ABC News - Iraq War - 2003-03-20 - 8 p.m. (E)

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Transcript

Language: English (YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] may or may not be the Ramila field which

[0:02] is the closest one to the border. This

[0:04] is ABC News continuing live coverage of

[0:06] the war with Iraq.

[0:16] Hello again everybody. I'm Peter

[0:17] Jennings at uh ABC News headquarters in

[0:20] New York. This is our continuing

[0:22] coverage of the campaign against Iraq.

[0:24] We are very much in the dark about some

[0:27] things and we know a fair amount of some

[0:29] other things that have transpired. And

[0:32] at the beginning of every hour, it's now

[0:33] 8:00 in the east, 5:00 in the west, and

[0:36] 4:00 in the morning um on the

[0:39] battlefield. Uh these are some of the

[0:41] things that we know um have transpired

[0:45] today. Uh we know that there were

[0:47] various strikes by the US today in

[0:49] Baghdad itself and up towards Basra. We

[0:51] also know the British were involved in

[0:53] an operation going across the Kuwaiti

[0:55] Iraq border up towards Bastra. The first

[0:57] important city,300,000

[1:00] people on the way to Baghdad been an

[1:02] issue of huge speculation as to how

[1:04] people in Basra would respond to US

[1:07] andor British forces because it's a

[1:08] largely Shiite Muslim population, the

[1:11] majority population in Iraq. But the

[1:14] leader Saddam Hussein is a Sunni and the

[1:16] Shiites have been profoundly uh

[1:19] repressed by the Sunni leadership for

[1:21] many many years particularly in the

[1:23] south and this is one of the places

[1:25] where the Americans believe they really

[1:27] will be greeted with flowers and not

[1:29] with bullets but there are as our

[1:30] military analysts tell us some some

[1:32] armies deployed uh in the area between

[1:35] the Kuwait border and Basra certainly

[1:37] question is what will they do whether

[1:39] it's re revolutionary guard farther up

[1:41] or the regular army farther to the

[1:43] south, will they put their weapons down

[1:45] and decide not to fight? We also know,

[1:47] of course, that the US launched another

[1:49] series of strikes on Baghdad. Um, US and

[1:52] British forces again used cruise

[1:53] missiles fired from the Persian Gulf and

[1:55] from the Red Sea. It is a British pool

[1:57] report we had earlier today that the

[1:59] Royal Commandos were involved in their

[2:01] biggest operation uh since the Faulland

[2:03] War as they launched an attack on

[2:05] southern Iraq. ABC's John McQuey reports

[2:08] that only cruise missiles were used

[2:09] today, not bombs from aircraft because

[2:12] at this moment still the Baghdad

[2:14] environment is considered too dangerous

[2:18] or too potentially dangerous for manned

[2:20] aircraft uh to fly in and it will take

[2:23] time. As you've noticed as we've looked

[2:25] at Baghdad, I think we can still look at

[2:26] Baghdad live almost at will.

[2:29] As we look at Baghdad at 4:00 in the

[2:31] morning, it is fairly quiet. And the

[2:33] fact that it is fairly quiet suggests

[2:35] that out there in the darkness are not

[2:37] only US forces prepared to attack from

[2:40] the air, but Iraqi anti-aircraft

[2:43] capability, uh, which is not

[2:46] insignificant. And as we remember from

[2:48] the last campaign 12 years ago, the

[2:50] Iraqis do have a capability to get at US

[2:53] aircraft if they fly too low. So this

[2:57] huge assault that we are anticipating uh

[3:00] shock and awe, it's been called more

[3:01] than once by members of the

[3:03] administration and members of the

[3:05] military uh has not apparently yet

[3:07] transpired. But let's go to the Pentagon

[3:11] and the man who knows more than the most

[3:13] of us about what is happening, John

[3:14] McCathy. John, yours,

[3:16] >> Peter. The important thing that is about

[3:18] to happen as the sun comes up uh across

[3:21] the desert out in Iraq, American forces

[3:24] have moved from Kuwait and are beginning

[3:26] to pour across that border. They've been

[3:29] doing some of them moved out earlier

[3:31] during the uh the course of the night,

[3:33] but now the main thrust, the main move

[3:35] toward Baghdad has begun. uh future

[3:38] missile.

[3:40] >> American and British troops spent the

[3:42] night removing obstacles at the border.

[3:44] For hours, US artillery lit up the

[3:47] blackened desert sky, smashing units of

[3:50] the regular Iraqi army that were too far

[3:52] away to shoot back. Helicopter gunships

[3:56] ranged ahead, scouting and shooting as

[3:58] they went. One was shot down by small

[4:01] arms fire, but was recovered by the army

[4:03] and repaired. Planes from aircraft

[4:06] carriers and from air bases in the

[4:08] region accelerated their attacks on the

[4:10] southern half of Iraq. What the military

[4:13] calls softening the battlefield.

[4:15] >> They had nothing to do per se to strikes

[4:19] with anything else that was going on

[4:20] today other than to continue to prep the

[4:23] battlefield to clear a path for further

[4:26] on air strikes and ground operations.

[4:29] Coalition forces quickly overran the

[4:31] small isolated Iraqi town of Um Kasar, a

[4:34] fishing village near the Kuwaiti border.

[4:37] It was on the way to the real goal, the

[4:40] large port city of Basra. This is the

[4:43] first major city the US is likely to

[4:45] capture in Iraq, and today it got its

[4:48] first taste of the intensified air

[4:50] campaign. For the second night, the

[4:52] skies over Baghdad lit up as the US air

[4:56] attack continued there. In this phase,

[4:58] sources say the US using 24 Tomahawk

[5:02] cruise missiles continued to go after

[5:04] the leadership of Iraq, just as it did

[5:07] with its dramatic opening attack last

[5:09] night.

[5:09] >> That was the first.

[5:12] It will likely not be the last.

[5:15] The days of the Saddam Hussein regime

[5:18] are numbered.

[5:19] >> What lies ahead, Defense Secretary

[5:21] Rumsfeld predicted, will be far more

[5:24] impressive. What will follow will not be

[5:26] a repeat of any other conflict. It will

[5:28] be a of a force and scope and scale that

[5:32] has been beyond what has been seen

[5:35] before.

[5:37] Operation Iraqi Freedom got off to an

[5:40] unexpectedly early start last night

[5:43] because the US had unexpectedly good

[5:46] intelligence. They believed they knew

[5:48] where Saddam Hussein was and jumped on

[5:51] it. There is an intense debate today

[5:54] about whether the US did in fact kill

[5:56] Saddam Hussein last night, but no proof

[5:59] one way or the other. Going after

[6:01] leadership Rumsfeld believes not only

[6:04] shakes their confidence, but rattles all

[6:06] the people around them.

[6:08] >> I often try to put myself in other

[6:10] people's shoes. Once they are persuaded

[6:13] that that regime is is history, it is

[6:16] going. It will not be there. Then their

[6:18] behavior begins to tip and change.

[6:20] Rumsfeld is hoping the bombing campaign

[6:23] and the land assault will all add to

[6:25] people changing their mind. Army units

[6:28] surrendering, the Iraqi people welcoming

[6:31] the American invasion. That is his hope.

[6:34] For much of the rest of Iraq, the last

[6:36] 24 hours has been a period shrouded in

[6:39] secrecy. US special operations troops

[6:42] have begun their campaign. Sources

[6:44] outside the US government report

[6:46] American commandos capturing a remote

[6:49] airfield in Iraq's western desert called

[6:52] H3, a potential American air base inside

[6:56] Iraq. And late this evening, Peter, we

[6:59] are now picking up some signs of

[7:01] explosions near that port city of Basra

[7:04] to which I referred earlier in my story.

[7:06] Basra, that key port city, American

[7:09] forces now approaching it. Uh it is not

[7:13] clear at this hour whether or not it is

[7:15] an aerial bombardment or whether or not

[7:17] it is artillery and helicopters going

[7:20] after Iraqi positions, but it seems

[7:22] pretty clear there's a fight around

[7:24] Basra.

[7:25] >> So So a fight, John, or an attack,

[7:28] resistance or or just an attack? Do you

[7:32] have any idea at all?

[7:33] >> No idea, Peter. Uh what we are hearing

[7:36] is the beginning of the US attack

[7:39] presumably. uh and uh whether or not the

[7:42] Iraqis are resisting uh is unknown and

[7:45] it will not be known probably until

[7:48] tomorrow or the next day as they try to

[7:50] assess uh the battlefield in the

[7:52] aftermath.

[7:52] >> Okay, John. Let Thanks very much, John.

[7:54] Okay, let's just look at a map for a

[7:55] second so the people can absorb what it

[7:57] is happening. I mean this map of Basra

[7:59] and the and the fa peninsula. It is down

[8:02] in this area. You see a little strip of

[8:03] water there. That's Iran next door.

