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CNN Live Sunday
More Missile Attacks Will Come, Says Rumsfeld
Aired November 02, 2003 - 16:06 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says tragic days such as today are necessary in a long hard war in Iraq. Let's bring in Pentagon correspondent Chris Plante. Chris, some might say that the defense secretary was sounding a little cavalier there. Is he being dismissive or merely realistic?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've been trying to get the message across for quite some time now that this is going to be a long, hard slog as Secretary Rumsfeld said in his now famous memo from a couple of weeks ago. The expectation is that this conflict is going to continue on this level for quite some time, and today's attack is a pretty good example.
We so far have, cord together latest information 16 dead and 20 wounded in this attack on two U.S. army chinook helicopters, the chinook is the army's primary troop transport helicopter.
The helicopter that went down was loaded with 36 troops, the maximum load for that helicopter. They were headed from Fallujah, where there is has been a good deal of unrest to the Baghdad airport. These troops were headed out for some R&R, some to the United States and some a neighboring Arab country for some rest and relaxation after a long term in Iraq.
We are told now that troops that were killed and wounded come from bases including Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, Ft. Carson, Colorado, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and Ft. Hood, texas. Donald Rumsfeld made the round of the talk shows today where he said this is going to continue to be a problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We've known about surface- to-air missiles since before we went in. So, there's nothing new there. They're dangerous and they exist in that country in large numbers as they do in that part of the world. It's always a risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLANTE: Senator Joe Biden, sometimes a critic of the administration and the performance in Iraq. had a few choice words today. He wanted to know why these ammo depots where the weapons may have come from aren't more heavily guarded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) DELAWARE: There's still another 600,000 tons of ammunition in these dumps, according to General Abizaid, stashed all over the country, and they're not being guarded. And it goes back to the original question. I mean, if we didn't need any more forces in there, why are we able to guard these dumps?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLANTE: Everyone seems to agree on one thing, that there are thousands of these surface-to-air missiles still in Iraq and the threat will remain. The expectation is we'll see more attacks like this one -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Chris Plante for us there at the Pentagon, 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 November 2, 2003 - 16:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says tragic days such as today are necessary in a long hard war in Iraq. Let's bring in Pentagon correspondent Chris Plante. Chris, some might say that the defense secretary was sounding a little cavalier there. Is he being dismissive or merely realistic?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've been trying to get the message across for quite some time now that this is going to be a long, hard slog as Secretary Rumsfeld said in his now famous memo from a couple of weeks ago. The expectation is that this conflict is going to continue on this level for quite some time, and today's attack is a pretty good example.
We so far have, cord together latest information 16 dead and 20 wounded in this attack on two U.S. army chinook helicopters, the chinook is the army's primary troop transport helicopter.
The helicopter that went down was loaded with 36 troops, the maximum load for that helicopter. They were headed from Fallujah, where there is has been a good deal of unrest to the Baghdad airport. These troops were headed out for some R&R, some to the United States and some a neighboring Arab country for some rest and relaxation after a long term in Iraq.
We are told now that troops that were killed and wounded come from bases including Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, Ft. Carson, Colorado, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and Ft. Hood, texas. Donald Rumsfeld made the round of the talk shows today where he said this is going to continue to be a problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We've known about surface- to-air missiles since before we went in. So, there's nothing new there. They're dangerous and they exist in that country in large numbers as they do in that part of the world. It's always a risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLANTE: Senator Joe Biden, sometimes a critic of the administration and the performance in Iraq. had a few choice words today. He wanted to know why these ammo depots where the weapons may have come from aren't more heavily guarded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) DELAWARE: There's still another 600,000 tons of ammunition in these dumps, according to General Abizaid, stashed all over the country, and they're not being guarded. And it goes back to the original question. I mean, if we didn't need any more forces in there, why are we able to guard these dumps?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLANTE: Everyone seems to agree on one thing, that there are thousands of these surface-to-air missiles still in Iraq and the threat will remain. The expectation is we'll see more attacks like this one -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Chris Plante for us there at the Pentagon, 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
