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Operation Desert Scorpion
Aired June 16, 2003 - 13:01 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: First, this hour Operation Desert Scorpion. It's another big push to challenge enemy fighters in hostile parts of Iraq and another sign that after weeks of taking casualties, the American force is getting more proactive.
CNN's Barbara Starr, standing by at the Pentagon to bring us up to date, hello, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.
Well, you know since Friday about two dozen attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, most of them very minor but indeed the U.S. military now moving out very aggressively against loyalists to Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party, trying to stamp out this continuing opposition to U.S. forces in the country.
All of this taking place under the name Operation Desert Scorpion, underway mainly west and north of Baghdad. In the last hours there were two additional attacks, a rocket-propelled grenade aimed at U.S. forces but instead hitting a civilian bus apparently, and another attack against a military convoy north of Baghdad. But as this operation continues across Iraq, a military spokesman says the U.S. is making progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. JACK HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY: Every day it's getting a little bit better, at least on our side of it and we're able to take the initiative away from the bad guys. When we first got here we spent most of the time dodging bullets and RPGs that they were firing. Now, we're getting to kick in their doors and arrest them through the intelligence we've been getting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: But make no mistake this is the largest military operation since the war ended. On Monday, troops entered the town of Halida (ph) with helicopters and armored vehicles arresting several suspects, confiscating a large number of weapons, arrests also made in the town of Ramadi about 60 kilometers further west, other weapons confiscated there.
One of the things U.S. troops are trying to do is maintain the good will of the Iraqi people in the towns and villages they enter, so these are very focused raids where they have specific intelligence, they believe, about where Ba'ath Party and Saddam Hussein loyalists may be located so they can try just to go after those people not unsettle a whole town or village, and at the same time continue with humanitarian relief projects all aimed at stamping out the opposition and making sure they can try and make efforts towards a more stable Iraq - Miles.
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, 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 June 16, 2003 - 13:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: First, this hour Operation Desert Scorpion. It's another big push to challenge enemy fighters in hostile parts of Iraq and another sign that after weeks of taking casualties, the American force is getting more proactive.
CNN's Barbara Starr, standing by at the Pentagon to bring us up to date, hello, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.
Well, you know since Friday about two dozen attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, most of them very minor but indeed the U.S. military now moving out very aggressively against loyalists to Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party, trying to stamp out this continuing opposition to U.S. forces in the country.
All of this taking place under the name Operation Desert Scorpion, underway mainly west and north of Baghdad. In the last hours there were two additional attacks, a rocket-propelled grenade aimed at U.S. forces but instead hitting a civilian bus apparently, and another attack against a military convoy north of Baghdad. But as this operation continues across Iraq, a military spokesman says the U.S. is making progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. JACK HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY: Every day it's getting a little bit better, at least on our side of it and we're able to take the initiative away from the bad guys. When we first got here we spent most of the time dodging bullets and RPGs that they were firing. Now, we're getting to kick in their doors and arrest them through the intelligence we've been getting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: But make no mistake this is the largest military operation since the war ended. On Monday, troops entered the town of Halida (ph) with helicopters and armored vehicles arresting several suspects, confiscating a large number of weapons, arrests also made in the town of Ramadi about 60 kilometers further west, other weapons confiscated there.
One of the things U.S. troops are trying to do is maintain the good will of the Iraqi people in the towns and villages they enter, so these are very focused raids where they have specific intelligence, they believe, about where Ba'ath Party and Saddam Hussein loyalists may be located so they can try just to go after those people not unsettle a whole town or village, and at the same time continue with humanitarian relief projects all aimed at stamping out the opposition and making sure they can try and make efforts towards a more stable Iraq - Miles.
O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, 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
