. The Coal'n says it's taken over all approaches to Baghdad. A group of BBC and French journalists were taken to one S approach to Baghdad today and shown a large number of men and armour that are dug-in there, waiting for Coal'n forces to arrive. They were told the force has not been attacked by the Coal'n so far. Reporters now say either it's more disinformation from the Pentagon, or the Coal'n is advancing on some approaches to the capital and not others. 2.40 am From Doha, BBC reporter says Centcom is now underlining their forces are "within the vicinity" of the Baghdad Internat'l airport. But they refuse to define what the "vicinity" is. It's all part of the propaganda to keep the Iraqi regime guessing he suspects. N Iraq. US aircraft nr Mosul have been carrying out raids on Iraqi forces for several hrs now. The Iraqis are fighting back hard to stop an advance by Kurdish troops on the oil city. CBS embed reports 60 buses of civilians and some military have travelled S from Baghdad to their position in order to surrender. While the Rep Guard hasn't been able to stop their advance, they've had to stop to set up an impromptu POW camp and examine the people. It's a sign that the regime is collapsing, said the military cmdr. [Later reports said about 2,000 people had surrendered. The marines sorted out who looked civilian -- they were cut free -- and who might possibly be an Iraqi soldier]. Nr Basra, Brit troops have discovered civilians have been paid by the regime to come out of the city in buses and vehicles as part of the diversionary tactics of the irregular fighters holed up in the city. 3 am It's 9 pm local time. Electrical power is out in Baghdad, in all parts of the city. A live interview with the Info Min and Al Jazeera went out in mid-interview. The Info Min had threatened street-by-street fighting in Najaf. He said many reports from Centcom were untrue, and that Iraqi forces would "tire the snake". This is the first city-wide outage since the war began. In 1991 it was the first thing to be cut to the city. CNN says it's not sure what the outage signifies. The WHO says 2,300 people are infected with SARS world-wide. The Dow has closed up 2.7%. Oil continues to fall. It is presently $US28.17/bbl. 3.40 am 3 more civilians have been killed in a checkpoint incident. Marines say a taxi drove through the checkpoint in C Iraq without stopping, so they opened fire. 3 people were killed, incl a young child that died later in hosp when surgeons were trying to remove shrapnel from its head. In an unprecedented move, the Pres of Jordan has given the US Amb to Jordan a dressing down, calling on the US to immediately end the war in Iraq. Oil continues to fall. It's reached $US27.17/bbl in Asian trade. The UN has refused to reveal where funds for the oil-for-food program are kept. CNN reports the UN is refusing to reveal the info, saying it's a matter of policy that such things are confidential. The US has previously frozen and seized Iraqi funds in order to pay for the rebuilding of Iraq after the war. Gold continues to fall. It's trading at $US326/oz. US cmdrs are now saying the threat of chem attack when US forces reach Baghdad is "negligible". CNN embed reports a "problem" in Najaf today. Marines sent a message to the Grand Ayatollah, saying they wanted to talk. He invited them to his compound. But their movement was mis-interpreted by the local people, who began to threaten the small force of Marines. Their cmdr told them to appear non-threatening, by setting aside their arms. But the situation didn't improve, so the Marines beat a hasty retreat. Analysts say the incident it telling. It shows imams and other Islamic officials interceded between the crowd and the US soldiers, urging the crowd to let the US troops through. Although their efforts were unsuccessful this time, the incident may encourage the country's Shias that the war is between Saddam and the US and not between the US and the Iraqi people, as the regime says. The embed also indicated that local cmdrs have repeatedly tried to clarify a Centcom claim that Iraqi fighters had used the local mosque as cover. The cmdrs say the fighters have used the mosque as sanctuary, but moved off to other buildings to open fire on Coal'n forces. That is why Marines destroyed all the nearby buildings, but have left the mosque intact. 