|
CNN LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE
Pentagon Says effectiveness of Republican Guard South of Baghdad Cut in Half by Coalition Bombing, Flexibility Key to Success of War Plan
Aired March 31, 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 HOST: The Pentagon tonight says the effectiveness of Republican Guard divisions south of Baghdad has been cut in half by coalition bombing. Pentagon officials say flexibility is the key to the success of the war plan, repeating their view that the outcome of the war is not in doubt.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): After dropping more than 3,000 bombs on Iraq in three days, the Pentagon says the combination of punishing air strikes and probing ground attacks against three Republican Guard divisions south of Baghdad have cut their combat effectiveness in half.
MAJ. GEN. STAN MCCHRYSTAL, JOINT STAFF DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We see some very significant weakening, and it will hit a tipping point in some of their formations.
MCINTYRE: But despite the unprecedented "shock and awe" aerial bombardment and the impressive lightning ground march to the outskirts of Baghdad, the U.S. strategy has so far failed to achieve one stated goal -- to create a sense of inevitable defeat such that the Republican Guard would fold or key members of Saddam Hussein's inner circle might turn on him.
GEOFFREY HOON, BRITISH DEFENSE SECRETARY: There have been as yet no defections of very senior politicians or very senior military commanders.
MCINTYRE: While U.S. officials note they have seen only videotaped appearances by Saddam Hussein and his sons, other members of the regime continue to broadcast defiant messages.
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): With each day America and Britain wade into a quagmire, and the losses increase for those two outlaws.
MCINTYRE: The U.S. says while Iraq's guerrilla and terror tactics may have so far prevented any popular uprisings or wholesale surrenders, the Pentagon insists it's only a matter of time.
VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: The inevitable outcome is more than a feeling. It is reality.
MCINTYRE: Pentagon sources say the U.S. will continue to whittle away at the Republican Guard Division that's surround Baghdad and follow the model of British troops in Basra, avoiding urban combat and using local citizens to identify and destroy loyalist strongholds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a Ba'ath party headquarters building in Al Hilla (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: At some point, sources say, the U.S. may attempt to take out an entire Republican Guard division in order to send a punishing psychological blow to the rest of the Republican Guard. But the Pentagon says the one thing it has is plenty of patience to wait for the right time to do it -- Lou.
DOBBS: Jamie, thanks. Jamie McIntyre, senior Pentagon correspondent.
At least 67 coalition troops have now lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Pentagon says 43 Americans have been killed. Another 19 are missing in action. Twenty-four British troops have died in Iraq, most of them from friendly fire or accidents. We have no independent information on Iraqi military casualties or civilian casualties. The coalition reports some 8,000 Iraqis have now been taken prisoner. Seven Americans have been captured in the war in Iraq. No British troops have been taken prisoner.
Seven people are dead tonight in Najaf after U.S. soldiers fired on a van when the driver refused to stop at a checkpoint. Thirteen women and children turned out to be in the van. Soldiers fired a warning shot, which the driver ignored. They proceeded to shoot into the van's engine, trying to stop the vehicle. The driver still failed to stop, at which point troops fired into the passenger area of the van. Najaf was the site of the suicide bombing that took the lives of four U.S. troops at a checkpoint last week. This weekend the driver of a truck plowed into a line of troops waiting outside a post exchange in Kuwait, injuring more than a dozen.
In a separate incident the body of -- the bodies of four U.S. Marines were recovered today outside Nasiriyah. The driver of a tank was shot, causing it to plunge off a bridge into the Euphrates River, killing everyone inside. The city has been the site of fierce fighting for days, but tonight the Marines are in control.
Alessio Vinci is traveling with the 2nd Marines Task Force Terawa in Nasiriyah and has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A week ago this area of Nasiriyah was a firing zone, the so-called "ambush alley" where several marines lost their lives in a fierce battle.
Today it is under the control of U.S. troops, who have begun foot patrols.
LT. TROY GARLOCK, U.S. MARINES: Basically, what we're trying to do is, you know, also win the hearts and the minds of the people. We're not here to totally, you know -- I mean, what the Marines are known for, with force, brute force and take everything out. We also want to show the other side that we're here to also help restore and help set a base for Iraq and for especially Al Nasiriyah.
VINCI: The first patrol began early in the morning with Marines walking in tight formation, weapons trained on anything that moved. A civilian who approached the patrol handed over a letter he wanted sent to Washington, to President George W. Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says, "I'd like to have an appointment to meet you, sir. And this is a very important matter. That can I have -- that's going to make all the people here happy."
VINCI: Others had less ambitious requests. They asked for water, food. The marines say water and electricity will soon be restored and food from nearby warehouses will be distributed.
