Vance
11-11-2003, 04:52 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=574&e=1&u=/nm/20031111/wl_nm/iraq_dc_149
BAGHDAD (*******) - Three rockets on Tuesday hit the fortified area of Baghdad where the U.S.-led administration is based after the top U.S. military commander vowed to unleash any weapon in his arsenal on guerrillas attacking his forces.
Other bombings on Tuesday killed at least four people and wounded 10 in the country's two biggest cities.
An army spokeswoman said three rockets -- not mortar rounds as had been initially thought -- landed inside the fortified "green zone" where the U.S.-led administration is based. "Several vehicles were damaged in the green zone but there have been no injuries reported at this time," she told *******.
Dozens of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police fanned out after the blasts. In one part of Baghdad, residents showed troops an area near a school where they said rockets had been launched.
Soldiers and police walked across rooftops with flashlights looking for the possible launch site.
The attack was the latest on the administration's headquarters in central Baghdad in the past 10 days. The recent attacks have not killed anyone or caused much damage.
Attacks on U.S.-led forces occupying Iraq (news - web sites), local people cooperating with them and international organizations have surged in recent months, causing increasing concern among the American public as President Bush (news - web sites) seeks re-election.
"The most important message is that we're going to get pretty tough," said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, whose forces have unleashed air bombing for the first time since the official end of major combat on May 1.
"That's what's necessary to defeat this enemy and we're definitely not shy about doing that," he told a regular news briefing.
Washington blames die-hard supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and foreign Muslim militants for the attacks.
"Not a single tool that we have available would be spared if necessary to defeat that enemy," Sanchez said. "Although the coalition can be benevolent, this is still the same lethal formation that removed the former oppressive regime."
Sanchez said up to 20 people had been detained in Iraq on suspicion of links to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda but no proof had been found of those links.
BAGHDAD (*******) - Three rockets on Tuesday hit the fortified area of Baghdad where the U.S.-led administration is based after the top U.S. military commander vowed to unleash any weapon in his arsenal on guerrillas attacking his forces.
Other bombings on Tuesday killed at least four people and wounded 10 in the country's two biggest cities.
An army spokeswoman said three rockets -- not mortar rounds as had been initially thought -- landed inside the fortified "green zone" where the U.S.-led administration is based. "Several vehicles were damaged in the green zone but there have been no injuries reported at this time," she told *******.
Dozens of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police fanned out after the blasts. In one part of Baghdad, residents showed troops an area near a school where they said rockets had been launched.
Soldiers and police walked across rooftops with flashlights looking for the possible launch site.
The attack was the latest on the administration's headquarters in central Baghdad in the past 10 days. The recent attacks have not killed anyone or caused much damage.
Attacks on U.S.-led forces occupying Iraq (news - web sites), local people cooperating with them and international organizations have surged in recent months, causing increasing concern among the American public as President Bush (news - web sites) seeks re-election.
"The most important message is that we're going to get pretty tough," said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, whose forces have unleashed air bombing for the first time since the official end of major combat on May 1.
"That's what's necessary to defeat this enemy and we're definitely not shy about doing that," he told a regular news briefing.
Washington blames die-hard supporters of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and foreign Muslim militants for the attacks.
"Not a single tool that we have available would be spared if necessary to defeat that enemy," Sanchez said. "Although the coalition can be benevolent, this is still the same lethal formation that removed the former oppressive regime."
Sanchez said up to 20 people had been detained in Iraq on suspicion of links to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda but no proof had been found of those links.