MSNBC - Iraq War - 2003-03-20 - 2:25 a.m. (E)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Predator drones and Nighthawks. These

[0:01] are unmanned surveillance planes that

[0:03] are feeding back real-time information

[0:05] that is being relayed here to US Central

[0:07] Command. And so here at US Central

[0:08] Command, they can give orders in

[0:10] real-time fashion to some of these ships

[0:12] that are firing cruise missiles, to the

[0:13] pilots. It's the same sort of thing that

[0:15] that we first saw in Afghanistan. This

[0:17] whole sort of integration, this

[0:18] real-time integration of forces on the

[0:20] ground with pilots in the air in

[0:21] Afghanistan, for example, which would be

[0:23] the same case in Iraq. They would

[0:25] actually have planes circling over what

[0:26] is known as a kill box, and once the

[0:28] target was located, identified by other

[0:30] special forces on the ground or perhaps

[0:32] by a surveillance aircraft, then the the

[0:35] fighter bombers actually vectored in to

[0:37] that target so that you can have a

[0:38] response within a minute or two. So for

[0:39] example, even if they see, say a convoy

[0:42] of Iraqi

[0:43] Iraqi troops on a particular road, they

[0:45] can actually vector in a a pilot in that

[0:48] same amount of time, uh very quickly,

[0:50] and bring them in and and put a put a

[0:51] bomb on the target. So it's it's a very

[0:53] quick response. This is something that

[0:55] Donald Rumsfeld has mandated that

[0:56] General Tommy Franks implement in this

[0:58] particular battle. It was something that

[1:00] was implemented to great effect in

[1:01] Afghanistan, and clearly we'll see all

[1:03] of that. But as far as the shock and

[1:05] awe, I think you I think Carl Rochelle

[1:06] and others have it right. Once um I

[1:09] think once it becomes apparent that

[1:10] perhaps if they didn't get Saddam

[1:12] Hussein, if there's no indication that

[1:13] they're going to be able to get uh

[1:15] Saddam Hussein to leave Baghdad or get

[1:17] uh some sort of revolution there, then I

[1:18] think you see everything ratcheted up to

[1:20] the next stage, which might be this

[1:22] massive display of US firepower again

[1:24] with the psychological component of

[1:26] convincing so many Iraqi soldiers that

[1:27] they simply don't just stand a chance if

[1:29] they want to stay and fight. Bianca.

[1:31] >> Okay, we will wait and see. David

[1:33] Schuster, NBC News correspondent at

[1:35] Central Command in Qatar, a place no

[1:37] doubt we will be seeing uh briefings

[1:38] from throughout the next day. Sam, I'll

[1:41] send it back to you now. All right,

[1:42] thanks a lot, Bianca. Here in the

[1:43] situation room, we are joined right now

[1:45] by Colonel Jack Jacobs to talk more

[1:47] about this. And uh Colonel, not the

[1:49] shock and awe, this was a big surprise.

[1:51] >> a big surprise to me, too. We all been

[1:53] talking about and expecting there to be

[1:55] thousands of strikes all at the same

[1:57] time. And I believe that this this uh

[2:00] little baby step was precipitated by

[2:02] some intelligence that uh we wanted to

[2:05] take advantage of advantage of, not make

[2:07] the same mistake we made in Afghanistan.

[2:09] We had Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden

[2:13] and who knows what else in our sights,

[2:15] and we let them slip through.

[2:16] >> Is it your belief maybe they thought

[2:18] they had Saddam Hussein in their sights

[2:19] here? Yeah, for one of for one of these

[2:21] attacks. But you know, there were a lots

[2:23] of them. There were there were two dozen

[2:25] attacks using a very of a very

[2:27] deliberate means. And some of them were

[2:29] in the west as well, which would

[2:31] indicate that we had other ideas besides

[2:33] just trying to take out Saddam Hussein.

[2:36] >> the map up on the screen right now. And

[2:38] of course, there were a number of

[2:39] bombing raids, but it wasn't that big

[2:40] shock and awe campaign. But my question

[2:43] is this, uh do you think Saddam Hussein

[2:45] was in a bunker? Well, yes. I think

[2:47] either in a bunker or in an underground

[2:49] facility underneath a uh some other

[2:53] facility that we knew about.

