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A Hero's Story in Iraq; Multinational Force Considered

Aired August 28, 2003 - 12:57   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: One of the U.N.'s best and brightest is being honored right now at a public memorial service in Geneva. Sergio Vieira de Mello was killed by that bomb blast in Baghdad last Tuesday. His body is laid to rest today in the city where he served for many years and in many U.N. roles. He was the special envoy to Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he died last week in the bombing of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters.
Vieira de Mello his uttered final words to an American soldier, an Army sergeant who tried, but sadly failed, to spare his death.

But as CNN's Walter Rodgers reports, the soldier performed as we've come to expect, like a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Master Sergeant Bill Von Zehle is a take-charge guy. Tuesday a week ago, Sergeant Von Zehle took charge when a truck bomb struck the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, just the length of a football field from where we are standing.

SGT. WILLIAM VON ZEHLE, U.S. ARMY: When the blast went off it was the brightest orange light I think I'd ever seen and the loudest noise I'd ever heard.

RODGERS: Wounded himself, Von Zehle, a retired fire chief, says he and other soldiers scoured the rubble.

VON ZEHLE: Well, initially we were told by a U.N. Employee there were two people trapped.

RODGERS: Sergeant Von Zehle says he slithered between slabs of collapsed concrete, locating a U.N. workers as well as U.N. Special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, buried and trapped.

VON ZEHLE: It was kind of like climbing down a cave, basically hand over hand down the bricks. And they were both buried pretty much from the waist down. There was no room to really work on Sergio, because there was a slab directly above him.

RODGERS For nearly three hours Von Zehle and, he says, a second sergeant, labored to keep the other man and de Mello alive as they lay crushed, slipping into shock.

VON ZEHLE: I said, you know, "My name's Bill." And he said, "I'm Sergio." I asked him his name, he said Sergio. And I said, "Where are you hurting?" And he told me. His legs were hurting.

And I said -- and I really meant it. I said, "We're going to get you out of here." And, you know, at the time I truly meant, I thought we were going to get him out of there.

RODGERS: Von Zehle believes if the Iraqis had basic rescue equipment, like most fire departments in developed nations, de Mello could have been pulled out alive. The sergeant says among de Mello's last words were a plea not to withdraw the U.N. mission from Iraq.

VON ZEHLE: You know, it's interesting. He never once asked about himself, never once complained about the pain, and we know he was in severe pain. I thought the nobility that the man had in his last minutes and hours, that somebody should know about that.

RODGERS: Sergeant Von Zehle says he's recovering now after experiencing post-traumatic stress. His Army unit is moving to a more severe location after the bombing of that U.N. building.

Von Zehle's goal now, to make it home alive and, in his words, lead a long, quiet life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS: And by way of footnote, after that United Nations building bombing here in Baghdad just a little over a week ago, an increasing number of relief agencies, international relief agencies, are talking about reducing their -- the numbers of their personnel here.

They are comparing the danger level here in Baghdad now to Afghanistan, which is pretty severe. Oxfam, the British relief agency, has pulled all its people out of Iraq. And the International Red Cross has, again, reduced its imprint here, the numbers of people it has. The principal reason appears to be that they see themselves as too closely associated, at least in the eyes of the Iraqis, with the American occupation forces here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, in addition to quite a compelling interview, you also mentioned in your piece a lack of resources, rescue equipment. What would happen if a bombing like this were to happen again? Are the resources there to help save lives?

RODGERS: No.

When I talked to Sergeant Von Zehle -- he, as you know, was the former fire chief in Danbury, Connecticut -- he said every American fire company has buckets that you can at least hoist the rubble out of. They have these compressed air bags by which, if you have someone trapped under rubble, like de Mello, you can slide these air bags in and then release the air. And it will lift the concrete slabs up enough to free someone whose body has been crushed in either an earthquake or a building collapse. Those don't exist now. They haven't existed here now. And except for the individual soldiers who have experience as paramedics back in the United States and work in the fire departments in the United States, the skills just don't exist in this part of the world -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Walter Rodgers from Baghdad, thank you.

Well, facing mounting bills and mounting American losses, pressure on the Bush administration to do something about both. Could a multinational force under U.N. sanction make a difference?

CNN's Michael Okwu is standing by live from New York on the emerging U.N. option.

But, first, we turn to CNN's John King, who is out in Crawford, Texas, with President Bush -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, Michael can tell you about the difficult diplomacy.

