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CNN Live At Daybreak
Tense Times for U.S. Troops in Iraq
Aired July 17, 2003 - 06:06 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: Let's find out what's going on with U.S. troops in Iraq this morning. Let's go live to Baghdad now and our Rym Brahimi.
Rym -- bring us up-to-date.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, as you probably know, this is the first year that the 35th anniversary of the coming to power of the Baath Party is not celebrated. That's because that anniversary was cancelled by Iraq's new governing council. But it's also a very, very tense day for U.S. forces.
Now, they've beefed up security at the convention center, where the coalition authority meets on a regular basis. They've increased the number of soldiers there, and that's because they were fearing that remnants of the previous Iraqi regime would actually try and launch some spectacular attack to mark this day when, again, 35 years ago the Baath Party came to power and never left until U.S. forces drove them out.
Now, just to give you an idea of the number of attacks that can occur in just 48 hours. Recent attacks include the killing of a U.S. soldier on Wednesday when his convoy was attacked. Three other soldiers were wounded. One U.S. Marine died falling off a roof. There's been great concern that the surface-to-air missile that was launched against a U.S. plane near the airport just about when the coalition was planning to open the airport to commercial flights. And at 2:00 a.m. this morning, there's a police station in the northwest of Baghdad that was attacked. U.S. troops are stationed there. No one was injured. But that just gives you an idea.
There is also violence against Iraqis. Just yesterday, the mayor of the town of Hadithah, which is not far from the Syrian border, and his son were found dead -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad this morning.
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 17, 2003 - 06:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's find out what's going on with U.S. troops in Iraq this morning. Let's go live to Baghdad now and our Rym Brahimi.
Rym -- bring us up-to-date.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, as you probably know, this is the first year that the 35th anniversary of the coming to power of the Baath Party is not celebrated. That's because that anniversary was cancelled by Iraq's new governing council. But it's also a very, very tense day for U.S. forces.
Now, they've beefed up security at the convention center, where the coalition authority meets on a regular basis. They've increased the number of soldiers there, and that's because they were fearing that remnants of the previous Iraqi regime would actually try and launch some spectacular attack to mark this day when, again, 35 years ago the Baath Party came to power and never left until U.S. forces drove them out.
Now, just to give you an idea of the number of attacks that can occur in just 48 hours. Recent attacks include the killing of a U.S. soldier on Wednesday when his convoy was attacked. Three other soldiers were wounded. One U.S. Marine died falling off a roof. There's been great concern that the surface-to-air missile that was launched against a U.S. plane near the airport just about when the coalition was planning to open the airport to commercial flights. And at 2:00 a.m. this morning, there's a police station in the northwest of Baghdad that was attacked. U.S. troops are stationed there. No one was injured. But that just gives you an idea.
There is also violence against Iraqis. Just yesterday, the mayor of the town of Hadithah, which is not far from the Syrian border, and his son were found dead -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
