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CNN LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE
1,000 U.S. Paratroopers Dropped Into Northern Iraq
Aired March 26, 2003 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, I'm Lou Dobbs in New York. Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the war on Iraq. The top story tonight about 1,000 U.S. paratroopers have been dropped into northern Iraq. Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade seized a vital airfield in the north. Correspondent Steve Nettleton will join us with the very latest on that story.
Also over the course of this next hour on CNN, a large movement of Iraqi vehicle appears to be headed toward the 3rd Infantry Division located just south of Baghdad. Pentagon officials say the action is a defensive repositioning, as they put it, rather than they think a preparation for an attack. We'll have the very latest for you.
The 7th Cavalry is on the leading edge of the 3rd Infantry and it may be preparing to engage the Iraqis. Walt Rodgers is with the 7th and will have our report.
British and American forces near Basra have been involved in heavy fighting with an Iraqi force that tried to break out of that city today. Christiane Amanpour will have the latest.
And, the first humanitarian aid today reached southern Iraq. Richard Blystone will report.
And, Peter Viles will have a special report on the United Nations bureaucracy that some say may stop aid from reaching Iraq.
A U.S. general today said the discovery of 3,000 Iraqi chemical suits reinforces concerns that Iraq will use chemical weapons. Marines found those suits and anecdotes for nerve gas in a hospital in southern Iraq.
We'll be discussing these issues, the coalition strategy and tactics with our military analyst, General David Grange and Don Sheppherd as well, but first here's what's happening at this hour.
(NEWSBREAK)
DOBBS: Tonight a large force of paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade was dropped into northern Iraq. About 1,000 soldiers took control of a vital airfield.
Steve Nettleton joins us now live with the very latest. What can you tell us about the assault, Steve? STEVE NETTLETON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Lou, the 1,000 paratroopers have secured the airfield in northern Iraq. It is in Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Iraq. They are paving the way for an airlift of armor to come in in the next few days and weeks building up a new northern front in Iraq.
I can say all this is secured. The military has given us -- has secured -- has given us approval to say this. All equipment and personnel have safely arrived in the area.
There were no reports of enemy fire, either at the aircraft dropping off the paratroopers or at the soldiers once they were on the ground, and there are also no reports of injuries from the drop, although there could be a few broken legs or sprained ankles that sometimes comes out later.
Apparently, the weather window on this was extremely narrow, barely making it in just a few within maybe minutes. The weather over there is absolutely horrible from ground reports but they managed to slip in this force in that small window.
As I say, over the next few days, they will be flying in armor from the 164 Armored which is based in Vilseck, Germany. They are part of the 1st Infantry Division and they will be bringing in Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, M113 APC personnel carriers, and other materiel to build up this force in the north.
A lot of things they are trying to worry about up there in addition to Iraqi forces, dealing with Turks, different Kurdish forces, and Islamist fighters up there as well -- Lou.
DOBBS: Steve, thank you very much, Steve Nettleton reporting live with the 173rd 4th Infantry Division.
The 3rd Infantry Division tonight is preparing to fight what appears to be a huge Iraqi force that may well be heading for its position south of Baghdad. The 7th Cavalry is the 3rd Infantry's scouting force, it's spear if you will. It is expected to be among the very first units to be engaged if there is a battle.
Walt Rodgers and his photographer, Charlie Miller, are with the 7th Cav. Walt Rodgers has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALT RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Troops within the U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, are now reporting they have intelligence information that a major column of Iraqi elite troops are moving south from Baghdad in the general direction of An Najaf.
There are said to be 1,000 vehicles in that convoy. Because of the dust storms it's difficult to get an exact fix on the types of armored vehicles which are moving southward out of Baghdad, but a while ago they were at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and that is very close to the 7th Cavalry's position. There was a bit of a scramble at the 7th Cavalry tactical operations post; however, in the meantime the Army has managed to bring up substantial reinforcements although the Cavalry was a little thin earlier in the afternoon when this information was first gleaned.
Still, it is a situation to be concerned about. Air cover -- air strikes were called in a short while ago. It is not known at this point whether the Iraqis would attack the U.S. units here in a sand storm and at night but that's a possibility and everyone is sitting on a very tight hair trigger where we are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Walt Rodgers with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry.
We want to point out that these reports that are coming from a number of sources about 1,000-vehicle convoy, movement from Baghdad, are all tactical as the military puts it in terms of information, and while they may well be correct it is very difficult to substantiate those reports.
We do know that as well air power has been called in to attack any targets north of the 7th Cavalry's position, but frankly we are still awaiting clarification from the Pentagon.
And, again, as is often said here and certainly at the Pentagon and the forces in Iraq, it is very difficult to absolutely say with absolute conviction that these counts and these numbers and intentions of certainly the enemy forces are absolutely accurate but we will continue to check and attempt to confirm those reports.
Coalition forces around Basra today fought a fierce battle with an Iraqi armored force that tried to break out of the city. Coalition aircraft attacked an Iraqi column of what is estimated to be 70 vehicles that left Basra on the road to the port of Umm Qasr.