3.50 Pentagon briefing from Donald Rumself. Same stuff as before. Mentioned POW's. Said US is closer to Baghdad than US commuters are from their offices. Key bridges have been taken. Some have been wired for demo and have not been detonated. We have secured the majority of the Iraqi oil. All in less than 2 wks. It should be clear to Iraqis who are their enemies now. We have secured a Mosque that was used for cover by Iraqi forces. [This has repeatedly been denied by Marine field cmdrs]. Saddam Hussein has killed more Muslims that the US. Gen Myers repeated success story. Showed some B&W pictures of single tanks and ute's being destroyed by chain guns and Hellfire missiles at very close range. Myers didn't seem to be sure what they were. The US wasn't behind the present Baghdad blackout, Myers said. Rumsfeld admitted the haze cover over Baghdad was obscuring the view. After prodding from Myers, the Gen ignored a question about Coal'n forces being drawn into a trap because surprisingly little resistance had been shown by Rep Guards. A hostile Rumsfeld rejected the notion there was a "ploy", because the Rep Guards had been decimated. He gave a list of inconsistent numbers to "prove" that point. Apparently because of Rumsfeld's presence, Myers then went into propaganda overkill. An angry Rumsfeld said there would be no deal with Saddam. The Iraqi dictator would not be able to hang on for another decade, he said. Myers and Rumsfeld continued the propaganda that Saddam was planning to attack Shias in Basra and Baghdad and blame it on the US. Rumsfeld said it was not necessary to negotiate for an unconditional surrender, the only thing he said prev would end the war. He said the Iraqis weren't close to surrender yet, contradicting his claims t'out the briefing that the Iraqis were on their last legs. Rumsfeld said there were still on-going "discussions" with top Iraqi officials for their surrender. He indicate they were too scared at present to move. Rumsfeld said the future was as unpredictable as the past. Journalists report artillery fire on S outskirts of Baghdad. The US says 4 units of the Rep Guard are moving S to meet advancing Coal'n forces. Brit forces have found the luxury villa of Chemical Ali. The home was deserted. They say they found chem protection equipment at a military base nearby. 4.30 am There are strikes going on at Baghdad Internat'l airport. It's 10.30 pm local time. CNN says an embed says US army engineers are at work in the area. 4.43 Several wires are reporting a firefight at the airport. Some reports say artillery fire is being exchanged. Reuters says about a doz civilians have been killed in an air strike in the area, about 19 km from C Baghdad. The US regime has stopped using the term "Fedayeen" after it was pointed out it has an heroic ring -- "men of sacrifice". Just another indication someone didn't do their own sloppy homework. Until now Rumsfeld and Bush used the phase in connection with all non-conventional action in Iraq. They've now taken up "terrorists" and "war criminals". 5.16 am Baghdad. About 70 people have been killed and about 120 injured nr Saddam airport. The attack has been acknowledged by Iraqi officials. There was a sustained missile strike started just after the lights went out. A Reuters reporter says he's seen piles of bodies at a hosp in a village between the airport and the C of the city. Most of them were military. In Washington, military officials say they plan to take over the electricity, water and other utilities of Baghdad and render the regime irrelevant. In N Iraq, another little problem. A CNN embed got involved in a firefight as US troops and Kurds walked up to a former Iraqi army position that wasn't as deserted as they'd all assumed. Minutes before, the reporter had been interviewing a cmdr as they walked along the rd. He assured them the Kurds had secured all the high ground in the area, and all the Iraqis had gone back to Mosul or been killed. Then there was a rifle shot. Then another. Then it started to rain and everyone dived for cover. Kurds fired RPG's toward the enemy. The Iraqis fired mortars back. The US called in air strikes. But tonight the Iraqis are still holding out on the rd to Mosul. 10.30 am In the last 2 hrs US forces have captured part of the Baghdad airport, a dam, and a presidential compound in the capital. The airport will be used as an important staging post for the invasion of Baghdad. Armour and vehicles have arrived. Engineers have cleared the runway. Parts of the capital are still blacked out. Bombing around the city continues. There has been little resistance from Iraqi forces. ======================================== (*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S? A small group of dedicated sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers! All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek. *** It is now legal under the Patriot Act to humor The Leader! ***