[2:54] >> bomb out there that can penetrate a

[2:56] bunker that is Yeah, no problem, huh?

[2:58] >> Well, then we've got these new bunker

[2:59] buster bombs with um

[3:01] with uh with technology that permits

[3:04] them to sense when they're in an open

[3:06] space and then detonate.

[3:07] >> Didn't they drop a bunker buster bomb in

[3:09] this case? Uh they did.

[3:10] >> Yeah. But we don't know whether he was

[3:13] really in there or we don't We had a

[3:15] report from somebody inside the Iraqi

[3:17] establishment that said he was in there

[3:19] and he really wasn't or it

[3:21] We don't know yet. And we

[3:23] It'll be a while before we find out

[3:24] exactly what took place for that

[3:26] particular strike, but there were lots

[3:27] of other ones, including some on

[3:29] airfields as far west as the border with

[3:31] Jordan.

[3:32] >> That is very interesting. Right. Okay,

[3:34] now I want to talk to you about the next

[3:35] wave because we're in the lull, aren't

[3:36] we? There's another big wave. The big

[3:38] wave is probably coming, correct?

[3:40] >> Yes, I think. Okay, let's talk about

[3:41] some of the hardware that has been used

[3:43] in this initial rather surprise attack

[3:45] by just about all uh indications. Uh

[3:49] Let's talk about Let's roll up that guy

[3:50] Let's in the booth right now. Let's roll

[3:51] up some of this hardware and we can we

[3:53] can talk about some of these pictures.

[3:54] What was used exactly here? We talked

[3:56] about that bunker buster bomb already.

[3:58] >> Yeah, the bunker buster bomb is a

[3:59] 2,000-lb bomb, most of which is

[4:01] explosive,

[4:03] uh that's uh that that homes in on a

[4:07] specific place. And uh we don't have it

[4:09] up at the moment, but it it homes in and

[4:11] then goes right through

[4:14] the top of the of the bunker or the

[4:16] facility

[4:17] and detonates later on. Doesn't detonate

[4:20] on contact, but detonates later on when

[4:22] it gets inside the facility, destroying

[4:25] things inside instead of just detonating

[4:27] on the outside and just giving everybody

[4:28] a headache.

[4:29] >> Okay, guys in the booth, if you've got

[4:30] more, just keep rolling them up cuz

[4:31] we'll just keep talking about them as

[4:32] you roll them up.

[4:33] >> and improved bunker buster bombs. But

[4:35] aren't most of the weapons new and

[4:36] improved, correct?

[4:37] >> Everything we've got has been improved

[4:39] since the since 11, 12 years ago.

[4:42] Tomahawk cruise missile, this is the

[4:44] sea-launched cruise missile that comes

[4:46] off the Aegis guided missile class

[4:49] cruisers and other ships that are in the

[4:52] in the task force. As you can see, it's

[4:55] subsonic, goes about a little little bit

[4:58] under 700 nautical miles.

[5:00] Got GPS guidance and is accurate down to

[5:03] 1 m. And this is a picture This is the

[5:05] picture that we've seen earlier tonight

[5:07] when they launched. Now you see that

[5:09] these were launched from places in the

[5:11] northern part of the Persian Gulf and

[5:14] from the Red Sea, which means they flew

[5:16] over Saudi Arabia to get to Baghdad or

[5:19] over Kuwait to get to Baghdad. And we do

[5:21] know that just before these things were

[5:23] launched, a clear air message was given

[5:26] to Kuwait to troops in Kuwait to clear

[5:29] the airspace over Kuwait ostensibly to

[5:31] make And I just want to break in here

[5:33] real quick here, Jack, because we're

[5:34] getting a bulletin that just crossed

[5:36] now. Sky News in London is reporting

[5:37] that troops in north Kuwait, as you

[5:39] speak of north Kuwait, have now been

[5:41] instructed to put on their gas masks. So

[5:43] that has been a concern, has it not,

[5:44] Colonel, that chemical weapons would be

[5:46] used in some way, shape, or form?

