The Early Show (CBS) snippets - 2004-11-09 (Fallujah)
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:04] We want to get right to our top story.
[0:06] The US assault on Fallujah this morning.
[0:09] American troops are driving towards the
[0:11] heart of the Iraqi city. Army and Marine
[0:13] units began the push early today, moving
[0:16] on two fronts from the north, assisted
[0:18] by Iraqi soldiers. This after an
[0:21] overnight barrage of artillery and air
[0:23] strikes against the rebel forces. CBS
[0:26] News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer was
[0:28] with the Marines during the night's
[0:30] firefight and filed this report.
[0:33] >> The Marines couldn't see who was firing
[0:35] mortars at them from the edge of
[0:36] Fallujah, but they knew exactly where
[0:38] they were and were determined to destroy
[0:40] the position. A house and courtyard
[0:42] complex. First with their own mortars,
[0:46] then a barrage of heavy artillery backed
[0:48] up by fire from US Army tanks hammered
[0:50] the target. Phosphorous shells lit up
[0:53] the sky. Their deadly fallout will burn
[0:56] through anything it touches.
[0:58] >> The city of Fallujah has been under
[1:00] heavy bombardment all night from the
[1:02] ground and the air. And this morning, a
[1:04] heavy cloud of smoke is hanging over the
[1:07] city.
[1:08] >> So far, the Marines say they are pleased
[1:10] with the progress.
[1:11] >> He's a smart enemy. He's shown some
[1:12] discipline and he's fighting and he's
[1:15] committed and that's honorable cuz he's
[1:16] got a cause that he believes in and
[1:18] that's why he's so determined. But he
[1:20] won't win. That notion of a tough fight
[1:22] ahead was echoed in Washington by the
[1:24] Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
[1:26] >> Listen, these folks are determined.
[1:28] These are killers. They chop people's
[1:30] heads off.
[1:32] They get they're getting money from
[1:34] around the world.
[1:35] >> As the sun rose on the edge of Fallujah,
[1:38] a family emerged with its flock of
[1:40] sheep. The children appeared unfazed by
[1:43] the ferocity of last night's attack. But
[1:46] now in the bright morning light, this
[1:47] little boy says he knows what it was all
[1:49] about. They were dropping bombs on the
[1:52] terrorists, he says. And they are
[1:54] continuing to drop bombs. This morning,
[1:56] we can see is for the first time a B52
[1:59] bomber circling over the city. And we've
[2:01] just seen a tremendous explosion from
[2:03] what appeared to be a 2,000 lb bomb.
[2:07] Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News, with the
[2:09] Marines near Falluja.
[2:20] What's it like inside Fallujah as the
[2:22] battle rages on? CBS News reporter Kirk
[2:25] Spitzer is embedded with US special
[2:27] forces who fought in the heart of the
[2:29] city. He filed this video phone report.
[2:32] >> American commanders are reporting better
[2:34] than expected progress in the battle for
[2:35] Fallujah this morning. More than 10,000
[2:37] American Marines and soldiers are
[2:39] besieing the city from the northern and
[2:41] eastern sides and American troops have
[2:43] actually uh progressed below the east
[2:47] west highway that bisects the city which
[2:49] was one of the early objectives of this
[2:51] campaign. Fighting has been heavy from
[2:53] time to time according to commanders,
[2:54] but some of the heaviest fighting
[2:56] actually took place early yesterday on
[2:58] the western side of the city uh where
[3:01] Marines and US special forces traded
[3:03] heavy heavy fire across the Ukrainian
[3:05] river with insurgents who were dug into
[3:08] uh fortified houses and commercial
[3:10] buildings on the eastern side of the
[3:12] river. American uh helicopters and war
[3:14] planes swooped in dropping bombs and
[3:16] shooting rockets. There was tremendous
[3:17] devastation. Uh but the luck force and
[3:21] the casualties on on American side were
[3:23] were were reported low. It's not clear
[3:25] what was what the casualty levels were
[3:27] on the on the insurgent side. This is
[3:29] Kirk Spitzer for CBS News.
