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CNN Sunday Morning
British Troops Have Captured an Iraqi General
Aired March 30, 2003 - 09:30 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: British troops in Basra have captured an Iraqi general. Four other high-ranking paramilitaries were also captured, and an Iraqi colonel was killed. Marines there are patrolling the outskirts of the city, knocking down symbols of Saddam Hussein as they battle paramilitary forces.
After coalition air strikes on Baghdad overnight, smoke was seen pouring from some apartment buildings where, CNN has learned, some Iraqi government officials live. A military intelligence center and a presidential palace complex, as well as two surface-to-air missile sites, also were attacked.
The American soldier suspected in a deadly grenade attack on fellow soldiers is now back in the U.S. Hassan Akbar was brought back Friday after being detained in Germany. He's not been charged as yet. Akbar is a combat engineer with the 101st Airborne and he is suspected of killing two servicemen and wounding 14 others in the attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.
Coming up here, we'll have the latest updates from our embedded reporters fanned out across Iraq and Kuwait, and a progress report on the war coming up. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" now into the second week. And we'll talk to our military experts about how things stand right now.
Plus, voices of opposition. As the coalition campaign continues, so do the anti-war demonstrations.
All that and more just ahead, as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. It is day 11 in the war in Iraq. I'm Bill Hemmer, live in Kuwait City on this Sunday.
Those first reports, as Leon mentioned, of the injured at Camp Udairi, apparently too high. We're now told that six soldiers were injured, that is good news, when a white Nissan pick-up truck drove into a group of U.S. soldiers a few hours ago, all this happening north west of Kuwait City. The driver said to be wearing civilian clothes, military police fired on the truck. We do not know what happened to the driver or what company he was from. Camp Udairi is filled with soldiers, mostly from the army's 5th core. Much more on this throughout the day as we learn it.
Coalition forces having to be extra cautious as they encounter Iraqi civilians. Commanders say that common sense can help to ensure the safety of the troops. Coalition forces are feeling especially vulnerable after a suicide bomber killed four soldiers on Saturday. At least one British officer says the coalition did not fully understand Saddam Hussein's, quote, rule of fear in Iraq, and how that would impact the military's ability to move throughout the country.
Evidence of that nervousness, one American soldier quoted as saying, we're going to have to treat every civilian vehicle like it's hostile. If we accidentally kill a civilian because they took a wrong turn, it will be on the Iraqi leadership's head, end quote. Again, that word from a member of the U.S. Army.
Heidi Collins is with us today. She's at the CNN center. Paula has the day off, well deserved, we shall add. Heidi, hello again to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again to you, Bill. Thanks so much.
Let's go ahead and get a check of some of the other war developments this morning. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denies reports saying that General Tommy Franks wanted to wait to start the ground war until more troops could be brought in. Rumsfeld, echoing what General Franks said earlier in the day, said there are plenty of troops already flowing toward the battlefield.
At his daily briefing, General Franks said what he termed a massive terrorist camp in northern Iraq has been destroyed. Franks says U.S. forces are searching the camp for weapons of mass destruction.
And CNN's Art Harris, embedded with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division says U.S. troops have secured the southern bank of the Euphrates River near Nasariyah. That's been a scene of very heavy fighting in recent days. Harris says the Marines are still taking fire from the northern bank of that river.
Now let's go back to Bill, standing by in Kuwait once again this morning.
HEMMER: Heidi, Tommy Franks reiterated yet again today the military plan is maximizing flexibility, and adaptability as well. Walter Rodgers has seen that firsthand. Back on the videophone, here's Walt with the 7th Cavalry. Walt, what do you have now?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Look at that Bradley fighting vehicle behind me, and then imagine a fish hook shape that sweeps across 180 degrees of the horizon, an arc, and that is the position of the U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry at this hour. They've taken up positions in an arc along the horizon. Bradley fighting vehicles and M1-A1 Abrams tanks. Their general position is within 50 miles south of the southern suburbs of Baghdad.
Of course, between these armored vehicles and Baghdad are some rather substantial Iraqi units. The Medina division for one, the Hamurabi division, these are Republican Guard units. And, of course, what the 7th Cavalry is trying to do is place themselves out into the foreground, and hopefully use themselves as bait, luring the Iraqi's Republican Guard units, divisions out into an open battle.
So far the Iraqis have not taken that bait, but it is the hope of the army that perhaps they can provoke a counterattack, luring the Iraqi Republican Guard divisions into the open, then calling in the air force and mauling them. As I say, that's not happened. But it did work about five days ago, when this very same 7th Cavalry took up a breach head just northeast of Najaf. Then several detachments of the Republican Guards from the Medina division came out, in a sandstorm, at night, and the technical capability of the United States was such that they could bomb the heck out of the Iraqi Medina division, even in a sandstorm. So much so that one army source told me that the Medina division of the Republican Guard has now been degraded anywhere between 45 and 65 percent as a result of the mauling the air force gave them a few nights back. Bill?
