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American Morning
Two More U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq
Aired August 22, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Iraq right now. The U.S. military is confirming this morning that two more American soldiers have been killed there.
Meanwhile, on the bombing investigation, "The New York Times" reports today that authorities are focusing on whether or not Iraqi security guards at that U.N. compound helped to assist the attackers.
Rym Brahimi more no all of this now live in Baghdad.
Rym -- hello there.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Bill.
Indeed, a lot of questions are raised at this stage. It's still early days, but some details are emerging, pieces that may be put together to form the complete puzzle much later in the investigation.
Some of these pieces, as you mentioned, the report in "The New York Times" saying that it could have been an inside job. And that, Bill, is because the office of Sergio de Mello, the U.N. special representative that died in the blast, was precisely -- was very, very accurately targeted, it seemed, by the truck that slammed into the building and exploded there.
And then, there are other questions that they'll be looking at. The truck that was used, a flatbed truck, allegations by Israel that it came from Syria. Syria strongly rejecting those allegations.
And then, there is this claim, a mysterious claim from an unknown group called the Armed Vanguard of the Second Army of Mohammed. Nobody has heard of that group, but they say they will continue to strike foreign targets here in Iraq.
Now, General Abizaid, who is the U.S. chief of Central Command, has said that terrorism poses the greatest threat to security in Iraq. The question is: Which terrorists? There are a lot of groups, a lot of attacks as well against U.S. soldiers.
We also know -- we don't know if that's related or not, but two U.S. soldiers died on Thursday. One of them who died, he was from the 1st Armored Division when a fire took place -- a fire erupted at a small-arms range, and six other soldiers were wounded in that fire. And another soldier died 100 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital in a town called Hillah -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi in Baghdad -- Rym, thanks for that. 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 22, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Iraq right now. The U.S. military is confirming this morning that two more American soldiers have been killed there.
Meanwhile, on the bombing investigation, "The New York Times" reports today that authorities are focusing on whether or not Iraqi security guards at that U.N. compound helped to assist the attackers.
Rym Brahimi more no all of this now live in Baghdad.
Rym -- hello there.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Bill.
Indeed, a lot of questions are raised at this stage. It's still early days, but some details are emerging, pieces that may be put together to form the complete puzzle much later in the investigation.
Some of these pieces, as you mentioned, the report in "The New York Times" saying that it could have been an inside job. And that, Bill, is because the office of Sergio de Mello, the U.N. special representative that died in the blast, was precisely -- was very, very accurately targeted, it seemed, by the truck that slammed into the building and exploded there.
And then, there are other questions that they'll be looking at. The truck that was used, a flatbed truck, allegations by Israel that it came from Syria. Syria strongly rejecting those allegations.
And then, there is this claim, a mysterious claim from an unknown group called the Armed Vanguard of the Second Army of Mohammed. Nobody has heard of that group, but they say they will continue to strike foreign targets here in Iraq.
Now, General Abizaid, who is the U.S. chief of Central Command, has said that terrorism poses the greatest threat to security in Iraq. The question is: Which terrorists? There are a lot of groups, a lot of attacks as well against U.S. soldiers.
We also know -- we don't know if that's related or not, but two U.S. soldiers died on Thursday. One of them who died, he was from the 1st Armored Division when a fire took place -- a fire erupted at a small-arms range, and six other soldiers were wounded in that fire. And another soldier died 100 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital in a town called Hillah -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi in Baghdad -- Rym, thanks for that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
