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American Morning
About 1,000 U.S. Soldiers Parachuted Into Northern Iraq
Aired March 27, 2003 - 07:03 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go now to Brent Sadler, who is following developments from northern Iraq. He joins us now.
And, Brent, I'm going to let you carry on with your report. We may have to interrupt you for that CentCom briefing. We'll let you get started, though -- good morning.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning to you, Paula.
Well, we've had a dramatic entrance into the war in the northern Iraq area controlled, as you know, by the Iraqi Kurds, a friendly area, and the entrance of the paratroopers from a very important brigade flew in from Italy, 1000 paratroopers.
We can see the breathtaking deployment of these paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade taken out in batches of 100, jumping from a height of about 1,200 feet over the drop zone. A very rapid movement, aircraft really letting those paratroopers leave in about a minute or less, jumping out of the aircraft and landing into a drop zone, a grassy, soggy plain between two snow-capped mountains, a very dramatic area.
On the ground, I managed to find the paratroopers very soon after they had landed, and I started asking them about the deployment. They told me that they had a high adrenaline rush as they left the aircraft. They told me they were concerned about the possibility of terrorist actions, because even though this area is friendly, considered friendly, there have still been threats by terrorists on the eastern flank of this Kurdish-controlled territory.
So paratroopers told me they got down more or less in one piece, no serious injuries. All 1,000 of them had made it down safely, a few bumps and bruises -- the ground is soft after more than two days of torrential rain here -- perhaps one or two sprains, but nothing serious.
The fighting force very much in good shape, they told me, waiting for orders, digging a security perimeter fence around the airfield that they have now secured.
So this is the beginning of plan B, the deployment and activity along the northern front.
Back to you -- Paula.
ZAHN: Brent, I think you've got 30 seconds left before the CentCom briefing gets under way. Did they give you any indication on when they can start allowing cargo to come in?
SADLER: Pretty much soon we can expect that, Paula. It is a big airfield. It's big enough to take heavy transport aircraft. They need to secure the area, be satisfied that it's safe, be satisfied they can get communications going. It should be pretty soon.
ZAHN: All right, you certainly can take a cue. Brent Sadler.
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 27, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go now to Brent Sadler, who is following developments from northern Iraq. He joins us now.
And, Brent, I'm going to let you carry on with your report. We may have to interrupt you for that CentCom briefing. We'll let you get started, though -- good morning.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning to you, Paula.
Well, we've had a dramatic entrance into the war in the northern Iraq area controlled, as you know, by the Iraqi Kurds, a friendly area, and the entrance of the paratroopers from a very important brigade flew in from Italy, 1000 paratroopers.
We can see the breathtaking deployment of these paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade taken out in batches of 100, jumping from a height of about 1,200 feet over the drop zone. A very rapid movement, aircraft really letting those paratroopers leave in about a minute or less, jumping out of the aircraft and landing into a drop zone, a grassy, soggy plain between two snow-capped mountains, a very dramatic area.
On the ground, I managed to find the paratroopers very soon after they had landed, and I started asking them about the deployment. They told me that they had a high adrenaline rush as they left the aircraft. They told me they were concerned about the possibility of terrorist actions, because even though this area is friendly, considered friendly, there have still been threats by terrorists on the eastern flank of this Kurdish-controlled territory.
So paratroopers told me they got down more or less in one piece, no serious injuries. All 1,000 of them had made it down safely, a few bumps and bruises -- the ground is soft after more than two days of torrential rain here -- perhaps one or two sprains, but nothing serious.
The fighting force very much in good shape, they told me, waiting for orders, digging a security perimeter fence around the airfield that they have now secured.
So this is the beginning of plan B, the deployment and activity along the northern front.
Back to you -- Paula.
ZAHN: Brent, I think you've got 30 seconds left before the CentCom briefing gets under way. Did they give you any indication on when they can start allowing cargo to come in?
SADLER: Pretty much soon we can expect that, Paula. It is a big airfield. It's big enough to take heavy transport aircraft. They need to secure the area, be satisfied that it's safe, be satisfied they can get communications going. It should be pretty soon.
ZAHN: All right, you certainly can take a cue. Brent Sadler.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
