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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Baghdad Simply Can't Escape Bombing Campaign from Coalition Forces

Aired March 31, 2003 - 17:00   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.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Unprecedented aerial attacks. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bombard Iraqi troops near Baghdad.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is called psychological operation.

BLITZER: How special forces are fooling their enemies.

And Saddam and sons. Is this reality TV?

All this on day 12 of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from Kuwait City. With correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's 1 a.m. in Baghdad and it's happened once again. The city simply can't escape the bombing campaign from coalition forces. Here in Kuwait, a much calmer scene. But people who live here no danger is just across the border.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight live from Kuwait City. And topping our headlines from the Persian Gulf, punishing bombings on Baghdad. Among the latest targets, a presidential palace near Saddam International Airport.

But the human targets at the top of the Iraqi regime may still be elusive. The latest videotape on Iraqi television shows Saddam Hussein and his sons. No word when that videotape was actually made. So what is the state of Iraqi leadership? We'll try to find out. Get a little insight this hour.

There is word just coming in right now to CNN about an incident at a U.S. military checkpoint near Najaf. That's in southern Iraq.

According to U.S. central command, U.S. soldiers fired into a van carrying 13 women and children when the vehicle refused to stop at a checkpoint. Seven people were killed, two others wounded. The central command says soldiers from the 3rd Infantry signaled the vehicle to stop, but it continued forward. The soldiers fired warning shots into the air. Central command is saying that then they fired into the vehicle's engine when it failed to respond to the warning shots. The soldiers then fired into the passenger compartment.

Centcom says the incident is now under investigation. We'll have more on this disturbing incident in just a few moments.

First, let's go to CNN's Heidi Collins in the CNN newsroom.

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: Let's immediately go to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, for more on this disturbing incident just outside Najaf.

Jamie what are you hearing?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, we really don't know much more about it except the U.S. military's version of events.

They insist that the soldiers involved in this from the 3rd Infantry Division were acting within the rules of engagement to protect themselves, especially in light of the recent terrorist attacks by Iraqi regime, and specifically a car bomb not far from this location.

They insist that they made every attempt to stop this vehicle as it approached this checkpoint, that they waved it, they motioned for it to stop. They say that they then fired into the engine to try to stop the vehicle and only finally in the end when it wouldn't stop fired into the passenger compartment.

Unfortunately, when they got to the vehicle they discovered 13 women and children. According to the U.S. central command, seven people were killed. Two more were injured and four apparently escaped injury in that incident.

Now obviously, this is not something that the United States military likes to see when they've had what appears to be innocent women and children killed by U.S. military personnel. A full investigation, they say, will be conducted. But at this point they insist that this was an unfortunate tragedy and partly because of the terrorist threat against U.S. Troops -- Wolf.

BLITZER: But Jamie, before I let you go, the rules of engagement in a situation like this, right after an earlier suicide bombing killed four soldiers in a similar kind of circumstance, in the same area outside of Najaf, the rules of engagement, if the car doesn't stop and keeps moving toward you, what are they supposed to do?

MCINTYRE: Well, that's just it. They're supposed to try to stop the car some distance away and make the people get out, and they are authorized to use force in these kinds of situations.

It's a judgment call that is made under the heat of pressure. And it's not -- we don't know what happened here. We don't know if there was a language problem, a misunderstanding, if the people were being forced to do this, if someone in the car was forcing them to drive this way. There are just so many unknowns.

But it does appear to be a tragic outcome, when you have seven of 13 women and children, seven dead and four injured. That's not the way the U.S. military would like this to turn out.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks very much. We'll continue to follow that story, a sad story.

Let's move to those huge explosions tonight in Baghdad. Witnesses say targets included a presidential compound used by a son of Saddam Hussein.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, spent the early days of the war inside the Iraqi capital. He's now in Ruwayshid in Jordan. That's right near the Iraqi border.

What happened today, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, sources I talked to a little over an hour ago said that they could feel the detonations of some of those explosions, that they believed that at least a couple of the explosions this evening had gone off in a presidential compound. It's not clear to them exactly where it is at this time.

There was also an unconfirmed rumor that President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday Saddam Hussein, the Olympic committee that he runs, that building also being hit. But that is at this time unconfirmed.

We've also seen on Iraqi television today for first time Uday Saddam Hussein appearing with his father and with his younger brother, Qusay.

Now, Uday Saddam Hussein is in charge of the Fedayeen forces who we've heard much about, bolstering the resistance in the south of Iraq to coalition forces. Uday -- Qusay Saddam Hussein, in charge of the center of Iraq, the military defense of the center of Iraq, and also responsible for the Republican Guard forces, who we understand are taking a severe pounding from coalition forces just south of Baghdad.

Also today, Iraqi officials not taking any journalists to see any of the military facilities destroyed but did take them to a -- to a residential area of Baghdad where there was some destruction. According to Iraqi officials, there were four people killed, seven injured. Journalists also allowed to go to a funeral of people inside Baghdad. Those figures cannot be independently confirmed. But that is what Iraqi officials are giving journalists access to this day in Baghdad. Also we've heard from Iraq's foreign minister, the first time we've heard him speaking out inside Baghdad. Naji Sabri praising Arab resistance outside of Iraq, Arab support on the streets for what's going on inside Iraq.

And however, condemning governments that would either support the coalition or not even listening to their people, saying that they would pay for it in the future -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic, very quickly, that Palestine hotel in Baghdad, where you and all of our CNN journalists stayed, international journalists who are still there said today the whole hotel basically shook as a result of one U.S. bombing. What does that say? How close is that bombing to that Palestine hotel?

ROBERTSON: It could be very close indeed. According to reports, it could be about half a mile away. I talked to somebody inside that hotel a little bit after we heard that the -- that a munition had landed near the Palestine hotel. They told me the hotel had not been hit.

But we do know very close to that particular hotel there are a number of interior ministry locations, a number of intelligence locations, quite close to that hotel. They may very well have been the target -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson, monitoring the situation for us along the border with Iraq. Thanks, Nic, very much.

The battle for Baghdad is being waged for now in the air. For a closer look at that presidential compound that was targeted, let's go live to the CNN newsroom. Renay San Miguel is standing by -- Renay.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Abu Ghraib (ph) presidential palace is believed to be a command and control facility in the eyes of the -- of central command. That's why it was targeted. Apparently a way for the regime to talk to some of its military units out in the field.

This is satellite imagery from Earthviewer.com and DigitalGlobe.com, central Baghdad, the Tigris River running through there. Now we move south and west through this city of 254 square miles, 4.5 million people. The Abu Ghraib (ph) palace is right next to Saddam International Airport. There you see the airport right there.

This is that we're talking about right here. And we're going get a closer look now of the -- of the palace. You notice all the water around there. The government of Iraq, according to State Department briefings two years ago is claiming an extensive crop damage because of a drought. But look at all the water around here. Doesn't hesitate to use scarce water resources in the words of the State Department, to ensure that the lakes of Saddam's palaces are filled and grounds well cared for.

This is what we're talking about right here. Not just a command and control facility in the eyes of central command, it's also believed -- it has been believed to be for quite some time to be a suspected biological weapons hidings place. There is also that infamous baby milk factory that the coalition bombed back in 1991, said to be a place where they were making biological weapons. The regime at that time said it was making baby formula.

That's on the Abu Ghraib (ph) presidential palace. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Renay San Miguel in the CNN newsroom.

Here's some of the damage in Baghdad that Arab broadcasters are showing today. Al Jazeera says a cruise missile destroyed five homes in the low income Al-Amin neighborhood, killing four children.

Abu Dhabi Television showed these images. At this point, we have no way of verifying what caused any of the damage that you're seeing.

A largely badly damaged -- a large, badly damaged building in the southern port of the city -- part of the city was shown on the Al Arabia TV network. U.S. central command says it hit an intelligence complex in the area, believed to be the Fedayeen's operational headquarters.

