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CNN SHOWDOWN: IRAQ
On Watch
Aired March 19, 2003 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The president has officially notified Congress that he tried to disarm Iraq diplomatically, and that didn't work.
CNN's senior White House correspondent John King has that, and much more.
He's joining me now live from the White House -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a momentous day at the White House, eight hours until that deadline for Saddam Hussein to go into exile or face U.S. military attack. White House officials say there is absolutely no indication whatsoever that the Iraqi leader will accept, because of that the military planning intensifying. Now, we have not heard from the president since he delivered those remarks to the American people and delivered that ultimatum the other night. One person who did meet with the president this morning was the New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, to discuss preparations at home for the possibility of terrorist strikes in the United States during any war.
After that meeting, Mayor Bloomberg emerged, and he said it's now crystal clear what comes next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYR. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: I think at this point the debate's over, and that's what democracy's all about. Everybody gets a chance to express their views. We have elected the president to listen and then to make a decision. He has made that decision. He is a forceful, strong leader. He's not going to be cowed or dissuaded. He's going to go out there and do what we all pray is right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The decision now facing the president is when to order troops into combat. There you see members of his national security team, including the Vice President Dick Cheney, arriving for a meeting at the White House. We are told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, General Meyers an others updated the president on the latest on the military planning, including those weather conditions in Kuwait, and including the movement of U.S. forces forward to the front lines, just along the Iraqi border.
We are told the president could issue those orders as early as tonight, but he will rely on the advice of his military commanders both here in Washington and in the field. But the president has served notice to Congress that he will indeed invoke the authority it gave him last October when it passed the resolution authorizing military force. In a filing with the Congress, the president said, among other things, this -- quote -- "I determine that reliance by the United States on further diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq, nor likely lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
So, Wolf, a momentous day for the president. Again, we are told he is mulling exactly when to order U.S. troops into combat. He told military planners this morning to get ready, tell him when they believe it is the optimum moment, and then he will give the command -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John, as you and I both remember, a dozen years ago, a little bit more than a dozen years ago, when the U.S.-led air war started against Iraq, we heard, we saw those bombs dropping in Baghdad. That was the first obvious indication that the were had started.
But shortly thereafter, it was the then-White House Press Secretary Marlon Fitzwater, who walked into the briefing room to announce the war had officially started. Only later did the current president's father, then-President Bush, make the official announcement, speak to the American public. In this particular case, what we expect is to hear directly from the president?
KING: Yes. We of course have to get some heads up that the president will speak. We are told we will get very short notice. But the next time we hear from the president of the United States he will be sitting in the Oval Office, telling the American people and the world that hostilities are under way, that he has ordered U.S. troops into combat. In announcing the president will give that speech, obviously, we will get a very brief heads up from the White House. But we are told the major announcement will come from the president himself, and that is the next time we will hear from him.
BLITZER: All right, John King at the White House, who's going to be very, very busy in the coming days. Thanks, John, very much.
And remember, we'll hear much more from the Bush administration in about 10 or 15 minutes. That's when the White House press briefing is scheduled to begin with Ari Fleischer, the press secretary. Of course, CNN will bring it to you live.
Some 130,000 U.S. forces are here in Kuwait, ready to go into Iraq if president bush gives the order among them. The Army's elite 101st Airborne division.
Joining me from what's being called Camp New Jersey in the Kuwaiti Desert, Colonel Mike Linnington. He's commander of the third battalion, 187th infantry.
Thanks very much for joining us. Colonel, I know these are incredibly tense hours for you. How are your troops doing right now?
COL. MIKE LINNINGTON, U.S. ARMY: Troops are very confident, Wolf. They've been here for a couple weeks, as you know. They've acclimated to this environment. They've got their plans and orders, and we're ready to go. We're just waiting for the word from the president.
BLITZER: What about the sandstorms? We've been hearing so much about these sand storms? How much of a hindrance would it be for the ground troops that you command?
LINNINGTON: For us, being an air assault infantry unit, we rely primarily on our assault helicopters and our tank helicopters to accomplish our mission. The sand storms, obviously, will degrade our ability to conduct those operations, but they all provide us the ability to infiltrate when he may not be expecting us to fly. So, these storms come up quickly, they're very brief, but very tough in nature, and soldiers have got some great stories to tell as a result of these sand storms.
BLITZER: How prepared are your troops for the possibility that Saddam Hussein's military might use chemical or biological warfare in the initial stages of a war?
LINNINGTON: We know that the possibility of chemical warfare or biological warfare is out there. In fact, it's not possible, it's probable. We've got the world's best chemical protection equipment. We've trained on that equipment, and we're confident in operating in that environment.
We will not be more than an arm's distance from our equipment. We've got great protectors, and we've got great missile defense as well. If that possibility arises and he decides to fight in a chemical environment, we're ready for that eventuality.
BLITZER: Is there any indication, at least in the southern part of Iraq, that Iraqi military troops are indeed preparing biological or chemical warfare?
