CBS News - Iraq War - 2003-03-20 - 4 p.m. (E)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Back to you, Dan, in New York.

[0:02] >> Thank you very much, Bob. It's 400 PM on

[0:04] the US East Coast, and you are watching

[0:07] CBS News coverage of America at War.

[0:21] This CBS News special report is part of

[0:24] our continuing coverage of America at

[0:27] War.

[0:28] From CBS News headquarters in New York,

[0:31] here is Dan Rather. It's 4 p.m. on the

[0:35] US East Coast 12 midnight in Iraq. Some

[0:38] of the top headlines at this hour.

[0:40] President Bush met at the White House

[0:41] with his cabinet this afternoon. He told

[0:43] reporters that they had heard a war

[0:45] update from the Secretary of Defense in

[0:48] Baghdad. New US air strikes today left

[0:51] several buildings on fire and a great

[0:54] paw of black smoke hanging over the

[0:56] city. The Pentagon says that among the

[0:58] targets were an elite Republican guard

[1:01] barracks just on the outskirts of

[1:03] Baghdad. Several palaces were also hit

[1:06] along with several ministries along the

[1:08] Iraq Kowi border. US ground forces and

[1:12] British ground forces have been on the

[1:14] move. Some of them are engaged in firing

[1:17] just across the border uh in southern

[1:20] Iraq. All three Army, US Marine, and

[1:24] British troops are believed and widely

[1:26] reported to have crossed over into Iraq

[1:28] territory. It's unclear whether this is

[1:30] a repositioning a defense position a

[1:33] protection move or part of the overall

[1:36] ground uh big ground offensive, but the

[1:39] defense department says that these troop

[1:41] movements, even the ones inside the

[1:43] Iraqi border, including the capture of

[1:45] the small port down at the very southern

[1:48] tip of Iraq, do not represent the start

[1:51] of the overall main US ground invasion.

[1:54] Not at least not yet. Here at home,

[1:57] anti-war protest in a number of cities,

[1:59] including San Francisco, where 350

[2:02] demonstrators have been arrested.

[2:06] Now, we go to Richard Slesinger and

[2:08] General Perry Smith. And first, we'll

[2:09] go, Richard, to you uh on our wall map.

[2:13] Discuss where we are, what phase of the

[2:15] the war we're in. Richard, take the lead

[2:17] here, work with General Smith, and try

[2:19] to give our viewers an overall picture

[2:22] of what's happening, why it's happening,

[2:24] and what may come next. Well, Dan, it's

[2:26] important to do because there's so much

[2:27] activity to and fro along the border in

[2:30] Baghdad that General Smith and I thought

[2:31] that we could give you sort of an

[2:33] overview, the wideshot, as you like to

[2:35] call it, of of where we stand in the war

[2:37] so far. General Smith, you've said there

[2:39] are four phases of war. What are those?

[2:42] The four phases are the decision to go

[2:44] to war, and that decision was made a few

[2:46] days ago by the president of the United

[2:48] States. So, we passed phase one. Phase

[2:50] two are initial operations. Initial

[2:53] operations being special forces on the

[2:55] ground in many places, lots of air power

[2:57] to hit out targets, but not any kind of

[2:59] a major ground campaign. We are in phase

[3:02] two, and we have been in phase two at

[3:04] least for a few hours. Phase three is

[3:07] decisive operations.

[3:08] >> Excuse me, General. I hate to interrupt

[3:10] you, but we need to go to Mark Phillips

[3:12] in Kuwait City. Mark,

[3:16] >> you probably can hear it. There's

[3:17] another air raid alert going on here.

[3:19] This is the fifth one today in Kuwait

[3:21] City. The sirens are wailing, that

[3:23] whailing sound they make, which means

[3:25] that the danger is imminent. Uh there

[3:28] are reports over the course of the day,

[3:30] of course, of there having been as many

[3:31] as six missile attacks on Kuwait

[3:35] territory. We've just been able to

[3:37] confirm as well that there was another

[3:39] missile attack. This one within the last

[3:41] 2 hours here, witnesses saw missiles.

[3:45] Forgive me if I have to take deep

[3:46] breaths. It's difficult to speak and and

[3:48] breathe in this at the same time. Uh,

[3:50] excuse me one moment. Mark Phillips, if

[3:52] you can hear me. I want to explain to

[3:54] our viewers that Mark has his gas mask

[3:56] on as he should have and his microphone

[3:57] is outside the gas mask down in his

[3:59] shirt. You can see it down in this

[4:01] section. Mark, if you're hearing me,

[4:03] move the microphone up just a tad.

[4:05] >> Hear me at all. Dan,

[4:06] >> I can speak up loudly and move that mic

[4:08] up just a tad.

[4:10] >> I'll try to speak as loudly as I can and

[4:13] hold it closer to where the noise.

[4:14] >> That's Let's hold it up there close to

[4:16] you and do it that way. At a boy. Okay.

[4:19] Uh that's why they call this the speaker

[4:21] part. Uh there were a number of attacks

[4:23] earlier in the day. We've just been able

[4:25] to confirm as well uh that within the

[4:27] last hour and a half to 2 hours, there

[4:30] were two more missile attacks on Kuwait.

[4:33] Those came without warning. The missiles

[4:35] flew low along the coastline here and in

[4:38] fact impacted in the sea uh several

[4:41] hundred yards offshore. We've managed to

[4:44] talk to several eyewitnesses and now in

[4:46] fact it's been confirmed by the Kuwaiti

[4:48] Interior Ministry that there has been

[4:50] yet another attack here and as you can

[4:53] hear uh there may well be another one

[4:55] still to come. The earlier warnings like

[4:57] these that went on during the course of

[4:59] the day uh produced no attacks directly

[5:03] on Kuwait city. There was one reported

[5:05] impact well on the outskirts of town.

[5:08] But of course this certainly raises

[5:10] anxieties here. people will be heading

[5:12] into shelters and putting on this kind

[5:14] of equipment because it's unknown

[5:16] exactly what sort of ordinance uh might

[5:18] be coming in our direction. And it also

[5:21] underlines the vulnerability of Kuwait

[5:25] in all this. You were talking not so

[5:26] long ago about the countries which had

[5:29] supported and allowed US and British

[5:32] troops and overflights uh in connection

[5:34] with this battle. Well, of course, no

[5:37] country has exposed itself and supported

[5:39] more than Kuwait has. Uh, this place has

[5:42] become one huge armed camp. It's not a

[5:44] big place, and when you put more than

[5:46] 200,000 troops and all of their

[5:48] equipment on the ground, they take up a

[5:50] lot of it. Uh, Kuwait is feeling very

[5:52] vulnerable tonight, not just from the

[5:54] sort of attacks that we have seen over

[5:56] the course of today. Uh, but they're

[5:58] also very concerned about a backlash

[6:00] from within uh, Kuwait, from Islamic

[6:03] militant groups. There were those

[6:04] attacks that you'll remember just a few

[6:06] months ago on US soldiers uh who were

[6:09] training here. Uh there's a real concern

[6:12] in Kuwait that militant Islamic groups

[6:14] might rise up and take this opportunity

[6:17] uh to launch terrorist attacks within

[6:19] the country. There's a very large police

[6:21] presence all over the place and this

[6:23] kind of thing is not lowering anxieties

[6:25] at all. Jim,

[6:27] >> Mark Phillips, I'm going to encourage

[6:28] you again to hold that microphone up as

[6:30] close as you possibly can to the mouth

[6:32] section of your mask as I ask you, how

[6:35] many missiles, scud, shimmood, or what

[6:39] have you, do we believe have been

[6:42] launched

[6:44] over and into Kuwait today? My last

[6:46] count was six.

[6:49] >> All right. I think if we're doing our

[6:51] own arithmetic here, which is not

[6:53] official arithmetic, our own arithmetic

[6:56] would now bring that total to eight. Uh

[6:58] again, we're not sure and we have to be

[7:00] very careful about throwing around words

[7:03] designating what kind of missile uh has

[7:05] been used in these attacks. The Kuwaitis

[7:08] have said that there were six attacks

[7:10] before these last two that I was just

[7:12] talking about or six missiles uh fired

[7:15] at Kuwaiti territory before these last

[7:18] two that I just mentioned. The Kuwaitis

[7:21] also said that the previous two, in

[7:23] other words, numbers five and six were

[7:26] in fact Scud missiles. This is the kind

[7:28] of missile Iraq is not supposed to have.

[7:31] It's the kind of missile that they have

[7:33] said over and over again they no longer

[7:35] have because it's exceeds this 90 or so

[7:38] mile range that's permitted uh under the

[7:40] UN rules following the ceasefire after

[7:42] the first Gulf War. Uh if it's

[7:45] determined through examination of the

[7:46] wreckage of these missiles that these

[7:48] were in fact scudged. We're getting

[7:51] another blast here and that sounds like

[7:54] the all clear.

