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CNN Live At Daybreak
Troops in Iraq Mark Veteran's Day
Aired November 11, 2003 - 06:04 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 Veteran's Day, a day to remember those who have served and who are serving. Today, President Bush will be there as a wreath is placed on the Tomb of the Unknowns, and then he'll talk about Iraq. Of course, that will take place in Washington.
We want to take you to Baghdad now and our Matthew Chance to see what the soldiers are doing there today.
Good morning -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And on this Veteran's Day, there is renewed focus on who is behind this apparently mounting insurgency against the U.S. and coalition forces on the ground in Iraq.
Now, as we know, there have been a number of theories about who is carrying out these almost daily attacks now against U.S. forces. Foreign fighters coming in from the very porous borders outside of Iraq to use this country as a platform to attack U.S. interests or disgruntled Iraqis, angry at the possibility -- the reality of their country being occupied by the U.S. and coalition forces or, of course, remnants of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Well, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez is the commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, and he's been telling reporters about how many arrests have been made and of those individuals, how many are believed to have been from al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: The total number of detainees that we have in our detention facilities is over 5,000. In terms of identifying specifically the links solidly to al Qaeda, we continue to work that. At one point, we had up to about 20 suspected al Qaeda members, but as we have continued to refine and interrogate, we have not been able to establish definitively that they were al Qaeda members.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Well, Veteran's Day, of course, has a great deal of meaning for the 130,000 or so U.S. troops deployed in this combat situation on the ground in Iraq. November has been a very difficult month for them. They've already lost 38 of their comrades to hostile fire so far this month. And it is, remember, only the 11th of the month, the bloodiest month so far since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations here on May the 1st.
And so, talking to some of the troops, there is a certain amount of apprehension about the possibility of this insurgency getting worse -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Matthew Chance 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 November 11, 2003 - 06:04 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 Veteran's Day, a day to remember those who have served and who are serving. Today, President Bush will be there as a wreath is placed on the Tomb of the Unknowns, and then he'll talk about Iraq. Of course, that will take place in Washington.
We want to take you to Baghdad now and our Matthew Chance to see what the soldiers are doing there today.
Good morning -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And on this Veteran's Day, there is renewed focus on who is behind this apparently mounting insurgency against the U.S. and coalition forces on the ground in Iraq.
Now, as we know, there have been a number of theories about who is carrying out these almost daily attacks now against U.S. forces. Foreign fighters coming in from the very porous borders outside of Iraq to use this country as a platform to attack U.S. interests or disgruntled Iraqis, angry at the possibility -- the reality of their country being occupied by the U.S. and coalition forces or, of course, remnants of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Well, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez is the commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, and he's been telling reporters about how many arrests have been made and of those individuals, how many are believed to have been from al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: The total number of detainees that we have in our detention facilities is over 5,000. In terms of identifying specifically the links solidly to al Qaeda, we continue to work that. At one point, we had up to about 20 suspected al Qaeda members, but as we have continued to refine and interrogate, we have not been able to establish definitively that they were al Qaeda members.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Well, Veteran's Day, of course, has a great deal of meaning for the 130,000 or so U.S. troops deployed in this combat situation on the ground in Iraq. November has been a very difficult month for them. They've already lost 38 of their comrades to hostile fire so far this month. And it is, remember, only the 11th of the month, the bloodiest month so far since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations here on May the 1st.
And so, talking to some of the troops, there is a certain amount of apprehension about the possibility of this insurgency getting worse -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Matthew Chance 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.
