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CNN LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE
Strike on Iraq: Hundreds of Bombs Falling on Iraq
Aired March 21, 2003 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, HOST: It's been an extraordinary day of military successes for the coalition in Iraq. Advances by coalition forces in the south and the north. Iraqi oil fields under the full control of coalition forces tonight, and Iraq today was shocked when the bombing began just as the Pentagon promised.
The shock was literally awesome. Whether that will be sufficient to convince the Iraqi leadership to surrender remains to be seen, of course. But what that leadership does face is at least another 19 hours of bombing, some 1,500 bombs and missiles ready to deliver a very significant message, an unequivocal message that Saddam Hussein's days in power are ended.
Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers have already received the message as they surrendered to coalition forces who continue to take further control of Iraq.
And it is a message welcome by the people of Iraq, who were overjoyed by the arrival of these American marines, shaking hands with he them, tearing down a poster of Saddam Hussein. That taking place in southern Iraq, in Shabban (ph).
The air assault today on Baghdad was unprecedented in terms of its size, its scope and its power. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called the mission a success. He said the Iraqi regime is starting to lose control of their country.
We begin our coverage tonight with senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon calls it A-day, "A" for the massive air assault that would drop more than 1,500 precision guided bombs and missiles on hundreds of separate targets across Iraq. The Pentagon says it's a bombardment of historic proportions.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The weapons that are being used today have a degree of precision that no one every dreamt of in a prior conflict.
MCINTYRE: The bombing, designed to shock and awe Iraq's military, centered on Baghdad, but also struck key targets in Mosul and Kirkuk in the north and Basra in the south.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We successfully accomplished our mission, did everything we set out to do. Everybody's back safe and sound. MCINTYRE: All targets are designed to undermine the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and to convince his generals to turn on him or at least surrender.
For instance, this presidential palace compound was hit, located in downtown Baghdad.
While some Iraqi regular troops are giving up, others are fighting. Two U.S. marines have been killed in action, and so far there are few signs the Iraqi military is cracking.
RUMSFELD: It -- apparently what we have done thus far has not been sufficiently persuasive that they would have done that.
MCINTYRE: The U.S. has taken some ground in the south, including Umm Qasr, a key southern port, along with two airfields in western Iraq.
The southern oil fields have just about been secured and the U.S. ground forces have moved more than 100 miles into Iraq from Kuwait.
But the war is far from won.
RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Clearly, we're moving towards our objectives, but we must not get too comfortable. We're basically on our plan and moving towards Baghdad, but there are still many unknowns out there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: And those unknowns include what will the U.S. encounter when they get to Baghdad, those U.S. forces, and meet up with the Republican Guard? Will the Republican Guard be ready to surrender? Will there be a jubilant Iraqis or will they find the guard dug in and ready to use chemical or biological weapons -- Lou.
DOBBS: Jamie, thank you very much. Jamie McIntyre, our senior Pentagon correspondent.
We'll be talk talking with General Don Sheppard, CNN military analyst, about this unprecedented bombardment against selected targets in Baghdad later in the broadcast, that coming up here in just a few moments.
And we will continue, of course, through live cameras in Baghdad, to monitor the situation there minute by minute.
Tens of thousands of U.S. and British forces are moving tonight, as you would expect. They're pushing more than 100 miles now into Iraq from the south.
Destination Baghdad now only about 200 miles away, roughly two to three days' travel time.
Wolf Blitzer is in Kuwait City and has the latest for us -- Wolf. WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There's no doubt that this is moving a lot more quickly than many anticipated, Lou. The ground invasion in particular, not just in the south as they're moving up from Umm Qasr up to Basra and will -- they will continue beyond that in the hours that follow, U.S. Army personnel as well as marines.
But they're also moving in the western part of Iraq, securing critical air bases there, areas from which SCUD missiles were launched against Israel a dozen years ago, as well as in the northern part of Iraq.
So all sides of Baghdad effectively being encircled right now. U.S. forces on the ground.
But also, they're in the air. And the air strikes that devastated Baghdad earlier today were pounding. The shock and awe campaign, as it's dubbed, the start of this air campaign on A-day, as they call it.
You could have felt, as people, eyewitnesses were telling us, you could feel it throughout that city, some five million people, tremendous thunder and, of course, they saw those mushroom clouds as they emerged. Some of the eyewitnesses, including journalists, said that among the buildings that were hit was the foreign ministry complex in Baghdad and at least one but possibly two presidential palaces used by Saddam Hussein.
No word, of course, on the Iraqi leader. No one knows right now whether he's alive, whether he's dead, how much control he has over the situation and the safeholds where his two sons Uday and Qusay -- Lou.
DOBBS: Wolf, thank you very much. Wolf Blitzer will be updating us from Kuwait as events and developments warrant.
If I may, I'd like us to go to the full screen picture of Baghdad tonight. Sirens have just sounded. There has been a few sounds of anti-aircraft fire, and as I said, we will, of course, continue to watch the night skies over Baghdad very, very close.
We now turn to the White House, where our senior White House correspondent, John King, is this evening.
John, what is the latest you have about the state of the Iraqi leadership?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, this escalation and the intensity and the pace of bombing in Baghdad comes as a senior administration tells us that the Bush administration has concluded the Iraqi leadership is in, quote, "complete confusion and complete disarray."
Senior officials say there is no evidence at all that Saddam Hussein or either of his two sons are giving minute-to-minute hour-to- hour orders and commands to their military planners or to their security forces. Still a question as to whether Saddam Hussein himself is still alive, we are told.
