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Analysis: Coalition Converging on Baghdad

Aired April 02, 2003 - 14:07   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: And the southern arc around Baghdad isn't the only place that's seeing action today. Let's look at Iraq region by region.
First to the north and the strategic town of Kirkuk. Coalition forces dropped bombs just outside the oil-rich city. CNN's Brent Sadler called it a ferocious bombardment with very heavy explosions.

Let's move to the center of the company and the city of Najaf, where Iraqi forces are said to be using a sacred mosque as a covert base of operations. CNN's Ryan Chilcote is reporting that commanders in the field say they don't believe Iraqi soldiers are firing from the mosque but using it only as a sanctuary, running to nearby buildings to fire on U.S. troops.

In the south, especially in Basra, that's where British troops say they're confident they can overcome the Iraqi resistance. Thick black smoke can be seen across the horizon. The battle for this key southern town, a stretch for two weeks now.

Let's get some more on what's going on. For that, I turn to CNN's Miles O'Brien. He's in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Wolf. I'm joined by Major General Don Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force. And we're going to talk a little bit about what appears to be the emerging strategy of this coalition push toward Baghdad.

And before we get into the details, Don Shepperd, is this the beginnings of a push or is this part of just a probing action that lays the groundwork for something more significant later?

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Far more than a probing action, Miles. These are major battles that have been fought and major advancements toward Baghdad. Where the U.S. will pause, or where they will draw a ring around Baghdad, is still to be decided. The danger is the closer they get the more likely weapons of mass destruction.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's do this, and we'll kind of go clockwise around the map. Kut to Baghdad is about 100 Miles.

SHEPPERD: Correct.

O'BRIEN: That's the Marine thrust that we've been watching all these past couple of weeks. So far they have met with moderate resistance? Is that accurate to say?

SHEPPERD: No, very little resistance. And that's the good news. Air power has decimated the Baghdad division. The Marines crossed...

O'BRIEN: These are Republican Guard divisions.

SHEPPERD: Republican Guard Infantry, Baghdad division, they crossed rifles. We're going to take them out. The Marines are now on the north bank of the Tigris, proceeding posthaste toward Baghdad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Moving on to Karbala, we were talking a lot yesterday about the Karbala Gap, as it is, and this important strategic location as you move toward Baghdad. It appears that battle was joined. There was some -- how would you describe the level of fighting there?

SHEPPERD: They expected extreme fighting, 6,000 troops of the Medina armored division, the track division here. They thought they were going to have a tough battle.

In fact, they encircled Karbala within about three hours and they are calling the Medina division combat ineffective. It's probably retreated toward Baghdad. Very little fighting going on there.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now what's this right here? That's the armored?

SHEPPERD: This is the Hammurabi armored division. And this is the Al Nida armored division. This is the Nebuchadnezzar infantry division. We haven't heard much about those. And up here you have the mechanized infantry, the Adnan mechanized infantry division, protecting Tikrit and the ancestral home of Saddam.

O'BRIEN: All right. So as we look -- Let's look at some satellite imagery of the area and give people a little bit of the lay of the land. But in that Pentagon briefing -- This is a big wide shot. I want to bring you down to the area south of Baghdad, which is where our focus is right now.

And a couple of things to consider. First of all, lower right- hand part of your screen, that's Al Kut. This distance is 90 to 100 miles. This is Karbala. That's about a 50-mile run. And both of those places indicating the vanguard of the U.S. advance right now, more or less, without giving away any trade secrets here, right?

SHEPPERD: Actually, reportedly, the lead elements are now within 19 miles, 20 kilometers of the capital. We don't know exactly where, we don't know exactly who but they're getting close, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the question is, Torie Clarke in that Pentagon briefing just a little while was very clear-cut. And she said -- let's move this in on Al Kut, by the way, and just show you what that's all about there. Lots of river crossings here. We're going to talk about how you do that and how you secure bridges in just a minute. But she said the worst fighting lies ahead, and yet we're seeing what are supposedly these elite Republican Guard forces not putting up that stiff a fight. What are we expecting to see?

SHEPPERD: Well, remember when these elite Republican Guard divisions collapse into Baghdad and then they have other troops, the regular Iraqi Republican Army, collapsing into Baghdad, they can indeed put up a formidable fight in Baghdad and unleash weapons of mass destruction. Don't beat your chest too early. Some tough days could be ahead or there could be a rapid collapse.

O'BRIEN: All right. Quickly, we'll go from Al Kut. Let's move it over to Karbala. We don't know exactly where the vanguard of that force is there. Just to point it out very quickly, that is Baghdad there, that's Karbala there. We talked a lot yesterday about those lakes, the possibility of breaching those dams. No evidence of that, we should point out, so far.

SHEPPERD: And the reports are that special forces secured the dams. That's good news, keeping flooding from taking part in the Euphrates and other areas.

O'BRIEN: All right. Don Shepperd, thank you very much for the situation update. We'll talk a little bit about how Marines, as they came across the Tigris River and Al Kut, how they might have taken that bridge. We'll offer an explainer in a little bit -- Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Miles. General Shepperd, it sure helps to have those map when the movement is across such a broad front as we're seeing. Thanks.