[7:56] I'll just wait and listen to it for a

[7:58] sec. The steady tone is the all clear.

[8:00] And I'm calling that the all clear. Are

[8:03] we all agreed? I think we are. Um, so we

[8:06] can take this off and speak to you uh in

[8:09] a normal tone of voice, I guess. But

[8:11] getting back to the numbers of of

[8:12] missiles and what they were, if in fact

[8:15] two of those missiles were Scuds,

[8:17] that'll lend a whole lot of weight to

[8:19] the American and the British argument uh

[8:22] that Saddam was in fact harboring

[8:25] weapons of mass destruction uh or at

[8:28] least weapons that were prohibited. I

[8:29] wouldn't call the Scuds a weapon of mass

[8:31] destruction, but prohibited weapons

[8:32] systems uh on his territory despite uh

[8:35] his many repeated claims that he wasn't

[8:37] doing so. 10

[8:39] >> mark. So if if it is true that eight

[8:42] missiles whether any of them were Scuds

[8:44] or not and I we do underscore the to for

[8:47] emphasis we don't know that two of them

[8:49] were Scuds as reporting so we don't know

[8:51] that but the total of eight at my last

[8:54] count the Patriot defense missile

[8:57] batteries were credited with knocking

[8:59] down two. A third one was to have

[9:02] dropped somewhere in the vicinity of the

[9:04] Marines but did no damage. Do we know

[9:06] what happened to the others?

[9:09] >> We know. We know what happened to some

[9:11] of the others. These last two that I

[9:13] just mentioned uh were seen to explode

[9:16] offshore about 300 yards. Uh we're told

[9:20] uh some of them are being described by

[9:21] American uh officials here as well as a

[9:24] mystery where they're not quite sure

[9:26] where they went. And there was one

[9:28] report of an impact on the outskirts of

[9:31] Kuwait City. So we know where two

[9:33] landed. We think one or two were

[9:35] destroyed by anti-missile Patriot

[9:38] batteries. We know that these last two

[9:40] uh seem to have splashed into the sea,

[9:42] but that still leaves at least a couple

[9:44] uh unaccounted for. Uh we haven't had

[9:47] any reports of any damage or any uh

[9:49] casualties that they might have called.

[9:51] So, it's presumed that they fell

[9:53] harmlessly somewhere.

[9:55] >> Mark, everybody knows this is not a

[9:58] movie. Nobody's making this up. air raid

[10:00] sirens go off and the instructions are

[10:02] when those sirens go off to put on at

[10:05] least your gas mask because the fear and

[10:08] it's a real and abiding fear is that one

[10:10] of those missiles just might get through

[10:13] and one of them might contain chemical

[10:15] and or biological

[10:18] agents. Correct.

[10:20] >> Well, that's the fear and that's why we

[10:22] have these things. I will say that all

[10:25] of the missiles that have impacted and

[10:28] exploded here today, of all of them,

[10:31] we've been told that they did not carry

[10:34] chemical or biological warheads, but

[10:36] carried conventional warheads, at least

[10:38] the ones that the military, the American

[10:40] and the British have managed to examine.

[10:43] Uh, still it this is a great disruption

[10:46] uh that that has been caused in terms

[10:49] Well, I think that's the end of the all

[10:50] clear.

[10:54] It has caused great disruption simply

[10:56] because of what you've seen we have to

[10:57] do and of course more importantly what

[10:59] the soldiers in the field have to do. Uh

[11:02] and it it's really difficult to get on

[11:04] with the preparations of what's being

[11:06] done here when you have to stop uh every

[11:09] few minutes or this as I say was number

[11:11] five I believe uh of the uh air raid

[11:14] alerts that we've had in Kuwait city and

[11:16] there have been numerous such alert

[11:18] alerts right throughout the Kuwaiti

[11:20] desert amongst the troops that are

[11:22] stationed and moving around and even

[11:24] moving forward up to what we presume are

[11:26] departure lines for the assault uh when

[11:29] it comes uh this kind of harassment uh

[11:32] on the part of the Iraqis is bound to be

[11:34] causing some problems but luckily has

[11:37] not at this stage at least caused any

[11:39] casualties.

[11:40] >> Mark Phillips reporting from a very

[11:42] nervous and just with an air raid alert

[11:44] over Kuwait city. Want to take you live

[11:47] now, show you a picture at one of the

[11:49] many uh US uh used air facilities along

[11:54] the Iraq Kuwait border. We're not going

[11:56] to tell you exactly where it is for

[11:58] security reasons, but this is the

[12:00] picture. And uh CBS News correspondent

[12:02] Byron Pittz is there. I'm not sure we

[12:04] can bring him up uh can't bring him up

[12:07] live. We just want to show you uh Pitts

[12:09] is in the area. You may have noticed uh

[12:12] that not only do we have a large

[12:14] contingent of CBS News uh combat

[12:17] correspondents uh with various uh US

[12:21] troop units, but we also have the

[12:23] capacity uh and frankly we're somewhat

[12:26] surprised. We'll acknowledge to you how

[12:28] well it some of the new technology has

[12:30] worked for us with video phones uh and

[12:33] other capabilities. Our hope is as US

[12:36] troops go deeper and deeper into Iraq,

[12:38] the peace correspondents will be right

[12:39] there with them. We wanted to show you

[12:40] that picture of the air base because you

[12:42] could see the smoke rising in the

[12:44] distance. This air air facility which is

[12:46] being used by the United States uh in

[12:51] northern Kuwait uh obviously is near

[12:54] where some of the artillery and or

[12:57] helicopter attacks are occurring just

[13:00] across the border uh into Iraq. I think

[13:02] now we'll quickly go to General Buck

[13:05] Kernand and then we'll get back to

[13:06] Richard Slesinger and General Perry

[13:08] Smith when we interrupted. Uh you know

[13:10] Kernan, if you're Saddam Hussein, to

[13:12] what purpose are you doing this? What

[13:14] are your objectives right now?

[13:16] >> Well, I think his objectives are

[13:17] probably three-fold. uh one, he's trying

[13:20] to blunt and delay the attack uh the the

[13:23] upcoming attack of the coalition forces

[13:25] and then when that attack does occur to

[13:27] inflict as many casualties as he

[13:29] possibly can and hope that he can break

[13:31] the will of the coalition and the

[13:33] national will back home and then uh and

[13:36] then thirdly get as much international

[13:39] support as he can muster and and

[13:42] possibly at the same time to try to turn

[13:43] this into a holy war. So he's in a

[13:45] process right now of trying to survive

[13:49] uh as a leader. The regime survival is

[13:52] the thing that's most important to him

[13:53] right now. And anything he can do to

[13:55] delay our advances uh to inflict

[13:57] casualties because he's seen in the past

[13:59] or believes anyway he's seen in the past

[14:01] the erosion of our national will when

[14:03] we've incurred casualties. Uh so I think

[14:06] those are the things he's going to do

[14:07] and he'll continue to try to bolster as

[14:09] much uh international support for his

[14:11] cause as he possibly can. little buck.

[14:14] Let's take a quick picture live in

[14:16] Baghdad if we can get it up. Nothing

[14:18] there has been happening for what about

[14:20] an hour and a half, maybe two hours

[14:22] since uh today's attack. Today's attack

[14:24] was much more extensive than the one

[14:27] last night. Various targets believed to

[14:29] have been hit, including a an elite

[14:31] Republican Guard facility on the

[14:32] outskirts of Baghdad, uh two of Saddam

[14:35] Hussein's palaces, uh and at least two

[14:38] ministry buildings.

[14:41] bulletin from Washington. Uh, the United

[14:44] States is now confiscating all

[14:47] non-diplomatic Iraqi government assets

[14:50] in the United States. You could say

[14:52] that's expected, but it's worth noting

[14:54] it has occurred. Now, let's go back to

[14:56] CBS News correspondent Richard Slesinger

[14:58] and retired Air Force General Perry

[15:00] Smith. Gentlemen, you were in the

[15:02] process uh of explaining a kind of

[15:05] overview of what's happening, why it's

[15:08] happening, and where we go from here.

[15:09] here and with apologies for having to

[15:11] interrupt you about that air raid alert

[15:13] in Kuwait City. Let's pick it up.

[15:15] >> Not at all, Dan. Uh let me just uh take

[15:17] a short detour with you, General, uh to

[15:20] pick up on something Dan and General

[15:21] Kernan were talking about militarily

[15:24] from the point of view of United States

[15:25] forces. What effect do these gas alerts

[15:29] and these incoming missile scares have

[15:32] on the soldiers who are presumably the

[15:34] targets of these missiles?