Now, Mr. Bush is now up at the Camp David presidential retreat. He left the White House earlier this afternoon. He had a meeting with congressional leaders here at the White House today, his routine military briefings, a War Council meeting, the White House now calls it, will be held up at Camp David at the presidential retreat tomorrow.
We see here this morning's War Council meeting, the full National Security Council, a rare glimpse of the White House situation room, a secure facility one level below the Oval Office.
Mr. Bush, of course, at the end of the table getting an update from his full national security team here. We are told that in the planning of this operation, Mr. Bush asked many questions about some of the targets we have seen bombed today, asked about whether bombing those targets would cause civilian casualties.
But now that the war is underway, the plan is being executed, Ari Fleischer says the last thing this president will do is micromanage the generals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: The president believes that the best way to carry out a military operation is to very carefully, thoroughly review the plans in advance, to ask the hard questions of the planners as the plan is being developed, to have a team in whom he has confidence, to have a military on the ground superbly trained, well equipped and well paid.
The president is satisfied that those criteria have been met. He will not...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, White House officials tell us the intensified bombing campaign came after the administration concluded that a number of efforts to try to generate some form of a surrender had failed. There have been direct contacts with the U.S. military to Iraqi military units. There have been the use of Kurdish officials in the north and expatriates -- Iraqi expatriates helping the CIA and others.
Also, Secretary of State Colin Powell said some contacts with other countries to the Iraqi leadership, trying to come up with some sort of an exile deal. The White House saying none of that has proven fruitful, so the bombing intensifies.
Although, Lou, the White House did leave the door open today, still saying even at this moment, even as the campaign intensifies, the White House has not flatly closed the door on the idea of Saddam Hussein going into exile if he were to emerge with some sort of a deal to go to another country. Ari Fleischer saying the president wants to end this a peacefully as possibly with as little loss of life as possible -- Lou.
DOBBS: John, reports tonight that the 51st, the Iraqi 51st division, which is located as you all know, in the south of the country in Basra has surrendered their commander and deputy commander.
Any reaction, any thoughts from the White House there this evening?
KING: Nothing on that particular development. And every time we ask such questions we are told that that is what the White House wants and what the White House hopes and what the White House expects in some cases.
But operational details, quite a lot of discipline here at this White House, Lou. When you ask about military matters, they have a simple answer, "Call the Pentagon."
DOBBS: We will continue to try, of course. John, thanks very much. John King from the White House.
Well, I've been told that air raid sirens sounding over Baghdad at this hour have resumed.
Joining us now from the scene of today's shock and awe bombing campaign is journalist May Ying Welsh.
MAY YING WELSH, JOURNALIST: Hi, the air raid sirens just went off here and we're just kind of waiting for the bombs to start falling and the anti-aircraft fire to start going into the sky.
DOBBS: May Ying, are there sounds of aircraft or anti-aircraft fire at this point?
WELSH: No. Right now, where I am, there isn't anything. Just -- only a few minutes ago, there was a family that just emerged from a shelter nearby here and they were trying to go home. They live in an apartment building right here next to where I am, which is very, very close to the ministry of information, perhaps a target in this war.
And they were tired. They didn't think there would be any more bombing and they wanted to go home because they said there was no food at the shelter, no bathroom, you know, and they want to go home and feel comfortable. And they just didn't believe it was going to continue. They had their dog with them, and I spoke to them.
I told them, look, you know, it might keep going. And then they had an argument among themselves and the grandmother kind of won out. She forced them all back into the shelter.
DOBBS: May Ying...
WELSH: Yes.
DOBBS: May Ying, you have gone through the first two waves of bombing today. Describe that for us, if you will. WELSH: The first two days of the bombing were relatively light. I mean, from the perspective on the ground here, they were, you know, not that bad, really. I mean, things -- the bombings seemed to be very far away.
The thing that really seemed close was the anti-aircraft fire. You know, you could hear that very loudly. It almost felt like it was going off right by your ear.
DOBBS: Describe today's bombing, if you would.
WELSH: Today's bombing was completely different. Today's bombing was -- there's no comparison between what we've experienced in the last two nights and what we experienced tonight.
Tonight was awesome and shocking. It was, you know, very in your face. I was standing on a roof over here by the Tigris River, and one of the major buildings associated with the government exploded right in front of my face, and it just sent this tremendous shock wave that rocked our building and I mean, it was it was a very incredible sight to see, smoke and fire rising very high into the sky, and continuing explosions as we ran down the stairs to get away from it.
DOBBS: May Ying, thank you very much. May Ying Welsh in Baghdad tonight. May Ying, we will come back to you as the evening continues.
Are the air raid sirens, have they blown all clear yet?
WELSH: No. We had an all clear and then only, perhaps about nine or ten minutes later, we received this new air raid siren.
DOBBS: May Ying, thank you very much and we'll be returning to you as I say, through the evening. May Ying Welsh in Baghdad.
Coalition forces today captured two key airfields in western Iraq. U.S. intelligence officials consider one of those fields a potential site of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Rula Amin is at the Jordanian/Iraqi border and has the story for us -- Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, those U.S. and British forces are just about 75 kilometers east to where I'm standing right here. I'm standing at the Jordanian/Iraqi border.
