NBC News - Iraq War snippet - 2003-03-19 (late night)

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Thank you. There is a briefing underway

[0:02] at the Pentagon.

[0:02] >> Let's go back to NBC News for that and

[0:04] we'll rejoin you in a few minutes.

[0:05] >> Senior officials say there is no doubt

[0:08] that this war is underway. Um there is

[0:11] no doubt in our minds as well. Uh when

[0:13] you see any aircraft fire over Baghdad

[0:16] and see the kinds of explosions that

[0:17] we've seen in the background and now the

[0:18] defense department video of the cruise

[0:21] missiles being launched u plainly war is

[0:25] underway but not in a way that we

[0:27] expected it to go off. uh the first shot

[0:30] to be fired at Saddam Hussein

[0:32] effectively. NBC's David Bloom is with

[0:35] the third infantry. That's the

[0:37] mechanized division that will be the tip

[0:39] of the spear as they go across the

[0:40] border between Iraq and Kuwait. He's one

[0:42] of the embedded journalists. David, uh

[0:44] what about unusual activity where you

[0:46] are?

[0:48] Well, Tom, it's interesting because you

[0:50] just said that there can be no doubt

[0:52] that war is underway, but certainly here

[0:55] right at the Kuwaiti Iraqi border with

[0:57] these ground forces, you would doubt

[0:59] that it's underway. We're of course

[1:01] about 350 mi south of Baghdad here. And

[1:04] no indication whatsoever of any imminent

[1:08] beginnings to the ground war. As you

[1:10] mentioned, we're with the US Army's

[1:11] Third Infantry Division, the 315

[1:13] Infantry is who we're with. So, what you

[1:16] see is a lot of Brad fighting vehicles.

[1:18] You can see some of the soldiers just uh

[1:20] standing around here milling about. Uh

[1:22] this Bradley would normally contain

[1:24] about nine infantry soldiers. Off in the

[1:26] distance behind me, you can see the

[1:28] Abrams tanks, the M1 A1 Abrams tanks,

[1:31] the 70 ton tanks. But right here on the

[1:33] border and these forces moved to this

[1:36] location uh yesterday to be in what they

[1:39] call attack position, ready to move on a

[1:42] half hour's notice. But uh there's been

[1:44] no indication whatsoever that the ground

[1:46] war at least uh in this territory that

[1:48] we're in is anywhere near beginning. Uh

[1:50] to the contrary, the these troops have

[1:52] been told to be ready to move out on a

[1:54] half hour's notice. Uh there had been

[1:56] some indications that it might be

[1:57] perhaps not imminent, that it might be a

[1:59] day or two away, but certainly now the

[2:01] timet may be moving up. Uh there's a

[2:04] meeting with the commanders here uh in

[2:06] about a half an hour or so, and we'll

[2:07] certainly get more information at that

[2:09] point. But at this juncture, at this

[2:11] location, no sign that the US ground

[2:13] offensive is about to begin. Tom,

[2:16] >> uh, David, put Yes. Put the telephone

[2:18] back so you can hear the next question,

[2:20] which is, did you see any unusual air

[2:22] activity in your region?

[2:25] >> We have not, Tom. We've seen in the last

[2:28] few days, and I mentioned this before,

[2:29] we've seen the A-10 Warthogs, the

[2:31] Thunderbolts, but they're better known

[2:32] as the Warthogs, which fly the close air

[2:34] support. What we did hear, and this is

[2:37] interesting, Tom, last night is we could

[2:39] hear the Predator drones flying above

[2:42] us. Uh it's it's that sort of lowflying

[2:44] sound, that buzzing sound, uh like like

[2:47] a it's it's obviously a pilotless plane

[2:50] flying above us. And we could hear the

[2:52] Predator drones every couple hours

[2:54] flying back and forth. That was the only

[2:56] indication in retrospect that perhaps

[2:59] the air war was about to begin because

[3:01] we had not seen nor the predators flying

[3:04] above us until then.

[3:06] >> All right, thanks very much. Uh NBC's

[3:08] David Bloom. We'll let you get back to

[3:09] your duties there. We want to remind you

[3:12] that the war against Iraq has been

[3:14] underway now for a couple of hours. We

[3:17] heard confirmation tonight first from

[3:19] the Pentagon. and NBC Jim Mcclashesky,

[3:22] then Ari Flea, the president's press

[3:23] spokesman, confirmed it in the White

[3:25] House press briefing. The president came

[3:27] on the air at 10:15 tonight. We were

[3:29] first aware of it, obviously, at around

[3:31] 9:32 when live cameras in the capital

[3:34] city of Baghdad began to pick up Iraqi

[3:37] air defense firing and then explosions

[3:40] in the background. You're going to hear

[3:42] on this recording from earlier tonight,

[3:44] Peter Arnett, who was working for the

[3:46] National Geographic Explorer and NBC

[3:49] News, describing what he was seeing and

[3:51] hearing. And then we'll talk to Peter

[3:52] about what it's like now.

[3:56] >> Hello, Tom. I don't know if you can hear

[3:57] me, but there's siren sounding all over

[4:00] Baghdad as of this moment. It's about an

[4:03] hour before dawn here. Siren sounding,

[4:06] but no sounds of missiles or

[4:08] anti-aircraft fire.

[4:10] This could be a pre-warning of an

[4:13] attack. No sign of any attack, but it

[4:16] could be a pre-warning. The sirens have

[4:18] now died down. In the Gulf War 12 years

[4:20] ago, there was a similar series of

[4:23] sirens before the actual bombing began.

