Invading Iraq: How Britain & America Got It Wrong Ep 1 (Iraq War Documentary) | Timeline

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it was a war fought to uncover weapons of mass destruction<font color="#CCCCCC"> heaven</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I knew and</font> I'd been<font color="#E5E5E5"> told by President Saddam</font> Hussein himself<font color="#CCCCCC"> that Iraq did not have</font> any<font color="#E5E5E5"> weapons of mass destruction</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> a war in</font> which<font color="#CCCCCC"> the British and Americans had</font> expected<font color="#E5E5E5"> to be welcomed as liberators</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">there was a</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> belief that they would</font> capitulate<font color="#CCCCCC"> as we got closer and that</font> there would not be<font color="#E5E5E5"> much of a fight</font> helicopter the land now a<font color="#E5E5E5"> war in which</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the Iraqi army</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> was supposed</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> to switch</font> sides<font color="#E5E5E5"> and help run Iraq there was nobody</font> to receive the surrender<font color="#E5E5E5"> from we</font> couldn't<font color="#E5E5E5"> find them they weren't there a</font> war fought in the<font color="#E5E5E5"> name of peace and</font> democracy<font color="#CCCCCC"> the technology changes</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> but the</font> true nature<font color="#E5E5E5"> of war doesn't and it is not</font> clean it is not<font color="#E5E5E5"> antiseptic</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> a war of</font> miscalculations<font color="#CCCCCC"> that did much to shape</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> Iraq of today that planning that we</font> did do<font color="#E5E5E5"> was based against a false set of</font> assumptions<font color="#CCCCCC"> this</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> is the story of that</font> war and<font color="#E5E5E5"> its legacy told by the people</font> who fought it<font color="#E5E5E5"> and endured it</font> [Music] two months<font color="#E5E5E5"> before war Saddam</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Hussein met</font> with one<font color="#E5E5E5"> of the most senior generals in</font> Iraq's Republican Guard he was the commander whose divisions would defend the approaches to<font color="#E5E5E5"> Baghdad</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">rod</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Maajid al hamd ani was the man</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">America and Britain expected to unleash</font> chemical or biological weapons<font color="#E5E5E5"> against</font> their troops except he couldn't have <font color="#CCCCCC">enemy well I said my Surat Annisa della</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">I knew and I'd been told by President</font> Saddam Hussein<font color="#CCCCCC"> himself that Iraq</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> did not</font> have any<font color="#E5E5E5"> weapons</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> of mass destruction as</font> a commander of a Republican Guard Corps it's highly<font color="#CCCCCC"> likely I would have been</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">informed</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> if we had these weapons that</font> didn't happen every official source assured me that<font color="#E5E5E5"> in Iraq no one would</font> find<font color="#CCCCCC"> evidence of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> weapons of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> mass</font> destruction neither chemical or biological because Iraq didn't have any<font color="#E5E5E5"> Britain and America</font> were preparing to<font color="#E5E5E5"> fight a war whose</font> central justification did not exist<font color="#E5E5E5"> much</font> of their intelligence<font color="#CCCCCC"> came from Iraqi</font> exile groups<font color="#E5E5E5"> who hated sit down</font> privately some intelligence analysts were appalled by<font color="#CCCCCC"> the importance</font> politicians gave to these groups<font color="#CCCCCC"> I got a</font> call and said<font color="#CCCCCC"> hey listen</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we've got an</font> Iraqi National Congress source and we need you to<font color="#E5E5E5"> fly literally around the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">world</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and I sat down</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> with this guy</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and I</font> have to tell you<font color="#E5E5E5"> I know more about WMD</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">from my daughter's dirty diapers than</font> this Iraqi National Congress source knew [Music] my<font color="#E5E5E5"> fellow citizens Saddam</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Hussein must</font> leave Iraq within<font color="#CCCCCC"> 48 hours</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> it is not too</font> late for<font color="#E5E5E5"> the Iraqi military to act with</font> honor and protect<font color="#E5E5E5"> your country by</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">permitting the peaceful entry of</font> coalition<font color="#CCCCCC"> forces to eliminate weapons of</font> mass destruction Saddam knew the UN had not sanctioned the war he<font color="#E5E5E5"> was defined what he said we</font> shall humble the massive armies of the <font color="#CCCCCC">United States at the walls of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Baghdad</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> a</font> portico<font color="#CCCCCC"> or another</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I shall then lead you</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">westwards to liberate Palestine and the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">territories occupied by the Israeli</font> Zionists the<font color="#E5E5E5"> coalition</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> clown to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> begin the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">innovation with a spectacular</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> opening</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">strike</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> perhaps the largest assassination</font> attempt<font color="#E5E5E5"> in history 0r was set for two</font> days after the president's deadline was due to<font color="#E5E5E5"> expire this was a</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> direct shot</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> at</font> the Saddam Hussein<font color="#CCCCCC"> regime</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> in a direct</font> shot at the<font color="#E5E5E5"> bathurst regime in a direct</font> shot at an oppressive regime<font color="#E5E5E5"> not the</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Iraqi</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> people nor their infrastructure</font> our planners were targeting no less than <font color="#E5E5E5">55 men whose names appeared on what was</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">known as</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the blacklist</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> one of those who</font> drawn up the<font color="#CCCCCC"> list worked at the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Pentagon</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">in the Defense Intelligence Agency these</font> 55 guys are basically the Iraqi <font color="#CCCCCC">leadership and the thought is that if we</font> attack and kill some of<font color="#E5E5E5"> the folks on the</font> top<font color="#CCCCCC"> fifty-five list that the war is</font> either going to<font color="#E5E5E5"> be shortened</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> or may stop</font> altogether<font color="#E5E5E5"> surprise was crucial</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> through</font> months of painstaking work<font color="#E5E5E5"> American</font> intelligence thought they had<font color="#CCCCCC"> located</font> where their targets worked by making these strikes the<font color="#E5E5E5"> first of the war they</font> hope to<font color="#E5E5E5"> catch Saddam's lieutenants</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">before they move to safe locations but</font> then<font color="#E5E5E5"> the White House called we had</font> intelligence<font color="#E5E5E5"> that there is an</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">opportunity</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> to decapitate the regime</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to</font> strike and kill<font color="#E5E5E5"> Sodom and do we have the</font> assets that<font color="#E5E5E5"> we</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> can respond to this very</font> quickly <font color="#CCCCCC">- stealth fighters were prepared</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> a CIA</font> source in Baghdad claimed he'd seen Saddam enter a secret<font color="#CCCCCC"> bunker</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> any attack</font> would<font color="#E5E5E5"> have</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to be immediate</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the other</font> strikes would have to be abandoned the president decided to gamble we were told that<font color="#E5E5E5"> the CIA source was</font> without reproach<font color="#CCCCCC"> and you know sometimes</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">you just have</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> take that</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> at face value</font> we knew<font color="#CCCCCC"> that</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> it was a high-priority</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">mission with someone on the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> ground or</font> some somebody some group<font