Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Interview With British Journalist Richard Gaisford

Aired March 25, 2003 - 15:35   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now, British forces are there, and embedded among them is British journalist Richard Gaisford. He's with us now on the telephone. Richard, do you want to describe for us what you are seeing and what you've seen?
RICHARD GAISFORD, JOURNALIST: Well, Judy, right now there is the most unbelievable night show over the city of Basra. Not only artillery going in and illumination flares over the city, but also the most amazing electrical storm as well. High winds and very heavy rain.

So it is a very surreal evening here and it started a little earlier this evening for us when we heard artillery fire coming from the location we are at with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard. They are part of the famous Desert Rats, the 7th Armored Brigade. And we heard that going in, we asked what was happening.

We were told that there was a popular uprising in the center of Basra. And Iraqi troops, units of troops based in that city were now firing upon the protesters. So the fire coming in from the British locations, it was to take out those army units, to take out the ammunition and the artillery that was there firing on those people, which was also firing, we're told, on British troops from the edge of the city as well.

WOODRUFF: Richard, we know that -- we're told that many of these Iraqi units may be dressed as civilians. So this is a matter of figuring out who they are from afar. I guess based on whatever weapons they are firing.

GAISFORD: And this is one reason why the British troops aren't going in tonight. We had expected them to go in pretty much as soon an artillery barrage had finished. The decision I think has been taken by the brigade not to go in tonight, because that may well cause confusion amongst the civilians and citizens of Basra.

The fear is that they would see tanks and armored vehicles streaming in the city and not know who they belonged to. They might well have thought that they were Iraqi tanks coming in to reinforce the city. So they may well go in at first night, when people there can see that it's friendly forces that are coming in and to help them and support them in this uprising.

And one thing that has happened tonight in the last few hours, quite important, I would imagine, a 2,000-pound bomb has been dropped on to the Ba'ath Party headquarters. It's been on the Ba'ath Party headquarters, it's totally destroyed. This was a guided missile, we're told, dropped probably by an F-18. I'm still unclear on the exact details of that. Probably a JDAM missile. And it has totally destroyed the Ba'ath Party headquarters right here in Basra.

WOODRUFF: Richard -- we're talking to Richard Gaisford, a British journalist there with British forces in Basra, in the city in the south of Iraq. Richard, one other thing. The troops you are talking to, are they sounding confident that they're going to be able to get control of the situation?

GAISFORD: It's very difficult. Off the record, I think they want to get in there as quickly as possible to sort this out. I think they've been sitting on the edge of not being able to attack because the word, the political will is no civilian casualties.

I think that changed this morning. The British decided that Basra was a military objective for them and this, perhaps, is it. And the public uprising, the popular uprising perhaps, has given them just that spur to make their move a little quicker.

WOODRUFF: All right. Richard Gaisford reporting. Again, he is embedded with the British troops that are trying to make a move on the city of Basra. But, as you just heard him describe, you have Iraqi forces firing on their own people to prevent a popular uprising. Clearly an area we're going to keep a close eye on.

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 25, 2003 - 15:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now, British forces are there, and embedded among them is British journalist Richard Gaisford. He's with us now on the telephone. Richard, do you want to describe for us what you are seeing and what you've seen?
RICHARD GAISFORD, JOURNALIST: Well, Judy, right now there is the most unbelievable night show over the city of Basra. Not only artillery going in and illumination flares over the city, but also the most amazing electrical storm as well. High winds and very heavy rain.

So it is a very surreal evening here and it started a little earlier this evening for us when we heard artillery fire coming from the location we are at with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard. They are part of the famous Desert Rats, the 7th Armored Brigade. And we heard that going in, we asked what was happening.

We were told that there was a popular uprising in the center of Basra. And Iraqi troops, units of troops based in that city were now firing upon the protesters. So the fire coming in from the British locations, it was to take out those army units, to take out the ammunition and the artillery that was there firing on those people, which was also firing, we're told, on British troops from the edge of the city as well.

WOODRUFF: Richard, we know that -- we're told that many of these Iraqi units may be dressed as civilians. So this is a matter of figuring out who they are from afar. I guess based on whatever weapons they are firing.

GAISFORD: And this is one reason why the British troops aren't going in tonight. We had expected them to go in pretty much as soon an artillery barrage had finished. The decision I think has been taken by the brigade not to go in tonight, because that may well cause confusion amongst the civilians and citizens of Basra.

The fear is that they would see tanks and armored vehicles streaming in the city and not know who they belonged to. They might well have thought that they were Iraqi tanks coming in to reinforce the city. So they may well go in at first night, when people there can see that it's friendly forces that are coming in and to help them and support them in this uprising.

And one thing that has happened tonight in the last few hours, quite important, I would imagine, a 2,000-pound bomb has been dropped on to the Ba'ath Party headquarters. It's been on the Ba'ath Party headquarters, it's totally destroyed. This was a guided missile, we're told, dropped probably by an F-18. I'm still unclear on the exact details of that. Probably a JDAM missile. And it has totally destroyed the Ba'ath Party headquarters right here in Basra.

WOODRUFF: Richard -- we're talking to Richard Gaisford, a British journalist there with British forces in Basra, in the city in the south of Iraq. Richard, one other thing. The troops you are talking to, are they sounding confident that they're going to be able to get control of the situation?

GAISFORD: It's very difficult. Off the record, I think they want to get in there as quickly as possible to sort this out. I think they've been sitting on the edge of not being able to attack because the word, the political will is no civilian casualties.

I think that changed this morning. The British decided that Basra was a military objective for them and this, perhaps, is it. And the public uprising, the popular uprising perhaps, has given them just that spur to make their move a little quicker.

WOODRUFF: All right. Richard Gaisford reporting. Again, he is embedded with the British troops that are trying to make a move on the city of Basra. But, as you just heard him describe, you have Iraqi forces firing on their own people to prevent a popular uprising. Clearly an area we're going to keep a close eye on.

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