The arches you see behind me is the entrance to the border and the U.S. troops have taken over those two very strategic airfields. It's a very significant development, because these strategic airfields are a multiple of earth strips. One of these runways runs as long as 8,000 feet, which makes it available and that large planes can land there. Supply aircraft, military aircraft.
And that means that the U.S. can bring in troops into western Iraq without having to go through countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Now, the border here behind me is still being manned by Iraqi soldiers. We don't know until when this will stay, this situation will continue. But however, the fact that the U.S. are only this far away means that they can come to the highway between Baghdad and Ayman (ph) at any minute and cut those troops, cut off the soldiers from the main headquarters in Baghdad -- Lou.
DOBBS: Rula, thank you very much. And if we could show that map again that Rula was referring to, the two air strips in western Iraq. They are designated there on the map as you see as H-3, the base closest to the Jordanian border, H-2 more easterly and northerly from that base. Those both now obviously under control.
Rula Amin, thank you very much.
Kyra Phillips, along with photographer Brian Pierson are aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft on that carrier. Among those sending off aircraft to drop bombs over Iraq today.
Kyra joins us now via video phone -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, joint chiefs of staff General Richard Myers said yesterday that the U.S. is approaching large scale operations. Well, welcome to shock and awe from the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Let's take a look at pictures that we shot just as strike fighters were getting ready to take off on this mission over Baghdad. I can tell you that this is what strike fighter pilots here have been training for, massive air strikes, fast and furious.
After Tomahawk missiles were launched, strike fighters engaged their targets, military sites, air defense systems, government buildings, Iraqi leadership compounds and air bases.
They were also restricted strike areas: mosques, schools, water and electricity, chemical storage areas, and I've been told if Saddam Hussein is hiding weapons in these areas, they will be taken care of by other means.
Now, pilots say they were fired upon consistently, Lou, when I talked to them afterwards. They came upon old Soviet MiG-25s, surface-to-air missiles and lots of Triple A fire.
Now some other elements that we have to show you in the strike briefs that we were able to observe, lots of talk about preventing collateral damage. This took place in a number of ways, one of which, precision weapons.
Between the F-18 and F-14 jets, weapons included J-DAMs, GPS guided bombs, LGB, laser guided bombs, also sidewinder heat-seeking missiles, Phoenix, AMRAM, radar guided missiles.
Now, the squadron that led the strike package off the USS Abraham Lincoln tonight, the F-14 package, BF-41, F-14 tomcatters. Before the strike, the squadron commander, Paul Haas (ph), stressed to his men situational awareness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Focus on what you need to do. We're all, each and every one of us extremely good at what it is that we do -- what we do. Trained very, very well, all our crews whether it's 18 years or six years. You're going to do great up there. don't get blinded by the lights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Then once the strikes over Baghdad did begin, as you can see, and as you can imagine, other members of this squadron remained pinned to their seats in the ready room, watching the air campaign as it went down, live on CNN.
As they observed the air strikes, Lou, they were not surprised, they told me. They said so far, shock and awe is underway as planned.
Two of those pilots that were a part of the first massive air campaign over Baghdad with me now, Lieutenant Steve Yures (ph), also Lieutenant Lucas Tadar (ph). Gentlemen, thanks for being with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Steve, let's start with you. You're the one that ended up leading the F-14s in this massive air strike. Tell me how it felt and what was going through your mind once you got over Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, on the way in, I said, please don't let me screw this up. I didn't expect to be to leading this. Unfortunately, the person who was going to be leading had a mechanical problem and didn't launch. So I filled that role.
It was an amazing experience for me. I've been here for -- this is the second time I've been back here in this region doing Operation Southern Watch. And that can be a frustrating endeavor. It's nice to finally be back and doing something that's going to bring closure to this regime.
And hopefully, nobody will have to come back and have to do Operation Southern Watch ever again.
PHILLIPS: Lucas, how does it feel to you? This is your first war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was great, just like -- just like we trained for. Everything went real smooth, like clockwork tonight. Everything from the launch to the pre-mission tanking, execution in the target area and back out again, coming back for the pass on the ship, which is always the scariest part, the highest adrenaline rush of it all, but it was great.
It's what we're here to do and we're doing it well so far. And knock on wood, thank our lucky stars that things went smooth tonight. Hopefully, they'll stay that way in the upcoming days. PHILLIPS: Well, I've got to ask you both about collateral damage. There's a lot of concern about that, a lot of concern about the Iraqi people, we saw a lot of firepower tonight. Tell me what -- how you are working hard to prevent collateral damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We -- Kyra, we take that from step one when we start planning. Collateral damage, obtain the PID, if you need, if the situation requires that. It is always the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) thing to do.
We mitigate risk that way. Planning what the targets are going to hit, what the collateral damage around it is going to be. And then you couple that with our tactics and the precision that we have with our weapons and we can control that collateral damage down to the core.
PHILLIPS: And Steve, you were saying that you were getting fired on quite a bit. What kind of strikes were you facing, and how often was it coming at you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. We - At first, as we were pressing in, we saw a fair amount of Triple A, more than I've seen flying around Iraq before. That gave way to what looked like ballistically guided surface-to-air missiles.
And then, as we pressed in closer to Baghdad, missiles that were actually starting to guide on us. And it's nice to know that the tactics and training that we practice actually work in this case and the missiles were defeated. They didn't guide towards us and the whole team that was involved there to keep us safe while we were pushing into the target, you know, came through for us this time.
