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American Morning

Interview with U.S. Special Forces Communications Sergeant

Aired April 07, 2003 - 07:52   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You mentioned northern Iraq, and you heard General Brooks say coalition forces around Mosul are isolating regime fighters.
Our Jane Arraf has been watching the action. She joins us now to bring us up-to-date -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Carol.

Well, we're just down the road from a major intersection pretty well halfway between those major cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. And we've been here with U.S. Special Forces, who have been dug in on this ridge for the past couple of days, and spectacular fights yesterday with Iraqi tanks. Today, there seems to be a bit of a lull, but the threat still appears to be there.

We have with us one of those Special Forces, a Special Forces communicator. He can't give us his name right now.

But, Sergeant, I wonder if you could just tell us, what is it like up here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's a good question. It's very challenging at times, and other times very rewarding. We're all proud to be here and proud to be fighting with our Peshmerga counterparts. And I'm very pleased at the progress us and our fellow forces have been making so far.

ARRAF: And how is that cooperation going with the Peshmerga, particularly after the incident yesterday, the friendly fire incident, where 18 of them were killed and 45 wounded? Have you felt that that has affected the relationship?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I can say is my personal interactions with the Peshmerga, and they are very, very good soldiers, and they fight alongside with us the entire time. Their attitudes towards us have not changed one bit.

ARRAF: A much different case being here, I suppose, than in the south. But I mean, have you generally -- how have you felt about the level of threats here in the north?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're always on our toes for anything, and it doesn't matter whether we're behind the lines or, you know, far away, that we always try to maintain a heightened level of security and situational awareness in order to not let anything, you know, surprise us. ARRAF: Now, we are up here on this ridge. It's very picturesque. I think people can see through here. But it's extremely hazy. This is the direction that the tanks came from yesterday. How much of a threat is there out there? Is it possible to tell?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's always a threat, but with our training and with our equipment, we can always counter that threat, like we did yesterday.

ARRAF: And what happened yesterday? I mean, there was talk that you took out maybe 10 Iraqi tanks. Could that be it? Could that be (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to get into operational matters at this time. But what I can say is the Iraqis came at us and we sent them back several times severely bleeding, and I don't think they're going to be coming back anytime soon, hopefully.

ARRAF: Is it possible to tell what's going to happen now? I mean, you're still on this ridge, you've got forces up the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, we own this territory, and what happens next we'll be seeing. We don't know yet.

ARRAF: Thanks very much, Sergeant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

ARRAF: Carol, that was the word from Special Forces on this ridge on a major -- just before a major intersection that is halfway between Mosul and Kirkuk.

Now, we have been seeing what appears to be bombing, sporadic bombing with some spectacular explosions from Mosul. That appears to have been an ammunition depot that has been blown up. And along the front line all along the north of Iraq here, we have been seeing Special Forces with the Peshmerga advance a little bit into areas vacated by the Iraqi forces, but so far, of course, not enough forces here on the ground to make that major push -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Understand. Jane Arraf reporting live from northern Iraq.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




Sergeant>


Aired April 7, 2003 - 07:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You mentioned northern Iraq, and you heard General Brooks say coalition forces around Mosul are isolating regime fighters.
Our Jane Arraf has been watching the action. She joins us now to bring us up-to-date -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Carol.

Well, we're just down the road from a major intersection pretty well halfway between those major cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. And we've been here with U.S. Special Forces, who have been dug in on this ridge for the past couple of days, and spectacular fights yesterday with Iraqi tanks. Today, there seems to be a bit of a lull, but the threat still appears to be there.

We have with us one of those Special Forces, a Special Forces communicator. He can't give us his name right now.

But, Sergeant, I wonder if you could just tell us, what is it like up here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's a good question. It's very challenging at times, and other times very rewarding. We're all proud to be here and proud to be fighting with our Peshmerga counterparts. And I'm very pleased at the progress us and our fellow forces have been making so far.

ARRAF: And how is that cooperation going with the Peshmerga, particularly after the incident yesterday, the friendly fire incident, where 18 of them were killed and 45 wounded? Have you felt that that has affected the relationship?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I can say is my personal interactions with the Peshmerga, and they are very, very good soldiers, and they fight alongside with us the entire time. Their attitudes towards us have not changed one bit.

ARRAF: A much different case being here, I suppose, than in the south. But I mean, have you generally -- how have you felt about the level of threats here in the north?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're always on our toes for anything, and it doesn't matter whether we're behind the lines or, you know, far away, that we always try to maintain a heightened level of security and situational awareness in order to not let anything, you know, surprise us. ARRAF: Now, we are up here on this ridge. It's very picturesque. I think people can see through here. But it's extremely hazy. This is the direction that the tanks came from yesterday. How much of a threat is there out there? Is it possible to tell?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's always a threat, but with our training and with our equipment, we can always counter that threat, like we did yesterday.

ARRAF: And what happened yesterday? I mean, there was talk that you took out maybe 10 Iraqi tanks. Could that be it? Could that be (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to get into operational matters at this time. But what I can say is the Iraqis came at us and we sent them back several times severely bleeding, and I don't think they're going to be coming back anytime soon, hopefully.

ARRAF: Is it possible to tell what's going to happen now? I mean, you're still on this ridge, you've got forces up the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, we own this territory, and what happens next we'll be seeing. We don't know yet.

ARRAF: Thanks very much, Sergeant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

ARRAF: Carol, that was the word from Special Forces on this ridge on a major -- just before a major intersection that is halfway between Mosul and Kirkuk.

Now, we have been seeing what appears to be bombing, sporadic bombing with some spectacular explosions from Mosul. That appears to have been an ammunition depot that has been blown up. And along the front line all along the north of Iraq here, we have been seeing Special Forces with the Peshmerga advance a little bit into areas vacated by the Iraqi forces, but so far, of course, not enough forces here on the ground to make that major push -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Understand. Jane Arraf reporting live from northern Iraq.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




Sergeant>