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CNN Live At Daybreak
45 People Killed Outside Iraqi Army Recruiting Station
Aired February 11, 2004 - 06:02 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: More and more in Iraq, insurgents are not targeting Americans, but other Iraqis. There has been another suicide bombing, and it happened at the Iraqi army recruiting station.
Live to Baghdad now and our bureau chief there.
Jane -- what happened this morning?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, another devastating suicide bomb, another bomb that went off as young Iraqi men were waiting outside -- this time, outside the Baghdad office of the new Iraqi army for jobs.
Now, according to U.S. officials, a civilian car pulled up, and the driver detonated massive amounts of explosives, up to 500 pounds of explosives, packed with military artillery, just creating a devastating effect.
The hospitals tell us at least 45 people are dead, most of those young Iraqi men, and many more wounded.
Again, the second day in a row that there's been an attack like this. An attack yesterday just south of Baghdad on a police station, where people were lining up to apply for jobs as police officers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, something very similar, as you said, happened yesterday. Will there be a change in how recruits wait outside to apply for jobs? Can the Iraqis currently serving in the army or as police officers protect these people, who are just applying for jobs?
ARRAF: You know, the terrible thing about this is not only is the security quite precarious there, the economy hasn't really got back on its feet. And so much of this depends on money. If people weren't desperate for jobs, there wouldn't be dozens of young men lining up for jobs as Iraqi soldiers are paid about $100 a month. But they continue to do that.
And to get better security involves a lot of money and going through bureaucracy, and that just doesn't seem to be happening.
In Mosul, for instance, where there was a devastating car bomb outside a police station. Days later the police were trying to block the roads using barbed wire and overturned chairs. They just do not have the apparatus.
Things are getting a little better, but these are still very easy targets -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf reporting live by phone from Baghdad this morning.
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 February 11, 2004 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: More and more in Iraq, insurgents are not targeting Americans, but other Iraqis. There has been another suicide bombing, and it happened at the Iraqi army recruiting station.
Live to Baghdad now and our bureau chief there.
Jane -- what happened this morning?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, another devastating suicide bomb, another bomb that went off as young Iraqi men were waiting outside -- this time, outside the Baghdad office of the new Iraqi army for jobs.
Now, according to U.S. officials, a civilian car pulled up, and the driver detonated massive amounts of explosives, up to 500 pounds of explosives, packed with military artillery, just creating a devastating effect.
The hospitals tell us at least 45 people are dead, most of those young Iraqi men, and many more wounded.
Again, the second day in a row that there's been an attack like this. An attack yesterday just south of Baghdad on a police station, where people were lining up to apply for jobs as police officers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, something very similar, as you said, happened yesterday. Will there be a change in how recruits wait outside to apply for jobs? Can the Iraqis currently serving in the army or as police officers protect these people, who are just applying for jobs?
ARRAF: You know, the terrible thing about this is not only is the security quite precarious there, the economy hasn't really got back on its feet. And so much of this depends on money. If people weren't desperate for jobs, there wouldn't be dozens of young men lining up for jobs as Iraqi soldiers are paid about $100 a month. But they continue to do that.
And to get better security involves a lot of money and going through bureaucracy, and that just doesn't seem to be happening.
In Mosul, for instance, where there was a devastating car bomb outside a police station. Days later the police were trying to block the roads using barbed wire and overturned chairs. They just do not have the apparatus.
Things are getting a little better, but these are still very easy targets -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf reporting live by phone from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
