Baghdad Airport ? If the boldness of Saturday’s armored column attack deep into Baghdad stunned the city’s defenders, the very idea of such a daylight dash left the American tank commanders a bit slack-jawed.

“We all thought they were kidding when the battalion commander said we’re going to drive tanks up into the middle of Baghdad,” said Capt. Jason Conroy, an Army officer who took part in the operation. “I told the lieutenants, and they all dropped their (briefing) books.”

Before it was over, the column had thundered through a Republican Guard gauntlet, killing 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and destroying 30 anti-aircraft batteries, according to Col. David Perkins, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade.

One American tank commander was killed in the three-hour foray into the heart of Saddam Hussein’s capital, which American commanders said was designed to stun an Iraqi leadership that had claimed in news conferences that U.S. forces had not yet crossed the Euphrates River more than 20 miles southwest of the city’s outskirts.

During Saturday’s strike, an Iraqi general was captured when his car nearly collided with an American tank as he drove to work in Baghdad, tank crews said.

“We marched through town and knocked on Saddam’s door and said, ‘We’re here, we’re taking over,'” said Conroy, 30, whose bullet-riddled tank barrel was emblazoned with the message: “Courtesy of the red, white and blue.”

Psychological blow

Perkins described the attack as both a tactical and psychological blow to Saddam’s regime.

“This is supposed to be his city, yet we drove right through it,” Perkins said, his face still caked with dust and grime from the battle.

“This shows we can go anywhere in the city at a time of our choosing,” he added. “The world saw today that the American Army is in fact not bogged down.”

The dawn raid came less than 48 hours after U.S. forces seized the international airport here. And it sent a strong signal that U.S. commanders are determined to take the fight to the capital quickly and decisively.

The battle left U.S. forces in control of the two main highways leading north into the capital and west from the city center. The United States also laid claim to the southwest corner of Baghdad.

Subsequent armored columns can use the highways to strike deeper into other parts of the city. The 30 destroyed anti-aircraft batteries also will reduce the threat to U.S. warplanes.

Perkins said the attack was designed to shock Iraqi leaders into reconsidering a drawn-out defense of the city.

“We are here in strength. For those who think they can continue to fight the Americans, that is fruitless,” Perkins said. “A lot of people in the regime who thought things were going well will have second thoughts.”

Intense battle

The Republican Guard forces mounted an intense counter-attack, commanders said. Each of the 29 Abrams tanks and 14 Bradley Fighting Vehicles that roared into the city was peppered with holes from small arms and grenades. Upon their return, some were still smoking.

The tank commander who died, a staff sergeant whose name was not immediately released, was struck in the face by grenade shrapnel, said 1st Lt. Shane Williams. Six to eight other Americans were wounded, tank crews said.

One Abrams tank, hit by a rocket propelled grenade, caught fire and had to be destroyed by another Abrams despite what Perkins called a “valiant” effort to put out the flames.

Returning tank crews, resting in the shade of their vehicles at the Baghdad airport, described a battle in which Iraqis fired from roof tops and highway overpasses. Even so, they said, Republican Guard forces were taken by surprise and caught in the open.

“It was a very good hunting day,” said Williams, standing next to a tank with the words “creeping death” painted on its barrel. The tank was littered with windshield glass from a car that had rammed it.

Tank crews said that at least three civilian vehicles tried to crash into the American column. In one case, returning forces said, a man in a white headband with explosives strapped to his chest was shot dead in his car a few feet short of Perkins’ armored personnel carrier.

“That car was cheese,” said Sgt. Carlos Hernandez, adding that it was hit by perhaps 500 rounds.

‘Five Desert Storms’

The fighting was harrowing, tank crews said, with Republican Guard infantry firing from behind trees and walls along Highway 8, which cuts through the southern half of Baghdad. The roads were thick with “technicals” — jargon for the white Nissan pickups driven by Iraqis that are mounted with heavy machine guns.

“I was a tank commander in the Persian Gulf War,” said Lt. Col. Eric Schwartz, 41, after leading an armored task force Saturday. “After today, I feel like I fought five Desert Storms.”

Schwartz said that when the captured general told him the Republican Guard really didn’t want to fight, he turned and walked away in disgust. The armored attack helped drive some Iraqi tanks north, where the U.S. 7th Cavalry destroyed several of them, Conroy said.

“This is unprecedented, to take an armored task force into the center of a major metropolis and be able to say: ‘We’re here — we’re taking over,’ “Conroy said.