Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Insurgent Attacks in Iraq
Aired January 23, 2004 - 07:43 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The most recent attacks in Iraq have taken nine lives, including those of two American soldiers. And the man in charge of ground forces in Iraq says he is seeing some familiar tactics by the insurgents.
Earlier today, senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar spoke with Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez. She joins us this morning from Baghdad.
Sheila -- good morning.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I began by asking the general what he was seeing in terms of insurgent activity, what his assessment was. We've heard from him, as we heard again today, that there has been a substantial decrease, a decrease of up to 50 percent in those attacks since the capture of Saddam Hussein six weeks or so ago. The pattern is beginning to change, he said.
And this is his assessment of their capabilities and their intentions now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: Well, clearly, there is still a learning and adapting enemy force out there. As far as the increasing sophistication, that is not really the case. They are still using the same types of weapons systems.
They've gotten a bit less sophisticated in the complexity of their attacks. They're not using combinations of weapons systems as much as they were 45 to 60 days ago. They're still relying considerably on the long-range attacked by IEDs, remote-controlled IEDs, using rockets and using mortars. And we're starting to see an influx of improvised explosives that are very crude.
MACVICAR: After last Sunday's blast at the Sasson's (ph) gate, what is your investigation showing you? Do you know who the bomber was? Do you know what faction he represented?
SANCHEZ: No, we don't know at this point. That was a fairly catastrophic event, and it will take a while for us to really, if ever, be able to establish who was responsible for that. Unless somebody claims responsibility, we will never know who the person was. As you may have seen, that was a pretty violent explosion that occurred there.
MACVICAR: On the question of al Qaeda, are you seeing hard evidence here on the ground that provides a link to al Aaeda?
MACVICAR: Well, I think it's probably not appropriate for me to talk about al Qaeda in the sense of a concrete proven presence. What I'll tell you, though, is that we're seeing al Qaeda-like tactics. We believe that there's training that's been conducted for some of the terrorists.
MACVICAR: In Iraq?
MACVICAR: No, not conducted in Iraq, but training provided to those elements that are operating in here. And we think that there's also financing that has been taking place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Now, the general there was also saying that there's still some numbers of foreign fighters here in Iraq, but he said the number was very small, and that those foreign fighters seeking to get into Iraq have been reduced to a trickle -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sheila MacVicar for us this morning from Baghdad. Sheila, thank you.
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 January 23, 2004 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The most recent attacks in Iraq have taken nine lives, including those of two American soldiers. And the man in charge of ground forces in Iraq says he is seeing some familiar tactics by the insurgents.
Earlier today, senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar spoke with Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez. She joins us this morning from Baghdad.
Sheila -- good morning.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I began by asking the general what he was seeing in terms of insurgent activity, what his assessment was. We've heard from him, as we heard again today, that there has been a substantial decrease, a decrease of up to 50 percent in those attacks since the capture of Saddam Hussein six weeks or so ago. The pattern is beginning to change, he said.
And this is his assessment of their capabilities and their intentions now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: Well, clearly, there is still a learning and adapting enemy force out there. As far as the increasing sophistication, that is not really the case. They are still using the same types of weapons systems.
They've gotten a bit less sophisticated in the complexity of their attacks. They're not using combinations of weapons systems as much as they were 45 to 60 days ago. They're still relying considerably on the long-range attacked by IEDs, remote-controlled IEDs, using rockets and using mortars. And we're starting to see an influx of improvised explosives that are very crude.
MACVICAR: After last Sunday's blast at the Sasson's (ph) gate, what is your investigation showing you? Do you know who the bomber was? Do you know what faction he represented?
SANCHEZ: No, we don't know at this point. That was a fairly catastrophic event, and it will take a while for us to really, if ever, be able to establish who was responsible for that. Unless somebody claims responsibility, we will never know who the person was. As you may have seen, that was a pretty violent explosion that occurred there.
MACVICAR: On the question of al Qaeda, are you seeing hard evidence here on the ground that provides a link to al Aaeda?
MACVICAR: Well, I think it's probably not appropriate for me to talk about al Qaeda in the sense of a concrete proven presence. What I'll tell you, though, is that we're seeing al Qaeda-like tactics. We believe that there's training that's been conducted for some of the terrorists.
MACVICAR: In Iraq?
MACVICAR: No, not conducted in Iraq, but training provided to those elements that are operating in here. And we think that there's also financing that has been taking place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Now, the general there was also saying that there's still some numbers of foreign fighters here in Iraq, but he said the number was very small, and that those foreign fighters seeking to get into Iraq have been reduced to a trickle -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sheila MacVicar for us this morning from Baghdad. Sheila, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