HEMMER: Walter Rodgers. Thanks for checking in, Walt, by way of videophone with the 7th Cavalry. Again, as Walt mentioned, he's about 50 miles south of the southern reaches of Baghdad, the southern suburbs there, 50 miles to the south and west. Karl Penhaul is near Najaf; he's embedded with the Army's 5th Corps. By telephone, Karl, what do you have?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill. The soldiers here obviously on a heightened state of alert, following the suicide car bombing near the town of Najaf yesterday, in which four soldiers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division were killed.
In some camera images that we've obtained today, we can see two Apache, or we can see Apache helicopters of the 11th Aviation Regiment task force taking to the air. They're going to check out a suspicious vehicle. A white pick-up truck with three Iraqi males dressed in civilian clothes was spotted this morning close to the perimeter of an airfield where the Apache attack helicopters are operating out of. And in the light of yesterday's attacks, the helicopters, if you like, pinned down the pick-up truck until ground troops were able to move in. They then had the civilians move out of the truck, made them kneel down. You can see in some of these images them putting their hands up. Later on they were stripped down to undergarments and then the soldiers moved in, flexi-cuffed them, and then moved in to search the vehicles.
Commanders here at the airfield near Najaf tell me that there was no weapons or explosives found in this vehicle, but U.S. commanders do say that they suspect these men could have been a lead scout party for the Iraqi Fedayeen. These are the civilian -- these are the paramilitary guerrilla-style units that have been operating behind U.S. lines to date, and inflicting at times some heavy damage. Bill?
HEMMER: Karl, thanks. Karl Penhaul on the telephone there.
And again, I think we can see clearly, within only 24 hours, that suicide bomber blowing himself up yesterday and killing four U.S. soldiers. After the bomber had faked like his taxicab had broken down, motioning for the soldiers to come near to give him some sort of help, blew up the car, blew up himself, and killed four U.S. soldiers in the process. And already we're starting to see the different tactics the U.S. and British militaries are using, in terms of their engagement with civilians, especially on the battlefield in Iraq.
More in a moment. Here's Heidi, yet again, at the CNN center. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks so much.
As you know, we've had a lot of action overnight in the campaign in "Operation Iraqi Freedom". We're going to go ahead and get you caught up now on most of that. Renay San Miguel has all of it.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 4:14 a.m. A British military spokesman confirms that British Royal Marine commandos killed one paramilitary leader and captured five other high-ranking paramilitaries, including a general, in a village southeast of Basra.
4:35 a.m. Iraqi information minister Saeed Sahaf says that Iraqi forces shot down an Apache helicopter and killed both pilots in Basra. Pentagon officials deny the claims.
7:06 a.m. A civilian drives a white pick-up truck into a military store at Camp Udairi in Kuwait, according to a U.S. military official. At least 15 U.S. soldiers are injured. The camp is mostly filled with soldiers from the U.S. Army 5th Corps.
7:09 a.m. At the central command briefing, General Tommy Franks says there is no pause in the military campaign, and that the entire Iraqi coastline has been secured. He also told reporters he does not know whether Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is dead or alive.
HEMMER: We're still trying to piece together what happened at Camp Udairi earlier today. Word of U.S. soldiers being injured after a pick-up truck was driven into a group of them as they were standing by outside of a military PX store, a supply store, essentially, where members of the military can purchase items for themselves.
Richard Blystone, about 30 minutes south, here, of Kuwait City, watching the story. What do you have tonight?
RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not much, Bill. It's now four and a half hours since this incident happened, and the military information office here is still grappling to try to get a handle on it. Probably about the best thing we could do right now is get you the lack of information from the horse's mouth, that's Colonel Guy Shields, the army information officer.
COLONEL GUY SHIELDS, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Approximately 1:00 this afternoon, a civilian pick-up truck ran into a group of soldiers outside the shop at Camp Udairi. Ten -- somewhere between ten and 15 soldiers were injured. There were shots fired at the scene by uninjured soldiers. Initial reports are that the driver of the truck was hit.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Is this being treated as an accident or an intentional act?
SHIELDS: It's under investigation right now. We don't know. That's probably one of the most important aspects of the investigation, so we hope to have that answered pretty quickly.
BLYSTONE: Lately, Bill, we've been getting some information that it's not 10 or 15 soldiers anymore, but only about 6 injured. We await further developments. Bill?
HEMMER: Dick, I know you don't have much, but any word on nationality, whether or not this was a member of the U.S. military or not?
BLYSTONE: Nothing at all, Bill, nothing about nationality, appearance, anything else. Nothing about -- it was said that soldiers opened fire on this individual. Nothing about whether he was hit, nothing about the condition of those who were injured. And nothing about how this person got his vehicle so close to the PX and, indeed, whether it was an accident or an attack. Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Richard. Richard Blystone, south of Kuwait City.
We should point out that Camp Udairi, at one point, had eight to10,000 U.S. soldiers, members of the U.S. army, and the U.S. military. For months now, when they've been setting up camps, have hired foreign nationals, people who live and work here in Kuwait. Not necessarily Kuwaitis, but Pakistanis and others who work in this town, and in this country for that matter, working and helping with the U.S. military on those camps.
No word again, though, as to the nationality. But I'm certain that Dick Blystone, as soon as he gets it, we'll get it from him. Back to Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks.
