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Coalition Troops Advancing Through Baghdad Not Only Ones Coming Under Fire

Aired March 28, 2003 - 12:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to try to sneak in a report here, as we await that White House briefing that's expected to get under way shortly. So we'll try this right now. Coalition troops advancing through Baghdad are not the only ones coming under fire. So are those forces supplying the troops. CNN's Martin Savidge is embedded with the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines, the unit charged with keeping that supply line open.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First Battalion 7th Marines are now on the move again coming out of southern Iraq and heading into central Iraq. It is a convoy, of course, as we move. And force security is the number one issue. Those are Cobra helicopters owned and operated by the U.S. Marines, they are patrolling up and down the convoy route. That's only part of the security measures designed to keep back the Fedayeen or the paramilitary forces that have been striking along the supply lines here in Iraq.

There's another part of that security option. It's known as CAT teams, combined armor anti-tank teams, basically humvees or the jeeps that the military uses, but they're mounted with heavy weaponry, including automatic grenade launchers, TOW missile systems and also 50-caliber machine guns. Because they're highly maneuverable, they can run in front of the convoy; they're basically the tripwire or early warning device. If they get any fire, they can immediately return heavy fire, suppressing fire, they call it, and then, if need be, reserve units can be pulled up from the convoy to fight off if there is any attack.

The idea of moving now is to move forward and to eventually try to press into areas, villages and towns, where the Fedayeen may be operating out of, trying to stop their harassment of the supply line that run all the way down to northern Kuwait. Martin Savidge, CNN, with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, in southern Iraq.

ZAHN: Martin Savidge giving us a very good idea what coalition forces may be up against. Just what do the supply convoys carry? Where are they headed? What dangers do they face? For the bigger picture now, we turn it over to Renay San Miguel and our military analyst General David Grange in Atlanta.

Good afternoon.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Paula. We want to give our viewers some idea of just how far those trucks on that supply route have to go. We have some digital satellite imagery from earthviewer.com. All of this starts about 400 miles away from Baghdad at the supply depots, brand-new depots at Camp Doha near Kuwait City. The trek from there runs north, goes past Basra. There it is in Kuwait City, and then it goes from there past Basra up to Nasiriyah, Basra and Nasiriyah seeing an awful lot of fighting, so it's kind of a dangerous stretch there. But from Kuwait City to Nasiriyah, that's about 160 miles right there.

And then, from there, coalition troops will continue along those supply lines, past Najaf, all the way to Karbala. And all - - you know, there's fighting going on all during this time. Another very long stretch, about 190 miles from there, about 400 miles total, Karbala only about 50, 60 miles from Baghdad. Not only is that a long way to go, General, to bring supplies, it's also a very dangerous route as well.

GENERAL DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Very dangerous. And all the supply columns have an internal requirement for counter ambush security. Just like Martin Savidge talked about, the teams that were with the 1st and the 7th Marines, it's the same for all army and marine units. They have to take care of themselves, plus there's a tactical combat force that also provides from the air and the ground, a reaction force to support them as well that's not part of the column.

SAN MIGUEL: That's all the supplies. We've got a lot of vehicles in this line, you know, humvee trucks, standard cargo trucks, fuel and water tankers that we saw earlier, heavy expanded mobility tactical truck. You know, these armored divisions, you know, consume over half a million gallons of fuel per day. Helicopters can go through 150 gallons per hour. Tanks 60 gallons per hour. The logistics on that just must be a nightmare.

GRANGE: And looking at the pictures and the control of this thing, a lot of mechanical breakdowns, not even considering the enemy fire. Thousands of vehicles in the enemy territory with thousands of problems.

SAN MIGUEL: Repair and maintenance part of that. General Grange, thanks for your time, we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Coming Under Fire>


Aired March 28, 2003 - 12:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to try to sneak in a report here, as we await that White House briefing that's expected to get under way shortly. So we'll try this right now. Coalition troops advancing through Baghdad are not the only ones coming under fire. So are those forces supplying the troops. CNN's Martin Savidge is embedded with the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines, the unit charged with keeping that supply line open.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First Battalion 7th Marines are now on the move again coming out of southern Iraq and heading into central Iraq. It is a convoy, of course, as we move. And force security is the number one issue. Those are Cobra helicopters owned and operated by the U.S. Marines, they are patrolling up and down the convoy route. That's only part of the security measures designed to keep back the Fedayeen or the paramilitary forces that have been striking along the supply lines here in Iraq.

There's another part of that security option. It's known as CAT teams, combined armor anti-tank teams, basically humvees or the jeeps that the military uses, but they're mounted with heavy weaponry, including automatic grenade launchers, TOW missile systems and also 50-caliber machine guns. Because they're highly maneuverable, they can run in front of the convoy; they're basically the tripwire or early warning device. If they get any fire, they can immediately return heavy fire, suppressing fire, they call it, and then, if need be, reserve units can be pulled up from the convoy to fight off if there is any attack.

The idea of moving now is to move forward and to eventually try to press into areas, villages and towns, where the Fedayeen may be operating out of, trying to stop their harassment of the supply line that run all the way down to northern Kuwait. Martin Savidge, CNN, with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, in southern Iraq.

ZAHN: Martin Savidge giving us a very good idea what coalition forces may be up against. Just what do the supply convoys carry? Where are they headed? What dangers do they face? For the bigger picture now, we turn it over to Renay San Miguel and our military analyst General David Grange in Atlanta.

Good afternoon.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Paula. We want to give our viewers some idea of just how far those trucks on that supply route have to go. We have some digital satellite imagery from earthviewer.com. All of this starts about 400 miles away from Baghdad at the supply depots, brand-new depots at Camp Doha near Kuwait City. The trek from there runs north, goes past Basra. There it is in Kuwait City, and then it goes from there past Basra up to Nasiriyah, Basra and Nasiriyah seeing an awful lot of fighting, so it's kind of a dangerous stretch there. But from Kuwait City to Nasiriyah, that's about 160 miles right there.

And then, from there, coalition troops will continue along those supply lines, past Najaf, all the way to Karbala. And all - - you know, there's fighting going on all during this time. Another very long stretch, about 190 miles from there, about 400 miles total, Karbala only about 50, 60 miles from Baghdad. Not only is that a long way to go, General, to bring supplies, it's also a very dangerous route as well.

GENERAL DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Very dangerous. And all the supply columns have an internal requirement for counter ambush security. Just like Martin Savidge talked about, the teams that were with the 1st and the 7th Marines, it's the same for all army and marine units. They have to take care of themselves, plus there's a tactical combat force that also provides from the air and the ground, a reaction force to support them as well that's not part of the column.

SAN MIGUEL: That's all the supplies. We've got a lot of vehicles in this line, you know, humvee trucks, standard cargo trucks, fuel and water tankers that we saw earlier, heavy expanded mobility tactical truck. You know, these armored divisions, you know, consume over half a million gallons of fuel per day. Helicopters can go through 150 gallons per hour. Tanks 60 gallons per hour. The logistics on that just must be a nightmare.

GRANGE: And looking at the pictures and the control of this thing, a lot of mechanical breakdowns, not even considering the enemy fire. Thousands of vehicles in the enemy territory with thousands of problems.

SAN MIGUEL: Repair and maintenance part of that. General Grange, thanks for your time, we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Coming Under Fire>