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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
FBI Failure; Sadr Says He's Ready to Die
Aired April 13, 2004 - 17:23 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: FBI failure.
JANET RENO, FMR. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the frustrations is that the Bureau even when it finds that it has something doesn't share.
BLITZER: A blistering report from the 9/11 commission.
Flare-up in Fallujah, marines on the move. Is a terrorist tie to al Qaeda holed up nearby?
Sadr speaks. A radical Shiite leader says he is ready to die. The coalition is ready to oblige.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: We will hunt them down and we will destroy them.
BLITZER: But that manhunt is taking its toll.
Revolving doors. Some hostages are freed but more are captured.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, April 13, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Today was the FBI's turn to take the heat. The panel probing the 9/11 attacks issued a report blasting the Bureau for a series of failures. But in public hearings the officials past and present said the system was ill-equipped to prevent such terrorism. The Attorney General John Ashcroft says that for almost a decade the federal government had and I'm quoting now, "blinded itself to our enemies." We begin with our national security correspondent David Ensor -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the attorney general offered a feisty defense of his and the Bush administration's handling of terrorism issues before and since 9/11. Going on the offensive he made public a classified 1995 memo in which a wall was increased between FBI criminal investigators and FBI counterterrorism teams keeping them out of each other files. This memo which was written by one of the commissioners Jamie Gorelick when she was deputy attorney general. Another commissioner however got former acting FBI director Thomas Pickard to say in effect that Ashcroft's interest in counterterrorism before 9/11 seemed pretty limited to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BEN-VENISTE (D), COMMISSION MEMBER: Mr. Watson had come to you and said the CIA was very concerned there would be an attack. You said that you told the attorney general this fact repeatedly in these meetings. Is that correct?
THOMAS PICKARD, FMR. ACTING FBI DIRECTOR: I told him at least on two occasions.
BEN-VENISTE: And you told the staff according to this statement that Mr. Ashcroft told you that he did not want to hear about this anymore. Is that correct?
PICKARD: That is correct.
JAMES B. THOMPSON (R), COMMISSION MEMBER: Acting director -- Pickard testified this afternoon he briefed you twice on al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and when he sought to do so again you told him you didn't need to hear from him again. Can you comment on that, please?
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, Acting Director Pickard and I had more than two meetings. We had regular meetings. Secondly, I did never speak to him saying that I did not want to hear about terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Ashcroft said as far back as March 2001 he proposed to Condoleezza Rice the national security adviser that the policy of trying to capture Osama bin Laden with his killing being allowed if need be be replaced with a more robust order to the CIA to try to just plain kill the al Qaeda leader. Commissioners sharply questioned former FBI and CIA senior officials on how they failed to stop the attack. The former counterterrorism chief of the CIA said Congress and the nation simply didn't make the commitments needed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COFER BLACK, FMR. CIA COUNTERTERRORISM HEAD: The shortage of money and people seriously hurt our operations and analysis. In CTC we heard our directors call. I heard some people say this country wasn't at war. I want to tell you, Mr. Chairman. The counterterrorism center was at war. We conducted ourselves at war. And that's the way it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: With the central intelligence director and the FBI director scheduled to speak tomorrow, these increasingly dramatic hearings are coming to conclusion pretty soon. The 9/11 commission's report and its recommendations are due in late July -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor with that report. Thanks very much. As David just noted the FBI took some serious heat in today's hearings. The former attorney general Janet Reno said when it came to counterterrorism the bureau's right hand simply didn't know what its left hand was doing. Has anything really changed since then?
Ronald Kessler is the author of "The Bureau," one of the definitive books on the FBI. He's joining us now here in Washington. His most recent book, by the way, is entitled "The CIA at War: Inside the Secret Campaign Against Terror." Ron, thanks very much for joining us. First of all, the answer to that bottomline question. Has the FBI learned its lesson since 9/11?
RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR: Yes. Under Mueller who took over a week before 9/11, the FBI totally changed direction. It's become prevention oriented. It assimilates large amounts of information, analyzes it. There's much more focus on, of course, counterterrorism, 25 percent of the agents are now assigned to counterterrorism. Technologically it's far advanced. The first thing Mueller did when he came in even a week before 9/11 was to start ordering thousands of new Dell computers. So Mueller gets it whereas Freeh simply did not.
BLITZER: What about this whole issue that John Ashcroft repeatedly referred to the wall that prevented the FBI effectively from talking to the CIA in the years leading up to 9/11?
KESSLER: And prevented it from talking within the Bureau itself. That was a policy that someone by the name of Richard Scruggs (ph) came up with, a Justice Department official, Jamie Gorelick approved it, Reno approved it, and it simply made it impossible for agents to talk to each other on the same investigation. It was nuts. There was no basis in law. In fact, investigations had been done successfully in the past upheld by the courts without this policy. So that was a serious problem.
BLITZER: Has that wall now come crumbling down thanks to the Patriot law?
KESSLER: The Patriot Act made it clear that that law should never have existed. It was simply not necessary to begin with. It was something that was imposed by policy alone.
BLITZER: It's clear that John Ashcroft came out swinging when he was testifying in his opening statement as well as all of his statements. He was supposed to be on the defensive but he really was on the offensive and he was making the case that it was the Clinton administration, the decade that preceded him effectively that prevented these kinds of coordination from going forward.
