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Iraqi Troops Retreat in Northern Front
Aired April 02, 2003 - 12:07 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: Iraqi troops apparently are in retreat. That's the word we are getting from CNN crews on the scene, especially in the northern front. They're with U.S. and Kurdish forces, and they are on the move. CNN's Ben Wedeman is joining us now live from the border town of Kalak -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. Good evening, Wolf. Well, we've seen in fact in two places Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi forces have pulled back.
Here in Kalak, of course, we've seen for the last 10 days or so intense bombing of the ridge above the village of Kalak, where the Iraqi forces were ensconced. This evening we were watching through our binoculars and noticed that people were walking up the road right above Kalak. We rushed down there and discovered much to our surprise, and obviously to the surprise of the local Kurdish fighters, that the Iraqi soldiers had left, disappeared just before sunset.
They've pull back, we've been told by senior Kurdish commanders, to about seven kilometers in the direction of Mosul, to the west of here. No indication whatsoever that they were about to pull out.
But we do know, having spoken with Iraqi deserters, that morale was plummeting. That the bombing of the Iraqi front line positions was really having a horrid impact on the morale of the troops. And simply many of them had had enough. Some were deserting. Others clearly have been pulled back by their commanders.
Now to the north of Mosul, we were in another area where Kurdish forces had advanced by more than 12 miles in the direction of Mosul. That, after something of a fight between the Kurdish soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts.
We saw three Iraqi army trucks that had been completely destroyed by U.S. missiles fired by aircraft in that area. We also saw, interestingly enough, more than two dozen U.S. troops who apparently had provided guidance for those aircraft flying overhead, showing them which targets to hit.
Now another interesting thing we saw in the area was the local population -- who are Kurds, not Arabs -- were very happy to see the arrival of Kurdish forces there. I asked them if they had -- what their impression was. They were happy. They were cheering.
One man telling me he was delighted to see the dictator, Saddam Hussein, his troops pulling out of the area. They also told me that as soon as the Iraqi troops had fled, that they immediately -- one of the first things they did was tear down all the posters of Saddam Hussein and stamp on them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: The general tone, though, seems to be advancing on the ground, Ben. But this is not to be confused with a formal front that's being opened up to move towards Baghdad, since the U.S. and Kurdish forces in the north are relatively lightly armed. Is that fair?
WEDEMAN: Yes that's correct. Really, the Kurdish forces, they have some machine guns, some rocket-propelled grenades, but they are lightly armed. What they've been doing is taking advantage of the punishing air strikes that have been going on by filling in the vacuums left by retreating Iraqi forces.
Now it's not a tactic unlike what we saw in northern Afghanistan, where U.S. airplanes really pounded all these front line positions of the Taliban, for instance, essentially creating the conditions that allowed the Northern Alliance to push ahead. Today, really for the first time that I have seen, there was fighting between Kurdish and Iraqi troops, and they had that critical U.S. air support.
So it's not the kind of push we're seeing in the south by U.S. forces and British forces, but it is a gradual eating away of the Iraqi positions, a gradual erosion of the morale of the Iraqi forces. Now interestingly enough, we heard there are no Republican Guard in this area, there are no Fedayeen Saddam. That it's just ordinary recruits who really would rather just put down their weapons and go home -- Wolf.
BLITZER: U.S. and Kurdish forces allied in this war, apparently mopping up the situation, consolidating their stance in the northern part of the country. Ben Wedeman, thanks very much for that report.
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 2, 2003 - 12:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Iraqi troops apparently are in retreat. That's the word we are getting from CNN crews on the scene, especially in the northern front. They're with U.S. and Kurdish forces, and they are on the move. CNN's Ben Wedeman is joining us now live from the border town of Kalak -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. Good evening, Wolf. Well, we've seen in fact in two places Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi forces have pulled back.
Here in Kalak, of course, we've seen for the last 10 days or so intense bombing of the ridge above the village of Kalak, where the Iraqi forces were ensconced. This evening we were watching through our binoculars and noticed that people were walking up the road right above Kalak. We rushed down there and discovered much to our surprise, and obviously to the surprise of the local Kurdish fighters, that the Iraqi soldiers had left, disappeared just before sunset.
They've pull back, we've been told by senior Kurdish commanders, to about seven kilometers in the direction of Mosul, to the west of here. No indication whatsoever that they were about to pull out.
But we do know, having spoken with Iraqi deserters, that morale was plummeting. That the bombing of the Iraqi front line positions was really having a horrid impact on the morale of the troops. And simply many of them had had enough. Some were deserting. Others clearly have been pulled back by their commanders.
Now to the north of Mosul, we were in another area where Kurdish forces had advanced by more than 12 miles in the direction of Mosul. That, after something of a fight between the Kurdish soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts.
We saw three Iraqi army trucks that had been completely destroyed by U.S. missiles fired by aircraft in that area. We also saw, interestingly enough, more than two dozen U.S. troops who apparently had provided guidance for those aircraft flying overhead, showing them which targets to hit.
Now another interesting thing we saw in the area was the local population -- who are Kurds, not Arabs -- were very happy to see the arrival of Kurdish forces there. I asked them if they had -- what their impression was. They were happy. They were cheering.
One man telling me he was delighted to see the dictator, Saddam Hussein, his troops pulling out of the area. They also told me that as soon as the Iraqi troops had fled, that they immediately -- one of the first things they did was tear down all the posters of Saddam Hussein and stamp on them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: The general tone, though, seems to be advancing on the ground, Ben. But this is not to be confused with a formal front that's being opened up to move towards Baghdad, since the U.S. and Kurdish forces in the north are relatively lightly armed. Is that fair?
WEDEMAN: Yes that's correct. Really, the Kurdish forces, they have some machine guns, some rocket-propelled grenades, but they are lightly armed. What they've been doing is taking advantage of the punishing air strikes that have been going on by filling in the vacuums left by retreating Iraqi forces.
Now it's not a tactic unlike what we saw in northern Afghanistan, where U.S. airplanes really pounded all these front line positions of the Taliban, for instance, essentially creating the conditions that allowed the Northern Alliance to push ahead. Today, really for the first time that I have seen, there was fighting between Kurdish and Iraqi troops, and they had that critical U.S. air support.
So it's not the kind of push we're seeing in the south by U.S. forces and British forces, but it is a gradual eating away of the Iraqi positions, a gradual erosion of the morale of the Iraqi forces. Now interestingly enough, we heard there are no Republican Guard in this area, there are no Fedayeen Saddam. That it's just ordinary recruits who really would rather just put down their weapons and go home -- Wolf.
BLITZER: U.S. and Kurdish forces allied in this war, apparently mopping up the situation, consolidating their stance in the northern part of the country. Ben Wedeman, thanks very much for that report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
