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How Will Northern Airstrip Be Used?

Aired March 27, 2003 - 13:17   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: For more on all of this, we turn to CNN's Miles O'Brien in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta. He's got our CNN military analysts with him -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf. We're going to talk about the emerging northern front, with 1,000 people on the ground, perhaps front might be a bit of a euphemism. We'll ask General Don Shepperd about that and a few other matters.

First of all, I wanted to talk about this helicopter incident that was just released. Iraqi television releasing pictures of an Apache helicopter reportedly shot down. This would be the second of this week-long campaign.

Wanted to show you, on the left of your screen here are images from Sunday, that first Apache down. On the right is the stuff that is supposedly a fresh Apache down.

Don Shepperd, you've had a chance to look through these. We've looked at some of the serial numbers and the markings what is your thought?

GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it's the same aircraft, just shot from different angles. The hard thing is the aircraft, the first aircraft shot down is no more, Miles, it was bombed, as is our normal practice.

So I believe it's the same aircraft. Everything looks the same. It had the same insignia. It's not -- it's not impossible that another airplane shot down with the same insignia, but I don't believe so.

O'BRIEN: OK. We're going to look at that a little more closely, see if we can find kind of smoking gun proof on it. But our first sense of it, is just looking at the terrain and the grass land that it's in, the way the wreckage is...

SHEPPERD: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... positioned, looks like the same aircraft. We're going to watch it, check with the Pentagon on that.

Now, let's talk about this northern front. Is it correct to call it a front? It's really not a front.

SHEPPERD: It's the start of a front. What we have is, we have the troops from the 173rd Airborne, a thousand of them, dropped into this air base, we are calling Bashur (ph). It's near the town of Bashur (ph). We called it Harir (ph) yesterday.

But basically, what they're doing is they're dropping in, they're securing the airfield. The first thing you do is you set up lights, you set up navigational aids, so you can bring light equipment in, improve the airfield and then bring in more equipment and heavier equipment later on.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's -- If we can put our satellite animation through the telestrator for you, I'll show you exactly where we're headed here.

If you look in the upper right hand corner of Iraq, the absolute northeast corner of Iraq, that is Kurdish country. So it's not correct to say this was a seized airfield. This was Kurdish company and therefore friendly, presumably, to U.S. Forces.

SHEPPERD: You bet.

O'BRIEN: That's where we're headed. Let's take a look at this airfield. It isn't much of an airfield, when you go in on it, you realize it doesn't appear to be paved for one thing. Of course, it doesn't need to be for its uses.

Don Shepperd, over time, we get the corps of engineers in there, put some runways in, will you turn this into a rather robust airfield or is it just sort of a temporary stop along the way?

SHEPPERD: I think it's a temporary stop along the way.

Now, the United States has the ability to rapidly improve these. We also have airplanes such as the Lockheed C-130, the Boeing C-17, that can land on unimproved strips, but you don't want to do that for very long. It really slows things.

And another big thing that you have to worry about is what you call MOG, or military operations on the ground. You need not only the runway but you need ramps and you need roads leading off there.

So I think it's a temporary stop. Undoubtedly, we'll switch to a much improved airfield later on when the ability comes to seize an airfield.

O'BRIEN: All right. And I've got that thing going while they're running around I hope I didn't give anybody an upset stomach at home.

But let's look at the pictures of those paratroopers jumping out of the aircraft. It's -- I know we've played it so many times. It's incredible images, brings to mind a couple of things.

First of all, the fact that we're watching all of this unfold is remarkable.

SHEPPERD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: This tape was back at CNN Center just a few hours -- once the plane landed in Italy, we had the pictures.

SHEPPERD: Two significant things about this jump. One of them is it's the largest jump in a long time in military history. And second, it's the first combat jump from the C-17 aircraft. The C-17 would be escorted by Air Force fighters, Air Force jamming aircraft and also aircraft armed with homing anti-radiation missiles in case they came under any missile threat.

This is dangerous. Requires precise navigation. And there are always people hurt on a jump, Miles.

O'BRIEN: And there's also one person at the end -- we didn't show the tape. There was one guy at the end, who had -- his stuff got all tangled up. And unfortunately, I didn't see whether he every got a chance to jump.

SHEPPERD: Yes, well, you don't want to jump late.

O'BRIEN: You don't want to jump late.

SHEPPERD: You don't want to jump late. So there are procedures. If you get tangled up, you...

O'BRIEN: You wait.

SHEPPERD: You get off the line and wait.

O'BRIEN: He might have gone home. He might have to come back on the next go-around.

In any case, we're watching on the north. Let's talk about the south the next time we get together.

SHEPPERD: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Judy?

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Miles, boy, I don't know much about coming out of an airplane in a parachute, but I sure wouldn't want to do it with the lines tangled, anyway.

They've been talking about the start of the front in northern Iraq. We just heard Miles and General Shepperd.

