Of course, being an imbedded reporter doesn't necessarily mean you're the sharpest dart on the board...Tough battle for Umm Qasr

The BBC's Adam Mynott sent this report for News Online from the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.

Many of the young US Marines aged between 19-24 had been told to expect fairly light resistance from Iraqi forces as they crossed the border with the intention of taking the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.

Huh? "Many" of the redundantly young 19-24 Marines were told? Not all? How many? What about the 18 year olds? What about all the old farts? Did they get told something else? Nothing?

But when they crossed, shortly after dawn, through the wide gap cut in the sand reinforcement by 26 Armoured Engineer Squadron of British soldiers, they encountered much stiffer opposition than they had been expecting.

Initially small arms fire was aimed at the front of the convoy of more than 20 vehicles, then mortars were also fired in the direction of the convoy.

The commanding officer of Fox Company, Captain Rick Crevier, called up British artillery, which was stationed in northern Kuwait, just behind the border to target the Iraqi post.

Several volleys appeared to hit the Iraqi positions; some also fell close to US Marines who immediately conducted a hurried and somewhat chaotic withdrawal.

I ran back as fast as I could towards the Iraq-Kuwait border as artillery shells burst overhead.

Uh-huh. When you're running away as fast as you can, just about everything looks like hurried chaos.

The US Marines regrouped and Captain Crevier also called forward two M1-Abraham American tanks to try to help punch a hole through the Iraqi resistance.

"Abrams", you twit. M-1 Abrams. And I really REALLY don't think it was going to have to "try" too very hard to punch this hole you speak of.

The armoured convoy eventually got moving after three or four hours and made its way towards the port of Umm Qasr.

On the way, around 30 Iraqis surrendered to American forces, holding their hands up and waving white flags. [...]

Hopefully the three or four hours was long enough for you to turn around and run the right way.

Umm Qasr remains in a state of some flux.

There are still pockets of Iraqi resistance within the town, somewhere between the new port and the old port in Umm Qasr.

Isn't "some flux" something like being a little pregnant? Anyway, the tone still suggests a dejected defeatism that would probably lead Adam to opine that World War II was still going on because there is a very lonely Japanese guy on New Guinea who didn't surrender in 1945.

The new port is vital in the coalition's plans to bring humanitarian aid into the country.

At the moment, large amounts of aid are stored on ships in the Persian Gulf waiting to come into Umm Qasr.

US Marines fear that the waters in the port may have been mined - and that clearance operation will have to take place first.

Adam, I doubt "fear" is the correct adjective to use right after US Marines. And yes, you are so very right--if there are mines, they will have to be cleared first before anyone can bring in the pointy-ended, floaty things. It's very dangerous. Maybe you should run away.

Umm Qasr is the only deep-water port in Iraq.

It is where around 3,500 tonnes of food and humanitarian aid has arrived every day in the past decade or more, in the UN-organised oil-for-food operation.

Luckily, there are those red lines on your map--they are called "roads' and they lead from several of the countries around Iraq, and then there are those things on your map that look like little airplanes--they are called "aerodromes" and great big flying things can land there, so just in case Umm Qasr is mined, and it takes a week or so to get it unclogged, there ARE alternatives.

Anyway, good luck, Adam, and please don't bother the nice men while they work.
posted by Terry at 2:41:00 PM