[8:06] Basra is uh you know very famous in

[8:10] history. Uh you know this is where

[8:11] Sinbad the sailor's adventures began

[8:13] when he went off to see the world. Also

[8:16] a home of many famous families that went

[8:18] on to be very famous in the west in in

[8:21] some cases Iraqi Jews the famous

[8:23] advertising company Sachi and Sachi. The

[8:25] Sachis came from Basra. Um it it is also

[8:29] where the Iraqis and the Iranians just

[8:32] beat the living out of each other for

[8:35] all of those wars in the mid1 1980s in

[8:37] the war which used chemical weapons and

[8:39] every other kind of uh every other kind

[8:41] of of weapon. And today in Basra there's

[8:44] this huge line of statues looking uh

[8:47] east towards Iran just sort of defiantly

[8:50] a war that Saddam Hussein started. with

[8:52] the Iranians, almost one at the

[8:53] beginning, but he pulled out in the

[8:54] final analysis, but in the final

[8:56] analysis was also forced to sign a peace

[8:58] agreement with them. It's 340 mi

[9:00] approximately southeast of Baghdad. It's

[9:02] a big city, a million400,000

[9:05] people approximately Shiite Muslims. And

[9:07] so it is a little surprising at the

[9:10] moment, but only from this one person's

[9:12] point of view to hear that there may be

[9:13] a fight there because based on a lot of

[9:16] the briefings that we had from senior

[9:18] military commanders, it was not what

[9:20] they thought they were necessarily going

[9:22] to encounter. But let us move on.

[9:28] Um, somebody help me here.

[9:32] Ah, okay. Um, we've had two kinds of

[9:34] targets in the last 12 or 14 hours. One

[9:36] of the targets that were planned to

[9:38] disrupt the Iraqi leadership and one is

[9:40] this, everybody's become familiar with

[9:42] the phrase now, the target of

[9:43] opportunity when the president signed

[9:45] off on operation based on intelligence

[9:47] that was going to go for a compound in

[9:50] southern Baghdad where they thought

[9:53] senior leaders of the Bath party, the

[9:54] leadership and perhaps Saddam Hussein

[9:56] were there. It's only the latest attempt

[10:00] to get Saddam Hussein. There's been a

[10:01] long, long campaign to get him. And

[10:03] here's ABC's Chris Wallace with the

[10:05] history of that.

[10:08] >> The general who ran the air campaign in

[10:11] Desert Storm says taking out Sodom

[10:13] Hussein is a critical part of the

[10:15] mission.

[10:16] >> But Chuck her warns, don't expect it to

[10:19] work.

[10:20] >> To eliminate Sodom Hussein's got to be

[10:21] one of the hardest jobs in the world.

[10:22] Look how he's stayed alive over the past

[10:25] 20 years in an environment where a lot

[10:28] of people want him dead.

[10:30] In the last war, the US launched 260

[10:33] attacks on leadership targets. Or who

[10:36] talked with us from Illinois, says he

[10:38] got plenty of intelligence from US

[10:40] special forces and Iraqi informants, but

[10:44] nothing he could ever count on.

[10:46] >> Fair to say that you never knew at any

[10:47] point in the Gulf War where Saddam

[10:49] Hussein either was or where he was going

[10:51] to be.

[10:52] >> If we'd had definitive knowledge, we

[10:54] probably would have dropped a bomb on

[10:55] him. The fact Saddam Hussein's alive

[10:57] indicates that we didn't know where he

[10:59] was.

[11:00] >> So, reports now Sodam Hussein has gone

[11:03] into deep hiding don't mean much to US

[11:05] officials. They say he's always in deep

[11:08] hiding.

[11:09] >> He's uh very paranoid and with good

[11:13] reason.

[11:13] >> Former CIA director James Wolsey says

[11:16] the Iraqi leader security is all but

[11:18] impenetrable. If the president had asked

[11:21] you, let me know where Saddam Hussein is

[11:24] going to be at any point in the next

[11:26] week, the next month.

[11:28] >> I think that would have been virtually

[11:29] impossible.

[11:30] I think it probably is impossible today.

[11:33] >> Saddam security has saved him from as

[11:35] many as two dozen assassination and coup

[11:37] attempts over the last quarter century.

[11:40] Reports are he sleeps in a different bed

[11:42] every night. He has a network of tunnels

[11:44] to travel underground. He's even said to

[11:47] wear a bulletproof Kevlar fedora.

[11:50] Intelligence analysts say Sodam has many

[11:52] doubles, lookalikes who appear for him

[11:55] in public. Defector Abbas Aljanabi was

[11:58] personal secretary to Saddam's son Uday.

[12:01] But even those close to the inner

[12:03] circle, he says, had to go through

[12:05] strict screening to meet with the Iraqi

[12:07] leader.

[12:08] >> Inspect everything. Two people inspect

[12:10] you. Even the socks, everything. He is

[12:14] afraid of assassination. We know very

[12:16] well that people doesn't like him.

[12:19] >> I was met by a major general

[12:23] who came to me and said, "We would like

[12:26] to assassinate Saddam Hussein."

[12:28] >> In 1995, former CIA operative Bob Bayer

[12:31] worked with Iraqis planning a military

[12:33] coup, but he says the US failed to back

[12:36] it and Saddam Hussein crushed the plot.

[12:39] >> What happened to the people who were

[12:40] caught in the Iraqi army? They take a

[12:43] very toxic acid and they put military

[12:46] defectors or anybody like that. They put

[12:48] them in this bath and it eats away their

[12:50] skin over the course of I don't know how

[12:52] many minutes. Doesn't sound like a No,

[12:55] it's a bad way to go.

[12:57] >> That kind of brutality breeds fear.

[12:59] Perhaps Sodom's most effective security

[13:01] measure.

[13:04] Whatever the reason, the people who know

[13:07] the most about him say what seems the

[13:09] simplest solution may be the least

[13:11] likely. Watch this Senate hearing.

[13:14] >> Why not get a hit team and get rid of

[13:16] him?

[13:16] >> Because I'm not sure anybody really

[13:18] knows where he is. Um it's easy to say

[13:22] it's much more difficult to to do.

[13:25] >> I think he will cause maximum damage as

[13:28] much as he can uh not only to attacking

[13:31] forces but perhaps to his own people.

[13:33] The former CIA director thinks Sodom

[13:35] will try to hide out and prolong the

[13:37] war, creating a bloodbath and hopes the

[13:40] Arab world can get the US to stop

[13:42] fighting. But Wolie says Sodom's options

[13:44] for hideouts are limited. He is loathed

[13:47] by the Kurds in the north and the Shiite

[13:49] Muslims in the south. He thinks Saddam

[13:52] will go to ground somewhere in this area

[13:54] about the size of Kentucky, including

[13:57] Baghdad and Toree, his ancestral home

[14:00] and power base. Saddam Hussein is a very

[14:02] tough man to kill, isn't he?

[14:04] >> If we're going to need 250,000 troops to

[14:06] kill him, that's why they're there.

[14:08] Without a good human intelligence source

[14:10] next to Saddam, it's going to have to be

[14:12] a house-to-house search.

[14:13] >> Iraq's a big place.

[14:14] >> It's a big place. Could take a long

[14:16] time.

[14:16] >> So, for all the troops the US will have

[14:19] in country, they may have to hope for a

[14:21] tip from someone inside the inner

[14:24] circle, someone trying to save himself.

[14:27] Once the troops commit, I think the rats

[14:30] will start coming out, jumping chip, and

[14:31] then we'll um we'll get a break.

[14:34] >> Whatever it takes. The experts we talk

[14:36] with say it's essential to catch or kill

[14:39] Saddam Hussein. They acknowledge he's no

[14:42] threat once he's removed from power.

[14:44] It's not like Osama bin Laden hiding in

[14:47] a cave. But they add, as long as Sodom

[14:50] Hussein's on the run, he can cause real

[14:52] trouble, if only as a symbol of the

[14:55] limits of US power.

[14:58] We do sometimes on television make all

[15:00] this seem a good deal simpler than it

[15:02] is. We're joined by John Hillen, uh, one

[15:04] of our analysts who's a former special

[15:06] operations officer. John, if you were

[15:08] the commander of a special forces unit,

[15:11] let's say you were in charge of all

[15:12] special forces, we'll promote you for a

[15:13] moment. in Iraq today. How would you go

[15:16] after Saddam Hussein and how difficult

[15:18] do you think it would be?

