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Pentagon: 'The toughest fighting could lie ahead'McChrystal: No sudden drive into Baghdad expected
By Sean Loughlin
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Coalition forces have pummeled Iraq's Republican Guard, leaving two divisions ineffective, Pentagon officials said Wednesday, even as they warned that some of the fiercest fighting -- and the possible use of chemical weapons by Iraq -- lies ahead. In the 13th day of the ground campaign, coalition forces are about 30 miles outside Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said during Wednesday's Pentagon briefing. The Medina and Baghdad divisions of the Republican Guard, he said, are no longer "credible forces." At the same time, McChrystal, vice director for operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke stressed that the most difficult battles may yet unfold. "As much as we are making good progress -- and we are -- the toughest fighting could lie ahead," Clarke said. "The likelihood that they might use chemical weapons is in front of us now. We are not underestimating how tough it could be going forward." Some Republican Guard fighters have surrendered, McChrystal said, but "not in tremendous numbers." The fight for Baghdad, he suggested, would not be easy. "We are expecting or at least planning for a very difficult fight ahead," McChrystal said. "We are not expecting to drive into Baghdad suddenly and seize it in a coup de main or anything like that." The French expression refers to a surprise attack or movement. Wednesday's Pentagon briefing was far more sedate than the previous day's, when Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a heated defense of the Pentagon's war plan, assailing critics as "absolutely wrong" and saying their comments were detrimental to troops in combat. Pentagon officials had little to say about the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 19, of Palestine, West Virginia, who was being transferred Wednesday to a U.S. military hospital in Germany after her daring recovery by U.S. Special Forces in an Iraqi hospital. "She's in good spirits and being treated for injuries," Clarke said. The Pentagon officials dismissed calls by Iraqi officials calling on Muslims to launch a "jihad", or "holy war," against coalition forces. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein --- "who knows where he is now," said Clarke -- has no credibility with Muslims, Pentagon officials said, because he killed thousands who rose up after the Gulf War. "The coalition forces are the ones helping and feeding Muslims in Iraq," she said. Within a few days, she said, two U.S. ships would deliver more than 50,000 tons of wheat to Iraq. Coalition forces, she said, also were showing respect for holy sites, including the Ali Mosque in Najaf. As they have in recent days, Pentagon official made note of Saddam Hussein's absence from the public view. "Who knows who's in charge," Clarke said. To date, coalition forces have fired roughly 700 cruise missiles and dropped more than 10,000 precision guided weapons since the war in Iraq began about two weeks ago.
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