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CNN Live At Daybreak

Persian Gulf Preps?

Aired September 19, 2002 - 06:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon is spending thousands of -- sending, rather, thousands of tons of equipment to the Persian Gulf region. And today, General Tommy Franks of the military Central Command is in Kuwait City to meet with regional commanders. Members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division are in Kuwait for training.
And we want to go live there now. Our Martin Savidge is in Kuwait City via videophone.

Hello -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Everything is normal here -- that, according to U.S. and Kuwaiti officials. But of course, beneath the surface, everything is decidedly not so normal.

You mentioned General Tommy Franks coming in here. The Kuwaitis and the Americans going out of their way to say, hey, this meeting was planned long before the latest crisis with Iraq came up. It's an annual meeting. He sits down with the CENTCOM commanders in this region and meets with them.

He flew in a couple of hours ago. He's believed to be up at Camp Doha, a large U.S. military installation, and he's talking. They say, this is not a war powwow.

Other interesting and yet said to be normal events. You mentioned that military exercise involving the Army, about 2,000 U.S. Army troops training with Kuwaiti forces. This is known as Operation Desert Spring, taking place up near the border of Kuwait and Iraq, not on the border. It goes on for months at a time, and this is actually an annual exercise.

And then, there is another training episode that is to take place; this time involving the Marines coming ashore. They would be using amphibious assault craft. They'll also be using aircraft and land units, as well working in conjunction with Kuwaiti forces. This is supposed to take place end of September, early October.

Now, as you look at the maps, one of the things you quickly ascertain is that Kuwait is potentially a launching point for U.S. military forces. They already have about 10,000 U.S. forces in the country here. And they have a lot of pre-positioned equipment that is readily accessible, and with the port system, they could bring in a great deal more, if it is necessary. The Marine exercise is supposed to use the USS Belleau Wood. That's a helicopter assault ship. It's not here at the moment. As the map may show you, it is a little bit to the south near the African nation of Djibouti. There's about -- said to be about 800 U.S. Special Forces and CIA forces, poised for possible military action into Somalia or into Yemen, where there are said to be a number of pockets of al Qaeda resistance fighters that fled when Afghanistan came under attack.

So, on the surface, as we say, everyone is trying to say things are exactly normal. They may not be, though, beneath the surface -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I think you're right about that. Martin Savidge, thank you for that live report from Kuwait City this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired September 19, 2002 - 06:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon is spending thousands of -- sending, rather, thousands of tons of equipment to the Persian Gulf region. And today, General Tommy Franks of the military Central Command is in Kuwait City to meet with regional commanders. Members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division are in Kuwait for training.
And we want to go live there now. Our Martin Savidge is in Kuwait City via videophone.

Hello -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Everything is normal here -- that, according to U.S. and Kuwaiti officials. But of course, beneath the surface, everything is decidedly not so normal.

You mentioned General Tommy Franks coming in here. The Kuwaitis and the Americans going out of their way to say, hey, this meeting was planned long before the latest crisis with Iraq came up. It's an annual meeting. He sits down with the CENTCOM commanders in this region and meets with them.

He flew in a couple of hours ago. He's believed to be up at Camp Doha, a large U.S. military installation, and he's talking. They say, this is not a war powwow.

Other interesting and yet said to be normal events. You mentioned that military exercise involving the Army, about 2,000 U.S. Army troops training with Kuwaiti forces. This is known as Operation Desert Spring, taking place up near the border of Kuwait and Iraq, not on the border. It goes on for months at a time, and this is actually an annual exercise.

And then, there is another training episode that is to take place; this time involving the Marines coming ashore. They would be using amphibious assault craft. They'll also be using aircraft and land units, as well working in conjunction with Kuwaiti forces. This is supposed to take place end of September, early October.

Now, as you look at the maps, one of the things you quickly ascertain is that Kuwait is potentially a launching point for U.S. military forces. They already have about 10,000 U.S. forces in the country here. And they have a lot of pre-positioned equipment that is readily accessible, and with the port system, they could bring in a great deal more, if it is necessary. The Marine exercise is supposed to use the USS Belleau Wood. That's a helicopter assault ship. It's not here at the moment. As the map may show you, it is a little bit to the south near the African nation of Djibouti. There's about -- said to be about 800 U.S. Special Forces and CIA forces, poised for possible military action into Somalia or into Yemen, where there are said to be a number of pockets of al Qaeda resistance fighters that fled when Afghanistan came under attack.

So, on the surface, as we say, everyone is trying to say things are exactly normal. They may not be, though, beneath the surface -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I think you're right about that. Martin Savidge, thank you for that live report from Kuwait City this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.