color="#E5E5E5"> of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> people on</font> the ground<font color="#CCCCCC"> but</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we didn't know who it was</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">we attacked the city</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> of one coming in</font> from<font color="#CCCCCC"> the east</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> one coming in from</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">West and we dropped simultaneously on</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> target just to the side of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the river</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">there in Baghdad it was 5:30 in the</font> morning minutes later<font color="#CCCCCC"> cruise missiles</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> also hit</font> the target<font color="#E5E5E5"> which was in the grounds of</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> Dora farm complex where Saddam's</font> daughters lived [Applause] the information from CIA was that they had an<font color="#E5E5E5"> amazing source and that Saddam</font> Hussein<font color="#CCCCCC"> was basically out of business</font> there was a belief at the<font color="#E5E5E5"> highest levels</font> of<font color="#CCCCCC"> the Pentagon</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> in the White House</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">we had we had successfully killed Saddam</font> we got him that's it wars over the problem is we didn't get him shortly<font color="#E5E5E5"> thereafter Saddam</font> is on television it was the first in a string<font color="#E5E5E5"> of intelligence failures and the</font> attack had wrecked the plan to kill other<font color="#E5E5E5"> regime leaders once</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Dora</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> farm was</font> struck<font color="#E5E5E5"> the Iraqi leadership knew that</font> the war was<font color="#E5E5E5"> on they moved to civilian</font> areas and they basically<font color="#E5E5E5"> left all of</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">those</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> places that were at the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> top levels</font> of<font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> target list</font> [Music] only after the<font color="#CCCCCC"> war with the Americans</font> discover the spies story of Saddam<font color="#E5E5E5"> and</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">his secret bunker was entirely false</font> is there a bunker there<font color="#E5E5E5"> the intelligence</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">community thinks there is afterwards</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> you</font> go there there's no bunker he's Saddam<font color="#E5E5E5"> Hussein there everyone</font> thinks he is<font color="#E5E5E5"> afterwards no Saddam what</font> happened I'm as as puzzled<font color="#E5E5E5"> as you are the British</font> had been<font color="#E5E5E5"> informed but not consulted</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Britain's top commander believed the</font> raid was misconceived because Saddam's corpse would not have been<font color="#E5E5E5"> available for display it was</font> something which<font color="#CCCCCC"> was very much in</font> American lead on they had the intelligence<font color="#CCCCCC"> and if we want to take him</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">out</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I would have thought would be</font> important<font color="#E5E5E5"> to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> better show that we had</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">taken</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that demonstrable proof in the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Iraqi</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> oil fields just</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> across the border</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Special Forces watched in case Saddam</font> retaliated by sabotaging<font color="#E5E5E5"> oil wells when</font> news came<font color="#E5E5E5"> in that nine were ablaze</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> land commander decided<font color="#E5E5E5"> he had to attack</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">immediately a day</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> before he'd intended</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">we needed to secure the southern</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> oil</font> fields right<font color="#E5E5E5"> away that if we didn't we</font> ran a unacceptable risk that the regime could possibly sabotage<font color="#CCCCCC"> his oil fields</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">create an environmental</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> disaster</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">therefore we're ready</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> let's</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> push this</font> thing forward<font color="#CCCCCC"> and let's go and by god</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">that's what we executed</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> invasion began</font> [Music] the<font color="#E5E5E5"> American</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> fifth Army was to attack</font> Baghdad from<font color="#E5E5E5"> the desert west of the</font> Euphrates<font color="#CCCCCC"> the American Marine Corps</font> would attack through the inhabited areas east of<font color="#E5E5E5"> the river the British would</font> secure<font color="#E5E5E5"> Iraq second city Basra</font> [Music] the British began<font color="#E5E5E5"> their advance</font> failings<font color="#E5E5E5"> in the supply system and delays</font> caused by the political controversy over the war<font color="#E5E5E5"> meant the troops were short of</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">ammunition and equipment to protect them</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">from chemical and biological weapons</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I felt that we were carrying a lot of</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">risk the mood was one that we were</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> not</font> ready<font color="#CCCCCC"> for this though the soldiers</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and a</font> personal level were not<font color="#E5E5E5"> properly</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">equipped</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we had problems with</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">clothing</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we had problems</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> sourcing</font> ammunition we knew it was<font color="#E5E5E5"> in theater but</font> we we couldn't we couldn't<font color="#E5E5E5"> find it</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> British hoped they wouldn't have to</font> fight the Shia Muslims of Basra<font color="#CCCCCC"> and the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">South had suffered terribly under Saddam</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I thought once ground</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> forces crossed</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">into Iraq that that might</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> be</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the trigger</font> for<font color="#CCCCCC"> a large-scale</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Shia insurgency</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we'd</font> even<font color="#E5E5E5"> gone</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> as far as</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> thinking</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> about</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font> possibility of of arming those who were prepared to<font color="#E5E5E5"> revolt but there were no</font> welcoming crowds <font color="#CCCCCC">twelve years before the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> people of these</font> same villages had risen up after the first<font color="#CCCCCC"> President</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Bush called on them to</font> overthrow Saddam but<font color="#E5E5E5"> the Allies have</font> then failed to support<font color="#E5E5E5"> the rising tens</font> of thousands of men<font color="#E5E5E5"> women and children</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">were executed</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> or tortured</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> a little</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> wine</font> of halwa<font color="#E5E5E5"> Haman they stuck a knife into</font> my nose this<font color="#E5E5E5"> time</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the shears were going</font> to let the coalition do the fighting we could easily protect the regime we had the weapons but we were afraid<font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font> Americans wouldn't topple<font color="#E5E5E5"> Saddam and</font> that he would then<font color="#CCCCCC"> return and take his</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">revenge on the second night the main</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">British force approached Basra</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">The Secret Intelligence Service</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> mi6 was</font> negotiating by radio with some of the <font color="#E5E5E5">city's commanders the British wanted the</font> Iraqi army to help<font color="#CCCCCC"> them police the city</font> he told the<font color="#E5E5E5"> Moroccan what's up with them</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">was any with the regime we said no</font> surrender<font color="#E5E5E5"> and and you can then rejoin</font> your army under a new leadership<font color="#CCCCCC"> a we