Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Coalition Forces Kill Six of al-Sadr Militia in Najaf
Aired May 17, 2004 - 14:30 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: Headlines at the half hour. Another obstacle to peace as Iraq prepares to sovereignty next month. A suicide bombing killed the president of Iraq's Governing Council in Baghdad. Izzedine Salim was only two weeks into his month-long term as council president. The council named a successor to serve out Salim's term until June 30.
A change of duty is coming for some American soldiers on the Korean Peninsula. The Pentagon plans to move 4,000 troops from South Korea to Iraq. It's not clear when that will happen, but it's likely to come before the next rotation, of course, is in Iraq later this year. The U.S. has 37,000 troops in South Korea.
I do's in Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to allow legal same-sex marriages. All seven couples whose lawsuit prompted the historic move will be married today. Couples are now entitled to hundreds of rights under Massachusetts law.
The Supreme Court rules for equal access for America's disabled. The 5-4 decision says states must provide elevators, ramps and other accommodations in all government buildings. It's a major victory for disabled Americans and it comes 50 years to the day since the Supreme Court ruled on equal access to U.S. public schools.
While Americans were enjoying their weekend, coalition forces in an overnight reconnaissance killed six of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia men in Najaf, Iraq. Jane Arraf was there embedded with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Here's her exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Night after night, the battle between the Mahti militia and U.S. forces is played out in the quiet countryside near Najaf. On the east bank of the Euphrates River, across from Muqtada al-Sadr's stronghold of Kufa, soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment roll out into the palm groves. While most people are sleeping, the troops take up their positions.
(on camera): It's quite eerie here. The dogs are howling. The sounds of the countryside. But there's a long line of armored vehicles and soldiers in the palm trees waiting.
(voice-over): The point is fire back and kill militia members. But their rules are to wait until the gunmen fire first. This is nerve-racking stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If a guy's creeping up through the woods with weapons, RPGs, and if they do -- then, we're in some shit.
ARRAF: In some of the households, wakened by the barking dogs and the noise of engines, there must be families lying in fear, waiting, too, for the gunfire. An hour goes by, and then bullets fly further down the road.
In the dark they can't tell where all of the gunmen are hiding. A few hundred meters away, they send a hail of bullets and an impact grenade into the groves to draws fire back. It's a substitute for sending in soldiers. They call it reconnaissance by fire.
On this night, there's a C-130 Gunship circling. It will be called on for air strikes if there's enough of a threat. There's only sporadic fire at the soldiers and a sandstorm is blowing up. They go back to Karbala.
On this night, the soldiers say they killed six suspected militia members, including four here on this side of the river.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got one of them and I think the other one possibly got away.
ARRAF: There are no U.S. casualties. But soldiers return to the base before dawn through a gauntlet of potential ambushes. The unit we're with has escaped the night's gunfire. Some of these bullets, though, come uncomfortably close. The night's waiting is over.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Najaf, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now live to Washington, D.C. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressing the Heritage Foundation talking about Iraq.
(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)
PHILLIPS: That's again, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressing the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Talking about Iraq. We'll monitor that and bring you any pertinent information.
We're going to take a quick break and be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Now a look inside Abu Ghraib Prison. The first court- martial arising from the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners comes in a couple of days. Specialist Jeremy Sivits of Pennsylvania goes before a military court in Baghdad on Wednesday. Other proceedings will follow.
An Iraqi man held at Abu Ghraib last year is now in the United States. He wants compensation for alleged abuse at the jail. He does not want to be identified by his full name, So we'll call him Mr. Saleh. He spoke exclusively with Jason Bellini. Saleh's account cannot be confirmed independently, and we should warn you, his comments include explicit language. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. Saleh -- that's how he asked us to identify him -- was held in Abu Ghraib Prison from last October to December. He came to Deerborn, Michigan in March seeking justice.
MR. SALEH, FRM. ABU GHRAIB PRISONER (through translator): No human should accept what happened. We didn't believe that would happen. These people do not represent America. These are only a few Americans looking down at Iraqis.
