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CNN Live Saturday
More Terrorist Attacks In Iraq Are Imminent
Aired November 01, 2003 - 12:04 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.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq. Unease in Iraq with reports that more terrorist attacks may be in the works. The State Department is urging Americans to stay away, and the U.N. is pulling all of its staffers out of Baghdad. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in a very tense Iraqi capital -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Jon, the security situation obviously worrying a lot of people. Among them the chief administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer, who announced at a press conference this evening that the coalition is going to be accelerating the training of the Iraqi security forces and police to confront -- or help confront this security problem. They're going to essentially double the number of police on duty at the moment. Currently, it's seven -- from 7,800, to double that by next March. They're hoping that by September of next year, there will be 200,000 men on duty, defending the country.
Now, we've got some tanks going by, behind us. Security is much higher in the Iraqi capitol than we've seen it for quite some time. Now, this evening, we also heard Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, along with Mr. Bremer, talking about the need for Iraqis to play an ever greater role in their security. Mr. Sanchez, rather, General Sanchez, saying the reason behind these attacks, of late, he said, is simply because of the sheer boldness of the American experiment, here in Iraq. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: What we are attempting here is revolutionary. Not just for the people of Iraq, but for the region as a whole. Our enemies both here, in Iraq and in the region understand and fear this and are doing everything they can to stop this process from going forward. As a result, the enemy forces have been shifting their tactics from attacking coalition forces to increasing attacks against those domestic and international institutions they see as key to advancing the development of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Now Jon, this much awaited day of resistance has turned out to be actually a day of relative calm and quiet. Probably, the quietest day we've had here in Baghdad for about a week. Now, this comes after the United States had issued warnings to Americans in Iraq to be especially vigilant. There also -- apparently the State Department, put out a notice saying they had credible information about a potential threat against civil aviation in the country. Now, despite the expectations of violence, we didn't see anything out of the ordinary here, in fact, no reported events or incidents, attacks on coalition forces in Baghdad today. There were fewer people out on the streets. People were staying away from schools and places like that. But, stores were open and there were people going about their daily business. Security however, was much higher.
Now, as it was quiet here in Baghdad, that's not the case up in Mosul. This morning, two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were killed when they drove by what was apparently a roadside bomb, two soldiers wounded -- Jon.
KARL: All right, Ben Wedeman in Baghdad. Thank you very 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 November 1, 2003 - 12:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq. Unease in Iraq with reports that more terrorist attacks may be in the works. The State Department is urging Americans to stay away, and the U.N. is pulling all of its staffers out of Baghdad. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in a very tense Iraqi capital -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Jon, the security situation obviously worrying a lot of people. Among them the chief administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer, who announced at a press conference this evening that the coalition is going to be accelerating the training of the Iraqi security forces and police to confront -- or help confront this security problem. They're going to essentially double the number of police on duty at the moment. Currently, it's seven -- from 7,800, to double that by next March. They're hoping that by September of next year, there will be 200,000 men on duty, defending the country.
Now, we've got some tanks going by, behind us. Security is much higher in the Iraqi capitol than we've seen it for quite some time. Now, this evening, we also heard Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, along with Mr. Bremer, talking about the need for Iraqis to play an ever greater role in their security. Mr. Sanchez, rather, General Sanchez, saying the reason behind these attacks, of late, he said, is simply because of the sheer boldness of the American experiment, here in Iraq. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, U.S. ARMY: What we are attempting here is revolutionary. Not just for the people of Iraq, but for the region as a whole. Our enemies both here, in Iraq and in the region understand and fear this and are doing everything they can to stop this process from going forward. As a result, the enemy forces have been shifting their tactics from attacking coalition forces to increasing attacks against those domestic and international institutions they see as key to advancing the development of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Now Jon, this much awaited day of resistance has turned out to be actually a day of relative calm and quiet. Probably, the quietest day we've had here in Baghdad for about a week. Now, this comes after the United States had issued warnings to Americans in Iraq to be especially vigilant. There also -- apparently the State Department, put out a notice saying they had credible information about a potential threat against civil aviation in the country. Now, despite the expectations of violence, we didn't see anything out of the ordinary here, in fact, no reported events or incidents, attacks on coalition forces in Baghdad today. There were fewer people out on the streets. People were staying away from schools and places like that. But, stores were open and there were people going about their daily business. Security however, was much higher.
Now, as it was quiet here in Baghdad, that's not the case up in Mosul. This morning, two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were killed when they drove by what was apparently a roadside bomb, two soldiers wounded -- Jon.
KARL: All right, Ben Wedeman in Baghdad. Thank you very 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