D</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">we've asked them summer come come and</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">put be part of our coalition it didn't</font> happen instead when the<font color="#E5E5E5"> British probed the</font> outskirts of the<font color="#CCCCCC"> city</font> they met with fierce resistance this is our first<font color="#E5E5E5"> major contact with the</font> enemy<font color="#CCCCCC"> that we can actually see</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> now</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">they're on the ground they're fired and</font> tracer<font color="#CCCCCC"> we're fine and tracer it would</font> just walk<font color="#E5E5E5"> walk</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to tanks with RPGs on the</font> shoulders<font color="#E5E5E5"> trying</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to get as</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> close as</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> they</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">could</font> [Applause] it's very frightened<font color="#E5E5E5"> and especially when</font> you see<font color="#E5E5E5"> the whites and their eyes and</font> they're<font color="#CCCCCC"> thrown grenades out yeah it was</font> just<font color="#CCCCCC"> a constant barrage for 16 hours</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we</font> were told<font color="#CCCCCC"> that they were going to</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">surrender in</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the droves and it was gonna</font> be<font color="#CCCCCC"> like the first Gulf War and that you</font> would come across hundred<font color="#E5E5E5"> two men</font> walking toward you<font color="#E5E5E5"> with a weapon</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> no</font> weapons and<font color="#E5E5E5"> such but I never saw any</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> of</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">that at first the British encountered</font> regular troops<font color="#E5E5E5"> but soon they found</font> themselves<font color="#E5E5E5"> under attack by paramilitary</font> fighters<font color="#E5E5E5"> often dressed in civilian</font> clothes<font color="#E5E5E5"> they came</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> for debate stealthily</font> using civilian vehicles mounted with RPGs heavy machine guns<font color="#E5E5E5"> and they used</font> this a lot <font color="#E5E5E5">we were willing to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> fight to the end who</font> willing to stay there<font color="#CCCCCC"> against all odds</font> the British had met the Fedayeen<font color="#CCCCCC"> a</font> brutal militia<font color="#E5E5E5"> commanded directly by</font> Saddam's son Uday recruited and trained from childhood<font color="#E5E5E5"> the Fedayeen were a</font> threat<font color="#E5E5E5"> coalition intelligence had</font> largely failed to anticipate it was quite clear from those engagements<font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">we were now up against</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> something but the</font> size and scale<font color="#E5E5E5"> of which we had yet</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to</font> sort of really work out<font color="#E5E5E5"> Saddam</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> had put</font> his most feared leftenant in command of Basra Ali Hassan al-majid<font color="#E5E5E5"> chemical</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> ally</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">a man the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Coalition hoped to kill the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">guy's a war criminal he gassed the Kurds</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">he's basically has a very</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> special place</font> in hell set aside for<font color="#E5E5E5"> him</font> captured soldiers said their units wanted to surrender<font color="#E5E5E5"> but the Fedayeen and</font> chemical<font color="#E5E5E5"> alleys secret police forced</font> them<font color="#CCCCCC"> to fight they were held to account</font> by somebody<font color="#CCCCCC"> behind them with a gun all</font> their families were being<font color="#E5E5E5"> detained and</font> would suffer the consequences of<font color="#E5E5E5"> their</font> failure to<font color="#E5E5E5"> act</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> correctly</font> British troops<font color="#CCCCCC"> were also under attack</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> in</font> the nearby<font color="#E5E5E5"> town of a</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> subbaiya</font> their commanders decided<font color="#E5E5E5"> they needed to</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">rethink tactics</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I spoke to Commander salmon armored</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Brigade and said you work out your plan</font> as<font color="#CCCCCC"> you power</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I'll work out my pen</font> for Basra<font color="#E5E5E5"> and wood let's meet tomorrow</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">morning and I remember him arriving</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">I thought well I've got some views on</font> this<font color="#CCCCCC"> and he said to me come</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> around the</font> corner<font color="#CCCCCC"> have a quick</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> smoke break before</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">you</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> see my commanders</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and he said to me</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">I've worked out I could easily get into</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Adebayor now with the most powerful</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">armor</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Brigade the United Kingdom's ever</font> put in<font color="#CCCCCC"> the field but if I do</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I've</font> trashed the place <font color="#CCCCCC">I'll take unnecessary</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> casualties myself</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I will kill lots of civilians</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and this</font> can't be right and I said to<font color="#E5E5E5"> him well my</font> conclusion was<font color="#E5E5E5"> precisely the same for</font> Basra so within a space of<font color="#E5E5E5"> a cigarette</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">we'd</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> both come to the same conclusion</font> the British encircled the city<font color="#E5E5E5"> but</font> allowed civilians to leave mi6 agents inside Basra<font color="#E5E5E5"> still hoped they could</font> incite an uprising some in the American High Command were exasperated they felt British caution made Saddam look strong <font color="#CCCCCC">but British forces did</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> not</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> want to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> risk</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">a bloodbath</font> taking down a city<font color="#CCCCCC"> quickly</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> would have</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">been inviting us to take it very hard</font> rubble eyes it<font color="#E5E5E5"> to use more</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> instruction</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">but certainly</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> today a fairly</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> hard and</font> one of<font color="#E5E5E5"> our campaign objectives was to</font> make sure we concentration on thinking <font color="#CCCCCC">about how we actually rebuilt the</font> infrastructure<font color="#CCCCCC"> once the war was over</font> in Baghdad<font color="#CCCCCC"> Saddam's palaces and</font> ministries<font color="#CCCCCC"> had been bombed it was a</font> spectacle<font color="#E5E5E5"> designed to convince the Iraqi</font> people it was safe<font color="#CCCCCC"> to overthrow the</font> regime even if the buildings were empty you've got to hit something<font color="#CCCCCC"> and so if</font> you don't know where these guys are<font color="#E5E5E5"> and</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">you're still</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> developing the intelligence</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">you're still trying to figure out where</font> they are<font color="#E5E5E5"> the war is on you've got to hit</font> your best stuff<font color="#E5E5E5"> and here's the best list</font> that we've got so we're going<font color="#E5E5E5"> to go to</font> town<font color="#E5E5E5"> on</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> it</font> [Music] the American Marine Corps now planned to cross the Euphrates<font color="#E5E5E5"> by</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> capturing key</font> bridges<font color="#E5E5E5"> in the turn of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Nazarene</font> like the British<font color="#CCCCCC"> at Basra they expected</font> the local population and the Iraqi army to help there was a<font color="#E5E5E5"> belief that they</font> would capitulate<font color="#CCCCCC"> as we got closer and</font> that there would<font color="#E5E5E5"> not</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> be</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> much of a fight</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">but inside nazriya hundreds of Fedayeen</font> fighters were waiting<font color="#E5E5E5"> they</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> din stilled</font> fear and they were eager<font color="#CCCCCC"> to fight they</font> would tell<font color="#CCCCCC"> us</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> if