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Pentagon: Criticism is Not Helpful

Aired April 01, 2003 - 15:20   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, ANCHOR: To Iraq now, where the vice president of that country is accusing U.S. forces of deliberately shooting and killing women and children at a military checkpoint.
But U.S. central command says that American forces opened fire near Najaf yesterday only after a van failed to stop, despite repeated warnings. Central command says that seven women and children were killed and that the incident is under investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, CENTCOM: I certainly can't presuppose what decisions are being made or what decisions were made by the people in that vehicle. What we do know is that we've been broadcasting now for a good period of time, since about the 17th of February, 24 hours a day on five different frequencies. And consistent throughout that time have been messages that say, avoid coalition troops, avoid the places where combat is going to occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: A "Washington Post" reporter, who witnessed the incident, offers a somewhat different account than central command. He reports that 10 women and children were killed at the checkpoint. And he quotes an Army captain as saying warning shots were not fired quickly enough.

Well, at the Pentagon, here across the Potomac River, they wrapped up their briefing just a moment ago. We want to go to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, I don't think I've ever seen General Richard Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs, as animated as he was in answering your and some of the other reporters' questions about these persistent criticisms coming from some of the commanders on the ground in Iraq.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They clearly were frustrated about the perception that somehow the war plan didn't put enough forces in place fast enough.

Dealing with those questions and some of the criticism, both from retired generals and from some of the actual troops in the field, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld vigorously defended the course of the war so far, saying that the Republican Guard are on the ropes, and that the U.S. is winning the war. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Good afternoon. The Republican Guard has been taking a pounding for some days now. And some of the Republican Guard units from up north have been brought down south to try and reinforce Republican Guard units in the south that had been badly weakened.

The process goes on. They are being attacked from the air. They are being pressured from the ground, and in good time, they won't be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now questioned by reporters about a particular "New York Times" report that quoted some U.S. commanders in the field as saying they didn't seem to have all the forces they needed, Rumsfeld was questioned about this, but General Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs, quickly jumped to his defense and delivered an impassioned defense of the war plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: It is not helpful to have those kind of comments come out when we've got troops in combat. Because first of all, they're false. They are absolutely wrong. They bear no resemblance to the truth and it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely, very courageously.

I've been in this process every step of the way, as well. There is not one thing that General Franks has asked for that he hasn't gotten on the timeline that we could get it to him, and it wasn't because of a late signing. It might be because we didn't have, you know, a ship or something but it's not -- it's been for mechanical reasons, not because of administrative reasons, I can guarantee you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also denied that he had unduly influenced the plan in any way. In fact, he said that in the end General Franks and every single commander involved signed up and said this plan was exactly what they wanted. And he said, when they were asked by President Bush if they had everything they needed, they all said, yes.

And General Myers said if for any reason they weren't giving their real advice at this point, he said, they would have been shirking their duty as an officer in a military uniform of the U.S. armed services -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Jamie, these comments really started last week with quotes from General William Wallace, the five corps commander on the ground in Iraq, saying that they hadn't expected the kind of resistance they got. How do you square what we're hearing from some of these generals and colonels on the ground with what we're hearing from the Pentagon? The two things at times sound diametrically different.

MCINTYRE: Well, you can square them. And the way is simply that it's a matter of scale and perspective. It's a case where actually both things can be true.

It's true that they meet unexpected events on the battlefield. It's true that at any particular point a commander may want more force than they actually have. But it also may be true that the overall plan is the one that is actually providing the most effective military strategy.

So I think the point that the Pentagon is trying to make is that some of these criticisms are vastly distorting the big picture, and that if you look at the big picture, that this military plan, in about two weeks, has been very successful in achieving a lot of objectives and remains on track to achieve the ultimate objective -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Well, they certainly made it clear at the Pentagon today, Jamie, that they think these comments, wherever they're coming from, are not helpful.

All right. Jamie McIntyre, our senior military affairs correspondent.

