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CNN Live Sunday

Can U.S. Attack Iraq Without Turkey's Help?

Aired March 02, 2003 - 18:24   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So far, the Turkish parliament's decision not to allow U.S. troops to operate from there in the event of war isn't sitting well with several lawmakers, U.S. lawmakers, that is. At least one U.S. senator says it will extend the war by two months and that's only the beginning, if, indeed, there is a war. We were curious about the military's perspective and that's why we've asked Brigadier General David Grange to join us tonight. Our CNN military analyst joins us from Oakbrook, Illinois.
Good to see you, general.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET), U.S. ARMY: Good evening.

WHITFIELD: All right, so one senator is predicting that that could be a two-month delay if, indeed, there is war. Do you see it as such?

GRANGE: I don't know if it would be two months. It's definitely going to be some type of a delay because you don't have overwhelming force in the north simultaneously with overwhelming force in the south and that would be the ideal condition to cause Saddam's forces to copulate early. I think the long-term problem's going to be the -- not having a large U.S. presence may cause some friction -- additional friction between Kurds and Turks. And this will, in the long run, be more of a problem for country of Turkey. They're not supporting what the U.S. would have liked to have done.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk about what would have been, possibly that U.S. presence from the north, particularly from the Turkish ports with several carriers there and on board those carriers, several hundred troops as well as aircraft. Without any port to pull into in Turkey, what are you going to do with the number of carriers that are already in that area? How long would it take for them to reposition?

GRANGE: Well, if the issue is the heavy armored forces that would be off-loaded and then moved cross-country, across Turkey, and then across the border into Iraq at a certain time, that's the issue, is that heavy weaponry. The aircraft, I think, would -- that'll be resolved. Aircraft carriers are going to stay out there anyway. But if you have to reposition the heavy equipment, the heavy weaponry like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, then you have to bring them all the way back around to the Suez Canal and into Kuwait if in fact you use them for that. So it's just more time consumed moving to your off-load point than if you just landed right there.

WHITFIELD: And sometimes heavy tanks and other heavy gear can actually be dropped off via aircraft. Why is that such a dicey, precarious situation in which to do that in that region?

GRANGE: Well, the area would be secured prior to landing heavy equipment like tanks. The problem is strategic airlift. The airlift that can -- only certain types of airplanes can carry heavy weapons like tanks and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fighting vehicles...

WHITFIELD: Like your C-130s?

GRANGE: ... and there's not a whole lot of those. Well, the C- 130s are actually too small for that. So you're talking about C-17s and C-5As. They're larger aircraft. And so, an area would have to be secured by paratroopers or air assault personnel that come in helicopters. And then, you expand that security area and then, you bring in the heavier stuff. It just takes longer and you can't bring in a lot of it.

WHITFIELD: OK. Entering from the north would certainly be a major obstacle if indeed Turkey does not have a second vote and doesn't ultimately cooperate. Air strikes, it has been said, would likely concentrate on some of these regime change targets. What does that mean, exactly?

GRANGE: Well, the air strikes, I think, would go to critical targets like command and control and communications sites, they would go on certain units that maybe are confirmed loyal to Saddam's regime, isolate certain units so they can't regroup to oppose coalition forces. I mean, those type things. I think most of the infrastructure in that would be preserved as best as possible for later use and to bring Iraq back on its feet. So, you know, it's really the regime change type targets.

WHITFIELD: And many of those regime change targets are going to be concentrated around Baghdad and even further south. Might those be a little bit more attainable for U.S. troops, if they were to make their way into that region for war?

GRANGE: All targets will be attainable, either by air or ground, even if they have to use lighter forces to go into the north, as an example. They're all attainable and they'll be -- targets will be selected for ground or air, depending on the type of target, the threat or the hazard to, let's say, the local populous and to friendly forces. So there's no target that's going to get away from the fight, even if we can't use Turkey.

WHITFIELD: All right, General Grange, thank you very much.

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 2, 2003 - 18:24   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So far, the Turkish parliament's decision not to allow U.S. troops to operate from there in the event of war isn't sitting well with several lawmakers, U.S. lawmakers, that is. At least one U.S. senator says it will extend the war by two months and that's only the beginning, if, indeed, there is a war. We were curious about the military's perspective and that's why we've asked Brigadier General David Grange to join us tonight. Our CNN military analyst joins us from Oakbrook, Illinois.
Good to see you, general.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET), U.S. ARMY: Good evening.

WHITFIELD: All right, so one senator is predicting that that could be a two-month delay if, indeed, there is war. Do you see it as such?

GRANGE: I don't know if it would be two months. It's definitely going to be some type of a delay because you don't have overwhelming force in the north simultaneously with overwhelming force in the south and that would be the ideal condition to cause Saddam's forces to copulate early. I think the long-term problem's going to be the -- not having a large U.S. presence may cause some friction -- additional friction between Kurds and Turks. And this will, in the long run, be more of a problem for country of Turkey. They're not supporting what the U.S. would have liked to have done.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk about what would have been, possibly that U.S. presence from the north, particularly from the Turkish ports with several carriers there and on board those carriers, several hundred troops as well as aircraft. Without any port to pull into in Turkey, what are you going to do with the number of carriers that are already in that area? How long would it take for them to reposition?

GRANGE: Well, if the issue is the heavy armored forces that would be off-loaded and then moved cross-country, across Turkey, and then across the border into Iraq at a certain time, that's the issue, is that heavy weaponry. The aircraft, I think, would -- that'll be resolved. Aircraft carriers are going to stay out there anyway. But if you have to reposition the heavy equipment, the heavy weaponry like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, then you have to bring them all the way back around to the Suez Canal and into Kuwait if in fact you use them for that. So it's just more time consumed moving to your off-load point than if you just landed right there.

WHITFIELD: And sometimes heavy tanks and other heavy gear can actually be dropped off via aircraft. Why is that such a dicey, precarious situation in which to do that in that region?

GRANGE: Well, the area would be secured prior to landing heavy equipment like tanks. The problem is strategic airlift. The airlift that can -- only certain types of airplanes can carry heavy weapons like tanks and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fighting vehicles...

WHITFIELD: Like your C-130s?

GRANGE: ... and there's not a whole lot of those. Well, the C- 130s are actually too small for that. So you're talking about C-17s and C-5As. They're larger aircraft. And so, an area would have to be secured by paratroopers or air assault personnel that come in helicopters. And then, you expand that security area and then, you bring in the heavier stuff. It just takes longer and you can't bring in a lot of it.

WHITFIELD: OK. Entering from the north would certainly be a major obstacle if indeed Turkey does not have a second vote and doesn't ultimately cooperate. Air strikes, it has been said, would likely concentrate on some of these regime change targets. What does that mean, exactly?

GRANGE: Well, the air strikes, I think, would go to critical targets like command and control and communications sites, they would go on certain units that maybe are confirmed loyal to Saddam's regime, isolate certain units so they can't regroup to oppose coalition forces. I mean, those type things. I think most of the infrastructure in that would be preserved as best as possible for later use and to bring Iraq back on its feet. So, you know, it's really the regime change type targets.

WHITFIELD: And many of those regime change targets are going to be concentrated around Baghdad and even further south. Might those be a little bit more attainable for U.S. troops, if they were to make their way into that region for war?

GRANGE: All targets will be attainable, either by air or ground, even if they have to use lighter forces to go into the north, as an example. They're all attainable and they'll be -- targets will be selected for ground or air, depending on the type of target, the threat or the hazard to, let's say, the local populous and to friendly forces. So there's no target that's going to get away from the fight, even if we can't use Turkey.

WHITFIELD: All right, General Grange, thank you very much.

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