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Analysis of Military Moves in Nasiriya
Aired April 01, 2003 - 12:55 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Nasiriya, let's take a look. We can show you some satellite imagery which gives you a sense of Nasiriya.
This is such a critical place, Don Shepperd, and it's worth pointing out, what you're seeing here, of course, the Euphrates River, which goes through here. And I believe there are at least two, maybe three more bridges that cross the Euphrates here. And those have been critical, haven't they?
GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They are. The big bridges are critical. There really are numerous bridges that cross this Euphrates River. Every one of them is a choke point that you have to bottle up troops to across them and cross them.
And also, they are heavily defended. And then you have people melting back into the area even after you've cleared them, Miles. So they're all important and tough fighting.
O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about these RPGs, Rocket Propelled Grenades. Makes me immediately think of Somalia, Mogadishu. An RPG can be a very deadly thing. It brought down a those Black Hawk helicopters.
How much -- how formidable a foe are they for U.S. forces? How concerned should U.S. forces be?
SHEPPERD: Very formidable. And you got the right image, Black Hawk down. Those hit the helicopters that brought them down in the battle of Mogadishu.
And basically they're fired from a shoulder mounted -- they're visually fired. But when they hit, they're vicious. They do a lot of damage. And anybody that has an RPG poses a threat to any vehicle and any aircraft out there that's flying at low altitude or helicopter.
O'BRIEN: So I mean the moral of the story here at Nasiriya is, it is by no means a contained situation. It is not even close, is it?
SHEPPERD: Nope. Even Umm Qasr. Still pockets bouncing up every now and then in Umm Qasr, in the old port, at least. And Basra, of course, still in question. Nasiriya, same thing. Going to be a while before this is pacified.
O'BRIEN: I've got to ask that question going back to what Ken Pollack said. You know, it is this whole idea of the populous rising up to greet the U.S. forces. That really has not materialized. His point was well taken, though. Until they see Saddam Hussein hanging from a post, as he put it, or some proof that this regime is kaput, it's going to be very difficult because of this reign of fear.
SHEPPERD: These people had 30 years of Ba'ath brutality. The Ba'ath Party is in control. They know what happens with any dissent, they are murdered. And it's very likely, as Ken said, that they are not going to rise up and switch sides until they are absolutely certain that Saddam and probably all Ba'athists are gone.
O'BRIEN: All right, Don Shepperd, retired general U.S. Air Force. As always, we appreciate your instant analysis on what we're hearing from our embeds. Once again, we try to give you the big picture when we hear from those I embeds because what they're giving you is a very narrow view of what's going on on the battlefield.
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 April 1, 2003 - 12:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Nasiriya, let's take a look. We can show you some satellite imagery which gives you a sense of Nasiriya.
This is such a critical place, Don Shepperd, and it's worth pointing out, what you're seeing here, of course, the Euphrates River, which goes through here. And I believe there are at least two, maybe three more bridges that cross the Euphrates here. And those have been critical, haven't they?
GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They are. The big bridges are critical. There really are numerous bridges that cross this Euphrates River. Every one of them is a choke point that you have to bottle up troops to across them and cross them.
And also, they are heavily defended. And then you have people melting back into the area even after you've cleared them, Miles. So they're all important and tough fighting.
O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about these RPGs, Rocket Propelled Grenades. Makes me immediately think of Somalia, Mogadishu. An RPG can be a very deadly thing. It brought down a those Black Hawk helicopters.
How much -- how formidable a foe are they for U.S. forces? How concerned should U.S. forces be?
SHEPPERD: Very formidable. And you got the right image, Black Hawk down. Those hit the helicopters that brought them down in the battle of Mogadishu.
And basically they're fired from a shoulder mounted -- they're visually fired. But when they hit, they're vicious. They do a lot of damage. And anybody that has an RPG poses a threat to any vehicle and any aircraft out there that's flying at low altitude or helicopter.
O'BRIEN: So I mean the moral of the story here at Nasiriya is, it is by no means a contained situation. It is not even close, is it?
SHEPPERD: Nope. Even Umm Qasr. Still pockets bouncing up every now and then in Umm Qasr, in the old port, at least. And Basra, of course, still in question. Nasiriya, same thing. Going to be a while before this is pacified.
O'BRIEN: I've got to ask that question going back to what Ken Pollack said. You know, it is this whole idea of the populous rising up to greet the U.S. forces. That really has not materialized. His point was well taken, though. Until they see Saddam Hussein hanging from a post, as he put it, or some proof that this regime is kaput, it's going to be very difficult because of this reign of fear.
SHEPPERD: These people had 30 years of Ba'ath brutality. The Ba'ath Party is in control. They know what happens with any dissent, they are murdered. And it's very likely, as Ken said, that they are not going to rise up and switch sides until they are absolutely certain that Saddam and probably all Ba'athists are gone.
O'BRIEN: All right, Don Shepperd, retired general U.S. Air Force. As always, we appreciate your instant analysis on what we're hearing from our embeds. Once again, we try to give you the big picture when we hear from those I embeds because what they're giving you is a very narrow view of what's going on on the battlefield.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