Coming up, a country doctor goes to war. He'll be on the front lines for the first time with a small mobile M.A.S.H. unit. But he is no stranger to war, even at the age of 62. We'll have his story coming up, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Now the story of a country doctor on a journey that can be measured in more than miles. Dr. Jim Irwin is a captain in the Naval Reserves with the rural surgical practice in Moses Lake, Washington. He's leaving home tomorrow, and, at age 62, is going to war for the first time. He'll be with a small mobile M.A.S.H. unit less than a dozen miles from the front lines in Iraq. Dr. Irwin joins us now, live from his farm in Moses Lake, Washington.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks so much for being with us.
JIM IRWIN, U.S. NAVY SURGEON: Good morning, Heidi. COLLINS: Let me just ask you, I know it's been almost thirty years since you were last on active duty. You could be working very close to the front lines, as we were just explaining. How do you feel about the prospect of operating so close to the battlefield?
IRWIN: I'm always anxious in a situation of that nature. However, I'm also proud to be in a position to help our front line troops.
COLLINS: What kind of wounds do you think that you will actually be treating, once you do get there?
IRWIN: Majority of wounds we see in an area of that nature are extremities, arms, legs, some abdominal wounds. Our job is to stabilize and get an individual at a point that they can be stable for 24 to 48 hours, to give us time to ship them back to a real hospital, or a hospital ship.
COLLINS: Dr. Irwin, as we know you served in the Vietnam War, the naval hospital, stateside. How do you think this will compare to what sort of injuries and wounds you saw at that time?
IRWIN: Actually, I was at a small naval hospital in Oak Harbor, Washington, at that time, and we did not receive anyone that had been injured. They were all -- went to either San Diego or Bremerton.
COLLINS: I'm sure that you've been watching a little bit of the coverage, especially with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And there was a time when he was explaining to us about the conditions inside some of the tents, and the sandstorms, and some of those challenges that they are dealing with. Do you have any concerns about that, and in particular, sterile conditions, I'm sure, would be a concern?
IRWIN: Sterile conditions are a concern. However, our job is primarily stabilization, and there are things that we have to do in a military setting that we would not do in civilian life.
COLLINS: Let me just ask you, I know you come from a very small town and you are one of three surgeons there. I'm wondering what is happening not only to your patients that maybe you've had to put on hold for a while, but also your family? You leave some people behind in Washington, don't you?
IRWIN: My wife and oldest son are at home, and then I have a son that lives in the Seattle area with two grandsons. So it's difficult for them, particularly my wife, as she does manage my medical practice and she is working hard to find somebody to fill in during the time I'm gone.
COLLINS: And how about a replacement for you? Have they found anyone yet, back at home?
IRWIN: We've not found any -- we have not found anybody yet. We're working hard to do that. She'll be spending all day on the phone Tuesday, Wednesday, I'm sure, trying to find somebody. COLLINS: All right. Well, Dr. Jim Irwin, we certainly appreciate your time this morning. We wish you the best of luck, and I'm sure that the U.S. troops will very much appreciate your service. Thank you, again.
And now, back to Bill Hemmer in Kuwait. Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. One issue we will continue to examine is this whole idea about suicide bombers and the attack of yesterday. Major General Don Shepperd, back in a moment. His thoughts on how the U.S. and British military, now engaged with the Iraqi people, knowing this has happened, and knowing they're trying to win the quote/unquote hearts and minds of the Iraqis, how do you change your tactics? We'll talk about it when we come back, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Earlier today in Baghdad, the vice president of that country, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was indicating live on Iraqi television that the Americans have seen nothing yet relative to these suicide bombing attacks. But now the question is, how does the military engage a civilian population. More on that, Renay San Miguel is back with the general at the CNN center. Renay?
MIGUEL: Thank you very much, Bill. We are speaking with retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd about this new terrorism angle, if you will, into the war in Iraq.
General, General Franks talked today about the coalition attacking and a destroying a major terrorist facility, somewhere in the northeast of Iraq. We have some satellite imagery, courtesy of Earthviewer.com and Digitalglobe.com, that we want to show you, that shows you roughly where this is. While we're looking at this and the approximate location, how important is this development and what can be learned from it?
MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: General Franks indicated it's very important. He said it's a huge terrorist camp. The exploitation of that by intelligence personnel on what they found on the ground is beginning to take place. This is the Ansar al Islam, radical Islamic terrorist tied to al Qaeda up in the Kurdish area, so this is an important development.
MIGUEL: The Najaf car bomb, we have to talk about right now, the one that started all of this readjustment of policy here. General Franks says the coalition will increase its standoff to civilian vehicles. What exactly does that mean, just the distance issue, right?
SHEPPERD: Exactly. What it means is, don't walk up to a car with a bunch of soldiers, stick your head in the windows, and say hey, what's going on? You need to stop the car well away from you and examine the car from a distance, demand that the occupants get out. It slows things down, but it's actually essential in these environments where you have bombs and cars as a threat. MIGUEL: Looking at some of the damage from the Najaf car bomb. But some of the things the coalition will do, security-wise, they're not going to tell us.