Christiane Amanpour has the story.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest military information from around Basra comes from military spokespeople in Qatar. British spokespeople there are saying that they have seen a column, an armored column of Iraqi tanks and vehicles leaving Basra towards the southeast and that that column, they say, has been engaged, been attacked by U.S. aircraft.
The British also have been engaged with Iraqi forces throughout the day. There have been some reports of Iraqi Army units and soldiers coming out of Basra and being attacked by the British and other reports of Iraqi soldiers coming out to surrender. Nevertheless, they are continuing artillery duels between the British and the Iraqis around Basra.
Further south in Zubair (ph), the British went in not only to take out pockets of Iraqi resistance and to destroy the Ba'ath Party headquarters, but also to try to deliver aid. There are reports the British came under fire and returned fire at the time they were trying to deliver aid.
Reuters also saying that some people there appeared so short of water that they're digging in the rain puddles to collect whatever they can, and at one point they hacked through a water pipe and rushed to collect all the water that was gushing from that pipe.
Again, further south in the town of Safwan, the first elements of humanitarian aid were delivered and, again, there were chaotic scenes as people who were both hungry and thirsty rushed to the trucks to scramble and get whatever they could. The first elements of humanitarian aid were also delivered to Umm Qasr, the port city. That came from stockpiles in Kuwait and was driven in -- back to you.
DOBBS: Christiane Amanpour reporting from southern Iraq.
The Pentagon today said there has been no change in its overall plan for the war in Iraq. The statement follows a number of reports that coalition forces have been forced to change their strategy and tactics because of attacks by irregular forces of the Iraqis in the south.
Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Privately, some Pentagon officials concede U.S. military planners may have underestimated the extent Saddam Hussein would use his Fedayeen fighters and other regime loyalists to launch guerilla attacks against coalition forces and intimidate civilians as it has in places like Basra. But publicly, Pentagon officials insist it will not change the strategy of concentrating on Baghdad, the center of gravity of the Iraqi regime.
VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: He is not changing the overall game plan. One of the aspects of the overall game plan, the strategy was to be able to adapt and adjust as appropriate depending on what the enemy does.
MCINTYRE: Taking advantage of its command of the skies, U.S. warplanes are whittling away at hundreds of targets, such as this F- 117 strike on the presidential secretariat in Baghdad. If Iraqi vehicles move in large numbers they'll be even more vulnerable to air strikes, such as this fuel truck destroyed by an F-16 near a western airfield.
In an attempt to avoid the fate of this tank destroyed west of Karbala, sources say the Republican Guard continues to shift forces around in what's termed a strategic repositioning.
The Pentagon says the U.S. will deal with the sporadic attacks by Fedayeen fighters as it encounters them and insists it has plenty of air cover and firepower on the ground to protect the 300-mile-long supply lines now supporting the 75,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. What the U.S. military won't do, sources tell CNN, is be drawn into urban combat or a protracted hunt for small bands of guerilla forces that would only delay the assault on Baghdad.
MAJ. GEN. STAN MCCHRYSTAL, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Our ground forces are pushing north towards Baghdad and Al Kut. We are more than 220 miles into Iraqi territory and have done it in over six days in spite of difficult weather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon is telling Iraqi citizens to stay in their homes and wait for the Pentagon, for the U.S. military to change the government. And, Lou, on that report of 1,000 Republican Guard tanks and other vehicles heading south, Pentagon officials are beginning to think that that was based on some false intelligence after several hours now have gone by since that report came in and they've looked in the area. They're not finding any evidence of any major movement of Republican Guard units south -- Lou.
DOBBS: Jamie, thank you very much. As we were discussing and have been discussing throughout what is now seven days of this war, very difficult to have absolute confidence in initial reports. But, Jamie, let me ask you this also reports that air operations had commenced in search of targets trying to seek out that convoy. Do we know any more about that aspect of it?
MCINTYRE: Well, I think that's part of what happened. I mean obviously they had some initial intelligence. They believed something was moving and then they put things into motion. There are JSTARS planes that can track things on the ground. There are planes that would go in to attack the convoy, and essentially they haven't found it, and they're now beginning to think that maybe whoever saw whatever they saw, saw something else.
DOBBS: As does on occasion happen. Jamie, thank you very much, Jamie McIntyre our Senior Pentagon Correspondent.
Coalition forces, as General McChrystal just pointed out, have now pushed more than 220 miles into Iraqi territory over a period of six days. A key part of that drive and principal concern is preserving the coalition supply lines. Protecting the supply lines is vital, of course, to the coalition's goals.
Martin Savidge is with the 1st Battalion 7th Marines in southern Iraq and has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Commanders with the 1st Battalion 7th Marines, who we are embedded with, say that yes they have had a problem with guerilla tactics that have been employed against the supply lines that stretch all the way down into northern Kuwait.
Everything is coming up from there. That includes the fuel. That includes the ammunition. That includes the food and, of course, the personnel and equipment. Yesterday for the 1st Marine Division it was fuel that was critical, in fact so much so they had to put a pause in operations as far as moving forward because they were running so short of fuel.
Last night, a mission came through. They are talking about a quarter of a million gallons of diesel fuel that needed to come up and come into this region. The problem is there are paramilitary units, according to U.S. commanders here, known as the Fedayeen that have been launching hit and run tactics against the supply line.
