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CNN Live At Daybreak
Lessons From Israel
Aired April 05, 2003 - 05:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the tactics used in this war look very similar to those used in the 30-month-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
CNN's Kelly Wallace explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are not images from the U.S. led war with Iraq but from the now two and a half year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Long before the American military moved into Iraq cities, it got some advice from Israel.
Sources say the Americans were particularly interested in Israel's experiences in urban warfare in the West Bank and the Gaza (ph) strip, its use of helicopters and bulldozers in densely populated Palestinian areas and its defense against suicide bombers.
Martin Van Creveld, an Israeli professor of military history, briefed Marine Corps officers at Camp Lejune, North Carolina in September and warned they could face the same ethical challenges Israelis have been facing fighting in urban areas surrounded by civilians.
MARTIN VAN CREVELD, PROFESSOR OF MILITARY HISTORY, HEBREW UNIVERSITY: What I told them basically, this is going to be your most important problem by far. Try and make sure that when you can come back you can still look at yourselves in the mirror.
WALLACE: Van Creveld says the military tactics in the Iraq war are unmistakably similar to those used by Israeli forces, soldiers storming crowded neighborhoods looking for wanted men ,inevitably innocence too being foot under the gun and soldiers demanding I.D.s and searching cars of every civilian on the lookout for any would-be suicide bombers. Uncertainty sometimes with deadly consequences.
American soldiers in Iraq on edge after a nearby suicide bombing killed four of their own, fired on a car that did not stop at a checkpoint, killing seven Iraqi civilians, including children.
(on camera): Israeli officials are tight-lipped about whether they are providing any help to the Americans now. As U.S. and British forces set up checkpoints of their own in Iraq to deal with suicide bombing attacks Israelis say they are all too familiar with.
(voice-over): The parallels are not limited to the Israelis. Suicide bombings used by radical Palestinian groups against Israel are now being used by Iraqi fighters against the overwhelmingly stronger high tech coalition army.
MAHDI ABDUL-HADI, PALESTINIAN ACADEMIC SOCIETY: The martyrs and the sacrifices in Palestine was a clear message to the whole war, not only to the Iraqis, that this has been a strong tool to bring fear to the enemy and to cripple their movement and their actions.
WALLACE: The political circumstances of each war may be different, but the tactics are strikingly similar. One Middle East conflict with lessons for another.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 5, 2003 - 05:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the tactics used in this war look very similar to those used in the 30-month-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
CNN's Kelly Wallace explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are not images from the U.S. led war with Iraq but from the now two and a half year old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Long before the American military moved into Iraq cities, it got some advice from Israel.
Sources say the Americans were particularly interested in Israel's experiences in urban warfare in the West Bank and the Gaza (ph) strip, its use of helicopters and bulldozers in densely populated Palestinian areas and its defense against suicide bombers.
Martin Van Creveld, an Israeli professor of military history, briefed Marine Corps officers at Camp Lejune, North Carolina in September and warned they could face the same ethical challenges Israelis have been facing fighting in urban areas surrounded by civilians.
MARTIN VAN CREVELD, PROFESSOR OF MILITARY HISTORY, HEBREW UNIVERSITY: What I told them basically, this is going to be your most important problem by far. Try and make sure that when you can come back you can still look at yourselves in the mirror.
WALLACE: Van Creveld says the military tactics in the Iraq war are unmistakably similar to those used by Israeli forces, soldiers storming crowded neighborhoods looking for wanted men ,inevitably innocence too being foot under the gun and soldiers demanding I.D.s and searching cars of every civilian on the lookout for any would-be suicide bombers. Uncertainty sometimes with deadly consequences.
American soldiers in Iraq on edge after a nearby suicide bombing killed four of their own, fired on a car that did not stop at a checkpoint, killing seven Iraqi civilians, including children.
(on camera): Israeli officials are tight-lipped about whether they are providing any help to the Americans now. As U.S. and British forces set up checkpoints of their own in Iraq to deal with suicide bombing attacks Israelis say they are all too familiar with.
(voice-over): The parallels are not limited to the Israelis. Suicide bombings used by radical Palestinian groups against Israel are now being used by Iraqi fighters against the overwhelmingly stronger high tech coalition army.
MAHDI ABDUL-HADI, PALESTINIAN ACADEMIC SOCIETY: The martyrs and the sacrifices in Palestine was a clear message to the whole war, not only to the Iraqis, that this has been a strong tool to bring fear to the enemy and to cripple their movement and their actions.
WALLACE: The political circumstances of each war may be different, but the tactics are strikingly similar. One Middle East conflict with lessons for another.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