SHEPPERD: They aren't, indeed. But again, this does slow it down. But again, any time you go into any kind of a war, you have to react to the tactics of the people that you're fighting. This is a new development. All of our personnel, while trying to win the hearts and minds of the people, want to get close to the people, also have to be very, very careful as they approach them.
MIGUEL: Finally, the innocent that happened, occurred this morning outside Camp Udairi in Kuwait a civilian driving into a group of soldiers there. Security not just for bases in the country, but even the home bases.
SHEPPERD: Yes. You'll find these large cement blocks to slow vehicles down. This is still under investigation. As people are asking, could this have been an accident, doesn't sound like it, but at least it was not an explosive incident. It appears intentionally driven into a group of soldiers.
MIGUEL: Security will be upped even more, and it was already on a high level. General Shepperd, thank you for your time, as always. Back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Renay, thank you.
The weather here again, a beautiful day here in Kuwait. It's been this way for about three days running. We expect that to change, though, maybe at midweek, maybe before that. Chad Myers of the CNN center is tracking the weather. Chad, what are you seeing right now?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill...
HEMMER: Moving in...
MYERS: I notice you took your jacket off.
HEMMER: Yes. It is warm today, much warmer than it was for the past several days, I'll tell you that.
MYERS: You bet. And it's going up from there. Let me zoom in and show you what's going on here, from Iraq down to Kuwait City. Tomorrow, in fact, for Kuwait City, temperature all the way to 89. Lots of sunshine there as well. Troops on up towards Basra, UV index a 9 there, with temperatures going to 85. So that warm-up we've been anticipating is definitely on its way. Back into Baghdad, for tomorrow 77. About 30 percent cloud cover. And then you get north, this is a country almost as big as California. You get up in elevation, get up in latitude and look at this. For Mosul, only 54 for the high tomorrow. And morning low temperatures, Bill, down around 30. Lot of folks sleeping outside up there, too. Back to you.
HEMMER: All right. Listen, when those storms come here, they can be quite a thing to deal with on the battlefield. MYERS: Looks like we'll get wind on Thursday.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad. OK. We'll look forward to that. Chad, thanks. It's Sunday. In the meantime, we'll enjoy it while we still have it here.
In a moment, if you've been watching us the past eight days running, you know Walter Rodgers has given us amazing images and reports from the front lines. He's now about 50 miles south of Baghdad. We'll have a look back on the last few days of his reporting when we come back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: As you know, our embedded reporters now traveling with the U.S. and British militaries oftentimes give us the information the same time the Pentagon receives it. In the history of U.S. military, it's never been done this way before.
Walter Rodgers, especially, has been at essentially the tip of the spear, as the military likes to call it, leading the way with the 7th Cavalry. Over the past, eight, nine, ten days, Walter has given us some amazing shots and told some amazing stories. Quickly, a look back at some of the highlights of Walt and his travels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: The situation here appears to be increasingly tense. A few moments ago out on the horizon not far ahead of the U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry, we heard more than a few explosions.
The U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry has compiled a rather extraordinary record in the past several days. It was the first unit to cross the Euphrates River and then punch northward to within 60 miles of Baghdad today.
It was the army which assigned me to the 3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry and that was extremely fortuitous. It was like sitting in a poker game and drawing four aces. Because this is a crack unit, it's the tip of the spear. We've had an absolutely terrific story pushing forward north towards Baghdad, 72 hours of that was under constant fire coming at us from both sides of the road.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We just heard an -- what the hell? No, No, I don't know what it is.
RODGERS: Recall Winston Churchill's old quote, there's nothing so exhilarating as being shot at and missed.
What you try to do is stay calm and continue your broadcasting, but the worst thing you can do either as a soldier or as a war correspondent is panic.
We're hearing incoming. We're not sure what it is. We see some stuff in the sky. We may have to break this off. I think we're going to break off this live shot for the time being. We're not sure what we see up there. Good-bye. We've got to dive for vehicles, I think. See you, bye.
You have to realize they've been riding along, bouncing along in these tanks for probably six or more hours now. And if you ride inside that tank, it is like riding in the bowels of a dragon. They roar. They screech.
The hardest part of the trip is personal discomfort. We cannot tell you the levels of personal discomfort we've experienced, the extraordinary sandstorms, the bitter cold nights. The most uncomfortable thing, having to sleep sitting up in a humvee with sandbags under your feet, knees at your chin. That's excruciatingly uncomfortable. Not something you would wish on anybody but a contortionist.
Let me hold the camera and show you my crew. On camera left is Charlie Miller, he's been our superb and intrepid cameraman. On my right is Jeff Barwise, brilliant satellite engineer. That's the crew which really brings you these pictures.
The pictures you're seeing are absolutely phenomenal. These are live pictures of the 7th Cavalry racing across the desert. You've never seen battlefield pictures like these before. What you're watching here is truly historic television and journalism.
COLLINS: Walter Rodgers and his crew, with the 3-7th Cavalry. Incredible stuff.
All right. Coming up in the next hour of CNN's war coverage, what's it like to be inside the besieged city of Basra. We'll hear from an Arab journalist who's been there and back.