BELLINI: Mr. Saleh has always seen America as an ideal. And he's always dreamt of democracy for Iraq. He says his first time in Abu Ghraib was under Saddam Hussein. He was a political prisoner for three years in the early '80s.
SALEH (through translator): It was the worst situation. He took out revenge on me for cursing Saddam Hussein.
BELLINI: In 1991, during the first Gulf War, Saleh says he opposed Saddam's regime again, encouraging Iraqi soldiers not to fight Americans. He expected American tanks to go all the way to Baghdad.
SALEH (through translator): We thought there was a misunderstanding. We heard in 1990 that Bush Senior said that his forces would actually go into Iraq.
BELLINI: He fled to Saudi Arabia and eventually received asylum in Sweden. In 2003, after the U.S. coalition toppled Saddam Hussein, Saleh took all his money, $79,000 and returned to Iraq.
SALEH (through translator): My family and I will go back to Iraq for good and invest our money there.
BELLINI: But on a visit to Najaf, everything went wrong.
SALEH (through translator): In late September I went to the tomb of Imam Ali. And then right before Najaf, guns were pointed to my head. I kept quiet. They searched the car and there was money there. I said to him...
(in English): ... excuse me. I from Sweden.
BELLINI (on camera): At this point did you think to yourself, this is just a big misunderstanding. I support you, I support the coalition. That's why I'm here. This will all be sorted out real shortly?
SALEH (through translator): From the beginning I thought they were going to let me out. But when he said, you're a liar, I knew that I was not going to be released any time soon.
BELLINI (voice-over): U.S. officials confirm that Saleh was in Abu Ghraib from October 4 to December 23. He says terrible things happened to him and others during that period.
SALEH (through translator): What happened cannot be said or described. The worst of things took place. It was very difficult. I still recall those voices at night of Iraqi women. During the time of Saddam that happened. But under the American forces? that was unexpected, and it hurts.
BELLINI (on camera): What happened to you inside the prison?
SALEH (through translator): They asked me to take my clothes off, they pulled me by my hair like this and they threw me to the floor. Then threw me against the wall. They kept doing that every five minutes. They all Americans.
Some were in civilian clothes, others in military clothes. But there were more civilians than military. And the civilians were the ones giving orders to the soldiers.
They put a leash around my neck, a very tight one. And they pulled me across the hall like that, a long distance.
There are some things I cannot say, because our values prevent us from admitting it happened. But I will tell you this -- they would take five us, line us up next to each other and then using a nylon rope, they tied it around our penises and tied us together.
They pushed one of us to the ground. It was an unbelievable pain, and they laughed.
BELLINI: After all that you said that you went through at Abu Ghraib Prison, why come to the United States just a few months after your release?
SALEH (through translator): Because they promised the other prisoners to go to the U.S. and bring this to the attention of the Americans.
BELLINI (voice-over): He says he was given his prison tag by a U.S. Army officer who encouraged him to pursue his case.
SALEH (through translator): He said, keep this, go to America and get justice there. This was a great man.
BELLINI: Saleh wants his money back, compensation for his suffering and his Mercedes car. Then, maybe, he'll also recover his faith in America.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Dearborn, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Other news around the world now. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice met with Palestinian Prime Minter Ahmed Qorei in Berlin today. Before the meeting, Rice reiterated U.S. support for Palestinian statehood. Washington is trying to jump-start the Mideast peace process. Politics played a role in the biggest one-day plunge in the 129- year history of India's stock market. Investors are worried about the influence communist parties may have over a new government that congress party Sonia Gandhi will likely head. She's likely to meet India's president tomorrow to form a new government.
Money matters next. Now, something even faster than shopping online, all thanks to the camera phone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Back here in the U.S., fast-rising gasoline prices taking a bigger chunk of family budgets, and that extends well beyond the pump. The latest on that now from Kathleen Hays in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soaring gas prices at the pump. That's an in your face, can't avoid it impact of rising energy prices. Gasoline prices have surged nearly 30 percent over the past year to almost two bucks a gallon nationwide. On average, American families are spending about $2,500 a year to fill their tanks. That's up from $1,900 a year ago.