But this is an idea the Bush administration is warming to, the possibility of replacing some U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq with troops from other countries. There have been some coalition support so far. But what the administration is hoping it can bring about -- and the diplomacy is quite difficult -- is a new United Nations resolution that created a new multinational force, essentially gave the United Nations blessings to a postwar force in Iraq.

But the administration is adamant that that force would have to be under the command of the United States. The Pentagon will not budge on that point, we are told. A U.S. general must be running the show. So the question is, can the Bush administration sell that at the United Nations? What would it mean if it could? It would mean perhaps tens of thousands of more troops from other countries coming in, which, after a transitional period, would allow some Americans to come home.

So there are obvious political benefits for the Bush administration in the United States if it can start bringing U.S. troops home. And the administration believes -- and the general on the ground in Iraq said it today -- that if you have a broader multinational force, it will give that force more international credibility. So it is an idea the Bush administration is proposing, but officials say it is just an idea. At this point, it is unclear as yet whether they can actually sell it at the United Nations -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's an idea that would make a lot of families back in the states, happy, John.

Well, let's go to the U.N. and ask Michael Okwu, could it be sold, this idea? -- Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It may very well be able to be sold, Kyra. But the fact is, no decision at this point. In fact, there's no hard resolution on the table. And we understand, of course, that some diplomats are even saying that there may never even be this resolution. It may not come to pass. But having said that, the fact is, the United States is discussing with other diplomats, specifically Security Council diplomats, the possibility of a multinational force, a U.N. force, that would be under a U.S. commander.

Now, this has happened before. Specifically, such a force was used back in Somalia in the 1990s. We're told that the United States would like to move slowly on this to build some sort of consensus. But the clear fact here is that there will be no consensus. It will be very unlikely without any kind of concession. Britain and France, specifically -- Germany, actually, and France have been saying all along that they'd like to see the U.S. give up some sort of political control before sending any kind of force.

And, in the meantime, countries like Pakistan and India said: We are ready to go, so long as the U.N. plays a much more pivotal role in building some sort of political process in Iraq. In the meantime, a Western diplomat has made it very clear that this is really about ideas, creative ideas, going before and between capitals at this point, and that we may very likely see some sort of ideas written on paper some time next week.

PHILLIPS: Michael Okwu from the U.N., 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






Aired August 28, 2003 - 12:57   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: One of the U.N.'s best and brightest is being honored right now at a public memorial service in Geneva. Sergio Vieira de Mello was killed by that bomb blast in Baghdad last Tuesday. His body is laid to rest today in the city where he served for many years and in many U.N. roles. He was the special envoy to Secretary-General Kofi Annan when he died last week in the bombing of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters.
Vieira de Mello his uttered final words to an American soldier, an Army sergeant who tried, but sadly failed, to spare his death.

But as CNN's Walter Rodgers reports, the soldier performed as we've come to expect, like a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Master Sergeant Bill Von Zehle is a take-charge guy. Tuesday a week ago, Sergeant Von Zehle took charge when a truck bomb struck the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, just the length of a football field from where we are standing.

SGT. WILLIAM VON ZEHLE, U.S. ARMY: When the blast went off it was the brightest orange light I think I'd ever seen and the loudest noise I'd ever heard.

RODGERS: Wounded himself, Von Zehle, a retired fire chief, says he and other soldiers scoured the rubble.

VON ZEHLE: Well, initially we were told by a U.N. Employee there were two people trapped.

RODGERS: Sergeant Von Zehle says he slithered between slabs of collapsed concrete, locating a U.N. workers as well as U.N. Special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, buried and trapped.

VON ZEHLE: It was kind of like climbing down a cave, basically hand over hand down the bricks. And they were both buried pretty much from the waist down. There was no room to really work on Sergio, because there was a slab directly above him.

RODGERS For nearly three hours Von Zehle and, he says, a second sergeant, labored to keep the other man and de Mello alive as they lay crushed, slipping into shock.

VON ZEHLE: I said, you know, "My name's Bill." And he said, "I'm Sergio." I asked him his name, he said Sergio. And I said, "Where are you hurting?" And he told me. His legs were hurting.

And I said -- and I really meant it. I said, "We're going to get you out of here." And, you know, at the time I truly meant, I thought we were going to get him out of there.

RODGERS: Von Zehle believes if the Iraqis had basic rescue equipment, like most fire departments in developed nations, de Mello could have been pulled out alive. The sergeant says among de Mello's last words were a plea not to withdraw the U.N. mission from Iraq.