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Aired March 30, 2003 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: British troops in Basra have captured an Iraqi general. Four other high-ranking paramilitaries were also captured, and an Iraqi colonel was killed. Marines there are patrolling the outskirts of the city, knocking down symbols of Saddam Hussein as they battle paramilitary forces.
After coalition air strikes on Baghdad overnight, smoke was seen pouring from some apartment buildings where, CNN has learned, some Iraqi government officials live. A military intelligence center and a presidential palace complex, as well as two surface-to-air missile sites, also were attacked.
The American soldier suspected in a deadly grenade attack on fellow soldiers is now back in the U.S. Hassan Akbar was brought back Friday after being detained in Germany. He's not been charged as yet. Akbar is a combat engineer with the 101st Airborne and he is suspected of killing two servicemen and wounding 14 others in the attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.
Coming up here, we'll have the latest updates from our embedded reporters fanned out across Iraq and Kuwait, and a progress report on the war coming up. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" now into the second week. And we'll talk to our military experts about how things stand right now.
Plus, voices of opposition. As the coalition campaign continues, so do the anti-war demonstrations.
All that and more just ahead, as our coverage of the war in Iraq continues right now.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. It is day 11 in the war in Iraq. I'm Bill Hemmer, live in Kuwait City on this Sunday.
Those first reports, as Leon mentioned, of the injured at Camp Udairi, apparently too high. We're now told that six soldiers were injured, that is good news, when a white Nissan pick-up truck drove into a group of U.S. soldiers a few hours ago, all this happening north west of Kuwait City. The driver said to be wearing civilian clothes, military police fired on the truck. We do not know what happened to the driver or what company he was from. Camp Udairi is filled with soldiers, mostly from the army's 5th core. Much more on this throughout the day as we learn it.
Coalition forces having to be extra cautious as they encounter Iraqi civilians. Commanders say that common sense can help to ensure the safety of the troops. Coalition forces are feeling especially vulnerable after a suicide bomber killed four soldiers on Saturday. At least one British officer says the coalition did not fully understand Saddam Hussein's, quote, rule of fear in Iraq, and how that would impact the military's ability to move throughout the country.
Evidence of that nervousness, one American soldier quoted as saying, we're going to have to treat every civilian vehicle like it's hostile. If we accidentally kill a civilian because they took a wrong turn, it will be on the Iraqi leadership's head, end quote. Again, that word from a member of the U.S. Army.
Heidi Collins is with us today. She's at the CNN center. Paula has the day off, well deserved, we shall add. Heidi, hello again to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again to you, Bill. Thanks so much.
Let's go ahead and get a check of some of the other war developments this morning. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denies reports saying that General Tommy Franks wanted to wait to start the ground war until more troops could be brought in. Rumsfeld, echoing what General Franks said earlier in the day, said there are plenty of troops already flowing toward the battlefield.
At his daily briefing, General Franks said what he termed a massive terrorist camp in northern Iraq has been destroyed. Franks says U.S. forces are searching the camp for weapons of mass destruction.
And CNN's Art Harris, embedded with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division says U.S. troops have secured the southern bank of the Euphrates River near Nasariyah. That's been a scene of very heavy fighting in recent days. Harris says the Marines are still taking fire from the northern bank of that river.
Now let's go back to Bill, standing by in Kuwait once again this morning.
HEMMER: Heidi, Tommy Franks reiterated yet again today the military plan is maximizing flexibility, and adaptability as well. Walter Rodgers has seen that firsthand. Back on the videophone, here's Walt with the 7th Cavalry. Walt, what do you have now?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. Look at that Bradley fighting vehicle behind me, and then imagine a fish hook shape that sweeps across 180 degrees of the horizon, an arc, and that is the position of the U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry at this hour. They've taken up positions in an arc along the horizon. Bradley fighting vehicles and M1-A1 Abrams tanks. Their general position is within 50 miles south of the southern suburbs of Baghdad.
Of course, between these armored vehicles and Baghdad are some rather substantial Iraqi units. The Medina division for one, the Hamurabi division, these are Republican Guard units. And, of course, what the 7th Cavalry is trying to do is place themselves out into the foreground, and hopefully use themselves as bait, luring the Iraqi's Republican Guard units, divisions out into an open battle.
So far the Iraqis have not taken that bait, but it is the hope of the army that perhaps they can provoke a counterattack, luring the Iraqi Republican Guard divisions into the open, then calling in the air force and mauling them. As I say, that's not happened. But it did work about five days ago, when this very same 7th Cavalry took up a breach head just northeast of Najaf. Then several detachments of the Republican Guards from the Medina division came out, in a sandstorm, at night, and the technical capability of the United States was such that they could bomb the heck out of the Iraqi Medina division, even in a sandstorm. So much so that one army source told me that the Medina division of the Republican Guard has now been degraded anywhere between 45 and 65 percent as a result of the mauling the air force gave them a few nights back. Bill?
HEMMER: Walter Rodgers. Thanks for checking in, Walt, by way of videophone with the 7th Cavalry. Again, as Walt mentioned, he's about 50 miles south of the southern reaches of Baghdad, the southern suburbs there, 50 miles to the south and west. Karl Penhaul is near Najaf; he's embedded with the Army's 5th Corps. By telephone, Karl, what do you have?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill. The soldiers here obviously on a heightened state of alert, following the suicide car bombing near the town of Najaf yesterday, in which four soldiers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division were killed.
