US military leaders detail war progress
Iraq-USA, Military, 3/29/2003

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the U.S.-led coalition has made solid progress since the ground war started. Coalition forces are now within 50 miles of Baghdad and concentrating on the Iraqi Republican Guard divisions guarding the capital.

He said coalition air forces are striking targets when and where they want. In the north, the Army's 173rd Airborne has been deploying, and coalition forces have been launching attacks against terrorist groups in the region.

US military officials said that eight days into the war, coalition forces already control between 35 percent and 40 percent of the country.

Humanitarian aid is already starting to reach the people of Iraq, the secretary said. Coalition maritime forces have cleared a channel 200 yards wide from the Persian Gulf to the port of Umm Qasr. The first ship with humanitarian aid, the HMS Sir Galahad, docked at port facilities today. British and U.S. troops have taken the southern oil fields.

Various reports, spoke of the surprise of the US military to the Iraqi resistance being encountered, with some US military general's saying this is not the war the US troops were expecting from their training for this war, the New York Times reported. Meantime, some see Rumsfeld's remarks about Russia, Syria, And Iran in has accusations of having assisted Iraq, and his statements about the media coverage of this war as being an excuse for what some reports have indicated of Rumsfeld's speedy push to have this war take place, with certain questions not having been fully resolved, and him have to take blame for what has already happened.

Previous Stories:
  US military operation in north Iraq   (3/28/2003)
  US view of the war advance in Iraq   (3/26/2003)
  US: 12 Americans soldiers missing as fight intensify   (3/24/2003)

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