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CNN Sunday Morning
War in Iraq: Analysis of CENTCOM Briefing
Aired March 30, 2003 - 07:54 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: General Tommy Franks, head of Central Command down there in Qatar, with a sometimes forceful briefing today with reporters are strongly disagreeing with these reports out late last night and into the hours of Sunday about whether or not there's some disagreement within the Department of Defense in terms of troops strength. Right now, operating on the ground also strongly disagreeing with a number of things in terms of the operations.
When asked also about some Army generals, talking about the timeline here in Iraq now sliding possibly into the summer months, Tommy Franks says "one never knows how long war will take." Yet again, today, emphasizing in this plan ultimate adaptability, ultimate flexibility. That's a theme we've heard consistently for the past 10, 11 days running.
And at one point even suggesting, not knowing whether or not Saddam Hussein is alive or dead, at one time General Franks says "I have not seen credible evidence to show that this regime is being controlled from the top," a reference to President Saddam Hussein himself.
Major General Don Shepperd standing by. So too is Patty Davis live at the Pentagon.
And Patty, curious to know with these reports floating out there, I have to think there's got to be a lot of talk as to the timeline and also the troop strength. What are you hearing there?
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly a lot of talk about that here at the Pentagon. The Pentagon says that this war is going to last as long as it takes to get that job done.
Now as for that report in Kuwait of a truck driving into a group of U.S. soldiers Central Command General Franks confirming that, but saying that it is nothing like the terrorist attack, they call here the terrorist attack, yesterday in which a man drove up and exploded a suicide bomb killing himself and four other U.S. soldiers as he approached them.
Now General Tommy Franks did say that this war, as you said Bill, is on plan, that there is no delay. There's been no pause in the military campaign, that there have been some major gains pointing out that coalition forces have secured oil fields in the south.
A terrorist facility destroyed in northern Iraq. Also, says the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of Iraq is now under coalition control, free for humanitarian aid to be brought in that way, and that some U.S. forces are now within 60 miles of Baghdad.
Now how to avoid suicide bombings in the future? Here's what Franks had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We'll see how it goes over the days ahead as that camp is fully exploited. It is literally huge. And so, we have forces there now. They're doing their business and we won't speculate on what will be the result of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: Now the Iraqis have said that they have shot down an Apache helicopter. They have shot down an Apache helicopter, that report floating out there for quite some time. The Pentagon, though, says that it has no reports of any missing or downed aircraft -- Bill.
HEMMER: Patty, thanks. Patty Davis at the Pentagon.
Major General Don Shepperd back with us, our military analyst today. Thanks for coming back, Don. Good to see you yet again. I'm curious from a military perspective, day 11 right now, do you find these reports about troop strength and the war in terms of how long it may last? Do you find these a bit surprising this early?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I do find it very surprising this early, but it's the job of the press and arm chair experts and strategists everywhere to question military plans, Bill. So it goes on all the time.
General Franks has been very clear about this, that this is according to his plan. The deployments are according to his plan. He is not short of forces. The one point he made that's very important is the flexibility of the plan and the fact that he had the option to kick this off with a long air war, with special operations forces, with ground forces. And he took an opportunity because of the flexibility of the forces he had available and his plan because of the vulnerability of the southern oil fields to kick this off with round of action early. And he reported that that's why he did it, Bill.
I think from his words, he's on plan. And there's no disagreement within the administration about what's going on. Other people are guessing, Bill.
HEMMER: What do you think the evidence shows to have Tommy Franks say what he said referencing Saddam Hussein, about a lack of credible evidence to show that it's being controlled right now from the top.
SHEPPERD: Yes, I listened very carefully to that, because we all want to know did that initial strike get Saddam Hussein or any of the top leadership? And General Franks' words were very carefully crafted. He basically said I have not seen evidence that it is controlled from the top. Basically, what he's saying is he doesn't know, but it does not appear that there's coordinated command and control from the very top levels is available for General Franks to see at Central Command. We're all still guessing, Bill, what happened and whether or not Saddam is alive.
HEMMER: All right, general, thanks. Major General Don Shepperd, thanks for your input there. We will talk again next hour.
When we come back here, Walt Rodgers still embedded somewhere between the Najaf and Baghdad. We'll check in with Walt today. He's with the 7th Cav. And also, more on this vehicle accident in Camp Udairi. It may not be an accident after all. 15 U.S. soldiers wounded. We'll let you know what we know when we come back in a moment here on CNN.