PHILLIPS: Lieutenant Steve Yures (ph), Lieutenant Lucas Tadar (ph), gentlemen, thank you. We'll be checking in with you again. I appreciate it very much.
And of course, 24/7 air strikes continue. The campaign continues in full force off the USS Abraham Lincoln and also the two other carriers out here in the Persian Gulf -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Kyra. A terrific interview with those pilots. You said that they had been engaged by MiG-25s. If so, that would be the first report we've had of the Iraqi aircraft getting into the air and engaged. Is that correct? And what was the disposition?
PHILLIPS: There were -- they faced a number of threats. Old Soviet fighters and MiG-25s. That's a favorite one, I'm told, by the Iraqi regime.
And Lou, quickly, let me ask these pilots specifically. Tonight, did either one of you specifically come in contact or face to face or even see MiG-25s out airborne?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, the Iraqis don't like to fly at night. And we didn't see them flying. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The MiG-23s and MiG-29s is what we were going after tonight; 25s are a little bit separate area. It was a quiet night air-wise.
PHILLIPS: The MiG-23 and MiG-29?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's right. That's the ones that are out here right now.
PHILLIPS: All right, guys, thanks. Lou, there you go. That's the best way to answer that question.
DOBBS: A terrific way, from the experts themselves. Kyra, thank you very much. Kyra Phillips from the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The bombing campaign today spread well beyond Baghdad. The northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul were also under heavy attack. And at this hour, there is word that Turkish troops have crossed the border and moved into northern Iraq.
Jane Arraf is in Dohuk, northern Iraq, and has that story for us -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, we're quite close to the border here, in fact, in between the border and the city of Mosul. And over Mosul, we've been seeing explosions and anti-aircraft tracer fire.
Now, as you said, CNN Turk, our sister station has reported that Turkish troops are entering northern Iraq. They have been here for some time, there have been between 3,000 and 5,000 Turkish troops. And there have been limited numbers of troops, as well, for the last few years fighting Kurdish separatists.
Now recently, they have come in with tanks and other equipment in preparation, they say, for a buffer zone. Now as you know, this is a subject of a lot of contention, both with the United States and with Kurdish forces, which say that there's no need to have the Turks here, that they will fight them.
Now, the U.S. has been trying to diffuse the situation. It's not clear what will happen, when they enter. But according to Turkish officials, these are not combat troops. They will not fire a single shot, but they do want to provide a buffer zone, they say, to prevent any fighting from spreading and to contain a refugee crisis.
Now Kurdish officials say there's absolutely no need for that -- Lou.
DOBBS: Jane, this is a troubling development, certainly, for the U.S. government, Secretary of State Colin Powell in very strong language today said that the United States wanted a separation on this issue from the permission to over-fly Turkish territory.
There are about, what, about four million Kurds in that region. Do we know how large a force is crossing that border at this hour? ARRAF: Turkey had originally said that it wanted to send twice as many Turkish troops as there would be U.S. troops. And that was when they were envisioning support and approval for 62,000 American troops to enter northern Iraq through Turkey.
Now, that is off the table, that deal. Turkish parliament didn't approve it. So also off the table was any American approval of that number of Turkish troops. So it is expected to be a limited number, some speculative numbers have been around 20,000.
Now, as I said, there have been several thousand troops for the past few years in and out of northern Iraq. They say they're chasing Kurdish separatists, and it's been with the implicit agreement of the Kurds and the Iraqi government up until recently.
So the forces that will come in, according to Turkey, will be to contain a refugee crisis and to provide security to their own borders.
The United States, in recent negotiations, is believed to have obtained commitments from Turkey that it will not enter combat. It will not go further north, that it will try to maintain calm with Kurdish forces. But again, what really counts is what happens on the ground -- Lou.
DOBBS: Absolutely. Jane Arraf, thank you very much.
An update now on the latest developments at this hour, we turn now to Heidi Collins in Atlanta.
(NEWSBREAK)
DOBBS: CNN has learned tonight that the United States is turning to Iraqi expatriates to negotiate the peaceful general surrender of Iraq.
Andrea Koppel joins us from Washington with the story -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, we've been hearing for the last day or so from the Pentagon and here at the State Department that U.S. officials are in touch with senior members of the Iraqi military leadership.
Well, now, CNN has learned that, in fact, it is members of the Iraqi exile community, we're talking about senior Kurdish officials, and former Iraqi military officers, who have been facilitating the contact between members of the Republican Guard leadership and CIA operatives, as well as members of the special operations forces.
They are talking somewhere in Iraq. It's been going on for the last 24-36 hours and they are talking about how to get as many members of the Iraqi military to surrender, to lay down their arms.
As one official told me, he said, look, we don't want to be negotiating 400 separate peace deals. We want to do as few as possible. There has been receptivity to this deal, Lou, but so far no deals have been made. And we should also add, as a footnote, that it's certainly in U.S. interests to have the psychological element out there. There's no way for us to independently confirm these contacts -- Lou.
DOBBS: Andrea, thank you. Turning now to what is a developing story, and that is the movement of Turkish forces -- the Turkish military across the northern Iraq border. Is there any reaction from the State Department this evening?
Well, Andrea Koppel obviously did not hear me. We will try to go back to find out the answer to that question just as soon as we can do so.
Let's turn now to General Don Shepperd to take a closer look at today's massive aerial campaign. The general, of course, a CNN military analyst who joins us from CNN center.
General, good to have you with us.
GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: How are you, Lou?