[15:35] >> Well, I think most of all, it means they

[15:37] really want to go even more. or they

[15:38] want to get out from under the gun and

[15:40] get for moving forward because they know

[15:41] that they're in a fairly concentrated

[15:43] area and therefore they know they make a

[15:45] pretty good attack. On the other hand,

[15:46] since all of them have been completely

[15:49] ineffective, they don't have a whole lot

[15:51] of respect for the great artillery or

[15:52] the great missile capability of Saddam

[15:55] Hussein, but generally they're they're

[15:57] really anxious to get going because they

[15:58] are in a vulnerable position.

[16:00] >> Well, does putting the mask on and

[16:01] having to put the chem suits on and all

[16:02] that slow them down at all?

[16:04] >> Well, no, because they're just standing

[16:06] in position. they're ready to go. Now,

[16:08] if the the combat started and they were

[16:10] really moving forward and this happened,

[16:11] then it would slow them down because

[16:13] they'd have to get their masks on. They

[16:14] have to get their chemical suits on.

[16:16] They had to get the de decontamination

[16:18] units forward and it would it would

[16:20] definitely slow them down and then

[16:21] they'd have to fight in chemical suits

[16:23] for some period of time.

[16:24] >> Well, let's talk about how this

[16:25] operation is likely to go. We were

[16:26] interrupted when you were talking about

[16:27] the four phases. You'd gotten through

[16:28] the decision to go to war, the initial

[16:31] operations, the decisive operations.

[16:34] Step four would be uh reconstruction uh

[16:36] uh reconstitution and reconstruction of

[16:38] the government which would take place

[16:40] after the major combat. And so that's a

[16:42] few weeks away.

[16:43] >> That's when the shooting's over in the

[16:44] smoke clear.

[16:44] >> The shooting's over, but we're going in

[16:46] there and establishing a military

[16:47] government, bringing in a great amount

[16:48] of humanitarian aid, helping the people,

[16:50] feeding the people, getting the

[16:52] hospitals up to speed, getting the

[16:53] constitution going. There's a lot of

[16:54] work to be done. But to go back to phase

[16:56] two, if I may real quickly,

[16:57] >> that's where we're at now.

[16:58] >> We are now in phase two. We are not in

[17:00] phase three. And the White House keeps

[17:02] reminding us of that as does DoD. When

[17:04] we go to phase three, that's decisive

[17:06] operations. That's when the whole

[17:07] paniply goes forward. All those ground

[17:09] troops, all those special forces, all

[17:11] that air power. And when that happens,

[17:13] we're going to know that. It's important

[17:14] to note now that while the pictures that

[17:16] we're looking at are impressive and are

[17:18] loud and are frankly scary to to those

[17:21] of us who aren't used to them. You you

[17:23] you're saying that we're in the initial

[17:25] stages of this, the initial operations,

[17:26] and so does the Pentagon. My question

[17:28] is, where's the border? I mean, if if if

[17:31] I'm an Iraqi soldier underneath one of

[17:33] these artillery shots that we've been

[17:35] seeing going over the border all

[17:37] afternoon, uh that may be an initial

[17:39] operation to you as a United States

[17:41] artillery officer, but to me as an Iraqi

[17:43] soldier, that's a pretty decisive

[17:45] operation.

[17:45] >> Well, that's right. It's like when I was

[17:47] flying in combat in Southeast Asia, you

[17:49] see a report, well, they had moderate

[17:50] ground fire out of North Vietnam and I

[17:52] was getting shot at by six different

[17:54] positions at the same time. That was not

[17:56] moderate to me and this is not moderate

[17:57] to them because there's a lot of

[17:59] artillery fire. But to the rest of the

[18:01] soldiers in Iraq, you see, they're not

[18:03] being under the gun. And so therefore,

[18:05] they haven't really felt except from air

[18:07] power, they haven't felt the might of

[18:09] the United States Army, the United

[18:11] States Marine Corps as they come across

[18:12] the border.

[18:13] >> Bear with me because a lot of people

[18:14] don't have your level of experience. But

[18:16] how will we know when we move from

[18:18] initial operations into decisive

[18:20] operations?

[18:21] >> Well, first of all, I think the Pentagon

[18:22] and the White House will announce it.

[18:24] And the second thing will be all our

[18:26] embedded correspondents will now start

[18:28] looking going forward and also we'll see

[18:30] a lot more air power, a lot airplanes

[18:32] taken off from all these bases headed in

[18:33] there to support the operation. You'll

[18:35] see lots of helicopters taking off all

[18:37] at the same time. It's going to be a

[18:38] huge surge.

[18:39] >> It'll get a lot louder. Thank you,

[18:40] General Perry Smith. Dan,

[18:42] >> thank you very much. Richard Slesinger

[18:44] and General Perry Smith.

[18:46] >> Let's quickly recap now for those who

[18:48] are joining us in progress or perhaps

[18:50] you've been away for a bit. Uh,

[18:52] President Bush says US troops have c

[18:54] performed with great skir and great

[18:56] bravery in the opening hours of the

[18:59] attack against Iraq. A building in

[19:01] Iraq's main presidential compound uh has

[19:04] caught fire. This was after a raid in

[19:06] Baghdad today, apparently hit by one of

[19:09] the many cruise missiles uh that had

[19:11] been fired on Baghdad. The F-17 stealth

[19:14] bombers were in action again during this

[19:16] which means there also probably some

[19:17] laserg guided bombs uh involved. Uh, US

[19:21] military officials say the military the

[19:23] the missile assault on Baghdad is not

[19:26] the start of the massive aerial campaign

[19:29] that is still planned. Now, there's a

[19:31] companion to this. Uh, here the foreign

[19:35] ministry was hit today. At least one and

[19:38] perhaps two of the presidential palaces

[19:39] were hit. You can see the Tigress River

[19:42] runs through Baghdad. The Euphrates is

[19:44] to the west of it. So, this is all along

[19:45] the Tigress River. But the US military

[19:48] says, and they're emphasizing, they have

[19:50] not yet opened their full force aerial

[19:53] campaign, nor they say, have they opened

[19:56] their main ground force invasion. That

[19:59] there there are uh any number of uh US

[20:03] soldiers and Marines and some British

[20:05] ground forces involved inside Iraq.

[20:07] We're not talking now about special

[20:09] forces and special ops. Some main force

[20:12] troops of the army, marines, and the

[20:14] British forces were reported to have

[20:16] moved into the very rim of southern Iraq

[20:20] with Kuwait. So the picture that emerges

[20:22] is that they were put there, excuse me,

[20:27] just a second. John Roberts for the

[20:28] first time today with the US Marine

[20:30] Expeditionary Force is up in Iraq. And

[20:32] before we lose him, we'll go to him.

[20:34] John, come in, please.

[20:36] >> Yeah, good good morning to you, Dan,

[20:38] from uh from inside Iraq. come with the

[20:40] uh Marines second light armored

[20:42] reconnaissance battalion. It's part of

[20:44] the first marine division which

[20:46] comprises tens of thousands of fighting

[20:49] uh men and vehicles. We have just cross

[20:51] the border into southern Iraq. Uh we are

[20:54] the the lead element of of what will be

[20:56] a a major push into Iraq from the

[21:00] southern end. Uh, this was supposed to

[21:02] happen, I should tell you, not until

[21:04] about 10:00 your time, 6:00 a.m. our

[21:07] time, but it all got pushed ahead. And

[21:09] and this push across the border into

[21:11] southern Iraq was followed by some

[21:14] pounding artillery barges. Shells were

[21:16] falling at the rate of of one second for

[21:18] 30 minutes at a time, and there were at

[21:20] least three of those before we pushed

[21:22] across the border. We had been staged

[21:24] about 10 kilometers uh south of the

[21:26] Kuwaiti side of the border. But just a

[21:28] few moments ago, Dan, the US Marines

[21:30] pushed across the border into southern

[21:32] Iraq.

[21:34] >> John Roberts, ride with us for as long

[21:35] as you can here. This is the first

[21:37] report we've had from one, uh, a Marine

[21:40] operation on the move, and two, it's the

[21:43] first report we've had from actually

[21:45] inside Iraq. What is the objective of

[21:47] this Marine ground operation inside Iraq

[21:51] with uh, whom you are now, John?

[21:54] Uh well Dan uh because of operational

[21:56] security I can't to talk too much about

[21:59] uh what will be coming up in the in the

[22:01] next few hours but sufficing to say Dan

[22:03] I think it's been well reported that one

[22:05] of the main objectives of uh US forces

[22:08] when that once they get inside Iraq is

[22:10] to secure the southern oil fields the

[22:12] Romela oil fields to make sure that

[22:14] Saddam Hussein does not make good on on

[22:17] what intelligence said was a threat to

[22:19] blow those oil fields. Uh so that will

[22:21] be one of the main objectives is to get

[22:23] a hold of those and and and then of

[22:24] course obviously the ultimate objectives

[22:27] is the ultimate objective is going to be

[22:29] to to get to Baghdad. So uh once those

[22:32] oil fields have been secured by the

[22:34] first US forces to cross over the line,

[22:36] there will then most likely be a push on

[22:38] toward the capital city. That would just

[22:40] be a natural progression of this battle.

