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CNN Sunday Morning
U.S. Troops in Iraq Work to Rebuild Bridges
Aired June 22, 2003 - 07:31 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.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, U.S. troops in Iraq are attempting to build bridges in more ways than one. As CNN's Jane Arraf reports, they're hoping a construction project will help foster feelings of goodwill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ninety miles south of Baghdad, the U.S. military is rebuilding what it's destroyed. Looks like any construction project, but these troops are assembling a 600 foot bridge to span the Tigris River. The steel structure is British, the pontoons from Texas. They replace a bridge blown up by U.S. forces to isolate Iraqi soldiers.
The job would normally take months, but the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion plans to finish it in three weeks.
CHUCK KUBIC, REAR ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY: The last time I can remember in our history that CBs built a floating pontoon bridge of this size was in World War II, when we built it to get Patton across the Rhine. And so it's a very big job for us, exciting project.
ARRAF: The project involved about 400 sailors and soldiers from the Navy, Army, and Marines.
(on camera): There's nothing more basic than building bridges. And in putting together this $1 million bridge on the banks of the Tigris, the military is hoping to build goodwill as well.
(voice-over): This project doesn't use local labor. U.S. commanders say they can do it faster themselves, but restoring the bridge will save villagers more than an hour's drive to the next river crossing.
Unlike Baghdad, there are no helmets, no bulletproof vests for these troops. After decades of repression, the almost exclusively Shia Muslim population seems happy to have soldiers here for now. Local leaders say they get along well with the Americans, but want them to do more to restore law and order.
"It's not safe to go out at night," Miza Mahmous Ayaz (ph) tells the admiral. "In the past, we were able to use the main road to walk, to travel. The situation still isn't normal." Speaking after the admiral is gone, he says Iraqis also need the U.S. to fulfill its promises and allow them their own government. Building democracy will clearly be must further down the road. For now, the U.S. military seems to content with spanning rivers.
Jane Arraf, CNN, near Zubadayeh, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 June 22, 2003 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, U.S. troops in Iraq are attempting to build bridges in more ways than one. As CNN's Jane Arraf reports, they're hoping a construction project will help foster feelings of goodwill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ninety miles south of Baghdad, the U.S. military is rebuilding what it's destroyed. Looks like any construction project, but these troops are assembling a 600 foot bridge to span the Tigris River. The steel structure is British, the pontoons from Texas. They replace a bridge blown up by U.S. forces to isolate Iraqi soldiers.
The job would normally take months, but the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion plans to finish it in three weeks.
CHUCK KUBIC, REAR ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY: The last time I can remember in our history that CBs built a floating pontoon bridge of this size was in World War II, when we built it to get Patton across the Rhine. And so it's a very big job for us, exciting project.
ARRAF: The project involved about 400 sailors and soldiers from the Navy, Army, and Marines.
(on camera): There's nothing more basic than building bridges. And in putting together this $1 million bridge on the banks of the Tigris, the military is hoping to build goodwill as well.
(voice-over): This project doesn't use local labor. U.S. commanders say they can do it faster themselves, but restoring the bridge will save villagers more than an hour's drive to the next river crossing.
Unlike Baghdad, there are no helmets, no bulletproof vests for these troops. After decades of repression, the almost exclusively Shia Muslim population seems happy to have soldiers here for now. Local leaders say they get along well with the Americans, but want them to do more to restore law and order.
"It's not safe to go out at night," Miza Mahmous Ayaz (ph) tells the admiral. "In the past, we were able to use the main road to walk, to travel. The situation still isn't normal." Speaking after the admiral is gone, he says Iraqis also need the U.S. to fulfill its promises and allow them their own government. Building democracy will clearly be must further down the road. For now, the U.S. military seems to content with spanning rivers.
Jane Arraf, CNN, near Zubadayeh, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
