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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Troops on High Alert After Downing of Transport

Aired November 03, 2003 - 05:31   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: It is the day after in Iraq. U.S. troops on high alert after the downing of that transport chopper.
To Baghdad now and CNN's Matthew Chance for a check on the mood of Iraqis and U.S. troops -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, thank you.

And investigations are continuing into what it was that brought down this U.S. Chinook transport helicopter. Eyewitnesses say a surface to air missile was fired at the helicopter as it ferried U.S. troops to the Baghdad International Airport from where they were planning to leave the country to go on some R&R, some leave outside of the country. We know that at least 16 U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack. Another 20 were injured, making it the bloodiest against U.S. forces certainly since President Bush declared an end to combat operations in this country six months ago.

U.S. officials, as you might expect, have, of course, condemned the killings, but also said they will not be deterred. Paul Bremmer is the chief U.S. administrator here in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: The enemies of freedom in this country will stop at nothing. And now this week, which started with killing lots of Iraqis, has ended with killing Americans. And we've mingled our blood together on this war on terrorism. And as you just said, we're not going to be deterred. We're going to win this war and we're going to win it right here in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: But this latest attack, coupled, of course, with the other attacks against the U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians that we've witnessed here over recent months and recent weeks, paints a very alarming picture of just how intense this insurgency here has become -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was also wondering about the mood on the ground, because we were talking to General Sheppard yesterday. He says sometimes such incidents, you know, makes the morale go down. But other times it makes troops ever more angry.

CHANCE: Well, I don't think it will have helped troop morale. Remember, a lot of these U.S. forces personnel have been deployed on the ground here for many, many months and are very anxious to get home. Indeed, this helicopter was ferrying some of them under a new U.S. program to rotate the troops through to get some leave outside of the country. It was ferrying them to the airport so they could do that.

So this is going to be something of a blow to many people who had hoped they would be taking that same route out of the country.

As for the mood of ordinary Iraqis, well, this just adds to their growing sense of instability and insecurity in their country.

COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Baghdad this morning.

President Bush has yet to deliver a public reaction to the chopper attack, but White House Spokesman Trent Duffy did release a statement. Here's part of it.

He says, "The only way to win the war on terror is to take the fight to the enemy. We mourn the loss of all our brave men and women in the military and elsewhere who pay the ultimate sacrifice to make the world safe and better."

Now, the type of helicopter that was downed is a warhorse for the Army. The Chinook's primary function is to transport troops and other equipment on the battlefield. It's manned by a crew of two and can reach speeds of 196 miles per hour. Its normal cruising speed is 150 miles per hour, so it's a pretty slow moving vehicle.

U.S. troops who did return from Iraq for R&R reacted to the news of their comrades' deaths.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more for you from Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Several hundred U.S. soldiers never expected to start off their vacation by walking off a plane only to year that some of their comrades also on their way home were killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see on the news where a helicopter coming home on R&R gets hit by an air missile from an Iraqi and a bunch of our soldiers are dead and a bunch of them are wounded and it's just, it's, it stinks.

LAVANDERA: These soldiers say the only way to deal with this kind of pain is to remember those that have died and to stay focused is the only way to keep morale high.

PFC JEREMIAH FLETCHER, U.S. ARMY: And all this green. I'm taking the trees in.

LAVANDERA: Private First Class Jeremiah Fletcher has had two close friends die in Baghdad. The war is taking its toll on him. FLETCHER: We saw it all pretty hard. You know, we've got to keep going because, I mean if you don't, if you, you know, become lackadaisical, then that could happen to you. So you've got to swallow it like a horse pill, I guess, and just keep going.

LAVANDERA: Many soldiers say life in Baghdad is stressful. They know they're targets every moment of the day. But some soldiers, like Sergeant Alexandria Mayfield, say the violence against American forces is changing.

SGT. ALEXANDRIA MAYFIELD, U.S. ARMY: In the beginning, it was very hostile. In so many words it's not as hostile, but it's more violent. When things happen, the events are more catastrophic and more violent.

LAVANDERA (on camera): News reports of U.S. soldiers dying in action move rather quickly through the ranks. That's one of the reasons these soldiers are so grateful to be home. Even if it is just for 15 days, it's a chance to block out the kind of news that reminds them just how dangerous their job still is.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And the Pentagon says the victims of the chopper crash were from four bases -- Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Phil, Oklahoma; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The incident marks the deadliest day for U.S. troops since President Bush announced the end of major combat on May 1.

Now, since the beginning of May, 241 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, from either hostile or non-hostile action.

Well, could the downing of the Chinook be a new phase in the Iraq conflict? You can view a report on that plus other angles of the attack on our Web site, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

And some of those questions we're going to explore right now with our senior international editor, David Clinch.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Was this really a sophisticated attack? Because it was sophisticated in its simplicity, perhaps.

CLINCH: Right. Well, still, obviously, the key point there is that it has not yet been officially confirmed that it was a shoulder held or surface to air missile. We're waiting to hear on that. There certainly are indications that it was. And in some ways, we talk about this a lot in terms of terrorism. It's the threat, in some ways, that counts, in many ways, more than the fact. I mean even if we never find out for sure whether this was a shoulder to air missile, just the threat that that level of sophistication could have been achieved, particularly when you put it in the context -- and there's some loose dots that we're joining here. But still, the groups advertised the fact that they were going to attack Americans in a sophisticated way in those two days, Saturday and Sunday...