[22:41] Uh Dan, there's a lot more that I know

[22:43] about the battle plan, but that I can't

[22:45] reveal because of operational security.

[22:47] So, we'll just kind of have to take it a

[22:49] minute as a time, a minute at a at a

[22:51] time as we go along here.

[22:52] >> I understand that fully and as always,

[22:54] John, we don't want to run any risk,

[22:57] even the slightest risk of endangering

[22:59] one single American life uh or for that

[23:02] matter uh any mission. But let me ask

[23:05] you, have shots been fired in angry

[23:07] anger? Have the Marines fired at anyone?

[23:09] Has anyone fired at them? Uh Dan, the

[23:12] unit that we're with, and this is a

[23:14] again, this is a a light armored

[23:16] reconnaissance battalion that typically

[23:17] roams about 10 to 15 kilometers ahead of

[23:20] the main battle group. It's equipped

[23:21] with 25 mm light armored vehicles. This

[23:25] is the same type of gun. It's on the

[23:27] Bradley fighting vehicles. They also

[23:29] have anti-tank LAVs with equipped with

[23:32] the tow missile and air defense leavs

[23:35] equipped with the Stinger missile and as

[23:37] well a 25mm Gatling gun. A tremendous

[23:40] amount of firepower here, but so far,

[23:42] Dan, not one shot has been fired. Now,

[23:45] now, of course, there was all of that

[23:47] preparatory fire that was going on for

[23:49] about an hour and a half prior to us

[23:51] crossing the line. Just a punishing

[23:53] artillery barrage, which was meant to

[23:55] suppress any Iraqi troops that might be

[23:57] on the other side of the border who were

[23:59] thinking about taking a shot at the US

[24:01] troops. Uh what the commander of the uh

[24:05] the first uh the first regimenal combat

[24:08] team uh Colonel Joe Dowy is hoping is

[24:11] that there are two big Iraqi regular

[24:14] divisions in the southern part of Iraq.

[24:15] One is the the 21st the 51st division

[24:18] I'm sorry. The other one is the 18th

[24:20] division. Uh, Colonel Dowy was saying in

[24:22] a in a briefing prior to us uh pushing

[24:24] out tonight that uh he was hoping that

[24:27] they were going to surrender and and

[24:29] that uh Dan is something that I think

[24:31] has been talked about for quite a while

[24:33] that these these regular troops, the

[24:36] 51st and the 18th uh were not the

[24:38] hardened troops uh that uh comprise the

[24:41] elite Republican Guard, the uh the

[24:44] Baghdad unit and the Al-Qaeda unit, and

[24:46] that they would probably be willing to

[24:47] to just come forward and maybe lay down

[24:49] their weapons and And certainly that's

[24:51] something that the US Marines are are

[24:53] hoping for.

[24:54] >> John, if you can hold with us just a

[24:56] moment, John, we need to take a slight

[24:57] break here. Just stay right where you

[24:59] are. We're going to come right back to

[25:00] you. You're watching continuing CBS News

[25:02] coverage of America at War.

[25:16] Dan Rather back at CBS News World

[25:18] Headquarters in New York and we are

[25:20] speaking live with the CBS News

[25:22] correspondent, actually White House

[25:23] correspondent um now on special

[25:26] assignment as a combat correspondent

[25:28] with the US Marines. He is speaking from

[25:30] inside Iraq with elements of the First

[25:34] Marine Division, US Marine Expeditionary

[25:36] Force. John, I'd ask you if the Marines

[25:39] had shot at anyone or if anyone had shot

[25:41] at them thus far. And I want to make

[25:43] sure uh the answer is so far with the

[25:46] group you're with, the answer is no.

[25:49] >> Uh Dan, uh the answer is no. So far with

[25:51] the group that I'm with and and this

[25:53] group is sort of the tip of the tip of

[25:55] the spear. Uh this unit uh is tasked

[25:58] with going out there, finding the enemy,

[26:01] engaging the enemy, and uh sort of

[26:03] paving the way for followon forces. And

[26:05] thus far there have not been any shots

[26:07] fired uh from these vehicles. Again, the

[26:09] only thing that has been fired that we

[26:11] have seen tonight is massive artillery

[26:14] barges and preparatory fire to try to

[26:16] suppress these troops of the uh the 18th

[26:18] and the 51st regular divisions of the

[26:20] Iraqi army. There's also been some bombs

[26:22] dropped by air. a lot of targets in this

[26:25] area that were meant to kind of take out

[26:27] the eyes of the Iraqi military so that

[26:29] they weren't able to uh to communicate

[26:32] back with uh with their division

[26:34] headquarters as to where the US forces

[26:36] were. But so far we've been pretty

[26:38] lucky. Uh no shots fired at us, no shots

[26:41] fired going out from this column. We're

[26:43] just really making our way through the

[26:44] desert. I should I should tell you, Dan,

[26:46] that it's extremely uh difficult going

[26:49] here. The night is suddenly turned inky

[26:51] black from the dust that's been kicked

[26:52] up from those massive artillery

[26:54] bargages. We are we're operating uh Kirk

[26:57] Spitzer, our driver, is operating with

[27:00] night vision goggles and sometimes

[27:01] because of the dust you completely lose

[27:04] the vehicle in front of you and I mean

[27:06] you could get lost out in the desert

[27:08] here quite quite easily. Uh and uh it's

[27:11] it's it's it's a very difficult time

[27:13] trying to make it through the desert

[27:14] even though the terrain is pretty flat.

[27:16] Dan,

[27:17] >> John, I do want to note that apparently

[27:19] in a in a different area, there was a

[27:22] report earlier in the day, this is four

[27:23] or five hours ago, that uh a Marine

[27:26] squad, at least some small Marine unit

[27:29] had engaged some Iraqis and there had

[27:32] been at least a brief uh firefight.

[27:34] Whether it was one-sided or not was

[27:36] unclear. I just want to note to our

[27:38] viewers that's in a different area. John

[27:40] Roberts is with, as it has been said,

[27:42] the point of the point of the spear with

[27:45] the First Marine Division. He's now

[27:47] reporting from inside Iraq. And as the

[27:50] Marines have been fond of saying, I'm

[27:52] I'm not sure they're fond of saying it,

[27:53] but they have been saying in recent

[27:55] weeks, that the job of the Marine Corps

[27:57] here is to knock down the door. So the

[28:00] Army then walks through the door. That's

[28:02] a Marine viewpoint on what their mission

[28:05] is. The army, I don't have to remind

[28:07] you, I think, has a somewhat different

[28:08] view of how that's supposed to go. But

[28:11] John Roberts, back to you. Uh, I

[28:13] recognize that for security reasons,

[28:15] there are a number of things that you

[28:16] cannot talk about, but by any reasonable

[28:19] analysis, uh, you said the Marines are

[28:22] having difficulty moving uh, because

[28:24] there's a lot of dust kicked up by

[28:26] artillery. Are you being walked in in

[28:29] effect by uh, long range helicopter

[28:32] suppressing fire and artillery fire?

[28:35] Uh, no, Dan, we're not being walked in

[28:37] at all. There was just that that

[28:38] preparatory fire. And I and I should

[28:40] say, Dan, that the drivers of the uh the

[28:42] light armored vehicles don't seem to be

[28:44] having uh any problem making their way

[28:45] through the desert. Uh it's just some of

[28:47] the follow-on vehicles are having a bit

[28:49] of trouble with uh with the dust. Uh

[28:51] just a moment ago, heard quite a loud

[28:53] explosion. Another one there just now

[28:54] off to our left. Uh sounds like it could

[28:57] be artillery fire. This is the area that

[28:59] they have been just pounding with that

[29:01] preparatory fire. or it could be bombs

[29:04] dropped from the sky. It's difficult to

[29:06] tell from the sound of the explosion

[29:08] which is which. Uh the way that you

[29:10] really tell the difference is uh from

[29:12] the frequency of the explosions.

[29:14] Artillery fire uh the way that they're

[29:16] laying down this uh this preparatory

[29:18] suppressing fire comes at a rate of

[29:19] about one per second. Uh bombs tend to

[29:22] fall at the rate of uh one every every

[29:24] 10 seconds or or maybe even couple of

[29:26] minutes depending on the load that

[29:27] they're dropping down. But uh uh it it's

[29:30] it it certainly is an interesting

[29:33] experience to be out here in the midst

[29:35] of an armored column as it as it makes

[29:37] the first press of US forces into Iraq.

[29:40] >> John, any sign of anyone trying to give

[29:43] her up on the Iraqi side?