Meanwhile, Iraqi television showed a Baghdad street scene that appears to capture business as usual, with shops open and people very much out and about.

U.S. officials say the air war is targeting the Republican Guard and its Fedayeen Saddam paramilitary forces. We have two correspondents watching the air for us, CNN's Bob Franken and CNN's Harris Whitbeck.

Let's start with Bob. Bob, you're at an air base not far from the Iraqi border.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it is an air base that is a constant scene of activity. This time of night, the last couple of nights there has been a never-ending flow of planes leaving, coming back. The number of flights throughout the entire war theater is now up to 2,000 for a 24-hour period. That's almost double what the average had been.

And we're seeing, of course, the results in the various television images that you just saw and also on the battlefield. Many of the planes that are leaving from this particular air base are the famous A-10 plane, which are designed to go after ground forces and they are concentrating, as you pointed out, on the Republican Guard units that are around Baghdad and throughout the country as the battle seems to be reaching one of its destinations, and that is the battle with the Republican Guard.

Now, it's going to get more and more intense. The planes come in, they go to maintenance line, they're turned around and they'll fly two, three, four missions a night. One of the things that we've heard from some of the people who are involved in the maintenance and the preparation of the aircraft, they're getting tired. And it's no surprise because their work has been going on and on. They're getting tired, but what they face is even more work, Wolf, as the air war clearly is intensifying. The war against Iraq seems to be taking the direction upward as the planes are now becoming much more an integral part of the battle -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Clearly they're going to rely on air power to supposedly soften up the Republican Guard ,and if you believe the Pentagon, that's precisely what they are doing.

Bob Franken, thanks very much.

Let's move now to southeastern Iraq. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is standing by, he's been covering a visit to a secret air base -- Harris.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Wolf, this base is operating under blackout conditions, but it's been anything but quiet. Airplanes and helicopters have been taking off and landing here throughout the night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITBECK (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 southeastern 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 a nation's ziggurat, said to be one of the nation's oldest structures on earth, it now houses some of the players in the earth's most recent war.

Among them, members of the Air Forces 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. 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Those rescue pilots say boredom is a good thing. If they're having a slow day it means the troops they're committed to protect are having a good one -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Harris Whitbeck at a base in Iraq. Thanks very much, Harris.

It's been another day of explosions, as we all know by now, in Baghdad. And the battles across the rest of the country are raging. Let's take a close look at the battle lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): In central and southern Iraq, the battle lines shift as the allies fight to position themselves for an assault on Baghdad.

South of the capital, CNN's Walter Rodgers, with the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry, says Iraqi Republican Guard units are holed up at Al Hila (ph) and another nearby city, and appear to be baiting U.S. forces to enter those towns and fight.

Rodgers reports the 3rd Infantry is regularly calling in air support against nearby Republican Guard.

In Baghdad, and the surrounding area, intense air strikes on key government sites, including the palace and the information ministry.

In the south, U.S. and British forces battle their way through Najaf, Nasiriyah, and Samawah, where U.S. officials say about 100 members of what they described as a terrorist squad were captured and 50 Iraqi soldiers were taken prisoner.

Just north of Nasiriyah, U.S. Marines stage early morning raids looking for Ali Hassan al Majid, known as chemical Ali, Saddam Hussein's cousin, accused of killing Kurds with chemical weapons 15 years ago. He commands Iraqi forces in the south.

CNN is told Chemical Ali has been spotted but not yet been caught.

In Basra, British forces claim control of the western part of the city, saying they've captured five senior Iraqi paramilitaries. But also say Iraqi militias are firing mortar rounds indiscriminately in the city. British commanders still optimistic that Basra will be theirs.

COL. CHRIS VERNON, BRITISH ARMY SPOKESMAN: We're targeting the Ba'ath Party regime in Basra particularly and Al Zubayr, as well. And we're targeting the militia who they are controlling.

BLITZER: In the north, just east of Mosul, Iraqi troops entrenched on a ridge line near the town of Kalak struck by precision bombs from two U.S. F-14 Tomcats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Intense battle fronts all over Iraq. We'll take you there with our embedded reporters just from the south of Baghdad to the north, where Iraqi forces face yet more allied missiles and bombs.

And newly released pictures of Saddam Hussein. What U.S. intelligence thinks of this latest transmission.

And why some big name reporters covering this war are now in big trouble.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad, where it is relatively quiet right now. But it wasn't just a little while ago. And at any moment, (AUDIO GAP) the wrath of coalition air power once again. We will break into our news cast, should that happen.

The ground war continues on multiple fronts and we have three reports. We begin on the road to Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Walter Rodgers with the U.S. 7th Cavalry, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.

Throughout the day and as darkness falls on the desert, there has been the comforting roar of U.S. Navy carrier jets and U.S. Air Force jets above the 7th Cavalry here in the Iraqi Desert. That is a comforting roar, of course, because they're supplying what is called CAS, close air support for the U.S. Army forces on the ground.

A short while ago, two Navy carrier jets, F-18 Hornets, smashed an Iraqi artillery position. And even though darkness falls, those carrier jets and the Air Force jets will be flying protective cover for the army forces on the ground here in the desert, throughout the evening, should the Iraqi artillery open up on the 7th Cavalry or should the Iraqi artillery try to move forward and take the position that the 7th Cavalry now has.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 1st Brigade, also known as the Baston Brigade (ph), has moved into the outskirts of An Najaf, the 1st Brigade, 3rd Battalion taking this air field on the outskirts, a very important capture. The air fields here, two -- almost two miles long, can now facilitate U.S. helicopters and military transport planes.

Military commanders already talking about how they would like to move humanitarian aid into the city of Najaf itself from this air field.

Now the city of Najaf has, of course, been a bit of a problem for U.S. forces. There was, just a couple of days ago, a car bombing, a suicide bombing here that killed four U.S. servicemen.

And it is that exact reason why U.S. troops have come into the outskirts of the city. They say that this -- the city has become a safe haven for Fedayeen, or the irregular fighters, very loyal to president Saddam Hussein and they say that they are now prepared to safeguard it.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN with the 101st Airborne in Najaf.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Kalak, northern Iraq.

It's been another day of punishing coalition air strikes in the north here in Kalak. We watched as two F-14 Tomcats streaked across the sky, their bombs slamming into Iraqi positions on the opposite ridge.

Within the last three days there has been a very palpable increase in the bombing campaign in the north. Here we've seen as B- 52s have flown far overhead, going in the direction of the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul.

Now all this bombing is beginning to have a very definite affect on the ground. There's been an increase in the number of Iraqi soldiers who have abandoned their posts and headed toward Kurdish controlled areas. They're bringing with them stories of death and destruction, of fire raining down from the skies, of plummeting morale and chaos in the Iraqi front lines.

Now, Kurdish commanders here in Kalak are telling us they've seen Iraqi soldiers taking back, pulling back their heavy equipment from the front lines and we're also hearing that Arab villagers on the other side of those lines are packing up their belongings and fleeing, preparing for a general Iraqi pullback.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ben Wedeman in the northern part of Iraq. Thanks to Ben and all of our reporters.

Here are some other scenes from the battlefront in the war in Iraq. Coalition jets dropped bombs once again near the northern city of Mosul. CNN's Jane Arraf reports the target was a ridge where Iraqi troops have been entrenched.

U.S. central command concedes the south still is not completely under coalition control. British Marines let loose with heavy fire near Basra overnight.

And U.S. Marine have started foot patrols in Nasiriyah, the scene of a deadly battle only last week. CNN's Alessio Vinci says the few Iraqis he's seen in the streets are sympathetic to U.S. forces and are asking them for food and water.

