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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Army's Seventh Calvary Making Last-Minute Preparations for War
Aired March 18, 2003 - 06:25 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Army's Seventh Calvary is making last minute preparations for war in the northern Kuwait desert.
CNN's Walter Rodgers is out there with the troops along the border with Iraq.
Let's check in with him now -- good morning or good afternoon to you down there, Walt.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
This is the Seventh Cavalry. I talked to many soldiers here today. Not a single one of them believes that Saddam Hussein is going to take President Bush's offer to get out of dodge in 48 hours. Indeed, they say, the soldiers say they wish he'd take the money and run. They just don't see it happening. So their next best wish is that there would be a quick regime collapse, as soon as they cross the border.
Over my shoulder, you can see a main battle tank, an M1A1 Abrams. Every one of these tanks is packed full of ammunition. That tank you see behind me has more than three dozen 120 millimeter shells in it, a .50 caliber machine gun, boxes and boxes of 7.62 millimeter machine guns. It is more than ready to go. It is fueled.
Earlier today, this particular troop, the Apache Troop of the Seventh Cavalry, had an inspection. Captain Quay Lyle (ph) is the commander of this unit and he is, was crawling all over the tanks. When you inspect a tank in the desert, it's almost like taking your car to the gas station. They put the dipstick into the oil to check the oil levels. They take the cap off the batteries and see how much water is there.
As I say, these tanks are fueled, ready to go. So are the soldiers. Captain Lyle told me that his men were ready 45 days ago and the heat's getting pretty bad out here.
So that 48 hours can't come soon enough for these men and women -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, with that in mind then, Walt, do you get a sense that their sense of anticipation is actually, is creeping up or not after that speech by President Bush last night? What kind of sense do you get from talking to the guys there?
RODGERS: I talked to the soldiers this morning, again, after President Bush's speech, and one of the soldiers told me I'm excited. I'm ready to go. But this isn't any sense of blood lust or war mongering. These are very fine young soldiers and the reason they say they're excited and ready to go is because they've been out in the desert so long they want to go home to the United States and they know the only route home to their homes in places like Texas, Georgia, Oregon and so forth goes north across that border behind me and up to Baghdad and they've got to go to Baghdad before they can go home.
I talked to one soldier who's been away from home here a year and a half, hasn't seen his wife in that long -- Leon.
HARRIS: Hmmm, boy. Well, it may be over very soon for him then. And hopefully in a good way.
Walt Rodgers out there with the troops there on the Kuwait border with Iraq.
Thanks, Walt.
We'll check back with you later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Preparations for War>
Aired March 18, 2003 - 06:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Army's Seventh Calvary is making last minute preparations for war in the northern Kuwait desert.
CNN's Walter Rodgers is out there with the troops along the border with Iraq.
Let's check in with him now -- good morning or good afternoon to you down there, Walt.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
This is the Seventh Cavalry. I talked to many soldiers here today. Not a single one of them believes that Saddam Hussein is going to take President Bush's offer to get out of dodge in 48 hours. Indeed, they say, the soldiers say they wish he'd take the money and run. They just don't see it happening. So their next best wish is that there would be a quick regime collapse, as soon as they cross the border.
Over my shoulder, you can see a main battle tank, an M1A1 Abrams. Every one of these tanks is packed full of ammunition. That tank you see behind me has more than three dozen 120 millimeter shells in it, a .50 caliber machine gun, boxes and boxes of 7.62 millimeter machine guns. It is more than ready to go. It is fueled.
Earlier today, this particular troop, the Apache Troop of the Seventh Cavalry, had an inspection. Captain Quay Lyle (ph) is the commander of this unit and he is, was crawling all over the tanks. When you inspect a tank in the desert, it's almost like taking your car to the gas station. They put the dipstick into the oil to check the oil levels. They take the cap off the batteries and see how much water is there.
As I say, these tanks are fueled, ready to go. So are the soldiers. Captain Lyle told me that his men were ready 45 days ago and the heat's getting pretty bad out here.
So that 48 hours can't come soon enough for these men and women -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, with that in mind then, Walt, do you get a sense that their sense of anticipation is actually, is creeping up or not after that speech by President Bush last night? What kind of sense do you get from talking to the guys there?
RODGERS: I talked to the soldiers this morning, again, after President Bush's speech, and one of the soldiers told me I'm excited. I'm ready to go. But this isn't any sense of blood lust or war mongering. These are very fine young soldiers and the reason they say they're excited and ready to go is because they've been out in the desert so long they want to go home to the United States and they know the only route home to their homes in places like Texas, Georgia, Oregon and so forth goes north across that border behind me and up to Baghdad and they've got to go to Baghdad before they can go home.
I talked to one soldier who's been away from home here a year and a half, hasn't seen his wife in that long -- Leon.
HARRIS: Hmmm, boy. Well, it may be over very soon for him then. And hopefully in a good way.
Walt Rodgers out there with the troops there on the Kuwait border with Iraq.
Thanks, Walt.
We'll check back with you later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Preparations for War>