[15:20] >> Well, Peter, it's very difficult and

[15:21] that's why you'd really want to mitigate

[15:22] against the risk. I think there's

[15:23] basically three options for the United

[15:25] States and her allies. The first, of

[15:27] course, is what we saw last night and

[15:28] it's relatively riskless and that is to

[15:31] use air power and especially precision

[15:33] guided air power. That of course relies

[15:35] on good intelligence and we thought we

[15:37] were acting on that last night and the

[15:38] result remains to be seen. Uh the second

[15:41] option, a little less risky but still

[15:42] one that has a good deal of uh of

[15:45] problems associated with it is to have

[15:48] uh an Iraqi agent, an agent on our

[15:50] behalf working in and trying to get

[15:52] Saddam Hussein or his inner circle. And

[15:54] then lastly, and one that entails a

[15:56] great degree of risk is to put actual

[15:58] Americans, either uh uh agents or

[16:01] uniform personnel in there to try to

[16:02] take out Saddam Hussein. And as we saw

[16:04] in something like Moadishu in 1993, that

[16:07] can turn bad in a hurry if if you don't

[16:09] uh if you don't plan it exactly right.

[16:11] >> It's the last one actually that I was

[16:12] thinking of, the third or two, because

[16:13] US policy for years has been to hope to

[16:15] get some Iraqi near Saddam Hussein to

[16:17] shoot him and they never succeeded.

[16:18] >> But but you cannot really imagine or I

[16:21] shouldn't presume. Can you imagine any

[16:24] circumstances under which uniformed

[16:26] special forces operators would want to

[16:28] be landing in the neighborhood of

[16:30] Baghdad under these circumstances?

[16:32] It's it's hard to imagine sending a lot

[16:35] of uniformed uh military personnel from

[16:37] the US into Baghdad itself. But we do

[16:40] know that Saddam Hussein moves uh and

[16:42] it's hard to track his movements. Uh and

[16:44] we do know that at some point in time

[16:45] during this campaign, he may move

[16:47] outside of Baghdad, especially if uh if

[16:50] uh a cruise missile strike such as that

[16:51] last night is effective in in attacking

[16:53] his inner circle. And if he moves

[16:55] outside of Baghdad, opportunity may

[16:57] present itself where there may be a

[16:58] chance to uh literally swoop in and uh

[17:01] in the form of a raid or direct action

[17:03] as we call call it in the special

[17:04] operations business, try to get them.

[17:06] >> When a you when a special forces team

[17:08] lands in somewhere in Iraq, as it

[17:11] clearly has today and perhaps in several

[17:12] places, how is it sustained by the

[17:15] larger military

[17:17] operation or is it pretty much on its

[17:20] own?

[17:20] >> It for the most part it's on its own,

[17:22] Peter. It really depends on the kind of

[17:23] mission, but one of the things that's

[17:24] special about special operations is is

[17:27] the flexibility and they're usually a

[17:29] very short duration. You would expect

[17:31] almost any operation to go in and out uh

[17:34] very rapidly. Uh it would have a force

[17:36] package surrounding it with all sorts of

[17:38] supporting aircraft, uh backup forces,

[17:41] refueling aircraft if it had to go over

[17:43] long distances, but for the most part,

[17:44] it would be a package put together very

[17:46] mission specific and meant to go in and

[17:48] out of the area very quickly. And how

[17:50] heavily armed?

[17:53] >> Well, as heavily armed as the mission

[17:54] requires. Very flexible capability. Uh

[17:57] but for the most part, I can hardly

[17:59] imagine a contingency uh in Iraq,

[18:01] whether it's around getting Saddam or

[18:02] not, in which you wouldn't want to be as

[18:04] well armed as possible.

[18:05] >> But this would be personal arms. You're

[18:07] not going in with any equipment. You're

[18:08] just going in with personal arms, right?

[18:10] >> Well, it would depend. They would break

[18:12] up. For instance, if this were a raid to

[18:14] take advantage of some actionable

[18:16] intelligence where we knew Saddam or

[18:18] other members of his inner circle were,

[18:20] uh, you would have it broken up. You

[18:21] would have an assault team. You would

[18:23] have a support team that might be more

[18:24] heavily armed to provide covering fire.

[18:26] And you would have an actual snatch

[18:27] team, uh, that would be there to either

[18:29] kill or capture uh, whatever target was

[18:32] in the area. So, it really depend. Very

[18:34] flexible missions. U,, a lot of air

[18:36] support would be required and then a lot

[18:38] of contingency planning for if something

[18:40] went wrong and how to get everybody back

[18:41] out safely. Speaking realistically and

[18:43] having seen pictures like that thousands

[18:45] and thousands of times on television, do

[18:47] you think special forces have

[18:49] in your mind ever play a role in

[18:51] actually capturing Saddam Hussein?

[18:53] We we have capabilities that can do this

[18:55] sort of thing, but given the risk

[18:57] involved and given the the larger scale

[18:59] of operations that are taking place both

[19:01] in the special operations arena, which

[19:02] will have quite a few missions ongoing

[19:04] and in the larger conventional forces

[19:06] picture, uh I think the US will probably

[19:09] continue to want to seek an opportunity

[19:11] to target Saddam and his inner circle

[19:13] through less risky means. And I think

[19:14] that uh last night's attack really

[19:16] probably set the pattern for that.

[19:18] >> Thanks, John, very much John. US Army

[19:19] captain served in the Gulf War with

[19:21] special forces. Now, one of our

[19:22] consultants, our principal military

[19:24] consultant is Tony Cordisman, who's also

[19:26] in Washington tonight. Tony, tell us how

[19:28] extensive special operations may be in

[19:32] in in in a time like this.

[19:35] We would assume, Peter, that we have

[19:37] special operations teams working in the

[19:40] field with the Shiites, that they are

[19:42] attempting to penetrate uh Iraqi

[19:45] communications even on the ground, that

[19:48] they're up dealing with the Kurds,

[19:50] preparing for operations there, that

[19:52] they're already in the West, that they

[19:54] helped seize the air bases there, H3,

[19:58] that you've had them scouting forward in

[20:00] the areas around Basra, and then at

[20:03] least in some areas along the route of

[20:05] advance we have as well as perhaps

[20:08] penetrating even into some of the Iraqi

[20:11] units where we believe that they'll

[20:13] defect or we know they'll defect.

[20:15] >> Am I correct in recalling that the

[20:17] defense secretary, Mr. Rumsfeld, is a

[20:19] big fan of special operations.

[20:22] >> He is indeed. It's part of force

[20:23] transformation and he's given a great

[20:26] deal more money and he's expanding it

[20:28] very rapidly.

[20:29] >> What's force transformation?

[20:32] It is as I think John and others have

[20:35] discussed earlier. It's the whole idea

[20:36] that we can have lighter faster forces.

[20:40] This idea we can synchronize land and

[20:42] air and sea operations. That we don't

[20:45] need the traditional heavy vehicles or

[20:48] largecale forces to secure the flanks of

[20:51] rapidly maneuvering forces. That

[20:54] precision makes up for numbers. that

[20:57] intelligence and reconnaissance gives us

[21:00] a new focus, a new accuracy and speed of

[21:03] reaction. All of these transform the

[21:06] speed and synchronization of forces.

[21:09] >> Thank you, Tony. come back to you often

[21:11] as you know Tony Cord is one of our

[21:13] military analysts and reminding you that

[21:14] Iraq is a very large place size of

[21:18] California different shape than the size

[21:20] of California but just imagine if you

[21:22] will landing a special operations team

[21:24] somewhere in California and how limited

[21:26] it may be by the population by the

[21:29] circumstances of geography and all of

[21:31] Iraq we remind you is not a desert

[21:33] though sometimes the map make it look

[21:35] maps make it look like that uh quite

[21:38] someday as we said so far and the huge

[21:40] push has not begun. We're going to go to

[21:42] Kuwait City now where ABC's John

[21:44] Kenyonas is on duty. Uh tonight, our

[21:47] time, it's little about 20 minutes after

[21:48] 4 in the morning. And this was a day,

[21:51] John, from the moment the president made

[21:54] his speech last night that many Kuwaitis

[21:56] and others didn't anticipate.

[21:59] >> That's right, Peter. Already, as you can

[22:02] tell, it's a very windy, very dusty

[22:04] morning here. Um, but already it's been

[22:08] an anxious and tense time of the day.

[22:11] We've had a series of three air raid

[22:13] sirens blasting here throughout the

[22:15] night, indicating that uh Iraqi missiles

[22:18] may well be flying over the border. All

[22:20] of this, of course, keeping the the

[22:22] people of this tiny nation awake and on

[22:25] edge. It's uh it's many ways it's hard

[22:29] to believe that this war began just a

[22:31] little over 24 hours ago.

[22:40] March 19th, 6:30 p.m. in Washington.

[22:44] Unbeknownst to the world, behind closed

[22:46] doors at the White House, the moment of

[22:48] truth has arrived. An hour and a half

[22:50] before the ultimatum to Saddam is due to

[22:52] expire. Sudden word from CIA Director

[22:55] George Tenant. Ripe intelligence of a

[22:58] gathering of Iraq's top leadership at a

[23:01] specific location. And now the president

[23:04] makes a decision to launch. 9:33 p.m. in

[23:07] Washington, 5:33 a.m. in Baghdad. Air

[23:11] raid sirens, tracers, and anti-aircraft

[23:14] fire in the misty morning light signal a

[23:17] surprise air attack.