I kill an American</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> regime will give me 1 million dinars<font color="#CCCCCC"> and</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">they were tempted by that money they</font> didn't care<font color="#CCCCCC"> about</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the city in fact the</font> people<font color="#CCCCCC"> of Nazeri</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> wanted to welcome</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Americans all the key figures the heads</font> of<font color="#CCCCCC"> tribes the religious leaders wanted</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">to end the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> nightmare that</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> had lasted</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> for</font> 35 years<font color="#E5E5E5"> but even before the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Marines</font> could attack a series<font color="#CCCCCC"> of events unfolded</font> that<font color="#E5E5E5"> led</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to disaster</font> it started when<font color="#CCCCCC"> a convoy of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> 18 American</font> trucks drove past the<font color="#E5E5E5"> waiting Marines</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the 507th maintenance company serviced</font> Patriot missile batteries they weren't frontline troops they intended to skirt <font color="#CCCCCC">nazaria and rendezvous</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> with</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the rest of</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">their unit in the desert to the north we</font> drove and drove and<font color="#CCCCCC"> drove and then we</font> hit<font color="#CCCCCC"> a</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> concrete road</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> they'd taken</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> a wrong</font> turn<font color="#E5E5E5"> next</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> again look around where we're</font> at and looks like<font color="#E5E5E5"> we're driving</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> through</font> a city and the sun's<font color="#E5E5E5"> getting ready to</font> come up they'd stumbled into nazriya initially the Iraqi soldiers guarding the key bridge<font color="#CCCCCC"> across the Euphrates</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">showed</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> little appetite for a fight</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> they</font> were actually<font color="#E5E5E5"> waving at us so we thought</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">that they were just</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> glad</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to see</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that we</font> were there the convoy passed straight through<font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Iraqi</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> frontline then it turned</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> around to</font> escape on the<font color="#CCCCCC"> turnaround that's</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> when we</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">actually start receiving fire the</font> Fedayeen<font color="#CCCCCC"> had arrived</font> you couldn't just really see where it was coming from<font color="#E5E5E5"> but we heard the shots</font> man fire<font color="#E5E5E5"> it was just all</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> over the place</font> you could really<font color="#E5E5E5"> couldn't tell where it</font> was coming from people<font color="#CCCCCC"> hide behind the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">buildings finally weapons</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we hear the</font> shots<font color="#E5E5E5"> actually piercing the vehicle that</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I was in I noticed I</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> was hit in the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> arm</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">my hand was one away and I looked back</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">down</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> my arm was flipped over</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I just</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> took</font> my<font color="#E5E5E5"> arm and</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> just said I</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> need</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to keep</font> firing or<font color="#E5E5E5"> I need</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> try to you need</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to</font> pull<font color="#CCCCCC"> it</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> through Jackson and the vehicles</font> ahead of him made it through the final Iraqi positions<font color="#E5E5E5"> the vehicles behind</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">still have that gauntlet to run</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> hemant</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">for jobs offers two vehicles managed to</font> get through the Fedayeen hit the next three with rocket-propelled grenades [Applause] private Miller ran forward to try and help <font color="#E5E5E5">it was just a bloody mess</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> when I look to</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">see</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> if anyone's alive and to me there</font> didn't look to be anybody alive<font color="#E5E5E5"> so I</font> just kept moving<font color="#E5E5E5"> forward in the wreckage</font> was<font color="#E5E5E5"> private Jessica Lynch later to be</font> mythologized as an American<font color="#CCCCCC"> hero</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> when</font> troops rescued her from<font color="#CCCCCC"> an Iraqi</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Hospital at</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the time</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Miller thought she was past help it</font> looked<font color="#E5E5E5"> to me like she</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> was dead</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> as well</font> as everyone else that was<font color="#E5E5E5"> in their</font> vehicle more<font color="#E5E5E5"> and more Fedayeen arrived</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">two American soldiers</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> got out of their</font> vehicle<font color="#E5E5E5"> which is what I'm</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> saying on-die</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">they ran towards their colleagues</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> a</font> green car pulled up and two Iraqis got out and shouted at<font color="#CCCCCC"> them</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> so the Americans</font> held<font color="#E5E5E5"> up their hands with their guns in</font> the air but<font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Iraqis shot them and</font> they fell on<font color="#E5E5E5"> their</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> faces</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Miller spotted Fedayeen preparing to</font> fire mortars at him <font color="#CCCCCC">I was shooting them as they were loading</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">the mortar pit</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and then finally they</font> stopped<font color="#E5E5E5"> loading it and the next thing I</font> know there's like a<font color="#CCCCCC"> 360-degree</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> circle</font> around me<font color="#CCCCCC"> of them just closing in so</font> that's what I had<font color="#E5E5E5"> to surrender when</font> Miller and other<font color="#E5E5E5"> prisoners of war</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> were</font> paraded on Arab television<font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font> afternoon the ambush seemed a metaphor for<font color="#E5E5E5"> a war that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> wasn't turning</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> out as</font> expected [Music] eleven Americans had been<font color="#E5E5E5"> killed and</font> seven taken prisoner the Fedayeen thought they'd beaten off an American <font color="#E5E5E5">attack and fighters who had been</font> thinking<font color="#E5E5E5"> of surrender thought again and</font> Wadena<font color="#CCCCCC"> Kenya</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> it invigorated</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the fighting</font> men they decided to<font color="#E5E5E5"> stay and to fight</font> outside NASA<font color="#CCCCCC"> Rhea</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the Marines still</font> awaited the final order<font color="#CCCCCC"> to attack</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font> city the Marines had received<font color="#E5E5E5"> only</font> confused reports<font color="#E5E5E5"> about the ambush</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> of the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">maintenance convoy they still believed</font> there was<font color="#E5E5E5"> little stomach for a</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> fight in</font> the city but the battle which followed would<font color="#E5E5E5"> change the course of the war</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> House</font> ain't just a little<font color="#E5E5E5"> excited nobody</font> really knew what<font color="#E5E5E5"> loud hit we were all</font> wearing<font color="#E5E5E5"> our cold-weather clothing</font> because it was chilly<font color="#E5E5E5"> and it was kind of</font> a<font color="#CCCCCC"> greyish</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> dawn