Bombs Blast Saddam Bunker
A U.S. B-1 bomber that aimed to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad dropped four satellite-guided bombs only 12 minutes after receiving orders that “this is the big one,†the plane’s weapons officer said on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON, Tuesday – - A U.S. B-1 bomber that aimed to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad dropped four satellite-guided bombs only 12 minutes after receiving orders that “this is the big one,†the plane’s weapons officer said on Tuesday.
“We used four weapons on the target,†Air Force Lt. Col. Fred Swan, told Pentagon reporters of Monday’s attack in a telephone interview from the region. “From the time we got the coordinates, it took 12 minutes to get the bombs on target.â€
Swan, one of four crewmen on the aircraft, said two earth-penetrating GBU-31 2,000-pound (900 kg) bombs and two delayed-fuse bombs of the same size were used.
He said he did not know who was in the destroyed building, but that the air traffic controller in a nearby airborne radar plane told the B-1 jet’s crew before the daylight raid, “This is the big one.â€
Other U.S. officials told Reuters that intelligence indicated that Saddam and his sons might have been in the building but that there was no immediate indication whether the Iraqi president or others might have been killed.
Swan said the B-1 had just finished taking on fuel from an aerial tanker aircraft and was heading to pre-planned targets when it received an emergency order to strike the bunker.
“We got the order that it was a high-priority leadership target,†he said. He said the jet 12 minutes later dropped two GBU-31 (guided bomb unit) bombs designed to penetrate deeply into the target before they exploded and, three seconds later, another two of the bombs with “25 millisecond†delayed fuses.
“I did not know who was there. I really didn’t care,†he added, stressing that he told the crew “this could be the big one. Let’s get it right.â€
The swing-wing, four-engine jet bomber carries 24 of the satellite-guided “joint direct attack munitions bombs.â€
Swan said the aircraft later dropped 17 of the bombs on two other targets — one in western Iraq and one near Baghdad — before returning to its base in the Gulf region.
Other reports said Iraqi television went off the air as fighting raged in the city on the 19th day of the war.
A US Air Force A10 “tank killer†plane launched the attack on the palace compound, swooping to fire on the northern entrance and on the nearby planning ministry.
US tanks fought their way across the compound, a symbol of Saddam’s 24-year iron-fist rule over the country, amid heavy exchanges of tank, artillery and gun fire.
After five hours of intense clashes, two US Abrams tanks rolled out of the northern entrance of the compound and took up position on the adjacent Al-Jumhuriya bridge on the river Tigris, sparking clashes with Iraqi forces encamped on the eastern side of the river.
Shortly after the tanks arrived, a little white car drove onto the city’s Republic bridge. A tank fired a warning shot, two passengers jumped out, the driver spun around, they jumped back in and the car sped back to the eastern bank. Two US Apache attack helicopters also flew over central Baghdad for the first time since the beginning of the war, firing on targets in the capital’s southern sector.
As the fighting raged in Baghdad, US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared to wrap up a two day summit in Belfast on post-war Iraq.
Their meeting came amid reports of differences between London and Washington about the role of the UN in post-war Iraq.
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“We used four weapons on the target,†Air Force Lt. Col. Fred Swan, told Pentagon reporters of Monday’s attack in a telephone interview from the region. “From the time we got the coordinates, it took 12 minutes to get the bombs on target.â€
Swan, one of four crewmen on the aircraft, said two earth-penetrating GBU-31 2,000-pound (900 kg) bombs and two delayed-fuse bombs of the same size were used.
He said he did not know who was in the destroyed building, but that the air traffic controller in a nearby airborne radar plane told the B-1 jet’s crew before the daylight raid, “This is the big one.â€
Other U.S. officials told Reuters that intelligence indicated that Saddam and his sons might have been in the building but that there was no immediate indication whether the Iraqi president or others might have been killed.
Swan said the B-1 had just finished taking on fuel from an aerial tanker aircraft and was heading to pre-planned targets when it received an emergency order to strike the bunker.
“We got the order that it was a high-priority leadership target,†he said. He said the jet 12 minutes later dropped two GBU-31 (guided bomb unit) bombs designed to penetrate deeply into the target before they exploded and, three seconds later, another two of the bombs with “25 millisecond†delayed fuses.
“I did not know who was there. I really didn’t care,†he added, stressing that he told the crew “this could be the big one. Let’s get it right.â€
The swing-wing, four-engine jet bomber carries 24 of the satellite-guided “joint direct attack munitions bombs.â€
Swan said the aircraft later dropped 17 of the bombs on two other targets — one in western Iraq and one near Baghdad — before returning to its base in the Gulf region.
Other reports said Iraqi television went off the air as fighting raged in the city on the 19th day of the war.
A US Air Force A10 “tank killer†plane launched the attack on the palace compound, swooping to fire on the northern entrance and on the nearby planning ministry.
US tanks fought their way across the compound, a symbol of Saddam’s 24-year iron-fist rule over the country, amid heavy exchanges of tank, artillery and gun fire.
After five hours of intense clashes, two US Abrams tanks rolled out of the northern entrance of the compound and took up position on the adjacent Al-Jumhuriya bridge on the river Tigris, sparking clashes with Iraqi forces encamped on the eastern side of the river.
Shortly after the tanks arrived, a little white car drove onto the city’s Republic bridge. A tank fired a warning shot, two passengers jumped out, the driver spun around, they jumped back in and the car sped back to the eastern bank. Two US Apache attack helicopters also flew over central Baghdad for the first time since the beginning of the war, firing on targets in the capital’s southern sector.
As the fighting raged in Baghdad, US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared to wrap up a two day summit in Belfast on post-war Iraq.
Their meeting came amid reports of differences between London and Washington about the role of the UN in post-war Iraq.
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