U.S. troops consolidated their control of Baghdad yesterday, capturing the last few remaining government ministry buildings, according to the Washington Post (see GSN, April 9).

As U.S. Army units took control of the main government area of western Baghdad, U.S. Marine forces occupied the eastern residential section of the city, according to the Post.  U.S. forces experienced only scattered and light resistance as they moved throughout Baghdad. 

The capture of Baghdad means the war is now entering into its final phase, a U.S. military officer said.

“Not every area in Baghdad is secure, but the central part of the city, the heart of the city, is secure,” said Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.  “The end of the combat phase is days away,” he said (William Branigin, Washington Post, April 10).

There have also been reports that Kurdish militiamen have captured several northern Iraqi cities, including the key city of Kirkuk, according to al-Jazeera (Al-Jazeera, April 10).

Now that Baghdad has been captured, U.S. forces are preparing to move on the city of Tikrit, a stronghold of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, according to the Washington Times.

“We certainly are focused on Tikrit ... to prevent the regime from being able to use it as a place to command and control, to restore command and control, or to hide,” U.S. Central Command spokesman Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said yesterday.

Coalition aircraft have conducted large numbers of airstrikes against Iraqi troops deployed outside of Tikrit in advance of the planned attack, U.S. military officials said.  There are more than 10 Iraqi regular army divisions still deployed north of Baghdad, along with one Republican Guard brigade, said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“They have been subjected to bombing by air power and will continue to be dealt with in that way for some time,” Myers said (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, April 10).

“The Game Is Over”

Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri conceded yesterday that the war is all but over.

“The game is over,” Aldouri said.  “My hope now is peace, for everybody.  I hope that peace will prevail and the Iraqi people at the end of the day will have a peaceful life,” he said (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, April 10).

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned yesterday, however, that U.S. troops in Iraq could still experience some heavy resistance, even though Baghdad has fallen.

“More people are going to be killed, let there be no doubt,” Rumsfeld said.  “This is not over, despite all the celebrations on the street,” he said (Bob Kemper, Chicago Tribune, April 10).

Today, a suicide bomber in Baghdad seriously wounded four U.S. soldiers (CNN, April 10).

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Meanwhile, Iraqi opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, said yesterday that he has information that Hussein survived a second recent U.S. airstrike.

In addition to remaining alive, Hussein was able to flee Baghdad for the city of Baqubah, northeast of the capital, Chalabi said.

“We have no evidence they have been killed in that attack,” Chalabi said.  “We know at least that Qusay, his son, has survived and he is occupying some houses in the Diyala area,” he added.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali” for ordering a 1998 chemical weapons attack on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, is also reported to still be alive, Chalabi said (CNN.com, April 9).

Covert CIA and military teams operating in Iraq, as well as surveillance equipment set up to track Hussein and other senior Iraqi officials, all reported yesterday that almost all Iraqi officials have disappeared.

“All of a sudden, all communications ceased and the regime didn’t come to work,” a senior Bush administration official said.  “Even the minders for (foreign) journalists did not go to work,” the official said.

The capture, or death, of Hussein is still a top U.S. priority, according to U.S. officials. 

“In order to come to closure” psychologically, “we need to demonstrate he’s not in control anymore,” a senior administration official said.  “It will make it easier to start afresh,” the official added (Priest/Pincus, Washington Post, April 10).

Rumsfeld yesterday refused to comment on Hussein’s fate, suggesting it was irrelevant.

“He’s either dead or he’s incapacitated, or he’s healthy and cowering in a tunnel someplace,” Rumsfeld said.  “Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Ceausescu in the pantheon of failed, brutal dictators — and the Iraqi people are well on their way to freedom,” he said (Goering/Dellios, Chicago Tribune, April 10).

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