[29:46] Uh not yet, Dan, but uh in that area of

[29:48] engagement that you were talking about

[29:50] earlier, which was the third light

[29:52] armored reconnaissance battalion uh up

[29:54] toward where Highway 80, the main uh

[29:56] road out of Kuwait runs into Iraq, uh

[29:59] where they were engaged in a firefight

[30:01] with some uh some border patrols, uh

[30:03] some border posts and uh as well as some

[30:06] other combat vehicles. We we had heard

[30:08] reports earlier in the day that there

[30:10] were a number of Iraqi soldiers that

[30:13] surrendered. Uh Kuwaiti authorities who

[30:15] are somewhat reluctant uh to take in

[30:18] Iraqis uh did take control of uh of

[30:21] these uh serendes, if you will. And uh

[30:24] we we don't know what the disposition of

[30:26] them is, but uh we do know that a number

[30:28] of Iraqis did surrender earlier today

[30:30] and they are now in uh in Kuwaiti

[30:33] control. John, do you know, and I would

[30:35] understand if you didn't, uh who is it

[30:37] that took control? What military force

[30:39] took control of that small uh port city,

[30:42] Umar, which is uh in the very southern

[30:45] part of Iraq, not to be confused with

[30:47] Bassra, which is the largest port, the

[30:49] only real port that the Iraqis have

[30:52] opening the Persian Gulf. That small

[30:54] port city just across the border into

[30:56] Iraq, Kuwait, was captured, were

[30:58] captured because the forces there

[31:00] quickly surrendered. Do you know whether

[31:01] that was a Marine operation or not?

[31:04] >> Well, Dan, that was an area that the

[31:06] Marines were supposed to be operating

[31:07] in. Specifically, that was the seventh

[31:09] regimental combat team in the third

[31:10] light armored reconnaissance battalion

[31:12] that were tasked to that area. So, if

[31:14] anybody has taken if any force has taken

[31:16] over that small port city just north of

[31:19] the Kuwaiti border, uh I would imagine

[31:21] it would probably be the seventh

[31:23] regimental combat team because that was

[31:24] the area that they were supposed to be

[31:26] operating in. Want to remind our

[31:28] viewers, you're watching CBS News

[31:29] coverage of America at war. And we've

[31:32] had uh CBS News correspondent Scott P up

[31:35] earlier this morning uh right uh in the

[31:37] middle of uh helicopter assault into

[31:40] Iraq. He was on the Kuwaiti side. We

[31:42] also said Jim Axarrod uh standing by

[31:46] artillery as it was pounding portions of

[31:49] southern Iraq. And now we have up live

[31:51] from inside Iraq CBS News correspondent

[31:54] John Roberts who's with the Marines and

[31:56] we're talking to him now. As we talk to

[31:58] you, John, I want to put up a map so we

[32:00] can help people understand roughly the

[32:02] area where you're in and roughly what

[32:05] may be coming down the pike. But I

[32:06] emphasize again, John, at no time do we

[32:08] want to in any way uh give up any

[32:10] security information and don't want to

[32:12] endanger anybody. But John, uh, tell us

[32:14] again, uh, you took off from a point in

[32:17] extreme northern Kuwait into southern

[32:21] Iraq. Uh, you're pretty far down in

[32:23] southern Iraq, are you? As we're going

[32:24] to put up the map as you talk about

[32:26] this.

[32:27] We've just crossed over the border, Dan.

[32:29] We may be maybe a kilometer or 2

[32:31] kilometers. That would be about a mile

[32:33] and a half uh, inside southern Iraq.

[32:36] still a long long way to go. Of course,

[32:38] uh to Baghdad, which uh from the area

[32:40] that we were staged in as the crow flies

[32:43] is about 310 miles and uh uh I don't

[32:47] imagine that these fighting forces are

[32:49] going to go in as the crow flies. So, it

[32:50] could be that the entire trip is

[32:52] somewhat uh more in the neighborhood of

[32:54] 400 miles or so.

[32:55] >> But John, let me uh pause and I don't

[32:57] mean to interrupt you, but I want to

[32:58] make sure that people understand John's

[33:00] in this area, roughly this part of

[33:02] southern Iraq. Now, a potential target

[33:05] for the a potential target for the

[33:07] Marines and for that matter for the

[33:09] third uh US Army Infantry Division,

[33:11] which we think is uh entered in so far

[33:14] as it has a little more in this

[33:15] direction, would be the Ramala oil

[33:18] field, which is sort of in this general

[33:21] area because one of the main objectives

[33:23] of the United States is to keep Saddam

[33:26] Hussein from destroying his oil fields.

[33:28] And this is a big one, the Ramala oil

[33:29] field. Yes, there's another big one. in

[33:31] fact a series of ones up in this general

[33:33] area. Uh but there had been reports of

[33:37] some particular oil wells not the whole

[33:39] field in the area of the Ramala uh oil

[33:42] field a flame earlier in the day. So if

[33:46] the Marines uh in general have a target

[33:49] down the road once the main invasion

[33:53] force comes in. It may may or not be uh

[33:56] the Rala field, but that's one potential

[33:58] place. Taking over the city of Bassra is

[34:01] another. Uh it's not expected that

[34:03] that's going to be all that difficult

[34:05] because this is remember in Shiite

[34:07] section uh in the Shiite section of Iraq

[34:10] and the Shiites in general do not like

[34:12] the Sunnis uh which is that's the

[34:15] Islamic branch uh that uh Saddam Hussein

[34:18] belongs to and the Shiites and the

[34:20] majority in the country but they haven't

[34:21] had control of the country for a very

[34:23] very long time. Now back to you uh John

[34:26] uh are you rolling now or in a

[34:28] stationary position?

[34:30] Oh, Dan, we are we are rolling now.

[34:32] We've been rolling for the last uh

[34:34] couple of hours or so. And I I should

[34:36] point out, Dan, when when people report

[34:38] that uh they've seen fires in the oil

[34:40] fields. Uh don't forget that uh there

[34:43] are often flames that are in those oil

[34:46] fields, uh they're just burning off

[34:48] excess uh either natural gas or methane

[34:50] gas from an oil well. And very often,

[34:53] particularly in a dusty situation, and

[34:55] it's been very dusty here for the last

[34:57] couple of days because of sandstorms and

[34:59] and now because of these artillery

[35:01] barages, uh it's very easy to mistake

[35:04] the glow from just burning off excess

[35:07] gas uh for an oil well fire. Uh there's

[35:10] been nothing that we've heard so far uh

[35:13] in communications about oil fields being

[35:15] set on fire. Certainly uh from my

[35:18] vantage point there's nothing that looks

[35:19] like a fire at at this point though we

[35:22] are we are still I I believe a ways away

[35:26] from the Romala oil field. Uh and in

[35:29] fact we we may not even be going uh in

[35:31] in that direction. Uh but uh but keep in

[35:34] mind Dan that a glow from a fire in an

[35:37] oil field doesn't ne necessarily mean

[35:40] that an oil well is on fire. That could

[35:42] just be routine burning of excess gas.

[35:45] Indeed, it could be. And I want to

[35:46] emphasize that we were quoting uh people

[35:49] who said they were eyewitnesses and they

[35:51] specifically said they were burning. But

[35:53] we'll know soon enough as the Marines

[35:55] continue their advance if they do. Uh

[35:57] John, uh as you move into Iraq, uh it

[36:01] takes a lot of bravery on the part and

[36:03] of these young Marines and a lot of long

[36:06] training to do it. But there's been no

[36:08] sign thus far of what was widely

[36:11] described to be the shock and awe quote

[36:13] unquote to be associated with the launch

[36:16] of the US ground campaign in Iraq. So

[36:19] from what you've described, this is

[36:22] indeed not uh the main ground invasion

[36:26] that has been envisioned. Any talk among

[36:28] the Marines of when that may kick off or

[36:30] do they think they are part of the

[36:31] kickoff?

[36:33] Well, Dan, again, that's that's

[36:34] something that um I I'm restricted to

[36:38] talking about for operational security,

[36:40] but suffice it to say that the the

[36:42] Marines are are not going into uh Iraq

[36:45] by themselves. Uh and and again uh in

[36:48] terms of shock and awe, certainly what

[36:51] we heard from where we were staged

[36:54] before we made the push to the border uh

[36:57] sounded awfully shocking and awfully

[36:59] onspiring to anyone who would have been

[37:01] uh within range of those artillery

[37:03] shells. Uh Dan, just a shell a second

[37:06] was dropping for a half an hour. Then

[37:08] they paused for a half an hour, then

[37:10] they did it again for a half an hour,

[37:12] then they paused for a half an hour, and

[37:13] they did it again for a half an hour.

