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CNN Live Sunday
Rockets Fire At U.S. Occupied Baghdad Hotel Today
Aired October 26, 2003 - 16:08 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Two explosions rocked central Baghdad only hours after terrorists struck the Al-Rashid Hotel at the heart of the American presence in Iraq. They fired rockets at a hotel housing many American officials including Deputy Defense Secrety Paul Wolfowitz, who is there on a visit.
Our Jane Arraf is in Baghdad with the very latest. Jane, I understand just from listening to the press conferences earlier today, that Central Command does not believe the terrorists were deliberatly targeting Defense Secrety Wolfowitz.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Andrea. In fact, Brigadier General Martin Dempsey, who is the commander of the First Armored Brigade in charge of all of Baghdad essentially said, that because this took so long in the planning, this very carefully executed attack, possibly as long as two months, that it couldn't have been timed to the deputy defense secretary's visit.
In fact, he said, he thought it was more likely timed to the reopening of a bridge, a positive event yesterday, that officials said was attributable to better security, ironically, in the capital.
Now, Dempsey, at a press conference with reporters, gave a chilling account of the precision this attack was planned with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, FIRST ARMORED BRIGADE: The rockets were fired from approximately 400 meters away on a side street west of the hotel. They were fired from an improvised multiple rocket launch platform mounted in a gutted trailer made to look like a generator, a toed generator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: And not only that, it was set off by remote control. It was a timed detonation. The attackers had time to escape. They set it off by remote control and they also booby trapped it, which led to injuries of two Iraqi policeman.
Now, a U.S. Lieutenant Colonel was the fatality. He was killed in the Rashid Hotel attack this morning. He is among the highest ranking officers killed in this war. At least 17 other people injured, 11 of them Americans -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Jane, my understanding is the Al-Rashid Hotel is in one of the safest places in town, in terms in the amount of security that is around it. How then, can the U.S. military and Iraqi security guard against attacks like these that you just outlined there?
ARRAF: It's really very hard, particularly since they make a point of saying that they want to go out and interact with Iraqis. Now, there's not a lot of interaction. There's certainly far more with the military, rather ironically, than there is with coalition officials, with the civilians who tend to stay within, what they call, the green zone, which is a protected area that presumably included the Rashid Hotel.
But while they do have very stringent security in that area, it is very hard to approach, it's impossible to drive a car up and it's been reinforced for the possibility of car and truck bombs, it's still essentially in the center of the city.
Now, where the attacks took place, where the rockets were launched from, is a major intersection to avoid that kind of thing, because they were launched from 400 yards away. You really would have to close off even more of the city and that would defeat the purpose of what the U.S. says it's trying to do here -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: OK. Jane Arraf in Baghdad late on a Sunday evening. Thank you.
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 October 26, 2003 - 16:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Two explosions rocked central Baghdad only hours after terrorists struck the Al-Rashid Hotel at the heart of the American presence in Iraq. They fired rockets at a hotel housing many American officials including Deputy Defense Secrety Paul Wolfowitz, who is there on a visit.
Our Jane Arraf is in Baghdad with the very latest. Jane, I understand just from listening to the press conferences earlier today, that Central Command does not believe the terrorists were deliberatly targeting Defense Secrety Wolfowitz.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Andrea. In fact, Brigadier General Martin Dempsey, who is the commander of the First Armored Brigade in charge of all of Baghdad essentially said, that because this took so long in the planning, this very carefully executed attack, possibly as long as two months, that it couldn't have been timed to the deputy defense secretary's visit.
In fact, he said, he thought it was more likely timed to the reopening of a bridge, a positive event yesterday, that officials said was attributable to better security, ironically, in the capital.
Now, Dempsey, at a press conference with reporters, gave a chilling account of the precision this attack was planned with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, FIRST ARMORED BRIGADE: The rockets were fired from approximately 400 meters away on a side street west of the hotel. They were fired from an improvised multiple rocket launch platform mounted in a gutted trailer made to look like a generator, a toed generator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: And not only that, it was set off by remote control. It was a timed detonation. The attackers had time to escape. They set it off by remote control and they also booby trapped it, which led to injuries of two Iraqi policeman.
Now, a U.S. Lieutenant Colonel was the fatality. He was killed in the Rashid Hotel attack this morning. He is among the highest ranking officers killed in this war. At least 17 other people injured, 11 of them Americans -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Jane, my understanding is the Al-Rashid Hotel is in one of the safest places in town, in terms in the amount of security that is around it. How then, can the U.S. military and Iraqi security guard against attacks like these that you just outlined there?
ARRAF: It's really very hard, particularly since they make a point of saying that they want to go out and interact with Iraqis. Now, there's not a lot of interaction. There's certainly far more with the military, rather ironically, than there is with coalition officials, with the civilians who tend to stay within, what they call, the green zone, which is a protected area that presumably included the Rashid Hotel.
But while they do have very stringent security in that area, it is very hard to approach, it's impossible to drive a car up and it's been reinforced for the possibility of car and truck bombs, it's still essentially in the center of the city.
Now, where the attacks took place, where the rockets were launched from, is a major intersection to avoid that kind of thing, because they were launched from 400 yards away. You really would have to close off even more of the city and that would defeat the purpose of what the U.S. says it's trying to do here -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: OK. Jane Arraf in Baghdad late on a Sunday evening. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