KESSLER: Well, you know, the biggest problem was that under Louis Freeh it wasn't so much whether the president saw this memo or even the wall, it was the fact that under Louis Freeh there simply was no focus, no attention paid to developing sources, to actually penetrating these terrorist organizations. As the FBI has done successfully in Mafia cases and many other -- KGB cases.
BLITZER: Ron Kessler, thanks very much for joining us.
We'll get more on the 9/11 commission that's coming up. Let's see what is happening in Iraq right now. Serious developments unfolding. The battle for Iraq focusing in on two fronts today. Very tense standoffs between U.S. forces and insurgents in two key cities. Both threatening to explode into violence at any moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Fallujah, where a U.S. cease-fire is barely holding. U.S. officials say American marines are firing when fired on and in self-defense. But their offensive against insurgents in Fallujah remain on hold while Iraqi leaders try to negotiate a peaceful resolution. A U.S. military official calls the situation stable but says attacks by insurgents continue including the downing of this American helicopter near Fallujah.
Three people were injured but a quick reaction force rescued them and destroyed the chopper before it fell into enemy hands. In Najaf, a public sighting of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose militia has led an up rising in several Iraqi cities.
In an interview with Hezbolla television Sadr said he is ready to die to end the occupation. He calls on his followers to continue to fight for that cause regardless of his fate. U.S. military officials have vowed to capture or kill Sadr and they say they now have a significant force outside Najaf conducting preparatory operations.
KIMMITT: The target is not on Najaf. The target is Muqtada al- Sadr and his militia. We will hunt them down and we will destroy them.
BLITZER: Meanwhile, a growing hostage crisis with anti- occupation forces increasingly turning to kidnapping to make their point. Among the latest victims, four Italians, shown here on Arab TV channel al-Jazeera and a French journalist.
Eight employees of a Russian power company abducted yesterday have been released unharmed. The coalition says some 40 people from 12 countries still are being held hostage in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And now a breaking development we're getting just out of Iraq. Let's go immediately to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre. Jamie, what have you learned?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, State Department officials have told CNN's Elise Labott at the State Department that four bodies have been discovered in Iraq and they could possibly be among the seven missing American contractors in Iraq.
But the State Department officials stress to CNN that there's been no identification yet of those bodies. That process is ongoing. They don't know who they are. Nevertheless, the contractor, KBR, has been notified of the discovery. And families who are anxious about the whereabouts of their missing loved ones have also been told about this discovery, even though no identification has been made. This comes as the United States is targeting, specifically trying to get Abu Musab Zarqawi, the bin Laden associate, who is believed now to be holing up in Fallujah, where U.S. Marines are mounting a siege.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN SENOR, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: As for Zarqawi, I'm not going to talk about our specific plans for the hunt for Zawahiri. Rest assured that it is robust. But we believe that Fallujah right now is a hotbed for foreign fighters who are in Iraq, in which we include Zawahiri.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, the U.S. hasn't said under what basis it believes Zarqawi is in Fallujah or at one point they said perhaps nearby. They do believe he's been operating in that area. If they could capture or kill him, that would be a significant achievement for the coalition. They have been targeting him for quite some time -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie, getting back to the four bodies, the State Department sources have not officially confirmed that those four bodies are necessarily four of the Americans who were taken hostage, who were kidnapped. But who is in control of the bodies right now? Who is looking at those bodies?
MCINTYRE: Well, it's not clear. It's believed they are in the control of the Coalition Provisional Authority or the U.S. military at this point, presumably, the CPA, because they are the ones that have made the notification.
And the reason they haven't confirmed the identity is simply they say they are not able to make that identification. They say they will continue to do the identification process and determine the identities as soon as they can.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre with that news from the Pentagon -- Jamie, thanks very much.
Another major target of the U.S. led coalition, the radical Shia Muqtada al-Sadr, says he is ready to die in his fight to end the American occupation of Iraq. U.S. forces are struggling to crush an uprising led by Sadr's militia.
CNN's Karl Penhaul is in Baghdad with more on that operation.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
Certainly, those tensions between coalition authorities and Muqtada al-Sadr and his heavily armed militia, the Mahdi Army, are growing. We understand the Muqtada al-Sadr, as we saw in those pictures earlier, is in the holy city of Najaf right now. We understand from U.S. forces that a significant U.S. force has been dispatched to the area around Najaf.
But an interesting sideshow to that conflict with al-Sadr, we saw one of his deputies detained for several hours here in Baghdad today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL (voice-over): Here at the main gate at the heavily fortified hotel complex used by international media in Baghdad and surrounded by U.S. soldiers, is cleric Saeed Hazim al-Araji. He's deputy to one of the most wanted men in Iraq.
Hazim, an aide to the radical Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, has been in the hotel talking to reporters. On his way out, these U.S. soldiers get the order to bring him in for questioning. "It seems my picture is on a list," he says. His translator says Hazim is a moderate voice and warns of a potential amongst majority Shiite Muslim situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation will be very ugly.
PENHAUL: Reporters gather around. The military try to clear the crowd. Hazim seems to be taken by surprise.
"They are trying to force us into a position," he says. Tribal leaders in the hotel compound for a news conference greet the cleric. They are alarmed at the detention order and try to shuttle him in the hotel to address their meeting and away from the threat of arrest.