DOBBS: The Pentagon said that we would have shock and awe and then proceeded to be as good as its word. This was an extraordinarily bombing that we watched in Baghdad. But other areas were also hit, Kirkuk, Mosul, even Basra.
Give us your best assessment of what the types of aircraft used were and what the ordnance was.
SHEPPERD: Yes, I'll be glad to do that, Lou. This is a massive bombing campaign but at the same time, constrained. We've got baseball cards here. I'll call up the first one, which is the B-52 and show you basically what we did in the way of equipment around the area here.
The B-52s can take off from the United Kingdom. They can also take off from Diego Garcia and they carry what we call CALCMs, conventional air launch cruise missiles that have a range of about 600 miles. So these missiles are just above the speed of sound, they're very small, hard to detect on radar.
The second airplane used was the B-2 Spirit. This is the vaunted stealth bomber, if you will. It carries JDAMs, joint direct attack munitions, basically invisible to radar, if you will, or very low signature on radar. It can drop up to 16 of these satellite guided munitions very, very accurate.
The next airplane was the 117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. The stealth fighter carries laser guided bombs and now also a new satellite guided bomb. It carried the GBU-27 before. Now it carries the EGBU-27, which is a satellite guided version of the bomb and it's a penetrator.
Also, another thing used today was the Tomahawk missile. And this Tomahawk missile can be fired from submarines, destroyers and cruisers in the Persian Gulf, also in the Red Sea, could even be fired from the Mediterranean. Again, it's very small, has a range of about 1,000 miles. It's very fast, hard to see on the radar.
Reportedly, between the B-52 cruise missiles and the Tomahawk missiles, of the 1,000 targets hit today, 600 of them were hit by these missiles, each one of them costing about a million dollars apiece.
Now let me show you if I can what these bunker buster bombs dropped by the 117 stealth fighter do. It's a guided bomb unit, in this case an EGBU-27 satellite guided bomb. It goes down into a bunker -- an underground bunker and penetrates. It senses when it has a void and then it goes off under the ground. The idea is to get underground and destroy leadership targets.
OK. Now, in addition to that, we've got some amazing shots from the keyhole satellite that will show you what I mean by a massive bombing campaign, but also a very constrained bombing campaign.
If we can zoom in on the town of Baghdad, you see the Tigris River running through Baghdad, and Baghdad is a large city about the size of Chicago, about five million people, very, very spread out.
I'm going to telestraight on this and I'm going to show you, basically, the area that was bombed is this area right here. It's an area of military structures, an area of government structures in which there's a lot of command and control and underground bunkers.
Now we're going to zoom further in.
DOBBS: And a number of presidential palaces, as they're referred to as well on the western side of the Tigris?
SHEPPERD: Indeed. I'll show you those with numbered circles. I'm don't know exactly how many palaces are in here. But here's a main palace down here, republican palace, there's several other palaces up here and several ministries as well.
We'll zoom in a little bit further here, and I'll show you the area again that was hit more clearly. The area that was hit is an area defined by roads and the building that you saw hit and we're going to take a look at later was basically this building right here. Basically, a palace.
Now the view we're going to get is from the side. We'll be looking at it this way. And we will see bombs going off along here in this. And this is just one of the structures that was hit. I don't know if you can zoom back out or not. We'll just take a look at the video here.
Basically, this is a video from the bombing today. And you're going to be able to see the bombs going off. You can see them drop from a B-2. Actually, five bombs drop from a B-2 right there. The type that we've been talking about here.
So again, this is a very massive bombing campaign, but confined to the government and military area of the city. It was not a carpet bombing of the city and not in the populated areas of the city at all, Lou.
DOBBS: General Myers, both you, General Myers, you and the secretary of defense talking about the accuracy of these weapons, which is a remarkable.
How many more targets can there possibly be if it's command and control and the so-called special Republican Guard that is billeted in Baghdad?
SHEPPERD: Yes, that's an excellent question. First of all, you do bomb damage assessment to see what you hit and if any of these targets that were bombed today need to be re-struck.
And then it will depend upon where command and control and leadership moves and what happens to the formations of the enemy, the Republican Guard that's left, where they go, where their vehicles go. And those will be strict and re-struck until either they surrender or they're gone, Lou.
DOBBS: All right. General, thank you for that elucidating tour of both Baghdad and the -- improving, certainly, my knowledge about the ordnance and the aircraft being used.
In terms of Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk, these cities, obviously, we do not have cameras in which we are looking at those bombing runs. Is it your assessment that those attacks were just as fierce as today's against Baghdad?
SHEPPERD: I don't think they were hit as hard or by as many weapons as the Baghdad area. On the other hand, in the area of Basra, most of those strikes down there were to prepare the battlefield for the forces that were crossing the fence between Kuwait and Iraq. They encountered some artillery, they encountered some missiles coming, in so they essentially cleared those areas out.
In Kirkuk and Mosul I suspect that those were against command and leadership targets up there, as well as deployed forces in that area.
DOBBS: General Don Shepperd, we thank you very much.
SHEPPERD: Pleasure.
DOBBS: Terrific. Thank you.
Let's go back to Wolf Blitzer, who's in Kuwait City, keeping watch -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Lou. A very historic day today. A- Day, the start of the air war. Yesterday, the start of the ground war.