[23:21] Within minutes, White House press

[23:23] secretary Ari Fleer confirms this is not

[23:26] just a case of jittery Iraqi nerves on

[23:29] the ground in Baghdad. The opening

[23:31] stages of the disarmament of the Iraqi

[23:33] regime have begun. The president will

[23:35] address the nation at 10:15.

[23:38] >> The attack is so unexpected that even

[23:41] troops of the army's third infantry

[23:43] division are taken by surprise as they

[23:45] greet the dawn in Kuwait along the Iraqi

[23:48] frontier.

[23:49] >> This did come as a surprise. It even

[23:51] came as a surprise to the men of the

[23:54] Third Infantry Division, most of whom

[23:56] have now deployed to pre-ordained

[23:59] positions up just short of the Iraqi

[24:02] border.

[24:02] >> First reports indicate a surgical strike

[24:05] on a target in South Baghdad. Is this

[24:08] the beginning of war or some kind of

[24:11] precursor, a singular event? For 30

[24:14] minutes, no one knows. 10:15 p.m. in

[24:18] Washington, 6:15 a.m. in Baghdad.

[24:22] >> At this hour, American and coalition

[24:25] forces are in the early stages of

[24:26] military operations to disarm Iraq, to

[24:30] free its people, and to defend the world

[24:32] from grave danger. On my orders,

[24:36] coalition forces have begun striking

[24:37] selected targets of military importance

[24:40] to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to

[24:42] wage war. A somber President Bush tells

[24:45] the nation and the world that war has

[24:48] begun and that Americans should not

[24:50] expect an early end to this conflict.

[24:53] >> A campaign on the harsh terrain of a

[24:55] nation as large as California could be

[24:57] longer and more difficult than some

[25:00] predict.

[25:01] >> Minutes later, Pentagon sources indicate

[25:04] that the initial attack was indeed an

[25:06] attempted strike on at least two Iraqi

[25:09] leadership targets. won a high-level

[25:11] meeting, perhaps including Saddam

[25:13] Hussein himself.

[25:16] 42 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched

[25:19] from six ships in the Persian Gulf and

[25:21] the Red Sea, coordinated with a handful

[25:24] of sorties of F-17 stealth Nighthawk

[25:28] fighters, which dropped four bunker

[25:30] buster bombs. There is no immediate word

[25:33] of results. An edgy calm returns to

[25:37] Baghdad. And it's clear this is not the

[25:39] beginning anyone expected. There is no

[25:42] attempt yet to shock and awe with

[25:44] overwhelming air power and massive

[25:47] numbers of bombs and missiles. 12:30

[25:50] a.m. in Washington, 8:30 a.m. in

[25:53] Baghdad. Saddam Hussein, apparently

[25:56] alive and well and in military dress,

[26:00] reads from a prepared statement laced

[26:02] with religious rhetoric. We will fight

[26:06] the invaders and God willing they will

[26:09] be defeated and will

[26:11] >> defiant still predicting victory for his

[26:13] regime. He exhorts his followers to

[26:16] battle.

[26:17] >> The evil ones will run in defeat. Draw

[26:21] your sword. The blessed sword. Long live

[26:24] jihad. Long live Palestine.

[26:28] >> But is this really Saddam? Or could it

[26:30] be an impostor? one of his alleged

[26:33] doubles. Analysts at the CIA pour over

[26:36] the tapes, but cannot be sure. 2:30 a.m.

[26:40] in Washington, 10:30 a.m. in Baghdad. 2

[26:43] hours later, Iraq's military response is

[26:47] felt in Kuwait.

[26:48] >> All morning long, we've been hearing

[26:50] explosions not too far from here.

[26:52] >> At least three Iraqi missiles are fired

[26:55] at Kuwait. The Pentagon says they're

[26:57] destroyed by Patriot missiles. No damage

[27:00] or casualties reported on the Iraqi

[27:03] frontier. Those same US troops who were

[27:06] surprised by the initial attack on

[27:08] Baghdad in the early morning. The third

[27:10] infantry division are now firing

[27:13] artillery on Iraqi troops using

[27:15] howitzers and rocket launchers. Is this

[27:18] the ground war now underway?

[27:21] Meanwhile, in Baghdad, Iraq's

[27:23] information minister, Muhammad Sahed

[27:25] al-Sai, claims two civilian targets were

[27:29] hit in the initial cruise missile

[27:31] attack. They have targeted

[27:34] two buildings in west of Iraq

[27:39] which is a building of

[27:42] custom authorities

[27:46] and the casualties is one martyr and a

[27:49] few injured. In Washington, Defense

[27:53] Secretary Donald Rumsfeld counters,

[27:56] describing the chief target as a senior

[27:58] Iraqi leadership compound.

[28:00] >> Forces hit a senior Iraqi leadership

[28:03] compound last evening.

[28:05] The damage assessment on the compound is

[28:08] pending.

[28:10] That was the first.

[28:12] It will likely not be the last. And he

[28:16] warns Saddam Hussein has seen nothing

[28:18] yet to compare with what is soon to

[28:21] come. 100 p.m. in Washington, 900 p.m.

[28:25] in Baghdad. Nightfall in Iraq. The air

[28:29] attack is underway again.

[28:32] >> It's all going on right now. There's I

[28:34] just saw a major bomb explode in a

[28:36] destroy a building across the river from

[28:38] where I am right now.

[28:42] >> Okay. Well, back here in Kuwait, the sun

[28:44] is about to rise. The uh streets are

[28:47] very quiet. Hardly any cars out there.

[28:50] And on this Friday, the Muslim holy day,

[28:52] people are counting their blessings.

[28:55] Thankful that the uh Iraqi counteratt

[28:58] attack has thus far been ineffective.

[29:01] There have been no damages and uh no

[29:04] casualties thus far. Peter,

[29:06] >> thank you, John, very much. John Kenyon

[29:08] giving us a time sense of how the day

[29:10] went. Certainly among other things from

[29:12] the Kuwaiti perspective, a couple of

[29:14] other things going on at the moment.

[29:15] We've talked to you a little bit about

[29:16] the anti-war demonstrations which have

[29:18] been going on today at home and

[29:20] overseas. There has recently, in fact

[29:22] currently, a demonstration going on in

[29:24] Chicago which has a large uh anti-war

[29:28] community as well and very active and a

[29:30] lot of them came out today. This is true

[29:32] in New York and now it's true in

[29:34] Chicago. This is Lakeshore Drive on the

[29:36] on the lakeside of of downtown Chicago.

[29:40] And though it doesn't look to be a huge

[29:42] crowd from the air here by any means,

[29:44] though we can't see out of the picture

[29:45] to the left, uh they've certainly tied

[29:49] up traffic in Chicago at this particular

[29:51] hour. People who are dissatisfied with

[29:54] this policy of the Bush administration.

[29:56] Similarly true in Washington tonight.

[29:58] This is a small example of the anti-war

[30:02] feeling that is out in Washington and

[30:05] Chicago and other places. And this is

[30:07] ABC News continuing live coverage of the

[30:10] war with Iraq.

[30:20] Thank you very much for joining us. I'm

[30:21] ABC's Peter Jennings at ABC News

[30:24] headquarter in New York. Uh it is 8:30

[30:26] here in the east, 5:30 in the West, and

[30:28] 4:30 in the morning. uh in uh the part

[30:31] of the Middle East we are most focused

[30:33] on. Some of the recent developments,

[30:35] explosions in Basra, this most

[30:38] important, largest city in southern

[30:41] Iraq, a city which US and British forces

[30:44] have been moving on for some time. It is

[30:47] the center of the very large anti-Saddam

[30:50] Hussein Shiite population, about a

[30:52] million and a half people. And we hear

[30:54] reports from reporters and witnesses in

[30:57] the general area that there are many

[30:59] explosions in the neighborhood, but we

[31:01] do not know precisely what that means.

[31:04] At the same time, one of the two Arab

[31:08] television networks which is up and

[31:10] running, Al Jazzer, which we're now

[31:11] familiar with, and another one called

[31:13] Alabia, which is a fairly new one out of

[31:15] Saudi Arabia, are reporting casualties

[31:17] in the bombing of attack. Al Jazer,

[31:19] which is not pro Saddam Hussein. um in

[31:23] today's attack says five families were

[31:24] injured among the five children. In

[31:26] another attack, two children and three

[31:27] women were injured while having dinner.