(on camera): This section of the city at this time of the day is largely deserted. And the few people who do come out in the streets appear to be largely sympathetic to U.S. Marines here.
(voice-over): Many civilians say they need the presence of U.S. troops.
Some are in particular need of medical attention. Three month- old Zahara (ph) was treated for mild diarrhea and an eye infection.
A man identified as an Iraqi combatant told Marines he was wounded two days ago when his group of 15 came under helicopter gunship attack. He says he is the only survivor.
STAFF SGT. ANTHONY GOODWIN, U.S. MARINES: Obviously, we're trying to look at the overall picture, trying to be as humane as possible because that's our goal. We want these people to know we're here to help them. But it makes it difficult when the Iraqi military does use the deceit they do and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
VINCI: People confirm that pockets of paramilitary combatants remain in town and threatened civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But not see him. Because he's dressed like to me. I can't see him. He's dressed like to me, and he come -- tonight he try to kill me and my family.
VINCI: So in this one little corner of Iraq people seem to feel safe enough to speak freely, but not too freely.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, with the U.S. Marines in Nasiriyah, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: While Marines work to keep Nasiriyah secure, the Republican Guard is under heavy fire tonight. Coalition planes are hammering their positions.
Bob Franken is at an air base near the Iraqi border and joins me now live by videophone with more on the air war -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So many of the planes are out doing that very thing, that you can see in back of me the flight line, which is often time bristling with aircraft, is just about empty. When the planes come back they're out there now doing their lethal work, when they come back, they sometimes resemble the pit at the Indianapolis speedway. The maintenance workers here were running out, and they can turn a plane around in no time and send it on its way. Well, they're all out there now, all doing their job, running their attacks against the Republican Guard. They being mainly the A-10 planes, the famous anti-tank plane that does such a deadly job when it goes diving in to help support the ground troops that are trying to advance against the Republican guard and other units.
And the focus, Lou, is the Republican Guard. That of course has become more evident in the various briefings that everyone's been getting, that had always been expected to be the case, that the main battles of this war will be fought against the elite troops of the Iraqi army. And so the planes are out there now trying to soften them up, trying to make the final ground battles easier because of the devastation that can rain from the air. As for the numbers, they're now up to 2,000 sorties in the last 24-hour reporting period. That's up from the day before and way up from the average, with all indications that it's going to get more and more intense -- Lou.
DOBBS: Bob, thank you very much. Bob Franken reporting from a base near the Iraqi border.
You're looking at live pictures of Baghdad. Baghdad has been hit just in the last minute or so with new explosions. The series of bombings continuing tonight. They have been going on throughout the day. In fact, bombings in Baghdad, and missile strikes carried out from the onset of this conflict going back to March 19. And we will continue, obviously, to monitor these pictures you're looking at, brought to us by Lebanese television.
The Pentagon today said Coalition air strikes have significantly weakened Iraqi defenses all around Baghdad. The Republican Guard encircling the capital city.
Joining me now for more on the effectiveness of this air campaign is CNN military analyst General Don Shepperd. General, good to have you here.
GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to be here, Lou.
DOBBS: We are seeing continued strikes against, as we sit here and look at this picture of Baghdad tonight, general, continued strikes. We continue to be told that this is against command and control.
Is there any shift in your view of what's going on in the attacks against Baghdad itself?
SHEPPERD: Absolutely, Lou. I think most of the preplanned targets in downtown Baghdad, particularly the Republican palace area, had been hit. I think what you're seeing is restriking of targets. You're also seeing listening for emerging targets, listening for where command and control or leadership posts moved to, and you're going to see continuing targets on communications facilities as they move throughout the city and in the field. And then on the edges of Baghdad and as Republican Guard moves through you're going to see attacks on those fielded forces, the forces of the Republican Guard as they move to battle -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, as Bob Franken is reporting, the number of sorties against those Republican Guards that ring Baghdad, stepping up significantly. But also, we've seen continued strikes, as you point out, against communications facilities, particularly the Information Ministry, yet they seem to be unable to take Iraqi television off the air.
Why is that?
SHEPPERD: Yes, that's a tough target for several reasons. One is that the Iraqis have had many years to make redundant locations throughout the city and place those redundant locations next to things you wouldn't want to hit, like apartment buildings and that type of thing, hotels. The other thing is you can have mobile facilities that you can drive around. So it's a difficult target. And you can always drop a bomb on it, but you have to be mindful of the collateral damage, and these things, many of them are mobile, so you've got to find it, you've got to target it, and then you've got to be very careful about what you target it with -- Lou.
DOBBS: We heard a lot of taurx general, about e-pulse bombs that would be capable of frying circuit boards and electronic circuitry.
Is there in your view any prospect that the Coalition will use those weapons?
