Don't know if this had been noted, and posted, already,
but the English translation of the entire [<www.iraqwar.ru>] site,
is at:
<http://www1.iraqwar.ru/?userlang=en>
John Mage wrote:
> Someone here is keeping track of when new reports are posted;
> i can't raise todays - has it been put up?
>
> Yesterdays had not been posted. so I will do so here.
>
> As for US/UK casualties on Friday this suggests 5 killed and 60 killed
> or wounded or missing in action. The first number is about what has been
> admitted, but there are no admissions by the US/UK as to wounded and
> missing in action so the second number can't be checkid in that manner.
> Confusion results from the phrase "X killed and wounded" - if that is
> understood to represent primarily wounded the numbers are not at all
> odd. Death after all is a process more than an event. I continue to
> regard iraqwar.ru to be at the least no less reliable than AP, Reuters.
> NYTimes etc That's not a blanket endorsement.
>
> john mage
>
> March 29, 2003, 0924hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow - During the past day
> the situation on the US-Iraqi front remained largely unchanged. The US
> is continuing reinforcing the attack group near Karabela for a thrust
> toward Baghdad. By the morning of March 29 up to 20,000 coalition troops
> were massed in the area of Karabela. This forces includes up to 200
> tanks, 150 artillery systems and more than 250 helicopters. The order
> for the attack will be given by the coalition commander Gen. Tommy
> Franks, who, according to intercepted radio communications, will
> personally inspect the troops during the next several hours.
>
> Around 1900hrs yesterday an Apache attack helicopter crashed.
> Intercepted radio communications show that the helicopter was heavily
> damaged in a combat mission. The helicopter's pilot lost control during
> landing and the helicopter crashed, causing serious damage to another
> helicopter that landed earlier.
>
> The coalition troops have so far failed to take An-Nasiriya despite of
> the categorical orders from the command and more than 800 combat
> missions by the strike aircraft. All attempts to break through the Iraqi
> defense were met by Iraqi counterattacks. After 24 hours of fighting the
> coalition troops only managed to advance several hundred meters in two
> sectors near An-Nasiriya at the cost of 4 destroyed armored personnel
> carriers, no less that 3 Marines killed by sniper and mortar fire, 10
> wounded and 2 missing in action. The exact Iraqi losses are being
> determined.
>
> The Americans have also failed to advance near An-Najaf. Every coalition
> attack was met by massive artillery barrages from the Iraqi side. Later
> during the day the Iraqis mounted a counterattack throwing the US forces
> back by 1.5-2 kilometers. No fewer than 10 Marines were killed or
> wounded. After exchanging fire for six hours both warring sides remained
> in the same positions. Iraqi losses in this area are estimated to be 20
> killed and up to 40 wounded.
>
> Near Basra the British troops pushed the Iraqi defense lines on the Fao
> peninsula but were unable to capture the entire peninsula. The British
> advance was a maximum of 4 kilometers from the highway leading to Basra.
> Radio intercepts show that in this attack the Iraqis shot down a British
> helicopter. Additionally, two tanks and one APCs were destroyed by
> landmines. At least 2 [British] servicemen were killed, around 20 were
> wounded and 15 were captured by the Iraqis.
>
> Exchange of fire continued in the area of the Basra airport. The Iraqis
> destroyed one coalition APC wounding two coalition soldiers. The Iraqi
> losses are difficult to estimate, but available information suggests
> that up to 20 Iraqi soldiers and local militia members might have been
> killed in the air and artillery strikes.
>
> All attempts by the British troops to break through the Iraqi defenses
> from the south along the Al-Arab river have yielded not results. The
> British command reported that it is unable to storm Basra with the
> available forces and will require no less than two additional brigades
> and at least five additional artillery battalions. Thus, to avoid
> further casualties the British are adopting defensive tactics, while
> trying to maintain a tight blockade around Basra and trying to improve
> their positions with small localized attacks. The British are also
> maintaining pressure on the Iraqi positions on the Fao peninsula.
>
> The psychological levels among the city's residents, according to
> interviews, is far from critical. The Iraqi military made several public
> announcements to the residents offering them a chance to leave the city.