Coalition forces are using various strategies to undermine Iraqi troop resistance. One strategy is psy-ops, psychological operations. The U.S. special forces invited CNN correspondent Mike Boettcher along on a night mission around Basra to show how they put the strategy to work.

(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 loudspeaker 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 eliminate 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 gun 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, fact and fiction are indistinguishable in the inky blackness of a moonless night.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, with U.S. special operations forces on the outskirts of Basra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And coalition forces have been wary of pushing directly into Basra, where Saddam Hussein's loyalists are holed up among the population. But there was bitter fighting on the city's outskirts earlier today, as British Marines stepped up the pressure.

They couldn't convince Iraqi commanders that the end was inevitable. So how are Pentagon planners adjusting their strategy? We'll have a close look at changing tactics. That's just ahead.

And Saddam Hussein still haunts the airwaves. The word from U.S. intelligence on the Iraqi leader's condition and whereabouts.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from Kuwait City. With correspondents from around the world, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

BLITZER: A quiet night, a nice night, the weather improving here in Kuwait City. No air raid sirens, no missiles, at least not now.

President Bush went on the road today to press his case that coalition forces are on the road to victory in Iraq. Let's go live to our senior White House correspondent, John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) seized its oil fields, are on the run and making progress. In the president's view, the troops are, quote, "performing brilliantly."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (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 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 here on terrorism 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 off the critics, the president described the war effort as decisive and said if the Iraqi people still have any doubts that Saddam Hussein and his regime will be removed from power, that those doubts soon will be answered -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much. As U.S. Forces encounter tenacious foe, the Pentagon insists its war plan has the flexibility it needs to handle the various contingencies that troops may face on the ground.

Once again, let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

MCINTYRE: An illustration today of just those kind of dangers, a tragic incident in which U.S. troops open fire on a civilian vehicle that was -- turned out contained women and children, killing seven, wounding four and another -- I'm sorry, two were injured and four escaped injury in this incident. Now, the U.S. Says that what happened here was this van was approaching the checkpoint, the soldiers motioned for it to stop and it didn't stop. They fired warning shots into the engine. It still didn't stop. In the end, they fired into the compartment of the vehicle. Again, killing seven.

The Pentagon says that these soldiers operated under the rules of engagement that were designed to prevent and protect U.S. Soldiers from terrorist attack from car bombs. Nevertheless, the Pentagon is also saying that despite the fact that things can go wrong, the strength of their war plan, as you said, is in its flexibility.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (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. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, JOINT CHIEFS OPS VICE DIR.: We see some very significant weakening and it will hit a tipping point in some of their formations.

MCINTYRE: But in spite 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 senior politicians or senior military commanders.

MCINTYRE: While U.S. Officials note they have only seen videotaped appearances of Saddam and his sons, other members of the regime continue to broadcast defined messages.

NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): It was each day the American -- American-Britain wade into quagmire and the losses increase for those two outlaws.

MCINTYRE: The U.S. says while Iraq's guerrilla and terror tactics have may have prevented any popular uprisings or wholesale surrenders, the Pentagon insists it is only a matter of time. VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: The inevitable outcome is more than a feeling, it is a reality.

MCINTYRE: Pentagon sources say the U.S. will continue to whittle away at the Republican Guard divisions that surround Baghdad. And follow the model of British troops in Basra, avoiding urban combat and using local citizens to identify and destroy loyalist strongholds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: At some point sources the U.S. will move to take out one Republican Guard Division to set a psychological -- send a psychological message to the rest of the Iraqi military. But the Pentagon says the one thing it has is plenty of patience to wait to do that at the right time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: An interesting strategy. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

For the latest headlines on other stories we're following, other stories of the day, let's go back to Heidi Collins in the CNN news room in Atlanta -- Heidi.

(NEWS BREAK)

Thanks very much, Heidi.

Terror on the battlefield. Should the new Iraqi tactic force a change in strategy from Allied commanders?

We'll hear from General Wesley Clark.

And the most searing images from the battlefield, those moments for history being captured right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Coalition forces seem to be increasingly threatened by so-called guerrilla fighters, evidenced by this weekend's suicide bombing that killed four American soldiers. We're seeing more of the so-called martyr brigades as well.

Today, the Al Arabiya network for the United Arab Emirates interviewed an Iraqi man who said he was volunteering to be a suicide bomber. He said he joined the Ba'ath Party when he was 13 years old and that part of his oath was to undertake martyr missions if attacked.

And the Qatar based Al-Jazeera television network interviewed a man who said he was one of the paramilitary forces known as the Fedayeen Saddam. He described an attack on coalition forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My friend and I, we attacked a tank and destroyed the tank and then we burned the tank. Then they opened fire on us and I killed one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our own military analyst retired General Wesley Clark writes about this threat in an op-ed tomorrow in tomorrow's "London Times." General Clark's joining us now from Washington.

General Clark, what do you make of this potential threat? It's not a potential threat, it's a very real threat to coalition forces.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, I think that this is a kind of threat that the American and British forces have to be prepared to handle. They have to respond to it. They have to do this tactically by getting standoff. They have to put a little bit of distance between themselves and the population.

And that's difficult. But it is not going -- the threat is not going to change the direction of the war. This is not a decisive military power that can be applied against the United States and British forces. It is just not.

BLITZER: But, General, if you want to win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, you have to go talk to them. You to work with them, you have to deal with them. And if you're worried that every potential Iraqi civilian out there is a suicide bomber, you don't know what to do.

CLARK: And that -- Wolf, that's the real threat. That's the real aim of this strategy.

It is military significance is much less than its significance during the war and afterwards in terms of our aim of winning the hearts and minds of the population. And so we've got to balance the increased standoff with increasing efforts to provide humanitarian aid, to develop relationships, to find the good people in Iraq who will support what we're doing and do want to see Saddam gone. And we have got to cultivate them and protect them from the terrorists or the Fedayeen elements who are out there.

So it really puts a burden on us, less of a military burden, less of a problem with casualties, than a problem with the overall aim of the campaign. It is not going to stop our drive for Baghdad. But if we don't deal with it successfully it will enormously complicate the aftermath of the war.

BLITZER: General, I got to tell you, there is a lot of jittery, very nervous U.S. troops who are fighting this war right now. Worried about those suicide bombers, witnessed what just happened outside of Najaf this van carrying a lot of women and children, gunned down because they refused to stop.

In the rules of engagement, as far as you know, based on what the Central Command is releasing, the details they're releasing now, did they do the right thing by shooting up that van?

CLARK: Well, as far as what I know right now, yes, because in the rules of engagement, in the laws of land warfare, the principle is to try to protect noncombatants. They should not be engaged.

On the other hand, the soldiers themselves always have the right to protect themselves. And when the two conflict, then good judgment ruling the soldiers still has right to protect himself. So in this case they obviously judged the hurdling van to be a threat to the force and they took the military action they felt they had to take.

Maybe as we have more experience we'll find better ways to deal with this problem. But for now, that seems to have been an appropriate, even though a terrible response. It seems to have been warranted under the circumstances. And, of course, that, Wolf, is as you put your finger on, is precisely the danger for our operation, that this terrorist tactic imposes.

BLITZER: General Clark, thanks very much. We'll get back to you, obviously often. General Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

And here's your chance to weigh in. "Our Web Question of the Day" is this, how do you think the war on Iraq will effect the number of terrorist attacks on Americans. You can chose these two answers, increase or decrease. We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Please vote at cnn.com/wolf.

While you're there, I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That is also, of course, where you can read my daily online column. I'm writing one every day here from the Persian Gulf. Just go to cnn.com/wolf.

Saddam Hussein reappears, or does he? In a newly aired piece of videotape, it sends U.S. intelligence agents scrambling once again to find out if he's still alive. We'll tell you what they're saying when we come back.

