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American Morning
U.S. Soldier Killed in Convoy
Aired August 26, 2003 - 08:03 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.
BILL HEMM, ANCHOR: Another U.S. soldier dead in Iraq. That news just crossing right now. An attack on a military convoy there yet again. To the Pentagon and our senior correspondent there, Jamie McIntyre.
Jamie, what happened? Good morning.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill Hemmer, with the death of another U.S. soldier in Iraq, the Unite States has crossed that symbolic milestone, 138 deaths, now 139 since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations.
This death, like many of the recent ones, came in a convoy attack. The soldier from the 3rd Core Support Command was killed by what's called an improvised explosive device, a homemade bomb, two other soldiers wounded in that attack.
And as I said, this pushes the United States now over the threshold of the number of deaths that occurred before the declared end of major combat operations.
We should note that there were still more hostile deaths before then, about 115 compared to 63 hostile deaths since the May 1 statement by President Bush, but still, the rate of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq is working out to be about one every other day.
Now that number, we should also say, includes not only deaths from hostile fire, but also medical problems, accidents and even suicides -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jamie, there is this image every time we hear of these deaths about a Humvee driving over a bridge, to essentially be almost a sitting duck, depending on the part of Iraq in which they're traveling.
What has the Pentagon said about trying to defend about the potential for attack when you're simply driving a Jeep or in this case a Humvee or otherwise in the open road in Iraq?
MCINTYRE: Well, instead of, you know, facing decreasing resistance, what the Pentagon has been seeing in Iraq is increasingly sophisticated and sneaky attacks. So some of these improvised explosive devices have been well disguised. Some of them have been planted in two locations, so that when a driver avoids one location, they drive into another area where they can be hit by a command- detonated device. So it's a very, very difficult thing to defend against and they believe the best defense is to do what they're doing today, which is go after the people they believe are responsible and try to hunt them down and capture and kill them.
HEMMER: And as you well know, Pentagon officials say they're getting better at it by the week there in Iraq. Jamie, thanks. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.
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 26, 2003 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMM, ANCHOR: Another U.S. soldier dead in Iraq. That news just crossing right now. An attack on a military convoy there yet again. To the Pentagon and our senior correspondent there, Jamie McIntyre.
Jamie, what happened? Good morning.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill Hemmer, with the death of another U.S. soldier in Iraq, the Unite States has crossed that symbolic milestone, 138 deaths, now 139 since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations.
This death, like many of the recent ones, came in a convoy attack. The soldier from the 3rd Core Support Command was killed by what's called an improvised explosive device, a homemade bomb, two other soldiers wounded in that attack.
And as I said, this pushes the United States now over the threshold of the number of deaths that occurred before the declared end of major combat operations.
We should note that there were still more hostile deaths before then, about 115 compared to 63 hostile deaths since the May 1 statement by President Bush, but still, the rate of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq is working out to be about one every other day.
Now that number, we should also say, includes not only deaths from hostile fire, but also medical problems, accidents and even suicides -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jamie, there is this image every time we hear of these deaths about a Humvee driving over a bridge, to essentially be almost a sitting duck, depending on the part of Iraq in which they're traveling.
What has the Pentagon said about trying to defend about the potential for attack when you're simply driving a Jeep or in this case a Humvee or otherwise in the open road in Iraq?
MCINTYRE: Well, instead of, you know, facing decreasing resistance, what the Pentagon has been seeing in Iraq is increasingly sophisticated and sneaky attacks. So some of these improvised explosive devices have been well disguised. Some of them have been planted in two locations, so that when a driver avoids one location, they drive into another area where they can be hit by a command- detonated device. So it's a very, very difficult thing to defend against and they believe the best defense is to do what they're doing today, which is go after the people they believe are responsible and try to hunt them down and capture and kill them.
HEMMER: And as you well know, Pentagon officials say they're getting better at it by the week there in Iraq. Jamie, thanks. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
