|
Secretary
of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon:
Good
Morning Ladies and Gentlemen. If I could say first of
all that I am sorry that I have to confirm that two
Sea King Mk 7 Royal Navy helicopters were involved in
a mid-air collision over international
waters south of Iraq. I can confirm that 7 air crew
are missing. A search and rescue mission has been mounted,
but as yet no survivors have been found. Our priority
at this time is to notify the next of kin at
the earliest opportunity. Cause of the accident is being
investigated. And although this will be of no comfort
to the families concerned, the crash is not believed
to be the result of enemy action. I hope that you will
understand why we cannot give further information until
next of kin have been contacted.
With
regard to yesterday’s CH-46 helicopter crash, I
can confirm that the next of kin of the 8 men killed
in the crash have now all been informed. At the request
of the families, we will not release further details
until later.
Over
the past 24 hours you will have seen the military plan
start to take shape on the ground. What we are looking
to do is to achieve a series of effects to which the
Iraqi regime simply cannot respond. We
can do this whilst at the same time reducing the risk
of civilian casualties. Indeed we believe that this
is the right way to minimise such risk. The coalition
is now therefore working simultaneously along
several lines of operation. First of all, through information
operations, we are making clear to the Iraqi Armed Forces
and to Iraq’s civilian population, the coalition’s
resolve to achieve our objectives -
the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime and its
weapons of mass destruction. You will have seen pictures
of the Iraqi Armed Forces responding to this and recognising
that there is no need for them to
fight for Saddam Hussein. Through ground manoeuvre we
are rapidly securing Iraqi territory. Again as you will
have seen from reporting overnight, the Iraqi 51st Division
has stopped fighting. The US Army’s
Fifth Corps has secured two bridges over the Euphrates.
Admiral Boyce say more about events on the ground in
a moment.
But
last night was of course dominated by the air campaign,
and in particular by attacks on targets in Baghdad.
I want to say a little more about the underlying purpose
of that campaign. It has sought to
meet a number of objectives. As far as possible we have
been attempting to minimise the risk of the Iraqi regime
using its weapons of mass destruction. First and foremost
this has required attacks on the
regime’s ability to communicate and exercise command
and control over these weapons, as well as attacking
potential delivery sites. A particular focus has therefore
been on communications facilities both
within Baghdad and throughout Iraq.
I
want to show how we are aiming to inflict damage on
the Iraqi regime itself, whilst leaving civilian infrastructure
intact. This first slide shows a map of central Baghdad.
Many of the key regime facilities are
concentrated in the centre along the West Bank of the
Tigris river. The box which in a moment will be highlighted
in greater detail, you will be able to see the concentration
of so-called Presidential Palaces and regime headquarters
in one particular area of the city. All along the river
bank is in effect an area closed to ordinary Iraqis,
populated by senior figures in the regime from which
they operate. And our attacks therefore have sought
to send clear signals to that regime that it can no
longer exercise its tyranny over the Iraqi people. By
isolating regime leaders from security forces under
their control we are sending a very clear message, a
message that they can no longer exercise control through
the threat of force, a clear message as well to the
ordinary people
of Iraq that the days of this appalling regime will
soon be over. Finally in order to facilitate such attacks
and enable close air support to our ground forces, it
has been necessary to achieve air superiority by reducing
the threat from the Iraqi integrated air defence
systems.
Again
I want to give you some general examples of the kinds
of targets that we have been attacking. They include,
as you see here, intelligence and security organisations
which are instrumental in the repression of the Iraqi
people. Command and control structures, for example
bunkers in the so-called Presidential palaces. Iraqi
military capability, for example surface to surface
weapons and their integrated air defence system, radar
and surface to air missiles. The targets have been selected
for the effects that will be achieved, rather than to
produce physical destruction for its own sake. In considering
every pre-planned target we go through a rigorous process
of weighing the military advantage against the danger
to civilian life and property. I personally oversee
this process.
Let
me illustrate this point with two examples of the types
of targets which our forces attacked last night. The
main headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence service
in Baghdad, a key part of the regime’s intelligence
and security network, was attacked last night by a United
Kingdom tomahawk missile fired from a British submarine.