COSTELLO: And wasn't there a warning about shooting planes in the air?

CLINCH: Absolutely. And that attack happened. Now, of course, we don't know that that attack was part of these days of rage. But, again, the threat, the threat of that level of sophistication is something the U.S. military is taking into account now in terms of how it goes about its business on the ground and in the air in Iraq.

Another aspect of the story that I thought was very interesting over the weekend, listening to L. Paul Bremer, who was reacting to those attacks, but also talking about the wider story, not shy at all at talking to CNN over the weekend about Syria, in particular Syria, but also Iran, in his words, "allowing terrorists to come across the border into Iraq."

Now, interestingly, at almost the same time, Syria and a group of other neighboring countries were meeting in Damascus, discussing regional issues, saying relatively sympathetic things about the new administration in Iraq, the U.S. appointed coalition there.

But, curiously, they had a different view. In their view, the danger was that the terrorism that's currently going on in Iraq might spill over into their countries, into Syria and Iran. Now, that's one way of looking at...

COSTELLO: Well, but Iraq declined to attend that meeting, didn't it?

CLINCH: They did. They were very upset about the fact that they were very, in their view, very rudely only invited at the last minute. So they boycotted that meeting. But, again, the Syrians seeing it in a very different way, that they are afraid that it might spill into Syria. L. Paul Bremer fingering Syria and saying they are allowing terrorists to come across the border into Iraq.

COSTELLO: Was he taking focus off the idea that Saddam Hussein may be behind and coordinating these kinds of attacks?

CLINCH: Well, it's hard to keep up with that, isn't it?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CLINCH: I mean we're told in some ways that Saddam loyalists are coordinating with these al Qaeda. In other ways, we're told that they're coming in across the border and coordinating it themselves. Hard to keep up with. And we're trying to keep our eye on exactly what the administration is saying about who is behind these attacks.

Finally, I'll come back, I think, at six and talk a little bit more about this. But we are determined not to allow the victims of this attack and the victims every day, the U.S. victims, the American victims and Iraqi victims, for that matter, to just be treated as numbers. And in particular, these victims in the helicopter, we'll talk a little bit more about who these people were at 6:00 a.m. and throughout the day today.

COSTELLO: Yes, some really sad stories, really sad stories.

CLINCH: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Thank you, David.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: We look forward to 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 November 3, 2003 - 05:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is the day after in Iraq. U.S. troops on high alert after the downing of that transport chopper.
To Baghdad now and CNN's Matthew Chance for a check on the mood of Iraqis and U.S. troops -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, thank you.

And investigations are continuing into what it was that brought down this U.S. Chinook transport helicopter. Eyewitnesses say a surface to air missile was fired at the helicopter as it ferried U.S. troops to the Baghdad International Airport from where they were planning to leave the country to go on some R&R, some leave outside of the country. We know that at least 16 U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack. Another 20 were injured, making it the bloodiest against U.S. forces certainly since President Bush declared an end to combat operations in this country six months ago.

U.S. officials, as you might expect, have, of course, condemned the killings, but also said they will not be deterred. Paul Bremmer is the chief U.S. administrator here in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: The enemies of freedom in this country will stop at nothing. And now this week, which started with killing lots of Iraqis, has ended with killing Americans. And we've mingled our blood together on this war on terrorism. And as you just said, we're not going to be deterred. We're going to win this war and we're going to win it right here in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: But this latest attack, coupled, of course, with the other attacks against the U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians that we've witnessed here over recent months and recent weeks, paints a very alarming picture of just how intense this insurgency here has become -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was also wondering about the mood on the ground, because we were talking to General Sheppard yesterday. He says sometimes such incidents, you know, makes the morale go down. But other times it makes troops ever more angry.

CHANCE: Well, I don't think it will have helped troop morale. Remember, a lot of these U.S. forces personnel have been deployed on the ground here for many, many months and are very anxious to get home. Indeed, this helicopter was ferrying some of them under a new U.S. program to rotate the troops through to get some leave outside of the country. It was ferrying them to the airport so they could do that.

So this is going to be something of a blow to many people who had hoped they would be taking that same route out of the country.

As for the mood of ordinary Iraqis, well, this just adds to their growing sense of instability and insecurity in their country.

COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Baghdad this morning.

President Bush has yet to deliver a public reaction to the chopper attack, but White House Spokesman Trent Duffy did release a statement. Here's part of it.

He says, "The only way to win the war on terror is to take the fight to the enemy. We mourn the loss of all our brave men and women in the military and elsewhere who pay the ultimate sacrifice to make the world safe and better."

Now, the type of helicopter that was downed is a warhorse for the Army. The Chinook's primary function is to transport troops and other equipment on the battlefield. It's manned by a crew of two and can reach speeds of 196 miles per hour. Its normal cruising speed is 150 miles per hour, so it's a pretty slow moving vehicle.