But this is probably eating a lot more out of your family's budget than you realize.
BILL CHENEY, MFC GLOBAL INVESTMENT MGT.: It's hard to think of any part of the economy which is not affected by the price of oil or of energy in general. I mean, anything which is shipped anywhere is subject to the cost of fuel for shipping it whether it's air, road, whatever.
HAYS: Take FedEx and UPS, the world's largest express shipping companies. They currently tack on a surcharge of 6 percent or more to pay for higher fuel costs. That comes directly out of your pocketbook. What you may not notice is the added cost of trucking products across the country, but your local merchants are certainly paying the freight.
JOHN FELMY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INST.: There's no question that the increases in diesel costs have really been a burden for farmers, for truckers, for many who transport goods around the country.
HAYS: Going on vacation anytime soon? Get ready to pay for higher jet fuel costs. Major U.S. airlines already slap fuel surcharges on passengers and cargo. Less obvious, but even more pervasive, petroleum products are used to produce everything from the silicon wafer chips that go into computers to the paints you use to brighten up baby's nursery. A few pennies here, a few dollars there, it all adds up to a big chunk of change taken away from American households.
FELMY: If you combine gasoline with the other forms of petroleum, every penny change in a cost of petroleum is more like $3 billion, because we consume 300 billion gallons a year. HAYS (on camera): Wal-Mart said this week that higher gas prices are costing its customers about $7 a week, and other retailers have complained recently that because of higher gas prices, shoppers are making fewer trips to the mall.
Kathleen Hays, CNN Financial News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: We're coming up on the top of the hour. A suicide bomber targets a key member of the Iraqi Governing Council. The latest from Baghdad.
Fifty years after Brown vs. the Board of Education, we're live in Topeka, Kansas where the historic ruling has its roots.
And history being made in Massachusetts. Same-sex couples can now be legally married in the Bay State.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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 May 17, 2004 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Headlines at the half hour. Another obstacle to peace as Iraq prepares to sovereignty next month. A suicide bombing killed the president of Iraq's Governing Council in Baghdad. Izzedine Salim was only two weeks into his month-long term as council president. The council named a successor to serve out Salim's term until June 30.
A change of duty is coming for some American soldiers on the Korean Peninsula. The Pentagon plans to move 4,000 troops from South Korea to Iraq. It's not clear when that will happen, but it's likely to come before the next rotation, of course, is in Iraq later this year. The U.S. has 37,000 troops in South Korea.
I do's in Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to allow legal same-sex marriages. All seven couples whose lawsuit prompted the historic move will be married today. Couples are now entitled to hundreds of rights under Massachusetts law.
The Supreme Court rules for equal access for America's disabled. The 5-4 decision says states must provide elevators, ramps and other accommodations in all government buildings. It's a major victory for disabled Americans and it comes 50 years to the day since the Supreme Court ruled on equal access to U.S. public schools.
While Americans were enjoying their weekend, coalition forces in an overnight reconnaissance killed six of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia men in Najaf, Iraq. Jane Arraf was there embedded with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Here's her exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Night after night, the battle between the Mahti militia and U.S. forces is played out in the quiet countryside near Najaf. On the east bank of the Euphrates River, across from Muqtada al-Sadr's stronghold of Kufa, soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment roll out into the palm groves. While most people are sleeping, the troops take up their positions.
(on camera): It's quite eerie here. The dogs are howling. The sounds of the countryside. But there's a long line of armored vehicles and soldiers in the palm trees waiting.
(voice-over): The point is fire back and kill militia members. But their rules are to wait until the gunmen fire first. This is nerve-racking stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If a guy's creeping up through the woods with weapons, RPGs, and if they do -- then, we're in some shit.
ARRAF: In some of the households, wakened by the barking dogs and the noise of engines, there must be families lying in fear, waiting, too, for the gunfire. An hour goes by, and then bullets fly further down the road.