That's bad enough but imagine if they hit the fuel tankers, not only is that a critical supply that's needed but the explosive force of fuel tankers going up would be devastating. So, the 1st Battalion 7th Marines in this area was given the job make sure that the Fedayeen did not get to those critical fuel tankers that were coming in.
All night long it was a running battle that took place along the supply line. You had U.S. Marines in armored vehicles and in Humvees working in almost complete darkness firing against opposing forces that were firing in, gunshots ringing out in the middle of the night, RPGs lacing their way across the roadway, and then the return fire from the U.S. Marines trying to suppress, as they say, the fire that was coming towards the convoy.
But it was pitch dark. There was confusion. For many Marines this was their first time really in combat. You had vehicles working in extremely difficult terrain, marshland, deep trenches, and in many cases just rivers and back waters.
The armored vehicle that we were riding in ran into a Humvee. Then a short time later, another armored vehicle slammed into the side of us, and then even later after that our armored vehicle ran into a house. Fortunately, nobody was home, but it shows you the difficult conditions combined with the guerilla tactics that the Marines are up against here.
When daylight showed itself here finally, there were at least three of the armored vehicles that were up-ended in ditches and trenches. But for the U.S. Marines the most important fact is this. The fuel got through which now means the Marines can continue to move north -- Martin Savidge CNN, southern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: With the 7th Marines 1st Battalion.
President Bush today said the war in Iraq is far from over. President Bush said coalition forces will face, in his words, the most desperate elements of a doomed regime as they approach Baghdad, Senior White House Correspondent John King reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am honored to be the commander-in-chief. JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And, on this day, one week into the fight, determined to challenge critics of the U.S. war strategy.
BUSH: We have an effective plan of battle and the flexibility to meet every challenge. Nothing, nothing will divert us from our clear mission.
KING: This visit to Central Command Headquarters was part pep talk, part rebuttal, the president taking the lead in taking on those who say the war plan underestimated Iraqi resistance and perhaps overestimated the battlefield advantages of technological superiority.
BUSH: Day by day Saddam Hussein is losing his grip on Iraq. Day by day the Iraqi people are closer to freedom.
KING: Mr. Bush thanked military families for their sacrifice and warned Iraqi troops the price of mistreating coalition forces captured in combat.
BUSH: This band of war criminals has been put on notice. The day of Iraq's liberation will also be a day of justice.
KING: The president's visit included lunch with the troops and a detailed update on the war effort in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Then back home for dinner and war strategy talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Topping the agenda the coming siege of Baghdad; efforts to get more humanitarian aid into Iraq; and the post war role of the United Nations. U.S. officials say there are no major disagreements but there is no question Mr. Blair favors a more immediate and more robust post war U.N. role than Mr. Bush.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Now the president's major goal today was to quiet critics of the war strategy, yet on Air Force One on the way to Florida, he crossed out a line in his speech that said coalition forces were ahead of schedule inside Iraq. Aides later said Mr. Bush was simply trying to be conservative in his public assessments. These aides say the commander-in-chief has no doubts at all about the battlefield strategy -- Lou.
DOBBS: And the Senate today continuing its work on the proposed tax cuts, John.
KING: And the president losing in the full Senate. The White House had hoped, Lou, after a procedural vote yesterday that cut the tax cut more than in half from $726 billion to $350, Mr. Bush had hoped to recover but the Senate today passing a budget framework that cuts the Bush tax cut more than in half.
The White House is counting now on House Republicans in the Conference Committee to drive that number back up. The White House publicly is saying it hopes to get as much as possible. Privately, they're saying perhaps in the end they can get out of conference a tax cut somewhere in the $500-$600 billion range. He's counting on Speaker Hastert to help him out now -- Lou.
DOBBS: John, thank you very much, John King, Senior White House Correspondent.
Still ahead tonight the latest developments of course from the battlefield in Iraq. General Don Sheppherd will be here to discuss the air campaign over the skies of Iraq and the effectiveness of that operation against Iraqi armor in particular.
And, the coalition has begun delivering humanitarian aid to Iraq. We'll have that story and we'll take a look at why the United Nations is squabbling over Iraqi oil. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: The first shipments of humanitarian aid arrived in southern Iraq today. You're looking at pictures, live pictures of Baghdad as you see there 2:22 in the morning Baghdad time. Baghdad is quiet, no sirens, air raid sirens, no sign of activity. For the hour at least it appears it is quiet over Baghdad.
As we said, humanitarian aid began arriving today in southern Iraq at least. CNN's Richard Blystone followed the shipment to the port of Umm Qasr where a much larger shipment of aid is expected by this Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first humanitarian aid has now materialized in southern Iraq but the imagined picture of a grateful nation happy to welcome America and Britain has not.
So, this shipment from the Kuwaiti Red Crescent won the hearts and minds of some in the border town of Safwan. Despite the presence of coalition forces, this area is not exactly pacified.
The presence of Baghdad's agents in or out of uniform was one reason why this other convoy had a military escort. Cargoes of water and food packets, milk, juice, biscuits, cheese, tuna fish, destination Umm Qasr Port just inside southern Iraq.
