Word: basra
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...desert on a parallel track, crossing the marshes and heading toward Baghdad. Scores of Harriers and A-10 Warthogs took off from bases in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and from aircraft carriers in the gulf, providing support to the Marines and British ground forces laying siege to Basra. Midday Sunday, the Marine column ran into stiff resistance outside Nasiriyah in what appeared to be a coming together of Iraqi forces that had been fighting in sporadic skirmishes with the 3rd Infantry over the previous 36 hours. Nasiriyah remained unoccupied by U.S. forces. In the capital, Saddam's Interior Minister...
...BASRA SIMON ROBINSON...
...shock and awe." For hours I have traveled north across the desert with the Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. Packed tightly into an amphibious assault vehicle--Marines call it an Amtrak--we head toward our destination, just outside the strategic city of Basra in southern Iraq. The mission will be to cut off troops of the Iraqi army's 51st Division. But first we found ourselves in an old stone quarry miles from Basra that had become a refuge for Iraqi soldiers. Not long after we arrived, two appeared in the open and headed...
...Saturday we were headed for Basra International Airport, which the Marines were to secure, when we were almost hit by what appeared to be a tank round. Fortunately, we had learned that the Iraqis are not very good at redirecting fire once they have nearly hit a target. As a further precaution, two Marines prepared to fire a shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon, a rocket that can take out a tank. As they stepped out, another enemy round went off. Missed again...
...time we got to the airport, having been delayed by a broken fuel pump, Basra International was deserted. The battle for the airport--McCoy would later describe it as "brutal"--was over. Before they fled, the Iraqis had set fire to the airport administration building and had strewn the runway with debris to prevent U.S. planes from using it. All that remained was a statue of a waving Saddam standing forlornly amid the wreckage...