This was a carefully targeted strike which will have
had significant effect on the ability of the Iraqi intelligence
service to contribute to the internal repression carried
out by Saddam Hussein’s regime. Attacks on this
and other Iraqi intelligence service facilities will
remove from the Iraqi regime a key source of its power,
reducing the potential threat to coalition forces and
reducing its ability to terrorise the people of Iraq.
We
also carried out a successful attack against the main
sector air defence bunker in Kirkuk. This operation
centre provides command and control for Iraqi Air Force
interceptors and strategic surface to air missiles.
By destroying or disrupting the operation centre, we
gain and maintain coalition air space superiority, reducing
the risk to our aircraft operating in the area.
I
was asked at yesterday’s press conference how we
resolve the apparent dichotomy between our commitment
to the use of minimum force and the overwhelming nature
of the air campaign. I hope that what I have said today
has addressed this issue for you. The use of overwhelming
force during last night’s attacks was not designed
to turn Iraq into a wasteland, rather it was aimed at
inflicting damage on the Iraqi regime, whilst leaving
civilian infrastructure as intact as possible. As last
night’s dramatic television coverage showed, the
lights stayed on in Baghdad, but the instruments of
tyranny are collapsing.
Chief
of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce
Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen. Well as you have
heard from the Secretary of State, coalition forces
have continued to make significant progress in all environments.
But before I give you some details about our campaign
so far, I would like once again to echo the words of
the Secretary of State and send my deep condolences
to the families of the Servicemen who lost their lives
last night in that mid-air collision between two of
our helicopters in the Gulf.
Well
we did have a huge increase in activity in the scale
of our coalition effort last night and this tightening
of the screw on Saddam’s
regime included the high intensity attacks on targets
in Baghdad, in Kirkuk and other areas along the lines
the Secretary of State has described. And in terms of
scale I can tell you that as of early today coalition
Air Forces have flown some 3,000 plus sorties and delivered
a very large package of precision weapons, including
the tomahawk missiles which were fired by our own submarines.
Now
let me give you some more detail about other operations.
Some of you might have expected there to have been some
sort of pause to coalition progress, but this has not
been the case. In the Basra area the Iraqi 51st Division
has surrendered and we have many thousand prisoners
of war. 7 Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, have been
very much involved in the approach to Basra and they
are on the outskirts at the moment and they will be
consolidating their position today. Further off to the
west, the United States 5 Corps advance has gone well
and they have reached beyond Talil airfields in the
Nazaria area, and they have secured also bridges over
the Euphrates, and they are well placed now for rapid
exploitation towards the north, the west and of course
Baghdad.
Meanwhile
back in the south of Iraq, 16 Air Assault Brigade is
now on the move to occupy the southern oilfields and
consolidate the coalition position there. And with these
oilfields now firmly in coalition hands, our UK engineers
are now at work making safe the well heads which had
been prepared for demolition, and we are also expecting
contractors to help them today. We believe that 9 well
heads will need the services of the contractors. We
have had specialist UK teams trained to deal with ordnance
disposal and RAF and Royal Tank Regiment NBC teams also
deployed forward with the United State regimental combat
teams.
The
report all over the oil infrastructure is that practically
all of the oil and gas separation platforms were mined
or booby-trapped. It
doesn’t say a lot for Saddam Hussein’s thoughts
of his own people that he is prepared to blow up his
entire economy. The challenging task of making all these
areas safe is now well under way. So the southern Iraq
oil infrastructure has been captured intact by the coalition
and it certainly averted the potential possibility of
an environmental disaster, and it really does raise
the hope that Iraq’s natural resources can be turned
back to the advantage of the Iraqi people, and of course
this is so important for the Oil for Food Programme.
On
the maritime front there are a number of challenges,
but the biggest is the need to ensure that seaborne
access to Umm Qasr Port is safe to allow humanitarian
aid to flow quickly into southern Iraq. On the Al Faw
Peninsular operations by 3 Commando Brigade restarted
at first light this morning to secure the entire area.