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 - 13:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: For more on all of this, we turn to CNN's Miles O'Brien in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta. He's got our CNN military analysts with him -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf. We're going to talk about the emerging northern front, with 1,000 people on the ground, perhaps front might be a bit of a euphemism. We'll ask General Don Shepperd about that and a few other matters.

First of all, I wanted to talk about this helicopter incident that was just released. Iraqi television releasing pictures of an Apache helicopter reportedly shot down. This would be the second of this week-long campaign.

Wanted to show you, on the left of your screen here are images from Sunday, that first Apache down. On the right is the stuff that is supposedly a fresh Apache down.

Don Shepperd, you've had a chance to look through these. We've looked at some of the serial numbers and the markings what is your thought?

GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it's the same aircraft, just shot from different angles. The hard thing is the aircraft, the first aircraft shot down is no more, Miles, it was bombed, as is our normal practice.

So I believe it's the same aircraft. Everything looks the same. It had the same insignia. It's not -- it's not impossible that another airplane shot down with the same insignia, but I don't believe so.

O'BRIEN: OK. We're going to look at that a little more closely, see if we can find kind of smoking gun proof on it. But our first sense of it, is just looking at the terrain and the grass land that it's in, the way the wreckage is...

SHEPPERD: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... positioned, looks like the same aircraft. We're going to watch it, check with the Pentagon on that.

Now, let's talk about this northern front. Is it correct to call it a front? It's really not a front.

SHEPPERD: It's the start of a front. What we have is, we have the troops from the 173rd Airborne, a thousand of them, dropped into this air base, we are calling Bashur (ph). It's near the town of Bashur (ph). We called it Harir (ph) yesterday.

But basically, what they're doing is they're dropping in, they're securing the airfield. The first thing you do is you set up lights, you set up navigational aids, so you can bring light equipment in, improve the airfield and then bring in more equipment and heavier equipment later on.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's -- If we can put our satellite animation through the telestrator for you, I'll show you exactly where we're headed here.

If you look in the upper right hand corner of Iraq, the absolute northeast corner of Iraq, that is Kurdish country. So it's not correct to say this was a seized airfield. This was Kurdish company and therefore friendly, presumably, to U.S. Forces.

SHEPPERD: You bet.

O'BRIEN: That's where we're headed. Let's take a look at this airfield. It isn't much of an airfield, when you go in on it, you realize it doesn't appear to be paved for one thing. Of course, it doesn't need to be for its uses.

Don Shepperd, over time, we get the corps of engineers in there, put some runways in, will you turn this into a rather robust airfield or is it just sort of a temporary stop along the way?

SHEPPERD: I think it's a temporary stop along the way.

Now, the United States has the ability to rapidly improve these. We also have airplanes such as the Lockheed C-130, the Boeing C-17, that can land on unimproved strips, but you don't want to do that for very long. It really slows things.

And another big thing that you have to worry about is what you call MOG, or military operations on the ground. You need not only the runway but you need ramps and you need roads leading off there.

So I think it's a temporary stop. Undoubtedly, we'll switch to a much improved airfield later on when the ability comes to seize an airfield.

O'BRIEN: All right. And I've got that thing going while they're running around I hope I didn't give anybody an upset stomach at home.

But let's look at the pictures of those paratroopers jumping out of the aircraft. It's -- I know we've played it so many times. It's incredible images, brings to mind a couple of things.

First of all, the fact that we're watching all of this unfold is remarkable.

SHEPPERD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: This tape was back at CNN Center just a few hours -- once the plane landed in Italy, we had the pictures.

SHEPPERD: Two significant things about this jump. One of them is it's the largest jump in a long time in military history. And second, it's the first combat jump from the C-17 aircraft. The C-17 would be escorted by Air Force fighters, Air Force jamming aircraft and also aircraft armed with homing anti-radiation missiles in case they came under any missile threat.

This is dangerous. Requires precise navigation. And there are always people hurt on a jump, Miles.

O'BRIEN: And there's also one person at the end -- we didn't show the tape. There was one guy at the end, who had -- his stuff got all tangled up. And unfortunately, I didn't see whether he every got a chance to jump.

SHEPPERD: Yes, well, you don't want to jump late.

O'BRIEN: You don't want to jump late.

SHEPPERD: You don't want to jump late. So there are procedures. If you get tangled up, you...

O'BRIEN: You wait.

SHEPPERD: You get off the line and wait.

O'BRIEN: He might have gone home. He might have to come back on the next go-around.

In any case, we're watching on the north. Let's talk about the south the next time we get together.

SHEPPERD: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Judy?

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Miles, boy, I don't know much about coming out of an airplane in a parachute, but I sure wouldn't want to do it with the lines tangled, anyway.

They've been talking about the start of the front in northern Iraq. We just heard Miles and General Shepperd.

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