In some camera images that we've obtained today, we can see two Apache, or we can see Apache helicopters of the 11th Aviation Regiment task force taking to the air. They're going to check out a suspicious vehicle. A white pick-up truck with three Iraqi males dressed in civilian clothes was spotted this morning close to the perimeter of an airfield where the Apache attack helicopters are operating out of. And in the light of yesterday's attacks, the helicopters, if you like, pinned down the pick-up truck until ground troops were able to move in. They then had the civilians move out of the truck, made them kneel down. You can see in some of these images them putting their hands up. Later on they were stripped down to undergarments and then the soldiers moved in, flexi-cuffed them, and then moved in to search the vehicles.
Commanders here at the airfield near Najaf tell me that there was no weapons or explosives found in this vehicle, but U.S. commanders do say that they suspect these men could have been a lead scout party for the Iraqi Fedayeen. These are the civilian -- these are the paramilitary guerrilla-style units that have been operating behind U.S. lines to date, and inflicting at times some heavy damage. Bill?
HEMMER: Karl, thanks. Karl Penhaul on the telephone there.
And again, I think we can see clearly, within only 24 hours, that suicide bomber blowing himself up yesterday and killing four U.S. soldiers. After the bomber had faked like his taxicab had broken down, motioning for the soldiers to come near to give him some sort of help, blew up the car, blew up himself, and killed four U.S. soldiers in the process. And already we're starting to see the different tactics the U.S. and British militaries are using, in terms of their engagement with civilians, especially on the battlefield in Iraq.
More in a moment. Here's Heidi, yet again, at the CNN center. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks so much.
As you know, we've had a lot of action overnight in the campaign in "Operation Iraqi Freedom". We're going to go ahead and get you caught up now on most of that. Renay San Miguel has all of it.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 4:14 a.m. A British military spokesman confirms that British Royal Marine commandos killed one paramilitary leader and captured five other high-ranking paramilitaries, including a general, in a village southeast of Basra.
4:35 a.m. Iraqi information minister Saeed Sahaf says that Iraqi forces shot down an Apache helicopter and killed both pilots in Basra. Pentagon officials deny the claims.
7:06 a.m. A civilian drives a white pick-up truck into a military store at Camp Udairi in Kuwait, according to a U.S. military official. At least 15 U.S. soldiers are injured. The camp is mostly filled with soldiers from the U.S. Army 5th Corps.
7:09 a.m. At the central command briefing, General Tommy Franks says there is no pause in the military campaign, and that the entire Iraqi coastline has been secured. He also told reporters he does not know whether Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is dead or alive.
HEMMER: We're still trying to piece together what happened at Camp Udairi earlier today. Word of U.S. soldiers being injured after a pick-up truck was driven into a group of them as they were standing by outside of a military PX store, a supply store, essentially, where members of the military can purchase items for themselves.
Richard Blystone, about 30 minutes south, here, of Kuwait City, watching the story. What do you have tonight?
RICHARD BLYSTONE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not much, Bill. It's now four and a half hours since this incident happened, and the military information office here is still grappling to try to get a handle on it. Probably about the best thing we could do right now is get you the lack of information from the horse's mouth, that's Colonel Guy Shields, the army information officer.
COLONEL GUY SHIELDS, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN: Approximately 1:00 this afternoon, a civilian pick-up truck ran into a group of soldiers outside the shop at Camp Udairi. Ten -- somewhere between ten and 15 soldiers were injured. There were shots fired at the scene by uninjured soldiers. Initial reports are that the driver of the truck was hit.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Is this being treated as an accident or an intentional act?
SHIELDS: It's under investigation right now. We don't know. That's probably one of the most important aspects of the investigation, so we hope to have that answered pretty quickly.
BLYSTONE: Lately, Bill, we've been getting some information that it's not 10 or 15 soldiers anymore, but only about 6 injured. We await further developments. Bill?
HEMMER: Dick, I know you don't have much, but any word on nationality, whether or not this was a member of the U.S. military or not?
BLYSTONE: Nothing at all, Bill, nothing about nationality, appearance, anything else. Nothing about -- it was said that soldiers opened fire on this individual. Nothing about whether he was hit, nothing about the condition of those who were injured. And nothing about how this person got his vehicle so close to the PX and, indeed, whether it was an accident or an attack. Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Richard. Richard Blystone, south of Kuwait City.
We should point out that Camp Udairi, at one point, had eight to10,000 U.S. soldiers, members of the U.S. army, and the U.S. military. For months now, when they've been setting up camps, have hired foreign nationals, people who live and work here in Kuwait. Not necessarily Kuwaitis, but Pakistanis and others who work in this town, and in this country for that matter, working and helping with the U.S. military on those camps.
No word again, though, as to the nationality. But I'm certain that Dick Blystone, as soon as he gets it, we'll get it from him. Back to Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks.
Coming up, a country doctor goes to war. He'll be on the front lines for the first time with a small mobile M.A.S.H. unit. But he is no stranger to war, even at the age of 62. We'll have his story coming up, right after this.