And what did Peter Arnett and Geraldo Rivera do to land in trouble near the front lines? We'll have the answer just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here is a recap of the latest developments in the war with Iraq. For that, let's go CNN's Renay San Miguel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAN MIGUEL (voice-over): 7:10 a.m., U.S. Central Command says coalition forces hit regime targets overnight including buildings, an ammunition storage area and an Iraqi aircraft sitting on the ground at the H2 air field. Brigadier General Vince Brooks says clean water is flowing from a pipeline to from Kuwait to Umm Qasr.

9:20 a.m., CNN's Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon that the Navy has already used up about one-third of its inventory of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.

9:45 a.m., CNN's Jane Arraf reports from Northern Iraq that U.S. warplanes are again bombing a ridge east of Mosul where Iraqi troops have been entrenched.

10:43 a.m., Iraqi TV shows video of Saddam Hussein and his two sons. The state-run network says the pictures are new today, but there has been no independent verification of this.

2:32 p.m...

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... there was an explosion in Tehran...

SAN MIGUEL: CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr reports that a car bomb exploded near a gate at the British embassy in Tehran. So far no group has claimed responsibility.

2:46 p.m., speaking at a Coast Guard installation, President Bush said by acting today in Iraq, the U.S. is saving countless lives in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: CNN's Renay San Miguel with an update on what happened precisely over past few hours.

And as we reported, Iraqi television showed videotape today of Saddam Hussein and his two sons, although it is certainly not clear when it was shot. In fact, U.S. intelligence is still trying to determine whether Saddam Hussein is dead or alive. Our national security correspondent David Ensor is very much alive. He's joining us now live from Washington with the latest -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Saddam Hussein could have proved by now he is alive and well. He has not done so.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Knowledgeable U.S. officials say they are now virtually certain Saddam Hussein was in the leadership bunker under Dorafarm (ph) when it was hit March 19 in the war's opening salvo. New intelligence, officials say, has reinforced that earlier belief.

CLARKE: Since the coalition bombed Saddam's headquarters at the beginning of the war, the world has not seen his hide nor hair, only tapes.

ENSOR: Yet another tape of the Iraqi leader, this time with both sons, was broadcast Monday by Iraqi TV. But U.S. officials and others say it does not prove he and they are alive and well.

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: It maybe patently obvious to most Americans that an easy thing for him to do would be to hold up a newspaper with the current date on it. That may not necessarily occur to Saddam or the people around him.

ENSOR: But U.S. intelligence officials and analysts say they assume Saddam Hussein is in charge until proven otherwise.

POLLACK: The assumption is by many analysts both inside and outside the government that if Saddam were dead, we would start to see cracks opening up in the regime, there would be morale problems, word of his death would leak out to the troops and this would begin to be reflected in additional defections, problems among commands, perhaps even infighting among different factions.

ENSOR: There are reports, officials say, that Saddam Hussein's first wife, Sajita, may have left Baghdad, though officials say reports she's crossed into Syria are wrong.

VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: We have seen some reports recently and I'll just leave it at that -- that some family members including family members of very senior officials are trying to get out of the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: And U.S. officials say there is new evidence suggesting the Iraqi leader display been injured. Trouble is, there's also information suggesting he may have died and that's perfectly healthy.

Bottom line, Wolf, they just don't know.

BLITZER: And I'm sure they're desperately trying to figure it out. David Ensor, thanks very much.

Two well known correspondents in very hot water over reporting from the battle front. We'll tell you what happened to Geraldo Rivera and Peter Arnett. That's just ahead.

And the images of war. We'll show you those pictures that take us beyond the briefings and into the real battle.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Two well known war correspondents have run into controversy in Iraq.

NBC has dropped freelance correspondent Peter Arnett and the Pentagon has accused Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera of divulging the details of the future military operation.

Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When journalists first started slogging through the sand and the mud to cover the war in Iraq, public approval of the media shot up to unusual heights.

As anyone could see, this was risky business.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT We just heard -- what the hell...

KURTZ: But reporters' missteps are now becoming part of the story. Peter Arnett, who gained fame as a CNN correspondent in Baghdad during first Gulf War, created a firestorm by granting an interview with to state-controlled Iraqi TV. He praised the Iraqi Information Ministry and criticized the American war effort.

PETER ARNETT, NBC CORRESPONDENT: The first American war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they're trying to write another war plan.

KURTZ: After initially defending Arnett yesterday, NBC and MSNBC fired him this morning, saying it was wrong for him to talk to Saddam Hussein's television station and wrong for him to offer his personal opinions.

On the "Today" show, Arnett, who has been controversial since his days as a reporter in Vietnam, said he was sorry.

ARNETT: I want to apologize to the American people for clearly making a misjudgment over the weekend by giving an interview to Iraqi television.

KURTZ: Fox News also suffered an embarrassment today as Pentagon officials charged that star correspondent Geraldo Rivera broke the rules by revealing sensitive tactical information about troop movements.

Pentagon spokesman Brian Whitman says that during a Fox report, in which Rivera grew drew a map in the sand, he disclosed information that -- quote -- "would clearly aid the enemy." Pentagon officials initially confirmed to CNN and MSNBC this morning that Rivera would be expelled from Iraq but now say they are studying the matter.

Rivera, meanwhile, took to the airwaves to deny that he's being booted from Iraq and to blame the story on his former place of employment.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It sounds to me like some -- some rats at my former network, NBC, are spreading some lies about me.

KURTZ: In any event, Fox News plans to deal with the controversy by withdrawing Rivera from Iraq tomorrow.

This growing criticism, meanwhile that some of the 600 journalists embedded with coalition forces have grown too close to the troops they cover and become part of the Pentagon's message machine.

CBS' John Roberts, for one, says that's nonsense.

JOHN ROBERTS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, we share a lot of the facilities that the Marines have here, but in terms of being close, as far as story goes and message goes, I don't think that's true at all. I mean, speaking from my own reporting, I think we've been foursquare with the American people. KURTZ (on camera): The embedding program is producing the most vivid real time pictures in the history of war. But with some reporters shooting off their mouths and others seeming to assume a cheerleading role, those sky high approval ratings for the media could sink like a stone.

This is Howard Kurtz in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And how do you think the war on Iraq will affect a number of terrorist attacks on Americans? Many of you have voted. The results of our "Web Question of the Day" will be revealed in 90 seconds.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Many of our memories of past wars have been shared by photographs, from Marines raising the flag in World War II to a little girl running down a road in Vietnam, still photos froze time so we could reflect on the meaning of the images. They still do.

CNN's Bruce Burkhardt looks at Associated Press photos from the current war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the flames of war, amid the backdrop of battle, amid the images of bombings, of buildings, and bridges, there is the reality of combat, crossfires, casualties, and even compassion.

A key bridge in the town of Hindia, the U.S. Army on one side, Iraq's vaunted Republican Guard on the other, a desperate and injured woman caught in the middle. Three G.I.s from the U.S. Army's 3rd battalion head to her rescue. But for the man lying beside her, it is too late.

Captain Chris Carter (ph), the commander of A Company draws ever closer. This bridge over the Euphrates has been seized but the smoke hasn't cleared. Captain Carter radios for an armored ambulance. Tense and dangerous moments pass.

And then, the medics arrive, the injured woman is evacuated and the 3rd Infantry Division looks to continue its march north to Baghdad.

Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." How you to think the war in Iraq will affect the number of terrorist attacks on Americans. Look at this -- 81 percent of you said increase, 19 percent of you said decrease. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Please stay with CNN throughout the night for up-to-the-minute war coverage. A reminder, we'll be back tomorrow 5:00 p.m., special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, every day 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

I'll be back in one hour for two hours of special coverage with Paula Zahn. Until then, thanks very much for watching.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Kuwait City. Up next, more war coverage with Lou Dobbs.

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




Coalition Forces>


Aired March 31, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Unprecedented aerial attacks. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bombard Iraqi troops near Baghdad.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is called psychological operation.

