GWT: WRAP Excerpts of Franks briefing, British spokesman

(30 Mar 2003) SHOTLIST

1. General Tommy Franks enters CENTCOM
2. Cutaway media
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Tommy Franks, US General in charge of coalition military operations in Iraq:
"In fact there are very few people who know the truth of how this plan was put together and as I mentioned to your colleague a little bit earlier in fact no-one has driven this, has driven the timing of this operation except the operational commander"
4. Cutaway media
5. Wide Franks at podium
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Tommy Franks, US General in charge of coalition military operations in Iraq:
"We are in fact on plan and where we stand today is not only acceptable in my view it is truly remarkable."
7. Cutaway media
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Tommy Franks, US General in charge of coalition military operations in Iraq:
"There have been some pundits who have indicated that perhaps we are in an operational pause. I think this is what you made reference to. It's simply not the case. There is a continuity of operations in this plan, that continuity has been seen, it will be seen in the days ahead and it will be manifested on the battlefield in Iraq at points and times of our choosing."
9. Cutaway media
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Tommy Franks, US General in charge of coalition military operations in Iraq:
"I don't know whether the leader of this regime is dead or alive. I don't know, perhaps someone knows, but I don't know. I will say this. I have not seen credible evidence over the last few days since we started this operation that this regime is being controlled from the top as we understand the top."
11. Cutaway media
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Tommy Franks, US General in charge of coalition military operations in Iraq:
"I made reference a minute ago that coalition forces had attacked a very large terrorist camp. In fact massive would be a better way to describe it, and had done that only recently. In fact the exploitation of that is in it's very early stages and there will be a lot of speculation, a lot of discussion, we'll see how it goes."
13. Cutaway media
14. Wide coalition media centre sign
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Group Captain Al Lockwood, UK Military Spokesman:
"As you say we've taken five enemy prisoners of war, a Republican Guard colonel has been killed and we have several other high-ranking officers who have been taken prisoner."
16. Cutaway

STORYLINE:

The commander of the US-led war in Iraq denied on Sunday that he had asked the Pentagon for more troops before invading the country but side-stepped a question about whether the war might last into the summer.

General Tommy Franks, speaking at a daily briefing of the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, was responding to published reports that the requests of US generals for more ground troops were repeatedly denied by Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Reports also quoted US military officials as saying the lack of troops and weapons meant the war might last into the summer.

Speaking with marked emphasis, Franks ticked off nine successes of coalition forces since the beginning of the war, starting with securing southern oil fields.

Franks rejected reports that his forces had engaged in an "operational pause" near the gates of Baghdad. US ground forces are about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the city.

He said coalition forces had also destroyed a "massive" terrorist facility in northern Iraq. At least 120 militants were killed in the attack on Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group suspected of being linked to the al-Qaida network.





Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...