[5:47] >> Yeah, don't forget that our troops in

[5:49] northern Kuwait, the Marines, the 101st

[5:52] Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry

[5:53] Division, uh particularly the Marines

[5:56] and the 3rd Infantry Division are well

[5:57] forward in assembly areas. And because

[5:59] they're well forward in assembly areas,

[6:02] uh maybe we can maybe we can poke out

[6:04] where they Boom. Yeah, well forward in

[6:06] assembly areas, they're fairly close to

[6:08] the line of departure, that is the

[6:09] boundary between Kuwait and Iraq, which

[6:11] means that they're they're probably

[6:13] close to enemy troops who are in

[6:15] defense.

[6:16] One thing we've been looking for all

[6:17] along are formations of enemy artillery

[6:21] because the Iraqis can deliver chemical

[6:24] and biological weapons not only with

[6:26] surface-to-surface missiles, but also

[6:28] with artillery. We need to destroy the

[6:31] art Find the artillery and destroy them

[6:33] so that they don't deliver these

[6:34] weapons, nor do they have the capability

[6:37] of delivering delivering conventional

[6:38] weapons when our troops cross the line

[6:39] of departure and start attacking.

[6:41] >> their delivery systems would be

[6:42] primarily right here in southern Iraq.

[6:45] >> We're talking about artillery that can

[6:47] only shoot maybe about 10 or 15 miles,

[6:49] so they're not that far away.

[6:50] >> Okay, so they're right there. But

[6:51] haven't we We're getting reports that a

[6:53] number of

[6:55] quite a few troops, Iraqi troops, have

[6:57] been surrendering in in southern Iraq.

[6:59] >> Well, there were 17 the other day.

[7:00] >> Right.

[7:01] >> Uh there are now the reports of bar bar

[7:03] not are not that Iraqi troops apparently

[7:05] trying to surrender to uh to predators

[7:08] and so on. I think we'll see we'll see

[7:10] plenty more of that. But I'm very much

[7:12] concerned about the initial contact our

[7:14] troops are going to have in in southern

[7:17] southern Iraq. I'm not surprised they're

[7:19] being asked to don protective gear. It

[7:22] may very well be that we have seen

[7:24] formations of enemy artillery, and

[7:26] before we have an opportunity to knock

[7:28] them out uh with CBUs, cluster bomb

[7:32] units, or other air-delivered ordnance,

[7:33] we want our troops to be buttoning up so

[7:35] they're not in danger.

[7:36] >> So this may just be a precautionary

[7:37] measure, simply.

[7:38] >> Yes, I believe it might be. Let's talk

[7:40] about this next shock and awe wave. If

[7:42] you could give us some sense of what we

[7:44] may see here in terms of a bombardment,

[7:47] and that's what we're expecting to

[7:48] happen in hours, I would imagine.

[7:50] >> Well, maybe. You know, well, you know,

[7:52] we were talking about the first phase of

[7:54] the war being this tremendous blast of

[7:56] thousands of thousands of strikes.

[7:58] >> already had one surprise, we may have

[7:59] two. Maybe maybe we'll have another

[8:01] surprise. We may Maybe we're going to do

[8:03] it in an incremental fashion because of

[8:05] the kinds of

[8:07] uh missions we're trying to accomplish.

[8:09] If we think back of now about what what

[8:12] facilities have been struck in this

[8:14] first strike, Right. they were

[8:16] interesting kinds of things. Certainly

[8:18] command, control, communications, and

[8:20] intelligence facilities, a number of

[8:21] those.

[8:22] >> Mhm.

[8:23] Saddam Hussein, we thought might catch

[8:25] in a bunker.

[8:26] But we also struck some airfields. Now

[8:28] this map that we have up there, these

[8:30] are some of the locations that were hit.

[8:31] >> Yeah. Uh notice uh airfield uh

[8:35] Ruweishid

[8:38] airfield all the way on the border with

[8:39] Jordan. Um the airfield, the air defense

[8:43] airfield, H3 airfield just north of

[8:44] that. Now when when we strike, when the

[8:47] US strikes those airfields and

[8:49] presumably takes them over, what do we

[8:52] do with those airfields?