[37:15] and and I think that that that would be

[37:17] enough uh I think uh to to be described

[37:20] as shock and awe by anyone who was on

[37:23] the receiving end of that artillery

[37:25] barrage. Now I I know that you're

[37:27] referring to the idea of all of the

[37:28] cruise missiles that were supposed to go

[37:30] into into Baghdad and uh and take down

[37:32] the communications and and really kind

[37:34] of uh shock the uh the the Iraqi

[37:38] leadership into saying uh we're on the

[37:40] receiving end of a very big stick. I I

[37:42] can't speak to that because uh as as you

[37:45] know when you're embedded with the unit

[37:46] as we are you see a very small slice of

[37:49] the war. Uh you do hear from the the

[37:51] commanders though a larger piece of it.

[37:54] But uh I I I I can say that while I

[37:56] can't speak to anything that's been

[37:58] happening uh much uh further north at

[38:00] the border than where we are. I can

[38:02] certainly tell you that what we have

[38:04] seen and heard so far uh certainly does

[38:06] come under the category of shock and awe

[38:08] at least on the tactical battlefield.

[38:10] John, if you can stay with us, I want to

[38:12] for a moment bring in retired US Army

[38:15] General uh Buck Hernand. Buck, put this

[38:19] in perspective for us. The Marines are

[38:20] inside. There's no longer any doubt.

[38:22] They're operating inside Iraq. We

[38:24] believe that the US Third Infantry has

[38:26] soldiers inside Iraq at least to some

[38:27] degree, and the British do as well.

[38:30] Where are we? What does this mean?

[38:32] What's the picture? Well, as John's

[38:33] pointed out, first of all, there is no

[38:35] contact. And he is with a reconnaissance

[38:36] unit that is trying to fix the enemy.

[38:38] And once it fixes the enemy, it has a

[38:40] combat power to destroy it. But in all

[38:41] probability, it's going to bring other

[38:43] forces uh to bear against that. This

[38:46] shock and all as we refer to it is

[38:49] something that can be turned on very

[38:51] quickly. Uh it can be used very

[38:53] discriminantly. Right now we are not

[38:55] encountering any resistance. Therefore,

[38:58] we don't need the destructive might of

[39:00] this combined arms joint team uh across

[39:04] that battlefield. But I guarantee you

[39:07] that that that commander that John's

[39:09] with, if he needs it, it's on call and

[39:11] will almost be instantaneous in its

[39:13] delivery. So that that speaks well to

[39:16] the flexibility, versatility, and

[39:18] agility of our armed forces today.

[39:21] General, why am I getting the feeling

[39:23] that the big main aerial campaign

[39:28] kicked off simultaneously or perhaps

[39:30] slightly after that by the what we

[39:33] everybody hopes is the overwhelming

[39:35] ground campaign may not happen until

[39:37] tomorrow or later tonight. It it may

[39:40] not. It may not. Don't forget we had

[39:41] this target of opportunity that emerged

[39:43] last night that we still haven't

[39:45] realized the full effects of of that uh

[39:48] strike against this Iraqi leadership. Uh

[39:51] so there the conditions have changed and

[39:53] and General Franks is adjusting to those

[39:56] conditions. Uh we may find that we can

[40:00] unravel this thing very very quickly

[40:02] without having a lot of destruction in

[40:05] Iraq and that would be ideal. That would

[40:07] be great because it's all about changing

[40:09] regime, getting control of those weapons

[40:10] of mass destruction and freeing the

[40:13] Iraqi people. And if we can do that

[40:15] without mass destruction, wonderful.

[40:18] John Roberts, if you're still with us,

[40:19] and viewers, I hope you'll cut us a

[40:22] little slack here that uh the equipment

[40:24] is good when it works, but under destin

[40:26] conditions, it doesn't always work.

[40:27] John, are you still there?

[40:29] >> Uh, I am, Dan. I'm still here with you.

[40:31] John, has there been uh uh close air

[40:34] support uh helicopter Cobra support or

[40:37] fixed wing support as this Marine unit

[40:39] that you're with has moved into Iraq?

[40:42] >> Um not in the area that we're operating

[40:45] in, Dan. And I think it uh again as a as

[40:47] a general spoke to that the fact that

[40:49] we're meeting no resistance but uh if uh

[40:52] if there were to be any kind of

[40:54] resistance uh the uh the column that

[40:56] we're in would break off into a line the

[40:59] forward air controller would get on the

[41:01] uh the radio uh back with the the

[41:03] aviation unit uh the Marines aviation

[41:05] unit and uh he would call in Cobra air

[41:07] strikes and F-18 strikes and they they

[41:09] would be here uh in a matter of seconds

[41:12] if or minutes if not seconds. um they

[41:15] could call in close air support very

[41:17] very quickly but again because there has

[41:18] been no resistance thus far there has

[41:21] been uh no reason to call it in. Uh one

[41:23] thing we we did hear though was that uh

[41:25] there may be some Iraqi units moving

[41:28] into our area and uh moving into our

[41:31] area trying to escape a push from the uh

[41:34] the third infantry uh division. Uh but

[41:37] uh so far we haven't encountered any of

[41:40] those uh any of those people uh any of

[41:42] those units. Uh uh we're we're hopeful

[41:45] uh that we won't uh these these uh these

[41:49] fighting forces don't want to have to

[41:50] engage the enemy. They would rather just

[41:52] take control of them uh when enemy

[41:53] prisoners of war uh give themselves up.

[41:56] Uh but uh they're certainly prepared to

[41:59] to call in whatever firepower they need

[42:02] uh should they uh should they encounter

[42:03] any enemy forces.

[42:05] John Roberts reporting live from inside

[42:08] Iraq with the US Marine force, a

[42:11] reconnaissance force which has been

[42:13] described as the tip of the tip of the

[42:15] spear. Uh now piercing into Iraq at the

[42:19] same time. Uh similar elements we think

[42:21] uh we think they're similar elements. We

[42:23] know some elements of the US Army's

[42:25] third infantry de uh division are also

[42:28] operating inside Iraq as are some uh

[42:30] British ground forces. These are not to

[42:32] be confused with special operations and

[42:35] special forces who've been in Iraq for

[42:37] some days if not indeed weeks and months

[42:40] uh doing sabotage uh picking out targets

[42:44] uh trying to arrange for surrender of uh

[42:47] some forces and that kind of work. This

[42:49] is something different. Now Washington

[42:51] keeps emphasizing that the main aerial

[42:54] bombardment campaign, the shock and all

[42:56] campaign from the air has not yet

[42:58] started. Although there was a second

[43:00] attack on Baghdad today which was bigger

[43:03] than the attack last night. Still

[43:05] Washington says this is not the big one.

[43:08] Uh nor says Washington is what you're

[43:11] seeing on the ground, what you're

[43:12] hearing on the ground with units such as

[43:14] John Roberts reporting live from before.

[43:16] Uh that's not the main ground invasion

[43:20] getting started yet. when those two are

[43:22] to start the big overpowering arrow

[43:25] campaign and what is hoped to be a big

[43:27] overpowering ground force which will

[43:30] race in a matter of days to at least the

[43:32] outskirts of Baghdad. That's the hope

[43:34] that has not been launched either. We go

[43:36] now to Mark Scrosman, CBS news

[43:38] correspondent with 101st Airborne in

[43:40] northern Kuwait. Mark, is there sign any

[43:42] sign that they're about to move?

[43:45] >> No sign they're about to move, Dan. Uh

[43:47] the update here is that the all clear

[43:49] has just sounded on yet another scut

[43:52] alert here. It is now uh 12:40 in the

[43:55] morning in the Kuwaiti desert. It was

[43:57] just after midnight when the fifth Scut

[44:00] alert of the last 15 hours went off here

[44:02] at Camp Pennsylvania, which is the home

[44:05] of the first brigade of the 101st

[44:07] Airborne Division. And for roughly 20

[44:10] minutes or so, you had soldiers jammed

[44:13] 20 or 30 perhaps uh jammed underneath a

[44:16] uh the concrete bunkers that uh dot this

[44:19] camp. They were wearing their gas masks

[44:22] which is mandatory uh during these uh

[44:24] alert alerts simply because they don't

[44:26] know what is coming in uh essentially on

[44:29] uh on potential Iraqi missiles. And so

[44:31] for 20 minutes this camp was deathly

[44:33] silent. The only thing you could hear

[44:35] was the sound of some generator noise

[44:37] here powering uh the different uh uh

[44:39] camp facilities. But then the alarm uh

[44:42] the allclear alarm also went off. I want

[44:45] to emphasize Dan, these are not drills.

[44:46] I so far today, as I say, we've had five

[44:49] of these and the first four today all

[44:51] involve uh actual incoming uh enemy uh

[44:56] missiles or some sort of threat. The

[44:58] Kuwaiti officials uh say that there were

[45:00] six missiles coming in earlier today. uh

[45:02] folks connected with the first brigade

[45:04] said that there had been five missiles

[45:06] that had come in. But either way, uh

[45:07] these are not drills. These are these

[45:09] are genuine exercises and care simply

[45:11] because they have received some sort of

[45:13] intelligence that uh that missiles have

[45:16] been on the way. So again, Dan, all

[45:17] clear is sounded here in the Kuwaiti

[45:19] desert.