the that's when the first</font> signs of enemy<font color="#E5E5E5"> resistance started there</font> were mortars impacting about<font color="#CCCCCC"> 600 meters</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">away from</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> our forces heavy machine guns</font> began<font color="#E5E5E5"> to be fired at us and that gave</font> you an indicator<font color="#CCCCCC"> of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> what was to come</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">they spotted Iraqi tanks and by the end</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">about an hour</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we had about nine enemy</font> tanks that<font color="#E5E5E5"> had been engaged and</font> destroyed now we knew we might<font color="#E5E5E5"> have a fight on</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> our</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">hands</font> American tanks had been rescuing <font color="#E5E5E5">survivors from the earlier ambush</font> now only four had enough fuel to <font color="#E5E5E5">continue the advance we were running out</font> of daylight<font color="#CCCCCC"> and I did not want to be in</font> the middle<font color="#E5E5E5"> of an attack to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> cease bridges</font> while it was dark<font color="#CCCCCC"> and O'Connell at that</font> point was<font color="#E5E5E5"> okay push let's push let's</font> take<font color="#E5E5E5"> those bridges there's a lot of</font> firing going<font color="#E5E5E5"> on you can hear it</font> ricocheting off the road<font color="#E5E5E5"> beside us you</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">can hear the fire smacking off the</font> bridge<font color="#CCCCCC"> I can remember seeing</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> an RPG skip</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">across the road in front of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> us</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">sounds like okay this this is this is</font> for real here this is this is bad once across<font color="#E5E5E5"> the bridge</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the tanks moved</font> forward suddenly<font color="#E5E5E5"> disaster struck it was</font> open ground<font color="#CCCCCC"> it appeared to be dry on top</font> but<font color="#CCCCCC"> underneath was was water</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and they</font> just<font color="#E5E5E5"> sank to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the chassis</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and we got we</font> got stuck<font color="#E5E5E5"> they were coming at us</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> right</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">there was an Iraqi that we just killed</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">and right over there was four more</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Iraqis we just killed and back over on</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the other side</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> of the building there was</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">nine Iraqis that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> were killed by the</font> tanks<font color="#CCCCCC"> so they were swarming off I can</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">really feel the pressure building they</font> were fearless<font color="#CCCCCC"> they</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> weren't afraid</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to die</font> and they just it was like<font color="#CCCCCC"> a</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> human wave</font> attack as<font color="#E5E5E5"> they as it came pushing</font> towards us families died on the streets <font color="#E5E5E5">and in their homes</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">you know</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I gonna call my shot it we</font> piled up corpses in front of the mortuary<font color="#E5E5E5"> March</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the 23rd was a black day</font> for<font color="#E5E5E5"> nazriya the toughest day wherever I</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">went</font> children would run<font color="#CCCCCC"> up to me pleading</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> for</font> help<font color="#E5E5E5"> or dead or wounded people</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">a marine company</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> advanced towards a key</font> bridge on the northern edge of<font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> city</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Araki fighters were waiting</font> they would duck behind<font color="#CCCCCC"> a wall and they</font> would fire an RPG<font color="#CCCCCC"> or</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> they would pull out</font> an ak-47 and they'd fire at you they were everywhere on both<font color="#E5E5E5"> sides of the road high and low</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">and everybody was shoot would I</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> pull</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">this out how hot the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Medini know</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> much</font> everywhere in Iraq<font color="#E5E5E5"> had become a war</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> zone</font> and so the civilians had fighters among <font color="#CCCCCC">you</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> from the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Army</font> I'm from the<font color="#CCCCCC"> Fedayeen is gone now though</font> she won the<font color="#CCCCCC"> fly Machado</font> if the Americans saw you coming out<font color="#E5E5E5"> of a</font> street or<font color="#E5E5E5"> a building with a</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> gun in your</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">hand</font> they just<font color="#CCCCCC"> don't shoot you</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> know either</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">yet they didn't care if</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> it was a house</font> with civilians in it or a school coming <font color="#CCCCCC">through Ambush Alley with</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> all the small</font> arms and RPGs going<font color="#E5E5E5"> off</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that was bad</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">enough until across that northern bridge</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">blowing up all around you some of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> our</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Tillery rounds hit so close</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> they bounce</font> you off the ground<font color="#E5E5E5"> it's extremely</font> frightening when<font color="#E5E5E5"> American aircraft</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">arrived overhead but instead of helping</font> it attacked the American position <font color="#E5E5E5">adding to the casualties</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I was thinking</font> that the casualties would<font color="#CCCCCC"> be real high</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">extremely high an armored vehicle who</font> tried<font color="#CCCCCC"> to take the wounded to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the rear an</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">RPG came sailing through the air it</font> plunged into<font color="#E5E5E5"> the open</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Tru patch of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> AAV and there was just</font> a catastrophic<font color="#CCCCCC"> explosion as the as</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font> Amtrak<font color="#E5E5E5"> blew up with its occupants inside</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I had 18</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> of my Marines were</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> killed in</font> action in<font color="#CCCCCC"> 14 wounded that day</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that were</font> taken off<font color="#CCCCCC"> the battlefield</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> so basically</font> lost<font color="#E5E5E5"> about 1/4 of our</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> combat power on</font> that<font color="#E5E5E5"> day from one company so you know</font> emotionally<font color="#E5E5E5"> from that standpoint</font> thinking about the families and<font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> Marines and and it was<font color="#E5E5E5"> very difficult</font> [Music] <font color="#E5E5E5">after that point we never heard anything</font> about capitulation or anything<font color="#E5E5E5"> after</font> that people<font color="#E5E5E5"> approached the Iraqis I</font> think with a much different perspective <font color="#CCCCCC">helicopter the land now we got a</font> critical<font color="#CCCCCC"> patient</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> need</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> get out of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> here</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">in one</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> day 29 Americans have died in</font> Nazareth<font color="#E5E5E5"> with them died all hope</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that</font> the Iraqi people would help the coalition<font color="#E5E5E5"> overthrow the regime but</font> didn't<font color="#E5E5E5"> happen it didn't</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> happen in our</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">nursery ax it didn't</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> happen at other</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">places in the south</font> what worried the Americans