A dust storm held back all but seven of the 30 trucks Kuwait wanted to send. That's just one of the obstacles facing the aid effort. Fighting around Basra and other cities is another.
Here in Umm Qasr, people who have lived a dozen years next door to a United Nations compound don't seem to be suffering. Nobody knows yet just who needs these supplies and where.
The coalition wants the world to see it is starting but it needs shiploads and Umm Qasr seaport will be crucial. Coalition specialists have found no booby traps yet but they can't yet give the harbor the all clear and the town behind it is still not completely secure. This vast port itself is in pretty good shape but the channel is shallow and needs regular dredging, and the temporary harbor master doesn't know yet how regular.
LT. COL. PAUL ASH, ROYAL LOGISTICS CORPS: Anything from every 24 hours to once a week. It is fair to say that if we don't quickly address the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) problem, it will have an impact on the operation of the port.
BLYSTONE: And he doesn't yet know if the Iraqi dredgers are safe to sail.
From St. Louis in the USA, southern Iraqi exile Abu Mujtaba, his nickname, is part of the U.S. sponsored free Iraqi forces.
ABU MUJTABA, FREE IRAQI FORCES: This makes happiness, sadness, happiness back to my home and sadness I see a lot things destroyed by Saddam.
BLYSTONE: He's here to help with civil affairs but he's still waiting to get out and meet the people.
(on camera): It looks dead but it's only sleeping. By week's end it will be back to work and none too soon -- Richard Blystone CNN, Umm Qasr Port, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: And, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is meeting at this hour at the U.S. Senate, briefing Senators there and we aer told that he is expected relatively soon to emerge from that meeting and is expected to address microphones and cameras. When he does, we will be going to him live.
The United Nations says feeding the people of Iraq will likely be the largest humanitarian aid effort in history. The United Nations may well play a large role in that effort if for no other reason, it sits on a huge pile of cash from the controversial Oil-for-Food Program and there is far more to Oil-for-Food than meets the eye, as Peter Viles reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In southern Iraq, the first shipments of humanitarian aid. Even before the war, 60 percent of Iraqis depended on such aid for food at the United Nations emergency meetings on how best to reopen the pipeline that delivers food and medicine to 14 million Iraqis.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We do not yet know how many people will be injured, how many will be displaced from their homes, or how many will be deprived of food, water, sanitation, and other (UNINTELLIGIBLE) services but we fear the numbers may be high.
VILES: Like it or not the United Nations has a key role because its controversial Oil-for-Food Program has an estimate $8 billion in escrow, money that belongs to the people of Iraq. The program was intended to choke Saddam Hussein but it grew rapidly, created a huge U.N. bureaucracy, and a conflict of interest for the United Nations.
CLAUDIA ROSETT, "OPINION JOURNAL": They have become a partner, a business partner effectively, with the Iraqi regime in this program. Their administration costs are paid for by 2.2 percent of the oil revenues generated by this program. So, in effect, they're working on commission for whoever is in charge in Baghdad. It creates a huge vested interest in not changing anything.
VILES: Huge and growing. In 1997, Iraq sold $4.3 billion worth of oil under the program. The U.N.'s commission to operate the program and pay for weapons inspections was $128 million. In 2000, Iraq sold nearly $18 billion worth of oil, the U.N.'s commission had grown to $535 million. The program now supports roughly 4,000 employees.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VILES: The U.N. Security Council at this hour close to an agreement to temporarily reopen this pipeline of aid to Iraq but it will not be the final word on this program -- Lou.
DOBBS: And this program and the United Nations administration of it likely to be an intense -- under intense scrutiny.
VILES: Sure and another big factor the government of Iraq has a big voice in where the aid goes as the program exists. The United States will not tolerate that in the short term. When and if there is a new government in Iraq, there's a whole debate on what business the U.N. does with that government.
DOBBS: Extraordinary. Pete, thank you very much, Peter Viles.
We want to turn to live pictures now from the city of Baghdad. We have just -- we are looking at pictures from Al-Jazeera Television. It is 2:29 a.m. there. We have just had reports of eight, eight explosions in the outskirts of Baghdad and no reports as to what direction.
And certainly we have with these explosions just having occurred no sense of precisely what was a target, what was hit, or what damage if any, and we will of course as events warrant return to those pictures, those live pictures of Baghdad here on CNN.
As we reported about 1,000 soldiers parachuted into northern Iraq tonight and seized an airfield on the Kurdish controlled northern region of the country. Joining me now is CNN Military Analyst General David Grange, general, good to have you here.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good evening.
DOBBS: This paratroop action tonight to take over this air field, a dramatic assault. Your best judgment as to the reasons for it? GRANGE: Well, Lou, the assault is in the north part of Iraq. The northern part of Iraq. And I believe they're seizing the airfield. It's in Kurdish territory. But to seize, secure, make sure that that is properly established to receive fixed wing aircraft, to bring in heavy units.
As mentioned the 1st of 63rd Armored Battalion, it's really a task force made up of tanks and Bradleys and what they call 113 armored personnel carriers from Wielsech (ph), Germany, it's a battalion out of the big red one.
