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American Morning

U.S. Marines Near Basra

Aired March 21, 2003 - 07:40   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: One of the key ways for us to get our information about the movement of the U.S. military comes from our colleagues embedded with the military. Marty Savidge is with the U.S. Marines. He has made his way into Iraq. He joins us now by way of videophone to tell us how he and his photographer, Scott McGwinney (ph), have gotten there.
Marty -- hello.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

We crossed into southern Iraq several hours ago, coming in with the 1st Marine Division, specifically with the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines. That's the group we're embedded with, riding in the back of an AAV, an amphibious assault vehicle.

We passed through one small Iraqi town. As we came through, there were white flags waving from a number of buildings, and people came out on the street. They were giving the thumbs-up sign, and they were waving to the soldiers as they passed. The convoys, though, did not stop. That is not their purpose here. They move on to other objectives.

Right now, they have moved to an objective near Basra. That's about as specific as we can get at this particular moment. It is a key part of the Iraqi oil infrastructure. Behind us here, you see Marines digging in with mortar pits. This is part of the offensive on this infrastructure center point, and it is considered to be the "crown jewels," in the words of one commander here.

What they want to do is try to take this facility intact. There has been fighting in the area -- mortar fire, artillery fire, perhaps even fire coming from aircraft in the region. We understand at the scene of the objective there is fighting that has been going on.

The key point here on the part of the military is that they want to grab this facility intact, not for the purpose of the United States to have oil, but that they realize this sort of facility is going to be key in order to get the oil industry back into the hands of the people who deserve it. That, they say, are the Iraqi people. It will be instrumental to allow for the rebuilding of this nation after the war is over. That is why it's considered a key military objective, and for no other reason -- that according to U.S. Marine commanders.

The operation is under way. It is likely to last some time. And we have to tell you it is one of the most critical operations of the war that this particular unit has been focusing on, one of the reasons why we have been quiet for so long, one of the reasons why we can't get specific into details now, only that it is a daring, risky and dangerous operation for the Marines at this particular time.

All of us here dressed in full chem suits. We have been since it all kicked off. And we continue to monitor the situation.

You may see black smoke behind us. Scotty (ph), maybe if you can turn the camera and we'll do it slowly here. We know it's over a videophone. More signs of black plumes of smoke rising into the air, not necessarily oil fields or oil wells on fire. This is a battlefield.

What you're looking at are what were former Iraqi positions. All along the road coming up here we have seen destroyed artillery pieces, destroyed tanks, destroyed armored vehicles. They continue to burn, because the battle was very recent here. And there is, as we have said several times, fighting still going on.

It's a fluid situation, but a critical key point that the Marines are trying to reach, and it's going on right now -- Bill.

HEMMER: Marty, you're stationary now. We've seen Walt Rodgers move at a pretty good clip through southern Iraq. He is well west of you, we should point out. But considering the options right now that you have had with the U.S. Marines, do you anticipate moving sometime soon again?

SAVIDGE: Well, there's kind of an interesting story as to why we're not moving now. As we were with the convoy the last time that we checked in live while we were broadcasting live, we had a flat tire, broke down out in the middle of nowhere, became separated from U.S. forces, had to do an Indy 500 pit stop change, all the while without any sort of military escort. We were very keen to get the tire back on and get amongst U.S. forces, because you have to understand that the situation is not completely under control.

Convoys continue to roll in. At one point in the initial convey we were with traffic was backed up like a New York rush hour. There is a lot of military hardware that continues to pour across the border, continues to push its way into southern Iraq, and that is going to continue around the clock. That's not to say, though, that this is a totally quiet or a totally clean battle field. There are still dangers here for everyone -- Bill.

HEMMER: Take care, Marty. Martin Savidge, Scott McGwinney (ph), southeastern Iraq working with the U.S. Marines.

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 21, 2003 - 07:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: One of the key ways for us to get our information about the movement of the U.S. military comes from our colleagues embedded with the military. Marty Savidge is with the U.S. Marines. He has made his way into Iraq. He joins us now by way of videophone to tell us how he and his photographer, Scott McGwinney (ph), have gotten there.
Marty -- hello.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

We crossed into southern Iraq several hours ago, coming in with the 1st Marine Division, specifically with the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines. That's the group we're embedded with, riding in the back of an AAV, an amphibious assault vehicle.

We passed through one small Iraqi town. As we came through, there were white flags waving from a number of buildings, and people came out on the street. They were giving the thumbs-up sign, and they were waving to the soldiers as they passed. The convoys, though, did not stop. That is not their purpose here. They move on to other objectives.

Right now, they have moved to an objective near Basra. That's about as specific as we can get at this particular moment. It is a key part of the Iraqi oil infrastructure. Behind us here, you see Marines digging in with mortar pits. This is part of the offensive on this infrastructure center point, and it is considered to be the "crown jewels," in the words of one commander here.

What they want to do is try to take this facility intact. There has been fighting in the area -- mortar fire, artillery fire, perhaps even fire coming from aircraft in the region. We understand at the scene of the objective there is fighting that has been going on.

The key point here on the part of the military is that they want to grab this facility intact, not for the purpose of the United States to have oil, but that they realize this sort of facility is going to be key in order to get the oil industry back into the hands of the people who deserve it. That, they say, are the Iraqi people. It will be instrumental to allow for the rebuilding of this nation after the war is over. That is why it's considered a key military objective, and for no other reason -- that according to U.S. Marine commanders.

The operation is under way. It is likely to last some time. And we have to tell you it is one of the most critical operations of the war that this particular unit has been focusing on, one of the reasons why we have been quiet for so long, one of the reasons why we can't get specific into details now, only that it is a daring, risky and dangerous operation for the Marines at this particular time.

All of us here dressed in full chem suits. We have been since it all kicked off. And we continue to monitor the situation.

You may see black smoke behind us. Scotty (ph), maybe if you can turn the camera and we'll do it slowly here. We know it's over a videophone. More signs of black plumes of smoke rising into the air, not necessarily oil fields or oil wells on fire. This is a battlefield.

What you're looking at are what were former Iraqi positions. All along the road coming up here we have seen destroyed artillery pieces, destroyed tanks, destroyed armored vehicles. They continue to burn, because the battle was very recent here. And there is, as we have said several times, fighting still going on.

It's a fluid situation, but a critical key point that the Marines are trying to reach, and it's going on right now -- Bill.

HEMMER: Marty, you're stationary now. We've seen Walt Rodgers move at a pretty good clip through southern Iraq. He is well west of you, we should point out. But considering the options right now that you have had with the U.S. Marines, do you anticipate moving sometime soon again?

SAVIDGE: Well, there's kind of an interesting story as to why we're not moving now. As we were with the convoy the last time that we checked in live while we were broadcasting live, we had a flat tire, broke down out in the middle of nowhere, became separated from U.S. forces, had to do an Indy 500 pit stop change, all the while without any sort of military escort. We were very keen to get the tire back on and get amongst U.S. forces, because you have to understand that the situation is not completely under control.

Convoys continue to roll in. At one point in the initial convey we were with traffic was backed up like a New York rush hour. There is a lot of military hardware that continues to pour across the border, continues to push its way into southern Iraq, and that is going to continue around the clock. That's not to say, though, that this is a totally quiet or a totally clean battle field. There are still dangers here for everyone -- Bill.

HEMMER: Take care, Marty. Martin Savidge, Scott McGwinney (ph), southeastern Iraq working with the U.S. Marines.

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