[8:53] >> Well, we hold we hold on to them hold on

[8:55] to them with special operations troops

[8:57] in preparation for

[8:59] air-landing troops, which we're going to

[9:01] require to in order to operate in

[9:03] northern Iraq.

[9:04] >> So in essence, they become bases for US

[9:05] troops.

[9:06] >> Yes, and I think that's exactly why we

[9:07] might be striking them now so we can

[9:09] seize them with our forces and use them

[9:12] as jumping-off places in order to fight

[9:14] the war in northern Iraq. Don't forget

[9:16] we don't have access to northern Iraq

[9:17] from southern Turkey now. Well, the vote

[9:19] is still coming up presumably today to

[9:22] use the airspace over Turkey, correct?

[9:24] >> Well, airspace over Turkey is one thing.

[9:26] Basing our

[9:28] our aircraft in Turkey and then flying

[9:30] sorties out of Turkey, that's something

[9:31] else again. I don't think necessarily

[9:33] we're going to get approval. And that's

[9:34] still not good enough for what we really

[9:36] want, and that is the ability to base

[9:38] our forces in Turkey in order to make

[9:40] attacks in northern Iraq. My guess is

[9:42] that the 4th Inf US Infantry Division

[9:44] right now is steaming down through the

[9:46] Suez Canal around to get to Kuwait.

[9:49] We'll use the 4th Infantry Division as

[9:51] backup forces in order to exploit, but

[9:55] we've got to get some forces up in

[9:56] northern Iraq and that may very well be

[9:58] why we're trying we had strikes on these

[10:01] airfields in western Iraq so that maybe

[10:03] we can bring air land troops in in order

[10:05] to make the attack in western Iraq.

[10:07] >> How important is darkness because

[10:08] darkness is right around the corner in

[10:10] Iraq now? Well, we've got a few hours

[10:12] left left to go. I think our air strikes

[10:14] could come in the dark. We can operate

[10:16] we can operate in the dark on the ground

[10:18] as well. My guess is that if there is

[10:21] going to be any any more attacks they'll

[10:23] come in the dark which means if there's

[10:24] not if you're going to be any ground

[10:25] movement it'll come during the dark. But

[10:27] we have to remember it's now the weekend

[10:29] in Iraq.

[10:30] Thursday, Friday is Saturday, Sunday. So

[10:34] and and it may be that we're going to

[10:36] conduct an attack on on the Sabbath in

[10:38] Iraq. I don't think so. Friday. On yes,

[10:41] on Friday.

[10:43] I think it's unlikely but it's not

[10:44] impossible. Because everybody was

[10:46] pointing to Thursday.

[10:47] >> Right. As soon as the sun goes down

[10:48] that's the

[10:50] the

[10:50] the Sabbath begins and I don't know

[10:52] whether or not we're going to be

[10:53] interested in attacking during that

[10:54] time. We'll see. All right, Colonel.

[10:55] Thanks for the rundown. Do appreciate

[10:57] it. We'll talk to you a little bit later

[10:58] on.

[10:59] 37 minutes past the hour. Bianca, we'll

[11:00] throw it over to you right now. Okay,

[11:02] Sam. Thank you very much. And when all

[11:03] of this started military officials said

[11:05] that three dozen Tomahawk cruise

[11:07] missiles were launched from ships. One

[11:10] ship that has already seen action in the

[11:12] Persian Gulf, the USS Abraham Lincoln.

[11:14] That's where Hensen Hussein is right at

[11:16] this time. Hensen, what have you seen

[11:18] there when all of this started? You're

[11:20] right there in the Persian Gulf. What

[11:23] have you seen?

[11:25] Well, Bianca, I've actually been

[11:26] monitoring the flight deck aboard the

[11:29] Abraham Lincoln for the last few hours.

[11:30] You have to keep in mind that the

[11:31] Abraham Lincoln is part of a carrier

[11:33] group. There's a battle group, a number

[11:35] of smaller ships like destroyers and

[11:37] cruisers and submarines to support the

[11:38] carrier. And they're the ones that were

[11:40] firing the Tomahawks.