But the sea mines threat in the waterway there is real
and must be dealt with, and so our mine counter-measure
vessels are on the job – HMS Brocklesby, Blythe,
Bangor - they have been at work to ensure safe delivery
of that waterway. And we have also had our UK fleet
clearance diving teams busy in the port area to make
safe any demolitions there. This early start to mine
clearance operations of course, as I said, is to allow
access to key shipping, and particularly RFA Sir Gallahad
will be bringing humanitarian relief into the port.
I
mentioned yesterday the subject of prisoners of war.
We are looking after their safety. I was asked about
that yesterday. Some have been injured and some of them
are being treated in our mobile hospital, the RFA Argus.
Turning
now to air. Overnight, alongside the USAF and USN, the
RAF have been heavily involved in the widescale attacks
we have been talking about against key targets, including
Baghdad. All of our aircraft returned safely. And last
night during the air raids we saw the first operational
use of our new United Kingdom’s Storm Shadow missile.
This is a missile which is designed for long range,
highly accurate, deep penetration against key regime
targets, and this missile was flown by our GR4 Tornado
aircraft. It was a successful outing.
Now
you will be very aware, as the Secretary of State has
made you aware, of last night’s intense bombardment,
but as I say, and as he has said, such intense warfare
is not conducted lightly. Our aim is to dislocate and
destroy the apparatus of the Iraqi regime. And this
morning, as I am speaking, we still have water, we still
have power supplies and so on in Baghdad, and especially
to such essential services as hospitals. We have no
quarrel at all with the Iraqi people.
Question:
What are your estimates of the casualties? The Iraqis
have been talking about 200 plus injured, is that a
figure that you could agree with?
Mr
Hoon:
I obviously can’t at this stage confirm Iraqi claims
about casualties. As I indicated, we have taken great
care in the selection of targets, those targets have
been ones associated with the regime. And as I hope
the illustration on the map showed as well, many of
those targets are in areas that are away from centres
of civilian population, they are not areas that are
associated with ordinary Iraqis. I can’t rule out
the risk of some civilian casualties, but what I can
say is that enormous efforts were made in the careful
targeting to avoid those casualties.
Question:
I wonder if you could answer these two points. First,
the reports about Saddam being killed or wounded. Secondly,
the fact that so many people were doubting that there
are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, after the firing
of the 5 scud missiles, or whatever type of missiles
on Kuwait, is it clear now that he still possesses weapons
of mass destruction?
Mr
Hoon:
There are of course continuing reports about Saddam
Hussein. I am not in a position to confirm them. It
will not affect our determination to destroy this regime
and free Iraq for its people. As far as missiles are
concerned, we have had a number of missiles fired into
Kuwait. Obviously it demonstrates the ability of elements
of the regime at any rate to continue their campaign.
We are confident that when we have the opportunity of
doing so, we will find weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq.
Question:
Can I just ask you about what is going on in Baghdad,
because I think the indications from our correspondent
and other reporters there on the ground are that the
bombing has been having the effect of rallying the Iraqi
people behind Saddam Hussein. Isn’t that a major
concern for you given that these people that you are
committed to liberating don’t seem too keen on
the idea at the moment, perhaps understandably.
Mr
Hoon:
I have not seen the slightest evidence of that, indeed
all of the evidence that I have seen points in exactly
the opposite direction. You
will have seen the numbers of surrenders that have occurred
lately, and indeed one particular example of one group
surrendering simply because the commanding officer recognised
that his own men were drifting away and were no longer
prepared to fight for Saddam Hussein. Equally we all
know the restrictions imposed on reporters in and around
Baghdad, I doubt that there is much evidence for what
you are suggesting.
Question:
There are reports that two missiles have caused damage
in southern Iran, could you please clarify that, whether
they were stray missiles from the coalition forces or
maybe from Iraq itself. And also the degree of surrender
by the Iraqi forces, have they slowed down the operations
within Iraq?
