CBS News - Iraq War - 2003-03-20 - 10:53 a.m. (E)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] was responsible. Think about it. Take a

[0:02] break. We'll be back right after this.

[0:06] >> This is a CBS News special report, part

[0:09] of our continuing coverage of America at

[0:12] War from CBS News headquarters in New

[0:16] York. Here is Dan Rather.

[0:19] >> Good day. And we're going to take you

[0:20] immediately to a position right along

[0:23] the Iraqi Kuwait border where CBS News

[0:26] correspondent and 60 Minutes 2 co-editor

[0:29] Scott P is standing by. Scott, there's

[0:32] been some combat in that region is my

[0:33] understanding. Tell us what's happening.

[0:38] >> Dan, we have a battle going on uh just

[0:40] just now right here along the border

[0:43] with Iraq. I'm just probably 50 or so

[0:46] feet from the Iraqi border. a coalition

[0:49] attack helicopter or two, might have

[0:51] been Apaches, might have been Cobras,

[0:54] just flew over the border and launched

[0:57] nine rockets on Iraqi positions. We

[1:00] assume they were Hellfire missiles,

[1:02] which is the standard ground attack

[1:04] missile for the US Apache helicopter.

[1:08] This began about 15 or 20 minutes ago.

[1:11] We can still hear the helicopters behind

[1:13] us. And this would be a pretty typical

[1:16] American doctrine attack ahead of any

[1:19] armored advance in this area. We can't

[1:22] say, of course, because of operational

[1:25] security exactly where we are on the

[1:27] border. I understand we have some

[1:29] videotape of the attack that we shot

[1:31] here from our position just a few

[1:33] minutes ago.

[1:35] We saw a number of Hellfire missiles

[1:38] launched from the helicopters. Obvious

[1:40] obviously it's night time so we did not

[1:42] see the helicopters themselves but we

[1:44] could hear them and we could see the

[1:46] engines of the Hellfire missiles

[1:48] propelling them down to the Iraqi

[1:50] positions and then each time there would

[1:52] be a loud explosion. We have had quite a

[1:55] bit of skirmishing along the border

[1:57] today. Dan uh US and British forces are

[2:00] essentially in front of me. The Iraqi

[2:03] border is immediately behind me. All

[2:05] during the day, we've heard coalition

[2:07] artillery and tanks sending rounds down

[2:10] range into Iraqi positions, but it

[2:13] wasn't a serious organized attack. It

[2:15] seemed really all day to be harassing

[2:17] fire. But to tonight, as soon as the sun

[2:20] went down, it got fully dark. We started

[2:22] to hear the helicopters coming. And this

[2:24] is a much more organized offensive

[2:27] across the border inside Iraq. co

[2:30] coalition helicopters firing a number of

[2:33] missiles presumably on Iraqi positions.

[2:36] Dan

[2:38] >> Scott, let's take this from the top. Uh,

[2:40] in so far as you could determine, what

[2:42] uh touched off this battle? Was it Iraqi

[2:45] artillery? Was it the firing? We know at

[2:48] least one Scud uh was fired. At least,

[2:51] let me say we have reason to believe

[2:54] that at least one Scud has been fired.

[2:56] But what touched off this particular

[2:57] battle? And for those of you who may be

[2:58] joining us in progress, Scott, excuse

[3:00] me. Let me point out that we're on the

[3:02] air now because Scott belly is right

[3:03] along the Kuwait Iraqi border. There has

[3:06] been some exchange of fire there. But

[3:08] Scott, what touched it off? Do you know,

[3:13] >> Dan? It does not seem to be any response

[3:15] to anything that the Iraqis did. It has

[3:18] been very quiet here for the last hour

[3:20] or so. As you mentioned, the Iraqis

[3:23] launched at least three missiles into

[3:25] Kuwait earlier today. That was several

[3:28] hours ago, but apparently these forces

[3:31] had been waiting for nightfall because

[3:33] as soon as it got completely dark here,

[3:35] we could hear the helicopters coming,

[3:37] they went right over the border. There

[3:40] is a mountain behind us, which you can't

[3:42] see in the darkness. But on that

[3:44] mountain, there are a number of

[3:45] communications towers, which we always

[3:47] expected to be among the first targets

[3:49] hit. And we've known all day long that

[3:52] there were Iraqi forces not far over the

[3:54] border. Perhaps Iraqi armor. As you

[3:57] know, Dan, these attack helicopters are

[4:00] used principally for attacking armor on

[4:02] the ground. Armored personnel carriers,

[4:06] artillery tubes, and main battle tanks.