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COLLINS: Now the story of a country doctor on a journey that can be measured in more than miles. Dr. Jim Irwin is a captain in the Naval Reserves with the rural surgical practice in Moses Lake, Washington. He's leaving home tomorrow, and, at age 62, is going to war for the first time. He'll be with a small mobile M.A.S.H. unit less than a dozen miles from the front lines in Iraq. Dr. Irwin joins us now, live from his farm in Moses Lake, Washington.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks so much for being with us.
JIM IRWIN, U.S. NAVY SURGEON: Good morning, Heidi. COLLINS: Let me just ask you, I know it's been almost thirty years since you were last on active duty. You could be working very close to the front lines, as we were just explaining. How do you feel about the prospect of operating so close to the battlefield?
IRWIN: I'm always anxious in a situation of that nature. However, I'm also proud to be in a position to help our front line troops.
COLLINS: What kind of wounds do you think that you will actually be treating, once you do get there?
IRWIN: Majority of wounds we see in an area of that nature are extremities, arms, legs, some abdominal wounds. Our job is to stabilize and get an individual at a point that they can be stable for 24 to 48 hours, to give us time to ship them back to a real hospital, or a hospital ship.
COLLINS: Dr. Irwin, as we know you served in the Vietnam War, the naval hospital, stateside. How do you think this will compare to what sort of injuries and wounds you saw at that time?
IRWIN: Actually, I was at a small naval hospital in Oak Harbor, Washington, at that time, and we did not receive anyone that had been injured. They were all -- went to either San Diego or Bremerton.
COLLINS: I'm sure that you've been watching a little bit of the coverage, especially with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And there was a time when he was explaining to us about the conditions inside some of the tents, and the sandstorms, and some of those challenges that they are dealing with. Do you have any concerns about that, and in particular, sterile conditions, I'm sure, would be a concern?
IRWIN: Sterile conditions are a concern. However, our job is primarily stabilization, and there are things that we have to do in a military setting that we would not do in civilian life.
COLLINS: Let me just ask you, I know you come from a very small town and you are one of three surgeons there. I'm wondering what is happening not only to your patients that maybe you've had to put on hold for a while, but also your family? You leave some people behind in Washington, don't you?
IRWIN: My wife and oldest son are at home, and then I have a son that lives in the Seattle area with two grandsons. So it's difficult for them, particularly my wife, as she does manage my medical practice and she is working hard to find somebody to fill in during the time I'm gone.
COLLINS: And how about a replacement for you? Have they found anyone yet, back at home?
IRWIN: We've not found any -- we have not found anybody yet. We're working hard to do that. She'll be spending all day on the phone Tuesday, Wednesday, I'm sure, trying to find somebody. COLLINS: All right. Well, Dr. Jim Irwin, we certainly appreciate your time this morning. We wish you the best of luck, and I'm sure that the U.S. troops will very much appreciate your service. Thank you, again.
And now, back to Bill Hemmer in Kuwait. Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. One issue we will continue to examine is this whole idea about suicide bombers and the attack of yesterday. Major General Don Shepperd, back in a moment. His thoughts on how the U.S. and British military, now engaged with the Iraqi people, knowing this has happened, and knowing they're trying to win the quote/unquote hearts and minds of the Iraqis, how do you change your tactics? We'll talk about it when we come back, right after this.
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HEMMER: Earlier today in Baghdad, the vice president of that country, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was indicating live on Iraqi television that the Americans have seen nothing yet relative to these suicide bombing attacks. But now the question is, how does the military engage a civilian population. More on that, Renay San Miguel is back with the general at the CNN center. Renay?
MIGUEL: Thank you very much, Bill. We are speaking with retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd about this new terrorism angle, if you will, into the war in Iraq.
General, General Franks talked today about the coalition attacking and a destroying a major terrorist facility, somewhere in the northeast of Iraq. We have some satellite imagery, courtesy of Earthviewer.com and Digitalglobe.com, that we want to show you, that shows you roughly where this is. While we're looking at this and the approximate location, how important is this development and what can be learned from it?
MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: General Franks indicated it's very important. He said it's a huge terrorist camp. The exploitation of that by intelligence personnel on what they found on the ground is beginning to take place. This is the Ansar al Islam, radical Islamic terrorist tied to al Qaeda up in the Kurdish area, so this is an important development.
MIGUEL: The Najaf car bomb, we have to talk about right now, the one that started all of this readjustment of policy here. General Franks says the coalition will increase its standoff to civilian vehicles. What exactly does that mean, just the distance issue, right?
SHEPPERD: Exactly. What it means is, don't walk up to a car with a bunch of soldiers, stick your head in the windows, and say hey, what's going on? You need to stop the car well away from you and examine the car from a distance, demand that the occupants get out. It slows things down, but it's actually essential in these environments where you have bombs and cars as a threat. MIGUEL: Looking at some of the damage from the Najaf car bomb. But some of the things the coalition will do, security-wise, they're not going to tell us.
