Big explosions were heard throughout the day Saturday, and by late afternoon at least 12 huge columns of smoke towered all along Baghdad's southern horizon. After sunset, a series of strong blasts rocked the Iraqi capital.
Warplanes could be heard overhead when the attack began at about 7:15 p.m.
But by early evening, there were few cars or pedestrians, and black smoke had drifted toward the heart of the city. Two or three explosions were heard.
Elsewhere, U.S. aircraft bombed Iraqi tanks holding bridges near Basra, the country's second-largest city. American officials said Saddam's regime was clearly losing control.
Earlier, US President George W. Bush warned that only "decisive force" would end the war in Iraq, as he held a war council.
The president warned that despite the terrible force of what the United States has dubbed a "shock and awe" campaign to crush Saddam's regime, the conflict could last longer than many people expect, despite swift advances made by US troops.
Bush gathered heavy hitters, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at his Camp David retreat.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, were also on hand at the compound, in the folds of Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, 100 kilometers north of the White House.
"A campaign on harsh terrain in a vast country could be longer and more difficult than some have predicted," Bush said in his weekly radio address, cautioning against overconfidence after what US officials have said was a good start to the campaign.
"Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. This will not be a campaign of half-measures," said the president.
"It is a fight for the security of our nation and the peace of the world, and we will accept no outcome but victory."
(Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