SHEPPERD: Lou, I'm not sure that that bomb exists. There's a lot of talk about it. All the people I talked to say that the ability to get a bomb that generates a lot of power electricly as opposed to chemically, electrical bomb, and package it in something small like a Tomahawk is still a few years down the road. Now, it could be you have one that you could use for a specific purpose. We're also working on weapons that basically take down towers and take down disks without blowing buildings apart. I think you may see some of those. But I have not seen the e-bomb used and I think we may not -- Lou
DOBBS: General, three thousand smart bombs and missiles used over the course of the last three days. The Republican Guard, according to the Pentagon, 50 percent of three divsion now atrited, as they put it in their lexicon or destroyed. How much farther do you think these strikes will go? How significant of level of destruction does the Air Force want to bring -- to bear on the Republican Guard before engaging with the Coalition forces on the ground? SHEPPERD: Well, I think General Franks wants these Republican Guard units attrited as much as he can. He'd like to see them down at very low strength. Let me give you a look, if I could, at what's happening across the country. It's kind of emerging into an understandable battle. We've talked about the Medina Division in the Karbala area. That medina division has moved to the west over by Karbala. The Hammurabi that was northwest of Baghdad has moved down on line with the Medina Division. The Adnan (ph) Division that was up here has moved northwest of Baghdad. This was the one in Tikrit by Saddam's ancestral home.
And then the Nebakaneesar (ph), which was up in the Mosul area has moved down to enforce behind the Medina. And the Baghdad and Al- Nida Divisions have stayed in place. What you see is a lining up of armor and infantry divisions in three lanes, pretty well lined up with the Marines, the 3rd Infantry Division, and the 101st. A logical battle is developing here, Lou. Don't know if that's how it will all come out, but all of those divisions as they move and get in place are being hammered by Coalition air power from all the services.
DOBBS: The three -- if we can go back to the map just for a second, general, if you don't mind. If we could take a look at the map again just to explain again, the Xs across the red emblems you have there designate infantry. I can't see if there's also a circle on them.
SHEPPERD: Yes, there's a circle down here. These three, there are six Republican Guard Divisions the key. They are the circles. And those are the armored divisions. The three crossed rifles are infantry divisions. And there's one mechanized infantry division, and that is the Adnan Division that's been up here at Tikrit. That's this one right here. These are pretty good fighting forces. And they're being worked over by air power big-time, Lou. You're going to see this battle developing over the next few days and perhaps couple of weeks.
DOBBS: OK. General, if we may, ask you to stay with us as we continue to watch the night skies, the skyline over Baghdad. General Don Shepperd, guiding us through this. Thank you very much, General.
Coming up next here, we'll be joined by Ryan Chilcote. Our correspondent who is with the 101st Airborne as that unit faces its first ground battle of this war.
Then the Coalition may be closer to making the connection between Iraq and the al Qaeda. Kitty Pilgrim will have the report.
They code-named this operation James, after James Bond. But there was nothing make believe about it. This was real and raw and brutal power.
DOBBS: The battle for basra has been one of the most intense in this war. Bill Neely will report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division today seized an air field on the outskirts of Najaf without a fight. I should point out we're looking at live pictures here of the skies of -- over Baghdad. The skyline of Baghdad where there have been, again, more strikes over the course of the past half hour. We'll continue to monitor the skyline.
Two of the 101st Brigade, as I was saying, trying now to isolate that city from the rest of Iraq. Ryan Chilcote is with the 101st Airborne and has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A busy day for the 101st Airborne. Elements of the 101st Airborne's 1st Brigade, also known as the Bastone (ph) Brigade, have gotten into the division's first fight moving forces into the outskirts of the city of an Najaf, a city in central Iraq dear to Shia Muslims.
Now the 1st Brigade's 3rd Battalion took the air field where I am right now earlier in the day, they took it without a fight and they took it without casualties. It is very important, the strip here two miles long to now facilitate U.S. helicopters. And it could also facilitate U.S. military transport planes.
Military commanders already talking about how they would like to use this airstrip to move humanitarian aid into the city of Najaf. Now Najaf has been a problem for U.S. forces. There was a car bombing here just a few days ago that killed four U.S. servicemen. In general this is a place that the military regards as a safe haven for Fedayeen fighters. Fedayeen fighters being the paramilitary group is that very loyal to President Saddam Hussein. They say they've come to this area to now safeguard it for U.S. forces.
Ryan Chilcote, CNN, in Najaf, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Only days after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused the Syrian government of helping the Iraqi military, and the Syrians have officially chosen sides in this conflict. Wolf Blitzer is standing by in Kuwait City and has the story. Wolf, this is quite a remarkable development.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: As you remember, Lou, the other day Donald Rumsfeld did basically accuse the Syrians of allowing military equipment to go across their border into Iraq, specifically night vision goggles, military related equipment. The Syrians denied it.
