Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Pentagon Update
Aired April 05, 2003 - 05:36 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And there have been several developments overnight in the war, including a growing casualty count for U.S. forces. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us live from the Pentagon with that and more.
Good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well the so far minimal resistance that with U.S. forces are encountering in Baghdad is just what U.S. military -- that was the effect that the U.S. military had hoped that its carefully planned attack strategy would have there in the city because it believed that by using air and ground bombardment of carefully selected key targets and Republican Guard facilities that it would be able to degrade Saddam Hussein's regime to the point that when U.S. forces went in, as tanks did today, that there would be no coherent defense.
Now obviously the fight though is far from over. U.S. forces continue to fortify their control over Baghdad International Airport, exploring leadership sites and underground complexes in that area. The Pentagon's No. 2 military officer insisting that everything is proceeding on schedule.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It's really a matter of timing between our air power and our ground power. We will not pause. We will continue, as we have for the last 13 or 14 days, to use a combination of air strikes, very precise air strikes, and then ground maneuver. So there's not -- there's not going to be a waiting period. We will continue to take the fight to the end both in the air and on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The Pentagon warns, though, that numerous risks though remain in and around Baghdad, the possibility that the regime could still resort to chemical or biological weapons. And then there is the issue of tanks and hidden caches of weapons that have been found tucked into areas like schools, hospitals and mosques in cities on the road to Baghdad. So the U.S. military, Carol, is very, very much aware that that very same tactic could be put into play in the city of Baghdad itself -- Carol. COSTELLO: And quickly now on that thought -- right now there's no confirmation that any sort of chemical or biological weapons has been found inside Iraq.
KOCH: None at this point Carol. Not yet. But they're carefully looking for that.
COSTELLO: Got you. The other question I had is some of the MIAs we now know were killed in action. Can you bring us up to date?
KOCH: Very sad news. These were members of the 507th Maintenance Division, the same unit that Private First Class Jessica Lynch belonged to. These were the ones who were attacked on March 23 in the area of Nasiriya. They took a wrong turn. Who you're seeing there is one of the victims. She was the first American woman soldier killed in the Iraqi war thus far. Her name was Lorianne Piastalla (ph), 23-year-old Private First Class of Kuba (ph) City, Arizona, one of the few Native American women in the U.S. military. She was the mother of two, a four-year-old son and a three-year old-daughter.
And again seven of the eight bodies that have been identified that were found at that hospital where Jessica Lynch was rescued from on Wednesday night, seven of the eight again were from the 507th. One of those bodies was from the 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Georgia, someone who was also missing from another ambush from that same day -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. Kathleen Koch, many thanks to you and of course, Jessica Lynch is recovering at a hospital in Germany and her family will soon be on the way to see her.
Also, you won't want to miss the news briefing from Central Command in Doha, Qatar. It's this morning at seven Eastern Time. As always, CNN will bring it to you live.
Also, you'll want to catch CNN's interview with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace. He's live on "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer tomorrow at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 5, 2003 - 05:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And there have been several developments overnight in the war, including a growing casualty count for U.S. forces. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us live from the Pentagon with that and more.
Good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well the so far minimal resistance that with U.S. forces are encountering in Baghdad is just what U.S. military -- that was the effect that the U.S. military had hoped that its carefully planned attack strategy would have there in the city because it believed that by using air and ground bombardment of carefully selected key targets and Republican Guard facilities that it would be able to degrade Saddam Hussein's regime to the point that when U.S. forces went in, as tanks did today, that there would be no coherent defense.
Now obviously the fight though is far from over. U.S. forces continue to fortify their control over Baghdad International Airport, exploring leadership sites and underground complexes in that area. The Pentagon's No. 2 military officer insisting that everything is proceeding on schedule.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It's really a matter of timing between our air power and our ground power. We will not pause. We will continue, as we have for the last 13 or 14 days, to use a combination of air strikes, very precise air strikes, and then ground maneuver. So there's not -- there's not going to be a waiting period. We will continue to take the fight to the end both in the air and on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The Pentagon warns, though, that numerous risks though remain in and around Baghdad, the possibility that the regime could still resort to chemical or biological weapons. And then there is the issue of tanks and hidden caches of weapons that have been found tucked into areas like schools, hospitals and mosques in cities on the road to Baghdad. So the U.S. military, Carol, is very, very much aware that that very same tactic could be put into play in the city of Baghdad itself -- Carol. COSTELLO: And quickly now on that thought -- right now there's no confirmation that any sort of chemical or biological weapons has been found inside Iraq.
KOCH: None at this point Carol. Not yet. But they're carefully looking for that.
COSTELLO: Got you. The other question I had is some of the MIAs we now know were killed in action. Can you bring us up to date?
KOCH: Very sad news. These were members of the 507th Maintenance Division, the same unit that Private First Class Jessica Lynch belonged to. These were the ones who were attacked on March 23 in the area of Nasiriya. They took a wrong turn. Who you're seeing there is one of the victims. She was the first American woman soldier killed in the Iraqi war thus far. Her name was Lorianne Piastalla (ph), 23-year-old Private First Class of Kuba (ph) City, Arizona, one of the few Native American women in the U.S. military. She was the mother of two, a four-year-old son and a three-year old-daughter.
And again seven of the eight bodies that have been identified that were found at that hospital where Jessica Lynch was rescued from on Wednesday night, seven of the eight again were from the 507th. One of those bodies was from the 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Georgia, someone who was also missing from another ambush from that same day -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. Kathleen Koch, many thanks to you and of course, Jessica Lynch is recovering at a hospital in Germany and her family will soon be on the way to see her.
Also, you won't want to miss the news briefing from Central Command in Doha, Qatar. It's this morning at seven Eastern Time. As always, CNN will bring it to you live.
Also, you'll want to catch CNN's interview with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace. He's live on "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer tomorrow at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