[11:42] And they're they can be miles and miles

[11:44] away from the carrier. So we were unable

[11:46] to see any of those Tomahawks take to

[11:49] the skies and we were told beforehand

[11:50] that if there was any kind of attack we

[11:52] would not see them from the carrier.

[11:53] That said, in the last few hours

[11:56] the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln has

[11:58] been very much like JFK Airport on a

[12:01] long weekend. It's just been very busy.

[12:03] I've never seen this many planes on that

[12:06] deck in the two weeks that I've been

[12:07] embedded here on the ship. I've seen

[12:09] F-14s and F-18s take to the skies all

[12:12] loaded with missiles and bombs and

[12:14] Sidewinder missiles as well. And those

[12:16] Sidewinders are specifically for

[12:17] anti-aircraft

[12:19] defenses. I guess they're they're

[12:21] thinking that somewhere along the line

[12:22] there might be some remnants of the

[12:24] Iraqi Air Force up there that they have

[12:25] to protect themselves against. How

[12:27] recently did you see that?

[12:29] Sorry. Bianca, go ahead.

[12:30] >> How recently did you see those planes

[12:32] take to the sky? You say it's very busy

[12:34] up there but how recently did you see

[12:35] movement?

[12:37] The last takeoff I saw was about 10

[12:39] minutes ago. Now you have to bear in

[12:40] mind that

[12:42] for months the Lincoln has been

[12:43] conducting operations Southern Watch,

[12:46] just been monitoring the southern no-fly

[12:48] zone of Iraq. And

[12:50] I spoke to some of the pilots and they

[12:51] say they're continuing to do that

[12:53] although the operation has changed now

[12:55] called as as you probably know Operation

[12:56] Iraqi Freedom. However, and they are and

[12:59] they are definitely bombing sites in

[13:01] southern Iraq. They're coming back with

[13:02] far

[13:03] fewer ordnance than they they left with

[13:05] but there's no sense that they've

[13:07] actually engaged

[13:09] I guess Iraqi troops yet. Have you

[13:12] talked with any of the pilots when

[13:13] they've returned? Have they described

[13:15] what it's been like so far?

[13:18] I haven't we haven't had a chance to

[13:19] speak to any of the pilots yet. In fact,

[13:22] the Navy has been clamping down on

[13:24] access to pilots after they get back

[13:26] from their their their missions. The

[13:28] last time we spoke to any pilots was was

[13:30] early this morning

[13:32] as they were heading out and and they're

[13:33] just they just continue to say it's

[13:35] business as usual. We may be leaving

[13:37] with a bunch of bombs and missiles. We

[13:38] may not come back with them.

[13:40] We're still flying other stuff in Iraq

[13:41] as we were doing before. The mission may

[13:43] change but right now I can't tell you

[13:44] much more than that. What about the mood

[13:46] there on the USS Abraham Lincoln? A lot

[13:48] of troops that we saw interviewed said

[13:50] that they were just ready to go. It was

[13:52] kind of

[13:53] bothering them to just hang on and hang

[13:55] on. Did you feel a sense of anxiety,

[13:58] relief, excitement when all of this

[13:59] started? What is the mood there right

[14:01] now?

[14:02] I think there's a definitely a

[14:05] a calm determination here aboard the USS

[14:07] Abraham Lincoln.

[14:08] Especially so because this ship has been

[14:11] out at sea being deployed for a record

[14:14] number of months. It's one of the

[14:15] longest deployments in naval history and

[14:17] these people are just dying to get home.

[14:19] And now to see that there's some kind of

[14:21] action on the horizon makes them feel

[14:23] well, you know what, once this is over

[14:24] we now have a clear sense that we're

[14:26] going to be getting home soon. So

[14:27] there's that. There's also a sense that,

[14:29] you know, we've been training for this

[14:30] for months. We've actually been in

[14:32] quasi-combat situations over southern

[14:34] Iraq. We know what it's like to be in

[14:36] this kind of situation and it's great

[14:38] that we're finally putting our training

[14:39] to work. And we don't think it's going

[14:41] to be much different, maybe even more

[14:42] more frequent, but we feel that

[14:45] you know, this is what we were sent here

[14:46] to do and we're really glad that we're

[14:48] getting a chance to do it and we will be

[14:49] we believe we'll do it very well. Okay.

