 |
| CNN WEB SITES: |
|
| TIME INC. SITES: |
| MORE SERVICES: |
| video on demand |
| video archive |
| audio on demand |
| news email services |
| free email accounts |
| desktop headlines |
| pointcast |
| DISCUSSION: |
| message boards |
| chat |
| feedback |
| SITE GUIDES: |
| help |
| contents |
| search |
| FASTER ACCESS: |
| europe |
| japan |
| WEB SERVICES: |
 | ||||
 TIMELINE | WHERE THEY STAND | INSIDE UNSCOM | MAPS FORCES IN THE GULF | VIDEO | BIOWEAPONS EXPLAINER |
Pentagon: Bombings resume in Baghdad
| |||
U.S. Navy airmen check bombs aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise
|
|||
INTERACTIVE:Saddam Hussein: Baghdad will not back down
December 18, 1998Web posted at: 11:26 a.m. EST (1626 GMT)
In this story:
- Iraqis display more damage
- More evacuations from Baghdad
- 'More bombs will make no difference'
- 'Operation Monica'
- Related stories and sites
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Pentagon officials said a third wave of bombing began against Iraq after dark Friday. Meanwhile, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein went on national television to tell his people that Baghdad would not back down in the conflict.
Hussein urged Iraqis and Arabs to resist the bombings that began late Wednesday, and to hit the "criminals."
"By God, we will not compromise," Saddam said in the taped address carried by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
 RELATED AUDIO AND VIDEO |
||
| Real | 28K | 56K |
| Windows Media | 28K | 56K |
| Real | 28K | 56K |
| Windows Media | 28K | 56K |
|
2.4 M / 23 sec. / 240x180 QuickTime movie |
Please enable Javascript |
|
| Real | 28K | 56K |
| Windows Media | 28K | 56K |
|
Watch CNN's Christian Amanpour's latest reports from Baghdad | ||
| Watch and listen as anti-aircraft fire explodes over Baghdad | ||
|
Watch other CNN correspondents reporting from
Washington, London, Moscow, Beijing and Jerusalem | ||
U.S. and British officials confirmed Friday that the bombings would resume after dark, even though the Islamic nation was preparing to start the holy month of Ramadan.
Military experts from the attacking nations were assessing the damage done during the second wave of bombing, which ended Friday before daylight in Baghdad.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, emphasized that Hussein had the power to stop the assault on his nation.
It is still possible for Hussein to let the U.N. Special Commission weapons inspectors continue their work with unfettered access and hand over the necessary documentation about Iraq's weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told CNN.
"We were always willing, if they cooperated, to go to a comprehensive review" of Iraq's compliance with the U.N. disarmament mandate and the economic sanctions that have crippled the nation since the 1991 Gulf War, Albright said.
"He had a chance to get out of his box and he blew it," she emphasized.
The bombing of Baghdad began a day after chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler submitted a report claiming the Iraqis were again failing to cooperate fully with the weapons inspectors. Military officials have said the bombing campaign could last four days.
"We're not going away," British Defense Secretary George Robertson told the BBC on Friday. "We will go away when he (Hussein) complies with the (U.N.) Security Council resolutions."
Albright said the policy of the United States is to contain Hussein.
"But, we also believe the Iraqi people need a government that is more representative of them," she added, without elaboration.
Iraqis display more damage
In Baghdad, Iraqi officials -- who routinely limit the movements of journalists -- continued to show Western reporters the damage done by the bombings. CNN crews were shown damage done to Baghdad's Natural History Museum.
During the second wave of bombing, one missile appeared to explode near the state Military Industrial Corporation, which is in charge of Iraq's factories.
Smoke could be seen drifting up from the area. Twisted metal and broken, blackened concrete atop the 10-story building marked the point where U.S. or British weapons slammed through its roof and tore through to the ground floor.
The Iraqis also rushed journalists around to hospitals, to emphasize the damage done to the Iraqi people.
Baghdad officials have been less willing to reveal the impact the bombing has had on sites considered sensitive to Iraq's national security.
Any strikes inside the high-walled, sprawling presidential site compounds would be difficult to see from the outside. Iraq last year declared the sites off-limits to weapons inspectors, which led to an escalation of tensions that nearly led to military strikes.
More evacuations from Baghdad
As the Iraqi capital awaited a third night of bombing raids, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said 35 French nationals had been evacuated to Jordan from Baghdad. Sixty-eight others chose to remain behind, ministry officials said.
The 35 who left were driven to Jordan in two convoys, a ministry statement said. Most of those who chose to stay in Baghdad were dual nationals, it added.
France announced Thursday that, until further notice, it was advising all French nationals against travel to Iraq or Kuwait. Paris has distanced itself from the raids, while blaming Baghdad for the events that led to them.
Earlier Friday, the United Nations said it had evacuated another 107 staffers from Baghdad, leaving behind a skeleton humanitarian crew of about 25 to 30.
The United Nations evacuated all of its weapons inspectors early Wednesday, before the bombing campaign began.
U.S. officials said no U.S. casualties have been reported since the raids began. Iraqi officials have reported at least 25 deaths and 75 injuries.
There was no news of casualties or damage outside the capital.
 | |
|
'More bombs will make no difference'
Life in Baghdad continued during the day Friday as it had a day earlier: with the appearance of normalcy.
"We know they are dropping hundreds of cruise missiles here and there, but who cares?" said a food seller.
"We have got nothing to lose this time. More sanctions, more bombs will make no difference," echoed a cinema ticket seller.
Traffic was light, because Friday is the Muslim Sabbath. During morning prayers, Islamic clerics lashed out at the United States and Great Britain, calling the bombing campaign a "War against Islam," CNN's Christiane Amanpour reported.
Iraqi ministry officials told CNN a special panel would convene Friday night to observe the moon, and determine whether it had the proper crescent shape to indicate the official start of the holy month of Ramadan.
There had been some speculation that the U.S.-British bombing campaign could end once Ramadan began, because the allies were concerned about offending Islamic nations. But U.S. and British officials emphasized Friday that the bombing would continue until the military goals had been accomplished.
Newspaper headlines in Baghdad urged the Iraqis to rally behind Hussein in a show of support.
"God bless Iraq and Saddam," proclaimed the Babil newspaper's front page, in large red letters.
Below the headline was a drawing of the Iraqi leader dressed in a traditional white Arab robe, hurling a spear at a large, black hissing snake. The picture showed Hussein atop a white horse and took up about a third of the front page.
'Operation Monica'
Al-Thawra, the paper of Hussein's ruling Baath Party, headlined its anti-American editorial "Operation Monica."
The headline played off accusations that U.S. President Bill Clinton had launched the attack to deflect public attention away from impeachment proceedings against him.
Clinton is accused of abusing his office and lying under oath to cover up his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The proceedings began Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
An Iraqi Information Ministry official said U.S. aircraft had been drooping leaflets over southern Iraq in an apparent attempt to "arouse the people." The official gave no further details.
The largely Shiite Muslim south rebelled against Hussein after the 1990-91 Gulf War, but Iraqi forces suppressed the uprising.
As for the whereabouts of Hussein, who remained hidden from public view, Iraqi news agencies said he had been meeting with members of his government and touring damage done during two consecutive nights of bombing.
Israel, meanwhile, was preparing to defend itself against possible attacks from Iraq.
Patriot missile batteries were being installed, and Israelis were encouraged to have their gas masks checked and replace outdated models, CNN reported.
During the Gulf War, the Iraqis shelled parts of Israel.
Correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Carl Rochelle, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.