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Skirmish Between Syrian, American Forces Leave Several Injured, Many Questions

Aired June 23, 2003 - 15:31   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: A skirmish between Syrian and American forces in Iraq during the hunt for Saddam Hussein, a U.S. Defense official says special forces were chasing a convoy fleeing Iraq for the Syrian border on Wednesday.
Now, near the border, Syrian and U.S. forces had what's being termed an altercation. Several Syrians were injured, and are now being treated by the U.S. military. It's a rather complex story. Who best to sort it out than our own Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Hello, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well hello, Miles. Well, the U.S. government is being pretty tight-lipped about this operation. And what it might have involved. And it's not at all clear that there was actually a shootout or an exchange of gunfire. Let me run through what we think we know about what happened.

First of all, the highly secretive task force 20 carried out the operation. That's a commando force whose existence was only recently acknowledged by the Pentagon. It took place at night, last Wednesday, in this area of western Iraq near the border with Syria. According to Pentagon sources, a convoy of about half a dozen vehicles was targeted as it left the compound near this border town of Al Qaim. Based on intelligence it indicated some high-level Iraqi officials were in the vehicles. There was at least a hope, says one Pentagon official, that Saddam Hussein or his sons might be among them.

Next a U.S. Air Force Predator drone armed with Hellfire missiles tracked the vehicles, which then apparently split into two groups. A special operations MC130 gunship was also called in. At some point, the predator, seen here, fired its Hellfire missiles and then the MC- 130 apparently opened fire with its 105-millimeter cannon, a commando team from task force 20 then moved in on the ground.

Now, Pentagon sources say that some of the vehicles seem to be heading for the border with Syria, and may have been crossing the border at the time of the attack. And this is where the confusion comes in. It's not clear whether the Syrian border guards, who were injured, were injured in the air attack or in exchange of gunfire with U.S. special forces on the ground. In any event, the Pentagon says five Syrians ended up in U.S. hands, three had to get medical attention. U.S. forces initially detained some 20 people, but now we're told that most of them have been let go, having been deemed not a threat. Now, Pentagon officials downplay the idea that they ever thought Saddam Hussein or sons were actually in this convoy, but at the same time, the Pentagon says that it may conduct DNA tests just to make sure. And, of course, the one person we know the Pentagon has DNA for is Saddam Hussein. So the one thing we know from this whole episode is that the hunt for Saddam Hussein is still in high gear -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks 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




Injured, Many Questions>


Aired June 23, 2003 - 15:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A skirmish between Syrian and American forces in Iraq during the hunt for Saddam Hussein, a U.S. Defense official says special forces were chasing a convoy fleeing Iraq for the Syrian border on Wednesday.
Now, near the border, Syrian and U.S. forces had what's being termed an altercation. Several Syrians were injured, and are now being treated by the U.S. military. It's a rather complex story. Who best to sort it out than our own Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Hello, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well hello, Miles. Well, the U.S. government is being pretty tight-lipped about this operation. And what it might have involved. And it's not at all clear that there was actually a shootout or an exchange of gunfire. Let me run through what we think we know about what happened.

First of all, the highly secretive task force 20 carried out the operation. That's a commando force whose existence was only recently acknowledged by the Pentagon. It took place at night, last Wednesday, in this area of western Iraq near the border with Syria. According to Pentagon sources, a convoy of about half a dozen vehicles was targeted as it left the compound near this border town of Al Qaim. Based on intelligence it indicated some high-level Iraqi officials were in the vehicles. There was at least a hope, says one Pentagon official, that Saddam Hussein or his sons might be among them.

Next a U.S. Air Force Predator drone armed with Hellfire missiles tracked the vehicles, which then apparently split into two groups. A special operations MC130 gunship was also called in. At some point, the predator, seen here, fired its Hellfire missiles and then the MC- 130 apparently opened fire with its 105-millimeter cannon, a commando team from task force 20 then moved in on the ground.

Now, Pentagon sources say that some of the vehicles seem to be heading for the border with Syria, and may have been crossing the border at the time of the attack. And this is where the confusion comes in. It's not clear whether the Syrian border guards, who were injured, were injured in the air attack or in exchange of gunfire with U.S. special forces on the ground. In any event, the Pentagon says five Syrians ended up in U.S. hands, three had to get medical attention. U.S. forces initially detained some 20 people, but now we're told that most of them have been let go, having been deemed not a threat. Now, Pentagon officials downplay the idea that they ever thought Saddam Hussein or sons were actually in this convoy, but at the same time, the Pentagon says that it may conduct DNA tests just to make sure. And, of course, the one person we know the Pentagon has DNA for is Saddam Hussein. So the one thing we know from this whole episode is that the hunt for Saddam Hussein is still in high gear -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks 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




Injured, Many Questions>