[14:51] Hensen reporting for us from the Persian

[14:53] Gulf. Thank you very much. Sam. Thanks

[14:56] very much, Bianca. I want to get to a

[14:57] number of items that are crossing right

[14:58] now on the wire, a number of bulletins.

[15:00] First of all, US defense sources now

[15:01] saying that British troops were not

[15:03] involved in Thursday's attack. And then

[15:05] there is reaction from all across the

[15:07] globe and I want to do a quick rundown

[15:08] on that. Russian Prime Minister says he

[15:10] regrets any military means that were

[15:12] used. Indonesia is at this hour strongly

[15:14] denouncing unilateral attacks. China is

[15:17] calling for the immediate halt of all

[15:19] attacks. Meantime, there is some support

[15:21] from Japan and the Philippines. They are

[15:23] supporting attacks from the United

[15:25] States. So we are now seeing at this

[15:26] hour reaction coming in from across the

[15:28] globe from the first attack that was uh

[15:31] made. We want to go right now to Walid

[15:33] Phares. He's a Middle East expert and

[15:34] MSNBC analyst for us to talk with more

[15:36] about a number of issues that are

[15:38] transpiring and uh

[15:40] Professor Phares, good morning to you,

[15:41] sir. First of all, let's talk a little

[15:43] bit about Saddam Hussein. He appeared on

[15:45] television to his people and he said

[15:47] that they would be victorious. What did

[15:49] you make of first of all his speech and

[15:51] was that indeed

[15:53] at least do you believe Saddam Hussein

[15:56] Well, yes, that was Saddam Hussein

[15:57] indeed. I analyzed the short speech. He

[16:01] tried to do two things at the same time

[16:02] which is very difficult. Number one, to

[16:05] trigger interest in a continuous

[16:08] international support to Saddam Hussein

[16:11] or at least anti-Americanism. He was

[16:13] calling on all those courageous people

[16:15] who

[16:16] can stop the United States on the one

[16:18] hand. Of course, he meant Russia, France

[16:20] and other

[16:21] powers that are criticizing United

[16:23] States. But at the same time he

[16:26] spoke in religious terms. He spoke of

[16:28] jihad several times. For a socialist

[16:30] that's very strange. He also introduced

[16:33] another word kuffar which is infidel. I

[16:35] mean, this is the kind of speech that

[16:37] Osama bin Laden or Al Jazeera would use.

[16:39] What he's trying to do is to rally the

[16:41] fundamentalists on his right and of

[16:43] course still try to mobilize the

[16:45] international community to help him. Of

[16:47] course, there is a great deal of

[16:49] speculation that a number of his troops,

[16:51] his forces

[16:52] do not support him and are now beginning

[16:55] to defect.

[16:56] Talk about that if you will right now.

[16:58] The reports that we are receiving

[16:59] particularly from southern Kuwait where

[17:01] a number of troops apparently are

[17:03] beginning to surrender.

[17:05] Well, basically Saddam Hussein controls

[17:08] his army through his intelligence

[17:10] services. He controls his intelligence

[17:12] services through his party and his

[17:15] personal guard. At this point the real

[17:18] defection that would come is not just,

[17:20] you know, few hundred of soldiers at the

[17:22] front line who are fearing American

[17:24] advancing. The real defection will come

[17:27] when there will be a spot in Iraq. In

[17:29] this case could be Basra or Kirkuk in

[17:31] the north whereby there will be a phased

[17:33] liberation. Other Iraqis including

[17:36] members of the armed forces of Iraq

[17:38] would like to see other free Iraqis

[17:41] under the Iraqi flag calling on them.