BLITZER: How special forces are fooling their enemies.

And Saddam and sons. Is this reality TV?

All this on day 12 of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from Kuwait City. With correspondents from around the world. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's 1 a.m. in Baghdad and it's happened once again. The city simply can't escape the bombing campaign from coalition forces. Here in Kuwait, a much calmer scene. But people who live here no danger is just across the border.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight live from Kuwait City. And topping our headlines from the Persian Gulf, punishing bombings on Baghdad. Among the latest targets, a presidential palace near Saddam International Airport.

But the human targets at the top of the Iraqi regime may still be elusive. The latest videotape on Iraqi television shows Saddam Hussein and his sons. No word when that videotape was actually made. So what is the state of Iraqi leadership? We'll try to find out. Get a little insight this hour.

There is word just coming in right now to CNN about an incident at a U.S. military checkpoint near Najaf. That's in southern Iraq.

According to U.S. central command, U.S. soldiers fired into a van carrying 13 women and children when the vehicle refused to stop at a checkpoint. Seven people were killed, two others wounded. The central command says soldiers from the 3rd Infantry signaled the vehicle to stop, but it continued forward. The soldiers fired warning shots into the air. Central command is saying that then they fired into the vehicle's engine when it failed to respond to the warning shots. The soldiers then fired into the passenger compartment.

Centcom says the incident is now under investigation. We'll have more on this disturbing incident in just a few moments.

First, let's go to CNN's Heidi Collins in the CNN newsroom.

(NEWSBREAK)

BLITZER: Let's immediately go to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, for more on this disturbing incident just outside Najaf.

Jamie what are you hearing?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, we really don't know much more about it except the U.S. military's version of events.

They insist that the soldiers involved in this from the 3rd Infantry Division were acting within the rules of engagement to protect themselves, especially in light of the recent terrorist attacks by Iraqi regime, and specifically a car bomb not far from this location.

They insist that they made every attempt to stop this vehicle as it approached this checkpoint, that they waved it, they motioned for it to stop. They say that they then fired into the engine to try to stop the vehicle and only finally in the end when it wouldn't stop fired into the passenger compartment.

Unfortunately, when they got to the vehicle they discovered 13 women and children. According to the U.S. central command, seven people were killed. Two more were injured and four apparently escaped injury in that incident.

Now obviously, this is not something that the United States military likes to see when they've had what appears to be innocent women and children killed by U.S. military personnel. A full investigation, they say, will be conducted. But at this point they insist that this was an unfortunate tragedy and partly because of the terrorist threat against U.S. Troops -- Wolf.

BLITZER: But Jamie, before I let you go, the rules of engagement in a situation like this, right after an earlier suicide bombing killed four soldiers in a similar kind of circumstance, in the same area outside of Najaf, the rules of engagement, if the car doesn't stop and keeps moving toward you, what are they supposed to do?

MCINTYRE: Well, that's just it. They're supposed to try to stop the car some distance away and make the people get out, and they are authorized to use force in these kinds of situations.

It's a judgment call that is made under the heat of pressure. And it's not -- we don't know what happened here. We don't know if there was a language problem, a misunderstanding, if the people were being forced to do this, if someone in the car was forcing them to drive this way. There are just so many unknowns.

But it does appear to be a tragic outcome, when you have seven of 13 women and children, seven dead and four injured. That's not the way the U.S. military would like this to turn out.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Jamie, thanks very much. We'll continue to follow that story, a sad story.

Let's move to those huge explosions tonight in Baghdad. Witnesses say targets included a presidential compound used by a son of Saddam Hussein.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, spent the early days of the war inside the Iraqi capital. He's now in Ruwayshid in Jordan. That's right near the Iraqi border.

What happened today, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, sources I talked to a little over an hour ago said that they could feel the detonations of some of those explosions, that they believed that at least a couple of the explosions this evening had gone off in a presidential compound. It's not clear to them exactly where it is at this time.

There was also an unconfirmed rumor that President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday Saddam Hussein, the Olympic committee that he runs, that building also being hit. But that is at this time unconfirmed.

We've also seen on Iraqi television today for first time Uday Saddam Hussein appearing with his father and with his younger brother, Qusay.

Now, Uday Saddam Hussein is in charge of the Fedayeen forces who we've heard much about, bolstering the resistance in the south of Iraq to coalition forces. Uday -- Qusay Saddam Hussein, in charge of the center of Iraq, the military defense of the center of Iraq, and also responsible for the Republican Guard forces, who we understand are taking a severe pounding from coalition forces just south of Baghdad.

Also today, Iraqi officials not taking any journalists to see any of the military facilities destroyed but did take them to a -- to a residential area of Baghdad where there was some destruction. According to Iraqi officials, there were four people killed, seven injured. Journalists also allowed to go to a funeral of people inside Baghdad. Those figures cannot be independently confirmed. But that is what Iraqi officials are giving journalists access to this day in Baghdad. Also we've heard from Iraq's foreign minister, the first time we've heard him speaking out inside Baghdad. Naji Sabri praising Arab resistance outside of Iraq, Arab support on the streets for what's going on inside Iraq.

And however, condemning governments that would either support the coalition or not even listening to their people, saying that they would pay for it in the future -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic, very quickly, that Palestine hotel in Baghdad, where you and all of our CNN journalists stayed, international journalists who are still there said today the whole hotel basically shook as a result of one U.S. bombing. What does that say? How close is that bombing to that Palestine hotel?

ROBERTSON: It could be very close indeed. According to reports, it could be about half a mile away. I talked to somebody inside that hotel a little bit after we heard that the -- that a munition had landed near the Palestine hotel. They told me the hotel had not been hit.

But we do know very close to that particular hotel there are a number of interior ministry locations, a number of intelligence locations, quite close to that hotel. They may very well have been the target -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson, monitoring the situation for us along the border with Iraq. Thanks, Nic, very much.

The battle for Baghdad is being waged for now in the air. For a closer look at that presidential compound that was targeted, let's go live to the CNN newsroom. Renay San Miguel is standing by -- Renay.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Abu Ghraib (ph) presidential palace is believed to be a command and control facility in the eyes of the -- of central command. That's why it was targeted. Apparently a way for the regime to talk to some of its military units out in the field.

This is satellite imagery from Earthviewer.com and DigitalGlobe.com, central Baghdad, the Tigris River running through there. Now we move south and west through this city of 254 square miles, 4.5 million people. The Abu Ghraib (ph) palace is right next to Saddam International Airport. There you see the airport right there.

This is that we're talking about right here. And we're going get a closer look now of the -- of the palace. You notice all the water around there. The government of Iraq, according to State Department briefings two years ago is claiming an extensive crop damage because of a drought. But look at all the water around here. Doesn't hesitate to use scarce water resources in the words of the State Department, to ensure that the lakes of Saddam's palaces are filled and grounds well cared for.

This is what we're talking about right here. Not just a command and control facility in the eyes of central command, it's also believed -- it has been believed to be for quite some time to be a suspected biological weapons hidings place. There is also that infamous baby milk factory that the coalition bombed back in 1991, said to be a place where they were making biological weapons. The regime at that time said it was making baby formula.

That's on the Abu Ghraib (ph) presidential palace. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Renay San Miguel in the CNN newsroom.

Here's some of the damage in Baghdad that Arab broadcasters are showing today. Al Jazeera says a cruise missile destroyed five homes in the low income Al-Amin neighborhood, killing four children.

Abu Dhabi Television showed these images. At this point, we have no way of verifying what caused any of the damage that you're seeing.

A largely badly damaged -- a large, badly damaged building in the southern port of the city -- part of the city was shown on the Al Arabia TV network. U.S. central command says it hit an intelligence complex in the area, believed to be the Fedayeen's operational headquarters.