[31:29] Iraq, by the way, denies the fall of Um

[31:32] Kaser, this village at the top of this

[31:35] waterway called the Shhat Alarab. The

[31:38] Iraqis say it has not fallen. We've

[31:39] heard earlier reports today that it fell

[31:41] either to Americans or to British. And

[31:44] this of course is uh is advancing up

[31:48] towards Basra um using one of our

[31:52] technological wonders to see a pretty

[31:54] decent representation of the landscape

[31:56] itself with some that's the main highway

[31:58] that then goes on up past Batra and the

[32:00] top of the Shatal Arab on up into

[32:02] Baghdad itself. And while we're in that

[32:04] border area, Iraq denies firing any Scud

[32:07] missiles at Kuwait today. And on that

[32:10] the US and the Iraqis would concur,

[32:13] though there were six or seven missiles

[32:14] fired at the Kuwaitis today or fired in

[32:17] the direction of Kuwait. They were not

[32:19] said to be Scuds. Now, if we can go all

[32:22] the way up north uh at the moment there

[32:25] is now some violence reported in the

[32:27] city of Mosul in the north. This is

[32:29] another very important city at the

[32:30] absolute opposite end of the country uh

[32:33] just about 300 miles north of um of

[32:38] Iraq. This is an important oil city.

[32:40] This is a city that's been in the no-fly

[32:42] zone. This is where Saddam Hussein had

[32:44] his northernmost presidential compound,

[32:47] but as you can see, it's above the 36 uh

[32:50] degrees latitude and has been protected

[32:52] by the US and British aircraft for a

[32:54] long, long time. We're not quite sure

[32:56] what explosions up there mean, but it

[32:59] may mean that there is an early

[33:00] engagement uh between anti- Saddam

[33:04] Hussein forces in the north and elements

[33:06] of the Iraqi army, maybe the fifth core

[33:07] or the 16th Infantry Division um which

[33:10] are uh deployed to that part of the

[33:12] country. Last we know. ABC's Don Daylor

[33:16] is with us again from the 101st Airborne

[33:18] that takes us farther south to the Iraq

[33:21] Kuwaiti border. Yes, Don.

[33:26] Peter, just wanted to mention that uh

[33:28] even though the soldiers here at the

[33:29] 101st are not involved in the current

[33:32] activities out in the desert, they're

[33:34] having a rough night of it. We've been

[33:36] having air raids go off. I would say on

[33:39] every hour, hour and a half or so,

[33:41] breaking up their sleep. And keep in

[33:43] mind, as we have discussed earlier in

[33:44] the week, a lot of these soldiers are

[33:47] also mechanics and drivers. and they've

[33:49] given the task of trying to put together

[33:51] the vehicles with their weaponry to be

[33:54] able to go into war when they're called

[33:55] upon. The real problem with the air

[33:57] raids has been a a major disruption of

[34:00] the schedule to refit this equipment and

[34:03] there is some concern that they might be

[34:04] behind schedule because of that. Thanks

[34:07] Don very much. Don Taylor with 101st

[34:08] Airborne pointing out one of the

[34:10] problems that everybody knew before this

[34:11] campaign began that it was going to

[34:13] exist for US forces which is to say the

[34:16] men of the 101st got there but their

[34:18] equipment was way behind them and has

[34:20] not been there quite in time to be fully

[34:23] prepared and it's one of the reasons

[34:24] they at this point have not moved

[34:26] forward. Not that everybody can move

[34:28] forward at exactly the same time, but

[34:30] the 101st Airborne is an important

[34:32] component of the attack force and they,

[34:34] as Don Daylor points out, would very

[34:35] much like to get going. As for the early

[34:37] going along the frontier, um ABC's Mike

[34:41] Surere, who's a former Marine and with

[34:42] the Marine, says they had some ditches

[34:44] and some water barriers going across the

[34:46] frontier on the eastern side, uh going

[34:48] up towards Baser. He said that slowed

[34:50] them down for a while, but in other

[34:52] circumstances, they were going

[34:54] astonishingly fast, 20, 25, 30 m hour in

[34:57] the evening. All of them wearing night

[34:58] scope vision devices. Um, and if you

[35:02] have, and not many people have driven

[35:03] around with a night scope vision on

[35:05] driving a jeep down a strange road at

[35:07] night, um, no matter how adept you are,

[35:09] it's pretty good. And the early fires

[35:11] now appear to be confirmed up there that

[35:13] we're not precisely where they are in

[35:15] those particular um, oil fields just to

[35:19] the southwest of Basra. But who is the

[35:23] man the United States is so determined

[35:25] to get? Saddam Hussein. Let's just take

[35:27] a moment and re-re ourselves of the man

[35:30] who the Bush administration is

[35:32] absolutely unalterably determined to get

[35:35] rid of.

[35:38] >> Uh there's no question that the leader

[35:40] of Iraq is an evil man.

[35:43] >> As President George Bush and America's

[35:45] allies go after Saddam Hussein, the

[35:48] world wonders, what will Saddam's next

[35:50] move be? But for more than 20 years,

[35:52] Saddam has been an unpredictable leader.

[35:55] Saddam Hussein came from this dusty town

[35:57] north of Baghdad. By his early 20s, he

[36:00] was immersed in revolutionary politics.

[36:02] At 22, he plotted against Iraq's then

[36:04] ruler. The assassination attempt failed.

[36:06] And in a story that's now legend in

[36:08] Iraq, Saddam fled to Egypt.

[36:14] >> When he returned, it was to rule. By

[36:16] 1979, he was president, prime minister,

[36:19] and commander-in-chief.

[36:22] One year later, he declared war against

[36:24] fundamentalist Iran. Here lie the roots

[36:27] of the turbulent relationship between

[36:28] the US and Saddam's Iraq. Long before

[36:31] 9/11, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism

[36:33] struck fear in the hearts of Washington

[36:35] policy makers. So in 1980, after Iraq

[36:39] attacked Iran, the Reagan White House

[36:41] made a critical calculation. In public,

[36:43] the United States would be officially

[36:45] neutral on the Iran Iraq war, but

[36:47] secretly the US would tilt in favor of

[36:49] Iraq. In 1982, Iraq was removed from the

[36:53] State Department's terrorism list. Two

[36:55] years later, formal diplomatic relations

[36:57] were restored.

[36:59] We provided a great deal of intelligence

[37:01] to Iraq. Intelligence which was critical

[37:03] to helping them win certain battles

[37:05] against the Iranians. In addition, the

[37:08] US eased up on its own technology export

[37:11] restrictions to Iraq, which allowed the

[37:13] Iraqis to get certain technology which

[37:15] helped them build things like longer

[37:17] range missiles and chemical weapons. The

[37:19] Commerce Department allowed Iraq to

[37:21] import supercomputers, machine tools,

[37:23] even strains of anthrax. All of which

[37:25] helped Saddam build up his deadly

[37:27] arsenal. According to disarmament expert

[37:29] Gary Milholan,

[37:31] >> we sent Saddam Hussein uh u biological

[37:36] strains which could have been used to

[37:37] make biological weapons, but it was part

[37:40] of our overall policy of supplying him

[37:42] with a lot of very alarming things that

[37:45] weren't necessary to build up build up

[37:47] his conventional weapon capability, but

[37:49] which allowed him to build up his weapon

[37:52] of mass destruction capability. And when

[37:54] Iraq used chemical weapons against

[37:56] Iranian troops, killing thousands of

[37:58] them, the Americans were fully aware of

[38:00] it.

[38:01] >> Our military understood they were using

[38:03] them in the Iran Iraq war uh against

[38:06] Iran.

[38:08] >> It was a long war of attrition that cost

[38:11] Saddam's nation hundreds of thousands of

[38:13] lives and ended in a draw. Even after

[38:17] the Iran Iraq war, Hussein continued

[38:19] using chemical weapons, this time

[38:21] against his own people, the Kurds in the

[38:23] north, to quell political uprisings.

[38:25] Some estimates say more than 5,000

[38:27] people died within hours of the mustard

[38:30] gas attack.

[38:32] By the end of the war, Saddam had built

[38:33] the fourth largest army in the world.

[38:36] And in 1990, those forces invaded

[38:39] Kuwait.

[38:41] The first president, George Bush,

[38:43] assembled the greatest coalition of

[38:44] forces ever against a single enemy.

[38:48] >> Iraq cannot be allowed to benefit from

[38:51] its invasion of Kuwait.

[38:53] >> On the night of January 16th, 1991,

[38:56] coalition planes and American cruise

[38:58] missiles were launched at Iraq. For 48

[39:01] days and nights, coalition planes

[39:03] pounded Iraqi targets.

[39:06] On February 27th, the coalition forces

[39:08] launched a ground offensive, pushing

[39:10] north through defensive berms built by

[39:12] Iraqi troops. By the thousands,

[39:14] demoralized and ill-fed, Iraqi soldiers

[39:17] surrendered. After 100 hours of ground

[39:20] war, their leader withdrew from Kuwait.

