U.S. Forces Launch Large-Scale Armored Raid on Baghdad

Although coalition planners stressed combat operations were continuing, Central Command generals said the raid demonstrated that the Iraqi government cannot defend its capital.

“[The assault] reinforces the reality that the regime is not in control of all the major cities,” Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a Central Command briefing.

He added that Monday’s raid would likely lead to future military assaults.

“Opportunities are created by operations,” Brooks told reporters. “There are things that will come as a result of today.”

Lt. Col. Peter C. Bayer, the 3rd Infantry Division’s operations officer, told reporters at 10 a.m. local time (2 a.m. EDT) that troops were near the Information Ministry and that “they are the proud owners” of the presidential palace, The New York Times reported.

According to the Associated Press, a nearby headquarters of the ruling Ba’ath Party was destroyed during the assault and American soldiers also reportedly destroyed a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein.

Asked whether the attack was the beginning of a sustained battle for Baghdad, Captain Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, told CNN the attack was an “armored raid through the city, bringing down any resistance that we meet and taking down any leadership capability [forces encounter].”

Earlier, Major Michael Birmingham, chief public affairs officer for the U.S. 3rd Infantry, told Reuters the attack would be of a more substantial nature than an incursion Saturday into the city’s southern sections.

“We’re attacking right down in the center of the city right now,” Birmingham said. “The other day was just an incursion. This is for real.”

The 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade reportedly entered the city at 6 a.m. local time (10 p.m. Sunday EDT), rolling through the city’s streets and taking some gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from Iraqi opposition forces.

More than 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles took part in the assault, supported by low-flying A-10 “Warthog” ground support fighter aircraft and pilotless drones, news reports said.

According to the AP, the armored column moved from southeast to northeast to what reporters identified as the newest and main presidential palace, located on the Tigris.

By 9 a.m. local time, a Reuters correspondent reported shelling in a presidential palace on the west side of the Tigris River.

“We can see shells crashing into the palace. White smoke is rising from the compound. There are many soldiers in the area. We can hear artillery, mortars and probably tanks,” Reuters correspondent Samia Nakhoul reported from the city center.

During an outdoor press conference at 10:30 a.m. local time, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf denied U.S. forces had entered his country’s capital.

“They said that they have entered Baghdad with 65 tanks into the center of the city and I am telling you this is not true,” he said through a translator. “There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad.”

Responding to a question from a British journalist about fighting “about a half-mile away,” Al-Sahaf responded in English: “They pushed a few of their armored carriers … we besieged them and killed most of them. We will slaughter them all. Those invaders — their tombs will be here in Iraq.”

Despite Iraqi claims, barely two hours later, both CNN and Fox broadcast video reportedly showing the interior of the Baghdad presidential palace under U.S. control.

By mid-afternoon Monday local time, American forces had withdrawn from several locations, but remained at the palace. At Central Command, Brigadier General Brooks said it would be the call of the commanders on the ground in Baghdad whether those forces stayed within the central part of the capital.

“They [the local commanders] will make decisions on what parts of Baghdad they will want to retain control of,” Brooks said.

Reporters embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division said the coalition had decided to leave at least three battalions inside the central Baghdad throughout the night and in the foreseeable future.

As night fell, Arab-language channels still operating inside Baghdad reported loud gunfire and heavy explosions in central parts of the capital.