And then you're going to have a heavy and light mix in northern Iraq. And I think then it will continue to build up for future operations in northern Iraq along with the Kurdish forces. So you have a typical heavy-light mix. Heavy with armored personnel, carriers and tanks. Light, meaning the old leather personnel carriers or boots.
I'm sure they'll have some mobility. But light and heavy to move with the Kurds in northern Iraq.
DOBBS: And General, this airfield has to be a very substantial airfield that they have seized to bring in the air transports that would be carrying equipment that heavy, right?
GRANGE: That's right, Lou. It's mainly C-17s, the work horse for heavy equipment, which can bring in Abrams or Bradleys or 113 personnel carriers.
DOBBS: General, let's turn, if we may, to reports that from the south of Baghdad headed toward Najaf in central Iraq, intelligence, early intelligence suggesting as many as 1,000 vehicles moving towards the elements of the 7th Cavalry. What do you make of that?
GRANGE: Well, Lou, if we go to the map here for a moment, you know, we talked last night that truth changes. And I think that may be what we see here.
It's hard to understand how an intelligence report could come out with a thousand vehicles and later maybe that's not true. It may just be reposition of Republican Guard units.
Well, when a report comes down like that, to the 3rd Infantry Division and especially a unit far forward like the 3-7th Cavalry, of course, they prepare for the worst, take up hasty defensive positions and with combined arms teams, prepare to fight an armored force from the Republican Guards, which would have substantial firepower.
DOBBS: It is, as you point out, remarkable that intelligence -- this is not suggesting 500 vehicles or 200 or 100, but 1,000. We talk a lot here about the fog of war. But this is pretty dense stuff, isn't it?
GRANGE: Well, it is. And what happens in combat, reports come in and a lot of times, depending on the excitement of those that are reporting it, numbers are bigger, become bigger than they actually are.
And it could be that actually there was a substantial number of vehicles in a location and then they immediately turned around, and went back to positions and may have been an Iraqi feint, a deceptive move to force coalition forces to maybe take up hasty defensive positions. I mean, it's really hard to tell right now with the information that we're getting.
DOBBS: OK. General David Grange, as always, thank you very much.
Let's check other news at this hour.
Former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan has died at the age of 76. The New York Democrat was hospitalized in January for an intestinal disorder. Moynihan's latest health problems resulted from the onset of an infection after an emergency appendectomy earlier this month.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan served four terms in the United States Senate.
Coalition aircraft have bombed a column of Iraqi armored vehicles pouring out of Basra. Officials aren't sure whether those vehicles are heading to attack the port city of Umm Qasr or whether they are retreating from Basra.
Either way, Basra has been heavily pounded by British artillery over recent days. The British also report a popular uprising against Saddam Hussein in the city.
North Korea tonight is threatening to pull out of the 1953 Korean Armistice. North Korea's leaders have been angered by United States and South Korean joint military exercises that have been going on in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea calls those exercises war moves.
The U.S. Senate has approved a new budget, but it may not be one the president will like. The Senate's plan cuts the president's proposed $726 billion tax cut by more than half. The vote passed 54- 44.
Compromised legislation must now be crafted by the Senate and the House, which favors the president's full tax cut proposal.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended lower. Investors remained concerned about the war in Iraq. The Dow Jones Industrials down 50 points. The NASDAQ down 3.5 points.
Coming up next, we'll have a live report from the deck of the USS Constellation. Frank Buckley will have that report from the carrier operating in the Gulf.
We'll hear from senior political analyst Bill Schneider. He'll have the latest poll numbers, numbers that show continued strong support for the war and President Bush and raises a few new questions.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Coalition aircraft today launched heavy attacks on Iraqi positions in the northern part of the country today before tonight's parachute assault to secure an airfield.
Kurds opposed to Saddam Hussein have been calling upon the coalition to be much more aggressive against the Iraqi forces in their area. And Ben Wedeman is in northern Iraq and will join us shortly.
We're going to go now to CNN Center and Bill Schneider -- Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Lou.
DOBBS: Some interesting poll results.
SCHNEIDER: Yes, we do. And these poll results more or less reflect exactly the news of the war. The question is, how is morale holding up on the home front?
Well, we've interviewed people in the last four days and here's what we found.
The percentage of Americans who say the war has been going very well so far has dropped quite noticeably. It was 62 percent on Saturday, 44 percent on Sunday and in the 30s for the last two days.
The number of Americans who think the war's going very well has diminished. Most Americans now say it's going fairly well, not badly, but fairly well.
On the other hand, morale is holding up very well. The percentage of Americans who say they favor the U.S. war with Iraq is holding in the 70s. It was 74 percent Saturday, 70 percent Sunday. The latest figure is still 71.
So even though Americans have become more sober and realistic about what's happening in this war, their support for the war has not flagged.
DOBBS: Bill, let me ask you this. We, along with other news organizations, national news organizations, are taking a poll seemingly every day. You are the maven of polls in all things political.
At some point does not simply the fact of polling begin to influence the result, with this kind of heavy polling? This war has been going on full six days now. We're now in our seventh. What is your judgment?