[39:24] >> At the end of the war, he was

[39:25] momentarily weakened and encouraged by

[39:27] US sponsored radio broadcasts. Iraqis,

[39:30] believing the US would help, rose up

[39:32] against him. It was disastrous. The

[39:34] rebellion was brutally put down. The

[39:37] ceasefire agreements required Saddam to

[39:39] dismantle any chemical, biological, or

[39:42] nuclear weapons. UN inspections began

[39:45] after the Gulf War. Inspectors

[39:47] discovered and started to destroy a

[39:48] nuclear weapons program that was far

[39:50] more advanced than they had realized.

[39:52] But increasingly, those inspectors found

[39:54] themselves in a frustrating game of cat

[39:57] and mouse. And in 1998, Hussein called

[40:00] off all cooperation with UN weapons

[40:02] inspectors, eliminating all further

[40:04] monitoring of Iraq's nuclear and

[40:06] biological sites. The policy of

[40:08] containment clearly hadn't worked. There

[40:11] was evidence Iraq had been rebuilding

[40:12] its weapons programs. And after

[40:14] September 11th, US leaders were

[40:16] determined to preempt America's enemies.

[40:19] In short, everything had changed.

[40:21] Another Bush had become

[40:23] commander-in-chief. One who was very

[40:25] serious about ousting Saddam Hussein

[40:27] once and for all.

[40:30] from ally to enemy. An astonishing

[40:33] American relationship with Saddam

[40:35] Hussein uh over the last 20 years. uh

[40:40] just astonishes people who follow the

[40:42] region all these years. um of how the

[40:45] United States relationship with him has

[40:46] changed in so many ways and it will be a

[40:49] long and deeply integral part of the

[40:51] history that is written about this

[40:53] campaign which the president son of the

[40:56] president has uh son of a president has

[40:59] begun waging against him in the last 12

[41:02] hours or so including uh just to bring

[41:05] you up to date um asking other countries

[41:07] 68 of them specifically to expel the

[41:10] Iraqi diplomats who are there we're not

[41:12] certain they've all done of expelling

[41:14] three Iraqi diplomats from the Iraqi

[41:16] interest section u and I think the

[41:18] Algerian embassy in in in Washington not

[41:22] required to give any reason but there

[41:23] were nine other Iraqi diplomats at the

[41:25] United Nations a little harder to kick

[41:26] them out and there's been no US request

[41:28] but as several people have said this

[41:30] evening it is just operating on so many

[41:32] fronts this campaign against Iraq at the

[41:34] moment earlier today the president froze

[41:36] all Iraqi government assets that he had

[41:39] some access to and said that I think

[41:41] there were several billion dollars is

[41:42] involved and that that money would be

[41:45] used in the reconstruction of Iraq,

[41:47] which is going to cost a huge amount of

[41:49] money, much of which the administration

[41:51] hopes will be paid for out of Iraqi oil

[41:53] profits. Um, and here's something also

[41:55] with so many different new things about

[41:57] this campaign. Here's something new. Two

[42:00] Arab television organizations now

[42:02] covering a war in their own backyard and

[42:04] looking over everybody's shoulder. Let's

[42:06] go to Mosul in northern Iraq. uh

[42:09] northern Iraqi city just under the

[42:11] Kurdish control area where tonight uh

[42:13] the reporters and the cameras of the Al

[42:17] Jazzer satellite television network uh

[42:20] has been photographing Mosul and their

[42:22] reporter has been talking uh on camera

[42:25] to his headquarters at Qatar in the

[42:28] Persian Gulf which is exactly where the

[42:30] US is running this campaign from and

[42:34] where Alazer is very much protected by

[42:36] the ruler. that's been kicked out of

[42:38] Saudi Arabia, kicked out of Jordan, uh

[42:41] kicked out of Syria, um and I think even

[42:44] kicked out of Iran, but I'm not

[42:45] altogether sure which give you some

[42:47] measure of of their independence, but

[42:48] it's the Algazer reporter who is tonight

[42:50] saying that there have been explosions

[42:52] in Mosul, which is a large city in the

[42:55] north. We do not know precisely what

[42:57] that means, but we'll ask Tony

[42:59] Cordisman, our military analyst, in a

[43:01] short while to tell us the significance

[43:03] of that up there. In the meantime, let's

[43:06] return to this business of having US

[43:08] helicopters down behind enemy lines as

[43:11] was the case today. Two helicopters

[43:13] down, one just over the Iraqi Kuwait

[43:15] border. An Apache and attack helicopter

[43:17] got it up and running again. No

[43:18] casualties in the western desert. Um

[43:21] another helicopter, a sort of utility

[43:24] helicopter moving special forces around

[43:26] crashed. We do not know precisely why.

[43:29] and the special forces uh were retrieved

[43:32] by other Americans. How does that

[43:35] happen? Here again is ABC's Chris

[43:37] Wallace.

[43:39] It happened a few hours before the

[43:41] opening missile strike of the war. An

[43:43] Air Force special operations helicopter

[43:45] like this made what is called a hard

[43:48] landing in enemy territory. The MH53,

[43:51] known as a Pavel, was so badly damaged,

[43:54] US forces destroyed it so the helicopter

[43:57] would not fall into Iraqi hands. But

[44:00] that left soldiers on the ground behind

[44:02] enemy lines.

[44:04] So, as part of a carefully choreographed

[44:06] rescue plan, another chopper swooped in

[44:08] to pick up the down soldiers. No

[44:10] casualties, no men captured.

[44:13] >> Rescue, rescue, rescue. This is Viper

[44:15] 03.

[44:16] >> Here's where they learned to do it. a

[44:18] training center near Spokane,

[44:20] Washington.

[44:21] >> We have visual.

[44:22] >> Imagine these white mounds of snow in

[44:24] the mountains are sand dunes in the

[44:26] desert of southern Iraq. You're a pilot

[44:28] lost in enemy territory. You may have

[44:31] just minutes or seconds to call for help

[44:33] and avoid capture.

[44:35] >> You know, you just come out of the sky.

[44:36] You know, one minute you're completely

[44:38] in control of your aircraft and the next

[44:40] minute you're down on the ground.

[44:41] Everybody got their maps laid out?

[44:42] Everybody got

[44:43] >> Senior Airman Kelly Ivy is a survival

[44:45] instructor. He says before anyone,

[44:47] pilots or crew members, are sent on

[44:49] missions in hostile territory like Iraq,

[44:52] they spend 17 days at a place like this,

[44:55] the Air Force's survival school.

[44:58] >> Learning to control a parachute.

[45:01] >> Learning to fall out of the sky at a

[45:03] high speed

[45:04] >> land.

[45:04] >> Learning to hit the ground.

[45:06] >> Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

[45:08] >> Learning to figure out where you are.

[45:11] learning to survive during three

[45:13] grueling days in the wilderness, hiding

[45:15] and evading.

[45:16] >> You're shot down and the Iraqis are

[45:18] there and they've captured you and

[45:19] you're like, "Okay, what's going to

[45:20] happen next? What's going to happen

[45:22] next?"

[45:22] >> At the controls of an Air Force super

[45:24] tanker feeding fuel to hungry F-16

[45:27] fighters, Lieutenant Colonel Dale

[45:29] Stewart remembers vividly when the skies

[45:31] were not so clear and calm.

[45:33] >> It felt like a 50,000lb sledgehammer

[45:36] just came up and hit the bottom of the

[45:37] airplane. Just 12 years ago, Stuart was

[45:39] in the cockpit of an A-10 Thunderbolt,

[45:41] Warthogs, the pilots called them. And

[45:44] his mission was to fly low and slow

[45:46] enough to kill Iraqi tanks with a 30 mm

[45:49] cannon mounted in the nose. Then

[45:51] suddenly

[45:52] >> there's this huge explosion beneath me

[45:54] and I look down and it's my airplane

[45:56] blowing up. Um I thought, "Oh my god,

[45:59] now I'm going to die in the fireball

[46:00] from my own airplane." His plane was hit

[46:03] and store was in the middle of the

[46:04] desert, disoriented and quickly

[46:06] surrounded by Iraqi troops.

[46:08] >> And this guy comes about 10, 15 feet

[46:11] away from me, just starts screaming and

[46:12] yelling, pointing his rifle right at me,

[46:14] his AK-47. And so I just finally threw

[46:16] my radio on the ground and and put my

[46:18] hands up.

[46:19] >> He spent 33 days as a prisoner of war.

[46:22] >> They dislocated my shoulder, broke my

[46:24] nose, um burst my left eard drum. Store

[46:27] credits his training for helping him

[46:29] resist his Iraqi capttors and survive.

[46:32] >> They really want you to learn this stuff

[46:33] because they know it's going to save

[46:34] your life if you ever have to use it.

[46:36] And I credit them for saving my life

[46:38] over there. We'll never we'll never stop

[46:40] looking.

[46:41] >> Colonel Jack Hester is commander of the

[46:44] 336th training group at Fairchild Air

[46:47] Force Base. Whether you're a P or an

[46:49] MIA, if you're shot down behind enemy

[46:52] lines, uh our country is going to take

[46:55] every effort uh risk more people's lives

[46:58] to come after you because that's how

[47:00] precious you are to us.

