| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Lights out. |
| 2003-04-03 |
| Large sections of the Iraqi capital lost power Thursday as loud explosions could be heard on the outskirts of the city. I'll bet it's darkest where the 3rd ID is coming in Whatta wanna bet that the 3rd is closer than the 5 miles previously reported? The explosions persisted for nearly 15 minutes before the power went off — the first widespread electrical failure in the city since U.S. bombardment began two weeks ago. The reason for the loss of power was not immediately clear. However, U.S. troops from the 3rd Infantry Division were reported to be 15 miles south of the center of Baghdad. Maybe Geraldo can tell us where the 3rd ID is FOLLOWUP: From the radio, Gen. Meyers speaking live... Gen. Meyers says we're not the ones who put out the lights — power grid wasn't targeted. They're looking into it. |
| Posted by:Mike N |
| #5 I would think that it would be obvious to Mister Former Secretary West that we have a few assets in Baghdad, and that some of those folks are probably even qualified to give us a read on the local situation, and probably have been doing so for, like, you know, WEEKS. |
| Posted by: jrosevear 2003-04-03 19:30:36 |
| #4 Or it could be a trap "Former Army Secretary Togo West Jr. told Fox News that coalition forces have to be careful not to go into Baghdad too quickly out of a desire to save civilians -- until they know what they're heading in to." |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-03 15:20:33 |
| #3 Now youve given me something to worry about - the black out, combined with Al-jazeera toss-out this could be Saddams going away "present" an attempt to seed post-war ethnic hatred. I ASSUME (HOPE) THAT IF THIS HAPPENS, SPEC OPS/CIA IN THE CITY WILL KNOW, AND WILL SPEED ARRIVAL OF MARINES. We should know by morning Bagdad time (a few hours from now) |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-03 15:18:36 |
| #2 Speculation that the Iraqis turned off the lights so they could purge the Shia section of the city. |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-04-03 14:22:53 |
| #1 New moon (just like everybody was talking about for months). Power goes out just around sundown. 3rd ID and Marines go in with night vision goggles, etc. Plenty of special ops all around. Marines go to trouble to cross Tigris, so they can come in on EAST side of city (where sprawling Shiite slums are). Shiite ayatollah delivers fatwah to support coalition troops, who just very visibly spared/rescued holy site in Najaf. I do believe its all coming together. Daybreak in Bagdad will be around 8PM EST tonight. Should be quite interesting. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-03 11:47:13 |