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American Morning
Continued Concern About Chemical, Biological Weapons
Aired March 28, 2003 - 9:01 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: Good morning. I am Paula Zahn in New York. Thanks so much for joining us on this Friday morning. We appreciate your closing out the week with us.
"Shock and Awe" was the catch phrase of the war in Iraq last week. Well this morning, we are hearing about a so-called "calm before the storm." A senior military official tells CNN's Chris Plante that the military is taking advantage of the first extended period of good weather to update its intelligence on Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard. If this is the calm, the suggestion is that the storm will be a massive bombardment planned for the days ahead from Air Force and Navy warplanes.
That's not to say the bombing in Baghdad has stopped. The capital was hit by some of the heaviest bombardment so far in terms of the destructive power of the bombs. Two bunker busters were dropped on a communications center; at least one of the bombs was a 4500-pound GBU-37, one of the largest in the U.S. arsenal.
Right now, time to check in with my colleague, Bill Hemmer, who is standing by in Kuwait City. Good morning, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, Paula. Listen, the weather is much clearer now. We talked about that earlier today. Coalition forces saying with the clearer skies right now and the sandstorms moving out here and that haze removed from the ground, they're going to get a better assessment of how the Iraqi military has now aligned itself on the ground in Iraq.
Also ,CNN's Walt Rodgers, with the 3-7th Cavalry, he now says military sources are telling him that a lot of degradation has taken place of the Medina Division of Iraq's Republican Guard. That unit considered to be a key Republican Guard unit, one of the best, if not the best southwest of Baghdad.
Christiane Amanpour is in Umm Qasr, where the first shipload of aid has arrived earlier today. You saw it live here on CNN. She's reporting also not far from there, near Basra, about 2,000 civilians tried to flee that town. They were forced back by gunfire by Iraqi militia.
Also, CNN's Bob Franken, he's embedded with the Air Force in Iraq now, Bob is. He says U.S. troops have taken over an Iraqi airbase in southeastern Iraq. That field will be a key landing and takeoff point for the A-10 warthog to go in and attack tanks. It's known as a tank killer in the Air Force. Very nimble, very quick, very agile jet. It will also serve as a base for search and rescue operations as well inside of the borders of Iraq -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Bill. You might have been noticing when Bill was speaking there was this little graphic rolling by saying that there is a defense ministry briefing at 9:30. We will be carrying that live.
Let's get the latest now from the Pentagon, where Barbara Starr is standing by. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, still a lot of concern both here and at the U.S. Central Command about the possibility of the use of chemical or biological weapons. Now, U.S. warplanes overnight again struck a facility in northern Iraq that they believe may be a compound involved in making chemical weapons. A compound run by a radical Kurdish group called Ansar al Islam that they believe possibly have ties to the al Qaeda.
Pentagon sources now telling CNN that U.S. Special Forces will move to this site and keep it under around-the-clock surveillance. Special Forces, of course, are already at about half a dozen suspected weapons of mass destruction sites across Iraq, keeping an eye on them, keeping them under surveillance. The plan is, as soon as they find some evidence of chemical or biological weapons, they will remove it, we are told, verify it, and display it to the world. At the CENTCOM briefing earlier today, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks talked about the concern about chemical and biological weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. ARMY: We have seen indications through a variety of sources and reporting means that first orders have been given that at a certain point chemical weapons might be used. We've seen chemical-protected equipment in a number of areas south of where we thought that red line might be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Now, when he talks about the red line, what he means is U.S. intelligence had always believed there was some sort of red line basically where the Republican Guard was around Baghdad. That that was where the Iraqis might make their last stand if the U.S. challenged them, that they might use chemical weapons of some sort to keep U.S. forces from entering Baghdad. But now, increasingly, they are finding evidence of protective gear that Iraqi forces had out in the field, all the way to the southern oilfields at Rumaila, making them believe that there had been plans for the possible use across Iraq -- Paula.
ZAHN: Just wondering if there is any reaction from the Pentagon to some of what Lieutenant General William Wallace had to say in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post," basically saying, although they knew they would encounter irregular forces in Iraq, they weren't sure how they were going to fight? And he basically said we didn't war game against this kind of threat.
STARR: Well, what officials are telling us here is that war- gaming always is against the maximum threat. They were war-gaming certainly against the Republican Guard as the maximum threat they might have faced. Officials here have already indicated privately for several days they now do believe privately, not publicly yet, that they underestimated the capacity and how well disbursed these paramilitaries were across the country, and the types of tactics that they might have used.
We're not likely to see a public acknowledgment of that at this point. But there certainly is a lot of chatter about it in the hallways.
ZAHN: Well the one thing that must be of concern to them is he was reporting just how bizarre he found the behavior of some of these -- what are some are saying paramilitary death squads, where they're very lightly armed roaming around in pickup trucks charging tanks and armored vehicles.
STARR: I don't think that we have a clear picture yet. What seems to be happening is U.S. forces, British forces encountering different tactics everywhere they go. And now, in recent days, they have all been warned by their commanders to be much more cautious as they approach civilians or people that they believe might be civilians. They're now getting much better prepared for any of these sort of irregular tactics that these Fedayeen and other forces are using.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Barbara. We'll see you in a little bit.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 28, 2003 - 9:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I am Paula Zahn in New York. Thanks so much for joining us on this Friday morning. We appreciate your closing out the week with us.