[3:37] American
[3:43] and Iraqi forces are moving deeper into
[3:45] Fallujah this morning despite intense
[3:47] gunfire from insurgents currently
[3:49] holding the city. Retired Army Colonel
[3:52] Mitch Mitchell is a CBS News military
[3:54] analyst. Colonel Mitchell, good morning.
[3:56] >> Good morning, Renee.
[3:57] >> And give me your assessment of the last
[3:59] 24 hours or so, what you've seen.
[4:02] >> Well, I think our troops, both the Army
[4:04] and the Marines, have had great success.
[4:06] They've been able to move across the
[4:08] East West Highway as reported on an
[4:10] earlier piece on your show and that
[4:11] means that they've accomplished their
[4:13] first day's objective and then some.
[4:15] Even though some of them feel they're
[4:16] moving a bit cautiously, it looks like
[4:19] success, but not without stiff pockets
[4:21] of resistance.
[4:22] >> And you mentioned moving cautiously.
[4:24] That's something they certainly have to
[4:25] do given the reports of of booby trap
[4:28] buildings, car bombs, and the like. How
[4:30] concerned are you about that? that
[4:32] something like that could take out large
[4:34] numbers of troops at at one time.
[4:37] >> They're not going to take out large
[4:38] numbers of troops because of the way
[4:40] they deploy in urban fighting. They're
[4:43] going to be spread out. So large numbers
[4:45] will not mass anywhere where they be
[4:46] subjected to an attack like that.
[4:48] However, the individual casualties could
[4:51] mount up if we run into a lot of booby
[4:53] traps and mines and the improvised
[4:55] explosive devices. And of course,
[4:57] there's always the snipers. When you
[4:59] fight in urban terrain, you have a
[5:01] different way of looking at three
[5:02] dimensions. You look up, down, sideways,
[5:04] every which way because the enemy could
[5:06] be anywhere.
[5:07] >> Colonel Mitchell, there a colonel on the
[5:09] ground there was quoted as saying, "They
[5:10] will win if it's bloody. We will win if
[5:13] we minimize casualties." Does that
[5:15] change the way soldiers fight this
[5:17] battle as they go doortodoor and and and
[5:20] street by street?
[5:23] Not when they're facing the insurgent
[5:25] fighters or the foreign fighters, but
[5:27] when they're dealing with the about
[5:28] 50,000 civilians that they have in the
[5:30] town right there. Yes, that makes a big
[5:32] difference. We can't get the people
[5:35] involved in this battle any more than
[5:37] absolutely necessary and they're all
[5:39] around us. And so the rules of
[5:41] engagement are so difficult for our
[5:42] forces and I think they're doing an
[5:44] excellent job. But the people of
[5:46] Fallujah need to understand that if they
[5:48] are in harm's way, they are subject to
[5:50] being shot because we're going after the
[5:52] enemy.
[5:53] >> How long do you think it'll take before
[5:54] US forces have firm control of Fallujah?
[5:58] >> I'd say it's still going to be less than
[6:00] a week before we've accomplished the
[6:02] objectives in there. But that doesn't
[6:03] mean there aren't going to be some
[6:05] pockets of resistance that will stay
[6:07] alive for at least another two weeks,
[6:09] maybe 3 weeks. But in a week, we'll have
[6:10] done the majority of the work. And and
[6:12] is it a chance in the last 15 seconds
[6:14] that that resistance will just fade away
[6:16] as some people have said?
[6:18] >> Well, some of that's already occurring.
[6:20] Some people are not going to stand and
[6:21] fight to the death and they're going to
[6:22] live to fight another day and that's a
[6:24] big concern for us. But I think those
[6:26] who stand to fight are going to die in
[6:27] place.
[6:28] >> Colonel Mitch Mitchell, as always, we
[6:30] thank you for your time this morning and
[6:31] your assessment. Thanks.