U.S. troops who did return from Iraq for R&R reacted to the news of their comrades' deaths.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more for you from Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Several hundred U.S. soldiers never expected to start off their vacation by walking off a plane only to year that some of their comrades also on their way home were killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see on the news where a helicopter coming home on R&R gets hit by an air missile from an Iraqi and a bunch of our soldiers are dead and a bunch of them are wounded and it's just, it's, it stinks.

LAVANDERA: These soldiers say the only way to deal with this kind of pain is to remember those that have died and to stay focused is the only way to keep morale high.

PFC JEREMIAH FLETCHER, U.S. ARMY: And all this green. I'm taking the trees in.

LAVANDERA: Private First Class Jeremiah Fletcher has had two close friends die in Baghdad. The war is taking its toll on him. FLETCHER: We saw it all pretty hard. You know, we've got to keep going because, I mean if you don't, if you, you know, become lackadaisical, then that could happen to you. So you've got to swallow it like a horse pill, I guess, and just keep going.

LAVANDERA: Many soldiers say life in Baghdad is stressful. They know they're targets every moment of the day. But some soldiers, like Sergeant Alexandria Mayfield, say the violence against American forces is changing.

SGT. ALEXANDRIA MAYFIELD, U.S. ARMY: In the beginning, it was very hostile. In so many words it's not as hostile, but it's more violent. When things happen, the events are more catastrophic and more violent.

LAVANDERA (on camera): News reports of U.S. soldiers dying in action move rather quickly through the ranks. That's one of the reasons these soldiers are so grateful to be home. Even if it is just for 15 days, it's a chance to block out the kind of news that reminds them just how dangerous their job still is.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And the Pentagon says the victims of the chopper crash were from four bases -- Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Phil, Oklahoma; Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The incident marks the deadliest day for U.S. troops since President Bush announced the end of major combat on May 1.

Now, since the beginning of May, 241 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, from either hostile or non-hostile action.

Well, could the downing of the Chinook be a new phase in the Iraq conflict? You can view a report on that plus other angles of the attack on our Web site, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

And some of those questions we're going to explore right now with our senior international editor, David Clinch.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Was this really a sophisticated attack? Because it was sophisticated in its simplicity, perhaps.

CLINCH: Right. Well, still, obviously, the key point there is that it has not yet been officially confirmed that it was a shoulder held or surface to air missile. We're waiting to hear on that. There certainly are indications that it was. And in some ways, we talk about this a lot in terms of terrorism. It's the threat, in some ways, that counts, in many ways, more than the fact. I mean even if we never find out for sure whether this was a shoulder to air missile, just the threat that that level of sophistication could have been achieved, particularly when you put it in the context -- and there's some loose dots that we're joining here. But still, the groups advertised the fact that they were going to attack Americans in a sophisticated way in those two days, Saturday and Sunday...

COSTELLO: And wasn't there a warning about shooting planes in the air?

CLINCH: Absolutely. And that attack happened. Now, of course, we don't know that that attack was part of these days of rage. But, again, the threat, the threat of that level of sophistication is something the U.S. military is taking into account now in terms of how it goes about its business on the ground and in the air in Iraq.

Another aspect of the story that I thought was very interesting over the weekend, listening to L. Paul Bremer, who was reacting to those attacks, but also talking about the wider story, not shy at all at talking to CNN over the weekend about Syria, in particular Syria, but also Iran, in his words, "allowing terrorists to come across the border into Iraq."

Now, interestingly, at almost the same time, Syria and a group of other neighboring countries were meeting in Damascus, discussing regional issues, saying relatively sympathetic things about the new administration in Iraq, the U.S. appointed coalition there.

But, curiously, they had a different view. In their view, the danger was that the terrorism that's currently going on in Iraq might spill over into their countries, into Syria and Iran. Now, that's one way of looking at...

COSTELLO: Well, but Iraq declined to attend that meeting, didn't it?

CLINCH: They did. They were very upset about the fact that they were very, in their view, very rudely only invited at the last minute. So they boycotted that meeting. But, again, the Syrians seeing it in a very different way, that they are afraid that it might spill into Syria. L. Paul Bremer fingering Syria and saying they are allowing terrorists to come across the border into Iraq.

COSTELLO: Was he taking focus off the idea that Saddam Hussein may be behind and coordinating these kinds of attacks?

CLINCH: Well, it's hard to keep up with that, isn't it?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CLINCH: I mean we're told in some ways that Saddam loyalists are coordinating with these al Qaeda. In other ways, we're told that they're coming in across the border and coordinating it themselves. Hard to keep up with. And we're trying to keep our eye on exactly what the administration is saying about who is behind these attacks.

Finally, I'll come back, I think, at six and talk a little bit more about this. But we are determined not to allow the victims of this attack and the victims every day, the U.S. victims, the American victims and Iraqi victims, for that matter, to just be treated as numbers. And in particular, these victims in the helicopter, we'll talk a little bit more about who these people were at 6:00 a.m. and throughout the day today.

COSTELLO: Yes, some really sad stories, really sad stories.

CLINCH: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Thank you, David.

CLINCH: OK.

COSTELLO: We look forward to 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