Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
138 U.S. Troops Have Died Since May 1 in Iraq
Aired August 26, 2003 - 06:31 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking all morning long about the number of deaths in Iraq. We have some new information for you right now. There have been raids going on in the northern part of that country.
Let's head live to Baghdad to see what's up with Rym Brahimi.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Indeed, a certain number of raids have been carried out, but let me just -- we were talking about the number of soldiers that were killed after the war was declared over, let's say, and during the war. That's 138. And almost half of them killed in hostile fire.
Now, the U.S. is saying that they have some dozen raids a day that are conducted against U.S. forces, and that's why they're also conducting these raids, to allow Iraq, they say, to be able to rebuild in a secure and safe environment.
Now, they conducted a major raid, apparently, in the past 24 hours around the area known as the Sunni triangle, a raid designed to find members of a criminal and guerrilla gang. Apparently, it's a gang that was well-known. The head of the gang was apparently in jail for many years until Saddam Hussein's regime released him under general amnesty last October -- October of last year.
Apparently, they were able to capture several people from that gang, and also confiscate a certain number of weapons.
But the security situation remains precarious. As you know, Carol, there has been these two massive bombings -- one of them at the Jordanian embassy four weeks ago, another one at the United Nations headquarters here in Baghdad a week ago. And people complain generally of crime all over the country, especially in Baghdad and in Basra in the south.
In addition to that, there are ethnic tensions. Several thousands of people actually marched in the streets of Baghdad yesterday, Shias demanding justice for tensions -- clashes that took place in the north of the country. Also asking why there wasn't enough security to prevent any explosion in the holy city of Najaf from taking place near the house of a Shiite cleric.
So, you can see there's a lot of security issues, and that raises a lot of questions as to how peace-building is maybe proving more difficult than winning the war was -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting 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 August 26, 2003 - 06:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking all morning long about the number of deaths in Iraq. We have some new information for you right now. There have been raids going on in the northern part of that country.
Let's head live to Baghdad to see what's up with Rym Brahimi.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Indeed, a certain number of raids have been carried out, but let me just -- we were talking about the number of soldiers that were killed after the war was declared over, let's say, and during the war. That's 138. And almost half of them killed in hostile fire.
Now, the U.S. is saying that they have some dozen raids a day that are conducted against U.S. forces, and that's why they're also conducting these raids, to allow Iraq, they say, to be able to rebuild in a secure and safe environment.
Now, they conducted a major raid, apparently, in the past 24 hours around the area known as the Sunni triangle, a raid designed to find members of a criminal and guerrilla gang. Apparently, it's a gang that was well-known. The head of the gang was apparently in jail for many years until Saddam Hussein's regime released him under general amnesty last October -- October of last year.
Apparently, they were able to capture several people from that gang, and also confiscate a certain number of weapons.
But the security situation remains precarious. As you know, Carol, there has been these two massive bombings -- one of them at the Jordanian embassy four weeks ago, another one at the United Nations headquarters here in Baghdad a week ago. And people complain generally of crime all over the country, especially in Baghdad and in Basra in the south.
In addition to that, there are ethnic tensions. Several thousands of people actually marched in the streets of Baghdad yesterday, Shias demanding justice for tensions -- clashes that took place in the north of the country. Also asking why there wasn't enough security to prevent any explosion in the holy city of Najaf from taking place near the house of a Shiite cleric.
So, you can see there's a lot of security issues, and that raises a lot of questions as to how peace-building is maybe proving more difficult than winning the war was -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting 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.
