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CNN Live At Daybreak
Last Few Days Especially Deadly in Iraq
Aired November 05, 2003 - 05:01 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: These last few days have been especially deadly for American soldiers in Iraq. The weekend downing of that Army transport chopper left 16 dead and 27 injured. Explosions rocked the tightly guarded green zone in central Baghdad Tuesday. The blast shook the grounds of Saddam Hussein's former palace, which serves as coalition headquarters. A 1st Armored Division soldier was killed, two others wounded.
We want to take you live to Baghdad for the latest. It's just after one o'clock in the afternoon there.
Joining us from Baghdad live, Matthew Chance -- hello, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, thank you.
And it seems that with every day there is another incident which further undermines the already fragile sense of security in this city. Last night, for the second night in a row, insurgents fired mortars or rockets into the heart of the U.S.-led administration in the Iraqi capital. The flames from that attack lit up the night skies over Baghdad. We know from the coalition that at least four people inside were injured.
The area targeted stands on the west side of the Tigris River and is known as the green zone. It's a vast and heavily guarded compound housing the former presidential palace of Saddam Hussein and other buildings that have now been taken over by the coalition. There doesn't appear to have been any significant damage inside that green zone. Troops patrolling outside say things inside are moving along, working as normal today.
But the very fact that the insurgents have been able to strike at this, at the heart of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq says a great deal about how confident and how able they've become -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is Paul Bremmer's offices within this compound that we're talking about, Matthew?
CHANCE: Yes, it is. The offices of the coalition headquarters, including the offices of Paul Bremmer are included in this compound, as well as the Al-Rasheed Hotel, which, as you may remember, was hit by rockets when Paul Wolfowitz was staying in that hotel a few days back. And it's also the place where the national convention center, it is where the coalition gives its regular press conferences. And this is supposed to be this very tightly guarded area, which was always tightly guarded under Saddam Hussein and is now tightly guarded, supposedly, under the coalition as well. So it really is an audacious attack on the heart of the coalition.
COSTELLO: All right, Matthew Chance reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning.
If you go to our Web site, you'll find a special report on Iraq and you could read about the rebuilding effort going on there. The address, cnn.com/world, AOL keyword: CNN.
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 5, 2003 - 05:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: These last few days have been especially deadly for American soldiers in Iraq. The weekend downing of that Army transport chopper left 16 dead and 27 injured. Explosions rocked the tightly guarded green zone in central Baghdad Tuesday. The blast shook the grounds of Saddam Hussein's former palace, which serves as coalition headquarters. A 1st Armored Division soldier was killed, two others wounded.
We want to take you live to Baghdad for the latest. It's just after one o'clock in the afternoon there.
Joining us from Baghdad live, Matthew Chance -- hello, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, thank you.
And it seems that with every day there is another incident which further undermines the already fragile sense of security in this city. Last night, for the second night in a row, insurgents fired mortars or rockets into the heart of the U.S.-led administration in the Iraqi capital. The flames from that attack lit up the night skies over Baghdad. We know from the coalition that at least four people inside were injured.
The area targeted stands on the west side of the Tigris River and is known as the green zone. It's a vast and heavily guarded compound housing the former presidential palace of Saddam Hussein and other buildings that have now been taken over by the coalition. There doesn't appear to have been any significant damage inside that green zone. Troops patrolling outside say things inside are moving along, working as normal today.
But the very fact that the insurgents have been able to strike at this, at the heart of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq says a great deal about how confident and how able they've become -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is Paul Bremmer's offices within this compound that we're talking about, Matthew?
CHANCE: Yes, it is. The offices of the coalition headquarters, including the offices of Paul Bremmer are included in this compound, as well as the Al-Rasheed Hotel, which, as you may remember, was hit by rockets when Paul Wolfowitz was staying in that hotel a few days back. And it's also the place where the national convention center, it is where the coalition gives its regular press conferences. And this is supposed to be this very tightly guarded area, which was always tightly guarded under Saddam Hussein and is now tightly guarded, supposedly, under the coalition as well. So it really is an audacious attack on the heart of the coalition.
COSTELLO: All right, Matthew Chance reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning.
If you go to our Web site, you'll find a special report on Iraq and you could read about the rebuilding effort going on there. The address, cnn.com/world, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
