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Kurds Fight Alongside U.S. Troops in Northeastern Iraq
Aired April 09, 2003 - 14:28 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: The war is not over by many means. In much of northern Iraq, for example, the war is still very much a work- in-progress. The Kurds, allied with the U.S. and coalition forces, are very much a part of that effort.
CNN's Brent Sadler is checking in with us now from the northern Iraqi town of Kalar.
Brent -- what's happening up north?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a very sharp contrast between those scenes of jubilation, the dramatic collapse of the regime in Baghdad, and what's actually happening in the field here in northern Iraq, where the war is very much still continuing.
I want to show you some remarkable scenes here, exclusive video we brought back from several hours of my presence with U.S. Special Forces linking up for the first time with Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the battlefield.
Now, we saw the U.S. Special Forces start off with a barrage of 60mm mortar fire used against collapsing Iraqi army positions just a mile-and-a-half or so away from the American troops. We also saw Peshmerga fighters opening up with their machine guns and sniper rifles and really barreling down a road that leads to Baghdad about 90 miles away. The Iraqi Kurds blasting away, really just a few hundred yards away from where the Iraqis were packing up and running away, fleeing their bunkers momentarily before the Iraqi Kurds arrived there. We actually saw the Iraqi Kurdish fighters shooting at a departing Iraqi vehicle.
Earlier in the day, a T-55 tank had reportedly been firing in the direction of U.S. forces. Mortar fire had also been used against the American troops and the Peshmerga fighters, but that was turned around after airstrikes along this southeastern sector of the northern front, and then this rather unique combination of the U.S. Special Forces guiding a frontal assault by several hundred Peshmerga fighters against these positions.
Now, this is by no means, Wolf, a full assault on the northern front. There simply aren't enough U.S. ground forces here in northern Iraq, but it is a significant development. As Saddam Hussein's power melts away from Baghdad, there is a hope on the ground here that the Iraqi military will, in a ripple effect, collapse city by city, village by village.
That's not happening yet, but at the same time continuing multi pressure on the ground here -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brent Sadler on the scene in northern Iraq, where there still is some serious fighting going on, but clearly there is some progress being made from the U.S. and coalition perspectives.
Brent, 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 9, 2003 - 14:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The war is not over by many means. In much of northern Iraq, for example, the war is still very much a work- in-progress. The Kurds, allied with the U.S. and coalition forces, are very much a part of that effort.
CNN's Brent Sadler is checking in with us now from the northern Iraqi town of Kalar.
Brent -- what's happening up north?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a very sharp contrast between those scenes of jubilation, the dramatic collapse of the regime in Baghdad, and what's actually happening in the field here in northern Iraq, where the war is very much still continuing.
I want to show you some remarkable scenes here, exclusive video we brought back from several hours of my presence with U.S. Special Forces linking up for the first time with Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the battlefield.
Now, we saw the U.S. Special Forces start off with a barrage of 60mm mortar fire used against collapsing Iraqi army positions just a mile-and-a-half or so away from the American troops. We also saw Peshmerga fighters opening up with their machine guns and sniper rifles and really barreling down a road that leads to Baghdad about 90 miles away. The Iraqi Kurds blasting away, really just a few hundred yards away from where the Iraqis were packing up and running away, fleeing their bunkers momentarily before the Iraqi Kurds arrived there. We actually saw the Iraqi Kurdish fighters shooting at a departing Iraqi vehicle.
Earlier in the day, a T-55 tank had reportedly been firing in the direction of U.S. forces. Mortar fire had also been used against the American troops and the Peshmerga fighters, but that was turned around after airstrikes along this southeastern sector of the northern front, and then this rather unique combination of the U.S. Special Forces guiding a frontal assault by several hundred Peshmerga fighters against these positions.
Now, this is by no means, Wolf, a full assault on the northern front. There simply aren't enough U.S. ground forces here in northern Iraq, but it is a significant development. As Saddam Hussein's power melts away from Baghdad, there is a hope on the ground here that the Iraqi military will, in a ripple effect, collapse city by city, village by village.
That's not happening yet, but at the same time continuing multi pressure on the ground here -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brent Sadler on the scene in northern Iraq, where there still is some serious fighting going on, but clearly there is some progress being made from the U.S. and coalition perspectives.
Brent, 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.
