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CNN Live At Daybreak
Raids in Tikrit Net Former Regime Loyalists
Aired August 04, 2003 - 06:07 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: We want to take you to Iraq now. Raids are still going on in Tikrit with no sign of Saddam Hussein. Those who live there are uncomfortable, to say the least, but U.S. troops are trying to take care of that.
Live to Baghdad now and Rym Brahimi.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Indeed, a lot of raids have been conducted, dozens in fact, in the past 24 hours, including this morning. In a raid conducted yesterday, the 4th Infantry Division that usually operates around Tikrit in the north, which is the hometown of President Saddam Hussein -- well, former President Saddam Hussein, rather -- they said that they captured some 26 people, two of them key mid-level officials from the formerly ruling Baath Party regime. They also seized a certain number of weapons.
Another group of U.S. troops, the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, they actually seized some 20 people, including one leader that they have been targeting, someone also a former loyalist from the formerly ruling Baath Party.
Basically, Carol, all of these raids are being conducted relentlessly, and part of it is indirectly, as you can imagine, trying to close in on Saddam Hussein. The goal -- the immediate goal basically is to deny him any safe houses, to deny him people who would help him, to deny him weapons or any money as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And now U.S. troops are trying something new, at least in Tikrit. I know they've been doing it in Fallujah. They're actually paying Iraqis, well, you know, if there is any damage to their homes or even if a family member is injured. Is that right?
BRAHIMI: Well, we understand that exactly. In Fallujah, they sort of have set up some sort of an unofficial system like that, and they seem to be doing on an ad-hoc basis something very similar in Tikrit, which is they will offer compensation in some cases for damage to property or personal loss or injury.
That said, if you talk to coalition authorities here, they say that they have a very different way of operating, and that normally basically the only claims that can be made with regard to that kind of damage or even a loss of life is if the soldiers have been found to be acting negligently or wrongfully. And that does not apply, they say, to combat situations, and they consider Iraq a low-level combat situation.
So, it's a very complicated process. Not many Iraqis know that they can apply for compensation. And even when they can, well, it's very much in the hands of the U.S. coalition authorities to decide whether they consider it combat or not.
A very famous case, Carol, was in Baghdad when at least three people got killed when the Task Force 20 were conducting a raid in a neighborhood, and these people just got killed because they drove a car in an area they didn't even know was cordoned off -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, those people wouldn't be compensated, is that what you're saying?
BRAHIMI: Well, what we're saying is for now it's up to the U.S. military to choose to decide that this was a combat situation, and they will decide that, for instance, they could very well say that these soldiers were acting in self-defense, they felt threatened by a car moving. I mean, who knows? Then they could very well say -- because they decide everything, they could very well say, well, we can't compensate you.
So, there are a lot of questions around that, and it seems that they're trying to refine this, but so far I don't think that there is a systematic process for compensation when people are killed. The same thing with checkpoints when people, you know, run checkpoints that they may not have seen is considered a combat situation, and the people don't get compensated, even when somebody has been killed by a U.S. soldier in that situation -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad.
And, of course, I meant to say the family members of the victims. But they will not be compensated, according to Rym Brahimi 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 August 4, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take you to Iraq now. Raids are still going on in Tikrit with no sign of Saddam Hussein. Those who live there are uncomfortable, to say the least, but U.S. troops are trying to take care of that.
Live to Baghdad now and Rym Brahimi.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Indeed, a lot of raids have been conducted, dozens in fact, in the past 24 hours, including this morning. In a raid conducted yesterday, the 4th Infantry Division that usually operates around Tikrit in the north, which is the hometown of President Saddam Hussein -- well, former President Saddam Hussein, rather -- they said that they captured some 26 people, two of them key mid-level officials from the formerly ruling Baath Party regime. They also seized a certain number of weapons.
Another group of U.S. troops, the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, they actually seized some 20 people, including one leader that they have been targeting, someone also a former loyalist from the formerly ruling Baath Party.
Basically, Carol, all of these raids are being conducted relentlessly, and part of it is indirectly, as you can imagine, trying to close in on Saddam Hussein. The goal -- the immediate goal basically is to deny him any safe houses, to deny him people who would help him, to deny him weapons or any money as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And now U.S. troops are trying something new, at least in Tikrit. I know they've been doing it in Fallujah. They're actually paying Iraqis, well, you know, if there is any damage to their homes or even if a family member is injured. Is that right?
BRAHIMI: Well, we understand that exactly. In Fallujah, they sort of have set up some sort of an unofficial system like that, and they seem to be doing on an ad-hoc basis something very similar in Tikrit, which is they will offer compensation in some cases for damage to property or personal loss or injury.
That said, if you talk to coalition authorities here, they say that they have a very different way of operating, and that normally basically the only claims that can be made with regard to that kind of damage or even a loss of life is if the soldiers have been found to be acting negligently or wrongfully. And that does not apply, they say, to combat situations, and they consider Iraq a low-level combat situation.
So, it's a very complicated process. Not many Iraqis know that they can apply for compensation. And even when they can, well, it's very much in the hands of the U.S. coalition authorities to decide whether they consider it combat or not.
A very famous case, Carol, was in Baghdad when at least three people got killed when the Task Force 20 were conducting a raid in a neighborhood, and these people just got killed because they drove a car in an area they didn't even know was cordoned off -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, those people wouldn't be compensated, is that what you're saying?
BRAHIMI: Well, what we're saying is for now it's up to the U.S. military to choose to decide that this was a combat situation, and they will decide that, for instance, they could very well say that these soldiers were acting in self-defense, they felt threatened by a car moving. I mean, who knows? Then they could very well say -- because they decide everything, they could very well say, well, we can't compensate you.
So, there are a lot of questions around that, and it seems that they're trying to refine this, but so far I don't think that there is a systematic process for compensation when people are killed. The same thing with checkpoints when people, you know, run checkpoints that they may not have seen is considered a combat situation, and the people don't get compensated, even when somebody has been killed by a U.S. soldier in that situation -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad.
And, of course, I meant to say the family members of the victims. But they will not be compensated, according to Rym Brahimi 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.
