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CNN Live Today
Pentagon: Major Mission in Iraq Was Compromised
Aired May 07, 2003 - 10:33 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have some news just in. Think back to the war if Iraq when the Apache helicopter was shot down, you saw the Iraqis dancing around the helicopter, it led to two POWs, who have since been freed of course.
Our Barbara Starr has more information on what took place leading to the downing of that Apache helicopter, and she joins us now from the Pentagon.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we just had a fascinating video press conference from Baghdad with General William Wallace, the commander of the Army's 5th Corps, and he talked about that battle for the first time. We have learned many new details. This was in late March. And Apache helicopter were staging their first air attack mission against the Medina Republican Guard Division near Karbala, south of Baghdad.
What U.S. forces did not know that night, is that mission was being observed. It was essentially compromised when Iraqi observers, an Iraqi general in the town of Ana Najaf (ph) had information, saw the U.S. helicopters begin to move. What General Wallace tells us, is they now believe that Iraqi general used speed dial on his cell phone to call Iraqi forces and tell them that the Apache helicopters were on the move and they were coming toward that Republican Guard division.
And of course, what we now know is when the Apaches got there, they took a wall of fire. Many of them basically getting shot, limping back to base. That one helicopter, not clear whether it was ever shot down or brought down by a mechanical situation, but that one helicopter, two Apache pilots, landing in enemy territory, essentially being taken POW, and, of course, then safely released.
General Wallace also revealing further details. He said the power in the town of Ana Najaf (ph) went black for three seconds. The whole town went black that night. U.S. military now believes that was the final intelligence signal to the Iraqis that those American apaches were on their way.
General Wallace is one very plain-spoken Army general. He has already come under a lot of controversy from the Pentagon for some of his remarks about war, saying that the U.S. did not expect some of the enemy aggression, some of the enemy tactics that they encountered. General Wallace today said that he makes no apologies for his remarks.
Here's some of what he had to say via that video press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. WILLIAM WALLACE, U.S. ARMY: The enemy that we fought in Osamawa (ph), the enemy that we fought in An Najef (ph), the enemy that we fought in Al Hilla (ph), and in Karbala was much more aggressive than what we expected them to be, or at least what I expected them to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: What General Wallace is saying there, if you can hear him, much more aggressive tactics than some in the U.S. military believed. What they did not expect, he says, is the Iraqi forces, some of the paramilitaries, would come out of the towns in the south and launch offensive attacks against U.S. forces.
They expected them to stay in towns and simply try and defend them. So once they came out of the cities, the U.S. military had to adapt and engage them. He says they were successful. And he said, at the end of the day, 16 days to Baghdad was not a bad record -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Getting back to this information on the Apache helicopter, just for a second, if I remember correctly, we saw the video. Of course there was some POWs taken, later released, but we saw the video of the Iraqis dancing around the helicopter. Didn't the Americans then go ahead and fire a missile to destroy that helicopter, so that further information intelligence wouldn't land in the hands of the Iraqis?
STARR: Indeed, that's a very typical tactic on the battlefield. When in fact advanced U.S. aircraft of any sort go down in enemy territory, they like to come back and basically destroy the carcasses, as it were, to get rid of it, so the enemy cannot get any access to high technology of the U.S. military.
There had always been you know a lot of speculation about what happened that night, how it is that the Apaches, that whole fleet of Apaches, took so much fire. Officials here say that now that General Wallace has spoken, they feel it's much more out in the open has to what happened, and that they feel it was the Iraqis observing them, knowing that they were coming.
So after that, there was some adaptation, as it were, of U.S. military tactics, to avoid this problem happening again -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Before we let you go, one more question about Iraq. What about the ongoing search for weapons of mass destruction? Anything new on that?
STARR: General Wallace said he is convinced that there is sufficient documentary evidence that they have discovered that there are indeed, there is indeed a program of weapons of mass destruction.
Now, he did note that U.S. forces thought they would encounter this on the battlefield and they did not. He said there were two reasons. He believes there's psychological operations, campaign against the Iraqis worked, convincing them not to do this. He also believes that U.S. forces moved so rapidly through the battlefield that the Iraqis never had a chance to use them.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks so much for that.
