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Military Analysis With Don Shepperd
Aired March 27, 2003 - 14:10 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: I believe we're going to CNN Miles -- CNN's Miles O'Brien now for some more military analysis. What's happening on this battlefield, which seems to be expanding, Miles, with every hour?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, I think that's probably an accurate assessment of what's going on.
The question, I guess, for the generals is, how quickly is it expanding, is it expanding fast enough, this so-called rolling start -- has it gone as expected? General Don Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force here to assess that.
What is your initial assessment -- all the generals I have spoken to have admitted this was a thin force at the outset. This whole concept of bringing the 4th Infantry in originally through Turkey now delayed and coming down through the south. How much has that hampered the plan?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPHERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's hampered the plan, but it was also one of the things that General Franks considered in planning this. What if we didn't -- weren't able to go through Turkey?
Basically, the forces moved boldly and audaciously up here in the neighborhood of Najaf and Karbala, other forces moving up along the Euphrates River and in the open desert over here.
The problem now is not the movement but consolidation and securing these supply areas in the rear, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right.
Let's talk a little about the south. We promised we would. I'm going to take you to some of our satellite imagery through the good graces of our friends at earthviewer.com. And let's -- I'm going to bring you down to this southeastern corner of Iraq. This is a very crucial place. You know there's only 19 miles of coast line, Iraqi coast line?
SHEPPERD: Right.
O'BRIEN: Perhaps some of the motivation for Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait back in 1991. But I am going to take you down to Basra now. And the reason I want to point this out is first of all, Basra, the situation there has been a bit chaotic, to say the least. We've heard reports of a column of Iraqis moving southeastward out of there and they were strafed apparently by British tornado's and harriers.
Do you think that that situation is now getting under control there?
SHEPHERD: I don't think it's under control yet, but the British have the task of securing Basra, which is 1.2 million people.
The key to humanitarian relief is the port of Umm Qasr, the only port down there. The Shat Al Arab is a very narrow -- that basically dumps off the Al Faw Peninsula. But the port of Umm Qasr is a poor port. You cannot afford to get a ship sunk in those very narrow channels. It will bottle that up and prevent later humanitarian aid. So the key is the port of Umm Qasr and then Basra, clearing that city, making it possible to get humanitarian relief to the people.
O'BRIEN: Umm Qasr is the focus. That is where you're focused right now in the satellite imagery. And the point is, there's not a lot of deep water access there, and if you can get that choke point choked off with mines or whatever, you've got a big problem.
SHEPHERD: A lousy port, but the hand you're dealt, you have to bring everything in through this port. The only other port of course is the port of Kuwait, where we're unloading a great deal of war equipment. Now relief supplies will be flowing through Kuwait as well, but Umm Qasr is the key to southern Iraq and of course the town of Basra, which is the first major town north and the other towns north toward Baghdad, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Don Shepperd, thank you very much for the quick update. We appreciate it. We'll be checking in with you later, talking about -- kind of get a rolling assessment of the rolling start as we go along here.
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 27, 2003 - 14:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I believe we're going to CNN Miles -- CNN's Miles O'Brien now for some more military analysis. What's happening on this battlefield, which seems to be expanding, Miles, with every hour?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, I think that's probably an accurate assessment of what's going on.
The question, I guess, for the generals is, how quickly is it expanding, is it expanding fast enough, this so-called rolling start -- has it gone as expected? General Don Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force here to assess that.
What is your initial assessment -- all the generals I have spoken to have admitted this was a thin force at the outset. This whole concept of bringing the 4th Infantry in originally through Turkey now delayed and coming down through the south. How much has that hampered the plan?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPHERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's hampered the plan, but it was also one of the things that General Franks considered in planning this. What if we didn't -- weren't able to go through Turkey?
Basically, the forces moved boldly and audaciously up here in the neighborhood of Najaf and Karbala, other forces moving up along the Euphrates River and in the open desert over here.
The problem now is not the movement but consolidation and securing these supply areas in the rear, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right.
Let's talk a little about the south. We promised we would. I'm going to take you to some of our satellite imagery through the good graces of our friends at earthviewer.com. And let's -- I'm going to bring you down to this southeastern corner of Iraq. This is a very crucial place. You know there's only 19 miles of coast line, Iraqi coast line?
SHEPPERD: Right.
O'BRIEN: Perhaps some of the motivation for Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait back in 1991. But I am going to take you down to Basra now. And the reason I want to point this out is first of all, Basra, the situation there has been a bit chaotic, to say the least. We've heard reports of a column of Iraqis moving southeastward out of there and they were strafed apparently by British tornado's and harriers.
Do you think that that situation is now getting under control there?
SHEPHERD: I don't think it's under control yet, but the British have the task of securing Basra, which is 1.2 million people.
The key to humanitarian relief is the port of Umm Qasr, the only port down there. The Shat Al Arab is a very narrow -- that basically dumps off the Al Faw Peninsula. But the port of Umm Qasr is a poor port. You cannot afford to get a ship sunk in those very narrow channels. It will bottle that up and prevent later humanitarian aid. So the key is the port of Umm Qasr and then Basra, clearing that city, making it possible to get humanitarian relief to the people.
O'BRIEN: Umm Qasr is the focus. That is where you're focused right now in the satellite imagery. And the point is, there's not a lot of deep water access there, and if you can get that choke point choked off with mines or whatever, you've got a big problem.
SHEPHERD: A lousy port, but the hand you're dealt, you have to bring everything in through this port. The only other port of course is the port of Kuwait, where we're unloading a great deal of war equipment. Now relief supplies will be flowing through Kuwait as well, but Umm Qasr is the key to southern Iraq and of course the town of Basra, which is the first major town north and the other towns north toward Baghdad, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Don Shepperd, thank you very much for the quick update. We appreciate it. We'll be checking in with you later, talking about -- kind of get a rolling assessment of the rolling start as we go along here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
