Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

At Least 10 U.S. Soldiers Wounded in Iraq

Aired July 03, 2003 - 07:31   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least 10 U.S. soldiers were wounded today in Iraq, just one day after President Bush said those looking to harm American troops, "to them, my answer is bring 'em on," his words.
Jane Arraf is in Baghdad now and has more for us -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the aftermath of one of those attacks almost as disturbing as the attack itself. Now, as mentioned, this was an attack on an armored vehicle in a main Baghdad street. It went off early this morning about 10:00 a.m. this morning, just as the Iraq Museum was opening in a high profile brief opening. And after the attack, which was a rocket propelled grenade fired from the sunroof of a vehicle, the second type of this kind of attack in a week, three soldiers were wounded, as you mentioned. They fired into the crowd at the attackers and the driver of another car was killed, according to bystanders.

The startling thing for many people was that as that vehicle lay disabled, Iraqis in the crowd were jumping and jubilation, kicking it and apparently celebrating that it had been successfully attacked, an indication of some of the sentiment in the streets.

In other attacks, there were other soldiers wounded, as well, six of them wounded in the town of Ramadi, which has had sporadic and almost constant, in a sense, unrest. That place is still tense, the feeling there. We're hearing helicopters right now, an indication that the search is on, surveillance helicopters for potential attackers.

The feeling in Baghdad and in places like Ramadi and in other places that this is just not going away any time soon -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jane, have you had a chance to ask many military folks there what they thought about the president's comments to bring 'em on?

ARRAF: That's a really -- we do. We talk to them all the time because they're everywhere. We talk to them in the street, we talk to them when they're guarding buildings and it's quite poignant, a lot of the conversations, because they're a very long way from home. Some of them have just been sent here and they've been told they will be here for a year.

This is foreign. It's potentially dangerous and it's a very difficult place to be a soldier. Despite that, regarding President Bush's comments, they do feel like they're hereon a mission. It's just, it seems as if, to a lot of them, that the mission has changed. Those who have been here a long time have certainly felt the change in mood, from people who really welcomed them and saw them as liberators to the change where there is a significant part of the population, it seems, that are really afraid to have them here and see them as an occupying force more than ever -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jane Arraf, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

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 July 3, 2003 - 07:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least 10 U.S. soldiers were wounded today in Iraq, just one day after President Bush said those looking to harm American troops, "to them, my answer is bring 'em on," his words.
Jane Arraf is in Baghdad now and has more for us -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the aftermath of one of those attacks almost as disturbing as the attack itself. Now, as mentioned, this was an attack on an armored vehicle in a main Baghdad street. It went off early this morning about 10:00 a.m. this morning, just as the Iraq Museum was opening in a high profile brief opening. And after the attack, which was a rocket propelled grenade fired from the sunroof of a vehicle, the second type of this kind of attack in a week, three soldiers were wounded, as you mentioned. They fired into the crowd at the attackers and the driver of another car was killed, according to bystanders.

The startling thing for many people was that as that vehicle lay disabled, Iraqis in the crowd were jumping and jubilation, kicking it and apparently celebrating that it had been successfully attacked, an indication of some of the sentiment in the streets.

In other attacks, there were other soldiers wounded, as well, six of them wounded in the town of Ramadi, which has had sporadic and almost constant, in a sense, unrest. That place is still tense, the feeling there. We're hearing helicopters right now, an indication that the search is on, surveillance helicopters for potential attackers.

The feeling in Baghdad and in places like Ramadi and in other places that this is just not going away any time soon -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jane, have you had a chance to ask many military folks there what they thought about the president's comments to bring 'em on?

ARRAF: That's a really -- we do. We talk to them all the time because they're everywhere. We talk to them in the street, we talk to them when they're guarding buildings and it's quite poignant, a lot of the conversations, because they're a very long way from home. Some of them have just been sent here and they've been told they will be here for a year.

This is foreign. It's potentially dangerous and it's a very difficult place to be a soldier. Despite that, regarding President Bush's comments, they do feel like they're hereon a mission. It's just, it seems as if, to a lot of them, that the mission has changed. Those who have been here a long time have certainly felt the change in mood, from people who really welcomed them and saw them as liberators to the change where there is a significant part of the population, it seems, that are really afraid to have them here and see them as an occupying force more than ever -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jane Arraf, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

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