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 May 7, 2003 - 10:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have some news just in. Think back to the war if Iraq when the Apache helicopter was shot down, you saw the Iraqis dancing around the helicopter, it led to two POWs, who have since been freed of course.
Our Barbara Starr has more information on what took place leading to the downing of that Apache helicopter, and she joins us now from the Pentagon.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we just had a fascinating video press conference from Baghdad with General William Wallace, the commander of the Army's 5th Corps, and he talked about that battle for the first time. We have learned many new details. This was in late March. And Apache helicopter were staging their first air attack mission against the Medina Republican Guard Division near Karbala, south of Baghdad.
What U.S. forces did not know that night, is that mission was being observed. It was essentially compromised when Iraqi observers, an Iraqi general in the town of Ana Najaf (ph) had information, saw the U.S. helicopters begin to move. What General Wallace tells us, is they now believe that Iraqi general used speed dial on his cell phone to call Iraqi forces and tell them that the Apache helicopters were on the move and they were coming toward that Republican Guard division.
And of course, what we now know is when the Apaches got there, they took a wall of fire. Many of them basically getting shot, limping back to base. That one helicopter, not clear whether it was ever shot down or brought down by a mechanical situation, but that one helicopter, two Apache pilots, landing in enemy territory, essentially being taken POW, and, of course, then safely released.
General Wallace also revealing further details. He said the power in the town of Ana Najaf (ph) went black for three seconds. The whole town went black that night. U.S. military now believes that was the final intelligence signal to the Iraqis that those American apaches were on their way.
General Wallace is one very plain-spoken Army general. He has already come under a lot of controversy from the Pentagon for some of his remarks about war, saying that the U.S. did not expect some of the enemy aggression, some of the enemy tactics that they encountered. General Wallace today said that he makes no apologies for his remarks.
Here's some of what he had to say via that video press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. WILLIAM WALLACE, U.S. ARMY: The enemy that we fought in Osamawa (ph), the enemy that we fought in An Najef (ph), the enemy that we fought in Al Hilla (ph), and in Karbala was much more aggressive than what we expected them to be, or at least what I expected them to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: What General Wallace is saying there, if you can hear him, much more aggressive tactics than some in the U.S. military believed. What they did not expect, he says, is the Iraqi forces, some of the paramilitaries, would come out of the towns in the south and launch offensive attacks against U.S. forces.
They expected them to stay in towns and simply try and defend them. So once they came out of the cities, the U.S. military had to adapt and engage them. He says they were successful. And he said, at the end of the day, 16 days to Baghdad was not a bad record -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Getting back to this information on the Apache helicopter, just for a second, if I remember correctly, we saw the video. Of course there was some POWs taken, later released, but we saw the video of the Iraqis dancing around the helicopter. Didn't the Americans then go ahead and fire a missile to destroy that helicopter, so that further information intelligence wouldn't land in the hands of the Iraqis?
STARR: Indeed, that's a very typical tactic on the battlefield. When in fact advanced U.S. aircraft of any sort go down in enemy territory, they like to come back and basically destroy the carcasses, as it were, to get rid of it, so the enemy cannot get any access to high technology of the U.S. military.
There had always been you know a lot of speculation about what happened that night, how it is that the Apaches, that whole fleet of Apaches, took so much fire. Officials here say that now that General Wallace has spoken, they feel it's much more out in the open has to what happened, and that they feel it was the Iraqis observing them, knowing that they were coming.
So after that, there was some adaptation, as it were, of U.S. military tactics, to avoid this problem happening again -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Before we let you go, one more question about Iraq. What about the ongoing search for weapons of mass destruction? Anything new on that?
STARR: General Wallace said he is convinced that there is sufficient documentary evidence that they have discovered that there are indeed, there is indeed a program of weapons of mass destruction.
Now, he did note that U.S. forces thought they would encounter this on the battlefield and they did not. He said there were two reasons. He believes there's psychological operations, campaign against the Iraqis worked, convincing them not to do this. He also believes that U.S. forces moved so rapidly through the battlefield that the Iraqis never had a chance to use them.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks so much for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