[4:09] And that may be what we're seeing

[4:10] tonight. Presumably, the pilots will be

[4:13] using their nightug

[4:16] acquisition equipment. see in total

[4:19] darkness and illuminate the enemy. And

[4:22] these Hellfire missiles are, of course,

[4:24] very precise guided missiles. We've

[4:27] heard about nine of them fired so far.

[4:30] The helicopters are still there. I can

[4:32] hear them, but we haven't had any

[4:34] missile launches in the last minute or

[4:36] so. Scott, do you know whether the

[4:38] helicopters involved are the so-called

[4:40] Super Cobra, which is an attacked and

[4:42] recon helicopter, uh the standard

[4:45] Apaches, or the new and greatly improved

[4:47] with longer range and a lot of more

[4:49] sophisticated equipment, Apache

[4:50] Longbows. Do you know what kind of

[4:52] helicopters from perhaps more than one

[4:54] kind has been involved?

[4:57] >> Well, that's right, Dan. It may be more

[4:59] than one kind, and we don't know

[5:00] precisely which one. As you know, the

[5:02] Army flies the Apache, the Marine Corps

[5:04] flies the Cobra, and we also have a

[5:07] large number of British forces at this

[5:09] position mixed in with American forces.

[5:12] It's not inconceivable that this could

[5:14] be a British attack or a combined Allied

[5:16] attack. It's unclear which helicopters

[5:19] are being used, but clearly they are

[5:21] attack helicopters firing a missile very

[5:24] much like the Hellfire, if not the

[5:25] Hellfire itself.

[5:26] >> Scott P reporting live from along the

[5:28] Kuwait Iraqi border where there is

[5:30] combat. This raises the possibility, the

[5:33] possibility that there's going to be a

[5:35] sort of reverse order to what was the

[5:37] expected attack. Last night's firing uh

[5:41] in Baghdad was at a specific target. It

[5:44] was expected that what would follow in a

[5:46] few hours, if not days, would be a

[5:48] massive US air campaign followed by a

[5:50] ground attack. Now, hearing and seeing

[5:53] what Scott Py reported, this raises the

[5:55] possibility that the ground attack is

[5:58] actually going to be launched before or

[6:00] maybe simultaneous with the massive air

[6:02] attack. We just don't know, but you

[6:04] should be open to the possibility that

[6:06] the ground attack has already begun

[6:08] given what Scott P is reporting there.

[6:10] Now, there's a new word of a possible

[6:13] and underscore word possible gas alert

[6:16] in Kuwait City. We go live to CBS News

[6:18] correspondent Mark Phillips. Mark, what

[6:20] are the facts? In so far as we know it,

[6:24] >> the facts are that we just had an alert

[6:26] here. Uh, this the fourth one that we've

[6:28] had today, and the all clear has now

[6:30] blown, a long steady siren following the

[6:33] intermittent wailing sound that's been a

[6:35] feature of life here over the past 12 or

[6:38] 18 hours or so. This may not be war yet,

[6:41] but it's sure beginning to feel like it

[6:42] around here. Uh, it's been a day of high

[6:45] anxiety and no small amount of confusion

[6:47] either. There have been four, as I say,

[6:50] uh, separate alerts here. People

[6:52] scurrying through the streets, people

[6:54] going into shelter, shelters, those who

[6:56] have them, putting on gas masks and, uh,

[6:59] chemical suits, anti-chemical weapon,

[7:01] uh, suits. A large number of the

[7:03] population, in fact, the majority, of

[7:05] course, don't have that kind of

[7:07] equipment. But there have been several

[7:09] instances here over the course of the

[7:11] day of reports uh coming in from the

[7:14] field as well of there have been having

[7:16] been Iraqi missile strikes uh around and

[7:19] about the various military positions uh

[7:22] American and uh British in the Kuwaiti

[7:24] desert uh and reports as well of one at

[7:27] least one of those missiles having been

[7:30] shot down by an American Patriot

[7:31] anti-missile uh missile. Uh so even in

[7:34] the prelude to uh the launch of the maj

[7:37] main attack here, it certainly feels

[7:39] like war is already underway. Dan, oh

[7:42] there's no doubt about that. The nation

[7:43] is at war. No one should be mistaken

[7:45] about that. Now we want to talk about uh

[7:48] the reports that