[47:01] >> So precious that the Air Combat Command

[47:04] has stationed some 800 air crew members

[47:06] in the Gulf region with just one job to

[47:09] search for and rescue pilots and their

[47:11] crews down behind enemy lines.

[47:14] >> Stand by. We are coming in hot. coffee.

[47:17] >> While pilots are trying to survive,

[47:19] search and rescue teams learn how to

[47:21] find them and whisk them to safety.

[47:24] >> The purpose of the smoke is so they can

[47:26] quickly identify my position, get to me,

[47:28] and get out of there.

[47:30] >> The helicopter pilots drop a rescue team

[47:33] and fly away until they're sure the area

[47:35] is safe. They return minutes later to

[47:38] pick up the down pilot and their own

[47:40] rescue team. They're going to call the

[47:42] bird back. Um, wait for it to land and

[47:45] get me on it as quick as possible.

[47:46] >> But if you end up like Lieutenant

[47:48] Colonel Dale Store and the enemy gets

[47:50] there first,

[47:51] >> you really don't have time to be scared.

[47:53] It's your training just takes over. And

[47:54] I was able to do that because of the

[47:56] techniques and the resistance uh

[47:58] programs that I was taught at survival

[48:00] school.

[48:03] This is a live picture of Baghdad at

[48:04] 4:48 in the morning. And the reason we

[48:06] put this up is to bring you up to date

[48:08] on just the general news and the latest

[48:10] from the battlefield, but perhaps to ask

[48:11] a couple of questions. Uh the great

[48:14] shock and awe phase of this campaign uh

[48:17] which we all were led to believe would

[48:20] preede the ground operation which we

[48:22] know to be underway uh certainly in the

[48:24] southern part of the country has not

[48:26] occurred. And so it raises some

[48:28] questions for us now as to whether or

[48:30] not there's something going on that we

[48:32] are not aware of. I think there's a lot

[48:33] going on that we're not aware of. But uh

[48:36] we wonder and we're going to ask our

[48:37] reporters in the field to weigh in as

[48:39] quickly as they can on whether there's

[48:40] some possibility that there's some

[48:42] communications with Baghdad at the

[48:43] moment. If you do this, we won't do

[48:45] that. You recall that Secretary of

[48:47] Defense Rumsfeld said in his news

[48:49] conference at the very beginning of the

[48:50] day, there was no need. He said, I can

[48:53] remember the exact phrase, there was no

[48:55] need for a broader conflict if the

[48:57] Iraqis asked to save themselves. And so

[49:00] a very powerful message went out earlier

[49:02] today uh from the US high command in the

[49:06] highest sense uh to the Iraqis that

[49:08] there was a way for them to avoid the

[49:12] humongous attack which many Iraqis knew

[49:15] was coming down if in the first instance

[49:17] Saddam Hussein and his two sons didn't

[49:19] leave the country which they didn't.

[49:20] We've had one attack on the leadership.

[49:22] The word will have spread throughout the

[49:23] leadership in Baghdad tonight that this

[49:25] has actually happened even though we do

[49:27] not know the particular consequences of

[49:28] that. There have been these very sus uh

[49:32] specific if not automatically precise

[49:34] attacks on government ministries in

[49:36] Baghdad today in in including very

[49:39] importantly the Ministry of the

[49:40] Interior. And yet there has not been

[49:43] this huge air assault which was so

[49:46] designed in so many fine parts to shock

[49:49] the country into an awareness that

[49:52] something was just big and beyond their

[49:55] control. Meanwhile, at the moment, uh,

[49:58] we've heard explosions in Bastra in the

[50:01] south. We know the British and the US

[50:03] are moving against Basra in the south,

[50:05] which is an important city in the south

[50:07] and a Shiite city. ABC's Bob Woodruff

[50:10] reports that he sees at least one fire,

[50:12] which he believes to be either in an oil

[50:14] field or one of the oil installations in

[50:16] the south. Iraq actually denies that the

[50:18] town of Um Kaser in the south, which is

[50:21] in that same area, has folded, but the

[50:24] British pool report says tonight that

[50:26] the British have entered Iraq as well.

[50:28] The US, as I mentioned a moment ago, has

[50:30] expelled several Iraqi diplomats. Um,

[50:33] there are some signs, ABC's John McQuey

[50:35] reported this earlier, that the members

[50:38] of some elements of the Republican Guard

[50:41] have been reaching out to the US

[50:43] military indicating they are not

[50:45] particularly interested in fighting.

[50:47] There is a full what they call lid at

[50:49] the White House. Everybody at the White

[50:50] House has been told there'll be no more

[50:52] news made at the White House tonight.

[50:54] Um, and that is about the news on the

[50:57] warfront at the moment except for these

[50:59] two things. There is movement on the

[51:01] front. Not everybody, but there's now

[51:03] movement on the front on the ground. But

[51:04] where is the air campaign? I'm not sure

[51:07] he can answer the question, but I'm

[51:09] going to start with Major General

[51:10] William Nash, one of our consultants,

[51:12] and see if you want to dare I use the

[51:14] word speculate about why we aren't

[51:17] seeing this air attack at the moment.

[51:20] Well, I think Peter, if you were to talk

[51:22] to General Franks right now and ask him

[51:25] how he's doing, he would look at you and

[51:27] say, "On time, on plan," and then he'd

[51:30] probably dip his head and look over at

[51:32] you and say, "Maybe a little bit ahead."

[51:35] Uh I think what we've seen in the last

[51:38] 24 hours is a very skillfully crafted

[51:41] melding of both firepower and

[51:43] psychological operations

[51:46] uh to convince the Iraqi people that

[51:49] this is in fact a war on uh the regime,

[51:53] not on the Iraqi people.

[51:54] >> But can I just interrupt you for a

[51:55] second? I apologize, Bill, but the Iraqi

[51:57] people don't have a heck of a lot of say

[51:59] in anything at the moment. the the

[52:01] commanders of the units do and the and

[52:04] the bath party political apparatus and

[52:06] the police apparatus have some say, but

[52:08] not the average Iraqi, right?

[52:10] >> Well, but the average Iraqi is driving

[52:12] around Baghdad because he's not a

[52:14] target. And that's very important to

[52:16] understand that uh that these strikes

[52:19] have gone in and very narrowly focused

[52:21] and military units are being engaged and

[52:23] the civil population are not under

[52:25] threat and there have been uh

[52:28] significant efforts made to talk to the

[52:30] people. Uh Secretary Rumsfeld spent

[52:33] quite a bit of time in his press

[52:34] conference today addressing the issue of

[52:37] do stay in your homes. Uh don't come

[52:40] out. We are not after you. And that

[52:42] message is going forth in a variety of

[52:44] ways.

[52:45] >> But but what do you I guess what I'm

[52:46] asking you at the moment is whether you

[52:47] can surmise or you've been talking to

[52:49] your contacts that there were any

[52:50] ramifications of this. Yes, he told them

[52:52] don't go to school, stay at home,

[52:53] boycott work, don't go out on the

[52:55] streets and I quite agree. But on the

[52:56] other hand, 10 to 5 in the morning in

[52:58] Baghdad. Do you have any sign that the

[53:00] US is making contact with forces with

[53:03] forces that may turn on the leadership?

[53:06] Oh, I think that's going on at the same

[53:08] time. And that was another part of the

[53:09] Secretary of Defense's message and has

[53:11] been part of the efforts through

[53:13] leaflets and through emails and through

[53:16] uh cell phone calls and the like that

[53:18] have been going on for some time. And

[53:20] that is starting to turn uh to some

[53:23] degree. We're seeing the beginnings of

[53:24] it. And the campaign to date uh has not

[53:29] used the shock and all because I think

[53:31] they're shaping the battlefield. Okay.

[53:33] uh trying to get units by their

[53:35] preliminary actions to either make a

[53:37] decision to uh surrender or nightfight

[53:40] and or if they're not then they will be

[53:42] uh subjected to the shock and off part.

[53:45] >> Okay. Well, I'm more than happy to be

[53:46] subjected to your criticism. You think

[53:47] that perhaps that we're rushing this

[53:49] idea of shock and awe?

[53:51] >> I think we are rushing a little bit. Uh

[53:54] I think they're they're setting the

[53:55] conditions. Uh and I do have talked a

[53:58] little bit to some uh folks in the

[54:00] Pentagon about that. They're going

[54:02] through the preliminary actions

[54:03] necessary to shape or prepare the

[54:06] battlefield to use the term that's been

[54:08] popular here in the last uh day

[54:10] >> uh in order to if at all possible not

[54:14] have to use that shock and awe. Uh I

[54:17] think it was very fortuitous last night.

[54:19] I alo also think it was bold and

[54:21] courageous uh on that attack on the uh

[54:24] leadership compound. uh whether or not

[54:27] it killed Saddam, it was very well done

[54:30] and it certainly put the fear into the

[54:33] Iraqi leadership.

