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CNN SHOWDOWN: IRAQ
Iraq Says Cruise Missiles Struck Market
Aired March 26, 2003 - 12:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All morning CNN has been receiving pictures from inside Baghdad from damage done, of people injured, of defiant citizens. Iraqi officials say U.S. cruise missiles targeted a popular market place there, killing at least 15 Iraqi civilians and injuring another 30 or so.
This video, taken by other international news agencies, shows (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shops, demolished cars, damaged apartments and very angry citizens. Photographers confirm seeing dead and injured people, but it's not clear how many casualties there are, or who they are.
Photographers were taken to a Baghdad hospital as well, apparently filled with injured women and children. U.S. military commanders say they're not convinced coalition bombs were responsible, hinting the Iraqis themselves could have caused the damage.
And as you've seen, coalition forces are running into some stiff resistance from Iraqi troops and paramilitary fighters before they even reach Baghdad. And it's only expected to get worse. Let's get a little bit of the bigger picture. For that, I turn to my colleague Renay San Miguel at the CNN newsroom in Atlanta -- Renay.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Wolf. And I'm here with CNN military analyst, retired Army General David Grange. They call it a SitRep in the military, a situation report. And that's what we're going to give you right now.
Let's start off by showing you the map table here. Give you some idea of some of the movements over the last 12 hours. And as you can see from the big blue arrows there, they're getting closer to Baghdad and getting closer to those Republican Guard units there.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes they are. You have the 3rd Infantry Division, led by 3-7th Cav moving up on the Medina Republican Guard Divisions outside Najaf and Karbala. You have the 1st Marine Division moving up north of Nasiriya.
You still have the British 7th Brigade, Armored Brigade, the three (ph) commando and the 16th Air Assault Brigade, operations around Basra area, down here to the south. And then up north, you have continual buildup of special operating forces working with the Kurdish units on a probable future offensive against Iraqi positions in the north.
Out west, you have H3, H2 complex, with special operating forces. And then somewhere out in the desert you have the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault poised for future operations anywhere in this central area.
SAN MIGUEL: OK. We're talking about north. And Kevin Sites from CNN embedded up there. Chamchamal getting a lot of activity.
Let's talk -- go back to Najaf for just a second. The U.S. did lose a couple of tanks there. This just speaks to the lethal efficiency of some of the anti-tank weapons being used by the Iraqi military.
GRANGE: Yes. What they believe is the reports are wire-guided, possibly, anti-tank weapons. AT-3 vehicle-mounted anti-tank weapons, similar to the TOW, or anti-four (ph) ground-mounted wire-guided missile. Again, they're only disabled, not destroyed, which means they may have been knocked off a track on the tank or something of that nature.
SAN MIGUEL: But that means it has to stay there.
GRANGE: Well until it's fixed.
SAN MIGUEL: I mean as fast as they're moving until it's fixed?
GRANGE: Yes.
SAN MIGUEL: I have to ask you. From the briefing today with Vince Brooks -- Brigadier General Vince Brooks at CENTCOM, talking about some of the missiles that had been shot towards Kuwait, the Al Samoud name came up again. And of course this came up the last time when U.N. weapons inspectors were in the process of destroying them before this conflict started.
The range on these, according to General Brooks, almost twice what the U.N. is allowed. And I'm wondering, if you're with troops in a neighboring country, how you would feel about that.
GRANGE: Well, you know Iraq said they didn't have those type of missiles to the U.N. inspectors. But, anyway, I think one fell into the Persian Gulf, and of course out in the sands of Kuwait. But long- range fired missiles, yes.
SAN MIGUEL: Got you. David Grange, we will talk with you later. Thanks a lot, General for your time.
GRANGE: OK. Thank you.
SAN MIGUEL: Paula, back over to you.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, gentlemen. A new wave of anti-war protests is cropping up all over the world. We're going to check in with our correspondents live in Amman, Moscow and London.
Plus, paging Dr. Gupta. Reporting from the front lines with the Devil Docs. His unique experience there.
And remember, we're standing by for a Pentagon briefing in the next hour. CNN's live war coverage continues in just one minute. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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