[17:44] The question is not defecting. It's

[17:46] defecting to whom? They don't want to

[17:47] defect to the Kuwaitis en masse nor to

[17:49] the Americans. They really want to

[17:51] defect to another opposition Iraqi

[17:53] opposition

[17:55] on Iraqi soil. So as soon as an area,

[17:58] significant area is freed, it will be in

[18:00] the interest of the United States and of

[18:01] the coalition to establish an immediate

[18:05] local Iraqi-based opposition

[18:07] power. Professor, I want to turn your

[18:09] attention right now to another item

[18:10] which is making news. This in

[18:12] Afghanistan because of course you know a

[18:14] great deal about Al-Qaeda and the war on

[18:16] terrorism. There is word that about 100

[18:19] or rather 1,000 I should say US troops

[18:21] launched a raid on villages in

[18:23] southeastern Afghanistan and they are

[18:25] hunting for members of Al-Qaeda. This

[18:27] was timed almost simultaneously with

[18:30] this initial bombing in Iraq. What do

[18:32] you know about this hunt in Afghanistan?

[18:35] Well, from the perspective of Al-Qaeda

[18:37] it was expected. They had tried in the

[18:40] past to mobilize and to

[18:43] basically do the first strike against

[18:45] the United States forces before we move

[18:47] into Iraq.

[18:48] Now certainly Al-Qaeda would like to

[18:50] pause itself as the defender of Iraq,

[18:53] not the defender of Saddam Hussein. Now

[18:56] that this dual attack on Iraq and on

[18:59] Al-Qaeda basically would be received by

[19:02] the Al-Qaeda folks as we can do two

[19:04] fronts at the same time. Don't try to

[19:08] ignite terrorist activities elsewhere

[19:09] because we are able to go on two

[19:11] theaters at the same time. Want to ask

[19:13] you about a report that's coming out of

[19:15] the Washington Post this morning and I'm

[19:17] reading from the AP wire service with

[19:18] regards to this. Just hours before the

[19:20] US launched that surprise attack

[19:23] in Iraq, the CIA apparently informed

[19:25] President Bush that the spy agency

[19:27] believed that it did indeed have a fix

[19:29] on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Does

[19:31] that surprise you that there was that

[19:33] much intelligence, that level of

[19:35] intelligence by the United States on the

[19:37] whereabouts of the president of Iraq?

[19:39] Not really because in contrast with a

[19:42] previous situation back in 1982 when

[19:45] Mr. Arafat, at the time head of the PLO,

[19:47] was running away in West Beirut from

[19:50] Israelis.

[19:52] Arafat had the support of all

[19:54] Palestinian forces at the time. Saddam

[19:56] Hussein is a brutal leader, but he

[19:58] doesn't have the support of his own

[20:00] people. So, definitely Western

[20:03] intelligence services, including of

[20:04] course the CIA and other American

[20:06] agencies,

[20:08] must have gathered significant amount of

[20:10] information and left them for the moment

[20:12] for D-Day. From your research that you

[20:15] have done on Saddam Hussein, what do you

[20:17] suppose he is thinking right now? And

[20:20] this may be the $64,000 question of the

[20:23] of the morning, but what does he do

[20:25] next? Do you have any indication what's

[20:27] around the corner? Well, Saddam Hussein

[20:29] of this morning is different from Saddam

[20:32] Hussein of yesterday for for two

[20:34] reasons. Number one,

[20:35] the attack against him and it was very

[20:37] visible in his speech. It was visible on

[20:40] Al Jazeera when we saw two or three

[20:42] ministers in his government coming and

[20:45] criticizing the United States. I mean,

[20:47] if 10,000 Iraqis would have been killed

[20:49] in the battlefield, he would he would be

[20:50] smiling. But one rocket on his bunker

[20:53] and and and of course he he appeared

[20:55] different. But Saddam Hussein basically

[20:58] has three lines of defense. Had three

[21:00] lines of defense or thought he had. One

[21:03] was at the United Nations, which

[21:04] basically collapsed. The second was a

[21:07] perception that European governments and

[21:09] Arab regimes or governments would would

[21:12] come to his rescue and won't let this

[21:13] happen and he sees that it's not going

[21:15] to happen anymore. The last line of

[21:17] defense basically is the Iraqi

[21:20] army, the Iraqi armed forces. And at

[21:21] this point, and I go back to the first

[21:24] statement I made, any free spot in Iraq

[21:27] is going to be the beginning of the end

[21:29] of his regime, even if it takes time on

[21:31] the ground.

[21:32] His nightmare would be to see Iraqis

[21:35] with Iraqi flag criticizing him in

[21:37] Arabic. Mhm.