Inside the hotel, U.S. troops insisted on detaining Hazim, pushing, shoving, and tempers flare. But after all that, Hazim was released following questioning. Coalition authorities saying they were satisfied he had no hand in anti-coalition violence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL: That particular confrontation was defused peacefully today, as we saw, but there's no sign that the confrontation between al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army against the coalition forces will be peaceful, although General Kimmitt, the military coalition spokesman, has said that he is prepared to send in his combat troops to the area around Najaf or send in humanitarian aid with his troops. That is Sadr's decision, he says -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Karl Penhaul in Baghdad -- Karl, thanks very much.
Let's get some expert analysis of the military situation in Iraq. We turn to, as we often do, retired U.S. Army General George Joulwan, the former NATO supreme allied commander.
General, thanks very much.
This breaking news we just heard from Jamie McIntyre, reporting from the Pentagon, four bodies. We don't know if these are four of the Americans who were kidnapped, the contractors who are there. But how much of a complicating factor, strategically, militarily, is this phenomenon now over the past few days, kidnapping foreigners in Iraq?
RETIRED GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, U.S. ARMY: It's happened elsewhere where we've been. It's happened in Africa. It's happened elsewhere in the Mideast.
This is a form of terror that terrorists use. And I think that what we're going to see, we're going to see more of it. The challenge is going to be how do you protect all the people that are in Iraq, not just the soldiers, but all the NGOs and contractors? How do you get control? And how do you control the convoys on the road, etcetera, etcetera? All that must be done now to protect everyone, all the Americans and the coalition forces that are there.
BLITZER: It looks like General Abizaid, who is in charge of the Mideast, the whole U.S. military in that part of the world, says the Iraqis themselves, their law enforcement, the police, their new military, they leave a lot to be desired.
JOULWAN: And we should have anticipated that.
You can't expect within a year to get professional police forces and professional army out of the remnants of what existed there before that was based on graft, corruption and favors. That takes time. And we should have anticipated -- I'm sure we did. Now the challenge is going to be, how do we reassert control in this country?
As I said before, it's late, but it's better late than never. And I think Abizaid, John Abizaid, is going to be doing that, is going to be requesting the forces and the structure the he needs, the forces and structure he needs to make that happen.
BLITZER: Well, one of the things they have agreed to, at least for now, is a cease-fire. Now, I have heard plenty of military experts tell me that that cease-fire merely gives the enemy in this particular case, those opposed to the U.S.-led coalition, an opportunity to regroup and come out fighting.
JOULWAN: I have been involved in too many cease-fires that end up being advantage to the enemy. You are absolutely right.
However, there needs to be some way to get moderate in this case Shiites to talking to the more radical Shiites and try to get them to understand what needs to be done. To go guns a'blazing into a town of 900,000 in Najaf and 250,000 in Fallujah, all of that I think is the wrong way to go.
I think we need to bring the moderate clerics involved and those moderate Iraqis that really want to see an end to all of this.
BLITZER: And I want to get to that whole strategic issue in a moment.
JOULWAN: Yes.
BLITZER: But General Abizaid says he needs two more brigades, maybe 10,000 additional troops. And at least in the short term, he's going to prevent those two brigades from leaving, even though they were scheduled to rotate out. Is this a smart strategy?
JOULWAN: I think he's trying to what we call generate forces and generate forces quickly. And how you generate combat power quickly is to keep those that were going to rotate out, keep them there.
It's tough. It's tough on the troops. It's tough on the families. But he has a mission here. He is reassessing the mission. And if I read him correctly, I think two brigades are only the tip of the iceberg. I think he's going to ask for a lot more.
BLITZER: We're going to see a more; 10,000 is a lot, but how many more?
JOULWAN: Well, what he needs to be able to do and what we need to do hear is we call troop-to-task analysis. What are the tasks? How do you seal the borders? If you're control more convoys and they need convoy escort, what does that mean?
And really, even though the tank has been somehow called an old Cold War relic, that mobile protected space that's required to protect us from IEDs, improvised explosive devices and mines, we need to get more armor in there to protect the force and protect convoys. We don't have enough there now.
BLITZER: You have been a soldier. You have been a soldier your whole life. You know the morale issue is going to be important. Some of these soldiers who were supposed to be leaving in the coming days, they had already handed in their ammunition, their weapons. They were getting ready to go home to see their loved ones and get married, in some cases. And now they are being told, never mind, stay here.
How does that affect a unit?
JOULWAN: It's tough.
But I will tell you this. I know the leaders that are in Iraq right now. Many of them served with me. I know they will explain it in a way that the troops will understand. Certainly, they are going to be ticked off, as we say, but they understand, if it is explained right, the mission.
And I would hope our political leaders would have the same courage that those troops have to really understand where is it that we're going. What is going on happen on July 1? What is it that they are serving to protect? All of that needs to be done. And I wish that that courage would come quickly from our political leaders, as well as our military leaders.
BLITZER: One final question. NATO.
JOULWAN: Yes.
BLITZER: You're the former NATO supreme allied commander. Where is NATO?
JOULWAN: NATO, by the way, is in Afghanistan. Three-quarters of the country now has been assumed by NATO. NATO has been in Kabul. They are going to the outer side of that, to other parts of Afghanistan. That's under NATO command-and-control. NATO declared in Article 5, which is their highest form of alert for the war on terror. They see Afghanistan as the war on terror. They're having problems seeing Iraq, though there are many NATO nations involved. Personally, I think, if asked, that NATO will become involved in Iraq, will provide troops. But you got cut them in on the political decision-making as well. And we, the United States, have been unwilling to do that so far.
BLITZER: General Joulwan, as usual, thanks very much.
