Iraqis flee as Baghdad mobilizes defenses

Even before US forces began their ground attack in southern Iraq Thursday, Iraq was mobilizing thousands of defenders armed with assault rifles and shoulder-held rocket launchers here in the capital city. The degree of menace in Baghdad toward an approaching enemy could not have been more palpable.

Minimal traffic inside this ancient metropolis gave way to frenzied preparations on the outskirts. Armed men clustered on hilltops; others in uniform took up roadside positions with rocket-propelled grenades; edgy travelers packed pistols. This correspondent also saw a canvas-draped truck carrying two Al Samoud 2 missiles - of the 30 or so that remain after most were destroyed by UN inspectors - trundling toward a palm grove a half-hour outside of Baghdad.

Some 300 miles south, the sight of burning oil wells Thursday - reportedly set afire by Iraqis - acted as a trigger for US ground forces. The US 3rd Infantry Division's artillery in Kuwait opened fire on Iraqi troops. Iraq's Rumeila oil field near the Kuwaiti border is one of the country's largest. "Needless to say, it is a crime for that regime to be destroying the riches of the Iraqi people," US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday.

The opening salvo of the war came earlier Thursday, when US forces hit Baghdad with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs. The bombardment, Iraqi officials say, hit mostly empty government buildings and civilian areas. The International Red Cross reported at least one person had died and 14 were wounded.

In an attempt to show Hussein survived the first US "decapitation" strike against him, Iraqi TV on Thursday showed strongman Saddam Hussein - or someone who closely resembled him - giving a speech mobilize Iraqis to his defense. US officials were studying the tape to determine whether it was indeed Hussein or a double.

Later the same day, Secretary Rumsfeld warned Iraqis not to go to work, appealing to them to stay in their homes and listen to coalition radio broadcasts.

His comments came in the wake of countless families choosing to head for the unknown of the open road rather than to be subsumed by the claustrophobic fear gripping the capital. Vehicles crammed with children and belongings - some with military officer fathers at the wheel - tried to get away. Waits at gas stations along the way were an hour or more.

Despite the marked boost of Iraq's defensive moves - which coincided with the passing of Mr. Bush's deadline for Mr. Hussein and his two sons to leave Iraq - it is unclear whether the hearts of Iraqi defenders are more intent on preserving Hussein and his repressive rule, or protecting their nation from foreign invaders.

The regime has always presented Hussein's leadership as inseparable from modern Iraq. The view among Iraq's legions of defenders may well stray from the official line - separating their nationalist aims from those of Hussein's survival. That factor will likely determine the course and speed of America's war.

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