In the dark they can't tell where all of the gunmen are hiding. A few hundred meters away, they send a hail of bullets and an impact grenade into the groves to draws fire back. It's a substitute for sending in soldiers. They call it reconnaissance by fire.
On this night, there's a C-130 Gunship circling. It will be called on for air strikes if there's enough of a threat. There's only sporadic fire at the soldiers and a sandstorm is blowing up. They go back to Karbala.
On this night, the soldiers say they killed six suspected militia members, including four here on this side of the river.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got one of them and I think the other one possibly got away.
ARRAF: There are no U.S. casualties. But soldiers return to the base before dawn through a gauntlet of potential ambushes. The unit we're with has escaped the night's gunfire. Some of these bullets, though, come uncomfortably close. The night's waiting is over.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Najaf, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now live to Washington, D.C. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressing the Heritage Foundation talking about Iraq.
(INTERRUPTED BY LIVE EVENT)
PHILLIPS: That's again, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressing the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Talking about Iraq. We'll monitor that and bring you any pertinent information.
We're going to take a quick break and be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Now a look inside Abu Ghraib Prison. The first court- martial arising from the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners comes in a couple of days. Specialist Jeremy Sivits of Pennsylvania goes before a military court in Baghdad on Wednesday. Other proceedings will follow.
An Iraqi man held at Abu Ghraib last year is now in the United States. He wants compensation for alleged abuse at the jail. He does not want to be identified by his full name, So we'll call him Mr. Saleh. He spoke exclusively with Jason Bellini. Saleh's account cannot be confirmed independently, and we should warn you, his comments include explicit language. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. Saleh -- that's how he asked us to identify him -- was held in Abu Ghraib Prison from last October to December. He came to Deerborn, Michigan in March seeking justice.
MR. SALEH, FRM. ABU GHRAIB PRISONER (through translator): No human should accept what happened. We didn't believe that would happen. These people do not represent America. These are only a few Americans looking down at Iraqis.
BELLINI: Mr. Saleh has always seen America as an ideal. And he's always dreamt of democracy for Iraq. He says his first time in Abu Ghraib was under Saddam Hussein. He was a political prisoner for three years in the early '80s.
SALEH (through translator): It was the worst situation. He took out revenge on me for cursing Saddam Hussein.
BELLINI: In 1991, during the first Gulf War, Saleh says he opposed Saddam's regime again, encouraging Iraqi soldiers not to fight Americans. He expected American tanks to go all the way to Baghdad.
SALEH (through translator): We thought there was a misunderstanding. We heard in 1990 that Bush Senior said that his forces would actually go into Iraq.
BELLINI: He fled to Saudi Arabia and eventually received asylum in Sweden. In 2003, after the U.S. coalition toppled Saddam Hussein, Saleh took all his money, $79,000 and returned to Iraq.
SALEH (through translator): My family and I will go back to Iraq for good and invest our money there.
BELLINI: But on a visit to Najaf, everything went wrong.
SALEH (through translator): In late September I went to the tomb of Imam Ali. And then right before Najaf, guns were pointed to my head. I kept quiet. They searched the car and there was money there. I said to him...
(in English): ... excuse me. I from Sweden.
BELLINI (on camera): At this point did you think to yourself, this is just a big misunderstanding. I support you, I support the coalition. That's why I'm here. This will all be sorted out real shortly?
SALEH (through translator): From the beginning I thought they were going to let me out. But when he said, you're a liar, I knew that I was not going to be released any time soon.
BELLINI (voice-over): U.S. officials confirm that Saleh was in Abu Ghraib from October 4 to December 23. He says terrible things happened to him and others during that period.
SALEH (through translator): What happened cannot be said or described. The worst of things took place. It was very difficult. I still recall those voices at night of Iraqi women. During the time of Saddam that happened. But under the American forces? that was unexpected, and it hurts.
BELLINI (on camera): What happened to you inside the prison?