> However, most of the residents do not want to leave, fearing the faith
> of the Palestinian refugees, who, after losing their homes, gained
> pariah status in the Arab world. Basra's residents were extremely
> depressed by the video footage aired by the coalition command showing
> Iraqis on the occupied territories fighting for food and water being
> distributed by the coalition soldiers. The city's population views this
> as a sample of what awaits them if the Americans come...
>
> At the Al-Kuwait airport the unloading of the 4th Mechanized Infantry
> Division is continuing and is expected to be completed by the night of
> April 1. During a night flight one of the US military transport aircraft
> requested an emergency landing. What happened to the plane is still
> being determined.
>
> Currently the coalition command is deciding how better use the 4th
> Infantry Division. The complete deployment [of the division] and
> preparations for combat are expected to take at least 10 days. However,
> the combat units require immediate reinforcements and it is possible
> that the [4th Infantry} Division will be joining combat in stages, as
> the units become ready. This will mean a considerable reduction of the
> Division's combat effectiveness.
>
> A report was obtained, prepared by the Al-Kuwait-based [coalition]
> Psychological Operations Tactical Group for the [coalition] Special
> Ground Forces Command. The report analyzed the effectiveness of the
> information and propaganda war. According to the report, analysis of the
> television broadcasts, intercepted radio communications, interrogations
> of Iraqi POWs show that psychologically the Iraqis are now "more stable
> and confident" that they were during the last days before the war. This,
> according to the report, is due primarily to the coalition's numerous
> military failures.
>
> "...Following nervousness and depression [of the Iraqis] during the
> first days of the war we can now observe a burst of patriotic and
> nationalistic feelings. ...There has been a sharp increase in the number
> of Iraqi refugees, who left the country before the war, returning to
> Iraq. A "cult of war" against the US and the UK is now emerging among
> the Iraqis...", the report states. [Reverse translation from Russian]
>
> [Coalition] analysts believe that if this attitude of the Iraqis is not
> changed within the next 7 days, a "resistance ideology" may take over
> the Iraqi minds, making the final [coalition] victory even more
> difficult. In response to this report the US Army Psychological
> Operations command decided to combine all Iraqi POWs into large groups
> and to distribute the resulting video footage to the world media. A more
> active use of the Iraqi opposition was suggested for propaganda work in
> the occupied villages. The same opposition members will be used to
> create video footage of the "repented" Iraqi POWs and footage of the
> local [Iraqi] population "opposing Saddam."
>
> Radio communications intercepted during the last five days suggest that
> the coalition is using Israeli airfield for conducting night air strikes
> against Iraq. Combat aircraft are taking off regularly from the
> [Israeli] Hatzerim and the Navatim airbases do not return to the same
> bases but fly toward the border with Jordan while maintaining complete
> radio silence.
>
> Possibly these are just Israeli Air Force exercises, However, [Russian]
> radio intercept and radar units observe increased intensity of radio
> communications coming from the Jordanian air force and air defense
> communication centers during such overflights, as well as changes in the
> operating modes of the US Army "Patriot" tracking radars deployed in
> Jordan. This indicates the Israeli airbases as used as forward airfield
> or that some of the coalition air force units are based there. Normally
> the IAF F-15I fighter-bombers and A-4N strike aircraft operate from the
> Hatzerim airbase and the F-16 fighter-bombers operate from the Nevatim base.
>
> Experts believe that these airbases may be used by the F-117 stealth
> bombers "officially" based at the Al-Udaid airbase in Qatar. Using these
> two locations minimizes the risk to the F-117s by allowing them to fly
> along the left bank of the Euphrates (in the direction of Turkey) and to
> avoid the dangerous maneuvering over Iraq.
>
> The destruction of the telephone stations in Baghdad did nothing to
> disrupt the communications of the Iraqi army. The coalition command
> acknowledged this fact after analyzing the dense [Iraqi] radio traffic.
> Because of that the USAF was ordered to employ the most powerful
> available [conventional] munitions against predetermined strategic
> targets. This attacks will be carried out immediately before renewing
> ground advance.
>
> (source: iraqwar.ru, 03-29-03, translated by Venik)