Yesterday the Secretary of State Colin Powell also warned the Syrians not to allow any assistance to go forward to the Iraqis, also warned Syrian support for terrorism. Syrians are responding very angrily and they're insisting that they -- their loyalties right now, they're completely siding with what they call the people of Iraq against the aggression of the United States and British forces. So the relationship, ironically, between the United States and Syria, which had seemed to have improved after 9/11 somewhat given the Syrians support supposedly for the U.S. war on terrorism, now is clearly going the other way. There's some serious strains in the relationship.
Serious strains, by the way, between the U.S. and another neighbor of Iraq as well, namely Iran, after the Defense Secretary accused the Iranians of perhaps supporting Shiites, encouraging Shiites inside Iraq to go after the U.S. troops.
So there's a dual-prong diplomatic problem that Bush administration is facing with both Syria and Iran.
DOBBS: This looks like it has the potential, Wolf, of becoming far more than a diplomatic problem with Syria where thought has clearly, publicly chosen sides. What are your thoughts?
BLITZER: I think you're right. I think there is a great potential there unless people step back. There's no doubt there are a lot of senior officials in the Bush administration who believe the Syrians are actively supporting terrorism, harboring terrorists. They're referring specifically to Hezbollah inside Syria, inside Lebanon, areas of Lebanon that Syrians control and they don't like that and they're looking for way to get the Syrians to stop that.
Certainly if the Syrians take steps to help the Iraqis, more active steps, that could seriously deteriorate the relationship and cause even wider problems for the U.S. in this part of the world.
DOBBS: A serious and significant potential flash point. Wolf, thank you very much, Wolf Blitzer from Kuwait City.
New evidence tonight of a link between al Qaeda and Iraq. The camp of the radical Islamist group Ansar Al Islam was taken by coalition forces who are examining the site for new intelligence. Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stronghold of Ansar Al Islam in northern Iraq is rubble, being combed for more information. The complex was called a poison factory in Secretary of State Colin Powell's testimony to the United Nations Security Council in February. It will take up to a week to sort through the rubble of underground tunnels of the complex.
MCCHRYSTAL: We have a significant size force there. We actually believe we destroyed a significant force and portion of the Ansar Islam force there and they're doing the exploration as we speak.
QUESTION: Any results whatsoever?
MCCHRYSTAL: There are no results yet.
PILGRIM: General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the site could be linked to the deadly poison ricin found earlier this year in London.
Intelligence sources say the area was a back-up base for al Qaeda fighters after they were driven out of Afghanistan, passing through Iran. Like Afghanistan's Tora Bora, this base is in a mountainous in region in the Kurdish-held area on the border of Iraq and Iran.
One of Osama bin Laden's collaborator's, Abu Massab al-Zarqawi, had links to the group, and say some it's possible so did Saddam Hussein.
JONATHAN SCHANZER, WASH. INST. FOR NEAR EAST POL.: I would say it's the potential link. It's a possible link. There are indications that Saddam has links to this group and there are indications that al Qaeda has links to this group. So when you put those two pieces together, you have potentially the sort of smoking gun everybody's been looking for.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: General Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs said that laptops computers and documents were found at the camp. But experts cautioned that seven weeks passed between Secretary of State Colin Powell's testimony and the military action. And material could easily have been moved during that time -- Lou.
DOBBS: A great deal could have happened in that time. Kitty, thank you very much.
Coming up next, coalition forces set up an air base inside Iraq. Harris Whitbeck will report on the aircraft base there and their mission.
Then the story of reinforcements. Barbara Starr on the 4th Infantry Division as its troops arrive in Kuwait. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: British paratroopers today destroyed 25 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles in a fierce battle in southern Iraq. British marines earlier supported by tanks and artillery fought their way into a suburb of Basra and took hundreds of Iraqis prisoner in. Bill Neely of ITN was with them and has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL NEELY, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was a battle in which the marines had a high-tech advantage and you're looking through it. They moved forward in pitchblack using night vision equipment. The Iraqis they were heading for had none. So when they opened fire, they had sight and surprise on their side.
And they had fire power too. More than 700 marines here with artillery behind, their attack was withering.
Flairs lit up the night sky to guide more marines, machines and munitions in. This was the biggest marine assault since the night of the invasion backed up by more than a dozen tanks.
They code named this Operation James, after James Bond. But there was nothing make believe about it. This was real and raw and brutal power.
And the Iraqis suffered, outnumbered, outgunned, the body count rising.
By dawn the back of the Iraqi resistance had been broken, but there was no break in the firing.