SALEH (through translator): They asked me to take my clothes off, they pulled me by my hair like this and they threw me to the floor. Then threw me against the wall. They kept doing that every five minutes. They all Americans.
Some were in civilian clothes, others in military clothes. But there were more civilians than military. And the civilians were the ones giving orders to the soldiers.
They put a leash around my neck, a very tight one. And they pulled me across the hall like that, a long distance.
There are some things I cannot say, because our values prevent us from admitting it happened. But I will tell you this -- they would take five us, line us up next to each other and then using a nylon rope, they tied it around our penises and tied us together.
They pushed one of us to the ground. It was an unbelievable pain, and they laughed.
BELLINI: After all that you said that you went through at Abu Ghraib Prison, why come to the United States just a few months after your release?
SALEH (through translator): Because they promised the other prisoners to go to the U.S. and bring this to the attention of the Americans.
BELLINI (voice-over): He says he was given his prison tag by a U.S. Army officer who encouraged him to pursue his case.
SALEH (through translator): He said, keep this, go to America and get justice there. This was a great man.
BELLINI: Saleh wants his money back, compensation for his suffering and his Mercedes car. Then, maybe, he'll also recover his faith in America.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Dearborn, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Other news around the world now. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice met with Palestinian Prime Minter Ahmed Qorei in Berlin today. Before the meeting, Rice reiterated U.S. support for Palestinian statehood. Washington is trying to jump-start the Mideast peace process. Politics played a role in the biggest one-day plunge in the 129- year history of India's stock market. Investors are worried about the influence communist parties may have over a new government that congress party Sonia Gandhi will likely head. She's likely to meet India's president tomorrow to form a new government.
Money matters next. Now, something even faster than shopping online, all thanks to the camera phone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Back here in the U.S., fast-rising gasoline prices taking a bigger chunk of family budgets, and that extends well beyond the pump. The latest on that now from Kathleen Hays in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soaring gas prices at the pump. That's an in your face, can't avoid it impact of rising energy prices. Gasoline prices have surged nearly 30 percent over the past year to almost two bucks a gallon nationwide. On average, American families are spending about $2,500 a year to fill their tanks. That's up from $1,900 a year ago.
But this is probably eating a lot more out of your family's budget than you realize.
BILL CHENEY, MFC GLOBAL INVESTMENT MGT.: It's hard to think of any part of the economy which is not affected by the price of oil or of energy in general. I mean, anything which is shipped anywhere is subject to the cost of fuel for shipping it whether it's air, road, whatever.
HAYS: Take FedEx and UPS, the world's largest express shipping companies. They currently tack on a surcharge of 6 percent or more to pay for higher fuel costs. That comes directly out of your pocketbook. What you may not notice is the added cost of trucking products across the country, but your local merchants are certainly paying the freight.
JOHN FELMY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INST.: There's no question that the increases in diesel costs have really been a burden for farmers, for truckers, for many who transport goods around the country.
HAYS: Going on vacation anytime soon? Get ready to pay for higher jet fuel costs. Major U.S. airlines already slap fuel surcharges on passengers and cargo. Less obvious, but even more pervasive, petroleum products are used to produce everything from the silicon wafer chips that go into computers to the paints you use to brighten up baby's nursery. A few pennies here, a few dollars there, it all adds up to a big chunk of change taken away from American households.
FELMY: If you combine gasoline with the other forms of petroleum, every penny change in a cost of petroleum is more like $3 billion, because we consume 300 billion gallons a year. HAYS (on camera): Wal-Mart said this week that higher gas prices are costing its customers about $7 a week, and other retailers have complained recently that because of higher gas prices, shoppers are making fewer trips to the mall.
Kathleen Hays, CNN Financial News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MARKET UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: We're coming up on the top of the hour. A suicide bomber targets a key member of the Iraqi Governing Council. The latest from Baghdad.
Fifty years after Brown vs. the Board of Education, we're live in Topeka, Kansas where the historic ruling has its roots.
And history being made in Massachusetts. Same-sex couples can now be legally married in the Bay State.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
