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CNN Live At Daybreak
Military Destroys Houses Used by Guerrilla Suspects
Aired November 19, 2003 - 06:03 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: Surfing for guerrillas, disturbing tapes show up on an Islamic Web site. As for who put them there, who knows? But take a look. One tape, this one, shows what looks like a street in Baghdad with an American Humvee parked underneath that tree back there. You see the explosion a few seconds later, and it blows up the vehicle. Analysts say the tapes are apparently meant for propaganda and recruitment efforts.
So, we want to head live to Baghdad now and CNN's Jane Arraf.
Is there a crackdown as to find who put those tapes on the Web?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Carol, it's been called the biggest show of force, the biggest operation of its kind since the summer. Now, the military tells us this morning that last night what was heard in Baghdad as a huge series of explosions, up to 40 of them, was actually an assault using airstrikes and 40 to 150 mm cannons to launch strikes against targets that included what they call terrorist infrastructure.
Now, this is part of the ongoing Operation Iron Hammer. It's meant to root out what they insist is a terrorist network, abandoned buildings and other places that have been used to launch attacks on U.S. forces. Now, it's a show of force clearly, but some residents believe it is just that -- a show.
One of the targets last night, for instance, was an abandoned dye factory on the outskirts of Baghdad. Residents there said soldiers came up in tanks last night, told them that they should stay indoors because they were going to be attacking these buildings. But they said it was the third night in a row that this particular abandoned building had been attacked -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is there any evidence that this tactic has been effective, Jane?
ARRAF: That really is the key question, and it's very difficult to find out. Now, when we asked this of the military, what concrete results they have to show for this, they keep telling us that they are making progress, that they're getting better intelligence, that they're infiltrating these networks, that with this show of force they're sending a clear message.
But at the end of the day, it's very short on specifics. And the thing is that these attacks do keep continuing, and continuing at a much higher rate than they had been shortly after the war -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jane Arraf live in 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 19, 2003 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Surfing for guerrillas, disturbing tapes show up on an Islamic Web site. As for who put them there, who knows? But take a look. One tape, this one, shows what looks like a street in Baghdad with an American Humvee parked underneath that tree back there. You see the explosion a few seconds later, and it blows up the vehicle. Analysts say the tapes are apparently meant for propaganda and recruitment efforts.
So, we want to head live to Baghdad now and CNN's Jane Arraf.
Is there a crackdown as to find who put those tapes on the Web?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Carol, it's been called the biggest show of force, the biggest operation of its kind since the summer. Now, the military tells us this morning that last night what was heard in Baghdad as a huge series of explosions, up to 40 of them, was actually an assault using airstrikes and 40 to 150 mm cannons to launch strikes against targets that included what they call terrorist infrastructure.
Now, this is part of the ongoing Operation Iron Hammer. It's meant to root out what they insist is a terrorist network, abandoned buildings and other places that have been used to launch attacks on U.S. forces. Now, it's a show of force clearly, but some residents believe it is just that -- a show.
One of the targets last night, for instance, was an abandoned dye factory on the outskirts of Baghdad. Residents there said soldiers came up in tanks last night, told them that they should stay indoors because they were going to be attacking these buildings. But they said it was the third night in a row that this particular abandoned building had been attacked -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is there any evidence that this tactic has been effective, Jane?
ARRAF: That really is the key question, and it's very difficult to find out. Now, when we asked this of the military, what concrete results they have to show for this, they keep telling us that they are making progress, that they're getting better intelligence, that they're infiltrating these networks, that with this show of force they're sending a clear message.
But at the end of the day, it's very short on specifics. And the thing is that these attacks do keep continuing, and continuing at a much higher rate than they had been shortly after the war -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jane Arraf live in 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.
