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American Morning
Lengthy Fighting?
Aired March 05, 2003 - 08:31 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If the U.S. and its allies go to war with Iraq, how long would such a conflict take? How long would it last? Our series, "The Questions of War," continues yet again today.
Peter Brookes, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, is back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you, Peter.
Good morning to you.
PETER BROOKES, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I'm doing just fine, thanks.
HEMMER: Let's look at the theater right now -- 100,000 strong in Kuwait, 250,000 in the region, northern front of Turkey has not come together just yet. You control the night, you control the skies -- how long does it last given those factors?
BROOKES: I think it's going to last a couple of weeks. Also, turkey is critical, whether we're going to have a staggered start, or feel we need to move forward if Turkey decides while we're leaving our ships in the sea right now and haven't turned them south. But if we put everything in place, it should take three to four weeks.
HEMMER: What about this whole element of Iraqi resistance? How does that play right now into how you view in the military strategists view this potential conflict?
BROOKES: Well, there's an old military maxim, Bill, that says no plan survives contact with the enemy. Obviously, this will be a very dynamic situation, and if Iraqi forces do resist, if we find the less loyal forces, the Iraqi army, as opposed to the Republican Guard, or the Special Republican Guard, if they do resist, if could take longer.
It's very difficult to put end marks on these sort of operations, because you're not exactly sure what you're going to come up against. Another variable is the weapons of mass destruction. Will Saddam Hussein use weapons of mass destruction, the chemical or biological weapons? Will he set oil fields ablaze? Will he take a defensive strategy, where he tries to draw us into fighting in the city of Baghdad?
HEMMER: Yes, the first part of -- your answer anyway goes into my next question. Norman Schwarzkopf said earlier this week, quoting now, "In the final days of 1991, we took on the Republican Guard. The only thing left was their footprints in the mud," he says, "where they ran away." That's the same outfits we're fighting this time. Is there any way to gauge at this point on the outside how willing they are to fight on that side?
BROOKES: Well, I think last time there may have been doubts in their mind what the future might hold, or they may have thought that there may be a more positive future. This time, I think they know they're in big trouble, and that there's going to be regime change, and a lot of these guys, especially the senior leaders, you've heard about the filthy 40 and others, that they could go up against for war crimes, they could be held up against tribunals. There's a whole host of other things.
This time, because they realize the game is up, ultimately, they may fight longer and harder.
HEMMER: General Richard Myers said yesterday could be a shock strategy, much, much different, his words from yesterday.
Thank you, Peter. Peter Brookes from the Heritage Foundation in D.C. Much more on our "Questions of War" series tomorrow.
BROOKES: Police believe a 14-year-old girl is still alive after disappearing during the weekend.
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 March 5, 2003 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If the U.S. and its allies go to war with Iraq, how long would such a conflict take? How long would it last? Our series, "The Questions of War," continues yet again today.
Peter Brookes, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, is back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you, Peter.
Good morning to you.
PETER BROOKES, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I'm doing just fine, thanks.
HEMMER: Let's look at the theater right now -- 100,000 strong in Kuwait, 250,000 in the region, northern front of Turkey has not come together just yet. You control the night, you control the skies -- how long does it last given those factors?
BROOKES: I think it's going to last a couple of weeks. Also, turkey is critical, whether we're going to have a staggered start, or feel we need to move forward if Turkey decides while we're leaving our ships in the sea right now and haven't turned them south. But if we put everything in place, it should take three to four weeks.
HEMMER: What about this whole element of Iraqi resistance? How does that play right now into how you view in the military strategists view this potential conflict?
BROOKES: Well, there's an old military maxim, Bill, that says no plan survives contact with the enemy. Obviously, this will be a very dynamic situation, and if Iraqi forces do resist, if we find the less loyal forces, the Iraqi army, as opposed to the Republican Guard, or the Special Republican Guard, if they do resist, if could take longer.
It's very difficult to put end marks on these sort of operations, because you're not exactly sure what you're going to come up against. Another variable is the weapons of mass destruction. Will Saddam Hussein use weapons of mass destruction, the chemical or biological weapons? Will he set oil fields ablaze? Will he take a defensive strategy, where he tries to draw us into fighting in the city of Baghdad?
HEMMER: Yes, the first part of -- your answer anyway goes into my next question. Norman Schwarzkopf said earlier this week, quoting now, "In the final days of 1991, we took on the Republican Guard. The only thing left was their footprints in the mud," he says, "where they ran away." That's the same outfits we're fighting this time. Is there any way to gauge at this point on the outside how willing they are to fight on that side?
BROOKES: Well, I think last time there may have been doubts in their mind what the future might hold, or they may have thought that there may be a more positive future. This time, I think they know they're in big trouble, and that there's going to be regime change, and a lot of these guys, especially the senior leaders, you've heard about the filthy 40 and others, that they could go up against for war crimes, they could be held up against tribunals. There's a whole host of other things.
This time, because they realize the game is up, ultimately, they may fight longer and harder.
HEMMER: General Richard Myers said yesterday could be a shock strategy, much, much different, his words from yesterday.
Thank you, Peter. Peter Brookes from the Heritage Foundation in D.C. Much more on our "Questions of War" series tomorrow.
BROOKES: Police believe a 14-year-old girl is still alive after disappearing during the weekend.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