"Shock and Awe" was the catch phrase of the war in Iraq last week. Well this morning, we are hearing about a so-called "calm before the storm." A senior military official tells CNN's Chris Plante that the military is taking advantage of the first extended period of good weather to update its intelligence on Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard. If this is the calm, the suggestion is that the storm will be a massive bombardment planned for the days ahead from Air Force and Navy warplanes.
That's not to say the bombing in Baghdad has stopped. The capital was hit by some of the heaviest bombardment so far in terms of the destructive power of the bombs. Two bunker busters were dropped on a communications center; at least one of the bombs was a 4500-pound GBU-37, one of the largest in the U.S. arsenal.
Right now, time to check in with my colleague, Bill Hemmer, who is standing by in Kuwait City. Good morning, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, Paula. Listen, the weather is much clearer now. We talked about that earlier today. Coalition forces saying with the clearer skies right now and the sandstorms moving out here and that haze removed from the ground, they're going to get a better assessment of how the Iraqi military has now aligned itself on the ground in Iraq.
Also ,CNN's Walt Rodgers, with the 3-7th Cavalry, he now says military sources are telling him that a lot of degradation has taken place of the Medina Division of Iraq's Republican Guard. That unit considered to be a key Republican Guard unit, one of the best, if not the best southwest of Baghdad.
Christiane Amanpour is in Umm Qasr, where the first shipload of aid has arrived earlier today. You saw it live here on CNN. She's reporting also not far from there, near Basra, about 2,000 civilians tried to flee that town. They were forced back by gunfire by Iraqi militia.
Also, CNN's Bob Franken, he's embedded with the Air Force in Iraq now, Bob is. He says U.S. troops have taken over an Iraqi airbase in southeastern Iraq. That field will be a key landing and takeoff point for the A-10 warthog to go in and attack tanks. It's known as a tank killer in the Air Force. Very nimble, very quick, very agile jet. It will also serve as a base for search and rescue operations as well inside of the borders of Iraq -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Bill. You might have been noticing when Bill was speaking there was this little graphic rolling by saying that there is a defense ministry briefing at 9:30. We will be carrying that live.
Let's get the latest now from the Pentagon, where Barbara Starr is standing by. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, still a lot of concern both here and at the U.S. Central Command about the possibility of the use of chemical or biological weapons. Now, U.S. warplanes overnight again struck a facility in northern Iraq that they believe may be a compound involved in making chemical weapons. A compound run by a radical Kurdish group called Ansar al Islam that they believe possibly have ties to the al Qaeda.
Pentagon sources now telling CNN that U.S. Special Forces will move to this site and keep it under around-the-clock surveillance. Special Forces, of course, are already at about half a dozen suspected weapons of mass destruction sites across Iraq, keeping an eye on them, keeping them under surveillance. The plan is, as soon as they find some evidence of chemical or biological weapons, they will remove it, we are told, verify it, and display it to the world. At the CENTCOM briefing earlier today, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks talked about the concern about chemical and biological weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, U.S. ARMY: We have seen indications through a variety of sources and reporting means that first orders have been given that at a certain point chemical weapons might be used. We've seen chemical-protected equipment in a number of areas south of where we thought that red line might be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Now, when he talks about the red line, what he means is U.S. intelligence had always believed there was some sort of red line basically where the Republican Guard was around Baghdad. That that was where the Iraqis might make their last stand if the U.S. challenged them, that they might use chemical weapons of some sort to keep U.S. forces from entering Baghdad. But now, increasingly, they are finding evidence of protective gear that Iraqi forces had out in the field, all the way to the southern oilfields at Rumaila, making them believe that there had been plans for the possible use across Iraq -- Paula.
ZAHN: Just wondering if there is any reaction from the Pentagon to some of what Lieutenant General William Wallace had to say in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post," basically saying, although they knew they would encounter irregular forces in Iraq, they weren't sure how they were going to fight? And he basically said we didn't war game against this kind of threat.
STARR: Well, what officials are telling us here is that war- gaming always is against the maximum threat. They were war-gaming certainly against the Republican Guard as the maximum threat they might have faced. Officials here have already indicated privately for several days they now do believe privately, not publicly yet, that they underestimated the capacity and how well disbursed these paramilitaries were across the country, and the types of tactics that they might have used.
We're not likely to see a public acknowledgment of that at this point. But there certainly is a lot of chatter about it in the hallways.
ZAHN: Well the one thing that must be of concern to them is he was reporting just how bizarre he found the behavior of some of these -- what are some are saying paramilitary death squads, where they're very lightly armed roaming around in pickup trucks charging tanks and armored vehicles.
STARR: I don't think that we have a clear picture yet. What seems to be happening is U.S. forces, British forces encountering different tactics everywhere they go. And now, in recent days, they have all been warned by their commanders to be much more cautious as they approach civilians or people that they believe might be civilians. They're now getting much better prepared for any of these sort of irregular tactics that these Fedayeen and other forces are using.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Barbara. We'll see you in a little bit.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