MAJ. JUSTIN HOLT, BRITISH ROYAL MARINES: We've had three tanks supporting us. They took out several pieces of armor, including enemy main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers. We've also moved through, taken out several armed militia. So they're dispersing now, and we've got infantry, of course, on the ground, they're moving through to clear them.
NEELY: First light gave many Iraqis the chance they wanted to give up, among them two senior army officers. The marines say these were the first of 200 Iraqis taken prisoner.
By mid-morning their target, Abu al Qasib (ph), had been taken too. The Iraqis had positioned tanks throughout the village, but they dug them in. So when the marines attacked, they couldn't move. They were picked off one by one.
The village air thick with the heavy smoke of defeat. The tank crews dead. Then from the date palms around the village, more men emerged. They wore no uniform. They were snipers, experts in the ambush and the trap. But they'd been trapped, and their war is over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plan was to cross the line of departure here and to punch forward with a troop of tanks. That has been successful. They've destroyed a number of bridge -- bridge equipment, pieces, a number of tanks and APCs. They've pushed all the way forward on this axis, which is scarlet, and have taken up a strong defensive position on this junction.
NEELY: Many Iraqis in the south want to see Saddam Hussein defeated. But they're not greeting the foreign attackers with roses, just bewildered stares.
(on camera): One aim of this attack is to squeeze Iraq's second city, Basra, even more, in the hope that it explodes from the inside in a popular uprising.
But there's no sign of that so far. So these marines are now preparing to take the city the hard way.
Bill Neely, ITV News, with the Royal Marines in southern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: President Bush today said coalition forces are moving closer to victory. The president said the coalition is bringing a mighty force to Iraq to end Saddam Hussein's oppression.
Senior White House correspondent John King has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three times in less than a minute he noted it was just day 11 of the ground assault in Iraq, the president's way of rebutting all the second-guessing.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many dangers lie ahead. But day by day we are moving closer to Baghdad. Day by day we are moving closer to victory.
KING: Most scenes from the battlefield are tense, not nearly as many warm welcomes for coalition troops as some top Bush advisors had predicted before the war. But Mr. Bush says repression, not resentment, is the reason.
BUSH: Iraqis who show friendship toward coalition troops are murdered in cold blood by the regime's enforcers. It is understandable that fear and distrust run deep.
KING: This visit to the port of Philadelphia was to salute the Coast Guard for its modest role in Operation Iraqi Freedom and its much larger role in the war on terrorism here at home. Mr. Bush made the case it is all one fight.
BUSH: The dying regime in Iraq may try to bring terror to our shores. Other parts of the global terror network may view this as a moment to strike, thinking that we're distracted. They're wrong.
KING: Senior aides describe the president as confident the war is on course. And as someone with little patience for what he considers to be premature criticism of the strategy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Brushing aside the critics, the president described the war effort as decisive, and he says the troops so far are performing brilliantly.
Mr. Bush said if the Iraqi people have any doubt that the days of Saddam Hussein and his regime are numbered, those doubts will soon be erased -- Lou.
DOBBS: John, thank you. John King, senior White House correspondent.
Coming up, we'll have a special report for you from an air base in the Iraqi desert on the coalition's build-up there.
But first, these are the stories making news at this hour.
Coalition bombers continue to carry out an intense air raid in Baghdad tonight. Waves of B-1, B-2, B-52 bombers have been pounding Republican Guard and other government targets.
This is the first time in military history that all three bombers were used to strike targets simultaneously in the same area.
A landslide buried hundreds of homes in Bolivia today. Heavy rains sent tons of mud sliding on the northern mining town of Chuma. As many as 400 homes are buried. More than 700 people are missing.
The Air Force today launched its latest global positioning system satellite aboard a Delta rocket. The Navistar satellite will help guide the smart bombs being used in the war against Saddam Hussein. Usually, these satellites begin transmitting information in 60 days, but the Air Force wants this one up and running in less than two weeks.
On Wall Street today stocks down for a fourth straight session. The Dow Jones Industrials down 153 points. The Nasdaq down 28.
Today is officially the first day of the baseball season. Former President George Bush filled in for his son, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cincinnati Reds home opener. The current president had been invited to do the honors, but that was before more pressing matters took his attention.
Coalition forces are building up their strength at an air base in southeast Iraq. Those bases house A-10 Warthog ground attack planes and combat search and rescue helicopters. And Harris Whitbeck will have that report for us, coming up next.
U.S. troops in Iraq will soon be joined by thousands of follow-on forces. Barbara Starr will have that report for us.
And also, British troops have uncovered a large cache of weapons and ammunition as they fight to secure more of the city of Basra. We'll have a report from the battleground of southern Iraq.
And two well-known journalists are in trouble in Iraq after making themselves the story.
