Marines push north to Baghdad in ‘seek and destroy’ missions

THOUSANDS of Marines pushed north toward Baghdad in “seek and destroy” missions yesterday, trying to open the route to the Iraqi capital and stop days of attacks along a stretch that has become known as “Ambush Alley.”

Charging into previously unsecured areas, the Marines tried to provoke attacks in order to find Iraqi fighters and defeat them. A chaplain travelling with them handed out humanitarian packages to distrustful Iraqi civilians encountered along the way.

Army supply trucks appeared on the Marine route north for the first time yesterday, supporting field reports that Army and Marine forces were meeting for the first time in the ground invasion, which had the Marines trekking north along Route 80 known as the "Highway of Death" and Army forces punching their way across desert terrain.