LINNINGTON: We are really focused on the area right here in and around Camp New Jersey. We've gone through a lot of rehearsals these last couple of days, finishing up our final preparation here tonight. We've seen a lot of traffic on the highways, as you can imagine, both north and south. I would say all of this portion of Kuwait is staging for the attack if the word is given.
BLITZER: The 101st Airborne, all of your equipment is in place, or are you still waiting for what they used to call a rolling start? That even as the war begins, you'll still be getting additional equipment and troops, or are you 100 percent ready to go?
LINNINGTON: We did a very smart job in the way we packed our equipment from Ft. Campbell. We tailored our equipment so that when it came off the boat, we were ready to fight. Several more boats have come in. We have the majority of the equipment here, and really no degradation at all in our combat power. The unit that I command, the 3rd brigade of the 101st, is 100 percent ready to go, and we're ready for that call.
BLITZER: Many of your troops, correct me if I'm wrong, including yourself, were in Afghanistan not that long ago. Did you have enough time between Afghanistan and now to get back to the United States, relax, prepare yourself for this new mission?
LINNINGTON: The great part about the experience we had in Afghanistan, was we came back with that experience and with the knowledge of that battlefield, which is not unlike the conditions we experience here in terms of weather, at least, took some time off, gave the soldiers an opportunity to spend some time with their families, and then went through a very strict retraining regimen that included a trip to the joint readiness training center, several combined arms training exercises and live fire exercises at Ft. Campbell that culminated right before Christmas. Took time off over the Christmas holidays. And then of course in January and in the first part of February packed all of our equipment here.
So the soldiers have been very busy, make no mistake about that, but they've had the opportunity to spend some time with their families and get back on the training regiment to fix those areas that we wanted to adjust coming out of Afghanistan.
BLITZER: So, Colonel, you and your troops did go out to California and prepare for desert warfare out there?
LINNINGTON: We did not train in California. We went to the joint readiness training center at Ft. Polk. Part of our training at Fort Polk, of course, was also a focus training -- focus training time in urban terrain. So that was important for our brigade to get focused on that piece of the eventualities if it comes to that, and we're well-trained in that area as well.
BLITZER: Colonel Mike Linnington, with the 101st Airborne. Colonel, good luck to you, good luck to all of your men. Thank you very much for joining us here on our program.
And with every passing hour, it appears more certain there will indeed be a war. Among the complications that we've been pointing out, right now the throat of sand storms.
For the bigger picture, let's go to CNN's Renay San Miguel. He's at the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Renay.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you very much. Couple developments we do want to talk about as we await the potential for the start of hostilities. One of those developments, as you heard, provided by nature, the other manmade. Joining us from Chicago to talk about this is CNN military analyst, retired General David Grange.
General, thanks for joining us today.
We have heard from a soldier about the difficulties of the sandstorms can cause on the ground, and also the difficulties they cause for pilots. Would you see this providing a halt to any kind of action once the deadline comes tonight? GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, if that was planned right after the deadline, it may postpone it. But there's some good points that were brought up in the conversation between the commander and Wolf Blitzer, and that is sand storms can be used as a deception. They can be used to surprise the enemy. A sand storm in Kuwait may not be a sand storm on the west side of Baghdad. And so, you know, you have to adjust your movements according to the weather at objective site as well as the launch site. And so it could be -- it could curtail operations. It could enhance them. It could be used as an advantage.
SAN MIGUEL: There is also the capability that -- we talked before about weapons and problems it can cause for maybe attack helicopters, but also for the electronic equipment that is used.
GRANGE: Well, the sand in a desert and especially from the '91 war. There's a lot of problems with maintenance on communications equipment as you just stated on helicopter engines, on weapons, and so it takes a lot of effort, a lot of maybe three, four times as much as normal to keep things operational. And a lot of lessons were learned from the war in '91 that have been applied and the procedures, that these forces use today in order to keep the stuff up and running.
SAN MIGUEL: While we're on subject of electronics, let's talk about something that the technology has provided that may make its debut in a new Gulf War, and that is electronic bombs, e-bombs, directed energy weapons, those kinds of things, where something would send out such a major magnetic pulse, it would fry an enemy's electronic infrastructure. Do you think that will make its debut in this war?
GRANGE: Well, it's possible. You know, we've heard that from the chairman of the joint chiefs, that if something was even in an experimental stage, but it was proven that it would work, they would not rule that out for employment. And if that could save people's lives, and keep the infrastructure the way they would like it post- conflict, it may well, in fact, be used if it has reached that stage of development so it could be employed, and I wouldn't rule it out, and so I am not sure that we can guarantee that it would be used at all. So that is an option, if it is developed that far down the road, that would do considerable damage to the enemy's infrastructure and ability to command and control any operation.
SAN MIGUEL: General Grange, we have to leave it there. Thank you for your time. We do appreciate it..
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