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 - 15:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR: To Iraq now, where the vice president of that country is accusing U.S. forces of deliberately shooting and killing women and children at a military checkpoint.
But U.S. central command says that American forces opened fire near Najaf yesterday only after a van failed to stop, despite repeated warnings. Central command says that seven women and children were killed and that the incident is under investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS, CENTCOM: I certainly can't presuppose what decisions are being made or what decisions were made by the people in that vehicle. What we do know is that we've been broadcasting now for a good period of time, since about the 17th of February, 24 hours a day on five different frequencies. And consistent throughout that time have been messages that say, avoid coalition troops, avoid the places where combat is going to occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: A "Washington Post" reporter, who witnessed the incident, offers a somewhat different account than central command. He reports that 10 women and children were killed at the checkpoint. And he quotes an Army captain as saying warning shots were not fired quickly enough.

Well, at the Pentagon, here across the Potomac River, they wrapped up their briefing just a moment ago. We want to go to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, I don't think I've ever seen General Richard Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs, as animated as he was in answering your and some of the other reporters' questions about these persistent criticisms coming from some of the commanders on the ground in Iraq.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They clearly were frustrated about the perception that somehow the war plan didn't put enough forces in place fast enough.

Dealing with those questions and some of the criticism, both from retired generals and from some of the actual troops in the field, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld vigorously defended the course of the war so far, saying that the Republican Guard are on the ropes, and that the U.S. is winning the war. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Good afternoon. The Republican Guard has been taking a pounding for some days now. And some of the Republican Guard units from up north have been brought down south to try and reinforce Republican Guard units in the south that had been badly weakened.

The process goes on. They are being attacked from the air. They are being pressured from the ground, and in good time, they won't be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now questioned by reporters about a particular "New York Times" report that quoted some U.S. commanders in the field as saying they didn't seem to have all the forces they needed, Rumsfeld was questioned about this, but General Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs, quickly jumped to his defense and delivered an impassioned defense of the war plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: It is not helpful to have those kind of comments come out when we've got troops in combat. Because first of all, they're false. They are absolutely wrong. They bear no resemblance to the truth and it's just harmful to our troops that are out there fighting very bravely, very courageously.

I've been in this process every step of the way, as well. There is not one thing that General Franks has asked for that he hasn't gotten on the timeline that we could get it to him, and it wasn't because of a late signing. It might be because we didn't have, you know, a ship or something but it's not -- it's been for mechanical reasons, not because of administrative reasons, I can guarantee you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also denied that he had unduly influenced the plan in any way. In fact, he said that in the end General Franks and every single commander involved signed up and said this plan was exactly what they wanted. And he said, when they were asked by President Bush if they had everything they needed, they all said, yes.

And General Myers said if for any reason they weren't giving their real advice at this point, he said, they would have been shirking their duty as an officer in a military uniform of the U.S. armed services -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Jamie, these comments really started last week with quotes from General William Wallace, the five corps commander on the ground in Iraq, saying that they hadn't expected the kind of resistance they got. How do you square what we're hearing from some of these generals and colonels on the ground with what we're hearing from the Pentagon? The two things at times sound diametrically different.

MCINTYRE: Well, you can square them. And the way is simply that it's a matter of scale and perspective. It's a case where actually both things can be true.

It's true that they meet unexpected events on the battlefield. It's true that at any particular point a commander may want more force than they actually have. But it also may be true that the overall plan is the one that is actually providing the most effective military strategy.

So I think the point that the Pentagon is trying to make is that some of these criticisms are vastly distorting the big picture, and that if you look at the big picture, that this military plan, in about two weeks, has been very successful in achieving a lot of objectives and remains on track to achieve the ultimate objective -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Well, they certainly made it clear at the Pentagon today, Jamie, that they think these comments, wherever they're coming from, are not helpful.

All right. Jamie McIntyre, our senior military affairs correspondent.

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