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U.S. Military Testing Samples From Iraqi Site
Aired April 07, 2003 - 15:15 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to go back to our Ryan Chilcote, who has been covering the story since the two sites were uncovered some three days ago.
Ryan, as far as the condition of everyone who has been in touch with these suspicious materials -- I know you want to button this up for us. So go ahead and tell our viewers what's happening on that front.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORREPSONDENT: It's important, Wolf, to recognize that we're talking about two separate sites. One site, which is in agricultural complex, where they found the weapons and they found what is, as the general said earlier in our interview, is either a pesticide or maybe a nerve agent or a blister agent. They -- that's the one site.
There's another site, about a kilometer down the road -- about a half mile down the road, which was a training complex where these soldiers were -- that felt -- reported feeling sick. Now, because the soldiers felt sick one morning and because, at that same site, they had found these chemical protective suits, they did some testing. And the results of those tests came back, according to the 101st Airborne's division chemical officer, as being a pesticide.
So no one is suggesting, at this point, at least on the level of the 101st Airborne division, that these soldiers were ever subjected to a chemical agent. Certainly not to those drums that we were talking about earlier.
It's also very important to note that they're all feeling fine now. They were treated and they're all back to work. So really, we don't want to mix apples and oranges. So far, the 101st Airborne believes that those soldiers were suffering from heat exhaustion and that is why they got sick. They do not believe that it has anything to do with any chemical agent.
That's the way the 101st Airborne is looking at it at this point -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Ryan Chilcote doing some excellent reporting for us on the scene at this suspicious site. Thanks, Ryan very much. He's embedded, as our viewers know by now, with the 101st airborne division on the scene in Karbala, central Iraq, at these two suspicious sites, the 101st Airborne division headquartered in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
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 April 7, 2003 - 15:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to go back to our Ryan Chilcote, who has been covering the story since the two sites were uncovered some three days ago.
Ryan, as far as the condition of everyone who has been in touch with these suspicious materials -- I know you want to button this up for us. So go ahead and tell our viewers what's happening on that front.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORREPSONDENT: It's important, Wolf, to recognize that we're talking about two separate sites. One site, which is in agricultural complex, where they found the weapons and they found what is, as the general said earlier in our interview, is either a pesticide or maybe a nerve agent or a blister agent. They -- that's the one site.
There's another site, about a kilometer down the road -- about a half mile down the road, which was a training complex where these soldiers were -- that felt -- reported feeling sick. Now, because the soldiers felt sick one morning and because, at that same site, they had found these chemical protective suits, they did some testing. And the results of those tests came back, according to the 101st Airborne's division chemical officer, as being a pesticide.
So no one is suggesting, at this point, at least on the level of the 101st Airborne division, that these soldiers were ever subjected to a chemical agent. Certainly not to those drums that we were talking about earlier.
It's also very important to note that they're all feeling fine now. They were treated and they're all back to work. So really, we don't want to mix apples and oranges. So far, the 101st Airborne believes that those soldiers were suffering from heat exhaustion and that is why they got sick. They do not believe that it has anything to do with any chemical agent.
That's the way the 101st Airborne is looking at it at this point -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Ryan Chilcote doing some excellent reporting for us on the scene at this suspicious site. Thanks, Ryan very much. He's embedded, as our viewers know by now, with the 101st airborne division on the scene in Karbala, central Iraq, at these two suspicious sites, the 101st Airborne division headquartered in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
