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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview With Colonel Steve Pennington, U.S. Central Command
Aired March 31, 2003 - 06:38 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: I mentioned CentCom before. They brief in 24 minutes from now.
Lets talk with Colonel Steve Pennington, U.S. Central Command with the U.S. Air Force. He's in charge of the Joint Operation Center down there in Qatar.
Welcome, Colonel -- good to have you with us today.
Getting reports about the bombings and explosions that continue throughout the city of Baghdad. The word is, though, that the strike fighter jets are now coming in at much lower altitudes. What would explain this today?
COLONEL STEVE PENNINGTON, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Well, I think two things explain it, Bill. One is we've had a chance over the last 12 days to work on the defenses in Baghdad. And so that enables us to bring in not just fighters, but I think as you all reported, we brought in all three of the bombers -- I think the B-2, the B-52 and the B-1 -- last night. So we, in essence, have opened up the airspace of Baghdad for continuous use by our own airplanes.
HEMMER: Yes, and also south of Baghdad, though, an update now on what's happening with the Republican Guard. Is the assault only coming from the air? Can you confirm that there is a probing, or there is some sort of contact on land as well between the coalition forces and the Republican Guard forces, like the Medina Division, the Baghdad Division?
PENNINGTON: Well, indeed I can confirm that there is operations in the air continuously and on the ground, as I think you've reported, both in An Najaf, in Al Samawah, and then of course in Karbala there were continuing operations, pretty intensives ones on the ground.
And then thirdly, there's an information campaign, Bill, where we're talking not just to the soldiers in the field, but also to the people of Iraq and explaining to them what we're doing and that this is not an invasion of Iraq. This is to remove Saddam Hussein and his rulers, and to bring about a better future.
HEMMER: Do you have any evidence, Colonel, right now that that plan is working?
PENNINGTON: Well, I think you mentioned some of that, the folks that are giving up, and it's not just the Republican Guard or the regime death squads. But secondly in the south where there's a large Shia population, as we begin to remove their oppressors, we found them to be quite welcoming, and, in fact, appear to be happy to have us there.
HEMMER: Yes, that's the impression that we are seeing in only certain corners of Iraq, and I know it's your intent certainly to do more, but it's an open-ended issue it appears right now whether or not the rest of the country will fall in line with that same thing.
Colonel Steve Pennington, thanks for your time. It was quick, but we know we're getting a full briefing in 20 minutes, so we will check back in live there in Qatar when that happens.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Command>
Aired March 31, 2003 - 06:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I mentioned CentCom before. They brief in 24 minutes from now.
Lets talk with Colonel Steve Pennington, U.S. Central Command with the U.S. Air Force. He's in charge of the Joint Operation Center down there in Qatar.
Welcome, Colonel -- good to have you with us today.
Getting reports about the bombings and explosions that continue throughout the city of Baghdad. The word is, though, that the strike fighter jets are now coming in at much lower altitudes. What would explain this today?
COLONEL STEVE PENNINGTON, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Well, I think two things explain it, Bill. One is we've had a chance over the last 12 days to work on the defenses in Baghdad. And so that enables us to bring in not just fighters, but I think as you all reported, we brought in all three of the bombers -- I think the B-2, the B-52 and the B-1 -- last night. So we, in essence, have opened up the airspace of Baghdad for continuous use by our own airplanes.
HEMMER: Yes, and also south of Baghdad, though, an update now on what's happening with the Republican Guard. Is the assault only coming from the air? Can you confirm that there is a probing, or there is some sort of contact on land as well between the coalition forces and the Republican Guard forces, like the Medina Division, the Baghdad Division?
PENNINGTON: Well, indeed I can confirm that there is operations in the air continuously and on the ground, as I think you've reported, both in An Najaf, in Al Samawah, and then of course in Karbala there were continuing operations, pretty intensives ones on the ground.
And then thirdly, there's an information campaign, Bill, where we're talking not just to the soldiers in the field, but also to the people of Iraq and explaining to them what we're doing and that this is not an invasion of Iraq. This is to remove Saddam Hussein and his rulers, and to bring about a better future.
HEMMER: Do you have any evidence, Colonel, right now that that plan is working?
PENNINGTON: Well, I think you mentioned some of that, the folks that are giving up, and it's not just the Republican Guard or the regime death squads. But secondly in the south where there's a large Shia population, as we begin to remove their oppressors, we found them to be quite welcoming, and, in fact, appear to be happy to have us there.
HEMMER: Yes, that's the impression that we are seeing in only certain corners of Iraq, and I know it's your intent certainly to do more, but it's an open-ended issue it appears right now whether or not the rest of the country will fall in line with that same thing.
Colonel Steve Pennington, thanks for your time. It was quick, but we know we're getting a full briefing in 20 minutes, so we will check back in live there in Qatar when that happens.
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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