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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Troops Training in Kuwait
Aired March 18, 2003 - 06:38 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: Let's go now to the front lines, as U.S. troops train in the Kuwaiti desert in the countdown to war.
CNN's Jason Bellini joins us live by videophone from Camp Bull Rush in Kuwait. He's out there with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- Jason.
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
Well, the time we've been here, we've been allowed virtually limitless access to briefings, to plans, to senior-level discussions, and really until this morning, we really didn't have a solid indication of when things would be starting. There were just rumors and speculation going on. That's changed after the president's speech last night. No firm orders, of course, but everyone here assumes that they're coming soon.
Right now with me is Lieutenant Carl Martinez.
You have a good -- you probably have a good sense of what the mood of the camp is, because you are commander of a platoon here. You have a lot of young people under your command. Can you just tell me this morning what are they thinking?
LT. CARL MARTINEZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I'm saying there's a mixed mood, sort of anxiousness, nervousness, anxious in the sense to be out of here doing something, and perhaps nervous in the sense of the reality of what may be here very soon. In either case, I'd say one thing the Marines never lack, though, is a bit of confidence.
BELLINI: Excellent, thank you very much. Thanks for joining us.
But one of the things I want to share, Leon, is that, you know, war plans are very carefully orchestrated. And that down to the individual steps that people will take on their plans are already mapped out, and we've been able to watch some of those plans. Of course, we can't tell you about those, but the group I'm with knows exactly where they are going to be going and what they'll be doing down to the footstep.
Yesterday, we were watching as they were rehearsing what they will do if they encounter EPWs, enemy prisoners of war. They rehearsed with one another. They took turns being the prisoners of war themselves. And they had to go into their structures that they will be -- that they plan on entering with the assumption that these will be hostile individuals that they will encounter. So, you know, they have to take them down to make sure they didn't have any weapons on them, tie back their hands with rope that they have in their pockets.
Also, the Marines here have been given cards like this one -- I don't know if you can see this. This card right here has in Arabic various terms that they might need to use, terms like "stop," "drop your weapon," "halt," "we are American soldiers" -- these things. So, in the last few days, we've seen Marines rehearsing these, preparing, realizing that it's very likely that they will soon be called to execute their plans -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, thank you very much, Jason Bellini, out there in the desert with those troops trying to get ready, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and they are ready.
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 March 18, 2003 - 06:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go now to the front lines, as U.S. troops train in the Kuwaiti desert in the countdown to war.
CNN's Jason Bellini joins us live by videophone from Camp Bull Rush in Kuwait. He's out there with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit -- Jason.
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
Well, the time we've been here, we've been allowed virtually limitless access to briefings, to plans, to senior-level discussions, and really until this morning, we really didn't have a solid indication of when things would be starting. There were just rumors and speculation going on. That's changed after the president's speech last night. No firm orders, of course, but everyone here assumes that they're coming soon.
Right now with me is Lieutenant Carl Martinez.
You have a good -- you probably have a good sense of what the mood of the camp is, because you are commander of a platoon here. You have a lot of young people under your command. Can you just tell me this morning what are they thinking?
LT. CARL MARTINEZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I'm saying there's a mixed mood, sort of anxiousness, nervousness, anxious in the sense to be out of here doing something, and perhaps nervous in the sense of the reality of what may be here very soon. In either case, I'd say one thing the Marines never lack, though, is a bit of confidence.
BELLINI: Excellent, thank you very much. Thanks for joining us.
But one of the things I want to share, Leon, is that, you know, war plans are very carefully orchestrated. And that down to the individual steps that people will take on their plans are already mapped out, and we've been able to watch some of those plans. Of course, we can't tell you about those, but the group I'm with knows exactly where they are going to be going and what they'll be doing down to the footstep.
Yesterday, we were watching as they were rehearsing what they will do if they encounter EPWs, enemy prisoners of war. They rehearsed with one another. They took turns being the prisoners of war themselves. And they had to go into their structures that they will be -- that they plan on entering with the assumption that these will be hostile individuals that they will encounter. So, you know, they have to take them down to make sure they didn't have any weapons on them, tie back their hands with rope that they have in their pockets.
Also, the Marines here have been given cards like this one -- I don't know if you can see this. This card right here has in Arabic various terms that they might need to use, terms like "stop," "drop your weapon," "halt," "we are American soldiers" -- these things. So, in the last few days, we've seen Marines rehearsing these, preparing, realizing that it's very likely that they will soon be called to execute their plans -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right, thank you very much, Jason Bellini, out there in the desert with those troops trying to get ready, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and they are ready.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
