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CNN Live At Daybreak
Across Iraq, More Roadside Ambushes
Aired February 17, 2004 - 05:07 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: Across Iraq, more roadside ambushes. Three American soldiers have been killed and six wounded in three separate attacks.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf joins us live with the details on those incidents, plus the training and preparation of Iraqi security forces -- hello, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
The latest reports coming in of a soldier killed in a roadside attack, a homemade bomb in northern Iraq early last evening. Now, the soldier was from Task Force Olympia, which includes the high tech Striker Brigade, which took over just last month from the 101st Airborne. The other casualties in two separate attacks, both of them involving homemade bombs.
And in the wake of violence in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, an extremely dramatic attack on an Iraqi police station that left about 25 people, most of them police officers, dead, and 70 prisoners freed.
A lot of questions being asked as to whether Iraqi security forces, police and security, are ready to start taking over responsibility from U.S. troops. Now, the U.S. says it will not abandon this country, it won't abandon the police and security, but people are a little bit nervous -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, Jane, I was just wondering, we see violence in certain parts of Iraq. Is the whole country like that?
ARRAF: That's a really interesting question. And it's important to point out that the whole country isn't like that. But there are significant parts of the country that cannot be ignored. Fallujah particularly is a fascinating case, a little bit like the Wild West, according to military officials. In fact, it's the place where General John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, was attacked just a few days ago. It has always been essentially lawless. It has always had a mind of its own and the U.S. occupation and U.S. troops have never gone over very well.
Now, a U.S. military official confirms to us today that the mayor of that town is still in detention. They're trying to find out exactly how such an attack took place. And the feeling is that a lot of people in the town must have known that the police station was going to be attacked and possibly helped it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jane Arraf 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 February 17, 2004 - 05:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Across Iraq, more roadside ambushes. Three American soldiers have been killed and six wounded in three separate attacks.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf joins us live with the details on those incidents, plus the training and preparation of Iraqi security forces -- hello, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
The latest reports coming in of a soldier killed in a roadside attack, a homemade bomb in northern Iraq early last evening. Now, the soldier was from Task Force Olympia, which includes the high tech Striker Brigade, which took over just last month from the 101st Airborne. The other casualties in two separate attacks, both of them involving homemade bombs.
And in the wake of violence in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, an extremely dramatic attack on an Iraqi police station that left about 25 people, most of them police officers, dead, and 70 prisoners freed.
A lot of questions being asked as to whether Iraqi security forces, police and security, are ready to start taking over responsibility from U.S. troops. Now, the U.S. says it will not abandon this country, it won't abandon the police and security, but people are a little bit nervous -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, Jane, I was just wondering, we see violence in certain parts of Iraq. Is the whole country like that?
ARRAF: That's a really interesting question. And it's important to point out that the whole country isn't like that. But there are significant parts of the country that cannot be ignored. Fallujah particularly is a fascinating case, a little bit like the Wild West, according to military officials. In fact, it's the place where General John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, was attacked just a few days ago. It has always been essentially lawless. It has always had a mind of its own and the U.S. occupation and U.S. troops have never gone over very well.
Now, a U.S. military official confirms to us today that the mayor of that town is still in detention. They're trying to find out exactly how such an attack took place. And the feeling is that a lot of people in the town must have known that the police station was going to be attacked and possibly helped it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jane Arraf 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
