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CNN Live Saturday

Another Deadly Day in Iraq

Aired July 26, 2003 - 16:03   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.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: There has been no letup in the attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Three more soldiers were killed today while guarding a children's hospital near Baghdad. Let's go live now to CNN's Nic Robertson in the Iraqi capital. Nic, is this an indication of a new tactic on the part of these guerrillas to aim or to try to get Americans at so-called soft targets?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems to be an attack on what appears to have been a very soft target. According to witnesses, or at least according to somebody who was able to get into the hospital and talk to witnesses there, he said that the soldiers were sitting, relaxing in their shorts and t-shirts, playing cards.

Other witnesses at the time report that the soldiers were also relaxing, playing cards, washing their clothes in the grounds of the hospital, apparently a place where they felt that they could relax. There's a high wall around the hospital compound.

So perhaps this was an effort by the attackers to attack soldiers where they weren't ready to defend themselves. That's something we've seen in other situations where it's the soldiers traveling in Humvees, in the lighter, soft-skinned vehicles rather than some of the armored personnel carriers that have been attacked. It's the soldiers who were more exposed, more easily, if you will, from the guerrillas' perspective, more easily killable.

Is this a new wave of attacks on these soft targets? That's not really clear. But it's certainly the attacks this week have increased and the number of deaths, perhaps the largest number of deaths in the last week, 14 U.S. soldiers killed in hostile acts. That's the largest number of deaths in one week since the war ended, Andrea.

KOPPEL: Nic, we understand that in the wake of the U.S. display of the bodies of who they say are Uday and Qusay, that there have been a number of new informants of information that sort of have been streaming in. Any idea whether or not this is proving to be useful information, perhaps leading American forces to Saddam Hussein?

ROBERTSON: Well, perhaps the best proof of that will be if Saddam Hussein is caught. And certainly in the last few days, that doesn't appear to be the case.

One of the issues that face the soldiers here, the officers when they get information coming in, we've discussed this with them on a number of occasions. They get quite a lot of information, and the coalition's been saying more of that information has been coming in since Uday and Qusay were killed.

But they have so much information, they have to figure out what is bogus, what is accurate, what is the most important, what's the most time-sensitive. What they tell us here is the actionable intelligence, the intelligence that's most recent is the best intelligence to follow up on. In many occasions they just lack the resources, lack the manpower to act up and follow as quickly as they would like to. In some cases, soldiers we've talked to have said they're arrived on a scene where they've been told somebody was maybe a couple days before they get there. That person has eluded them. But for Saddam Hussein, it doesn't appear there have been really good, immediate leads so far. That doesn't mean they won't come, but just in the last few days, hasn't happened, Andrea.

KOPPEL: OK, the search continues. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you so much.

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 26, 2003 - 16:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: There has been no letup in the attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Three more soldiers were killed today while guarding a children's hospital near Baghdad. Let's go live now to CNN's Nic Robertson in the Iraqi capital. Nic, is this an indication of a new tactic on the part of these guerrillas to aim or to try to get Americans at so-called soft targets?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems to be an attack on what appears to have been a very soft target. According to witnesses, or at least according to somebody who was able to get into the hospital and talk to witnesses there, he said that the soldiers were sitting, relaxing in their shorts and t-shirts, playing cards.

Other witnesses at the time report that the soldiers were also relaxing, playing cards, washing their clothes in the grounds of the hospital, apparently a place where they felt that they could relax. There's a high wall around the hospital compound.

So perhaps this was an effort by the attackers to attack soldiers where they weren't ready to defend themselves. That's something we've seen in other situations where it's the soldiers traveling in Humvees, in the lighter, soft-skinned vehicles rather than some of the armored personnel carriers that have been attacked. It's the soldiers who were more exposed, more easily, if you will, from the guerrillas' perspective, more easily killable.

Is this a new wave of attacks on these soft targets? That's not really clear. But it's certainly the attacks this week have increased and the number of deaths, perhaps the largest number of deaths in the last week, 14 U.S. soldiers killed in hostile acts. That's the largest number of deaths in one week since the war ended, Andrea.

KOPPEL: Nic, we understand that in the wake of the U.S. display of the bodies of who they say are Uday and Qusay, that there have been a number of new informants of information that sort of have been streaming in. Any idea whether or not this is proving to be useful information, perhaps leading American forces to Saddam Hussein?

ROBERTSON: Well, perhaps the best proof of that will be if Saddam Hussein is caught. And certainly in the last few days, that doesn't appear to be the case.

One of the issues that face the soldiers here, the officers when they get information coming in, we've discussed this with them on a number of occasions. They get quite a lot of information, and the coalition's been saying more of that information has been coming in since Uday and Qusay were killed.

But they have so much information, they have to figure out what is bogus, what is accurate, what is the most important, what's the most time-sensitive. What they tell us here is the actionable intelligence, the intelligence that's most recent is the best intelligence to follow up on. In many occasions they just lack the resources, lack the manpower to act up and follow as quickly as they would like to. In some cases, soldiers we've talked to have said they're arrived on a scene where they've been told somebody was maybe a couple days before they get there. That person has eluded them. But for Saddam Hussein, it doesn't appear there have been really good, immediate leads so far. That doesn't mean they won't come, but just in the last few days, hasn't happened, Andrea.

KOPPEL: OK, the search continues. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com