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Airport to be used as 'superbase'

AP, Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar
For the US-led forces on Baghdad's doorstep, Saddam International Airport is potentially a massive military base for bringing in weapons and troops and channeling aid to the Iraqi people.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein liked the first-class air hub, complete with its duty-free shops, so much that he named it after himself.
But on Friday, tanks of the 3rd Infantry Division rumbled through its entrance, past a tall portrait of the saluting Iraqi president. US forces occupied part of the complex and sealed
the entrance closest to Baghdad, although it was unclear how much of the airport complex was under US control.
American strategists prize the airport's main runway because it is long enough at 13,000 feet to land the military's largest transport planes as well as civilian jumbo jets.
It also has a second 8,000-foot runway, once used by Iraqi fighter jets, that could help speed the flying in of supplies.
Its crowning appeal is proximity to the Iraqi capital. The airport is about 10 miles from the heart of Baghdad and is adjacent to the Radwaniyah presiden-
tial site, which served as Saddam's main residence.
Flying in troops, armor and humanitarian aid to Saddam International will shave off hours, if not days, from trucking supplies north from other air bases further south.
"This is a very large area immediately adjacent to Baghdad that you can just sort of move into, and American forces could congregate and regroup and gather themselves together and stage from," said John Pike, a military analyst with GlobalSecurity.org.
Following the coalition strategy of leapfrogging supplies to the front lines
through captured Iraqi air bases, the first US supply plane landed Thursday at an airfield four miles from the southern town of Nasiriyah, where US Marines are still trying to root out resistance.
The Tallil Airfield was overrun by the 3rd Infantry Division on March 22. But it took days for US troops to clear away the jumbles of wrecked vehicles and other barriers strewn around the strip by the Iraqi military to prevent its use.
Setting up shop at Saddam International Airport could also take a while - mostly because the surrounding area is still not under US control. Lumbering C-130 transport planes
would make ideal targets for militia fighters or regular Iraqi army troops armed with anti-aircraft missiles.
A military official at US Central Command in Doha said an airfield would be an important asset if coalition forces were assured of its security.
The airport's wide open spaces could make it easier to do just that. Good lines of sight help defend troops camped in the shadows of Baghdad. The open land acts as a buffer between the air base and surrounding buildings where attackers could hide. The infield provides plenty of room to stockpile supplies, tanks and tents.