It was supposed to be reversed, but we're told now that the commander, General Tommy Franks, decided to move forward with the ground war effectively, first, because of the oil fields in southern Iraq. So much of Iraq's oil wealth emanates from southern Iraq, as you well know. There was deep concern that the Iraqis were going to start to torch, to blow up those oil wells, those oil fields. As a result, U.S. marines, U.S. army personnel, backed up by British marines, moved very quickly yesterday, a lightning strike into southern Iraq and they're moving very rapidly up on the road towards Baghdad, some 100 miles already on their way.
They're also moving elsewhere, as well. Special operations forces in western Iraq, special operations forces in northern Iraq.
Tonight, there were these devastating air strikes against several targets in Baghdad. Shock and awe, the Pentagon calls it. One building that was targeted, the foreign ministry: another, the ministry of planning.
At least two presidential palaces were targeted, as well. Now, the normal sense of palaces something you wouldn't normally want to target. But these are command and control facilities that the Iraqi leader has developed over the years as a result the U.S. military deemed them worthwhile targets to go after.
No sign of Saddam Hussein whatsoever. No sign of his two sons. The defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld basically acknowledging what so many other U.S. officials say. They simply don't know the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein. They don't if he was injured in that initial strike Wednesday night; they don't know if he's alive, they don't know if he's dead.
But I've got to tell you, Lou, U.S. intelligence sources, U.S. military personnel, they're looking for him. They want to find him if he's still alive. They're hoping that the shock and awe campaign will, indeed, convince a lot of Iraqi soldiers to surrender -- Lou.
DOBBS: Wolf -- Wolf, very quickly, we now know there are about somewhere between 20 and 30 oil fields in the Ramala Fields, which are just north of you there in Kuwait City. We've looked at satellite photos as well, immense clouds, dark clouds.
Can you see those? Are they affecting the environment there in Kuwait City?
BLITZER: No, we have not -- I have not had any indication whatsoever that any of the smoke or any of the damage from those oil fields is reaching Kuwait City. It is getting windy here, so maybe that will change.
But so far, it doesn't look like the Kuwaitis, at least here in Kuwait City, have been affected by that.
DOBBS: And again, the U.S. military, the British, the coalition military doing a great job of seizing the pipeline that runs through the center of Iraq, the strategic pipeline that could have been the source of even further contamination of the Persian Gulf as Saddam Hussein ordered it to do in 1991.
Wolf, thank you very much.
We've had some reports tonight on the outskirts of Baghdad that other detonations had been heard. At this point, we have seen no sign of further explosions or detonations within at least the reach and the eye of our cameras that are -- that we're monitoring this evening.
So let's go right now, as we do monitor the night skies over Baghdad, to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
MCINTYRE: Well, I can tell you, Lou, that the bombing is not over. We will see more bombs dropping in Baghdad and Iraq, perhaps even extending into the daylight hours, according to one senior official here at the Pentagon.
The plan is to hit -- to drop more than 1,500 precision guided weapons in the course of the 24 hours, of this first 24 hours of this air campaign.
Officials here, though, are cautioning that although a lot of things seem to be going the U.S. way early on in this campaign, this war is far from over, and they have yet to get to the most difficult part, which is Baghdad and the Republican Guard and the question of whether they'll be armed with chemical or biological weapons.
Meanwhile, though, joint chiefs chairman General Richard Myers said today that the U.S. is well on the way to meeting some of its objectives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: In the last 24 hours, special forces have seized an airfield in western Iraq and have secured border positions in several key locations.
Additionally, navy SEALs and coalition special forces have seized Iraq's two major gas and oil terminals in the northern Persian Gulf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now we have seen pictures of Iraqi troops surrendering. We know that the numbers of those surrenders are in the several hundreds at least, but that's really just a small number of Iraqi forces so far who have actually given up to U.S. or coalition troops.
Some of them have been significant. CNN has confirmed that the division commander of Iraq's 51st Division in the south, along with his deputy, did surrender to U.S. officials. Most of his division simply kind of melted away, according to U.S. officials.
But they're waiting to see, really, for a major amount of surrenders to take place. And that will wait until the U.S. gets closer to Baghdad and they see what happens with those Republican Guard units. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to be in contact. They're hopeful that this very significant bombing campaign will send a message that, essentially, all is lost and that the Iraqi military would be better off fighting for the future of Iraq than for Saddam Hussein.
At this point, though, no sign that the key generals around Saddam Hussein are either about to defect or to turn on Saddam themselves -- Lou.
DOBBS: And Jamie, in terms of the leadership of the 51, the commander and deputy commander, the 51st, the Iraqi 51st Division was the bulwark of the defense in Basra. Is that not correct?
MCINTYRE: Well, they were sent down to the south to be the line of defense against U.S. troops, but these were not top of the line troops. These were, you know, under-equipped, under-trained, low morale troop that were down at the border.
Saddam Hussein's strategy is not to defend his borders but to put a ring around Baghdad. And so we'll have to wait and see what happens when the U.S. gets to the supposedly better motivated troops.
DOBBS: Jamie McIntyre, as always, thank you very much.
Correspondent Frank Buckley, along with photographer Greg Canes, are aboard the USS Constellation, one of three carriers in the Persian Gulf.
Let's go to Frank now via videophone -- Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Lou. If we hear a loud noise during the broadcast here, that's because the USS Constellation is still in the process of recovering aircraft from one of the strike packages that has gone into Iraq from this aircraft carrier. That will be the noise that we will hear if you hear something loud in just a moment here.
The very first strike package that was led off the USS Constellation tonight, led by the CAG, the commander of the air wing, Captain Mark Fox, went into Iraq, hit in the vicinity of Baghdad and returned, all of the aircraft and the crews returning safely.