That and more still ahead, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Harris Whitbeck is at a base in southern Iraq, which is the base for the famous A-10 Warthog attack aircraft and more and this is the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIEID FEMALE: Puke bags. Please do not puke on the floor.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Preflight announcements, military style. On this C-130 cargo plane U.S. troops are on their way to a recently secured air base in southern Iraq.
The flight is bumpy. These planes fly at about 300 feet above the ground, gaining speed to avoid getting shot down.
At the destination, in the deep darkness of the Iraqi night, supplies are quickly unloaded for the base's newest occupants.
Daytime, a few hours later, brings the setting into perspective, a huge air base considered by U.S. forces to be one of the most important military facilities in Iraq.
Sitting under the shadow of an ancient ziggurat, said to be one of the oldest structures on earth, it now houses some of the players in earth's most recent war, among them members of the Air Force's 332nd Expeditionary Search and Rescue Squad, the legendary Jolly Greens. They are now closer to the front lines, on permanent standby to rescue comrades in trouble.
Early Monday morning, a call for help comes in, two survivors on the ground somewhere in Iraq. How they got there is unclear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're a lot closer.
WHITBECK: The Jolly Greens determine another team can get to them more quickly.
But the state of readiness is constant. Pilots check out their helicopters and wait.
(on camera): The pilots say boredom is a good thing. If they're having a slow day, it means the troops they look after are having a good one.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, in southeastern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Members of the Army's storied 4th Infantry Division are now arriving in Kuwait, and they are preparing to enter Iraq. They'll make up a large part of the Pentagon's follow-on force in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Barbara Starr reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seventy- thousand additional combat troops are now beginning to arrive in the region. The Pentagon says it was always part of the war plan. But as the war may now go longer than first expected, the additional firepower is vital.
MCCHRYSTAL: It will be exactly based upon what's required on the ground. If in fact they're required to maneuver and be part of the combat fight, that's what they'll do.
STARR: Already arriving, 20,000 troops of the 4th Infantry Division. After weeks of waiting off shore Turkey for permission to land and open a northern front, 30 ships full of the division's tanks, vehicles, and artillery are in Kuwait. Troops now arriving on site, and they will be moving into Iraq for possible combat.
Additional so-called follow-on forces also are being sent, all part of the plan, though quick victory might have kept them home. General Tommy Franks says there is no last-minute reinforcement.
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER, CENTRAL COMMAND: You see, one says begin here and then ask for more if necessary. The other course says begin to flow this amount of force and we'll stop it when it's no longer necessary. We're in the case of the latter, rather than being in the case of the former.
STARR: The 1st Cavalry Division sending 17,000 troops, one of the Army's premier heavy armored divisions. Hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery guns, and Apache helicopters will be able to move quickly on the battlefield to where they are needed.
The 1st Armored Division, another 17,000 troops. Also providing tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, artillery, and helicopters.
The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment: 5,200 troops, tanks, and Bradley fighting vehicles.
And the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, with 3,500 troops, mainly equipped with armored Humvees for reconnaissance patrols and security checkpoints.
(on camera): The troops and the weapons will be in place within the next two months. If the war is over by then, they will become peacekeepers. If not they will fight the final battles.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: These live pictures of the night sky over Baghdad, which has been hit by more bombardment, now 13 straight nights of bombardment. We'll continue to watch the skyline of Baghdad this evening.
And next I'll be talking with CNN military analyst General Don Shepperd about the air campaign and its likely direction.
Psychological warfare on the front lines: CNN goes inside a special forces operation in one of the key battles of this war.
The Pentagon says the Iraqi fighters in Basra are the worst of the worst. We'll have a report from Richard Gaisford, with the British troops in the battle for Basra. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A British military official says Iraqi paramilitary forces in Basra are firing mortars indiscriminately. British forces have uncovered a huge cache of Iraqi weapons and ammunition in Operation James, as that set of forces moves in on Iraq's second largest city. Richard Gaisford of ITN is with British forces outside Basra and has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD GAISFORD, ITN NEWS (voice-over): Chloe Plimmer and her colleagues have just made an important discovery. Whilst on patrol, securing the outskirts of Basra, they've uncovered a large ammunition dump.
Inside these run-down buildings a mile away from the city, enough shells to supply a squadron of tanks and countless artillery guns. The boxes say it comes from Jordan. It's thought the significant cache was moved here recently and was most likely horded by the Iraqi regime before the last Gulf War.
(on camera): Well, this might have been a chance discovery, but it really is a lucky break for the Desert Rats. This is nearly 1,000 rounds of tank ammunition that now won't be fired at them.
(voice-over): This is the type of work Chloe loves. Right at the heart of the action.
