AT SEA: THE U.S. NAVY'S TOP ADMIRAL VERN CLARK TELLS SAILORS IN THE GULF TO BE READY TO WRITE A NEW CHAPTER IN HISTORY

Record ID: 648085

  • Title: AT SEA: THE U.S. NAVY'S TOP ADMIRAL VERN CLARK TELLS SAILORS IN THE GULF TO BE READY TO WRITE A NEW CHAPTER IN HISTORY
  • Date: 18th January 2003
  • Summary: (W6) AT SEA, OFF BAHRAIN (JANUARY 17, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CONSTELLATION/ CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS ADMIRAL VERN CLARK ARRIVING ON FLIGHT DECK/ GREETED BY U.S. SAILORS AND MARINES (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. SCU POSTER SAYING "WE WILL NOT TIRE, WE WILL NOT FALTER, WE WILL NOT FAIL", SIGNED BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH; MV POSTER OF EAGLE/ "WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER 9-11"; MV CLARK WALKING ONTO PODIUM/ WAVES TO U.S. SAILORS AND MARINES (4 SHOTS) 0.24 3. SLV U.S. SAILORS AND MARINES APPLAUDING (2 SHOTS) 0.31 4. SOUNDBITE (English) CLARK SAYING "If the call comes and if the President says 'do this', if he does this, then do this: hit fast. Hit hard. Hit with precision. Show the world a new kind of, an even greater capability than they've ever seen before. And show them this: this nation believes in something so strongly that we're willing to fight for and we won't let an enemy who wants to destroy our way of life, who wants us not to be the beacon of hope, the lighthouse for liberty and freedom. That's what this fight is about" 1.17 5. MV U.S. SAILORS AND MARINES LISTENING (2 SHOTS) 1.25 6. SOUNDBITE (English) CLARK SAYING "And my message too is this: we don't know the future and I don't know how to predict the future. But I know this: I was just given the order last week to get another 15 ships underway. And they're loading marines. Go figure" 1.47 7. SLV U.S. SAILORS AND MARINES APPLAUDING; SLV U.S. SAILORS AND MARINES ON DECK WITH EQUIPMENT; SLV FIGHTER JET TAKING OFF (5 SHOTS) 2.21 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AT SEA, OFF BAHRAIN
  • Country: AT SEA
  • Reuters ID: LVAEPA039KNAMJEA5JKKTWO3JWGC
  • Story Text: The U.S. navy's top admiral has told sailors in the
    Gulf to be ready to write a new chapter in history and vowed
    to use overwhelming force in any war against Iraq.

    Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark arrived
    on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Constellation on Friday
    (January 17, 2003) and told U.S. marines the navy was better
    prepared now than at any time in its history and would display
    a new level of warfare against Iraq.

    The Constellation and its battle group are stationed in
    the Gulf to support patrols in a no-fly zone imposed on
    southern Iraq after a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi troops
    out of Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War.

    The ships would be on the front-line if U.S President
    George Bush orders an attack on Baghdad, which he accuses of
    developing weapons of mass destruction.

    "If the call comes and if the president says "do this"...

    then do this," said Clark, standing under a wall painting of
    an eagle weeping over the burning twin towers of New York's
    World Trade Center, which were destroyed in the September 11
    attacks in 2001.

    "Hit fast, hit hard, hit with precision. Show the world a
    new kind of, an even greater of capability than they've ever
    seen before", he told a cheering crowd in the huge hangar bay
    below the flight deck.

    Clark declined to answer a question from a sailor about
    how long a war against Iraq might last, but said the navy was
    ready.

    "I was just given the order the other week to get another
    15 ships under way and they're loading marines," he said.

    There are currently 5,500 sailors and marines on the
    Constellation.


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