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Coalition Forces in Baghdad for 4th Day

Aired April 08, 2003 - 13:14   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to one of our embedded reporters. Ryan Chilcote is with the 101st Airborne, the 1st Brigade.
Of course Ryan was reporting yesterday on the very suspicious finding of what might have been chemical weapons, still to be determined whether that's the case.

Ryan, bring us the latest from where you are now.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, I'm with the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade. And as Rula Amin just said, Baghdad may, indeed, be the last ground in this war, but it's certainly not the only ground. The 101st Airborne 3rd Brigade, also known as the Rockasans (ph), moving today into the outskirts of the city of Hillah in central Iraq. Hillah, well known, of course in ancient Babylon, home to one of the seven -- the ruins of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Also, according to the U.S. military, Hillah now home to a lot of Fedayeen fighters. We certainly have seen a lot of evidence of that as the soldiers moved into the city. They encountered some pretty fierce resistance, almost immediately. A lot of it coming from small arms fire, and rocket-propelled grenades. The most significant resistance, however, came when they came upon an agricultural complex on the right-hand side of the road. Really, the soldiers' convoy was attacked. And we saw some of the close-range fighting, I think, that we might not have seen too much of yet in this war.

Just to give you an example, Judy, of exactly how close range. There were two Iraqi soldiers hiding pretty close to our vehicle in the convoy in a bush next to the road. They apparently had been caught off guard by the 101st entry into the outskirts, and really got stuck right there in the bushes next to the road, not able to go to one side or another. They came out -- they were noticed by the U.S. troops. They came out of the bush. One of them, with his hands up in the air, as if to surrender.

However, another closely following him, came out and lobbed a grenade at the U.S. soldiers, injuring three of them with some shrapnel. I can tell you two of those have already come back, two already back to work, so they are OK. One with some slight injuries, getting some medical assistance right now. That, however, was the last move they made. The U.S. soldiers killed them right there on the spot, and then they proceed after a three-hour firefight to take control of the entire agricultural complex, where they really had come under all of that fire there -- Judy. Back to you.

WOODRUFF: All right. Ryan, were the troops surprised by what they ran into?

CHILCOTE: I think so. You know, the 101st Airborne's Rocketsans (ph), or the 101st Airborne in general, the way they work, it's really boots on the ground. We've seen so much of the 3rd Infantry Division, so much of the tanks of the 3rd infantry division in this war, moving on their rapid -- closing in on Baghdad so rapidly, and really what they were doing is bypassing cities on their way. And what you've seen over the last couple of weeks is the 101st Airborne moving to several cities. You'll remember An Najaf, then it was Karballa, and now on the outskirts of Hillah, really to clean up any Fedayeen fighters, any resistance that might have been in those cities.

So yes, I think some of the soldiers might have been a little bit surprised. But a lot of them, maybe not too surprised, because really a lot of these cities in central Iraq have been left untouched. U.S. soldiers simply not entering them until, at least in this city, until today -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Ryan Chilcote, with the 101st Airborne, 3rd Brigade, reporting from central Iraq. Thank you very much, Ryan.

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 8, 2003 - 13:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to one of our embedded reporters. Ryan Chilcote is with the 101st Airborne, the 1st Brigade.
Of course Ryan was reporting yesterday on the very suspicious finding of what might have been chemical weapons, still to be determined whether that's the case.

Ryan, bring us the latest from where you are now.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, I'm with the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade. And as Rula Amin just said, Baghdad may, indeed, be the last ground in this war, but it's certainly not the only ground. The 101st Airborne 3rd Brigade, also known as the Rockasans (ph), moving today into the outskirts of the city of Hillah in central Iraq. Hillah, well known, of course in ancient Babylon, home to one of the seven -- the ruins of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Also, according to the U.S. military, Hillah now home to a lot of Fedayeen fighters. We certainly have seen a lot of evidence of that as the soldiers moved into the city. They encountered some pretty fierce resistance, almost immediately. A lot of it coming from small arms fire, and rocket-propelled grenades. The most significant resistance, however, came when they came upon an agricultural complex on the right-hand side of the road. Really, the soldiers' convoy was attacked. And we saw some of the close-range fighting, I think, that we might not have seen too much of yet in this war.

Just to give you an example, Judy, of exactly how close range. There were two Iraqi soldiers hiding pretty close to our vehicle in the convoy in a bush next to the road. They apparently had been caught off guard by the 101st entry into the outskirts, and really got stuck right there in the bushes next to the road, not able to go to one side or another. They came out -- they were noticed by the U.S. troops. They came out of the bush. One of them, with his hands up in the air, as if to surrender.

However, another closely following him, came out and lobbed a grenade at the U.S. soldiers, injuring three of them with some shrapnel. I can tell you two of those have already come back, two already back to work, so they are OK. One with some slight injuries, getting some medical assistance right now. That, however, was the last move they made. The U.S. soldiers killed them right there on the spot, and then they proceed after a three-hour firefight to take control of the entire agricultural complex, where they really had come under all of that fire there -- Judy. Back to you.

WOODRUFF: All right. Ryan, were the troops surprised by what they ran into?

CHILCOTE: I think so. You know, the 101st Airborne's Rocketsans (ph), or the 101st Airborne in general, the way they work, it's really boots on the ground. We've seen so much of the 3rd Infantry Division, so much of the tanks of the 3rd infantry division in this war, moving on their rapid -- closing in on Baghdad so rapidly, and really what they were doing is bypassing cities on their way. And what you've seen over the last couple of weeks is the 101st Airborne moving to several cities. You'll remember An Najaf, then it was Karballa, and now on the outskirts of Hillah, really to clean up any Fedayeen fighters, any resistance that might have been in those cities.

So yes, I think some of the soldiers might have been a little bit surprised. But a lot of them, maybe not too surprised, because really a lot of these cities in central Iraq have been left untouched. U.S. soldiers simply not entering them until, at least in this city, until today -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Ryan Chilcote, with the 101st Airborne, 3rd Brigade, reporting from central Iraq. Thank you very much, Ryan.

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