even<font color="#E5E5E5"> more was</font> the thought<font color="#E5E5E5"> of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> what lay ahead</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the South</font> was meant to be the easy part in the Western Desert<font color="#E5E5E5"> American troops were now</font> advancing towards<font color="#E5E5E5"> the Republican Guard</font> the closer we got<font color="#CCCCCC"> to Baghdad we expected</font> a<font color="#E5E5E5"> a tougher fight</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we expected the</font> Republican Guard to be the formation <font color="#CCCCCC">that we were going</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> to have to deal with</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">and</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we expected it to be a much more</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">difficult and much</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> more resolute defense</font> hidden in the countryside south of Baghdad were<font color="#CCCCCC"> four Republican Guard</font> divisions<font color="#E5E5E5"> perhaps</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> forty thousand men</font> their commander<font color="#CCCCCC"> was confident he could</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">produce a stalemate owatta taqwa be</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Mubarak</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I thought we could hold out for</font> two or<font color="#E5E5E5"> three months</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> even on six</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> months</font> without the war reaching any conclusion <font color="#E5E5E5">well Herman</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> has him your</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> solid hardly</font> Lassiter -<font color="#E5E5E5"> sure</font> I thought we'd be able<font color="#E5E5E5"> to turn Iraq into</font> a mini Vietnam<font color="#E5E5E5"> well</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> what I didn't</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> think</font> the Americans would be<font color="#E5E5E5"> prepared to fight</font> a man-to-man [Music] <font color="#CCCCCC">32 Apache helicopters the most deadly</font> tank hunters in the<font color="#E5E5E5"> world were ordered</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">forward each costs</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> twenty two</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> million</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">dollars their job to search out the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Republican Guards</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Medina division the</font> regime resided in Baghdad and the Medina division sat between<font color="#E5E5E5"> us and</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Dagda the</font> plan was for a massive raid<font color="#CCCCCC"> that very</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">night but as they prepared they were</font> being watched we established a force to stay behind enemy lines and gather information<font color="#E5E5E5"> they</font> wore civilian clothes<font color="#CCCCCC"> they didn't carry</font> any<font color="#E5E5E5"> weapons</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> they used</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> mobile phones to</font> send and receive<font color="#CCCCCC"> information</font> when the Apaches<font color="#E5E5E5"> took off the Iraqi</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">forces were ready for</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> about the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> first</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">ten minutes we were okay we really</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">hadn't faced any fire</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I've seen a couple</font> tracer<font color="#E5E5E5"> strings but that was about</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> it</font> but the ambush was about to be<font color="#E5E5E5"> sprung</font> the power grid<font color="#CCCCCC"> of the entire town that</font> we were<font color="#E5E5E5"> going over had gone black and</font> came back<font color="#E5E5E5"> on within a few seconds that's</font> when everybody started reporting taking heavy fire<font color="#CCCCCC"> we found out later</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that</font> was<font color="#CCCCCC"> like a signal that they were using</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">for people to go</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> up on top of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> their</font> roofs and shoot fire was coming<font color="#CCCCCC"> from the</font> houses<font color="#E5E5E5"> the waterways trees shrubs</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">vehicles are out there I was on the</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">radio when I got hit</font> I've got<font color="#CCCCCC"> earplugs in</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I've</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> got a helmet</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">on all the noise of the aircraft</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> but I</font> could<font color="#E5E5E5"> hear it enter my neck</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I didn't</font> want to touch my neck<font color="#CCCCCC"> I assumed that the</font> front<font color="#E5E5E5"> of my throat was gone</font> the Apaches were forced to turn back <font color="#E5E5E5">before they even reached the Medina</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Division</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I came</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> over the squadron command radio</font> and told all air crews to shoot at everybody<font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> shot at them</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> you know</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">you're firing</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> into areas where their</font> houses where there's their communities and you don't want to have<font color="#E5E5E5"> collateral</font> damage<font color="#E5E5E5"> you</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> try your best not to have</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">collateral damage but it became fairly</font> evident that in fact you were<font color="#E5E5E5"> going to</font> have to in order<font color="#E5E5E5"> to survive this</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> you're</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">gonna have to return fire one Apache was</font> shot down and<font color="#E5E5E5"> its crew</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> captured</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> almost</font> every helicopter<font color="#E5E5E5"> was seriously damaged</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I</font> remember coming<font color="#E5E5E5"> back feeling very unsure</font> of what really just<font color="#CCCCCC"> happened there</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> was</font> it that we<font color="#CCCCCC"> were the we were one</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> unit</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">that had encountered an extreme amount</font> of resistance<font color="#E5E5E5"> and therefore had that</font> happen or was<font color="#E5E5E5"> this as a</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> broad-spectrum</font> I really didn't know at that<font color="#CCCCCC"> point but I</font> do know<font color="#CCCCCC"> that for</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> us</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> at that</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> point we</font> were gonna<font color="#E5E5E5"> have</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> some time to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> think about</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">it because our airplanes were extremely</font> battle<font color="#CCCCCC"> damaged the Republican Guard</font> remained largely unscathed the Apache pilots faith in American intelligence <font color="#E5E5E5">was shaken it was useless it really was</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">useless</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> at the risk of never</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> making it</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> a</font> both captain<font color="#CCCCCC"> later who said it was</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">definitely something wrong with</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> intelligence flow nothing seemed<font color="#E5E5E5"> to be</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">working out</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> quite as expected</font> now to add to<font color="#CCCCCC"> the coalition's problems</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> a</font> sandstorm of biblical proportions began to swirl across southern<font color="#E5E5E5"> Iraq you could</font> have been convinced that<font color="#E5E5E5"> it was the</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">apocalypse because it would it was that</font> nasty out<font color="#CCCCCC"> there for a few hours it was</font> just an orange haze within about<font color="#CCCCCC"> five</font> minutes<font color="#CCCCCC"> they turned to pitch black out</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">there</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I heard of</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> guys walking to go to the</font> bathroom<font color="#CCCCCC"> about 20</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> yards from the vehicle</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">and they spend the next three hours</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">looking for their vehicle again yeah the</font> weather