February 10, 1983 – CBS World News Roundup + Hourly News – Harry Reasoner Reports – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
February 10, 1983 – The Iran-Iraq War was heading into its 29th month, with no end in sight and a new series of Iranian attacks led observers to believe a major offensive was about to begin. Iraqi war planes attacked three Iranian cities on the Western Front; Abadan, Dezful and Afvaz. Abadan is a major refining center. This is the latest in what Iran called “The Final Offensive” an all-out drive which had chewed into a hundred square miles of disputed territory. Khomeini’s forces were apparently trying to break through the Iraqi garrison town of Alamala, some forty miles to the west, and cut the main north-south highway linkin Baghdad and the Southern port of Basra. The Iraqi high-command hasn’t released any new casualty figures since claiming some 7,000 Iranian dead a few days earlier. The latest communiqué would only say Iranian losses were “heavy” but refused to release figures of how many Iraqis were killed. Western observers in Baghadad and Iraqi commanders at the front believe Iran is yet to release the full brunt of the offensive. Fighting so far, they believe, had been designed to “soften-up” the Iraqi lines. A larger assault, some think, could come in the next 24 hours, marking the anniversary of Khomeini’s revolution.
The Israel cabinet met for the third day to decide what to do about the situation with Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and his sacking over responsibility for the Lebanese refugee killings. Publicly, Sharon insisted he wouldn’t give up, but privately Prime Minister Menachem Begin was hoping he would do just that; relent and go. It was a convoluted Political entanglement that held the future of the Begin government in suspense.
And vice-President George Bush was in London after his seven-nation tour European tour. His two objectives were assuring NATO allies that President Reagan was serious about arms reductions and to learn from NATO’s allies how much NATO must compromise in its negotiating position with the Soviet Union. During his latest press conference, Bush seemed confident he was able to accomplish both objectives. The vice-President was scheduled to return to Washington later in the day.
And that’s just a small slice of what happened, this February 10, 1983 as presented by The CBS WOrld News Roundup – hourly news reports and a report from Correspondent Harry Reasoner.
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