- AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar (Reuters)
- A U.S. commander in the Gulf said on Wednesday some U.S. troops had crossed
a "red line" around Baghdad that the military believed could
trigger a chemical attack by Iraqi forces.
-
- "We have forces that have already crossed those
red lines," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a news conference.
-
- A U.S. military source in the field told Reuters that
the vanguard of an advance on Baghdad from the southwest was just 19 miles
from the southern edge of the Iraqi capital.
-
- A Reuters correspondent traveling with U.S. forces south
of Baghdad said they were wearing MOPP 2 protective clothing -- the second
highest state of readiness for any chemical attack.
-
- "If it's used, we'll be prepared for it being used,"
Brooks said. "It causes us to maintain protective postures of our
forces as they approach this area, but it doesn't make us stop."
-
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