JOULWAN: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: We're following breaking news out of Iraq. Four unidentified bodies have now been found. There's no confirmation on their identity. Officials are working on identifying the remains right now. We'll continue to follow this developing story.
Also, addressing the nation about Iraq, a preview of tonight's news conference. The president of the United States will have a lengthy opening statement. We'll be live from the White House. That's coming up next.
Also ahead:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're conflicted because we have two families and we can't be with both at the same time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A family grieves as one very difficult decision looms. Will two surviving sister soldiers return to the battlefield in Iraq?
Plus, this: They went to work in Iraq by choice. Now these civilian contractors are heading home. Their story, and it's a moving story, that is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We are now hearing for the first time from the wife of one of the American contractors who have been kidnapped in Iraq, the wife of Thomas Hamill, a truck driver working for Kellogg, Brown and Root. That's a subsidiary of Halliburton in Iraq.
You're looking at picture of Thomas Hamill. Only a few moments ago, we heard from his wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLIE HAMILL, WIFE OF U.S. HOSTAGE: Hello, my name is Kellie Hamill.
I would first like to say to my husband, Tommy, we love and miss you very much. We would also like to the persons who are holding him captive, our hopes are that you would release him unharmed and as soon as possible.
Lastly, we would like to say to the persons in the community and all across America who have been praying for us, we thank you very much from the bottom of our heart. We would also like to extend our love and prayers to all the KBR families and other people in our situation.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: KBR is Kellogg, Brown and Root. There he is, taken, kidnapped by armed men in Iraq over the past few days, Thomas Hamill. He's still missing.
We'll continue to follow that story.
As all of our viewers know, it's been a very bloody month for Americans in Iraq. With his policies under pressure, the president will hold a rare prime-time news conference tonight, so rare the last such event dates back to the eve of the war, more than a year ago. CNN will have live coverage, all of that live coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is joining us from the White House now with a bit of the preview -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, only the third prime-time news conference of the Bush presidency, only the 12th formal news conference solo of the president meeting with reporters here at the White House during his three years in office.
The president tonight will deliver we are told about a 12-minute opening statement. That is remarkably long by the standard of these news conference. But the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, says the president wants to take time to give his assessment of the situation in Iraq, obviously the killing of U.S. troops and contractors, the kidnappings, the generals asking for more troops on the ground, and the fact that, 78 days from now, the United States plans to hand over sovereignty, but it still does not have a firm plan for just who and in what shape of an Iraqi government it will turn over sovereignty to.
So a great challenge for the president tonight in trying to offer an optimistic update, an optimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq, given the bloody uncertainty of the past several days. And, Wolf, the president of course also suspected to take questions not only on Iraq, but on the 9/11 Commission hearings. Senator John Kerry the Democratic candidate questioning this president not only when it comes to foreign policy but the economy as well. And we are just 202 days away from the presidential election.
Senate John Kerry, the Democratic candidate, questioning this president not only when it comes to foreign policy, but on the economy as well. High stakes for the president tonight, Wolf, in the East Room. BLITZER: And John King will be in the East Room tonight for us. John, thanks very much.
I'll be anchoring our live coverage of the president's prime-time news conference. That is schedule to begin 8:30 p.m. Eastern, the actual news conference in the East Room of the White House.
The pay was good, but not worth dying for. American civilians back from Iraq sharing some of the horror stories that prompted them to quit.
Also this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI WITMER, MOTHER: I am so proud of you. I wish I could take credit for all of it, but I love who you all are. And I am so proud, so proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: They lost one daughter in Iraq. Now grieving family members consider if they want to return to the war zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The sisters of a U.S. soldier killed in Baghdad must decide whether they want to continue their own military service in Iraq, but they say they are torn between their family at home and their military family. A statement was read on their behalf in Wisconsin earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Specialist Michelle Witmer's family stood by silently at a news conference outside Milwaukee as a family friend thanked the public for its outpouring of sympathy. Witmer was killed in Baghdad when her Humvee was attacked. Among the family members attending the news conference, Witmer's sisters, Rachel and Charity, also in the military and also stationed in Iraq.
Before the three sisters went off to war, their mother, Lori Witmer spoke to them about their service.
L. WITMER: I am so proud of you. I wish I could take credit for all of it, but I love who you all are. And I am so proud, so proud.
BLITZER: Now that Michelle is dead, Rachel and Charity are back in Wisconsin on leave. And their mother hopes they won't be returning to Iraq. The Pentagon says that's up to Rachel and Charity. But at the news conference, the family spokesperson said the sisters haven't made a decision yet on whether they will request a transfer.
JOAN APT, WITMER FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: At this time, Charity and Rachel are deferring their decision regarding their future plans. They are focusing their attention on spending time with their family and grieving the loss of Michelle.
BLITZER: A spokesman for the Wisconsin National Guard says the sisters will get the time they need to make their decision.
LT. COL. MARK BURNS, WISCONSIN NATIONAL GUARD: Rachel and Charity will make the decision when they are comfortable making it. And the Wisconsin National Guard stands by to assist them and to support them whatever the decision may be, but we have given them no timetable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Michelle Witmer was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She and her sisters joined the National Guard to help pay for college.
A job too risky for its rich rewards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE HEERING, HALLIBURTON DRIVER: Now people are getting hurt. People are dying. You know, it's not worth it as a civilian, I feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Civilian workers caught in the conflict now returning home from Iraq. Hear their story. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Several Halliburton workers are missing in Iraq.
