Anatomy of the raid on Hussein's sons

Meanwhile, on surrounding streets, a crowd estimated at several thousand Iraqi civilians had gathered to watch the unfolding drama and refused to disperse. "They were eating, drinking, cheering - these people are so ingrained to combat they don't have the good sense to get out of the way," says a soldier who witnessed the scene.

Then, above the crowd across the street from the villa, two snipers opened fire on US forces from the second-story, corner window of a building with a pink facade, according soldiers involved in the raid. When US soldiers returned fire, the civilians there ran away, but later returned. One US soldier, a driver for the assault team, was shot in the arm and through the chest and evacuated.

It was not until about 3:00 p.m. that US commanders called a cease-fire, and afterwards Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, surveyed the scene.

Guns, body parts, and a kilogram of mercury - used as a trigger switch for homemade bombs - were among the debris, a witness said. The bodies were removed quickly and taken to the Baghdad International Airport base of US forces in order to begin the process of identification, reported the Associated Press.

The top US ground force commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, said in a Baghdad press conference Wednesday that dental records, X-rays, and four former senior members of the Hussein regime helped establish with certainty that the two sons were dead.

As news of the deaths spread through Baghdad Tuesday night, the city erupted in a prolonged burst of celebratory gunfire.

The Americans and Iraqis give differing accounts of a protest that unfolded during the assault. US soldiers say there was a protest down the street from the villa, and that when fire came at them from the crowd at least one US military policeman returned fire and the group dispersed.

The top US ground force commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, said Wednesday that, "We know of no collateral damage that occurred as a result of the operation."

Yet Iraqi witnesses say the protesters, estimated to number from 20 to 40 people, were shouting "God is great" and pressing forward when Americans pushed them back using their rifle butts. Then one soldier shot into the crowd without firing warning shots, they claim, killing a man named Anas Basil. A man who said he is the victim's brother held up what he said were the victim's photograph and bloodied shirt and pants. "This is American freedom," he said, pointing to what he claimed was a bloodstain on the road at the intersection where the clash took place.

Bullets flew into nearby houses, in one case passing through a pillow and wooden bed into the wall, while the force of blasts from munitions shattered windows and left Iraqi residents terrified. "I ran here and there, still I am afraid," said a woman who was alone in the house next door with her three children.

Another neighbor, Kifah Mahmood, said he had noticed more cars visiting outside the villa, which he said is owned by a Hussein relative, over the past two or three weeks. He said the owner of the house used to relax in chairs outside on the sidewalk, but lately had taken to talking to people from behind the villa wall. [Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly identified a neighbor.]

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