[45:19] >> Mark Stman reporting live from the 101st

[45:22] Airborne, which is poised to move in the

[45:25] army phrase of the week. It is locked in

[45:27] [ __ ] but has not yet moved.

[45:30] Dine Washington in an unusual diplomatic

[45:33] move. The Bush administration called

[45:35] today for the expulsion of Israeli

[45:38] diplomats by all countries that

[45:40] recognize and deal with the government

[45:43] in Baghdad. The State Department says

[45:45] the diplomats represented and I quote a

[45:47] corrupt and ruthless regime and cited

[45:49] Iraq's refusal to disarm. Now also today

[45:52] the state department temporarily closed

[45:55] embassies and consulates in about 15

[45:58] countries. Uh this includes I believe

[46:01] the embassy in Paris, France. The

[46:03] decision was based on a judgment of the

[46:06] security situation in those countries by

[46:08] senior American diplomats there. For

[46:10] example, in Paris an estimated 20,000 uh

[46:14] French people and others were

[46:16] demonstrating outside the US embassy. So

[46:18] just as a matter of prudence, uh the

[46:20] embassy has been temporarily closed is

[46:22] our report. Now uh I I'm told that I

[46:26] said and made a big mistake and this is

[46:28] important. Uh the in this usual

[46:31] diplomatic move, it's the Iraqi

[46:34] diplomats of course who are asked to be

[46:36] expelled. And I hope you'll forgive me

[46:37] and understand if I said something else,

[46:39] that the Bush administration is calling

[46:41] for the expulsion of all Iraqi diplomats

[46:44] in all countries that recognize and deal

[46:47] with the government um in Baghdad. John

[46:50] Blackstone is in San Francisco. We're

[46:52] going to turn now to some domestic

[46:53] reaction because we should not forget,

[46:56] we cannot forget that uh here at home in

[46:58] the United States, we're under an orange

[47:00] terrorist alert. That's the second

[47:01] highest right behind red. uh and we'd be

[47:04] foolish not to recognize that we are

[47:06] vulnerable uh to some kind of terrorist

[47:09] attack and may well be a target of

[47:10] terrorist attack and also there are

[47:13] people in the country who are dismayed

[47:15] to say the least about the start of this

[47:16] war. So John Blackstone has been taking

[47:18] reaction uh in San Francisco. John,

[47:21] anything unpredictable in this reaction?

[47:24] >> Well certainly perhaps it is predictable

[47:26] for San Francisco. Demonstrators have

[47:28] been on the streets here since early

[47:29] this morning. The protesters pledged

[47:32] that when the war began, business as

[47:34] usual would not go ahead here. And to a

[47:36] certain extent, it has not been business

[47:37] as usual here today. In San Francisco's

[47:40] financial district, protesters have been

[47:42] blocking intersections and stopping

[47:44] traffic. There's no dependable count,

[47:46] but certainly there have been several

[47:47] thousand protesters on the streets here.

[47:49] Not a single big march with smaller

[47:52] groups, sometimes amounting to

[47:54] performing street theater as they

[47:56] blocked intersections, took over street

[47:58] corners. Marchers have moved through the

[48:00] heart of the city following no

[48:02] particular route playing a sort of cat

[48:04] and mouse game with the police. That's

[48:06] brought gridlock in some parts of the

[48:08] city, left streets empty in other parts.

[48:11] Uh riot police have made at least 350

[48:14] arrests. Uh there have been no reports

[48:17] of major violence or or certainly

[48:20] serious injuries. Though today, opinion

[48:22] polls show that support for the war in

[48:24] California is certainly lower than in

[48:26] the rest of the country and anti-war

[48:28] demonstrations have brought uh tens of

[48:31] thousands of people to the streets here

[48:33] uh at other times. Now, in the heart of

[48:35] the city now in San Francisco, the the

[48:37] number of protesters actually growing as

[48:39] we get into the afternoon here, late

[48:41] afternoon, it looks like this could be a

[48:42] very difficult commute home for a lot of

[48:44] people today. Dan

[48:45] >> John, let me ask you something. uh that

[48:47] San Francisco has reason to be uh often

[48:50] in the past been compared to the

[48:52] Greenwich Village area of New York City

[48:54] that is a place where uh anti-war

[48:58] feeling uh and other allied movements

[49:01] and feelings that some sometimes is said

[49:04] to be similar and I'm struck with the

[49:06] fact in San Francisco you said well it

[49:08] may be predictable for San Francisco but

[49:10] uh and you showed us uh the feelings of

[49:13] some people there in Greenwich Village

[49:15] in New York which as you know was right

[49:16] on the edge of uh where the Twin Towers

[49:20] were hit, where 3,000 people were

[49:23] killed. It's just the opposite today in

[49:26] traveling and walking in that

[49:27] neighborhood, people I wouldn't say

[49:29] unanimously, an awful lot of people say,

[49:32] uh, let's get on with it.

[49:34] >> Well, certainly here, I think one of the

[49:36] difference on the West Coast, people

[49:37] have not felt the attack on America as

[49:40] people in New York have done. That could

[49:41] make the difference here.

[49:42] >> John Blackstone in San Francisco.

[49:44] Thanks.

[49:46] Now, we want to review for you some of

[49:48] what's been happening during the day.

[49:50] This day started

[49:53] uh with reports of activity along the

[49:55] Kuwait Iraqi border. And then it was

[49:59] followed by a new air alert in Baghdad.

[50:02] This was the site. These were the sounds

[50:05] of Baghdad under attack again today.

[50:18] That cloud of smoke eventually hung over

[50:20] a great part of the sprawling city that

[50:23] is Baghdad

[50:25] uh for most of the day. This is another

[50:26] view of another area that was hit by a

[50:30] combination of cruise missiles and

[50:31] perhaps laserg guided weaponry coming

[50:34] off the F uh 117 stealth bombers as well

[50:38] as the cruise missiles. A building in

[50:41] Iraq's main presidential camp compound

[50:44] caught fire. Uh a Republican guard unit

[50:48] believed to be an elite Republican Guard

[50:50] unit on the outskirts of town was uh

[50:52] hit. The foreign ministry is said to

[50:54] have been struck. Another ministry

[50:56] building also struck. Uh casualties. The

[50:59] Iraqis at last report had said uh one

[51:02] person was known to have been killed. U

[51:05] a senior US military official indicates

[51:08] that the strike on the suspected Saddam

[51:10] hideout

[51:11] uh both last night and then again today

[51:14] may have cut him off from his military

[51:16] commanders in the field. Now, we also

[51:19] may have up uh let's see if we have up

[51:21] the tape of Scott Pelly's early report

[51:24] of the helicopter attacks coming from

[51:26] the Kuwaiti side of the border uh into

[51:29] Iraq earlier on. Do we have that

[51:30] videotape?

[51:35] Well, not yet. We'll try to get that for

[51:37] you. But that also happened during the

[51:39] day. And then there was Jim Axelrod with

[51:41] units of the US Third Infantry Division.

[51:45] there was artillery fire u rather heavy

[51:48] artillery fire which may have been uh a

[51:51] prelude to whatever units from the third

[51:54] infantry division that went across the

[51:56] border uh into Iraq. So as we speak

[51:58] we've had the attacks on Baghdad for a

[52:00] second day not the kind of uh you know

[52:03] tremendous attack that we had in the

[52:05] 1991 opening of the air war but a second

[52:08] day of attacks in Baghdad. We also had

[52:11] this kind of action. We now I think have

[52:12] the tape up of Scott P.

[52:16] This is on the Iraqi Kuwaiti border.

[52:19] This is the area in which P was earlier,

[52:20] is it not?

[52:22] Yes. And this was as uh helicopters

[52:26] believed to be a combination of Apache

[52:28] helicopters perhaps with some Cobra

[52:30] helicopters taking part um firing into

[52:34] uh uh to Iraq across the border uh with

[52:37] Kuwait. And there were several uh spasms

[52:40] of this, if you will. And uh Scott P

[52:43] once described it as happening in almost

[52:45] a 360 degree circle around him.

[52:49] This is the way it looked and heard. And

[52:51] then Jim Aarrod

[52:53] with the third infantry division. This

[52:56] is what it looked like and sounded like

[52:58] from his position.

[53:00] We want to come back to

[53:08] >> and this went on uh for several periods.

[53:11] It would be fire and this kind of light

[53:15] lighting up the night sky and then a

[53:18] pause and then more of it. All of this

[53:20] as we look back on it uh preliminary to

[53:23] the moving into southern Iraq of at

[53:25] least some US ground forces. Now once

[53:28] again the danger here is that one would

[53:30] get the impression that this is going on

[53:32] all over Iraq. That is not true. Uh by

[53:35] no means was all of Baghdad struck today

[53:38] and by no means is all of the border of

[53:41] Kuwait with Iraq uh subjected to

[53:44] artillery and helicopter fire nor are

[53:47] immense ground forces active there.

