Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Special Forces Training Iraqi Force
Aired April 11, 2003 - 06:20 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to show you live pictures we're getting out of Sandhurst, England. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is addressing some young military officers at the Royal Military Academy, encouraging the young officers for the battles they might have to fight straight ahead. Of course, the British being part of the coalition forces that have been here in the Persian Gulf with the U.S. -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Daryn.
Back to Iraq now. Some crucial things are needed in a post-war Iraq, such as a well trained fighting force, not a gang of Saddam's supporters, but those who can keep the peace. Well, a force is already in the works.
And as CNN's Mike Boettcher shows us, the training comes from U.S. special forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nervous soldiers at a checkpoint. A common scene in this war. Two things here are different, however. Iraqis are manning the checkpoints and it's Americans being searched. At this makeshift training base in south central Iraq, a new army that calls itself the Free Iraqi Force, or FIF, is in the final stages of training supervised by U.S. special forces. In the checkpoint exercise, they got high marks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that all of your men have done it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excellent. Very good. Thank you.
BOETTCHER: Passing grades, too, at seizing a building and taking prisoners. And, according to a Green Berets officer assessing their abilities, they're pretty good marksmen, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are motivated and their leaders are clearly in control of their men.
BOETTCHER (on camera): The Free Iraqi Force says all they need now is a mission. And that, they are told, will come soon enough.
(voice-over): The FIF, composed of exiles and those who've been here all along, some ex-soldiers, others who've never worn a uniform, seem motivated and frustrated. Left out of the battle so far by coalition generals, they are anxious for a role before the war ends. The symbolism of Iraqis fighting on their own soil against the remaining forces of Saddam Hussein is not lost on American commanders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think that they are ready now and I just want to say let's go.
BOETTCHER: They are the seeds, proclaim FIF fighters, that will grow into a stabilizing force in a post-Saddam Iraq.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, with special operation forces in south central Iraq.
(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 11, 2003 - 06:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to show you live pictures we're getting out of Sandhurst, England. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is addressing some young military officers at the Royal Military Academy, encouraging the young officers for the battles they might have to fight straight ahead. Of course, the British being part of the coalition forces that have been here in the Persian Gulf with the U.S. -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Daryn.
Back to Iraq now. Some crucial things are needed in a post-war Iraq, such as a well trained fighting force, not a gang of Saddam's supporters, but those who can keep the peace. Well, a force is already in the works.
And as CNN's Mike Boettcher shows us, the training comes from U.S. special forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nervous soldiers at a checkpoint. A common scene in this war. Two things here are different, however. Iraqis are manning the checkpoints and it's Americans being searched. At this makeshift training base in south central Iraq, a new army that calls itself the Free Iraqi Force, or FIF, is in the final stages of training supervised by U.S. special forces. In the checkpoint exercise, they got high marks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that all of your men have done it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excellent. Very good. Thank you.
BOETTCHER: Passing grades, too, at seizing a building and taking prisoners. And, according to a Green Berets officer assessing their abilities, they're pretty good marksmen, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are motivated and their leaders are clearly in control of their men.
BOETTCHER (on camera): The Free Iraqi Force says all they need now is a mission. And that, they are told, will come soon enough.
(voice-over): The FIF, composed of exiles and those who've been here all along, some ex-soldiers, others who've never worn a uniform, seem motivated and frustrated. Left out of the battle so far by coalition generals, they are anxious for a role before the war ends. The symbolism of Iraqis fighting on their own soil against the remaining forces of Saddam Hussein is not lost on American commanders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think that they are ready now and I just want to say let's go.
BOETTCHER: They are the seeds, proclaim FIF fighters, that will grow into a stabilizing force in a post-Saddam Iraq.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, with special operation forces in south central Iraq.
(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
