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American Morning
Unrest in Iraq
Aired June 30, 2003 - 09:03 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With more now "Operation Sidewinder" in Iraq, we are going to our bureau chief in Baghdad, Jane Arraf, this morning.
Jane, good afternoon to you there.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Heidi.
The operation started yesterday and is open-ended. Officials say they will continue it until they successfully crackdown on what they call the nexus of opposition to U.S. forces here. And that opposition has centered in the areas north of Baghdad all the way up to the Iranian border. It includes the hometown of Saddam Hussein, Tikrit.
Now the high-tech force infantry division has been spearheading this operation. They've netted dozens of arrests, including an army colonel, who is a member of the Ba'ath Party, they say, as well as weapons. Not a significant amount of weapons, but operations continue, and it's aimed at getting Ba'ath Party loyalists and others who may or may not have been responsible for the continuing wave of attacks on U.S. and British forces. But they are trying to root out those problems in that main stronghold of continued support for Saddam Hussein -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jane, you know, with this new operation under way now, it brings up the question, certainly for the families at home, how much longer are U.S. forces expected to be in Iraq?
ARRAF: You know, that's the question that everyone's asking, all the way from top military officials to the soldiers that we see in the streets. And they, as you might imagine, are absolutely dying to go home. It is getting into the middle of summer here. It's extremely hot. It's still unstable, it's relatively dangerous in some places for these soldiers. All of that means they'll probably stay quite a while instead of being sent home. Some people are talking three to five years, some military officials, some politicians. Nobody thinks they're going home anytime soon. This has not been a situation where security is restored. And until security can be restored, this country can't be reconstructed. There is an awful lot of work left to do. And I think nobody now is under any illusions that the troops are going home soon -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jane Arraf, live this morning in Baghdad. Thank you, Jane.
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 June 30, 2003 - 09:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With more now "Operation Sidewinder" in Iraq, we are going to our bureau chief in Baghdad, Jane Arraf, this morning.
Jane, good afternoon to you there.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Heidi.
The operation started yesterday and is open-ended. Officials say they will continue it until they successfully crackdown on what they call the nexus of opposition to U.S. forces here. And that opposition has centered in the areas north of Baghdad all the way up to the Iranian border. It includes the hometown of Saddam Hussein, Tikrit.
Now the high-tech force infantry division has been spearheading this operation. They've netted dozens of arrests, including an army colonel, who is a member of the Ba'ath Party, they say, as well as weapons. Not a significant amount of weapons, but operations continue, and it's aimed at getting Ba'ath Party loyalists and others who may or may not have been responsible for the continuing wave of attacks on U.S. and British forces. But they are trying to root out those problems in that main stronghold of continued support for Saddam Hussein -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jane, you know, with this new operation under way now, it brings up the question, certainly for the families at home, how much longer are U.S. forces expected to be in Iraq?
ARRAF: You know, that's the question that everyone's asking, all the way from top military officials to the soldiers that we see in the streets. And they, as you might imagine, are absolutely dying to go home. It is getting into the middle of summer here. It's extremely hot. It's still unstable, it's relatively dangerous in some places for these soldiers. All of that means they'll probably stay quite a while instead of being sent home. Some people are talking three to five years, some military officials, some politicians. Nobody thinks they're going home anytime soon. This has not been a situation where security is restored. And until security can be restored, this country can't be reconstructed. There is an awful lot of work left to do. And I think nobody now is under any illusions that the troops are going home soon -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jane Arraf, live this morning in Baghdad. Thank you, Jane.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
