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American Morning
Military Strategy
Aired March 18, 2003 - 07:09 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: How to avoid a war? Well, President Bush made it very clear last night that leaving Iraq is Saddam Hussein's only chance. If Saddam, as expected, continues to refuse the president's ultimatum, a massive U.S.-led military force is ready to strike.
Joining us now from Washington to talk more about some of the strategy ahead, our own military analyst, retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd.
Good morning -- thanks for joining us.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, USAF (RET.): Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: General Shepperd, I wanted you to react to a report this morning that would suggest that radio traffic is being picked up in Iraq showing that a number of Iraqi units -- quote -- "Are not going to hold it together in the event of a U.S. attack."
I know this might not come as any surprise to you. What is the relevance of that before the first bombs have dropped?
SHEPPERD: Well, Paula, that's very good news and its the kind of thing we've been hoping for. Undoubtedly, we have been hoping that the regular Iraqi army would not put up much of a fight as it did not during the Gulf War. We are expecting harder fights out of the Republican army, and of course out of their Republican Guard, and especially out of the Special Republican Guard that essentially is President Hussein's bodyguards.
So, this is the kind of thing that we must hope for, but we cannot be deluded to think that it's going to be easy all the way to Baghdad. We've been putting a lot of psychological pressure on these people, and a lot of traffic has gone back and forth. Hopefully it's paying off, Paula.
ZAHN: Well, apparently, this ultimatum that the president gave last night is what might have precipitated this kind of radio traffic. They're really feeling the crunch.
SHEPPERD: Yes, they are feeling the crunch, and when the bombs start to fall, the reports are that it is going to be absolutely massive, and we expect more defections after that. The U.S. forces expect more defections after that. We're just going to have to see, Paula.
ZAHN: Describe to us your understanding of how this war gets under way?
SHEPPERD: Basically a difference between this war and the Gulf War is the word "simultaneity," if you will. During the Gulf War, we had a 37 to 40-day air campaign, followed by a 3 to 4-day ground war. This campaign will be much more simultaneous with the ground troops moving out very early on, as the air war commences; the main reason being because we can. The outlying areas outside of Baghdad are very lightly defended, the troops not dug in, in many places out there.
So, the U.S. forces should be able to move much more quickly without danger, although they will come up against danger as they proceed and have to deal with it, Paula.
ZAHN: U.S. forces are poised for what they call "a rolling start," which means more forces will arrive once the initial bombing starts. What is the risk there?
SHEPPERD: Well, you would like to have more time always as a military commander. You remember the 4th Infantry Division we were hoping to move through Turkey to establish a northern front. The 4th Infantry Division is not in place. It's going to have to be done with lighter forces.
So, you'd like to have everything in place. Reportedly, the numbers will go up to 380,000 by the time all of the troops are in there. So, you'd like to have all of those troops in place and then drop the flag and have everybody move at once and enter from the north, the south and the west. It's not going to happen. You're going to have to operate from the south first, and then as other troops are moved, you'll move them in depending upon how the ground situation develops, Paula.
ZAHN: General Don Shepperd, as always, thanks for your perspective. We'll be talking to you a lot, I'm afraid, in the days to come. Thanks so much.
SHEPPERD: Unfortunately. My pleasure.
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 - 07:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: How to avoid a war? Well, President Bush made it very clear last night that leaving Iraq is Saddam Hussein's only chance. If Saddam, as expected, continues to refuse the president's ultimatum, a massive U.S.-led military force is ready to strike.
Joining us now from Washington to talk more about some of the strategy ahead, our own military analyst, retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd.
Good morning -- thanks for joining us.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, USAF (RET.): Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: General Shepperd, I wanted you to react to a report this morning that would suggest that radio traffic is being picked up in Iraq showing that a number of Iraqi units -- quote -- "Are not going to hold it together in the event of a U.S. attack."
I know this might not come as any surprise to you. What is the relevance of that before the first bombs have dropped?
SHEPPERD: Well, Paula, that's very good news and its the kind of thing we've been hoping for. Undoubtedly, we have been hoping that the regular Iraqi army would not put up much of a fight as it did not during the Gulf War. We are expecting harder fights out of the Republican army, and of course out of their Republican Guard, and especially out of the Special Republican Guard that essentially is President Hussein's bodyguards.
So, this is the kind of thing that we must hope for, but we cannot be deluded to think that it's going to be easy all the way to Baghdad. We've been putting a lot of psychological pressure on these people, and a lot of traffic has gone back and forth. Hopefully it's paying off, Paula.
ZAHN: Well, apparently, this ultimatum that the president gave last night is what might have precipitated this kind of radio traffic. They're really feeling the crunch.
SHEPPERD: Yes, they are feeling the crunch, and when the bombs start to fall, the reports are that it is going to be absolutely massive, and we expect more defections after that. The U.S. forces expect more defections after that. We're just going to have to see, Paula.
ZAHN: Describe to us your understanding of how this war gets under way?
SHEPPERD: Basically a difference between this war and the Gulf War is the word "simultaneity," if you will. During the Gulf War, we had a 37 to 40-day air campaign, followed by a 3 to 4-day ground war. This campaign will be much more simultaneous with the ground troops moving out very early on, as the air war commences; the main reason being because we can. The outlying areas outside of Baghdad are very lightly defended, the troops not dug in, in many places out there.
So, the U.S. forces should be able to move much more quickly without danger, although they will come up against danger as they proceed and have to deal with it, Paula.
ZAHN: U.S. forces are poised for what they call "a rolling start," which means more forces will arrive once the initial bombing starts. What is the risk there?
SHEPPERD: Well, you would like to have more time always as a military commander. You remember the 4th Infantry Division we were hoping to move through Turkey to establish a northern front. The 4th Infantry Division is not in place. It's going to have to be done with lighter forces.
So, you'd like to have everything in place. Reportedly, the numbers will go up to 380,000 by the time all of the troops are in there. So, you'd like to have all of those troops in place and then drop the flag and have everybody move at once and enter from the north, the south and the west. It's not going to happen. You're going to have to operate from the south first, and then as other troops are moved, you'll move them in depending upon how the ground situation develops, Paula.
ZAHN: General Don Shepperd, as always, thanks for your perspective. We'll be talking to you a lot, I'm afraid, in the days to come. Thanks so much.
SHEPPERD: Unfortunately. My pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
