WASHINGTON (AP):
US TROOPS have advanced quickly to the doorstep of Baghdad, leaving their commanders with a tantalising choice: Continue the charge into President Saddam Hussein's capital or wait for reinforcements and give Iraqis a chance to overthrow the regime themselves.
But during the fighting, two American aircraft were lost. While the Pentagon first said an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a Navy F/A-18C Hornet had been shot down, commanders in the Persian Gulf said yesterday they were still investigating the causes of both incidents.
Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told a Qatar press conference that "hostile fire" was not suspected in the helicopter downing and that there were reports the Hornet was hit by missiles, not elaborating whether they were Iraqi or coalition missiles.
Brooks said there were "some casualties" from the helicopter crash. The Pentagon said six Americans aboard the helicopter were killed. The Hornet pilot was missing, and search and rescue operations were underway, officials said.
Lead units of the multi-pronged US Army and Marine assault force were on the outskirts of Baghdad yesterday, and some soldiers raided a presidential palace about 55 miles (88 kilometres) north of Baghdad.
Special forces infiltrated some Iraqi command posts in the Baghdad area during the night, seeking strategic information, and also secured some bridges and dams to forestall possible sabotage, according to the US Central Command.
The advance set the stage for either a final push on the capital or the capitulation of Saddam's best and most loyal fighters. Some Pentagon officials said Wednesday the American forces likely would pause on the outskirts of the capital to allow pressure to build on the Iraqi regime, perhaps enough so it would fall without the chaotic and bloody urban fighting Iraqi officials say they are planning.
A pause also would allow more reinforcements to enter Iraq. The 4th Infantry Division, which has some of the Army's most advanced tanks and equipment, is arriving in Kuwait and could field a brigade-sized task force of a few thousand soldiers as early as Monday or Tuesday, the official said.
But top civilian leaders said they weren't counting on Saddam's capitulation. "It doesn't seem likely," said Victoria Clarke, spokeswoman for Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Still, the Pentagon sought to lower expectations that the Iraqi capital could be taken quickly or easily.
"We are planning for a very difficult fight ahead in Baghdad," Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal told a Pentagon news conference. "We are not expecting to drive into Baghdad suddenly and seize it."
If American forces do battle to take Baghdad, whether after a pause or not, the strategy is likely to include cordoning off the city and targeting key sites for attack, a military official said.
The Americans would try to avoid the street-by-street battles that Iraq wants to set as traps by focusing on such key areas rather than trying to take over the entire city, the official said.
US military officials have weathered criticism over the past week as commanders, other Pentagon officials and outside analysts said the war effort had been slowed by unexpectedly stiff resistance and a plan that may have relied on too few troops.
