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American Morning

U.S. Forces Fired on by Iraqis

Aired March 20, 2003 - 07:46   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: Back to Walt Rodgers now. He is embedded with the U.S. Army 7th Calvary in the northern Kuwaiti desert, and Walt has been tracking the movements of the U.S. Army.
Walt -- what do you have for us today?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the 7th Calvary -- the soldiers in the 7th Calvary had a bit of a scare today. One of the soldiers I talked with said he was "darn scared."

A few hours ago, we heard several explosions in the distance over there. It turns -- well, I'd better not give you the mileage, but we did hear the explosions. And the reason I can't give you the mileage is because then they could figure out where we are.

We heard the explosions. A few seconds later, the soldiers started running around and said, "Get in your vehicles, get in your vehicles!" That means get in your tanks, get in your Bradley-fighting vehicles. They are very thick and heavily armored. And consequently the Army was afraid artillery would soon be falling on our position here.

They got in their vehicles. And the next thing, less than 45 seconds later, soldiers started shouting -- the captain here at Apache troops started shouting, "MOPP four!" In Army terms, that means don your full chemical weapons suits -- your boots, your trousers, your parka, you gas masks and your gloves.

I didn't make it in nine seconds, the full suit, but I got into mine pretty fast. I felt pretty pleased, Bill, because I got into my suit faster than some of the soldiers.

We sat for about 20 minutes. We heard no more explosions, and then there was the signal "all clear." But for a while there, it was more than a little frightening, at least for some of the soldiers. Basically it was an inconvenience getting into those terrible chemical weapons suits in the desert heat.

But we made it, and I should say that none of the soldiers in the U.S. 7th Calvary was injured in any way.

Still not clear to us whether it was a conventional missile that was fired across or a missile with an unconventional warhead. But for the time being, everything appears to be smooth sailing, and the all clear has sounded. As I say, it was a good ways distance that the explosions were heard. Later, the Army told us that a Scud missile was fired, and that Patriot missiles were fired at the Scud missile, and that accounts for the sequence of explosions -- Bill.

HEMMER: Hey, Walter, I don't know how much you can talk about this answer or not, but I'm going to try it anyway. How much can you tell us about how much your unit in the U.S. Army has moved throughout northern Kuwait and possibly closer to the border with Iraq?

RODGERS: Well, give me your exact question, because this requires a precise answer.

HEMMER: OK. I want to know at this point can you tell us whether or not your unit is on the move or are you stationary?

RODGERS: Bill, we're in what the Army calls an "attack position." Imagine a 19th century frontier Calvary movement. All around us all of our fighting vehicles were encircled by tanks and Bradley-fighting vehicles. We are stationary. The next move for this unit will be when the order comes to cross the line of departure, which means go into Iraq and then head for our targets. That's our situation now.

We're in what the Army calls an "attack position." We are ready to go when ordered to go. The 7th Calvary is ready to go. And when the order comes, you're going to see these people close up very quickly and make for that border.

The travel routes are all decided. The objectives -- the operational objectives are all determined at this point. Everyone here in the 7th Calvary, and for that matter the 3rd Infantry Division behind it, everyone knows where they're going. They're just waiting for the orders from the Pentagon -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walter Rodgers, thanks -- with the U.S. Army in the northern Kuwaiti desert.

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 20, 2003 - 07:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Walt Rodgers now. He is embedded with the U.S. Army 7th Calvary in the northern Kuwaiti desert, and Walt has been tracking the movements of the U.S. Army.
Walt -- what do you have for us today?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the 7th Calvary -- the soldiers in the 7th Calvary had a bit of a scare today. One of the soldiers I talked with said he was "darn scared."

A few hours ago, we heard several explosions in the distance over there. It turns -- well, I'd better not give you the mileage, but we did hear the explosions. And the reason I can't give you the mileage is because then they could figure out where we are.

We heard the explosions. A few seconds later, the soldiers started running around and said, "Get in your vehicles, get in your vehicles!" That means get in your tanks, get in your Bradley-fighting vehicles. They are very thick and heavily armored. And consequently the Army was afraid artillery would soon be falling on our position here.

They got in their vehicles. And the next thing, less than 45 seconds later, soldiers started shouting -- the captain here at Apache troops started shouting, "MOPP four!" In Army terms, that means don your full chemical weapons suits -- your boots, your trousers, your parka, you gas masks and your gloves.

I didn't make it in nine seconds, the full suit, but I got into mine pretty fast. I felt pretty pleased, Bill, because I got into my suit faster than some of the soldiers.

We sat for about 20 minutes. We heard no more explosions, and then there was the signal "all clear." But for a while there, it was more than a little frightening, at least for some of the soldiers. Basically it was an inconvenience getting into those terrible chemical weapons suits in the desert heat.

But we made it, and I should say that none of the soldiers in the U.S. 7th Calvary was injured in any way.

Still not clear to us whether it was a conventional missile that was fired across or a missile with an unconventional warhead. But for the time being, everything appears to be smooth sailing, and the all clear has sounded. As I say, it was a good ways distance that the explosions were heard. Later, the Army told us that a Scud missile was fired, and that Patriot missiles were fired at the Scud missile, and that accounts for the sequence of explosions -- Bill.

HEMMER: Hey, Walter, I don't know how much you can talk about this answer or not, but I'm going to try it anyway. How much can you tell us about how much your unit in the U.S. Army has moved throughout northern Kuwait and possibly closer to the border with Iraq?

RODGERS: Well, give me your exact question, because this requires a precise answer.

HEMMER: OK. I want to know at this point can you tell us whether or not your unit is on the move or are you stationary?

RODGERS: Bill, we're in what the Army calls an "attack position." Imagine a 19th century frontier Calvary movement. All around us all of our fighting vehicles were encircled by tanks and Bradley-fighting vehicles. We are stationary. The next move for this unit will be when the order comes to cross the line of departure, which means go into Iraq and then head for our targets. That's our situation now.

We're in what the Army calls an "attack position." We are ready to go when ordered to go. The 7th Calvary is ready to go. And when the order comes, you're going to see these people close up very quickly and make for that border.

The travel routes are all decided. The objectives -- the operational objectives are all determined at this point. Everyone here in the 7th Calvary, and for that matter the 3rd Infantry Division behind it, everyone knows where they're going. They're just waiting for the orders from the Pentagon -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walter Rodgers, thanks -- with the U.S. Army in the northern Kuwaiti desert.

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