SCHNEIDER: My judgment is that the American people are pretty shrewd about these things. They watch the news very closely, they're willing to assess it and weigh it and figure out what it means.
That's exactly the meaning of that poll, showing fewer and fewer Americans think things are going well. But just as many Americans are holding up their support for the war. They're able to say, look, we're in this for the long run. As long as we believe this administration knows what it's doing and that our policy is on track, we're going to stick by this policy.
If we saw suddenly support for the war collapsing, then I think the polls would send a very alarming signal and, you know, it would be a problem. But support for the war is not collapsing in the polls.
DOBBS: Bill Schneider, thank you very much.
SCHNEIDER: Sure, Lou.
DOBBS: Senior political analyst Bill Schneider.
Coalition aircraft launched heavy attacks on Iraqi positions, as I said, in northern Iraq today. Kurds opposed to Saddam Hussein have been urging the coalition to be far more aggressive against the Iraqi forces in their part of the country.
Ben Wedeman now has the report from northern Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All dressed up with nowhere to go -- yet. These Kurdish troops anxious for U.S. military action, so they can start their fight against Saddam Hussein's forces in the north.
Iraqi army frontline positions blasted west of the city of Kirkuk. Gradually the north is heating up, so says the top American military official here.
The Kurds are getting impatient with the opening of a northern front. When's it going to happen?
MAJ. GEN. HENRY OSMAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The -- If you've been watching you've probably seen a good bit of bombing that's been taking place. I would offer to you, that's a pretty good front.
WEDEMAN: The Iraqi-controlled cities of Mosul and Kirkuk have taken a beating since the war began. But U.S.-led air attacks on the frontline military targets in the north have not been intense.
Early plans to open a northern front were complicated by thorny regional rivalries. The Kurds hounded by fears of a Turkish invasion. The U.S. frustrated by Turkey's refusal to allow more than 60,000 troops to cross the country into northern Iraq.
The U.S. now has over-flight rights in Turkey. And now the Kurds' overriding fear of armed Turkish intervention has been put to rest. They've been assured there will no Turkish invasion.
HOSHEIB ZOBARI, KURDISTAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I think it will have a major, major impact. Especially because there would not be any unnecessary distraction from the main goal, which is the focus is Baghdad, not, you know, the Turkish-Iraqi border. WEDEMAN: Reduced tensions with Turkey mean that more Kurdish forces can now be deployed along the 500-mile long northern front.
The two main Kurdish factions have agreed to put their tens of thousands of lightly armed Peshmerga fighters under American command.
ZOBARI: We will abide by the rules. We will not move, we will not act unilaterally or independently. All of our moves have to be coordinated with the coalition.
WEDEMAN (on camera): For the first time Wednesday, U.S. warplanes bombarded Iraqi fortifications in this sector of the northern front. Kurdish fighters may yet get their chance to battle the army of Saddam Hussein.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kalaf (ph), northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: And in a related development tonight, the head of the Turkish army said that his country will not send any more forces across the border.
Just ahead here, we'll have the very latest for you on the military's air campaign, which has been stymied by that country-wide sandstorm and high winds that have slowed nearly every development over the course of the past two days. We'll hear from Gary Tuchman at an air base near the Iraqi border.
We'll have complete analysis of the air campaign from General Don Shepperd on the next stages of the air war in Iraq. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: It is now expected that the coalition will fly some 1,600 attack sorties in the coming hours. The military says its focus is shifting to strikes on what it terms emerging targets, now that most of the pre-planned targets have been destroyed.
Gary Tuchman and photographer Dhamir Loretec (ph) are at an air base near the Iraqi border and have the latest for us -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lou, it's 2:45 in the morning here in the Persian Gulf and the flight lines across the Gulf are busy. A plane is taking off as we speak. Give me one second. It gets very loud here, so loud that we can't talk when the planes are leaving.
But at this particular base where we are right now, and this is near the border of Iraq, another plane will be following in a second, just to let you know. Give me about five more second as it takes off.
You can see, Lou, what this is like, because we spend 16 to 18 hours a day here on the flight line. And here comes a third plane. Unfortunately, this timing isn't so good for us. We spend 16 to 18 hours a day here. That will be all for now, unless there's a fourth. And we hear these sounds all day.
I'm going it give you a look at this one taking off. You can excuse me for one second, guys. We want you to get a look and see what the planes look like when they're taking off. You're going to keep hearing it. Let's show it to you.
What happens is they take off in groups. You can see it's a very busy night here near the Iraqi border.
And now we want to give you a listen to the gentleman who's in charge of fixing these airplanes right behind me. These are the A- 10s, and this is Master Sergeant Michael Street. He's a production superintendent. These are his babies.
How are these attack aircraft working out during this war so far?
MASTER SGT. MICHAEL STREET, PRODUCTION SUPERINTENDENT: They're doing great. The sand's a problem. But other than that we're prepared for it, and we're ready to go get them.
TUCHMAN: You've had no major emergencies with these aircraft?
STREET: No, sir. We've launched the planes out every time a pilot wanted them. We got one available.
