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CNN Saturday Morning News
Another American Helicopter is Brought Down in Iraq
Aired November 08, 2003 - 07:15 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.
THOMAS ROBERTS CNN ANCHOR: Well, we turn our attention now to Iraq. The attacks on American troops keeping coming, despite a new show of force -- excuse me -- by allowing the U.S. to follow and follow up on the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter.
CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit with the very latest. Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning.
The very latest from here, according to coalition officials, is that that Black Hawk was not shot down by a surface-to-air missile. However, coalition officials say that they cannot rule out that it was brought down by hostile fire, possibly a rocket-propelled grenade. They do say the helicopter was perhaps traveling a little too far away and a little too fast for a rocket-propelled grenade to be effective.
But they also say at this stage they still cannot rule out the possibility that the helicopter came down with mechanical failure.
We do know from the debris pattern over -- spread over a large area on the ground that the helicopter came down with some speed, with some force. We have also learned today that two of a group traveling with the judge advocate general, Major General Thomas Rommig (ph), two of his staff traveling with him were on the Black Hawk helicopter that went down. They obviously died in that crash, along with four other people.
Also overnight, there was a very strong show of force by the U.S. military here. It involved tank fire, mortar fire, artillery fire. It involved two F-16 aircraft dropping two 500-pound bombs in the vicinity of where the helicopter went down.
And it was intended, if you look over my shoulder here, the show of force was intended for this particular town here, very close to the base, a town that overlooks the area where the helicopter came down, indeed, very close to where the helicopter came down.
The -- according to coalition officials, this particular town, a hotbed of anticoalition activity, and the show of force, they say, is intended to show the population in this town, show the population around here, that the coalition will not tolerate any anticoalition activity, Thomas.
ROBERTS: Nic, real quickly, the Red Cross deciding to close down its Baghdad and Basra offices due to safety concerns. ROBERTSON: This -- the attacks that have been leveled against the Red Cross, against the U.N., are giving cause for concern for a lot of nongovernmental aid organizations in the center of Iraq, in the central Sunni triangle. They see themselves as potential targets. They realize that there's a limit that they can go to to protect themselves, and that it is not worth putting their staff in harm's way, their international staff.
What they are trying to do, both at the U.N. and the International Red Cross, is to try and use local staff to continue their most needed programs inside Iraq, for instance, the Red Cross here helps deal with prisoner issues, prisoners, Iraqi prisoners in U.S. detention, help match them to their families still outside in Iraq, Thomas.
ROBERTS: Nic, thank you. Nic Robertson live for us in Tikrit, Iraq, this morning.
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 November 8, 2003 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS CNN ANCHOR: Well, we turn our attention now to Iraq. The attacks on American troops keeping coming, despite a new show of force -- excuse me -- by allowing the U.S. to follow and follow up on the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter.
CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit with the very latest. Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning.
The very latest from here, according to coalition officials, is that that Black Hawk was not shot down by a surface-to-air missile. However, coalition officials say that they cannot rule out that it was brought down by hostile fire, possibly a rocket-propelled grenade. They do say the helicopter was perhaps traveling a little too far away and a little too fast for a rocket-propelled grenade to be effective.
But they also say at this stage they still cannot rule out the possibility that the helicopter came down with mechanical failure.
We do know from the debris pattern over -- spread over a large area on the ground that the helicopter came down with some speed, with some force. We have also learned today that two of a group traveling with the judge advocate general, Major General Thomas Rommig (ph), two of his staff traveling with him were on the Black Hawk helicopter that went down. They obviously died in that crash, along with four other people.
Also overnight, there was a very strong show of force by the U.S. military here. It involved tank fire, mortar fire, artillery fire. It involved two F-16 aircraft dropping two 500-pound bombs in the vicinity of where the helicopter went down.
And it was intended, if you look over my shoulder here, the show of force was intended for this particular town here, very close to the base, a town that overlooks the area where the helicopter came down, indeed, very close to where the helicopter came down.
The -- according to coalition officials, this particular town, a hotbed of anticoalition activity, and the show of force, they say, is intended to show the population in this town, show the population around here, that the coalition will not tolerate any anticoalition activity, Thomas.
ROBERTS: Nic, real quickly, the Red Cross deciding to close down its Baghdad and Basra offices due to safety concerns. ROBERTSON: This -- the attacks that have been leveled against the Red Cross, against the U.N., are giving cause for concern for a lot of nongovernmental aid organizations in the center of Iraq, in the central Sunni triangle. They see themselves as potential targets. They realize that there's a limit that they can go to to protect themselves, and that it is not worth putting their staff in harm's way, their international staff.
What they are trying to do, both at the U.N. and the International Red Cross, is to try and use local staff to continue their most needed programs inside Iraq, for instance, the Red Cross here helps deal with prisoner issues, prisoners, Iraqi prisoners in U.S. detention, help match them to their families still outside in Iraq, Thomas.
ROBERTS: Nic, thank you. Nic Robertson live for us in Tikrit, Iraq, this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