Mr
Hoon:
Well I can’t confirm any suggestions that any of
our missiles have gone astray into Iran. I have seen
those suggestions, obviously they are being investigated
and we are continuing our contacts with the government
there. As far as prisoner surrenders are concerned,
clearly that is helping in the sense that obviously
as our forces are able to move northwards, the surrenders
allow that to take place more easily. Clearly we have
regard to treating prisoners properly. I deployed an
extra set of Britain’s forces in order to be able
to cope with prisoners of war, but obviously as the
campaign unfolds, we anticipate those kinds of surrenders
continuing.
Admiral
Boyce:
People surrendering will slow you down far less than
people fighting.
Question:
Could you clarify for us something overnight. There
have been various suggestions we could have it all over
by Monday, somebody else was saying it could be 3 or
4 days. Could you give us your best estimate as to how
long this war is likely to last?
Mr
Hoon:
I really do not think it is sensible to talk in terms
of a timescale. This is a military operation and military
operations are subject to a
whole set of uncertainties. What I can say is that this
operation is going according to plan and in many respects
is ahead of the plan, but I don’t think it is sensible
to go further than that.
Question:
Are you concerned about the Turkish invasion of northern
Iraq? Do you think that is a threat to the territorial
integrity of Iraq, and not
least because it might encourage Iran and other powers
to do it. And can you please update us on any contacts
that have been made with senior Iraqi officers and the
Republican Guard?
Mr
Hoon:
We are aware that a small Turkish force has gone into
the north of Iraq, that the size of that force is consistent
with a border policing
operation and the Turks have made clear that they are
only concerned to prevent instability along that border
and to the extent that their forces carry out those
limited operations, then clearly we are relaxed about
it. But obviously it is a sensitive situation and one
that we will keep clearly under control. I don’t
want to go into the details of what contacts there might
have been, but it is clear that there are results on
the ground of Iraqi forces surrendering.
Question:
There have been reports of British and coalition military
activity in two vital airfields, H2 and H3, can you
comment on that at all?
Admiral
Boyce:
Not really, no, that is an area on which we don’t
have any particular information at the moment.
Question:
You mentioned that we are on the outskirts of Basra
at the moment and we are consolidating positions there.
Does that mean our troops are digging in now, or can
we expect Basra to fall at some point today?
Mr
Hoon:
Again I am not in the prediction business. Certainly
our forces are close to Basra. It appears to be the
case that regular Iraqi armed
forces have withdrawn from Basra, but there are continuing
elements of Saddam’s security services in position
maintaining resistance. And actually that seems to me
to be a model for the way in which this regime operates,
the regular armed forces are not armed forces that you
would expect we hope to fight for Saddam. The ones that
we would expect to meet resistance from are those who
have a vested interest in this appalling regime, that
is the security services that have so terrified and
intimidated the Iraqi people over so many years, it
is those people that will continue to resist.
Question:
Sir Michael, you talked about 3,000 air sorties, was
that simply last night? And also you talked about the
oil and gasfields being booby trapped and mined, can
you give us any detail on that?
Admiral
Boyce:
Yes, the 3,000 sorties were of that order last night.
I can’t give you more details because I haven’t
had them myself yet, but what is reported is that the
oil platforms in the mouth of the waterway up to the
port of Basra and Umm Qasr, what we found in the Rumalia
oilfields where 16 Air Mobile Brigade are moving into
today, and also on the Al Faw Peninsular we have found
demolitions which were obviously set to go, but we managed
to get in there fast enough to prevent them being blown,
and now we are defusing them.
Question:
Two questions. If Saddam’s death is confirmed,
will that change strategy? And secondly, how many days
would you say it will be before ground forces reach
Baghdad?
Mr
Hoon:
As I said earlier, the objective is to remove weapons
of mass destruction and the control of Saddam’s
regime in Iraq. If the news of
Saddam’s death is confirmed and that affects the
resolve of the remaining elements of his regime, well
and good, but it will not affect
our determination to continue to rid Iraq of those appalling
elements and that is central to our campaign objectives.
And I think I have made clear that the campaign will
continue until we have achieved those objectives.
|
