entered deep into Iraq from neighboring Kuwait on Friday, March 21, amid concern about the first casualties among coalition forces.
As the advance on the Iraqi capital continued, British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed that eight British and four American service men were killed when their helicopter crashed in northern Kuwait.
He said that his thoughts and prayers went out to the family and those who loved "these brave men". "They knew the dangers and gave their lives for our freedom" and security of the rest of the world," Prime Minister Blair told reporters when news about the helicopter crash reached him.
Officials say no hostilities were to blame for the incident. In addition a U.S. marine was killed by hostile fire in Southern Iraq, the Voice of America (VOA) said. President George W. Bush also expressed his condolences to the families of those who died.
DIFFICULT BATTLE
British Government officials also warned that the "war will not be won overnight," amid reports of 30 burning oil wells, who were apparently put on fire by retreating Iraqi troops.
Coalition forces were trying to secure other wells, while an armored reconnaissance unit, the 7th U.S. Cavalry, was "racing" northwards across the Iraqi desert, spearheading a move by the 3rd Infantry Division up the Euphrates Valley toward Baghdad, VOA said.
Despite the difficulties and often incoming fire the moral among allies was boosted by reports that an increasing number of Iraqi soldiers were waving white flags.
The U.S. military had earlier dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets advising troops to surrender and not to be die for what American officials called "a doomed regime."
"REGIME WILL FALL"
"There is no question but that that regime is not going to be there in the future," said U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld speaking in Washington.
Meanwhile, a joint expeditionary force made up of U.S. marines and British forces was heading toward Basra, Iraq’s second city.
They intended to move up the Tigris Valley toward Baghdad, where residents were shaken by two nights of targeted air strikes by dozens of missiles fired from U.S. warships and British submarines.
Witnesses in Baghdad said at least one building, close to a key Saddam Hussein compound and to the planning ministry on the banks of the Tigris river, was set ablaze as the missiles hit targets close to government offices and one the Iraqi leaders’ presidential palaces.
AL CAPONE
U.S. officials have said there were indications that Saddam Hussein may have been injured in one of these attacks. However the Iraq’s Information Ministry denied the regime was falling, and called America "a superpower of Al Capone."
Iraqi television also denied news reports that U.S. and British troops had captured the Iraqi Gulf port city of Umm Qasr. As the fighting continued, Christian leaders launched a spiritual warfare, BosNewsLife monitored.
On Friday, March 21, the Christian GOD television channel urged Christians around the world to pray for Iraq and said it would adjust its programming to the rapidly developing situation. Preachers from other networks, including the Trinity Broadcasting Network TBN), have also asked Bible believing believers to pray.
