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CNN Live Saturday
Another Soldier Killed in Iraq
Aired July 19, 2003 - 12:32 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: The latest now on developments inside Iraq. We have word of another U.S. casualty in those ongoing attacks. That comes even as the troops wait for notice on when they may get a break in their tour of duty. For all the details, we now go live to CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, who is in Baghdad -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, someone else who is getting a tour of Iraq at this time, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz today toured historic sites, south of Baghdad, in and around Battawan (ph). He was also shown there a mass grave, a site where U.S. troops based there believe there could be as many as 15,000 Iraqis buried in killings led by Saddam Hussein's regime just after the last Gulf War.
Mr. Wolfowitz, while he was there, talked to some Iraqis who told him that the key architect behind those killings had, in fact, been captured by U.S. troops, had been held by them, but had then been let go. They were asked, why that had happened.
And we also understand Mr. Wolfowitz on his tour here in Iraq yesterday met with the governor of Basra, who told Mr. Wolfowitz about sabotage to power lines there. Mr. Wolfowitz also met with some other Iraqis who explained about the security situation, and asked him to help to get the United States troops to help fix the security for the people in Iraq.
And today, in the early hours of morning in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier being killed in that unstable security situation, his guard position outside a bank in central Baghdad attacked by rocket- propelled grenades and small arms fire, according to U.S. officials. Eyewitnesses say when they heard the blast, they came out, saw the area in flames and said that some Iraqis, including a child, were also injured.
Another four U.S. soldiers wounded today in Baghdad when their vehicle drove over an explosive device. They were medevacked, receiving medical treatment at this time.
Also, the coalition pushing to get more Iraqis involved in providing security in Iraq. Today, opening recruitment offices for the new Iraqi army. Saddam Hussein's army abolished when he fell from power by the coalition. The new recruitment centers recruiting for what coalition hopes will be 30 brigades within two years time; today recruiting for the first 800 men to form the beginning of that first one brigade. CALLEBS: Nic, I want to get back to Paul Wolfowitz for just a moment. Will he hear the kind of frank, blunt talk that have come from some of the troops who are simply fed up with being there, after first fighting a war and now being mired in a peacekeeping mission?
ROBERTSON: Well, Sean, it's very hard for us to judge, because a lot of the time the cameras that we work with are not close to Mr. Wolfowitz. So it's very difficult to tell what exactly he is doing. What we have seen today, he did meet with some troops today, but from what we could hear that transpired in those conversations it was all about the history of Babylon and about what had happened at this mass grave site.
We do know from a handful of journalists that have traveled with Mr. Wolfowitz, and it's a very small number of journalists who have access to him at this time, that he has met with some Iraqi officials and some local Iraqis, and they have explained to him some of their grievances, particularly about the security on the current situation, but we don't have full and complete access to Mr. Wolfowitz at this time.
CALLEBS: OK. Senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, in Baghdad. Thanks very much, Nic.
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 July 19, 2003 - 12:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: The latest now on developments inside Iraq. We have word of another U.S. casualty in those ongoing attacks. That comes even as the troops wait for notice on when they may get a break in their tour of duty. For all the details, we now go live to CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, who is in Baghdad -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, someone else who is getting a tour of Iraq at this time, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz today toured historic sites, south of Baghdad, in and around Battawan (ph). He was also shown there a mass grave, a site where U.S. troops based there believe there could be as many as 15,000 Iraqis buried in killings led by Saddam Hussein's regime just after the last Gulf War.
Mr. Wolfowitz, while he was there, talked to some Iraqis who told him that the key architect behind those killings had, in fact, been captured by U.S. troops, had been held by them, but had then been let go. They were asked, why that had happened.
And we also understand Mr. Wolfowitz on his tour here in Iraq yesterday met with the governor of Basra, who told Mr. Wolfowitz about sabotage to power lines there. Mr. Wolfowitz also met with some other Iraqis who explained about the security situation, and asked him to help to get the United States troops to help fix the security for the people in Iraq.
And today, in the early hours of morning in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier being killed in that unstable security situation, his guard position outside a bank in central Baghdad attacked by rocket- propelled grenades and small arms fire, according to U.S. officials. Eyewitnesses say when they heard the blast, they came out, saw the area in flames and said that some Iraqis, including a child, were also injured.
Another four U.S. soldiers wounded today in Baghdad when their vehicle drove over an explosive device. They were medevacked, receiving medical treatment at this time.
Also, the coalition pushing to get more Iraqis involved in providing security in Iraq. Today, opening recruitment offices for the new Iraqi army. Saddam Hussein's army abolished when he fell from power by the coalition. The new recruitment centers recruiting for what coalition hopes will be 30 brigades within two years time; today recruiting for the first 800 men to form the beginning of that first one brigade. CALLEBS: Nic, I want to get back to Paul Wolfowitz for just a moment. Will he hear the kind of frank, blunt talk that have come from some of the troops who are simply fed up with being there, after first fighting a war and now being mired in a peacekeeping mission?
ROBERTSON: Well, Sean, it's very hard for us to judge, because a lot of the time the cameras that we work with are not close to Mr. Wolfowitz. So it's very difficult to tell what exactly he is doing. What we have seen today, he did meet with some troops today, but from what we could hear that transpired in those conversations it was all about the history of Babylon and about what had happened at this mass grave site.
We do know from a handful of journalists that have traveled with Mr. Wolfowitz, and it's a very small number of journalists who have access to him at this time, that he has met with some Iraqi officials and some local Iraqis, and they have explained to him some of their grievances, particularly about the security on the current situation, but we don't have full and complete access to Mr. Wolfowitz at this time.
CALLEBS: OK. Senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, in Baghdad. Thanks very much, Nic.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