[21:38] Professor Walid Phares, thank you very

[21:40] much. You're an MSNBC analyst. We do

[21:42] appreciate the insight and of course we

[21:43] will be seeing more of you later on this

[21:45] morning. Take care.

[21:47] Bianca. Well, it was just a little more

[21:49] than two hours after the deadline

[21:51] President Bush had given Saddam Hussein

[21:52] and his sons to leave Iraq or face war.

[21:55] Just a little more than two hours after

[21:56] that deadline expired, that President

[21:58] Bush was in the Oval Office addressing

[22:01] the nation telling them that the war had

[22:03] indeed begun. This is going to be a

[22:04] long, difficult battle, but US troops

[22:07] will succeed in their mission to disarm

[22:09] Iraq and free the Iraqi people. Let's

[22:11] now take a listen to President Bush's

[22:13] speech earlier this evening.

[22:15] My fellow citizens,

[22:17] at this hour,

[22:18] American and coalition forces are in the

[22:20] early stages of military operations

[22:23] to disarm Iraq, to free its people,

[22:26] and to defend the world from grave

[22:27] danger.

[22:29] On my orders,

[22:30] coalition forces have begun striking

[22:32] selected targets of military importance

[22:35] to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to

[22:37] wage war.

[22:39] These are opening stages of what will be

[22:41] a broad and concerted campaign.

[22:44] More than 35 countries are giving

[22:46] crucial support

[22:48] from the use of naval and airbases,

[22:51] to help with intelligence and logistics,

[22:53] to the deployment of combat units.

[22:56] Every nation in this coalition has

[22:58] chosen to bear the duty

[23:01] and share the honor

[23:02] of serving in our common defense.

[23:06] To all the men and women of the United

[23:07] States armed forces now in the Middle

[23:09] East,

[23:10] the peace of a troubled world and the

[23:12] hopes of an oppressed people

[23:14] now depend on you.

[23:16] That trust is well placed.

[23:19] The enemies you confront will come to

[23:21] know your skill and bravery.

[23:23] The people you liberate will witness the

[23:25] honorable and decent spirit of the

[23:28] American military.

[23:30] In this conflict,

[23:32] America faces an enemy has no regard for

[23:35] conventions of war or rules of morality.

[23:39] Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops

[23:41] and equipment in civilian areas

[23:43] attempting to use innocent men, women,

[23:46] and children as shields for his own

[23:48] military.

[23:50] A final atrocity against his people.

[23:53] I want Americans and all the world to

[23:55] know

[23:56] that coalition forces will make every

[23:58] effort

[23:59] to spare innocent civilians from harm.

[24:03] A campaign on the harsh terrain of a

[24:04] nation as large as California

[24:07] could be longer

[24:08] and more difficult than some predict.

[24:12] And helping Iraqis achieve a united,

[24:13] stable, and free country

[24:15] will require our sustained commitment.

[24:19] We come to Iraq

[24:20] with respect for its citizens,

[24:23] for their great civilization,

[24:25] and for the religious faiths they

[24:26] practice.

[24:28] We have no ambition in Iraq except to

[24:30] remove a threat

[24:32] and restore control of that country to

[24:34] its own people.

[24:36] I know that the families of our military

[24:38] are praying that all those who serve

[24:41] will return safely and soon.

[24:44] Millions of Americans are praying with

[24:45] you

[24:47] for the safety of your loved ones

[24:49] and for the protection of the innocent.

[24:52] For your sacrifice,

[24:53] you have the gratitude and respect of

[24:56] the American people.

[24:58] And you can know

[25:00] that our forces will be coming home as

[25:02] soon as their work is done.

[25:05] Our nation enters this conflict

[25:06] reluctantly.

[25:08] Yet our purpose is sure.

[25:11] The people of the United States and our

[25:12] friends and allies will not live at the

[25:15] mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens

[25:17] the peace with weapons of mass murder.

[25:21] We will meet that threat now

[25:23] with our army, Air Force, Navy, Coast

[25:26] Guard, and Marines

[25:28] so that we do not have to meet it later

[25:30] with armies of firefighters and police

[25:32] and