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Heavy U.S. Artillery Firing From Northern Kuwait
Aired March 20, 2003 - 14:37 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Art Harris, our correspondent who's embedded with U.S. troops in the northern part of Kuwait, is on the phone, and he's got some information -- Art.
ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I've been watching for the last five minutes multiple rocket launchers, U.S. artillery.
You can hear it overhead. Sounds like very high-flying bombers breaking the sound barrier. Let me hold the satellite phone up, so you can try to hear it.
I don't know if you can hear that or not, Wolf. I'm watching -- it looked like Roman candles going up into the night sky as I stand on the desert sands with the 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
And you can hear what sounds like U.S. bombers high overhead. There goes another Roman candle-looking, multiple rocket launching system by U.S. artillery, heading towards the north-northwest Iraq border.
It's been very intense for the last five minutes. There you can hear more high-flying -- what appear to be high-flying bombers breaking the sound barrier, as more salvos are unleashed against Iraq in the north-northwest border with Kuwait.
Wolf, there goes another one -- another artillery barrage of rockets by U.S. artillery, high into the sky over the desert, lighting up the desert.
It's a near full moon. There goes another one. And they just keep going, one after the other. And you can hear the jets, the bombers overhead -- Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, Art, I've seen those MRLS -- those multiple rocket launcher systems -- in action. And it's an awesome array of firepower.
When they're fired, you see a whole score or so of those rockets unleashed at the same time. And they can cause incredible, incredible destruction on the receiving end of that.
How many of those have you basically seen so far fired into southern Iraq?
HARRIS: Seen 12 to 15, Wolf. They keep going off at intervals of about a minute, sometimes every 30 seconds. You can hear the, what appear to be high altitude bombers overhead, possibly heading into Iraqi airspace.
I'm facing to the north, Wolf. I'm just walking on the desert floor here. To my left is the west and to the north is the berm, or international boundary between Kuwait and Iraq -- a very short distance away.
I'm not allowed to give our precise positions. But it appears that the intensity of the artillery and air war in southern Iraq has begun -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Art Harris, our reporter embedded with U.S. troops in the northern part of Kuwait, watching a heavy barrage of artillery -- U.S.-led artillery -- rocket launchers unloaded into southern Iraq.
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 March 20, 2003 - 14:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Art Harris, our correspondent who's embedded with U.S. troops in the northern part of Kuwait, is on the phone, and he's got some information -- Art.
ART HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I've been watching for the last five minutes multiple rocket launchers, U.S. artillery.
You can hear it overhead. Sounds like very high-flying bombers breaking the sound barrier. Let me hold the satellite phone up, so you can try to hear it.
I don't know if you can hear that or not, Wolf. I'm watching -- it looked like Roman candles going up into the night sky as I stand on the desert sands with the 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
And you can hear what sounds like U.S. bombers high overhead. There goes another Roman candle-looking, multiple rocket launching system by U.S. artillery, heading towards the north-northwest Iraq border.
It's been very intense for the last five minutes. There you can hear more high-flying -- what appear to be high-flying bombers breaking the sound barrier, as more salvos are unleashed against Iraq in the north-northwest border with Kuwait.
Wolf, there goes another one -- another artillery barrage of rockets by U.S. artillery, high into the sky over the desert, lighting up the desert.
It's a near full moon. There goes another one. And they just keep going, one after the other. And you can hear the jets, the bombers overhead -- Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, Art, I've seen those MRLS -- those multiple rocket launcher systems -- in action. And it's an awesome array of firepower.
When they're fired, you see a whole score or so of those rockets unleashed at the same time. And they can cause incredible, incredible destruction on the receiving end of that.
How many of those have you basically seen so far fired into southern Iraq?
HARRIS: Seen 12 to 15, Wolf. They keep going off at intervals of about a minute, sometimes every 30 seconds. You can hear the, what appear to be high altitude bombers overhead, possibly heading into Iraqi airspace.
I'm facing to the north, Wolf. I'm just walking on the desert floor here. To my left is the west and to the north is the berm, or international boundary between Kuwait and Iraq -- a very short distance away.
I'm not allowed to give our precise positions. But it appears that the intensity of the artillery and air war in southern Iraq has begun -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Art Harris, our reporter embedded with U.S. troops in the northern part of Kuwait, watching a heavy barrage of artillery -- U.S.-led artillery -- rocket launchers unloaded into southern Iraq.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