TUCHMAN: We had sand storms for about 18 hours. What did the sand do to these aircraft?
STREET: It makes it difficult for maintenance. But fortunately, we have good weather people and they tell us when these storms are coming and we can take preventive measures to save components, to keep them from being damaged.
TUCHMAN: Final question, is there a nightmare scenario for a guy like you in charge of the mechanics of this plane?
STREET: One of my jets not coming home. I want to give the pilots the best jets that we can possibly give them and I want them to be the best maintained. And I want them to work for my air crews.
TUCHMAN: Master Sergeant, thanks for talking with us; appreciate your time.
STREET: I want to tell my little girls I love them and I miss them, Ashley and Heather.
TUCHMAN: That's an important part of it. People come here, they haven't seen their families for many months because a lot of them have been here for many months before the war started.
One more thing I want to tell you, Lou, you said 1,600 sorties. That's 400 less than the peak of the first few days of the war. They say they're doing that because they've hit most of the pre-planned targets already. So now they can concentrate on, as you said, the emerging targets, which include the Republican Guard and providing support to the ground troops. From a noisy base, Lou, back to you.
DOBBS: Gary Tuchman at an air base along the Iraqi border. And as the sergeant said, sand creating great problems, reducing visibility for our air operations over the course of the past two and a half days because of that immense sand storm.
Frank Buckley and photographer Greg Canes (ph) are aboard the USS Constellation, that carrier operating in the Persian Gulf. Frank joins us now by video phone -- Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESONDENT: Lou, a very busy night here for Air Wing 2 aboard the USS Constellation.
We can take you up to the flight deck and show you activity from earlier tonight, as aircraft were taking off and landing. Quite a sight as these aircraft go to after-burner and take off the deck, bound for Iraq into the night sky.
They are hitting a number of different types of targets. Their primary mission these days, close air support. They're supporting the troops, hitting artillery, troop positions, armored personnel carriers, ahead of advancing coalition troops.
Meanwhile the Constellation continues to load up on munitions, as well, for the strike aircraft. Before the sun went down, we were able to witness what they call an at-sea replenishment of munitions, also called a bird drop, because they were using the helicopters to bring bombs aboard the USS Constellation.
We are told that many of these bombs when they come across are so-called dumb bombs and then they are transformed into the smart bombs by kits that are added that provide for the GPA guidance, for example, the satellite guidance.
Fuses can also be set to go off at different points during the event, during incident, in which a munition or ordnance is dropped and that also helps to make the munition more precise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. CRAIG GERON, AIR WING CMDR.: Target, we're into the number of floors that you penetrate before you actually detonate the bomb. So you can decide if you want the bomb to detonate on the third or fourth floor or the fifth floor, based on how much of a delay you input into the fuse.
You can also use the fuse to limit collateral damage. You can have the bomb penetrate below the either's surface to where, when it goes high order you're limiting the amount of frag, or pieces of bomb, that are flying all around the target and possibly injuring civilians or impacting other civilians structures that you don't intend to actually destroy or damage.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BUCKLEY: Now this is an interview that we conducted before the explosion at the market in Baghdad with Iraqi officials claiming that this was a coalition attack on civilians.
U.S. officials always say that they never target civilians in Iraq, that they are only going after military targets. They say the precision bombs go a long way toward limiting the civilian casualties. But they concede, of course Lou, in a wartime situation, you can never have a 100 percent guarantee that civilians won't become casualties -- Lou.
DOBBS: Obviously not, Frank. Unfortunately, but that is a fact of war. Frank Buckley aboard the USS Constellation.
Joining me now to analyze the air campaign, CNN military analyst, General Don Shepperd.
General, we've heard a great deal of discussion now and some mitigation of the early reports that a convoy, some 1,000 vehicles, has moved out of Baghdad, headed toward the 7th Cavalry position. What's your best assessment?
GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, my best assessment is that these are tactical reports from the battlefield, Lou. And you have to be very, very careful about this. These reports have to be confirmed by higher level command, central command that has access to intelligence information such as the J-Stars aircraft that can pick up these vehicles moving.
A thousand vehicles is a lot of vehicles, and it would represent a major movement of forces out of the Baghdad area. So I'm skeptical about this. And the Pentagon, I believe, is putting out information that leads us believe they're starting to back away from that, as well.
DOBBS: And the reports concurrently of the 70 vehicles that have emerged from Basra to the south, moving southeast, those vehicles we know have been under attack by air. What more can you tell us about that?
SHEPPERD: Same thing there. It's a tactical report. And again, skeptical about that. It didn't make a lot of sense to me when I first heard it, it was a large column. But it could be elements that were in the city fleeing because of the uprising of the civilians or the continual pressure from the British. It's just very, very difficult to say.
But airplanes did hit the vehicles that were coming out of the city, Lou.
DOBBS: Let's draw back and talk about the air strategy here, if we may, General. And that is, I think a number of us might be surprised that the Iraqis, with the United States and the coalition, having air dominance over Iraq, could move a force of that size, whether it be 70 armored vehicles or whether it be 1,000 vehicles of an undisclosed nature without being attacked. SHEPPERD: Yes, let me go to the telestrater, if I can here ,and show you a couple of things off the map.