And as CNN's Brian Todd reports, both the company and some of its employees are reassessing the risk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back from harm's way, a reunion made all the more emotional by the thought of how close it came to not happening at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope, not letting go.
(LAUGHTER)
TODD: Stacy Clark and Steve Heering, truck drivers for a company called Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, they headed to Iraq because the money was good. They say they were scheduled to be there a year and quit after four months.
HEERING: Now people are getting hurt, people are dying. You know, it's not worth it as a civilian, I feel.
TODD: Heering says the job wasn't bad for the first two months. Then they started taking small-arms fire. Then an ambush last week nearly killed both men. STACY CLARK, HALLIBURTON DRIVER: The good lord brought me home. I'm telling you, and that boy right there, I'm telling you all, I was brought behind his truck. I seen a grenade. The guy come out of the woods and he threw a grenade underneath the trailer. It explodes.
TODD: Through the smoke and fire, they got out, barely.
We contacted Halliburton for more details. The company confirms the assault took place during a routine transport transmission they were conducting for the U.S. Army. Halliburton says, to protect the privacy of their employees, they won't release names or further details. But Halliburton does confirm to CNN that Kellogg, Brown and Root has made a joint decision with the U.S. Army to suspend some convoys until additional security can be put in place by the U.S. military.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: None of the coalition forward operating bases are in danger of running out of supplies at this time.
TODD: Halliburton says it has lost 30 people in Iraq and Kuwait from a staff of more than 24,000 in the region. The company says it's hoping for the safe return of American hostage Thomas Hamill, another driver for Kellogg, Brown and Root. Clark and Heering say they both got assurances before they went to Iraq.
HEERING: I was told we were going to be secure. The military is doing their job, but it's just -- it's not safe enough.
TODD: A security expert has this advice for civilian contractors in Iraq: If you go over there, put your game face on and leave it on.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And I'll be back tonight for the president's news conference, 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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Aired April 13, 2004 - 17:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: FBI failure.
JANET RENO, FMR. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the frustrations is that the Bureau even when it finds that it has something doesn't share.
BLITZER: A blistering report from the 9/11 commission.
Flare-up in Fallujah, marines on the move. Is a terrorist tie to al Qaeda holed up nearby?
Sadr speaks. A radical Shiite leader says he is ready to die. The coalition is ready to oblige.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: We will hunt them down and we will destroy them.
BLITZER: But that manhunt is taking its toll.
Revolving doors. Some hostages are freed but more are captured.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, April 13, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Today was the FBI's turn to take the heat. The panel probing the 9/11 attacks issued a report blasting the Bureau for a series of failures. But in public hearings the officials past and present said the system was ill-equipped to prevent such terrorism. The Attorney General John Ashcroft says that for almost a decade the federal government had and I'm quoting now, "blinded itself to our enemies." We begin with our national security correspondent David Ensor -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the attorney general offered a feisty defense of his and the Bush administration's handling of terrorism issues before and since 9/11. Going on the offensive he made public a classified 1995 memo in which a wall was increased between FBI criminal investigators and FBI counterterrorism teams keeping them out of each other files. This memo which was written by one of the commissioners Jamie Gorelick when she was deputy attorney general. Another commissioner however got former acting FBI director Thomas Pickard to say in effect that Ashcroft's interest in counterterrorism before 9/11 seemed pretty limited to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BEN-VENISTE (D), COMMISSION MEMBER: Mr. Watson had come to you and said the CIA was very concerned there would be an attack. You said that you told the attorney general this fact repeatedly in these meetings. Is that correct?
THOMAS PICKARD, FMR. ACTING FBI DIRECTOR: I told him at least on two occasions.
BEN-VENISTE: And you told the staff according to this statement that Mr. Ashcroft told you that he did not want to hear about this anymore. Is that correct?
PICKARD: That is correct.
JAMES B. THOMPSON (R), COMMISSION MEMBER: Acting director -- Pickard testified this afternoon he briefed you twice on al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and when he sought to do so again you told him you didn't need to hear from him again. Can you comment on that, please?
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, Acting Director Pickard and I had more than two meetings. We had regular meetings. Secondly, I did never speak to him saying that I did not want to hear about terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Ashcroft said as far back as March 2001 he proposed to Condoleezza Rice the national security adviser that the policy of trying to capture Osama bin Laden with his killing being allowed if need be be replaced with a more robust order to the CIA to try to just plain kill the al Qaeda leader. Commissioners sharply questioned former FBI and CIA senior officials on how they failed to stop the attack. The former counterterrorism chief of the CIA said Congress and the nation simply didn't make the commitments needed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COFER BLACK, FMR. CIA COUNTERTERRORISM HEAD: The shortage of money and people seriously hurt our operations and analysis. In CTC we heard our directors call. I heard some people say this country wasn't at war. I want to tell you, Mr. Chairman. The counterterrorism center was at war. We conducted ourselves at war. And that's the way it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: With the central intelligence director and the FBI director scheduled to speak tomorrow, these increasingly dramatic hearings are coming to conclusion pretty soon. The 9/11 commission's report and its recommendations are due in late July -- Wolf.
BLITZER: David Ensor with that report. Thanks very much. As David just noted the FBI took some serious heat in today's hearings. The former attorney general Janet Reno said when it came to counterterrorism the bureau's right hand simply didn't know what its left hand was doing. Has anything really changed since then?