really<font color="#E5E5E5"> sucked you could</font> literally not<font color="#E5E5E5"> see more</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> than about 30</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> or</font> 40<font color="#CCCCCC"> feet</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> with your naked eye and now came</font> another surprise for<font color="#E5E5E5"> Allied intelligence</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Fedayeen fighters left the cities and</font> attacked the supply lines of the lead units and they just<font color="#CCCCCC"> get coming</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and they</font> kept coming<font color="#CCCCCC"> and they kept coming we</font> started<font color="#E5E5E5"> to realize</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that they weren't</font> afraid<font color="#E5E5E5"> to fight and more importantly</font> they weren't afraid<font color="#CCCCCC"> to die the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> advance</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">stole</font> [Music] the US<font color="#E5E5E5"> Defense</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Secretary Donald</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Rumsfeld</font> had pressured his generals to invade with smaller forces than they'd asked for the man<font color="#CCCCCC"> leading the attack on</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Baghdad was concerned an immediate</font> attack would<font color="#CCCCCC"> be reckless I</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> wasn't real</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">comfortable</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> with the troop</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> levels</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I was</font> very reluctant to<font color="#CCCCCC"> hit Baghdad because</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">now</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I wanted to make damn sure that when</font> we did<font color="#E5E5E5"> it we were going</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to be decisive</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">and successful in desert meetings</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">tempers</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> fled in our profession there's</font> no such thing as a calm measured discussion because we're<font color="#E5E5E5"> talking about</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">his life and</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> death so there are</font> passionate discussions but general <font color="#CCCCCC">MacKinnon was</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> determined to retain the</font> initiative<font color="#CCCCCC"> I said we're</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> going to have to</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">accept some risk</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and I want you to</font> continue your<font color="#CCCCCC"> attack</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> rapidly to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> north fast is better than slow<font color="#CCCCCC"> er</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> fast</font> is more lethal<font color="#E5E5E5"> than slower fast is more</font> final the American<font color="#E5E5E5"> army now prepared to attack</font> Baghdad<font color="#E5E5E5"> the lead units had to funnel</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">through a mile wide gap between a lake</font> and the city of Karbala<font color="#E5E5E5"> the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> so-called</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Karbala gap and then assault across the</font> Euphrates my commanders clearly understood<font color="#CCCCCC"> that as soon as we move</font> through<font color="#CCCCCC"> the Karbala gap it was going to</font> be one fight all the<font color="#CCCCCC"> way to back it</font> the Americans could not detect any Iraqi forces<font color="#E5E5E5"> defending the gap the man leading</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> spearhead unit feared that the area</font> had been cleared<font color="#E5E5E5"> for a chemical</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> attack</font> if there was<font color="#E5E5E5"> one place that he could</font> have used chemical<font color="#CCCCCC"> weapons</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> very</font> successfully<font color="#CCCCCC"> was at</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the Karbala</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> gap</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font> night<font color="#CCCCCC"> a signals intercept meant</font> coalition troops were put on alert<font color="#E5E5E5"> for</font> imminent attack we<font color="#E5E5E5"> intercepted a</font> high-level radio transmission<font color="#E5E5E5"> that had a</font> simple word<font color="#E5E5E5"> passed it was blood</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we</font> we thought we knew what<font color="#CCCCCC"> that meant</font> just before<font color="#E5E5E5"> dawn the Americans attacked</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">into the gap there was no chemical</font> attack the<font color="#E5E5E5"> Iraqi forces</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> had pulled back</font> not to<font color="#E5E5E5"> create a killing field</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> but</font> because they felt too vulnerable<font color="#CCCCCC"> in open</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">desert there was a</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> general order that</font> there should<font color="#E5E5E5"> not be</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> a single Iraqi</font> soldier to the<font color="#E5E5E5"> west of the Euphrates</font> River<font color="#E5E5E5"> as the Americans attacked</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> ham</font> Donny's phone rang he was summoned<font color="#E5E5E5"> to</font> Baghdad<font color="#E5E5E5"> to meet Saddam's son coos a</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">hostage amore and who say told me he had</font> an important<font color="#E5E5E5"> message for me from</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">President Saddam Hussein and the message</font> was that<font color="#E5E5E5"> everything that had happened</font> over the past<font color="#E5E5E5"> two weeks was a strategic</font> deception<font color="#CCCCCC"> that the main enemy attack</font> would<font color="#E5E5E5"> come</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> from the north of Baghdad</font> therefore I should<font color="#E5E5E5"> pull out all</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> my</font> troops<font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> were south of Baghdad like</font> that<font color="#CCCCCC"> kam Doni protested</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> at that</font> very<font color="#CCCCCC"> moment</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the Americans were attacking</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">from</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> south Jim</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> horny what'd you say</font> approached me<font color="#CCCCCC"> well</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> he was almost</font> whispering he said general rod<font color="#E5E5E5"> are you</font> sure of what<font color="#CCCCCC"> he</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> was saying</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I answered</font> yes sure as I'm talking<font color="#E5E5E5"> with you now he</font> knew I was telling<font color="#E5E5E5"> the truth I could see</font> it in his face<font color="#E5E5E5"> but still he ordered me</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">to move my</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> troops to the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> north</font> he gave the order<font color="#CCCCCC"> not as an order from</font> him<font color="#E5E5E5"> but as an order that he was obliged</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">to obey</font> the regime<font color="#CCCCCC"> was crumbling down as I left</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">Baghdad</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> they looked at it as though I</font> was<font color="#E5E5E5"> seeing it for the last time I could</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">imagine the destruction</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> to come</font> [Music] the spearhead<font color="#E5E5E5"> American unit was through</font> the kabbala<font color="#E5E5E5"> gap it raced towards its</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">next objective</font> Kamala<font color="#CCCCCC"> camp itself</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> if you seize the gap</font> you still don't win you<font color="#CCCCCC"> gotta get</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> across</font> the<font color="#E5E5E5"> river months</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> before the planners had</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">decided this bridge would carry the US</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Army</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> towards the Iraqi capital general</font> Hamdani<font color="#CCCCCC"> who was fully</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> aware of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> its</font> importance well enough<font color="#E5E5E5"> I started me</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> off</font> I'm<font color="#E5E5E5"> seeing one it Hammond where this</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">bridge could carry more</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> than 150 tons in</font> weight and was wide enough<font color="#CCCCCC"> for armored</font> troops to cross<font color="#CCCCCC"> well one more chef for</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">your