Meanwhile, Iraqi television showed a Baghdad street scene that appears to capture business as usual, with shops open and people very much out and about.

U.S. officials say the air war is targeting the Republican Guard and its Fedayeen Saddam paramilitary forces. We have two correspondents watching the air for us, CNN's Bob Franken and CNN's Harris Whitbeck.

Let's start with Bob. Bob, you're at an air base not far from the Iraqi border.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it is an air base that is a constant scene of activity. This time of night, the last couple of nights there has been a never-ending flow of planes leaving, coming back. The number of flights throughout the entire war theater is now up to 2,000 for a 24-hour period. That's almost double what the average had been.

And we're seeing, of course, the results in the various television images that you just saw and also on the battlefield. Many of the planes that are leaving from this particular air base are the famous A-10 plane, which are designed to go after ground forces and they are concentrating, as you pointed out, on the Republican Guard units that are around Baghdad and throughout the country as the battle seems to be reaching one of its destinations, and that is the battle with the Republican Guard.

Now, it's going to get more and more intense. The planes come in, they go to maintenance line, they're turned around and they'll fly two, three, four missions a night. One of the things that we've heard from some of the people who are involved in the maintenance and the preparation of the aircraft, they're getting tired. And it's no surprise because their work has been going on and on. They're getting tired, but what they face is even more work, Wolf, as the air war clearly is intensifying. The war against Iraq seems to be taking the direction upward as the planes are now becoming much more an integral part of the battle -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Clearly they're going to rely on air power to supposedly soften up the Republican Guard ,and if you believe the Pentagon, that's precisely what they are doing.

Bob Franken, thanks very much.

Let's move now to southeastern Iraq. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is standing by, he's been covering a visit to a secret air base -- Harris.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Wolf, this base is operating under blackout conditions, but it's been anything but quiet. Airplanes and helicopters have been taking off and landing here throughout the night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITBECK (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 southeastern 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 a nation's ziggurat, said to be one of the nation's oldest structures on earth, it now houses some of the players in the earth's most recent war.

Among them, members of the Air Forces 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. 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Those rescue pilots say boredom is a good thing. If they're having a slow day it means the troops they're committed to protect are having a good one -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Harris Whitbeck at a base in Iraq. Thanks very much, Harris.

It's been another day of explosions, as we all know by now, in Baghdad. And the battles across the rest of the country are raging. Let's take a close look at the battle lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): In central and southern Iraq, the battle lines shift as the allies fight to position themselves for an assault on Baghdad.

South of the capital, CNN's Walter Rodgers, with the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry, says Iraqi Republican Guard units are holed up at Al Hila (ph) and another nearby city, and appear to be baiting U.S. forces to enter those towns and fight.

Rodgers reports the 3rd Infantry is regularly calling in air support against nearby Republican Guard.

In Baghdad, and the surrounding area, intense air strikes on key government sites, including the palace and the information ministry.

In the south, U.S. and British forces battle their way through Najaf, Nasiriyah, and Samawah, where U.S. officials say about 100 members of what they described as a terrorist squad were captured and 50 Iraqi soldiers were taken prisoner.

Just north of Nasiriyah, U.S. Marines stage early morning raids looking for Ali Hassan al Majid, known as chemical Ali, Saddam Hussein's cousin, accused of killing Kurds with chemical weapons 15 years ago. He commands Iraqi forces in the south.

CNN is told Chemical Ali has been spotted but not yet been caught.

In Basra, British forces claim control of the western part of the city, saying they've captured five senior Iraqi paramilitaries. But also say Iraqi militias are firing mortar rounds indiscriminately in the city. British commanders still optimistic that Basra will be theirs.

COL. CHRIS VERNON, BRITISH ARMY SPOKESMAN: We're targeting the Ba'ath Party regime in Basra particularly and Al Zubayr, as well. And we're targeting the militia who they are controlling.

BLITZER: In the north, just east of Mosul, Iraqi troops entrenched on a ridge line near the town of Kalak struck by precision bombs from two U.S. F-14 Tomcats.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Intense battle fronts all over Iraq. We'll take you there with our embedded reporters just from the south of Baghdad to the north, where Iraqi forces face yet more allied missiles and bombs.

And newly released pictures of Saddam Hussein. What U.S. intelligence thinks of this latest transmission.

And why some big name reporters covering this war are now in big trouble.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're looking at a live picture of Baghdad, where it is relatively quiet right now. But it wasn't just a little while ago. And at any moment, (AUDIO GAP) the wrath of coalition air power once again. We will break into our news cast, should that happen.

The ground war continues on multiple fronts and we have three reports. We begin on the road to Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Walter Rodgers with the U.S. 7th Cavalry, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.

Throughout the day and as darkness falls on the desert, there has been the comforting roar of U.S. Navy carrier jets and U.S. Air Force jets above the 7th Cavalry here in the Iraqi Desert. That is a comforting roar, of course, because they're supplying what is called CAS, close air support for the U.S. Army forces on the ground.

A short while ago, two Navy carrier jets, F-18 Hornets, smashed an Iraqi artillery position. And even though darkness falls, those carrier jets and the Air Force jets will be flying protective cover for the army forces on the ground here in the desert, throughout the evening, should the Iraqi artillery open up on the 7th Cavalry or should the Iraqi artillery try to move forward and take the position that the 7th Cavalry now has.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 1st Brigade, also known as the Baston Brigade (ph), has moved into the outskirts of An Najaf, the 1st Brigade, 3rd Battalion taking this air field on the outskirts, a very important capture. The air fields here, two -- almost two miles long, can now facilitate U.S. helicopters and military transport planes.

Military commanders already talking about how they would like to move humanitarian aid into the city of Najaf itself from this air field.

Now the city of Najaf has, of course, been a bit of a problem for U.S. forces. There was, just a couple of days ago, a car bombing, a suicide bombing here that killed four U.S. servicemen.

And it is that exact reason why U.S. troops have come into the outskirts of the city. They say that this -- the city has become a safe haven for Fedayeen, or the irregular fighters, very loyal to president Saddam Hussein and they say that they are now prepared to safeguard it.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN with the 101st Airborne in Najaf.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Kalak, northern Iraq.

It's been another day of punishing coalition air strikes in the north here in Kalak. We watched as two F-14 Tomcats streaked across the sky, their bombs slamming into Iraqi positions on the opposite ridge.

Within the last three days there has been a very palpable increase in the bombing campaign in the north. Here we've seen as B- 52s have flown far overhead, going in the direction of the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul.

Now all this bombing is beginning to have a very definite affect on the ground. There's been an increase in the number of Iraqi soldiers who have abandoned their posts and headed toward Kurdish controlled areas. They're bringing with them stories of death and destruction, of fire raining down from the skies, of plummeting morale and chaos in the Iraqi front lines.

Now, Kurdish commanders here in Kalak are telling us they've seen Iraqi soldiers taking back, pulling back their heavy equipment from the front lines and we're also hearing that Arab villagers on the other side of those lines are packing up their belongings and fleeing, preparing for a general Iraqi pullback.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Ben Wedeman in the northern part of Iraq. Thanks to Ben and all of our reporters.

Here are some other scenes from the battlefront in the war in Iraq. Coalition jets dropped bombs once again near the northern city of Mosul. CNN's Jane Arraf reports the target was a ridge where Iraqi troops have been entrenched.

U.S. central command concedes the south still is not completely under coalition control. British Marines let loose with heavy fire near Basra overnight.

And U.S. Marine have started foot patrols in Nasiriyah, the scene of a deadly battle only last week. CNN's Alessio Vinci says the few Iraqis he's seen in the streets are sympathetic to U.S. forces and are asking them for food and water.

Coalition forces are using various strategies to undermine Iraqi troop resistance. One strategy is psy-ops, psychological operations. The U.S. special forces invited CNN correspondent Mike Boettcher along on a night mission around Basra to show how they put the strategy to work.

