Word: marinese
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Allied forces recaptured that town, the sprawling beachside community of Khafji, within a day, but victory came only after bitter street fighting. Artillery duels along the Saudi-Kuwaiti border and firefights between U.S. Marines and groups of Iraqi troops crossing that border continued into the weekend.
Eleven Marines were killed in the fighting around Umm Hujul, the first known American battle dead of the war (a number of flyers have been listed as missing in action). An AC-130 gunship with a crew of 14 was shot down over Kuwait, and a male and a female...
American A-10 attack planes and Cobra and Apache helicopters and infantry weapons appeared to be quite as deadly as advertised against Iraqi armor. General Schwarzkopf would confirm only 24 Iraqi tanks definitely destroyed, but other counts for the border battles as a whole ran as high as 80 vehicles...
The battle also had some unpleasant surprises for the U.S. and its allies. Despite widespread reports of low morale among Iraqi frontline troops, those in Khafji fought tenaciously, prolonging the battle for hours after the Saudis announced they had retaken the town. One column of tanks approached the Saudi border...
In military terms, the incursion is a disaster for Iraq, as Saudi and Qatari troops, backed by U.S. Marines, capture or kill hundreds of Saddam Hussein's soldiers. But the Iraqi leader may count the clash as a psychological victory, proving that his forces can stand up to a superpower...