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Iraqi Military Units Repositioning

Aired February 27, 2003 - 14:36   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.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Defensive moves in Iraq: possible preparations for war. A unit of Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard is on the move in the north, perhaps repositioning to defend Baghdad, and there is word that trenches are being dug in Iraq's capital, possible to contain oil for burning as a smoke screen. CNN's Jamie McIntyre is tracking this from the Pentagon, and he joins us live -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, as we first reported a couple of days ago, there was some heavy equipment transport trucks on the move in northern Iraq. Today, a couple of days later, the U.S. has a better idea of what's going on.

It looks like one of the divisions of the Republican Guard that is normally based in the city of Mosul in the north is moving south, repositioning at a city just north of Tikrit, the ancestral home of Saddam Hussein. It's not clear if that unit is going to move closer to Baghdad or stay redeployed at that position just north of Tikrit, but at this point the Pentagon is seeing a movement of a Republican Guard unit of about 10,000 troops, along with its equipment, repositioning closer to Baghdad.

At the same time, the Pentagon is also reporting evidence of new trenches dug around Baghdad filled with oil. Apparently, the idea here is to simply light these on fire, create a lot of smoke, and therefore, make it more difficult for laser-guided bombs to be used.

However, the Pentagon is not too worried about that tactic since it's relying more and more these days on satellite-guided munitions that would be unaffected by smoke, or bad weather, for that matter.

At the same time, the U.S. military is making some moves of its own. Pentagon sources confirm that B-2 stealth bombers have received their deployment orders, and may start moving from their base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to the British island of Diego Garcia at the beginning of next week, and the arrival of the USS Kitty Hawk is -- completes the deployment of five carriers called for in the U.S. war plan.

The U.S. will now have three aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, and two in the eastern Mediterranean. Those eastern Mediterranean carriers will send their war planes into Iraq from the north by flying over Turkey, sources tell CNN -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks for the update. President Bush has been busy. He's trying to convince allies to come on board while trying to reassure other friends not to worry. CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King standing by with that part of the story -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Marty. President Bush meeting today with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. He would be one President Bush would be saying not to worry to.

President Karzai concerned that if the United States goes to war in Iraq, he will lose not only military troops critical to Afghanistan's security, but also U.S. reconstruction assistance as well.

We are told President Bush promised him all money in the pipeline will stay in the pipeline, and that more aid is coming down the road, as well as a significant deployment of U.S. troops will continue.

The president, during those discussions, talking about one of the short term challenges in the showdown with Iraq. There is a deadline on Saturday for Iraq to begin destroying its Al-Samoud 2 missiles. Saddam Hussein, on the one hand has indicated he would not destroy them. Other sources indicate they believe Iraq in the end will comply with the demand from the inspectors. President Bush said it's all part of the games that come from Saddam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The discussion about these rockets is part of his campaign of deception. You see, he'll say I'm not going to destroy the rockets, then he'll have a change of mind this weekend and destroy the rockets and say, I've disarmed. The rockets are just the tip of the iceberg. The only question at hand is total, complete disarmament, which he is refusing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: President Bush also called President Putin of Russia this morning. Among the subjects discussed, the resolution now before the Security Council. U.S. officials won't characterize what Mr. Putin said. However, here in Washington, officials are increasingly confident Russia, at a minimum, will not use its veto in the Security Council.

And looking more to the long term, quite controversial and subject to debate not only here in Washington but around the world is the speech the president gave last night in which he laid out his long term view of a post-war, post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

Mr. Bush says U.S. troops would stay as long as it takes to create a new democratic government inside Iraq. The president even going as far as saying he believes, if you have democracy in Iraq, there will be a ripple effect, and that perhaps you can get the Palestinians and the Israelis back to the bargaining table -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: John King from the White House, thanks. 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 February 27, 2003 - 14:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Defensive moves in Iraq: possible preparations for war. A unit of Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard is on the move in the north, perhaps repositioning to defend Baghdad, and there is word that trenches are being dug in Iraq's capital, possible to contain oil for burning as a smoke screen. CNN's Jamie McIntyre is tracking this from the Pentagon, and he joins us live -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, as we first reported a couple of days ago, there was some heavy equipment transport trucks on the move in northern Iraq. Today, a couple of days later, the U.S. has a better idea of what's going on.

It looks like one of the divisions of the Republican Guard that is normally based in the city of Mosul in the north is moving south, repositioning at a city just north of Tikrit, the ancestral home of Saddam Hussein. It's not clear if that unit is going to move closer to Baghdad or stay redeployed at that position just north of Tikrit, but at this point the Pentagon is seeing a movement of a Republican Guard unit of about 10,000 troops, along with its equipment, repositioning closer to Baghdad.

At the same time, the Pentagon is also reporting evidence of new trenches dug around Baghdad filled with oil. Apparently, the idea here is to simply light these on fire, create a lot of smoke, and therefore, make it more difficult for laser-guided bombs to be used.

However, the Pentagon is not too worried about that tactic since it's relying more and more these days on satellite-guided munitions that would be unaffected by smoke, or bad weather, for that matter.

At the same time, the U.S. military is making some moves of its own. Pentagon sources confirm that B-2 stealth bombers have received their deployment orders, and may start moving from their base at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to the British island of Diego Garcia at the beginning of next week, and the arrival of the USS Kitty Hawk is -- completes the deployment of five carriers called for in the U.S. war plan.

The U.S. will now have three aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, and two in the eastern Mediterranean. Those eastern Mediterranean carriers will send their war planes into Iraq from the north by flying over Turkey, sources tell CNN -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks for the update. President Bush has been busy. He's trying to convince allies to come on board while trying to reassure other friends not to worry. CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King standing by with that part of the story -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Marty. President Bush meeting today with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. He would be one President Bush would be saying not to worry to.

President Karzai concerned that if the United States goes to war in Iraq, he will lose not only military troops critical to Afghanistan's security, but also U.S. reconstruction assistance as well.

We are told President Bush promised him all money in the pipeline will stay in the pipeline, and that more aid is coming down the road, as well as a significant deployment of U.S. troops will continue.

The president, during those discussions, talking about one of the short term challenges in the showdown with Iraq. There is a deadline on Saturday for Iraq to begin destroying its Al-Samoud 2 missiles. Saddam Hussein, on the one hand has indicated he would not destroy them. Other sources indicate they believe Iraq in the end will comply with the demand from the inspectors. President Bush said it's all part of the games that come from Saddam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The discussion about these rockets is part of his campaign of deception. You see, he'll say I'm not going to destroy the rockets, then he'll have a change of mind this weekend and destroy the rockets and say, I've disarmed. The rockets are just the tip of the iceberg. The only question at hand is total, complete disarmament, which he is refusing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: President Bush also called President Putin of Russia this morning. Among the subjects discussed, the resolution now before the Security Council. U.S. officials won't characterize what Mr. Putin said. However, here in Washington, officials are increasingly confident Russia, at a minimum, will not use its veto in the Security Council.

And looking more to the long term, quite controversial and subject to debate not only here in Washington but around the world is the speech the president gave last night in which he laid out his long term view of a post-war, post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

Mr. Bush says U.S. troops would stay as long as it takes to create a new democratic government inside Iraq. The president even going as far as saying he believes, if you have democracy in Iraq, there will be a ripple effect, and that perhaps you can get the Palestinians and the Israelis back to the bargaining table -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: John King from the White House, thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com