| Coalition ground forces are taking Iraqi positions around Baghdad so quickly that American fighter pilots are being forced to switch their bombing targets in flight. F/A-18 Hornet and F-14 Tomcat pilots have intensified direct attacks on Baghdad in recent days, after weeks of pounding dug-in defensive posts just south of the city. They are clearing the way for troops and flying support missions as well as hitting strategic targets. That means plans have changed quickly. "On our way to our target we received a kind of good-news, bad-news story," Cmdr. Brian Corey, an F/A-18 pilot, said of a mission he flew Thursday night. "The bad news was our pre-planned mission was canceled. The good news was it was canceled because friendly forces were moving faster than earlier planned, and they had moved beyond my pre-planned target." |