Ronald Kessler is the author of "The Bureau," one of the definitive books on the FBI. He's joining us now here in Washington. His most recent book, by the way, is entitled "The CIA at War: Inside the Secret Campaign Against Terror." Ron, thanks very much for joining us. First of all, the answer to that bottomline question. Has the FBI learned its lesson since 9/11?
RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR: Yes. Under Mueller who took over a week before 9/11, the FBI totally changed direction. It's become prevention oriented. It assimilates large amounts of information, analyzes it. There's much more focus on, of course, counterterrorism, 25 percent of the agents are now assigned to counterterrorism. Technologically it's far advanced. The first thing Mueller did when he came in even a week before 9/11 was to start ordering thousands of new Dell computers. So Mueller gets it whereas Freeh simply did not.
BLITZER: What about this whole issue that John Ashcroft repeatedly referred to the wall that prevented the FBI effectively from talking to the CIA in the years leading up to 9/11?
KESSLER: And prevented it from talking within the Bureau itself. That was a policy that someone by the name of Richard Scruggs (ph) came up with, a Justice Department official, Jamie Gorelick approved it, Reno approved it, and it simply made it impossible for agents to talk to each other on the same investigation. It was nuts. There was no basis in law. In fact, investigations had been done successfully in the past upheld by the courts without this policy. So that was a serious problem.
BLITZER: Has that wall now come crumbling down thanks to the Patriot law?
KESSLER: The Patriot Act made it clear that that law should never have existed. It was simply not necessary to begin with. It was something that was imposed by policy alone.
BLITZER: It's clear that John Ashcroft came out swinging when he was testifying in his opening statement as well as all of his statements. He was supposed to be on the defensive but he really was on the offensive and he was making the case that it was the Clinton administration, the decade that preceded him effectively that prevented these kinds of coordination from going forward.
KESSLER: Well, you know, the biggest problem was that under Louis Freeh it wasn't so much whether the president saw this memo or even the wall, it was the fact that under Louis Freeh there simply was no focus, no attention paid to developing sources, to actually penetrating these terrorist organizations. As the FBI has done successfully in Mafia cases and many other -- KGB cases.
BLITZER: Ron Kessler, thanks very much for joining us.
We'll get more on the 9/11 commission that's coming up. Let's see what is happening in Iraq right now. Serious developments unfolding. The battle for Iraq focusing in on two fronts today. Very tense standoffs between U.S. forces and insurgents in two key cities. Both threatening to explode into violence at any moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Fallujah, where a U.S. cease-fire is barely holding. U.S. officials say American marines are firing when fired on and in self-defense. But their offensive against insurgents in Fallujah remain on hold while Iraqi leaders try to negotiate a peaceful resolution. A U.S. military official calls the situation stable but says attacks by insurgents continue including the downing of this American helicopter near Fallujah.
Three people were injured but a quick reaction force rescued them and destroyed the chopper before it fell into enemy hands. In Najaf, a public sighting of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose militia has led an up rising in several Iraqi cities.
In an interview with Hezbolla television Sadr said he is ready to die to end the occupation. He calls on his followers to continue to fight for that cause regardless of his fate. U.S. military officials have vowed to capture or kill Sadr and they say they now have a significant force outside Najaf conducting preparatory operations.
KIMMITT: The target is not on Najaf. The target is Muqtada al- Sadr and his militia. We will hunt them down and we will destroy them.
BLITZER: Meanwhile, a growing hostage crisis with anti- occupation forces increasingly turning to kidnapping to make their point. Among the latest victims, four Italians, shown here on Arab TV channel al-Jazeera and a French journalist.
Eight employees of a Russian power company abducted yesterday have been released unharmed. The coalition says some 40 people from 12 countries still are being held hostage in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And now a breaking development we're getting just out of Iraq. Let's go immediately to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre. Jamie, what have you learned?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, State Department officials have told CNN's Elise Labott at the State Department that four bodies have been discovered in Iraq and they could possibly be among the seven missing American contractors in Iraq.
But the State Department officials stress to CNN that there's been no identification yet of those bodies. That process is ongoing. They don't know who they are. Nevertheless, the contractor, KBR, has been notified of the discovery. And families who are anxious about the whereabouts of their missing loved ones have also been told about this discovery, even though no identification has been made. This comes as the United States is targeting, specifically trying to get Abu Musab Zarqawi, the bin Laden associate, who is believed now to be holing up in Fallujah, where U.S. Marines are mounting a siege.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN SENOR, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: As for Zarqawi, I'm not going to talk about our specific plans for the hunt for Zawahiri. Rest assured that it is robust. But we believe that Fallujah right now is a hotbed for foreign fighters who are in Iraq, in which we include Zawahiri.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, the U.S. hasn't said under what basis it believes Zarqawi is in Fallujah or at one point they said perhaps nearby. They do believe he's been operating in that area. If they could capture or kill him, that would be a significant achievement for the coalition. They have been targeting him for quite some time -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie, getting back to the four bodies, the State Department sources have not officially confirmed that those four bodies are necessarily four of the Americans who were taken hostage, who were kidnapped. But who is in control of the bodies right now? Who is looking at those bodies?
MCINTYRE: Well, it's not clear. It's believed they are in the control of the Coalition Provisional Authority or the U.S. military at this point, presumably, the CPA, because they are the ones that have made the notification.
And the reason they haven't confirmed the identity is simply they say they are not able to make that identification. They say they will continue to do the identification process and determine the identities as soon as they can.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre with that news from the Pentagon -- Jamie, thanks very much.
