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Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Escalating?; Ariel Sharon Set to Visit White House
Aired July 28, 2003 - 15:05 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.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Nic, I want to ask you about these attacks on U.S. soldiers. They seem different now. The Army says they're more sophisticated. It seems like it's getting scarier, yes?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It seems like whoever's planning these attacks is being very careful.
We saw over the weekend where three soldiers were killed when a grenade was thrown on them when they appeared to be relaxing inside a secure compound, in a hospital, clearly, the -- clearly, the attackers waiting for a moment when the soldiers appeared off guard. Yesterday, a grenade thrown down on troops, today a grenade thrown down on troops, improvised explosives triggered, apparently by people lying in wait for troops to drive by the explosive device, set off as they drive by, not the act of amateurs, definitely the act of professionals, according to coalition forces.
And this targeting infrastructure, again, something new -- the complexity and sophistication here, that of people with some degree of training -- Candy.
CROWLEY: Thanks very much, Nic Robertson, in Baghdad for us. Thanks, Nic.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pays a visit to President Bush tomorrow at the White House to discuss the U.S.-sponsored road map for peace in the Middle East.
We have our White House correspondent Dana Bash joining us now for more on tomorrow's talks -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Candy.
Well, Ariel Sharon is in town already today. He's some having private meetings. One of those is this afternoon with the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. And that is in advance of his arrival at the White House tomorrow, just four days after Bush heaped lots of praise on the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, in the Rose Garden.
And although there are specifics that will be discussed at this meeting, the point of all of these meetings, according to White House officials, is to continue to show that the president is riding herd, as he put it, staying engaged in the process, pushing both sides along. And it also, according to both administration and Israeli officials, is to make sure that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, succeeds as the leader, succeeds as the point person for the Palestinians in terms of moving along with the peace process.
Now, that, say officials, is part of the reason why Ariel Sharon brought some chips with him to Washington. Before he left, he and his Cabinet approved the releasing of some Palestinian prisoners. That is something that Mahmoud Abbas said that he wanted and is something that Ariel Sharon and his Cabinet did, even though it is not part of the road map. It's not required as a part of the specific road map for peace, but it would serve a goodwill gesture before Ariel Sharon came here.
But there will be some contentious issues discussed, for example, the wall that the Israelis are building in the West Bank. It is something that President Bush last week did say that he does not think is very helpful to the process. In private, a White House official says that he will bring the issue up with Ariel Sharon.
But, Candy, Ariel Sharon, like Abbas, will also come with his own list of grievances here to the White House tomorrow. The No. 1 issue for him will be pushing -- getting President Bush to push the Palestinians to dismantle the terror groups, dismantle the Palestinian militant groups. There, of course, has been a cease-fire, a three- month cease-fire. That has only 60 days left. So the clock is ticking and the Israelis are concerned that, once it is over at the end of September, they're going to be right back where they started with violence. So they want to make sure that that doesn't happen -- Candy.
CROWLEY: CNN's Dana Bash at the White House -- thanks, Dana.
BASH: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Set to Visit White House>
Aired July 28, 2003 - 15:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Nic, I want to ask you about these attacks on U.S. soldiers. They seem different now. The Army says they're more sophisticated. It seems like it's getting scarier, yes?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It seems like whoever's planning these attacks is being very careful.
We saw over the weekend where three soldiers were killed when a grenade was thrown on them when they appeared to be relaxing inside a secure compound, in a hospital, clearly, the -- clearly, the attackers waiting for a moment when the soldiers appeared off guard. Yesterday, a grenade thrown down on troops, today a grenade thrown down on troops, improvised explosives triggered, apparently by people lying in wait for troops to drive by the explosive device, set off as they drive by, not the act of amateurs, definitely the act of professionals, according to coalition forces.
And this targeting infrastructure, again, something new -- the complexity and sophistication here, that of people with some degree of training -- Candy.
CROWLEY: Thanks very much, Nic Robertson, in Baghdad for us. Thanks, Nic.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pays a visit to President Bush tomorrow at the White House to discuss the U.S.-sponsored road map for peace in the Middle East.
We have our White House correspondent Dana Bash joining us now for more on tomorrow's talks -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Candy.
Well, Ariel Sharon is in town already today. He's some having private meetings. One of those is this afternoon with the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. And that is in advance of his arrival at the White House tomorrow, just four days after Bush heaped lots of praise on the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, in the Rose Garden.
And although there are specifics that will be discussed at this meeting, the point of all of these meetings, according to White House officials, is to continue to show that the president is riding herd, as he put it, staying engaged in the process, pushing both sides along. And it also, according to both administration and Israeli officials, is to make sure that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, succeeds as the leader, succeeds as the point person for the Palestinians in terms of moving along with the peace process.
Now, that, say officials, is part of the reason why Ariel Sharon brought some chips with him to Washington. Before he left, he and his Cabinet approved the releasing of some Palestinian prisoners. That is something that Mahmoud Abbas said that he wanted and is something that Ariel Sharon and his Cabinet did, even though it is not part of the road map. It's not required as a part of the specific road map for peace, but it would serve a goodwill gesture before Ariel Sharon came here.
But there will be some contentious issues discussed, for example, the wall that the Israelis are building in the West Bank. It is something that President Bush last week did say that he does not think is very helpful to the process. In private, a White House official says that he will bring the issue up with Ariel Sharon.
But, Candy, Ariel Sharon, like Abbas, will also come with his own list of grievances here to the White House tomorrow. The No. 1 issue for him will be pushing -- getting President Bush to push the Palestinians to dismantle the terror groups, dismantle the Palestinian militant groups. There, of course, has been a cease-fire, a three- month cease-fire. That has only 60 days left. So the clock is ticking and the Israelis are concerned that, once it is over at the end of September, they're going to be right back where they started with violence. So they want to make sure that that doesn't happen -- Candy.
CROWLEY: CNN's Dana Bash at the White House -- thanks, Dana.
BASH: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Set to Visit White House>