LT. CHLOE PLIMMER, BRITISH ROYAL ENGINEERS: It really is a fantastic job. You've got so much different things to do with, you know, demolitions, bridge building, everything. It's just fantastic. I love it.
GAISFORD: In a compound close to the main bridge into Basra, the Desert Rats are preparing a base that puts them within a mile of the city.
Whilst engineers clear away rubble, a steady stream of prisoners of war are processed. Many have handed themselves in, afraid of fighting.
Those Iraqi army units still left in the city have been targeting the compound with mortar fire at nights. In an attempt to remove anything that helps them, it's decided to blow up the lighting towers they've been aiming at.
Preparations for entering Basra continue. Here, Royal Engineers use an armored bridge layer to allow vehicles to easily cross a fractured oil pipe. It's essential frontline work.
CAPT. TONY FARRELL, BRITISH ROYAL ENGINEERS: We'll be following the tanks along as they come to an obstacle we'd move forward, cross the obstacle, recover the bridge if necessary, and then move on with them.
GAIFROD: And the engineers' powerful tanks have another important role -- disabling enemy vehicles.
This armored personnel carrier wouldn't go gracefully, though, attempts to tip it on its roof failing at first. But after a trench was dug, it eventually succumbed. And this won't be used again in the Iraqis' fight against coalition forces.
Richard Gaisford on the outskirts of Basra.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: Well, joining me again, CNN military analyst General Don Shepperd.
General, turning again to these continuing attacks on Baghdad, we've talked about the difficulty of hitting the television stations, that communication network.
Is there anything he at all that the coalition can do to knock Iraqi television off the air?
SHEPPERD: Well, they're going to keep trying to hit it as it's moved, Lou, and they're going try to keep hitting the mobile.
But more important, just than the television, which is an important target, is the leadership targets as they move around the country and emerge and go into bunkers. It's very important that the coalition be able to prevent the leadership from controlling their military. That's even more important than the television, Lou.
They'll keep after the television, however.
DOBBS: The air attacks in the north, which occasionally we don't focus on quite as much as we do the other operations through central and southern Iraq, how are those operations going?
SHEPPERD: Yes, I'm going to put a blast up here on the Mosul area, and basically what's happening is air power is being deployed against the front line Iraqi troops in the Mosul area.
Now, the Nebuchadnezzar Division used to be deployed up in this area against the Kurds. The Nebuchadnezzar has been moved down to back up the Hammurabi Division in the vicinity of Baghdad.
There are a few battalions still up here and then some of the regular Iraqi army. But they're being pounded with air power up here.
The Kurds, meanwhile, have 70,000. The 173rd Airborne is being -- is being increased. Their strength and more equipment flown in. So lots going on up here but no major fighting yet. It looks like many of the troops have withdrawn down toward Baghdad, Lou.
DOBBS: Don, I want to also point out to our audience, just bring you up to date, a missile has been fired again at Kuwait by the Iraqis. And this is a live picture of Kuwait City.
That missile was intercepted by a Patriot battery. And there was no damage at all as a result of the firing of that Iraqi missile at Kuwait City. And another score for the Patriot missile battery.
General, going back to our discussion earlier about the Republican Guard and the desire, obviously, to weaken it as much as it possibly can be, now, as you've demonstrated, six divisions ringing Baghdad.
Is there a tipping point here? Is there some particular point at which General Tommy Franks will take a look at what has been achieved and say, this is the time, and is there any way in which to make that judgment?
SHEPPERD: Well, interesting point, Lou. We had hoped on the coalition side for numerous defections in the south. It has not happened for a couple of reasons.
One, the Fedayeen Saddam down there with the guns to the backs of the people's head and the army's head, encouraging them to fight and killing them if they don't.
The other is that the Shiah down there are being very, very cautious because before, when they rose up, they did not receive support from the United States and they got hammered big-time.
So I think you will see, as the coalition forces gain control of that area, more defections, more surrenders. But the tipping point that you're looking for is a massive, a massive falling apart. That has not happened yet. And General Franks will be trying to cause that to happen, I believe, by his attacks on the Republican Guard forces arrayed in the vicinity of Baghdad.
That takes me back to 1975 and the collapse of South Vietnam, which we had Vietnamization going on. And we really had some pretty good Vietnamese divisions that had done some pretty good work in the field, but as they began to get defeated all of a sudden there was a massive collapse and the whole thing fell apart in two or three days.
DOBBS: General Don Shepperd, thank you.
SHEPPERD: Pleasure.
DOBBS: Coming up next, two television networks have lost their most prominent faces in Iraq following controversial conduct. Peter Viles will have a special report.
