McClatchy DC Logo

Signs of U.S. occupation everywhere at Baghdad airport | McClatchy Washington Bureau

×
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • Subscriber Services

    • All White House
    • Russia
    • All Congress
    • Budget
    • All Justice
    • Supreme Court
    • DOJ
    • Criminal Justice
    • All Elections
    • Campaigns
    • Midterms
    • The Influencer Series
    • All Policy
    • National Security
    • Guantanamo
    • Environment
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Water Rights
    • Guns
    • Poverty
    • Health Care
    • Immigration
    • Trade
    • Civil Rights
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • All Nation & World
    • National
    • Regional
    • The East
    • The West
    • The Midwest
    • The South
    • World
    • Diplomacy
    • Latin America
    • Investigations
  • Podcasts
    • All Opinion
    • Political Cartoons

  • Our Newsrooms

Latest News

Signs of U.S. occupation everywhere at Baghdad airport

Drew Brown - Knight Ridder Newspapers

    ORDER REPRINT →

April 08, 2003 03:00 AM

BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq—Four days into American occupation, this airfield is developing the look and feel of a U.S. military installation.

Long parallel columns of cargo trucks carrying fuel, food, water and other supplies stretched across the southern end of the airfield Tuesday as drivers waited for instructions on where to unload.

Dozens of helicopters—Apaches for close air support, UH60 Black Hawks for troop transport and MH60 Pave Hawk for special operations—idled on the airfield, largely empty just a few days ago.

Two C130 cargo planes landed in the early morning hours, the first planes to do so, according to people here, in spite of assertions from Central Command that a cargo plane had arrived Monday. The planes brought in more troops.

SIGN UP

There were still skirmishes along the airport's perimeter, especially to the east, where elements of the 101st Airborne engaged Iraqi forces for the third day in a row Tuesday. There was no word on casualties.

But batteries of 155 mm self-propelled Paladin artillery were largely quiet for the first time in days and were relocated to new positions south of the airport, close to where U.S. troops continue to face almost daily attacks.

A few thousand yards east of the airport, soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, of the 101st Airborne, are dug in with automatic weapons, mortars, anti-tank missiles, heavy machine guns. Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles are nearby.

For the third time in as many days, they fought off Iraqi forces, with the help of a pair of A-10 Thunderbolts that pummeled the Iraqi positions near a small hill with 30 mm Gatling guns, a pair of cluster bombs that scatter bomblets over a wide area and one Maverick air-to-ground missile.

Troops from Alpha Company cheered as the jets fired and huge fireballs erupted.

Nearby, a pair of Iraqi T-72 tanks lay blasted in the middle of the road, their turrets severed from the main chassis of each tank. They'd been destroyed Friday.

Tank rounds and small arms ammunition, and charred tank wreckage and equipment lay everywhere. A severed torso still lay in the road, and a mangled pair of burned legs lay close to the tank. An arm, its hand clenched into a claw, had landed nearby.

Soldiers walked past the wreckage snapping photos. The smell of rotting flesh was overwhelming.

"I've got to give the Iraqis their `props,'" said Pfc. Matthew Glover, 25, using slang for respect. "They keep coming, they just keep coming. They must be pretty desperate, it's kind of sad really."

Late Monday, soldiers from Apache Company of the 1-30th Infantry of the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division also downed an American drone, fearing it was an Iraqi aircraft.

"We didn't know what it was," said 1st Lt. Jerzey Matakusick. "They said they had hang gliders a few days ago. Until we saw it we thought `what have they got, chemical weapons, grenades or what?' That thing didn't have a chance."

———

(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):

USIRAQ-AIRPORT.

Iraq

  Comments  

Videos

Nervous about hackers? Here’s what to do after a data breach

Democrats announce Green New Deal

View More Video

Trending Stories

Fatalities from police chases climbing, could be higher than records indicate

February 21, 2019 12:00 AM

Vice President Mike Pence will go to Colombia to demand Maduro step down

February 21, 2019 10:07 AM

Mitch McConnell pitches Kentucky’s Kelly Craft as Trump’s UN ambassador

February 21, 2019 11:50 AM

Gov. Matt Bevin dismisses his low poll numbers, welcomes Trump’s help

February 22, 2019 11:06 AM

‘Wide open race’ and open wallets in Kansas after Pompeo rules out 2020 Senate run

February 21, 2019 05:00 PM

Read Next

Gov. Matt Bevin dismisses his low poll numbers, welcomes Trump’s help

Congress

Gov. Matt Bevin dismisses his low poll numbers, welcomes Trump’s help

By Lesley Clark

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 22, 2019 11:06 AM

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says polls that show him unpopular as he runs for re-election don’t matter because there’s never been polling that shows him ahead

KEEP READING

MORE LATEST NEWS

Mitch McConnell pitches Kentucky’s Kelly Craft as Trump’s UN ambassador

Congress

Mitch McConnell pitches Kentucky’s Kelly Craft as Trump’s UN ambassador

February 21, 2019 11:50 AM
Fatalities from police chases climbing, could be higher than records indicate

Investigations

Fatalities from police chases climbing, could be higher than records indicate

February 21, 2019 12:00 AM
Republicans rally around Trump after McCabe asserts DOJ discussed removing the president

Congress

Republicans rally around Trump after McCabe asserts DOJ discussed removing the president

February 20, 2019 04:53 PM
Massive public lands bill expected to receive easy approval in the House

Congress

Massive public lands bill expected to receive easy approval in the House

February 20, 2019 12:54 PM
‘You’re my guy’: Top Senate Dem urges Jaime Harrison to challenge Lindsey Graham

Elections

‘You’re my guy’: Top Senate Dem urges Jaime Harrison to challenge Lindsey Graham

February 20, 2019 12:12 PM
VP Mike Pence plans visit to South Carolina to tour Opportunity Zones with Tim Scott

Congress

VP Mike Pence plans visit to South Carolina to tour Opportunity Zones with Tim Scott

February 19, 2019 05:22 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

McClatchy Washington Bureau App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Newsletters
Learn More
  • Customer Service
  • Securely Share News Tips
  • Contact Us
Advertising
  • Advertise With Us
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story