Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
U.S. Forces Ready, Hit Back Hard
Aired December 01, 2003 - 08:05 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces were ready and they hit back hard. Two American military convoys were attacked simultaneously yesterday in Samarra, Iraq, about 75 miles north of Baghdad. U.S. troops responded with heavy firepower, killing at least 46 people. Details are still emerging at this hour.
Nic Robertson is live for us in Samarra this morning -- Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
They say, as well, that they captured 11 of those Iraqis. Some of them, according to intelligence officials, have tattoos on their bodies that indicate they may belong to Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen. The way the battle, the ambush, fell out yesterday, two banks being delivered with substantial quantities of money. Troops attacked at both banks simultaneously from multiple locations.
One soldier who was involved in the attack described how to get out of this ambush where they were receiving fire from all directions, monitor fire, rocket propelled grenade fire and small machine gun fire, he described having to battle their way through vehicles blocking the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAFF SGT. BRUCE JONES, U.S. ARMY: These guys were trying to throw vehicles in the way, taxi cabs, a couple of white pickup trucks and everything to actually block the roads as we tried to egress out with the convoy. We did have to ram some vehicles out of the way to get our people out of there safely and securely. But civilians in the areas, you know something's going to happen as soon as you get in there and all the civilians basically clear out of the way. So if you go into a street or a part of the city that's normally busy and there's nobody around, you'd better get your guns up and ready to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Soldiers who went to relieve their beleaguered colleagues in the center of the town were also ambushed. Such was the complexity and the scale of the attack. Five soldiers wounded, one of them critically, on his way to Germany for further treatment -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning from Samarra.
Nic, thank you for that update. 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 December 1, 2003 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces were ready and they hit back hard. Two American military convoys were attacked simultaneously yesterday in Samarra, Iraq, about 75 miles north of Baghdad. U.S. troops responded with heavy firepower, killing at least 46 people. Details are still emerging at this hour.
Nic Robertson is live for us in Samarra this morning -- Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
They say, as well, that they captured 11 of those Iraqis. Some of them, according to intelligence officials, have tattoos on their bodies that indicate they may belong to Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen. The way the battle, the ambush, fell out yesterday, two banks being delivered with substantial quantities of money. Troops attacked at both banks simultaneously from multiple locations.
One soldier who was involved in the attack described how to get out of this ambush where they were receiving fire from all directions, monitor fire, rocket propelled grenade fire and small machine gun fire, he described having to battle their way through vehicles blocking the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAFF SGT. BRUCE JONES, U.S. ARMY: These guys were trying to throw vehicles in the way, taxi cabs, a couple of white pickup trucks and everything to actually block the roads as we tried to egress out with the convoy. We did have to ram some vehicles out of the way to get our people out of there safely and securely. But civilians in the areas, you know something's going to happen as soon as you get in there and all the civilians basically clear out of the way. So if you go into a street or a part of the city that's normally busy and there's nobody around, you'd better get your guns up and ready to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Soldiers who went to relieve their beleaguered colleagues in the center of the town were also ambushed. Such was the complexity and the scale of the attack. Five soldiers wounded, one of them critically, on his way to Germany for further treatment -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning from Samarra.
Nic, thank you for that update. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