(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 loudspeaker 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 eliminate 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 gun 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, fact and fiction are indistinguishable in the inky blackness of a moonless night.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, with U.S. special operations forces on the outskirts of Basra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And coalition forces have been wary of pushing directly into Basra, where Saddam Hussein's loyalists are holed up among the population. But there was bitter fighting on the city's outskirts earlier today, as British Marines stepped up the pressure.

They couldn't convince Iraqi commanders that the end was inevitable. So how are Pentagon planners adjusting their strategy? We'll have a close look at changing tactics. That's just ahead.

And Saddam Hussein still haunts the airwaves. The word from U.S. intelligence on the Iraqi leader's condition and whereabouts.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: CNN live this hour: WOLF BLITZER REPORTS from Kuwait City. With correspondents from around the world, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts now.

BLITZER: A quiet night, a nice night, the weather improving here in Kuwait City. No air raid sirens, no missiles, at least not now.

President Bush went on the road today to press his case that coalition forces are on the road to victory in Iraq. Let's go live to our senior White House correspondent, John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) seized its oil fields, are on the run and making progress. In the president's view, the troops are, quote, "performing brilliantly."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING (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 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 here on terrorism 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 off the critics, the president described the war effort as decisive and said if the Iraqi people still have any doubts that Saddam Hussein and his regime will be removed from power, that those doubts soon will be answered -- Wolf.

BLITZER: John King at the White House. Thanks, John, very much. As U.S. Forces encounter tenacious foe, the Pentagon insists its war plan has the flexibility it needs to handle the various contingencies that troops may face on the ground.

Once again, let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

MCINTYRE: An illustration today of just those kind of dangers, a tragic incident in which U.S. troops open fire on a civilian vehicle that was -- turned out contained women and children, killing seven, wounding four and another -- I'm sorry, two were injured and four escaped injury in this incident. Now, the U.S. Says that what happened here was this van was approaching the checkpoint, the soldiers motioned for it to stop and it didn't stop. They fired warning shots into the engine. It still didn't stop. In the end, they fired into the compartment of the vehicle. Again, killing seven.

The Pentagon says that these soldiers operated under the rules of engagement that were designed to prevent and protect U.S. Soldiers from terrorist attack from car bombs. Nevertheless, the Pentagon is also saying that despite the fact that things can go wrong, the strength of their war plan, as you said, is in its flexibility.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (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. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, JOINT CHIEFS OPS VICE DIR.: We see some very significant weakening and it will hit a tipping point in some of their formations.

MCINTYRE: But in spite 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 senior politicians or senior military commanders.

MCINTYRE: While U.S. Officials note they have only seen videotaped appearances of Saddam and his sons, other members of the regime continue to broadcast defined messages.

NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): It was each day the American -- American-Britain wade into quagmire and the losses increase for those two outlaws.

MCINTYRE: The U.S. says while Iraq's guerrilla and terror tactics have may have prevented any popular uprisings or wholesale surrenders, the Pentagon insists it is only a matter of time. VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: The inevitable outcome is more than a feeling, it is a reality.

MCINTYRE: Pentagon sources say the U.S. will continue to whittle away at the Republican Guard divisions that surround Baghdad. And follow the model of British troops in Basra, avoiding urban combat and using local citizens to identify and destroy loyalist strongholds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: At some point sources the U.S. will move to take out one Republican Guard Division to set a psychological -- send a psychological message to the rest of the Iraqi military. But the Pentagon says the one thing it has is plenty of patience to wait to do that at the right time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: An interesting strategy. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

For the latest headlines on other stories we're following, other stories of the day, let's go back to Heidi Collins in the CNN news room in Atlanta -- Heidi.

(NEWS BREAK)

Thanks very much, Heidi.

Terror on the battlefield. Should the new Iraqi tactic force a change in strategy from Allied commanders?

We'll hear from General Wesley Clark.

And the most searing images from the battlefield, those moments for history being captured right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Coalition forces seem to be increasingly threatened by so-called guerrilla fighters, evidenced by this weekend's suicide bombing that killed four American soldiers. We're seeing more of the so-called martyr brigades as well.

Today, the Al Arabiya network for the United Arab Emirates interviewed an Iraqi man who said he was volunteering to be a suicide bomber. He said he joined the Ba'ath Party when he was 13 years old and that part of his oath was to undertake martyr missions if attacked.

And the Qatar based Al-Jazeera television network interviewed a man who said he was one of the paramilitary forces known as the Fedayeen Saddam. He described an attack on coalition forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My friend and I, we attacked a tank and destroyed the tank and then we burned the tank. Then they opened fire on us and I killed one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our own military analyst retired General Wesley Clark writes about this threat in an op-ed tomorrow in tomorrow's "London Times." General Clark's joining us now from Washington.

General Clark, what do you make of this potential threat? It's not a potential threat, it's a very real threat to coalition forces.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, I think that this is a kind of threat that the American and British forces have to be prepared to handle. They have to respond to it. They have to do this tactically by getting standoff. They have to put a little bit of distance between themselves and the population.

And that's difficult. But it is not going -- the threat is not going to change the direction of the war. This is not a decisive military power that can be applied against the United States and British forces. It is just not.

BLITZER: But, General, if you want to win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, you have to go talk to them. You to work with them, you have to deal with them. And if you're worried that every potential Iraqi civilian out there is a suicide bomber, you don't know what to do.

CLARK: And that -- Wolf, that's the real threat. That's the real aim of this strategy.

It is military significance is much less than its significance during the war and afterwards in terms of our aim of winning the hearts and minds of the population. And so we've got to balance the increased standoff with increasing efforts to provide humanitarian aid, to develop relationships, to find the good people in Iraq who will support what we're doing and do want to see Saddam gone. And we have got to cultivate them and protect them from the terrorists or the Fedayeen elements who are out there.

So it really puts a burden on us, less of a military burden, less of a problem with casualties, than a problem with the overall aim of the campaign. It is not going to stop our drive for Baghdad. But if we don't deal with it successfully it will enormously complicate the aftermath of the war.

BLITZER: General, I got to tell you, there is a lot of jittery, very nervous U.S. troops who are fighting this war right now. Worried about those suicide bombers, witnessed what just happened outside of Najaf this van carrying a lot of women and children, gunned down because they refused to stop.

In the rules of engagement, as far as you know, based on what the Central Command is releasing, the details they're releasing now, did they do the right thing by shooting up that van?

CLARK: Well, as far as what I know right now, yes, because in the rules of engagement, in the laws of land warfare, the principle is to try to protect noncombatants. They should not be engaged.

On the other hand, the soldiers themselves always have the right to protect themselves. And when the two conflict, then good judgment ruling the soldiers still has right to protect himself. So in this case they obviously judged the hurdling van to be a threat to the force and they took the military action they felt they had to take.

Maybe as we have more experience we'll find better ways to deal with this problem. But for now, that seems to have been an appropriate, even though a terrible response. It seems to have been warranted under the circumstances. And, of course, that, Wolf, is as you put your finger on, is precisely the danger for our operation, that this terrorist tactic imposes.

BLITZER: General Clark, thanks very much. We'll get back to you, obviously often. General Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander.

And here's your chance to weigh in. "Our Web Question of the Day" is this, how do you think the war on Iraq will effect the number of terrorist attacks on Americans. You can chose these two answers, increase or decrease. We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Please vote at cnn.com/wolf.

While you're there, I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That is also, of course, where you can read my daily online column. I'm writing one every day here from the Persian Gulf. Just go to cnn.com/wolf.

Saddam Hussein reappears, or does he? In a newly aired piece of videotape, it sends U.S. intelligence agents scrambling once again to find out if he's still alive. We'll tell you what they're saying when we come back.

