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Where is Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard?

Aired April 03, 2003 - 15:16   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, CNN ANCHOR: As we look at those slices of humanity across the battlefront, we want to tell you that U.S. troops -- something we've been reporting throughout this day -- getting closer to the gates of the capital city of Baghdad, but without having engaged the Republican Guard in what has been described as any sort of major force-on-force battle.
And now, there is speculation that some of Saddam Hussein's best troops may be in the city, relying as best they can on urban combat.

CNN's Miles O'Brien joined now by our military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Leonhard. He is a Persian Gulf war veteran and a military science professor at West Virginia University -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Judy, and thanks very much to the lieutenant colonel for joining us, giving us some insights on what may lie ahead as it relates to the possibility of urban combat.

Lieutenant Colonel, first of all let's talk about the significance of the airport, Saddam International, and why that is at the top of the list of objectives.

LT. COL. ROBERT LEONHARD, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, I think there's a couple reasons. One, it has obvious moral implications there on the morale of the Iraqis. When we take down Saddam International Airport, that is a direct hit on the regime. It demonstrates that we're there and we're there in force. And that's going -- it's those kinds of things that are eventually going to cause truth to break out in Baghdad, and the troops are going to start worrying, rumors, where are the Americans now, there are special forces in the rear, and so on. And that could cause a collapse.

The other reason, of course, is that the airport can be used to bring in supplies, can evacuate casualties and so on. So it's a very important mobility route into and out of the city.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's -- now that we've got earthviewer.com, let's zoom in on Baghdad and we'll give you a little bit of proximity here. It's about 10 miles from Saddam International to the heart and soul of this regime, the presidential palace, the Republican palace that we're talking about here.

Let me just give you a quick lay of the land here so you can understand what's going on. That's the Republican palace there -- excuse me, the airport there. And that is the center of Baghdad. As we say, that's 12 miles or 10 miles, thereabouts. Let's zoom down to Saddam International Airport. I want to talk about some of the scenarios that we might see once this foothold has, in fact, been secured by the coalition forces. We expect that to happen soon.

Some possible scenarios that may lie ahead, what about -- the concern that comes up and the buzzword that concerns a lot of people is "house-to-house combat." First of all, is that a likely scenario? And what does that really mean? Does that mean kicking in every door?

LEONHARD: Yes, I actually think that's not the most likely scenario. It is a possible scenario, and, as we all know, that is a very serious casualty-producing event if that occurs. That is a possibility.

There are some other possibilities as well. One of them that I think is a distinct sequel to this action will be the possibility of a coup attempt in Baghdad while we are closing in on the city, and then other forces in a countercoup effort. And so we could find Iraqi forces fighting each other, and then we'll have the difficult call as to help one side or the other, or just sit back and let them fight it out.

I think another option, of course, is that you'll see widespread surrenders and collapse. That, of course, is the eventuality we're hoping for.

If we do have to go house to house, if we do have to actually do the urban fight, I don't think that you're going to see the typical World War II-style, kicking-in-the-door kind of thing and clearing rooms. Our style now in the military is to do it with a little more patience and a little more finesse. I think you'll probably see buildings being surrounded, city blocks being surrounded. And then we will work on making the enemy's position untenable, so that he has to come out of his position, at which time we can engage him or arrest him.

I think the key factor that you should remember is that the side that is moving in urban warfare is the side that's going to take the casualties.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right, well, there's a lot more to talk about. I think next time you come up in the next hour we're going to talk about some of these tactics, and the fact that a city of this size, five to six million, that size can really cut both ways from an offensive and defensive perspective. We'll get into some of that in just a little bit. Lieutenant Colonel, we appreciate you being with us. That's Lieutenant Colonel Robert Leonhard -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Colonel Leonhard and Miles, thanks very much.

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 3, 2003 - 15:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: As we look at those slices of humanity across the battlefront, we want to tell you that U.S. troops -- something we've been reporting throughout this day -- getting closer to the gates of the capital city of Baghdad, but without having engaged the Republican Guard in what has been described as any sort of major force-on-force battle.
And now, there is speculation that some of Saddam Hussein's best troops may be in the city, relying as best they can on urban combat.

CNN's Miles O'Brien joined now by our military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Leonhard. He is a Persian Gulf war veteran and a military science professor at West Virginia University -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Judy, and thanks very much to the lieutenant colonel for joining us, giving us some insights on what may lie ahead as it relates to the possibility of urban combat.

Lieutenant Colonel, first of all let's talk about the significance of the airport, Saddam International, and why that is at the top of the list of objectives.

LT. COL. ROBERT LEONHARD, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, I think there's a couple reasons. One, it has obvious moral implications there on the morale of the Iraqis. When we take down Saddam International Airport, that is a direct hit on the regime. It demonstrates that we're there and we're there in force. And that's going -- it's those kinds of things that are eventually going to cause truth to break out in Baghdad, and the troops are going to start worrying, rumors, where are the Americans now, there are special forces in the rear, and so on. And that could cause a collapse.

The other reason, of course, is that the airport can be used to bring in supplies, can evacuate casualties and so on. So it's a very important mobility route into and out of the city.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's -- now that we've got earthviewer.com, let's zoom in on Baghdad and we'll give you a little bit of proximity here. It's about 10 miles from Saddam International to the heart and soul of this regime, the presidential palace, the Republican palace that we're talking about here.

Let me just give you a quick lay of the land here so you can understand what's going on. That's the Republican palace there -- excuse me, the airport there. And that is the center of Baghdad. As we say, that's 12 miles or 10 miles, thereabouts. Let's zoom down to Saddam International Airport. I want to talk about some of the scenarios that we might see once this foothold has, in fact, been secured by the coalition forces. We expect that to happen soon.

Some possible scenarios that may lie ahead, what about -- the concern that comes up and the buzzword that concerns a lot of people is "house-to-house combat." First of all, is that a likely scenario? And what does that really mean? Does that mean kicking in every door?

LEONHARD: Yes, I actually think that's not the most likely scenario. It is a possible scenario, and, as we all know, that is a very serious casualty-producing event if that occurs. That is a possibility.

There are some other possibilities as well. One of them that I think is a distinct sequel to this action will be the possibility of a coup attempt in Baghdad while we are closing in on the city, and then other forces in a countercoup effort. And so we could find Iraqi forces fighting each other, and then we'll have the difficult call as to help one side or the other, or just sit back and let them fight it out.

I think another option, of course, is that you'll see widespread surrenders and collapse. That, of course, is the eventuality we're hoping for.

If we do have to go house to house, if we do have to actually do the urban fight, I don't think that you're going to see the typical World War II-style, kicking-in-the-door kind of thing and clearing rooms. Our style now in the military is to do it with a little more patience and a little more finesse. I think you'll probably see buildings being surrounded, city blocks being surrounded. And then we will work on making the enemy's position untenable, so that he has to come out of his position, at which time we can engage him or arrest him.

I think the key factor that you should remember is that the side that is moving in urban warfare is the side that's going to take the casualties.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right, well, there's a lot more to talk about. I think next time you come up in the next hour we're going to talk about some of these tactics, and the fact that a city of this size, five to six million, that size can really cut both ways from an offensive and defensive perspective. We'll get into some of that in just a little bit. Lieutenant Colonel, we appreciate you being with us. That's Lieutenant Colonel Robert Leonhard -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Colonel Leonhard and Miles, thanks very much.

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