[53:50] We're showing you what's at the end of

[53:51] the television camera lens. uh this is

[53:54] not happening everywhere but it is

[53:56] happening was happening in those

[53:58] particular areas. Now the Iraqis are

[54:01] known to have fired back uh at least a

[54:04] bit in a couple of areas and there was a

[54:06] report that a Marine unit uh opened fire

[54:08] on some Iraqis uh casualties uh

[54:11] unconfirmed but they're believed to have

[54:13] been some Iraqi casualties none reported

[54:15] among the IR the Marines. CBS News

[54:18] consultant Steven Black. Uh when you

[54:21] were a UN arms inspector, lots of

[54:24] incoming missile alerts of the sort that

[54:26] happened today in Kuwait. What and how

[54:29] much is left of Saddam's arsenal for

[54:31] real? Well,

[54:32] >> that's always the hardest question is

[54:34] just how much does he have? You can

[54:35] count the ones that are incoming, but

[54:37] you don't know how big the stock is to

[54:38] start. There've been reports that he

[54:40] had, let's say for the Alsamude 2,

[54:42] anywhere between 100 and 120 of these

[54:45] missiles. Those are very soft numbers.

[54:47] We don't really know exactly how many he

[54:49] has. The other big question is how many

[54:51] launchers does he have? Because you can,

[54:53] you know, a truck full of missiles is

[54:55] only good if you have a vehicle to

[54:56] launch them from.

[54:58] >> You're watching CBS News continuing

[55:00] coverage of America at War. We'll be

[55:02] right back with you.

[55:16] CBS News continuing coverage of the war

[55:18] in Iraq. I'm talking with Steven Black,

[55:21] former arms inspector. Stephen, we know

[55:23] in the 1991 war that Saddam Hussein was

[55:27] in a way a kind of desert fox in that he

[55:30] had these mobile Scud missile launchers

[55:32] out in the western desert. That's what

[55:34] he fired on Israel. Tell us about any

[55:36] mobile Scud launchers that he might

[55:39] still have.

[55:40] >> Well, we just like we don't know how

[55:42] many Scud missiles or Al Hussein the

[55:44] modified Scuds he may still have. The

[55:46] estimate is seven to about a dozen. We

[55:49] also don't know how many launchers he

[55:50] might have. So, these are these are both

[55:52] things that could be scooting around uh

[55:55] potentially firing on regional uh

[55:59] capitals or forces in the field.

[56:02] Is it or is it not our assessment, which

[56:05] is to say the US government, the US

[56:07] military's assessment that he may still

[56:08] have some of these guns?

[56:10] >> Yeah, absolutely. And that's the the

[56:11] current estimate and longheld estimate

[56:14] is anywhere from 7 to to 12 of these

[56:16] missiles plus a suitable number of

[56:18] launchers to make use of them.

[56:20] >> All right. Wanted to make that clear

[56:21] because of the we believe eight missiles

[56:25] fired in the general direction of Kuwait

[56:26] today. None of them have hit anything so

[56:28] far as we know. Two of them are reported

[56:32] to have been Scuds. We haven't confirmed

[56:34] that, but two of them the Kuwaitis

[56:35] believe were Scuds. Now, that presents

[56:38] some particular problems, does it not?

[56:40] Uh, one, the Scud is an unstable

[56:43] missile. It it does a corkcrew as it

[56:45] comes in, which makes it a little hard

[56:47] to hit.

[56:47] >> Mhm.

[56:49] >> Yeah, that's it's the the corkcrewing is

[56:52] not something that's done on purpose. It

[56:54] was a failure of the systems in in 1991.

[56:56] and the the Iraqis. The question is,

[56:58] would they have done some work to try to

[57:00] make that the missile system more robust

[57:03] so it wouldn't come apart on re-entry

[57:05] like that? But of course, if perhaps

[57:07] these are Alsamude 2s uh that would be

[57:10] manufactured more recently, be better

[57:12] maintained, and perhaps they come in on

[57:14] a straighter trajectory. They don't have

[57:16] that kind of instability, and they'd be

[57:18] easier to engage.

[57:19] >> Uh that is easier to hit with something

[57:21] like the Patriot missile, which could

[57:22] hit them uh high, maybe 100,000 feet or

[57:25] above. And the new Patriots supposed to

[57:28] be a bullet, hitting a bullet, actually

[57:30] smacking into the incoming missile

[57:32] rather than exploding off the side in

[57:34] hopes of destroying it. And there is an

[57:36] indication that the Patriots knocked

[57:37] down at least two of these missiles,

[57:39] whatever kind of missiles they were

[57:40] today. General Buck Hernand, uh there's

[57:43] been a lot of discussion about the

[57:44] Patriots as we touched on earlier in the

[57:47] day that in the 1991 Gulf War, it wasn't

[57:49] nearly as effective as it was advertised

[57:52] to be. In fact, it may have been a

[57:53] failure, but uh there's there were high

[57:55] hopes for the new Pack 3 Patriot

[57:57] missile.

[57:58] >> An awful lot of work went into uh

[58:00] refining that capability. Dan, uh the uh

[58:04] the Army spent an awful lot of time with

[58:06] industry improving significantly. The

[58:08] Patriot uh the Patriot 3 we believe

[58:10] right now uh is a substantially better

[58:13] weapon system and we believe uh is fully

[58:16] capable of defending our forces. But the

[58:18] Israelis uh disappointed with the

[58:21] performance of the old patriots in 1991

[58:23] have their own arrow

[58:25] >> missile defense system. Right

[58:27] >> now let's ask Steven Black in the few

[58:29] seconds we have remaining here. Is the

[58:31] AO system the Israeli system is it

[58:33] believed to be has it been tested

[58:35] effective against Scud and other kinds

[58:37] of missiles Saddam Hussein is suspected

[58:40] of having?

[58:40] >> Well, it's it's only ever been tested.

[58:42] It's it's never been used in an

[58:43] operational sense. So, we really don't

[58:45] know how good it'll be. I mean the the

[58:47] Patriot in 1991 was tested as well and

[58:50] they felt pretty confident about it uh

[58:52] you know even given the rush state that

[58:54] it was put in the field but in

[58:56] operational use it turned out to not be

[58:58] effective enough.

[58:59] >> Thank you very much Steven Black. Now

[59:01] the story line of of the hour continues

[59:04] to be that a US Marine force is

[59:07] confirmed inside Iraq because our

[59:08] correspondent John Roberts is with them

[59:11] and has been on the air reporting from

[59:13] with that Marine force. The story line

[59:15] of the day is a combination of new

[59:17] attacks on Baghdad, US and British

[59:20] ground operations in the southernmost

[59:22] part of of Iraq, including the capturing

[59:25] of one small port city down at the

[59:27] southern tip. Things to look for, when

[59:30] does the major aerial bombardment

[59:33] campaign begin and when does the big

[59:36] ground force invasion begin? if indeed

[59:38] it is not already started with these

[59:40] ground forces that are in southern Iraq.

[59:43] The widespread belief at this hour is

[59:46] that the ground force action inside Iraq

[59:48] now is more for force protection that is

[59:50] to protect the US forces and perhaps to

[59:53] scout off the ground. That the main

[59:55] ground force invasion has not at least

[59:57] not yet started. You're watching CBS

[60:00] News coverage of America at War.

[60:17] This CBS News special report is part of

[60:20] our continuing coverage of America at

[60:23] War.

[60:24] From CBS News headquarters in New York,

[60:27] here is Dan Rather.

[60:30] 5:00 p.m. in the east, the United

[60:32] States, 100 a.m. Friday in a newly hit

[60:34] Baghdad. Among the top headlines at this

[60:37] hour, US forces launched a second round

[60:40] of air strikes on Baghdad, setting

[60:42] several buildings on fire, sending a

[60:44] huge plume of black smoke over a lot of

[60:47] the city. The Pentagon says Republican

[60:50] Guard barracks on the outskirts of

[60:51] Baghdad were among the targets. Iraqi

[60:53] radio says Saddam Hussein's family home

[60:56] was hit, but with no casualties. No

[60:58] confirmation of that. In the skies over

[61:00] the Persian Gulf state of Qatar,

[61:03] American F-15s and F-16s could be seen

[61:06] roaring through the night on their

[61:07] classified missions where they were

[61:09] going to hit what we do not know. To the

[61:12] south, CBS News correspondent John

[61:14] Roberts with the First Marine Division

[61:16] reports it has crossed the border from

[61:18] Kuwait into Iraq by south. I mean, of

[61:21] course, south well south of Baghdad. The

[61:23] Pentagon cautious that this