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American Morning
Security on Minds of U.S. Military When it Comes to Supply Lines
Aired March 28, 2003 - 09:21 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, back to Iraq, south central Iraq. CNN's Martin Savidge embedded with the U.S. Marines. We have checked in periodically when Marty's allowed to broadcast to us. Let's check in again today and find out what's happening from his location and the Marines. Marty, hello again.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Security obviously on the minds of New Yorkers. Security very much on the minds of the U.S. military, especially when it comes to the supply lines.
We're standing right next to one of those supply lines, one of the highways that is used and runs up north to troops that are further up along the lines. And as we've been reporting to you for the past couple of days, almost two days after the ground defense began, guerrilla tactics again being seen by the part of either Iraqi troops or Iraqi militia. They think actually it may be a mixture of both. And a group known as the Fedayeen.
Nothing more than aggravation, sort of a nagging pain, according to the U.S. military. Others might say it's something more serious. But they have been striking at convoys; particularly at the potential fuel targets, ammunition and food that has been moving up along the highway. So they had to restructure, had to regroup and figure out how to deal with this.
And one of the ways they do it -- if we swing around this way -- are these CAAT (ph) teams. CAATs (ph) aren't really a specific military term, but it stands for combined armor anti-tank. You get the picture pretty much.
These are fast-moving, heavily-armed jeeps, or Humvees in military terms. And they can work much like a sheepdog can run around a flock of sheep. They can run up and down the highway here, constantly patrolling the convoy that is on the move. They do it daytime and nighttime.
They circle the perimeter, and what they hope to do is that if there is any sort of guerrilla activity up there, that these guys are likely to see it first. They're the tripwire. And they can either take on that enemy and lay down a lot of heavy fire, or if need be, they can be reinforced by other Marines that are waiting in armored personnel carriers. So you have a quick reaction force, and then you have a follow-up reserve that's ready to deal with it. On top of that, what we've been seeing is a lot of activity, not so much on the ground, but in the air. Almost constant patrols by helicopters, whether it be the twin rotor big helicopters or, as we just saw pass over us, and now I think is going to be coming back, the Cobra attack helicopters. They're a very lethal weapon.
They have the hellfire missiles on board and 20-millimeter machine gun. So they are quite capable of handling things on the ground. And then on top of that, small drones have been flying up and down the highway here.
All of this designed for security measures, because if you cut off the flow of ammunition, if you cut off the flow of food and fuel, it will have a very strong impact on those forces that are moving forward. So that's why security has become the primary objective here. And, right now, for the 1st Battalion 7th Marines, that's their number one job -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, thank you. Martin Savidge on the air and on the ground as well. Marty is embedded with the U.S. Marines.
We do know a couple of stories not related to Marty's unit, though. Twelve Marines have been missing for sometime in and around the town of Nasiriya. We also know about 24 hours ago, based on the reporting from CNN's Art Harris, that 11 Marines were also wounded in a firefight in and around that same town. Developments that we will continue to watch from here.
David Grange, retired brigadier general, is watching the battleground as well, and we'll check in with him on a situation report in a moment here when we come back. AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment live in Kuwait and also live in New York City. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 28, 2003 - 09:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, back to Iraq, south central Iraq. CNN's Martin Savidge embedded with the U.S. Marines. We have checked in periodically when Marty's allowed to broadcast to us. Let's check in again today and find out what's happening from his location and the Marines. Marty, hello again.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Security obviously on the minds of New Yorkers. Security very much on the minds of the U.S. military, especially when it comes to the supply lines.
We're standing right next to one of those supply lines, one of the highways that is used and runs up north to troops that are further up along the lines. And as we've been reporting to you for the past couple of days, almost two days after the ground defense began, guerrilla tactics again being seen by the part of either Iraqi troops or Iraqi militia. They think actually it may be a mixture of both. And a group known as the Fedayeen.
Nothing more than aggravation, sort of a nagging pain, according to the U.S. military. Others might say it's something more serious. But they have been striking at convoys; particularly at the potential fuel targets, ammunition and food that has been moving up along the highway. So they had to restructure, had to regroup and figure out how to deal with this.
And one of the ways they do it -- if we swing around this way -- are these CAAT (ph) teams. CAATs (ph) aren't really a specific military term, but it stands for combined armor anti-tank. You get the picture pretty much.
These are fast-moving, heavily-armed jeeps, or Humvees in military terms. And they can work much like a sheepdog can run around a flock of sheep. They can run up and down the highway here, constantly patrolling the convoy that is on the move. They do it daytime and nighttime.
They circle the perimeter, and what they hope to do is that if there is any sort of guerrilla activity up there, that these guys are likely to see it first. They're the tripwire. And they can either take on that enemy and lay down a lot of heavy fire, or if need be, they can be reinforced by other Marines that are waiting in armored personnel carriers. So you have a quick reaction force, and then you have a follow-up reserve that's ready to deal with it. On top of that, what we've been seeing is a lot of activity, not so much on the ground, but in the air. Almost constant patrols by helicopters, whether it be the twin rotor big helicopters or, as we just saw pass over us, and now I think is going to be coming back, the Cobra attack helicopters. They're a very lethal weapon.
They have the hellfire missiles on board and 20-millimeter machine gun. So they are quite capable of handling things on the ground. And then on top of that, small drones have been flying up and down the highway here.
All of this designed for security measures, because if you cut off the flow of ammunition, if you cut off the flow of food and fuel, it will have a very strong impact on those forces that are moving forward. So that's why security has become the primary objective here. And, right now, for the 1st Battalion 7th Marines, that's their number one job -- Bill.
HEMMER: Marty, thank you. Martin Savidge on the air and on the ground as well. Marty is embedded with the U.S. Marines.
We do know a couple of stories not related to Marty's unit, though. Twelve Marines have been missing for sometime in and around the town of Nasiriya. We also know about 24 hours ago, based on the reporting from CNN's Art Harris, that 11 Marines were also wounded in a firefight in and around that same town. Developments that we will continue to watch from here.
David Grange, retired brigadier general, is watching the battleground as well, and we'll check in with him on a situation report in a moment here when we come back. AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment live in Kuwait and also live in New York City. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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