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 30, 2003 - 07:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: General Tommy Franks, head of Central Command down there in Qatar, with a sometimes forceful briefing today with reporters are strongly disagreeing with these reports out late last night and into the hours of Sunday about whether or not there's some disagreement within the Department of Defense in terms of troops strength. Right now, operating on the ground also strongly disagreeing with a number of things in terms of the operations.
When asked also about some Army generals, talking about the timeline here in Iraq now sliding possibly into the summer months, Tommy Franks says "one never knows how long war will take." Yet again, today, emphasizing in this plan ultimate adaptability, ultimate flexibility. That's a theme we've heard consistently for the past 10, 11 days running.
And at one point even suggesting, not knowing whether or not Saddam Hussein is alive or dead, at one time General Franks says "I have not seen credible evidence to show that this regime is being controlled from the top," a reference to President Saddam Hussein himself.
Major General Don Shepperd standing by. So too is Patty Davis live at the Pentagon.
And Patty, curious to know with these reports floating out there, I have to think there's got to be a lot of talk as to the timeline and also the troop strength. What are you hearing there?
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly a lot of talk about that here at the Pentagon. The Pentagon says that this war is going to last as long as it takes to get that job done.
Now as for that report in Kuwait of a truck driving into a group of U.S. soldiers Central Command General Franks confirming that, but saying that it is nothing like the terrorist attack, they call here the terrorist attack, yesterday in which a man drove up and exploded a suicide bomb killing himself and four other U.S. soldiers as he approached them.
Now General Tommy Franks did say that this war, as you said Bill, is on plan, that there is no delay. There's been no pause in the military campaign, that there have been some major gains pointing out that coalition forces have secured oil fields in the south.
A terrorist facility destroyed in northern Iraq. Also, says the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of Iraq is now under coalition control, free for humanitarian aid to be brought in that way, and that some U.S. forces are now within 60 miles of Baghdad.
Now how to avoid suicide bombings in the future? Here's what Franks had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We'll see how it goes over the days ahead as that camp is fully exploited. It is literally huge. And so, we have forces there now. They're doing their business and we won't speculate on what will be the result of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: Now the Iraqis have said that they have shot down an Apache helicopter. They have shot down an Apache helicopter, that report floating out there for quite some time. The Pentagon, though, says that it has no reports of any missing or downed aircraft -- Bill.
HEMMER: Patty, thanks. Patty Davis at the Pentagon.
Major General Don Shepperd back with us, our military analyst today. Thanks for coming back, Don. Good to see you yet again. I'm curious from a military perspective, day 11 right now, do you find these reports about troop strength and the war in terms of how long it may last? Do you find these a bit surprising this early?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I do find it very surprising this early, but it's the job of the press and arm chair experts and strategists everywhere to question military plans, Bill. So it goes on all the time.
General Franks has been very clear about this, that this is according to his plan. The deployments are according to his plan. He is not short of forces. The one point he made that's very important is the flexibility of the plan and the fact that he had the option to kick this off with a long air war, with special operations forces, with ground forces. And he took an opportunity because of the flexibility of the forces he had available and his plan because of the vulnerability of the southern oil fields to kick this off with round of action early. And he reported that that's why he did it, Bill.
I think from his words, he's on plan. And there's no disagreement within the administration about what's going on. Other people are guessing, Bill.
HEMMER: What do you think the evidence shows to have Tommy Franks say what he said referencing Saddam Hussein, about a lack of credible evidence to show that it's being controlled right now from the top.
SHEPPERD: Yes, I listened very carefully to that, because we all want to know did that initial strike get Saddam Hussein or any of the top leadership? And General Franks' words were very carefully crafted. He basically said I have not seen evidence that it is controlled from the top. Basically, what he's saying is he doesn't know, but it does not appear that there's coordinated command and control from the very top levels is available for General Franks to see at Central Command. We're all still guessing, Bill, what happened and whether or not Saddam is alive.
HEMMER: All right, general, thanks. Major General Don Shepperd, thanks for your input there. We will talk again next hour.
When we come back here, Walt Rodgers still embedded somewhere between the Najaf and Baghdad. We'll check in with Walt today. He's with the 7th Cav. And also, more on this vehicle accident in Camp Udairi. It may not be an accident after all. 15 U.S. soldiers wounded. We'll let you know what we know when we come back in a moment here on CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