I</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> gave the commander of the</font> demolition<font color="#E5E5E5"> force clear written</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and</font> verbal orders that as soon as he<font color="#E5E5E5"> felled</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the enemy was close to the bridge he</font> should blow it up <font color="#E5E5E5">Wien fully anticipated this bridge to be</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">mined set with demolitions</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and rigged to</font> explode<font color="#E5E5E5"> and we wanted to</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> capture the</font> bridge intact<font color="#CCCCCC"> I definitely saw wires</font> we wanted<font color="#E5E5E5"> to destroy that wire or we</font> wanted to kill<font color="#E5E5E5"> the guy who was in</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> charge</font> of that<font color="#E5E5E5"> wire American engineers</font> scrambled into<font color="#CCCCCC"> boats</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> assaulted</font> across the river<font color="#CCCCCC"> to cut the demolition</font> wires the first boat<font color="#CCCCCC"> gets about 25</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">percent</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> of the way across the river and</font> we<font color="#E5E5E5"> start</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> taking fire from</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the far side</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">suddenly the</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> boats engine failed</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">hypnotized men were doomed</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> they're</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">sitting ducks</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> I thought my god I just</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">sent these guys to their death</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> but smoke</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">hid them</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> from the Iraqis and they got</font> across we're on the far side of<font color="#E5E5E5"> the bank</font> now taking really incredible amounts of <font color="#CCCCCC">small-arms fire</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we had cut all the the</font> wires all the det cord we were very <font color="#E5E5E5">vulnerable at this point we needed some</font> heavy<font color="#CCCCCC"> firepower</font> so we assault across<font color="#E5E5E5"> the bridge we just</font> pushed right through<font color="#E5E5E5"> just</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> going as fast</font> as<font color="#E5E5E5"> we could</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> to get a bigger foothold on</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the other side to get more troops across</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the bridge</font> we didn't take<font color="#E5E5E5"> any</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> prisoners east of</font> that<font color="#E5E5E5"> bridge east of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> that bridge</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">nobody surrendered we had finally found</font> the Iraqi Republican Guard by<font color="#CCCCCC"> evening</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the Americans controlled the bridge</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> four</font> hours earlier<font color="#CCCCCC"> General Hamdani had been</font> told to withdraw to the<font color="#E5E5E5"> north of Baghdad</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">now he was ordered to</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> turn his units</font> round<font color="#E5E5E5"> and counter-attack</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> let are we oh</font> well in<font color="#E5E5E5"> someone if my own opinion was</font> not<font color="#E5E5E5"> to attack the Americans at this</font> point I felt we should surround<font color="#E5E5E5"> them</font> contain them<font color="#E5E5E5"> then launch an offensive</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">with a brigade of</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Special</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> Forces but</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> the</font> High Command insisted on an<font color="#E5E5E5"> immediate</font> offensive which we were<font color="#CCCCCC"> not ready</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> for</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> American tank crews were in their</font> new positions<font color="#E5E5E5"> east of the Euphrates at</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> 8</font> o'clock<font color="#E5E5E5"> it started to get dark</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> and I</font> said hey you<font color="#E5E5E5"> know let's try to get some</font> rest there's nothing going on first sleep I've<font color="#CCCCCC"> had more</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> than 24 36 hours we</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">got the first report tank moving from</font> east<font color="#E5E5E5"> to west</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">we started reports of infantry moving</font> north<font color="#E5E5E5"> so now it looked like some sort</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> of</font> coordinated attack<font color="#E5E5E5"> to try to retake the</font> bridge general Hamdani had mustered his most elite troops<font color="#E5E5E5"> a brigade from the</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">Medina division</font> all of a sudden<font color="#CCCCCC"> I see this this this</font> armored vehicle pop up in<font color="#E5E5E5"> front of me at</font> 800 meters shot that one<font color="#E5E5E5"> and it was a</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">humungous ball of flame and</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> we had</font> shrapnel<font color="#E5E5E5"> coming back to an illness Iraqi</font> tanks were advancing in a column down the road we destroyed upwards of<font color="#CCCCCC"> 60 70</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">2s</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> we</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> pretty much</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> stopped the entire</font> brigade<font color="#E5E5E5"> that was coming down us in their</font> tracks it<font color="#E5E5E5"> became a slaughter</font> there was guys running up and down the road<font color="#E5E5E5"> his big balls of fire going</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">everywhere</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> some small on fire we're</font> ceiling<font color="#CCCCCC"> gauging with machine</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> guns every</font> time we see someone<font color="#E5E5E5"> running across the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">road we fire machine guns at him he say</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">oh</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> I</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> can't I didn't have a single tank</font> intact they were all<font color="#E5E5E5"> either damaged or</font> destroyed<font color="#CCCCCC"> I didn't have a single</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> vehicle</font> left the<font color="#CCCCCC"> battle reached a point where I</font> myself<font color="#E5E5E5"> the army commander was fighting</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">with</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the Kalashnikov by 5:30 they were</font> it was<font color="#CCCCCC"> conveyer completely destroyed</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> and</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">a</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> 10th</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> Brigade had and</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> cease to exist</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">I remember going there that</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> morning and</font> looking<font color="#CCCCCC"> down that road and just</font> unbelievable could not imagine<font color="#E5E5E5"> what was</font> going<font color="#CCCCCC"> through the Iraqi</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> minds that night</font> as they were trying<font color="#CCCCCC"> to assault</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> that</font> position it's hard to describe<font color="#E5E5E5"> it the body parts</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">just littered across the road vehicle</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">still burning still too hot to even get</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">close to the</font><font color="#CCCCCC"> smell in</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the air there's a</font> smell I'll never ever<font color="#CCCCCC"> forget</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> the the</font> <font color="#E5E5E5">burning flesh</font> the Americans hadn't suffered<font color="#E5E5E5"> a single</font> <font color="#CCCCCC">casualty</font><font color="#E5E5E5"> but they were fearful expecting</font> this would be the first of many such encounters the battle<font color="#E5E5E5"> for Baghdad had</font> begun [Music]
Info
Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries
Views: 404,648
Rating: 4.5814443 out of 5
Keywords: documentary history, Documentaries, Military, BBC documentary, Army, Full Documentary, Documentary, Britain, Iraq War, real, History, Baghdad, TV Shows - Topic, Saddam Hussein, stories, history documentary, USA, 2017 documentary, George Bush, 2003, Full length Documentaries, Channel 4 documentary, conflict, Documentary Movies - Topic
Id: 2cTiTV2B9hs
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 48min 25sec (2905 seconds)
Published: Sat Jun 09 2018
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