SHEPPERD: They aren't, indeed. But again, this does slow it down. But again, any time you go into any kind of a war, you have to react to the tactics of the people that you're fighting. This is a new development. All of our personnel, while trying to win the hearts and minds of the people, want to get close to the people, also have to be very, very careful as they approach them.
MIGUEL: Finally, the innocent that happened, occurred this morning outside Camp Udairi in Kuwait a civilian driving into a group of soldiers there. Security not just for bases in the country, but even the home bases.
SHEPPERD: Yes. You'll find these large cement blocks to slow vehicles down. This is still under investigation. As people are asking, could this have been an accident, doesn't sound like it, but at least it was not an explosive incident. It appears intentionally driven into a group of soldiers.
MIGUEL: Security will be upped even more, and it was already on a high level. General Shepperd, thank you for your time, as always. Back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Renay, thank you.
The weather here again, a beautiful day here in Kuwait. It's been this way for about three days running. We expect that to change, though, maybe at midweek, maybe before that. Chad Myers of the CNN center is tracking the weather. Chad, what are you seeing right now?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill...
HEMMER: Moving in...
MYERS: I notice you took your jacket off.
HEMMER: Yes. It is warm today, much warmer than it was for the past several days, I'll tell you that.
MYERS: You bet. And it's going up from there. Let me zoom in and show you what's going on here, from Iraq down to Kuwait City. Tomorrow, in fact, for Kuwait City, temperature all the way to 89. Lots of sunshine there as well. Troops on up towards Basra, UV index a 9 there, with temperatures going to 85. So that warm-up we've been anticipating is definitely on its way. Back into Baghdad, for tomorrow 77. About 30 percent cloud cover. And then you get north, this is a country almost as big as California. You get up in elevation, get up in latitude and look at this. For Mosul, only 54 for the high tomorrow. And morning low temperatures, Bill, down around 30. Lot of folks sleeping outside up there, too. Back to you.
HEMMER: All right. Listen, when those storms come here, they can be quite a thing to deal with on the battlefield. MYERS: Looks like we'll get wind on Thursday.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad. OK. We'll look forward to that. Chad, thanks. It's Sunday. In the meantime, we'll enjoy it while we still have it here.
In a moment, if you've been watching us the past eight days running, you know Walter Rodgers has given us amazing images and reports from the front lines. He's now about 50 miles south of Baghdad. We'll have a look back on the last few days of his reporting when we come back. Stay with us.
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HEMMER: As you know, our embedded reporters now traveling with the U.S. and British militaries oftentimes give us the information the same time the Pentagon receives it. In the history of U.S. military, it's never been done this way before.
Walter Rodgers, especially, has been at essentially the tip of the spear, as the military likes to call it, leading the way with the 7th Cavalry. Over the past, eight, nine, ten days, Walter has given us some amazing shots and told some amazing stories. Quickly, a look back at some of the highlights of Walt and his travels.
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RODGERS: The situation here appears to be increasingly tense. A few moments ago out on the horizon not far ahead of the U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry, we heard more than a few explosions.
The U.S. Army's 3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry has compiled a rather extraordinary record in the past several days. It was the first unit to cross the Euphrates River and then punch northward to within 60 miles of Baghdad today.
It was the army which assigned me to the 3rd Squadron 7th Cavalry and that was extremely fortuitous. It was like sitting in a poker game and drawing four aces. Because this is a crack unit, it's the tip of the spear. We've had an absolutely terrific story pushing forward north towards Baghdad, 72 hours of that was under constant fire coming at us from both sides of the road.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We just heard an -- what the hell? No, No, I don't know what it is.
RODGERS: Recall Winston Churchill's old quote, there's nothing so exhilarating as being shot at and missed.
What you try to do is stay calm and continue your broadcasting, but the worst thing you can do either as a soldier or as a war correspondent is panic.
We're hearing incoming. We're not sure what it is. We see some stuff in the sky. We may have to break this off. I think we're going to break off this live shot for the time being. We're not sure what we see up there. Good-bye. We've got to dive for vehicles, I think. See you, bye.
You have to realize they've been riding along, bouncing along in these tanks for probably six or more hours now. And if you ride inside that tank, it is like riding in the bowels of a dragon. They roar. They screech.
The hardest part of the trip is personal discomfort. We cannot tell you the levels of personal discomfort we've experienced, the extraordinary sandstorms, the bitter cold nights. The most uncomfortable thing, having to sleep sitting up in a humvee with sandbags under your feet, knees at your chin. That's excruciatingly uncomfortable. Not something you would wish on anybody but a contortionist.
Let me hold the camera and show you my crew. On camera left is Charlie Miller, he's been our superb and intrepid cameraman. On my right is Jeff Barwise, brilliant satellite engineer. That's the crew which really brings you these pictures.
The pictures you're seeing are absolutely phenomenal. These are live pictures of the 7th Cavalry racing across the desert. You've never seen battlefield pictures like these before. What you're watching here is truly historic television and journalism.
COLLINS: Walter Rodgers and his crew, with the 3-7th Cavalry. Incredible stuff.
All right. Coming up in the next hour of CNN's war coverage, what's it like to be inside the besieged city of Basra. We'll hear from an Arab journalist who's been there and back.
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