Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Getting Tough on Insurgents in Iraq

Aired November 14, 2003 - 05:30   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: Getting tough on insurgents in Iraq, air patrols, more doors knocked down, tighter security, Operation Iron Hammer is going down right now.
Our Matthew Chance went on night patrol with the 2nd Airborne Calvary and he filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the skies, U.S. forces are bringing the fight to their attackers. Operation Iron Hammer is a mission to search and destroy suspected militants and to gather intelligence on their movements. Over the rooftops of Baghdad, our Black Hawk helicopter, equipped with night vision, follows a reconnaissance patrol. Amid the noise of the engines and the wind, we circled the city and watched.

(on camera): The purpose of Operation Iron Hammer is to crack down on the insurgents who have been carrying out increasing attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces. What we're looking for here is any kind of suspicious activity, people preparing to fire (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or rockets or plant the roadside bombs that have caused such terrible damage to the U.S. and the coalition forces in Baghdad.

So far tonight, we've seen nothing. But the insurgents are out there.

(voice-over): On the streets, U.S. troops check for weapons and explosives. In the latest U.S. raids, a former Republican Guard building was hit. Military officials say it was used by insurgents to plan attacks and to store weapons. Commanders say this latest operation is meant to show America's attackers its forces will strike back.

(on camera): Isn't there a danger that, you know, the Iraqi public could react negatively and, in fact, the level of resentment towards the U.S. forces could actually increase as a result of this?

LT. COL. ERIC NANCE, U.S. ARMY: Well, I'm sure that there is that possibility, sir. But we're very precise in the type of combat power that we apply. The clearance of fires, the mechanics that we've put in place for positive identification prior to engaging are all there to mitigate risk. And we're here to protect Iraqis and I think they will see that.

CHANCE (voice-over): By night, Baghdad appears lit by a million lights, a sign of progress in a city where electricity has been sporadic. But unless Operation Iron Hammer succeeds, security may remain in short supply.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we want to talk more now about our coverage of Iraq and Operation Iron Hammer.

Eli Flournoy has joined us from our international desk -- how difficult is this to cover?

ELI FLOURNOY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: This is difficult. We have a team still out with Operation Iron Hammer. We're out with them up on a helicopter looking out right now. So we're going to be expecting to get some more video from them on this operation as it goes on. It's an ongoing thing and we've got operations that are going on in other locations in Iraq where we have teams, as well.

COSTELLO: But there's more news coming out of Iraq, too, this morning.

FLOURNOY: That's right. Even as this operation is going on, more violence today. This time two U.S. soldiers were wounded with an IED attack in Baghdad, this unexploded device there in Baghdad. So we're getting more information about that. So far two soldiers wounded.

And, as I mentioned, we have a team also in Tikrit, where the raids are continuing and some arrests were made overnight. I think we have some video that's come in of overnight raids there where they are doing searches for the suspects in the Black Hawk down shooting that happened a few days ago.

COSTELLO: Do you think we'll ever get any real information about them? Because coalition forces have arrested a lot of people and then we never hear anything more.

FLOURNOY: Yes, it can take a long time for that process to go forward. They are going to get them in, they're going to question them. This is not, it's not an open and public forum for that, obviously. So we're pressing. We're trying to be there on the scene in as many situations as we can to get firsthand witness of the arrests that are made and any of the process that we can. So we're in multiple places in Iraq and we're trying to get that. But the coalition is going to be fairly secretive about the process.

COSTELLO: Very secretive.

Eli Flournoy, many thanks.

We appreciate it.

We've got the full picture of Operation Iron Hammer on our Web site. Log onto cnn.com, 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 14, 2003 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Getting tough on insurgents in Iraq, air patrols, more doors knocked down, tighter security, Operation Iron Hammer is going down right now.
Our Matthew Chance went on night patrol with the 2nd Airborne Calvary and he filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the skies, U.S. forces are bringing the fight to their attackers. Operation Iron Hammer is a mission to search and destroy suspected militants and to gather intelligence on their movements. Over the rooftops of Baghdad, our Black Hawk helicopter, equipped with night vision, follows a reconnaissance patrol. Amid the noise of the engines and the wind, we circled the city and watched.

(on camera): The purpose of Operation Iron Hammer is to crack down on the insurgents who have been carrying out increasing attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces. What we're looking for here is any kind of suspicious activity, people preparing to fire (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or rockets or plant the roadside bombs that have caused such terrible damage to the U.S. and the coalition forces in Baghdad.

So far tonight, we've seen nothing. But the insurgents are out there.

(voice-over): On the streets, U.S. troops check for weapons and explosives. In the latest U.S. raids, a former Republican Guard building was hit. Military officials say it was used by insurgents to plan attacks and to store weapons. Commanders say this latest operation is meant to show America's attackers its forces will strike back.

(on camera): Isn't there a danger that, you know, the Iraqi public could react negatively and, in fact, the level of resentment towards the U.S. forces could actually increase as a result of this?

LT. COL. ERIC NANCE, U.S. ARMY: Well, I'm sure that there is that possibility, sir. But we're very precise in the type of combat power that we apply. The clearance of fires, the mechanics that we've put in place for positive identification prior to engaging are all there to mitigate risk. And we're here to protect Iraqis and I think they will see that.

CHANCE (voice-over): By night, Baghdad appears lit by a million lights, a sign of progress in a city where electricity has been sporadic. But unless Operation Iron Hammer succeeds, security may remain in short supply.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we want to talk more now about our coverage of Iraq and Operation Iron Hammer.

Eli Flournoy has joined us from our international desk -- how difficult is this to cover?

ELI FLOURNOY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: This is difficult. We have a team still out with Operation Iron Hammer. We're out with them up on a helicopter looking out right now. So we're going to be expecting to get some more video from them on this operation as it goes on. It's an ongoing thing and we've got operations that are going on in other locations in Iraq where we have teams, as well.

COSTELLO: But there's more news coming out of Iraq, too, this morning.

FLOURNOY: That's right. Even as this operation is going on, more violence today. This time two U.S. soldiers were wounded with an IED attack in Baghdad, this unexploded device there in Baghdad. So we're getting more information about that. So far two soldiers wounded.

And, as I mentioned, we have a team also in Tikrit, where the raids are continuing and some arrests were made overnight. I think we have some video that's come in of overnight raids there where they are doing searches for the suspects in the Black Hawk down shooting that happened a few days ago.

COSTELLO: Do you think we'll ever get any real information about them? Because coalition forces have arrested a lot of people and then we never hear anything more.

FLOURNOY: Yes, it can take a long time for that process to go forward. They are going to get them in, they're going to question them. This is not, it's not an open and public forum for that, obviously. So we're pressing. We're trying to be there on the scene in as many situations as we can to get firsthand witness of the arrests that are made and any of the process that we can. So we're in multiple places in Iraq and we're trying to get that. But the coalition is going to be fairly secretive about the process.

COSTELLO: Very secretive.

Eli Flournoy, many thanks.

We appreciate it.

We've got the full picture of Operation Iron Hammer on our Web site. Log onto cnn.com, 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