VON ZEHLE: You know, it's interesting. He never once asked about himself, never once complained about the pain, and we know he was in severe pain. I thought the nobility that the man had in his last minutes and hours, that somebody should know about that.

RODGERS: Sergeant Von Zehle says he's recovering now after experiencing post-traumatic stress. His Army unit is moving to a more severe location after the bombing of that U.N. building.

Von Zehle's goal now, to make it home alive and, in his words, lead a long, quiet life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS: And by way of footnote, after that United Nations building bombing here in Baghdad just a little over a week ago, an increasing number of relief agencies, international relief agencies, are talking about reducing their -- the numbers of their personnel here.

They are comparing the danger level here in Baghdad now to Afghanistan, which is pretty severe. Oxfam, the British relief agency, has pulled all its people out of Iraq. And the International Red Cross has, again, reduced its imprint here, the numbers of people it has. The principal reason appears to be that they see themselves as too closely associated, at least in the eyes of the Iraqis, with the American occupation forces here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, in addition to quite a compelling interview, you also mentioned in your piece a lack of resources, rescue equipment. What would happen if a bombing like this were to happen again? Are the resources there to help save lives?

RODGERS: No.

When I talked to Sergeant Von Zehle -- he, as you know, was the former fire chief in Danbury, Connecticut -- he said every American fire company has buckets that you can at least hoist the rubble out of. They have these compressed air bags by which, if you have someone trapped under rubble, like de Mello, you can slide these air bags in and then release the air. And it will lift the concrete slabs up enough to free someone whose body has been crushed in either an earthquake or a building collapse. Those don't exist now. They haven't existed here now. And except for the individual soldiers who have experience as paramedics back in the United States and work in the fire departments in the United States, the skills just don't exist in this part of the world -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Walter Rodgers from Baghdad, thank you.

Well, facing mounting bills and mounting American losses, pressure on the Bush administration to do something about both. Could a multinational force under U.N. sanction make a difference?

CNN's Michael Okwu is standing by live from New York on the emerging U.N. option.

But, first, we turn to CNN's John King, who is out in Crawford, Texas, with President Bush -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, Michael can tell you about the difficult diplomacy.

But this is an idea the Bush administration is warming to, the possibility of replacing some U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq with troops from other countries. There have been some coalition support so far. But what the administration is hoping it can bring about -- and the diplomacy is quite difficult -- is a new United Nations resolution that created a new multinational force, essentially gave the United Nations blessings to a postwar force in Iraq.

But the administration is adamant that that force would have to be under the command of the United States. The Pentagon will not budge on that point, we are told. A U.S. general must be running the show. So the question is, can the Bush administration sell that at the United Nations? What would it mean if it could? It would mean perhaps tens of thousands of more troops from other countries coming in, which, after a transitional period, would allow some Americans to come home.

So there are obvious political benefits for the Bush administration in the United States if it can start bringing U.S. troops home. And the administration believes -- and the general on the ground in Iraq said it today -- that if you have a broader multinational force, it will give that force more international credibility. So it is an idea the Bush administration is proposing, but officials say it is just an idea. At this point, it is unclear as yet whether they can actually sell it at the United Nations -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's an idea that would make a lot of families back in the states, happy, John.

Well, let's go to the U.N. and ask Michael Okwu, could it be sold, this idea? -- Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It may very well be able to be sold, Kyra. But the fact is, no decision at this point. In fact, there's no hard resolution on the table. And we understand, of course, that some diplomats are even saying that there may never even be this resolution. It may not come to pass. But having said that, the fact is, the United States is discussing with other diplomats, specifically Security Council diplomats, the possibility of a multinational force, a U.N. force, that would be under a U.S. commander.

Now, this has happened before. Specifically, such a force was used back in Somalia in the 1990s. We're told that the United States would like to move slowly on this to build some sort of consensus. But the clear fact here is that there will be no consensus. It will be very unlikely without any kind of concession. Britain and France, specifically -- Germany, actually, and France have been saying all along that they'd like to see the U.S. give up some sort of political control before sending any kind of force.

And, in the meantime, countries like Pakistan and India said: We are ready to go, so long as the U.N. plays a much more pivotal role in building some sort of political process in Iraq. In the meantime, a Western diplomat has made it very clear that this is really about ideas, creative ideas, going before and between capitals at this point, and that we may very likely see some sort of ideas written on paper some time next week.

PHILLIPS: Michael Okwu from the U.N., 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