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 - 14:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And the southern arc around Baghdad isn't the only place that's seeing action today. Let's look at Iraq region by region.
First to the north and the strategic town of Kirkuk. Coalition forces dropped bombs just outside the oil-rich city. CNN's Brent Sadler called it a ferocious bombardment with very heavy explosions.

Let's move to the center of the company and the city of Najaf, where Iraqi forces are said to be using a sacred mosque as a covert base of operations. CNN's Ryan Chilcote is reporting that commanders in the field say they don't believe Iraqi soldiers are firing from the mosque but using it only as a sanctuary, running to nearby buildings to fire on U.S. troops.

In the south, especially in Basra, that's where British troops say they're confident they can overcome the Iraqi resistance. Thick black smoke can be seen across the horizon. The battle for this key southern town, a stretch for two weeks now.

Let's get some more on what's going on. For that, I turn to CNN's Miles O'Brien. He's in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Wolf. I'm joined by Major General Don Shepperd, retired U.S. Air Force. And we're going to talk a little bit about what appears to be the emerging strategy of this coalition push toward Baghdad.

And before we get into the details, Don Shepperd, is this the beginnings of a push or is this part of just a probing action that lays the groundwork for something more significant later?

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Far more than a probing action, Miles. These are major battles that have been fought and major advancements toward Baghdad. Where the U.S. will pause, or where they will draw a ring around Baghdad, is still to be decided. The danger is the closer they get the more likely weapons of mass destruction.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's do this, and we'll kind of go clockwise around the map. Kut to Baghdad is about 100 Miles.

SHEPPERD: Correct.

O'BRIEN: That's the Marine thrust that we've been watching all these past couple of weeks. So far they have met with moderate resistance? Is that accurate to say?

SHEPPERD: No, very little resistance. And that's the good news. Air power has decimated the Baghdad division. The Marines crossed...

O'BRIEN: These are Republican Guard divisions.

SHEPPERD: Republican Guard Infantry, Baghdad division, they crossed rifles. We're going to take them out. The Marines are now on the north bank of the Tigris, proceeding posthaste toward Baghdad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Moving on to Karbala, we were talking a lot yesterday about the Karbala Gap, as it is, and this important strategic location as you move toward Baghdad. It appears that battle was joined. There was some -- how would you describe the level of fighting there?

SHEPPERD: They expected extreme fighting, 6,000 troops of the Medina armored division, the track division here. They thought they were going to have a tough battle.

In fact, they encircled Karbala within about three hours and they are calling the Medina division combat ineffective. It's probably retreated toward Baghdad. Very little fighting going on there.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now what's this right here? That's the armored?

SHEPPERD: This is the Hammurabi armored division. And this is the Al Nida armored division. This is the Nebuchadnezzar infantry division. We haven't heard much about those. And up here you have the mechanized infantry, the Adnan mechanized infantry division, protecting Tikrit and the ancestral home of Saddam.

O'BRIEN: All right. So as we look -- Let's look at some satellite imagery of the area and give people a little bit of the lay of the land. But in that Pentagon briefing -- This is a big wide shot. I want to bring you down to the area south of Baghdad, which is where our focus is right now.

And a couple of things to consider. First of all, lower right- hand part of your screen, that's Al Kut. This distance is 90 to 100 miles. This is Karbala. That's about a 50-mile run. And both of those places indicating the vanguard of the U.S. advance right now, more or less, without giving away any trade secrets here, right?

SHEPPERD: Actually, reportedly, the lead elements are now within 19 miles, 20 kilometers of the capital. We don't know exactly where, we don't know exactly who but they're getting close, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the question is, Torie Clarke in that Pentagon briefing just a little while was very clear-cut. And she said -- let's move this in on Al Kut, by the way, and just show you what that's all about there. Lots of river crossings here. We're going to talk about how you do that and how you secure bridges in just a minute. But she said the worst fighting lies ahead, and yet we're seeing what are supposedly these elite Republican Guard forces not putting up that stiff a fight. What are we expecting to see?

SHEPPERD: Well, remember when these elite Republican Guard divisions collapse into Baghdad and then they have other troops, the regular Iraqi Republican Army, collapsing into Baghdad, they can indeed put up a formidable fight in Baghdad and unleash weapons of mass destruction. Don't beat your chest too early. Some tough days could be ahead or there could be a rapid collapse.

O'BRIEN: All right. Quickly, we'll go from Al Kut. Let's move it over to Karbala. We don't know exactly where the vanguard of that force is there. Just to point it out very quickly, that is Baghdad there, that's Karbala there. We talked a lot yesterday about those lakes, the possibility of breaching those dams. No evidence of that, we should point out, so far.

SHEPPERD: And the reports are that special forces secured the dams. That's good news, keeping flooding from taking part in the Euphrates and other areas.

O'BRIEN: All right. Don Shepperd, thank you very much for the situation update. We'll talk a little bit about how Marines, as they came across the Tigris River and Al Kut, how they might have taken that bridge. We'll offer an explainer in a little bit -- Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Miles. General Shepperd, it sure helps to have those map when the movement is across such a broad front as we're seeing. Thanks.

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