I'm going to draw in a line that is between the red and the blue forces here. And I'm going to call this the FSCL, fire support coordination line.
Now the idea behind this is that north of this fire support coordination line the Air Force is free to attack targets in accordance with its rules of engagement, in other words, anything they can identify as a military vehicle.
Now, south of this fire support coordination line, they have to be in contact with a forward air controller so that we make sure we hit Iraqi troops and not our troops.
Now north of the fire support coordination line you would see things such as the F-15E, the F-16, the F-18 from the Navy, and down south of it, you would see things such as the A-10, helicopters integrated and also eventually the AC-130s in there.
The idea is in support of the forces, in support of ground troops, if you're close to them, you have to be in contact with an Air Force or a Marine forward air controller to make sure what you're aiming at.
North of that, or away from the troops, you will be able to hit vehicles, and as these vehicles close, as time progresses here, the air power of the United States can be brought to bear against those. And it will be very difficult for the Iraqis to move any vehicles without them being seen, or without them being struck. Very similar to what the Germans in World War II...
DOBBS: I have to interrupt you. I'm sorry, General Shepperd. I have to interrupt you.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is approaching microphones after having jut emerged from the meeting at the Senate.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We, General Franks arranged a force flow, months ago, and that force flow is basically in train the way it's arranged, and it has been flowing in. The number of forces in Iraq goes up every day by some non-trivial number. And it has been increasing and will continue to do so until it's finished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, there have been reports that Iraqi troops are moving in a convoy south of Baghdad toward the Marines. Do you have any information on that?
RUMSFELD: Apparently, those reports popped up on television after General Myers and I left the -- I guess he's not here -- left the Pentagon about three or four hours ago and -- There he is. Dick Myers.
They're asking about this column that was reported coming south. Do you want to... GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Well, our disadvantage is, we have been...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step to the mic, please.
MYERS: Our disadvantage is we've been involved in discussions here, with both the House and Senate, for the last several hours, so we're not fresh on that. We understand there are a few vehicles that are coming south from Baghdad towards the Karbala gap, I guess, would be the general directions and they're being engaged as we find them. And it won't matter whether this day or night they'll be able to find them.
We don't think they're armored vehicles, they're light vehicles of some sort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell anything about the north with respect to the paratroopers opening up the northern front?
RUMSFELD: Trying to think what we might want to say about that. Just as I said earlier, we are increasing the number of forces in the country every day. We're increasing them in the north. We're increasing them in the south. And we're increasing them in the west.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
RUMSFELD: We had a very good discussion, first in the House of Representatives and the over here in the Senate. And General Myers gave them a current update on where we are on the ground and in the air. And we talked about a series of other aspects of it. And it was a good classified discussion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there plans to take Iraqi television totally off the air? We understand there are still some broadcasts?
RUMSFELD: There are odd broadcasts, they come up and down from time to time. There's no question but that the regime command and control aspects communications, aspects of targeting are important and a number of targets have been hit. And clearly there are redundant systems, as is the case most everywhere, where when one goes down, there are alternative ways of getting things on the air.
But we'll just have to see how much longer that's the case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, just to clarify, if there are new troops going into the south, this is part of a pre-ordained -- I'm not a military guy, so I don't know your phrases -- it should not be reactive to anything going wrong or not...?
RUMSFELD: Absolutely not. No. The force flow is something you put in motion months and months and months ago. And it has been proceeding exactly as planned. And there isn't an hour or day that goes by that there aren't an increased number of troops in Iraq in one or more locations.
In any given day they go up by a non-trivial number. And they will continue to until it's done. And it will be done at some point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any more information on the source that the missile that hit the civilian area?
RUMSFELD: I have no idea.
MYERS: Not yet. Central command will be looking into that to see if that was -- there were targets around that area and so forth. They'll do a thorough investigation. I mean, it's just as likely it was some piece of equipment from the Iraqi forces as it was ours. We'll just have to check into it and find out. And we'll do an investigation on that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General Myers, can you comment on the apparent role of the paramilitary, the Fedayeen in Basra and Nasiriya in instigating urban combat and other resistance against the troops?
MYERS: I think -- I don't know what the best description of that force is, almost like a state secret police, in a way. They're their enforcers. They do not follow the laws of armed conflict. In fact, they violate most of them. As you may recall, there are some found inside a hospital. That was their headquarters.
They don't wear uniforms. They've used surrender flags to try to trick people into thinking they're surrendering, then ambush them. So they are a -- they are there to enforce regime control over the people in those places where they are. And basically with a gun in their back to keep them loyal to the regime.
And they're being dealt with as we find them.
RUMSFELD: Thank you very much.
DOBBS: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers reacting with reporters after briefing the Senate.
Three principal stories. The first, eight explosions over Baghdad, 1,000 paratroopers seizing a northern airfield and some discounting of early reports that a thousand vehicles Iraqi vehicles were leaving basra ready to engage the 7th Cavalry.
That brings us to this hour, Aaron Brown and Wolf Blitzer coming up next. They'll be followed by Larry King. But first, Heidi Collins has the latest developments from CNN Center.
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