Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
The New Iraq: Conflicting Claims About Ambush
Aired June 14, 2003 - 12:30 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In the new Iraq, U.S. forces are coming under attack after escaping an ambush. This attack comes from Iraqi villagers who claim U.S. forces killed several civilians after the ambush. CNN's Ben Wedemen spoke to witnesses and joins us live from Baghdad. Ben, what's the story?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. Well, it's hard to sort this one out. Call it the fog of war, maybe something a little less charitable.
But what happened early Friday morning about 30 miles north of Baghdad is indicative of how difficult it is sometimes to nail down the truth here. Now, yesterday the American Central Command issued a statement describing an incident in which it said armed Iraqis had ambushed U.S. tank patrols, that the ambush was repulsed, and the attackers were pursued by the Americans, and that the final death toll on the Iraqi side was 27. Twenty-seven people they described as Iraqi insurgents.
Now I spent most of the day at the scene of this incident, and the people in that area are now in mourning, and the story they tell is completely at odds with what we heard from the U.S. Central Command.
First of all, they say seven people, not 27 people were killed in this incident. Two of them, they say, were attackers, attackers from outside that area, but five of the dead were just simple villagers from that area. One an old man in his 70s, three of his sons, and a grandson. They were shot in the fields, they said, we were told by the villagers, when they were trying to put out a fire caused by a U.S. flare fired after that initial ambush.
Now, we were told by the villagers that the U.S. forces were firing randomly and intensely with heavy caliber weapons, that the dead -- the villagers were so badly mangled by being shot at that some of them were simply beyond recognition, and, in fact, we did find in the field some teeth, a jawbone, hair, blood and bones as well, so it seems that there's definitely a large gap between what the U.S. is saying, and what the local Iraqis, the eyewitnesses told us -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, still a lot of conflicting reports there. Thanks very much, Ben Wedeman from Baghdad.
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 June 14, 2003 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In the new Iraq, U.S. forces are coming under attack after escaping an ambush. This attack comes from Iraqi villagers who claim U.S. forces killed several civilians after the ambush. CNN's Ben Wedemen spoke to witnesses and joins us live from Baghdad. Ben, what's the story?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. Well, it's hard to sort this one out. Call it the fog of war, maybe something a little less charitable.
But what happened early Friday morning about 30 miles north of Baghdad is indicative of how difficult it is sometimes to nail down the truth here. Now, yesterday the American Central Command issued a statement describing an incident in which it said armed Iraqis had ambushed U.S. tank patrols, that the ambush was repulsed, and the attackers were pursued by the Americans, and that the final death toll on the Iraqi side was 27. Twenty-seven people they described as Iraqi insurgents.
Now I spent most of the day at the scene of this incident, and the people in that area are now in mourning, and the story they tell is completely at odds with what we heard from the U.S. Central Command.
First of all, they say seven people, not 27 people were killed in this incident. Two of them, they say, were attackers, attackers from outside that area, but five of the dead were just simple villagers from that area. One an old man in his 70s, three of his sons, and a grandson. They were shot in the fields, they said, we were told by the villagers, when they were trying to put out a fire caused by a U.S. flare fired after that initial ambush.
Now, we were told by the villagers that the U.S. forces were firing randomly and intensely with heavy caliber weapons, that the dead -- the villagers were so badly mangled by being shot at that some of them were simply beyond recognition, and, in fact, we did find in the field some teeth, a jawbone, hair, blood and bones as well, so it seems that there's definitely a large gap between what the U.S. is saying, and what the local Iraqis, the eyewitnesses told us -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, still a lot of conflicting reports there. Thanks very much, Ben Wedeman from Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