And what did Peter Arnett and Geraldo Rivera do to land in trouble near the front lines? We'll have the answer just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here is a recap of the latest developments in the war with Iraq. For that, let's go CNN's Renay San Miguel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAN MIGUEL (voice-over): 7:10 a.m., U.S. Central Command says coalition forces hit regime targets overnight including buildings, an ammunition storage area and an Iraqi aircraft sitting on the ground at the H2 air field. Brigadier General Vince Brooks says clean water is flowing from a pipeline to from Kuwait to Umm Qasr.

9:20 a.m., CNN's Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon that the Navy has already used up about one-third of its inventory of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.

9:45 a.m., CNN's Jane Arraf reports from Northern Iraq that U.S. warplanes are again bombing a ridge east of Mosul where Iraqi troops have been entrenched.

10:43 a.m., Iraqi TV shows video of Saddam Hussein and his two sons. The state-run network says the pictures are new today, but there has been no independent verification of this.

2:32 p.m...

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... there was an explosion in Tehran...

SAN MIGUEL: CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr reports that a car bomb exploded near a gate at the British embassy in Tehran. So far no group has claimed responsibility.

2:46 p.m., speaking at a Coast Guard installation, President Bush said by acting today in Iraq, the U.S. is saving countless lives in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: CNN's Renay San Miguel with an update on what happened precisely over past few hours.

And as we reported, Iraqi television showed videotape today of Saddam Hussein and his two sons, although it is certainly not clear when it was shot. In fact, U.S. intelligence is still trying to determine whether Saddam Hussein is dead or alive. Our national security correspondent David Ensor is very much alive. He's joining us now live from Washington with the latest -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Saddam Hussein could have proved by now he is alive and well. He has not done so.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Knowledgeable U.S. officials say they are now virtually certain Saddam Hussein was in the leadership bunker under Dorafarm (ph) when it was hit March 19 in the war's opening salvo. New intelligence, officials say, has reinforced that earlier belief.

CLARKE: Since the coalition bombed Saddam's headquarters at the beginning of the war, the world has not seen his hide nor hair, only tapes.

ENSOR: Yet another tape of the Iraqi leader, this time with both sons, was broadcast Monday by Iraqi TV. But U.S. officials and others say it does not prove he and they are alive and well.

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: It maybe patently obvious to most Americans that an easy thing for him to do would be to hold up a newspaper with the current date on it. That may not necessarily occur to Saddam or the people around him.

ENSOR: But U.S. intelligence officials and analysts say they assume Saddam Hussein is in charge until proven otherwise.

POLLACK: The assumption is by many analysts both inside and outside the government that if Saddam were dead, we would start to see cracks opening up in the regime, there would be morale problems, word of his death would leak out to the troops and this would begin to be reflected in additional defections, problems among commands, perhaps even infighting among different factions.

ENSOR: There are reports, officials say, that Saddam Hussein's first wife, Sajita, may have left Baghdad, though officials say reports she's crossed into Syria are wrong.

VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: We have seen some reports recently and I'll just leave it at that -- that some family members including family members of very senior officials are trying to get out of the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: And U.S. officials say there is new evidence suggesting the Iraqi leader display been injured. Trouble is, there's also information suggesting he may have died and that's perfectly healthy.

Bottom line, Wolf, they just don't know.

BLITZER: And I'm sure they're desperately trying to figure it out. David Ensor, thanks very much.

Two well known correspondents in very hot water over reporting from the battle front. We'll tell you what happened to Geraldo Rivera and Peter Arnett. That's just ahead.

And the images of war. We'll show you those pictures that take us beyond the briefings and into the real battle.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Two well known war correspondents have run into controversy in Iraq.

NBC has dropped freelance correspondent Peter Arnett and the Pentagon has accused Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera of divulging the details of the future military operation.

Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When journalists first started slogging through the sand and the mud to cover the war in Iraq, public approval of the media shot up to unusual heights.

As anyone could see, this was risky business.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT We just heard -- what the hell...

KURTZ: But reporters' missteps are now becoming part of the story. Peter Arnett, who gained fame as a CNN correspondent in Baghdad during first Gulf War, created a firestorm by granting an interview with to state-controlled Iraqi TV. He praised the Iraqi Information Ministry and criticized the American war effort.

PETER ARNETT, NBC CORRESPONDENT: The first American war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they're trying to write another war plan.

KURTZ: After initially defending Arnett yesterday, NBC and MSNBC fired him this morning, saying it was wrong for him to talk to Saddam Hussein's television station and wrong for him to offer his personal opinions.

On the "Today" show, Arnett, who has been controversial since his days as a reporter in Vietnam, said he was sorry.

ARNETT: I want to apologize to the American people for clearly making a misjudgment over the weekend by giving an interview to Iraqi television.

KURTZ: Fox News also suffered an embarrassment today as Pentagon officials charged that star correspondent Geraldo Rivera broke the rules by revealing sensitive tactical information about troop movements.

Pentagon spokesman Brian Whitman says that during a Fox report, in which Rivera grew drew a map in the sand, he disclosed information that -- quote -- "would clearly aid the enemy." Pentagon officials initially confirmed to CNN and MSNBC this morning that Rivera would be expelled from Iraq but now say they are studying the matter.

Rivera, meanwhile, took to the airwaves to deny that he's being booted from Iraq and to blame the story on his former place of employment.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It sounds to me like some -- some rats at my former network, NBC, are spreading some lies about me.

KURTZ: In any event, Fox News plans to deal with the controversy by withdrawing Rivera from Iraq tomorrow.

This growing criticism, meanwhile that some of the 600 journalists embedded with coalition forces have grown too close to the troops they cover and become part of the Pentagon's message machine.

CBS' John Roberts, for one, says that's nonsense.

JOHN ROBERTS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, we share a lot of the facilities that the Marines have here, but in terms of being close, as far as story goes and message goes, I don't think that's true at all. I mean, speaking from my own reporting, I think we've been foursquare with the American people. KURTZ (on camera): The embedding program is producing the most vivid real time pictures in the history of war. But with some reporters shooting off their mouths and others seeming to assume a cheerleading role, those sky high approval ratings for the media could sink like a stone.

This is Howard Kurtz in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And how do you think the war on Iraq will affect a number of terrorist attacks on Americans? Many of you have voted. The results of our "Web Question of the Day" will be revealed in 90 seconds.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Many of our memories of past wars have been shared by photographs, from Marines raising the flag in World War II to a little girl running down a road in Vietnam, still photos froze time so we could reflect on the meaning of the images. They still do.

CNN's Bruce Burkhardt looks at Associated Press photos from the current war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the flames of war, amid the backdrop of battle, amid the images of bombings, of buildings, and bridges, there is the reality of combat, crossfires, casualties, and even compassion.

A key bridge in the town of Hindia, the U.S. Army on one side, Iraq's vaunted Republican Guard on the other, a desperate and injured woman caught in the middle. Three G.I.s from the U.S. Army's 3rd battalion head to her rescue. But for the man lying beside her, it is too late.

Captain Chris Carter (ph), the commander of A Company draws ever closer. This bridge over the Euphrates has been seized but the smoke hasn't cleared. Captain Carter radios for an armored ambulance. Tense and dangerous moments pass.

And then, the medics arrive, the injured woman is evacuated and the 3rd Infantry Division looks to continue its march north to Baghdad.

Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Now here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." How you to think the war in Iraq will affect the number of terrorist attacks on Americans. Look at this -- 81 percent of you said increase, 19 percent of you said decrease. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

Please stay with CNN throughout the night for up-to-the-minute war coverage. A reminder, we'll be back tomorrow 5:00 p.m., special edition of WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, every day 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

I'll be back in one hour for two hours of special coverage with Paula Zahn. Until then, thanks very much for watching.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Kuwait City. Up next, more war coverage with Lou Dobbs.

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