They were using, as you've been discussing throughout the evening, the precision weapons, the laser guided weapons or satellite guided weapons. Sometimes these weapons are called fire and forget weapons, because literally, the pilot can release the weapon, turn away and start flying home while the weapon finds its way to the target with some of these weapons.
While the weapons may be fire and forget, these are certainly not moments that the aviators will forget anytime soon. We've had an opportunity to talk to several of these flight crews immediately after they've returned from this first mission into Iraq.
Here's the impression of one of those aviators of his mission as he went in near Baghdad. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. PAT CRONIN, U.S. AIR FORCE: We came in and immediately conceded (UNINTELLIGIBLE) impacting in downtown Baghdad and just continuous constant explosions going off all over the place. Saw the Triple A coming up. Occasionally, you see some missile bursts. And then basically, as the air package flew in, you could see missiles coming off our aircraft, other members of the package coming in and just tremendous amount of activity on the ground, coming up through the air, and, of course, coming down from us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: And we should also tell you that separately, we've heard from Rear Admiral Barry Costello, the Constellation battle group commander that all 30 or so of the ships and submarines, U.S. navy warships in this region that were capable of launching Tomahawks have engaged and all of them have launched at least one Tomahawk during this day -- Lou.
DOBBS: Frank Buckley, for the Constellation, thank you very much.
Coalition air bases in the Persian Gulf today saw, as you might expect, plenty of action. Bob Franken, photographer Jerry Simonson (ph) at one such base that we cannot disclose near the Iraqi border. And Bob joins us now via videophone -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's also noisy here, although it's for the moment quiet. But throughout the night, there have been hundreds of missions that have been flown from here, jets screaming from this air base, a large air base which combines F-16s, FA-18s, which as you know, Lou, are fighter jets.
You can see there's been a parade of planes taking off, A-10s, those are the ones that are so vicious against the tanks, all going out spreading out across Iraq, not just Baghdad, which of course we all watched on television, but wrecking havoc throughout the entire country as the United States began its A-Day pretty much here. This was really quite the launching point.
It was really quite interesting, as a matter of fact. You can hear there was just a steady parade of planes that's been going on for hours. The planes going out, planes coming in.
At any rate, throughout the last couple of days, there have been any number of alerts, red alerts they've called them, because of the fear of some sort of gas attack.
Well, after hours of launching of jets this evening, there was one more. This time, it was a yellow alert. Somebody decided that it was -- an attack was probable. And for about ten minutes or so everybody was required to put on his chem biosuits and head for shelter.
Somebody finally decided that maybe there wasn't such a probability and the alert was lifted. So tensions still are high, but the tension are certainly being released by what the United States government has decided, Lou, to call A-Day.
DOBBS: Bob Franken, thank you very much. As General Richard Myers today said a great deal of work remains to be done by the U.S., British, Australian and coalition military.
The massive assault on Baghdad, all but wiped out any vestige of fear on Wall Street, at least for today. The Dow soared 235 points. The Dow at 8522. The Dow gaining more than 8 percent this week. That is the best performance by the Dow Jones Industrials in more than 20 years, in fact, since October of 1982, and by point of reference, that is the year the bull market began.
And the price of oil in the midst of conflict dropping more than a dollar a barrel as coalition forces secured the Iraqi oil fields and terminals. Oil prices have now tumbled more than $10 in less than two weeks and the fact is that that matches the decline of the 1991 Gulf War with the onset of action.
Joining me from Washington, former secretary of defense, MONEYLINE regular contributor, William Cohen.
Bill, this is, by any standard, I don't think I have to ask an expert like you, but by any standard, I have to believe this has been a remarkable success to this point.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It's been a historic day and two days. I don't anyone's ever seen this kind of combined power, air, land and sea, focused in this way to target those military sites and to take them out with this kind of precision.
I think everyone should stand in awe of the -- and in pride for those young people who are out there, when you see how young and talented and professional and capable. You have an immense sense of pride for our forces.
Also, a profound sense of sorrow for the Iraqi people who are trapped under that heel and boot of Saddam Hussein. So we're hoping that this kind of shock and awe will produce a more rapid result than otherwise would take place.
DOBBS: Secretary of State Colin Powell today said a free Iraq is inevitable.
And as you point out, the young men and women serving as we went to Kyra Phillips and to Frank Buckley and to Bob Franken and to various correspondents who are with our troops, the young men and women, their youth, their determination, truly remarkable.
Bill, this development tonight in Turkey, with the Turkish troops crossing over the border, tell us exactly how serious you think that is, how big a potential problem.
COHEN: Well, Lou, you and I discussed this last evening. And I see it as a major problem to the extent that the Turks insist on putting significant numbers into that so-called buffer zone.
Turkey could have avoided all of this by allowing the United States to move through its facilities to Incirlik and elsewhere into northern Iraq to provide not only our forces to protect our forces there, but also to provide protection against any kind of Kurdish action against the Turks and vice versa. I think they're making a big mistake.
DOBBS: Bill, is it in your judgment a flash point, a potential flashpoint?
COHEN: If the Turks put large numbers there, yes, I think the Kurds will respond. Militarily, then it puts everybody in a very difficult position, which I think is the reason why the State Department is voicing its concern so strenuously.
DOBBS: The prospect of surrender here, a general surrender being negotiated by expatriates, Iraqi expatriates through third parties, other third parties, what is the likelihood, your best assessment, as we wrap up here?
