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CNN Live Saturday
10 of Spades on Iraqi Most Wanted Deck Caught
Aired June 14, 2003 - 16:15 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: A day after a deadly incident in a village north of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command and Iraqis are giving different accounts of what happened. It all began when U.S. forces responded to an ambush in Balad Friday. U.S. military officials say attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at a 4th Infantry Division tank patrol. Centcom says the tanks returned fire with support from Apache helicopters, killing 23 of the assailants. But villagers told CNN's Ben Wedeman, five civilians were among those killed and that U.S. troops fired randomly and intensely. They say U.S. forces have since apologized for the civilians deaths.
For the Pentagon's reaction to the different accounts of what happened in Balad, as well as an update on one of the most wanted that has been captured in Iraq, let's turn now to our Chris Plante. Chris is at the Pentagon. Chris, what do you have there?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. Another senior member of the Iraqi regime has been taken into custody by coalition forces. He is on that famous deck of cards that we've heard so much about, where he is the 10 of spades, he's number 17 on the hit list for Americans' most wanted in the Iraqi regime. His name is Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti. He was the head of the Iraqi air force, and it is hoped if not expected that he will have significant information that will be of value to the U.S. military and intelligence, perhaps including information about weapons of mass destruction.
But also, going on in Iraq today, just having wrapped up in Iraq today, Operation Peninsula Strike. Peninsula Strike is an operation involving 4,000 U.S. troops in response to a series of ambushes and other attacks on American soldiers in Iraq over the last several weeks, which have taken 10 American lives and caused a number of other injuries. Hundreds of Iraqis taken into detention during the course of this process, and there was a strike on a tent village of sorts near the Syrian border in the Iraqi desert, where it is believed that foreign operatives were working, foreign warriors who came in on to take U.S. troops there. General David McKiernan, who is in charge of all U.S. ground forces there, had this to say about that strike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. DAVID MCKIERNAN, U.S. ARMY: It was a camp area that was confirmed with bad guys, and specifically who the bad guys are will be determined as we exploit the site. We struck it very lethally, and we're exploiting whatever intelligence value we can get from that site for future operations. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PLANTE: When he says "very lethally," he's not kidding. F-16s bombed the site before Apache helicopters went in and ground forces followed on. They did find between 70 to 80 surface-to-air missiles, shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles along with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Chris Plante at the Pentagon. Thanks.
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 - 16:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A day after a deadly incident in a village north of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command and Iraqis are giving different accounts of what happened. It all began when U.S. forces responded to an ambush in Balad Friday. U.S. military officials say attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at a 4th Infantry Division tank patrol. Centcom says the tanks returned fire with support from Apache helicopters, killing 23 of the assailants. But villagers told CNN's Ben Wedeman, five civilians were among those killed and that U.S. troops fired randomly and intensely. They say U.S. forces have since apologized for the civilians deaths.
For the Pentagon's reaction to the different accounts of what happened in Balad, as well as an update on one of the most wanted that has been captured in Iraq, let's turn now to our Chris Plante. Chris is at the Pentagon. Chris, what do you have there?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That's right. Another senior member of the Iraqi regime has been taken into custody by coalition forces. He is on that famous deck of cards that we've heard so much about, where he is the 10 of spades, he's number 17 on the hit list for Americans' most wanted in the Iraqi regime. His name is Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti. He was the head of the Iraqi air force, and it is hoped if not expected that he will have significant information that will be of value to the U.S. military and intelligence, perhaps including information about weapons of mass destruction.
But also, going on in Iraq today, just having wrapped up in Iraq today, Operation Peninsula Strike. Peninsula Strike is an operation involving 4,000 U.S. troops in response to a series of ambushes and other attacks on American soldiers in Iraq over the last several weeks, which have taken 10 American lives and caused a number of other injuries. Hundreds of Iraqis taken into detention during the course of this process, and there was a strike on a tent village of sorts near the Syrian border in the Iraqi desert, where it is believed that foreign operatives were working, foreign warriors who came in on to take U.S. troops there. General David McKiernan, who is in charge of all U.S. ground forces there, had this to say about that strike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. DAVID MCKIERNAN, U.S. ARMY: It was a camp area that was confirmed with bad guys, and specifically who the bad guys are will be determined as we exploit the site. We struck it very lethally, and we're exploiting whatever intelligence value we can get from that site for future operations. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PLANTE: When he says "very lethally," he's not kidding. F-16s bombed the site before Apache helicopters went in and ground forces followed on. They did find between 70 to 80 surface-to-air missiles, shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles along with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Chris Plante at the Pentagon. Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