[54:34] >> Okay, Bill, thanks very much. Lieutenant

[54:36] General Bill Nash with us as a military

[54:38] consultant. Now, let's go to Washington,

[54:39] talk to ABC's Martha Ratitz, who's also

[54:41] been talking to a lot of people in the

[54:43] last little while. Martha, the Secretary

[54:44] of State said earlier today that he has

[54:46] some evidence that this sort of getting

[54:48] at the Iraqi leadership is working. Can

[54:50] you put any meat on those bones?

[54:53] Well, I think for several weeks that

[54:55] intelligence officials have seen some

[54:57] signs of this. As General Nash says,

[55:00] they have reached out to these men in

[55:02] many ways through cell phones, through

[55:04] emails, saying, "Look, this is a bad

[55:06] idea. Why don't you come with us?" Now,

[55:08] last night's bombing, last night's

[55:10] missile attack may have sent more over

[55:13] the line. They may be saying, "Wait a

[55:15] minute. They're serious. Maybe they took

[55:18] out the leadership." And that is still

[55:19] very very much in play here, Peter. They

[55:22] are they have still not determined

[55:24] whether or not Saddam Hussein was

[55:26] killed. Now, you may bring up that tape.

[55:28] Well, if they say that was a real tape

[55:30] of Saddam Hussein, if that's really him,

[55:32] then he must be alive because that tape

[55:34] was dated, but that does not necessarily

[55:37] mean that Saddam Hussein could have made

[55:39] those tapes days and days ago and he

[55:41] could have made one for every night of

[55:43] the week with the date at the top of

[55:44] that. So, they have not determined that.

[55:46] They do believe that Saddam Hussein was

[55:49] in that residential compound in a bunker

[55:52] with his sons and with other leadership

[55:54] members. And in the past couple of

[55:56] hours, the communications between the

[55:58] leadership have fallen off. Now, that

[56:01] could mean they're dead, they are

[56:03] injured, or they're smart enough not to

[56:05] talk anymore in case the United States

[56:07] picks up those communications. Now, when

[56:09] you talk to your contacts in in in the

[56:11] military and and in the political

[56:13] apparatus in in the last several hours,

[56:15] do you pick up anything which suggests

[56:17] one of two things? A, that the ground

[56:19] campaign is going well enough and that

[56:23] maybe they're using the air as a threat

[56:26] to somebody to try to make a deal. Uh,

[56:29] or do you pick up any signs from the

[56:31] other side that they're even talking to

[56:33] the United States at the moment?

[56:35] I I don't really pick up any signs that

[56:37] they're talking to them at the moment.

[56:38] But I think this ground assault that you

[56:40] see is exactly what General Nash

[56:42] describes too. It's softening up. It's

[56:44] it's going after these certain

[56:45] particular areas. I still very much

[56:47] believe from people I've talked to that

[56:50] we will all be shocked and awed at some

[56:52] point. People I talked to today said,

[56:55] "Look, what you're seeing now is just

[56:57] setting things up. When the massive

[56:59] assault starts, you will know it. There

[57:02] will be no doubt."

[57:03] >> Well, here's a question. I think we we

[57:04] perhaps could put on the table. Is it a

[57:06] possibility as several senior

[57:08] administration officials have said today

[57:09] that they're seeing uh sign an important

[57:13] part of Saddam Hussein's infrastructure

[57:15] is already crumbling and it may not be

[57:18] necessary. I realize this is rank

[57:20] speculation. It may not be necessary to

[57:22] bring the air assets to bear in the

[57:25] degree that we had all earlier

[57:27] anticipated.

[57:29] Well, I think if certainly if they got

[57:31] the top leadership and if they are

[57:33] seeing solid signs that the regime is

[57:36] falling apart, yes, indeed, they would

[57:38] probably scale back. There was a

[57:40] fascinating briefing at the Pentagon

[57:41] yesterday. Now, this may not sound

[57:43] fascinating. It was called effectsbased

[57:45] bombing. But what that is is strike a

[57:48] target, strike it with the right weapon,

[57:50] and to m to get the effect they want.

[57:53] They may have gotten quite an effect

[57:55] last night, not only by striking that

[57:58] target in terms of damage to that

[58:00] compound and possible damage to that

[58:02] bunker, but psychological damage. And if

[58:05] others, if Republican Guard members, if

[58:08] regular military people know about that,

[58:10] they might that might have had a

[58:11] profound effect. You heard earlier from

[58:13] Chris Wallace talking about it being

[58:15] almost impossible to find Saddam

[58:17] Hussein. I'm sure that the Republican

[58:20] Guard thought that. I'm sure the regular

[58:21] army thought that. I'm sure Saddam

[58:23] Hussein thought that and if they had him

[58:26] targeted last night that would have a

[58:28] profound effect.

[58:30] >> So Martha um will you do me a favor?

[58:32] Will you go back do us all a favor? Go

[58:34] back and talk to your contacts and ask

[58:35] whether or not it is possible that there

[58:37] is a sort of a hold here at the moment

[58:39] that we didn't anticipate. I quite agree

[58:41] none of us or not very many people

[58:43] anticipated that this operation was

[58:45] going to begin in any way, shape or form

[58:46] until probably tomorrow or even on

[58:48] Saturday.

[58:50] >> I I certainly will check Peter. I don't

[58:51] know how much we're going to get on

[58:52] that. They're one of those details or

[58:54] operational details they do not like to

[58:56] talk about, but if things are going

[58:58] swimmingly well, I'm sure we'll hear

[59:00] about it. I'll make some calls.

[59:01] >> Thanks Martha very much. Martha Ratits

[59:02] in Washington who covers both the

[59:04] political and the military establishment

[59:06] for us on a daily basis. And I think I

[59:10] am just about at the moment. I have one

[59:13] moment so I can tell you a couple of

[59:14] other things which are developed. It is

[59:15] the sheer complexity of these forces uh

[59:18] which has everybody sitting on the edge

[59:20] of their seats in part because they know

[59:21] that at some point in the planning there

[59:23] were so many moving assets that were

[59:25] going to be going all at one time and

[59:27] just taking again another look. Um you

[59:29] could sit and look at it by the hour

[59:31] obviously waiting for something to

[59:32] happen at Baghdad where it is now just a

[59:34] little before 5:00 in the morning. The

[59:36] sun is up in a moment. We'll get our

[59:38] reporter there up who stayed on, Richard

[59:40] Angel, who stayed on in the city and

[59:42] managed even to get out on the streets.

[59:43] Over there in the right side of your

[59:45] picture, we know that a government

[59:46] building was hit several hours ago. Um,

[59:48] there's no uh residue of fire there at

[59:51] the moment, but there was a huge

[59:53] explosion over in the lower right hand

[59:55] side of your picture, which we believe

[59:57] may well have been an element of the

[59:59] Ministry of the Interior. We shall see.

[60:01] This is ABC News continuing live

[60:03] coverage of the war with Iraq.

[60:14] Let's go quickly to the Pentagon where

[60:15] the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

[60:17] has showed up and is already giving us a

[60:19] briefing.

[60:22] >> Can you tell us what efforts the United

[60:23] States is making on capital? the Iraqi

[60:27] military.

[60:28] >> There

[60:30] are there are communications in every

[60:32] conceivable mode and method

[60:35] um public and private to the Iraqi

[60:38] forces that they can act with honor

[60:43] and turn over their weapons and walk

[60:45] away from them and they will not be

[60:47] hurt. And uh anyone, conversely, anyone

[60:51] that engages in the use of weapons of

[60:53] mass destruction or supports that regime

[60:57] um will wish they had not.

[60:59] >> Good evening.

[61:01] >> Thank you, sir. Well, there is not much

[61:04] at the moment from the Secretary of

[61:05] Defense except to repeat what he had

[61:07] said um on several earlier occasions and

[61:10] that is the US is sending as clear a

[61:14] message as it can to Iraqi forces that

[61:16] they can act with honor uh or they can

[61:19] just to pick up what he said at his

[61:21] earlier news conference die fighting

[61:23] alongside a doomed regime or they can

[61:26] live again quoting him from his earlier

[61:28] briefing today in a new and free Iraq.

[61:31] And on the subject of weapons of mass

[61:33] destruction, I'm sure he told the

[61:35] Congress what they already saw on

[61:36] television earlier today. The Iraqi

[61:38] army, the Republican Guard, all the

[61:40] elements which are there to defend the

[61:43] regime have been told, don't follow

[61:45] orders. Uh don't light the oil fields on

[61:48] fire. And we believe there's a fire

[61:50] going in one of the southern fields. We

[61:51] do not know precisely how it began. Uh

[61:53] do not blow the dams and try to flood

[61:56] towns and villages in the path of the

[61:59] American invasion force. And do not

[62:01] under any circumstances