Also, the masthead of one of the country's most read newspapers has a drastically different take on the war than just a week ago. That and more still ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: "The New York Times" is not only one of the country's most respected publications, it is also one of the most scrutinized. And the "New York Times" seems to be changing the tone of its headlines on the war.
Last week "New York Times" headlines were quite negative about the progress of the war. In fact, stating "G.I.s regroup after setback," "allies adapt to setbacks."
But at the end of the week the headlines had become somewhat more positive. The "Times" declared "the White House says the war is on track" and "infantry attacks, armor advancing."
The Center for Media Studies notes the "Times" headlines have gone through several changes. from very positive early on in this war to quite negative last week to more balanced. Mind you, this war has only been going on 13 days, the land war only 11.
"The New York Times" says their headlines reflect the news the best we can learn and report it.
Two high-profile war correspondents found themselves at the center of controversy today.
Peter Arnett, covering the war for MSNBC and National Geographic was fired by both organizations. Geraldo Rivera, the Fox News correspondent, angered military commanders by drawing a battle map in the sand.
Peter Viles has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Until this weekend Peter Arnett was one of a handful of correspondents reporting from inside Baghdad. Then he went on Iraqi TV and said this:
PETER ARNETT, FORMER MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: It is clear that within the United States there's growing challenge to President Bush about the conduct of the war. And the first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they're trying to write another war plan.
VILES: After initially supporting Arnette, this morning NBC News, MSNBC, and National Geographic decided to fire him.
NBC saying it was, quote, "wrong for Mr. Arnette to grant an interview to state controlled Iraqi TV and wrong for him to discuss his personal observations and opinions."
Arnett apologized this morning to American TV viewers on NBC's "Today Show."
ARNETT: My stupid misjudgment was to spend 15 minutes in an impromptu interview with Iraqi television. That has been received with anger, surprise, and clearly, you know, unhappily in the United States. And for that I'm sorry.
I'm an American. Been an American for 25 years. And I apologize again.
VILES: Controversy, as well, for Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera. And it came when he drew this map in the sand while traveling with the 101st Airborne.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Let me draw it. This is Kuwait. That is where all... VILES: Rivera continued to draw, charting various troop positions, angering allied commanders, prompting this statement from Centcom, quote, "Mr. Rivera has been asked to leave his present embed for violating the media ground rules. He will be escorted back to Kuwait at the earliest possible time for the unit."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VILES: Now, Rivera did come back on the air later to deny that he was being expelled, and Fox initially backed him up on that. Tonight Fox says it is discussing this issue with the Pentagon -- Lou.
DOBBS: Well, is he embedded? Is he dis-embedded? What's the deal?
VILES: He never was embedded, and that's part of the sort of nuance here. He was -- they did use that word, but he is not embedded, as Peter Arnett was not embedded.
So there's no group that he's traveling with officially in the auspices of the military that they could kick him out of. But they could bring him back to the border.
DOBBS: Fascinating story. In the case of Peter Arnett, with whom I've worked, a sad story for him, his second brush with controversy. The first springing, of course, from the 1991 Gulf War.
Peter Viles, thank you, sir.
Coming up next, Mike Boettcher will report on the coalition's psychological battle being waged against Iraqi forces. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Psy-ops, one of the important weapons in the conflict against Saddam Hussein. Mike Boettcher has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the sun sets over Basra and the temperature cools, the war heats up. Or does it?
U.S. special operations forces consider themselves a force multiplier. And tonight they will literally be.
Their strategy: add one special operations Humvee with a loud speaker mounted on top to one British tank and four armored vehicles, and suddenly this tiny force sounds like an invading division. It is called psychological operations, or psy-ops, part of the U.S. special forces repertoire.
Their speaker blares the music of disinformation and confusion, broadcast at ear-splitting decibels. The audiotape of recorded tank sounds plays for more than an hour, a show meant for the ears of Iraqi forces in Basra a short distance away. Adding to the realism, flares are fired to illuminate Iraqi positions. And British tanks fire occasional rounds at Iraqi targets.
The man orchestrating the racket, a 50-year-old special operations veteran who calls this war his last rodeo, turns the speaker in several directions to add to the illusion of a massive frontal attack.
Occasionally, Iraqi combatants fire back with mortars, machine guns, and artillery. The coalition hopes this grand deception will force the Iraqis to move troops where they don't need to be moved, make them look where they don't need to look.
Around Basra, the battlefield has become a true twilight zone. Where fact and fiction are indistinguishable and the inky blackness of a moonless night.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, with U.S. Special Operations Forces on the outskirts of Basra.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOBBS: I'm Lou Dobbs in New York. Paula Zahn and Wolf Blitzer are coming up next. They'll be followed by Larry King.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Baghdad Cut in Half by Coalition Bombing, Flexibility Key to Success of War Plan>
|