Another major target of the U.S. led coalition, the radical Shia Muqtada al-Sadr, says he is ready to die in his fight to end the American occupation of Iraq. U.S. forces are struggling to crush an uprising led by Sadr's militia.
CNN's Karl Penhaul is in Baghdad with more on that operation.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.
Certainly, those tensions between coalition authorities and Muqtada al-Sadr and his heavily armed militia, the Mahdi Army, are growing. We understand the Muqtada al-Sadr, as we saw in those pictures earlier, is in the holy city of Najaf right now. We understand from U.S. forces that a significant U.S. force has been dispatched to the area around Najaf.
But an interesting sideshow to that conflict with al-Sadr, we saw one of his deputies detained for several hours here in Baghdad today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL (voice-over): Here at the main gate at the heavily fortified hotel complex used by international media in Baghdad and surrounded by U.S. soldiers, is cleric Saeed Hazim al-Araji. He's deputy to one of the most wanted men in Iraq.
Hazim, an aide to the radical Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, has been in the hotel talking to reporters. On his way out, these U.S. soldiers get the order to bring him in for questioning. "It seems my picture is on a list," he says. His translator says Hazim is a moderate voice and warns of a potential amongst majority Shiite Muslim situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation will be very ugly.
PENHAUL: Reporters gather around. The military try to clear the crowd. Hazim seems to be taken by surprise.
"They are trying to force us into a position," he says. Tribal leaders in the hotel compound for a news conference greet the cleric. They are alarmed at the detention order and try to shuttle him in the hotel to address their meeting and away from the threat of arrest.
Inside the hotel, U.S. troops insisted on detaining Hazim, pushing, shoving, and tempers flare. But after all that, Hazim was released following questioning. Coalition authorities saying they were satisfied he had no hand in anti-coalition violence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PENHAUL: That particular confrontation was defused peacefully today, as we saw, but there's no sign that the confrontation between al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army against the coalition forces will be peaceful, although General Kimmitt, the military coalition spokesman, has said that he is prepared to send in his combat troops to the area around Najaf or send in humanitarian aid with his troops. That is Sadr's decision, he says -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Karl Penhaul in Baghdad -- Karl, thanks very much.
Let's get some expert analysis of the military situation in Iraq. We turn to, as we often do, retired U.S. Army General George Joulwan, the former NATO supreme allied commander.
General, thanks very much.
This breaking news we just heard from Jamie McIntyre, reporting from the Pentagon, four bodies. We don't know if these are four of the Americans who were kidnapped, the contractors who are there. But how much of a complicating factor, strategically, militarily, is this phenomenon now over the past few days, kidnapping foreigners in Iraq?
RETIRED GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, U.S. ARMY: It's happened elsewhere where we've been. It's happened in Africa. It's happened elsewhere in the Mideast.
This is a form of terror that terrorists use. And I think that what we're going to see, we're going to see more of it. The challenge is going to be how do you protect all the people that are in Iraq, not just the soldiers, but all the NGOs and contractors? How do you get control? And how do you control the convoys on the road, etcetera, etcetera? All that must be done now to protect everyone, all the Americans and the coalition forces that are there.
BLITZER: It looks like General Abizaid, who is in charge of the Mideast, the whole U.S. military in that part of the world, says the Iraqis themselves, their law enforcement, the police, their new military, they leave a lot to be desired.
JOULWAN: And we should have anticipated that.
You can't expect within a year to get professional police forces and professional army out of the remnants of what existed there before that was based on graft, corruption and favors. That takes time. And we should have anticipated -- I'm sure we did. Now the challenge is going to be, how do we reassert control in this country?
As I said before, it's late, but it's better late than never. And I think Abizaid, John Abizaid, is going to be doing that, is going to be requesting the forces and the structure the he needs, the forces and structure he needs to make that happen.
BLITZER: Well, one of the things they have agreed to, at least for now, is a cease-fire. Now, I have heard plenty of military experts tell me that that cease-fire merely gives the enemy in this particular case, those opposed to the U.S.-led coalition, an opportunity to regroup and come out fighting.
JOULWAN: I have been involved in too many cease-fires that end up being advantage to the enemy. You are absolutely right.
However, there needs to be some way to get moderate in this case Shiites to talking to the more radical Shiites and try to get them to understand what needs to be done. To go guns a'blazing into a town of 900,000 in Najaf and 250,000 in Fallujah, all of that I think is the wrong way to go.
I think we need to bring the moderate clerics involved and those moderate Iraqis that really want to see an end to all of this.
BLITZER: And I want to get to that whole strategic issue in a moment.
JOULWAN: Yes.
BLITZER: But General Abizaid says he needs two more brigades, maybe 10,000 additional troops. And at least in the short term, he's going to prevent those two brigades from leaving, even though they were scheduled to rotate out. Is this a smart strategy?
JOULWAN: I think he's trying to what we call generate forces and generate forces quickly. And how you generate combat power quickly is to keep those that were going to rotate out, keep them there.
It's tough. It's tough on the troops. It's tough on the families. But he has a mission here. He is reassessing the mission. And if I read him correctly, I think two brigades are only the tip of the iceberg. I think he's going to ask for a lot more.
BLITZER: We're going to see a more; 10,000 is a lot, but how many more?
JOULWAN: Well, what he needs to be able to do and what we need to do hear is we call troop-to-task analysis. What are the tasks? How do you seal the borders? If you're control more convoys and they need convoy escort, what does that mean?
