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U.S. Plans to Put Several Thousand More Soldiers on Ground in Baghdad

Aired April 29, 2003 - 11:18   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the U.S. plans to put several thousand more soldiers on the ground in Baghdad to curb lawlessness there.
CNN's Jim Clancy is in the Iraqi capital. Let's check in with him to get the very latest right now.

Hello, Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Leon.

Well, you're right, 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. troops are going to be added to forces already on the ground here. Many of those are going to be military policemen, we are told. I sat and down talked to the commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division today. He told me security remains job priority number one for them. He's got 20,000 troops. He's in control of all sectors of the city, everyone. He's got people on the ground.

I have talked to some of those men on the ground. They say things are going relatively well. They're getting a lot of assistance from Iraqi civilians, in helping to capture looters. But it's a problem that keeps recurring. They say that as utilities come back online, as the situation continues to improve, they expect the problem to gradually fade away. But they're trying to put some muscle into it now. They're protecting 150 different sites around the city, everything from the museums to banks to schools and hospitals, trying to get people a sense of that security.

Still, though, not completely succeeding. Now, outside the military headquarters, even while we were there, there was a demonstration, this in favor of the self-declared mayor, Mohammed Mossan Ali Zubaidi (ph). Two of the demonstrators wrestled to the ground and put in hand toughs. Their boss, the man that they were rallying to support, the self-declared mayor, is already in the custody of U.S. forces.

General Blount (ph) telling me that that was because he was usurping power. He was trying to nominate people to ministries. He was appointing people. He was promising paychecks that haven't come through. We understand many people are angry with him. Some accused him of appointing former top Baath Party officials. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this man. He's a man that the Iraqi National Congress says used to work for him, used to be in the intelligence branch, ran an intelligence network, getting some people out of Iraq. At the same time, some of those people could have been the source for information at the beginning of this conflict about weapons of mass destruction.

Back to you, Leon.

HARRIS: All right, thank you, Jim. Jim Clancy, reporting live for us from Baghdad. We'll see you soon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




in Baghdad>


Aired April 29, 2003 - 11:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the U.S. plans to put several thousand more soldiers on the ground in Baghdad to curb lawlessness there.
CNN's Jim Clancy is in the Iraqi capital. Let's check in with him to get the very latest right now.

Hello, Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Leon.

Well, you're right, 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. troops are going to be added to forces already on the ground here. Many of those are going to be military policemen, we are told. I sat and down talked to the commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division today. He told me security remains job priority number one for them. He's got 20,000 troops. He's in control of all sectors of the city, everyone. He's got people on the ground.

I have talked to some of those men on the ground. They say things are going relatively well. They're getting a lot of assistance from Iraqi civilians, in helping to capture looters. But it's a problem that keeps recurring. They say that as utilities come back online, as the situation continues to improve, they expect the problem to gradually fade away. But they're trying to put some muscle into it now. They're protecting 150 different sites around the city, everything from the museums to banks to schools and hospitals, trying to get people a sense of that security.

Still, though, not completely succeeding. Now, outside the military headquarters, even while we were there, there was a demonstration, this in favor of the self-declared mayor, Mohammed Mossan Ali Zubaidi (ph). Two of the demonstrators wrestled to the ground and put in hand toughs. Their boss, the man that they were rallying to support, the self-declared mayor, is already in the custody of U.S. forces.

General Blount (ph) telling me that that was because he was usurping power. He was trying to nominate people to ministries. He was appointing people. He was promising paychecks that haven't come through. We understand many people are angry with him. Some accused him of appointing former top Baath Party officials. There's a lot of controversy surrounding this man. He's a man that the Iraqi National Congress says used to work for him, used to be in the intelligence branch, ran an intelligence network, getting some people out of Iraq. At the same time, some of those people could have been the source for information at the beginning of this conflict about weapons of mass destruction.

Back to you, Leon.

HARRIS: All right, thank you, Jim. Jim Clancy, reporting live for us from Baghdad. We'll see you soon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




in Baghdad>