COHEN: Best assessment, it will take a few more days at least with the continuation of this type of bombing and a military activity. I don't think you'll see a collapse of the Iraqi regime just yet, but I think this kind of information is certainly a welcome information and hopefully will proceed apace. But I think it will take longer.
DOBBS: Bill Cohen, thank you very much.
Well, Donald Rumsfeld today said he did not know whether Saddam Hussein is still in control of Iraq. Iraqi state television broadcast pictures of what it says is Saddam Hussein meeting Friday with his son Qusay.
Our national security correspondent, David Ensor, reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This time, Iraqi television showed Saddam Hussein with his son, Qusay, saying he remains firmly in control, but U.S. officials said the pictures could just as easily be old. Such meetings are a staple of Iraqi TV.
U.S. intelligence officials say Saddam could be injured or even dead. Whether or not he's alive, Bush administration officials say his grip on power is slipping.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The regime is starting to lose control of their country. The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing. Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with forces and to control their country is slipping away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, do you believe Saddam Hussein is currently in control of Iraq? RUMSFELD: I don't know.
ENSOR: Sources say since the strikes Thursday morning against Saddam Hussein's compound, intelligence headquarters and a Republican Guard facility, there has been a marked drop in Iraqi leadership communications monitored by U.S. intelligence.
Saddam Hussein, a knowledgeable official says, is not communicating orders and can no longer trust anybody. Even deciding where and whether to sleep at night, he said, is a fateful choice for the Iraqi leader.
As for the tape released hours after the attack on his compound in which Saddam mentions the date of the attack, it is Saddam the White House says. The question is, when?
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: The tape has been analyzed by the Central Intelligence Agency and their analysis has led them to believe that the tape is indeed the voice of Saddam Hussein but no conclusions have been reached about whether it was canned ahead of time or not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: A senior intelligence official tells CNN he believes Saddam Hussein was in that compound early Thursday morning, along with at least one of his sons when the U.S. dropped tons of munitions on it.
But the official says, the U.S. simply does not know whether Saddam survived and if so, whether he's been injured. Welcome, this official said to me, to the fog of war -- Lou.
DOBBS: David Ensor, than you very much, our national security correspondent for lifting at least part of that fog.
As we just reported, it's unclear whether Saddam Hussein is dead or alive. One key question surrounds the potential capture of Saddam. Would it be legal to assassinate him?
To discuss the political intent behind those operations, we're joined by senior CNN political analyst Bill Schneider -- Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: The U.S. goal we say, is decapitation, not assassination. And there's a reason for that.
Back during the Cold War, the CIA did get involved in plots to assassinate leaders of other countries, like one in No-Gin Ziem (ph) in Vietnam. And we even talked about poisoning Fidel Castro's cigar.
But when news of this protest got out, the Senate investigated, Congress almost passed a law to ban political assassinations. But then Gerald Ford came in issued an executive order, and that executive order made political assassinations illegal as of 1976. The fact that it was an executive order is important, because that executive order can be repealed by any president. And the Bush administration thought about doing that after September 11. But it turned out that was unnecessary, because the order allows targeting an enemy combatant if the United States is engaged in armed conflict.
A terrorist like Osama bin Laden is an enemy combatant and so is Saddam Hussein, because he's the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces. Targeting an enemy combatant is not an act of assassination. It's an act of war -- Lou.
DOBBS: Bill Schneider, thank you very much.
Joining me now, our CNN military analyst, General David Grange. David, good to have you with us. Dave -- Are you there, Dave?
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I'm here.
DOBBS: You're here. OK. I just wanted to make certain.
GRANGE: Communications, just like in war.
DOBBS: We get a little foggy from time to time here. Dave, the -- in Basra, that unit, the 51st Iraqi Division, its commander, it's unclear here, the commander and deputy commander have surrendered, but it's not entirely clear that the entire division has surrendered to the marines in that area. What do you make of it?
GRANGE: Well, that's right. You know, his unit's probably split up and some probably don't have the word because the communication is so terrible.
But one thing about the -- I'd like to say, Lou, at the end here, that the shock and awe as we see all these aerial bombardments, is that the shock and awe of this coalition force is not only the air strikes but hearing that 70-ton tank rumble down to your position, or looking at that British commando or U.S. marine with that bayonet on the end of his rifle.
DOBBS: A wonderful point, and if I may ask you, as we are getting near the end of our hour, Dave, the issue of the progress of this advance, it seems awfully good to most of us. Is the Pentagon satisfied with the rate of advance?
GRANGE: Well, it's hard to...
GRANGE: Well, it's hard to say. On advancement, the movement, that's moving with the operations, as you do, called tempo, can be fast or slow, depending on the situation. You're always going to have discussions between commanders on, you're not moving fast enough, you're moving too slow. Do you bypass units and take the risk because you need to keep the momentum, keep the shock? And I'm sure that debate is going on, on how fast you do this type of operation.
DOBBS: Well, it's impressive to my of us, I would say it's safe to say. How about you? GRANGE: Well, it's hard to say, unless you're right there on the ground with these guys, but I think the key is to move quick and keep the shock and momentum up and take a little bit of risk.
DOBBS: Gen. Dave Grange, thank you very much, as always.
I'm Lou Dobbs, for all of us here, thanks for being with us. Our coverage of the STRIKE ON IRAQ continues now with Aaron Brown.
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