[4:26] >> And Peter, what about the conditions on

[4:28] the ground in Baghdad? Uh, were you

[4:31] seeing any overt signs of anti-aircraft

[4:34] defenses being moved on? first

[4:35] anti-aircraft fire I am seeing in the

[4:38] sky now directly in front of me Tom and

[4:40] the and the eastern side of the city

[4:42] scattered scattered fire not very

[4:46] visible with the first scattered fire

[4:48] and the city itself a few police cars

[4:51] zooming through the streets the lights

[4:53] of the city are still on other than that

[4:55] no activity but it's really get a sense

[4:58] here of an impending attack

[5:02] >> and the attack did go on although not in

[5:04] in the dimensions that Peter witnessed

[5:06] in 1991 because it was more surgical

[5:08] tonight aimed at what we're told was

[5:11] Saddam Hussein and what appeared to be a

[5:13] leadership meeting. Peter, what happens

[5:15] to you now? Are you being are you in

[5:18] touch with Iraqi officials?

[5:20] >> Well, actually Tom, we've been advised I

[5:23] think along with all the other

[5:24] journalists to go to the information

[5:26] ministry now for a meeting. Of course,

[5:28] the war is on. I presume we will get

[5:31] some instructions of of of how we're to

[5:33] act. Now I would remind you that in the

[5:36] Gulf War within basically 24 hours of

[5:39] the or less within 17 hours there was a

[5:42] a form of censorship imposed on us. Ju

[5:46] just a reflection on the on on the

[5:48] targeting tonight of of Saddam Hussein.

[5:50] You know I did report that there were

[5:52] sirens in the city you know 20 minutes

[5:55] before the bombing or at least 15

[5:56] minutes. So, you know, Saddam Hussein's

[5:58] people would have heard those sirens.

[6:00] They were showing something. Maybe, you

[6:02] know, he had that warning and it

[6:03] conceivably he would have made an

[6:05] escape. But certainly the city did know

[6:08] something was going on well before those

[6:11] planes hit hit those targets, Tom.

[6:14] >> All right. Thanks very much, Peter

[6:15] Arnett. Check back with us after your

[6:17] meeting at the information ministry if

[6:19] you can. And are you going to be taken

[6:20] there by Iraqi government officials or

[6:23] do you make your own way? You know, we

[6:25] will make our own way. The streets are

[6:27] are there's traffic beginning again. The

[6:30] streets are not crowded. There are not

[6:32] many people walking. Clearly, the word

[6:34] is out that the the action has begun,

[6:37] but we will simply drive there

[6:38] ourselves. It's only a 7minute drive and

[6:41] we'll try to get back to you later, Tom.

[6:43] >> All right. Thanks very much, Peter

[6:44] Arnett in Baghdad who's going off to the

[6:46] information ministry. Let's go to NBC.

[6:48] Jim McClashesky now uh at the Pentagon.

[6:51] Jim. Uh Tom, US intelligence officials

[6:54] had told NBC News uh well before uh

[6:57] tonight's air strikes against Baghdad

[6:59] that uh uh that what Peter Arnett is now

[7:01] describing is exactly the kind of tactic

[7:04] that they expected Saddam Hussein to

[7:06] employ uh once air strikes would begin.

[7:10] uh and and that's why there was some

[7:12] concern among the US military uh and a

[7:14] warning to journalists uh in Iraq uh

[7:17] that they should consider uh leaving uh

[7:21] because uh the information ministry uh

[7:23] after all is Saddam Hussein's primary

[7:26] form of communication uh to people in

[7:29] Iraq. Uh what the US military of course

[7:32] would describe as Saddam Hussein's

[7:34] propaganda uh and and and would be high

[7:37] on a US target list. Uh so there was

[7:40] some concern uh that Saddam Hussein

[7:43] might try to use journalists as human

[7:45] shields. Now in this case tonight uh

[7:48] we're being advised uh that the air

[7:50] strikes against uh Baghdad uh are

[7:53] apparently over uh for the time being.

[7:56] Uh as we had talked about earlier the

[7:58] the target struck tonight were targets

[8:01] of opportunity uh after a leadership

[8:03] target. We're told Saddam Hussein

[8:05] himself in a meeting in a bunker inside

[8:08] Baghdad. Uh so as far as we know, uh

[8:11] there will be no further air strikes

[8:13] against Baghdad, at least in the

[8:15] foreseeable future. But uh I got to tell

[8:17] you, when I was sitting here listening

[8:18] to Peter, uh uh it sounded rather

[8:20] ominous to me and and and what these

[8:23] intelligence officials had told us early

[8:24] on uh just came back to me in a

[8:26] heartbeat.

[8:27] >> All right, thanks very much. NBC Jim

[8:29] McClashesky at the Pentagon tonight.

[8:31] Edward Pek was the former ambassador of

[8:33] the United States to Iraq 1978 to 1980.

[8:36] He's been openly critical of the

[8:38] president's plans to go against Saddam

[8:41] Hussein and to wage war against Iraq.

[8:44] >> Okay, that is the latest from NBC as we

[8:46] continue to monitor NBC as we move on

[8:48] through our 10 o'clock newscast here.

[8:50] >> It's almost 7:30 in the morning in

[8:52] Kuwait. Let's check now with Lisa

[8:53] Spencer for a look at the weather