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Pentagon Confirms it Struck Targets in Residential Neighborhood
Aired March 26, 2003 - 13:24 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, ANCHOR: But I want to go back to the Pentagon right now. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is standing by. She has some new information for us -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the U.S. central command is now saying at 3 a.m. this morning, Baghdad time, they used precision guided weapons to attack nine missile and rocket and -- missiles and launchers in a residential area of Baghdad. Military targets, they said, were placed within less than 300 feet of some homes in this Baghdad neighborhood.
Now, an assessment of this operation is ongoing. And to cut to bottom line here, the U.S. Central command says they simply do not know at this time if this strike against military targets in a Baghdad residential neighborhood was the video being shown on Baghdad TV earlier today of some damage and some casualties caused in a Baghdad marketplace.
The area that the U.S. military said it struck was in a north Baghdad residential neighborhood. But they say they used highly precise weapons to attack these launchers and missiles that have been placed so close to homes.
They acknowledge, now, there is a possibility, but they do not have confirmation and they simply don't know if they caused the damage shown on Baghdad TV. And of course, the reason is, they don't have a precise location in the military of where this marketplace is that has been shown on television.
But U.S. military officials now saying they did target earlier today and dropped munitions on missiles and launchers in a Baghdad residential neighborhood, some of these missiles and launchers within 300 feet of the homes of some Iraqis. However, precision weapons, they say were used -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And precision weapons, as good as they are, are not always perfect, by any means. Occasionally, those Tomahawk cruise missiles veer off. They miss their target, even if they miss by a little bit.
We'll be checking back with you, Barbara Starr. Thanks very much for that update, an important development.
Meanwhile, Iraq claimed that 15 civilians were indeed killed by U.S. cruise missiles in a residential area of Baghdad. As we now know, that has not yet been confirmed.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Neighborhood>
Aired March 26, 2003 - 13:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: But I want to go back to the Pentagon right now. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is standing by. She has some new information for us -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the U.S. central command is now saying at 3 a.m. this morning, Baghdad time, they used precision guided weapons to attack nine missile and rocket and -- missiles and launchers in a residential area of Baghdad. Military targets, they said, were placed within less than 300 feet of some homes in this Baghdad neighborhood.
Now, an assessment of this operation is ongoing. And to cut to bottom line here, the U.S. Central command says they simply do not know at this time if this strike against military targets in a Baghdad residential neighborhood was the video being shown on Baghdad TV earlier today of some damage and some casualties caused in a Baghdad marketplace.
The area that the U.S. military said it struck was in a north Baghdad residential neighborhood. But they say they used highly precise weapons to attack these launchers and missiles that have been placed so close to homes.
They acknowledge, now, there is a possibility, but they do not have confirmation and they simply don't know if they caused the damage shown on Baghdad TV. And of course, the reason is, they don't have a precise location in the military of where this marketplace is that has been shown on television.
But U.S. military officials now saying they did target earlier today and dropped munitions on missiles and launchers in a Baghdad residential neighborhood, some of these missiles and launchers within 300 feet of the homes of some Iraqis. However, precision weapons, they say were used -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And precision weapons, as good as they are, are not always perfect, by any means. Occasionally, those Tomahawk cruise missiles veer off. They miss their target, even if they miss by a little bit.
We'll be checking back with you, Barbara Starr. Thanks very much for that update, an important development.
Meanwhile, Iraq claimed that 15 civilians were indeed killed by U.S. cruise missiles in a residential area of Baghdad. As we now know, that has not yet been confirmed.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Neighborhood>