And really, even though the tank has been somehow called an old Cold War relic, that mobile protected space that's required to protect us from IEDs, improvised explosive devices and mines, we need to get more armor in there to protect the force and protect convoys. We don't have enough there now.
BLITZER: You have been a soldier. You have been a soldier your whole life. You know the morale issue is going to be important. Some of these soldiers who were supposed to be leaving in the coming days, they had already handed in their ammunition, their weapons. They were getting ready to go home to see their loved ones and get married, in some cases. And now they are being told, never mind, stay here.
How does that affect a unit?
JOULWAN: It's tough.
But I will tell you this. I know the leaders that are in Iraq right now. Many of them served with me. I know they will explain it in a way that the troops will understand. Certainly, they are going to be ticked off, as we say, but they understand, if it is explained right, the mission.
And I would hope our political leaders would have the same courage that those troops have to really understand where is it that we're going. What is going on happen on July 1? What is it that they are serving to protect? All of that needs to be done. And I wish that that courage would come quickly from our political leaders, as well as our military leaders.
BLITZER: One final question. NATO.
JOULWAN: Yes.
BLITZER: You're the former NATO supreme allied commander. Where is NATO?
JOULWAN: NATO, by the way, is in Afghanistan. Three-quarters of the country now has been assumed by NATO. NATO has been in Kabul. They are going to the outer side of that, to other parts of Afghanistan. That's under NATO command-and-control. NATO declared in Article 5, which is their highest form of alert for the war on terror. They see Afghanistan as the war on terror. They're having problems seeing Iraq, though there are many NATO nations involved. Personally, I think, if asked, that NATO will become involved in Iraq, will provide troops. But you got cut them in on the political decision-making as well. And we, the United States, have been unwilling to do that so far.
BLITZER: General Joulwan, as usual, thanks very much.
JOULWAN: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: We're following breaking news out of Iraq. Four unidentified bodies have now been found. There's no confirmation on their identity. Officials are working on identifying the remains right now. We'll continue to follow this developing story.
Also, addressing the nation about Iraq, a preview of tonight's news conference. The president of the United States will have a lengthy opening statement. We'll be live from the White House. That's coming up next.
Also ahead:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're conflicted because we have two families and we can't be with both at the same time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A family grieves as one very difficult decision looms. Will two surviving sister soldiers return to the battlefield in Iraq?
Plus, this: They went to work in Iraq by choice. Now these civilian contractors are heading home. Their story, and it's a moving story, that is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We are now hearing for the first time from the wife of one of the American contractors who have been kidnapped in Iraq, the wife of Thomas Hamill, a truck driver working for Kellogg, Brown and Root. That's a subsidiary of Halliburton in Iraq.
You're looking at picture of Thomas Hamill. Only a few moments ago, we heard from his wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLIE HAMILL, WIFE OF U.S. HOSTAGE: Hello, my name is Kellie Hamill.
I would first like to say to my husband, Tommy, we love and miss you very much. We would also like to the persons who are holding him captive, our hopes are that you would release him unharmed and as soon as possible.
Lastly, we would like to say to the persons in the community and all across America who have been praying for us, we thank you very much from the bottom of our heart. We would also like to extend our love and prayers to all the KBR families and other people in our situation.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: KBR is Kellogg, Brown and Root. There he is, taken, kidnapped by armed men in Iraq over the past few days, Thomas Hamill. He's still missing.
We'll continue to follow that story.
As all of our viewers know, it's been a very bloody month for Americans in Iraq. With his policies under pressure, the president will hold a rare prime-time news conference tonight, so rare the last such event dates back to the eve of the war, more than a year ago. CNN will have live coverage, all of that live coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, is joining us from the White House now with a bit of the preview -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, only the third prime-time news conference of the Bush presidency, only the 12th formal news conference solo of the president meeting with reporters here at the White House during his three years in office.
The president tonight will deliver we are told about a 12-minute opening statement. That is remarkably long by the standard of these news conference. But the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, says the president wants to take time to give his assessment of the situation in Iraq, obviously the killing of U.S. troops and contractors, the kidnappings, the generals asking for more troops on the ground, and the fact that, 78 days from now, the United States plans to hand over sovereignty, but it still does not have a firm plan for just who and in what shape of an Iraqi government it will turn over sovereignty to.
So a great challenge for the president tonight in trying to offer an optimistic update, an optimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq, given the bloody uncertainty of the past several days. And, Wolf, the president of course also suspected to take questions not only on Iraq, but on the 9/11 Commission hearings. Senator John Kerry the Democratic candidate questioning this president not only when it comes to foreign policy but the economy as well. And we are just 202 days away from the presidential election.
Senate John Kerry, the Democratic candidate, questioning this president not only when it comes to foreign policy, but on the economy as well. High stakes for the president tonight, Wolf, in the East Room. BLITZER: And John King will be in the East Room tonight for us. John, thanks very much.
I'll be anchoring our live coverage of the president's prime-time news conference. That is schedule to begin 8:30 p.m. Eastern, the actual news conference in the East Room of the White House.
The pay was good, but not worth dying for. American civilians back from Iraq sharing some of the horror stories that prompted them to quit.
Also this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI WITMER, MOTHER: I am so proud of you. I wish I could take credit for all of it, but I love who you all are. And I am so proud, so proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: They lost one daughter in Iraq. Now grieving family members consider if they want to return to the war zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The sisters of a U.S. soldier killed in Baghdad must decide whether they want to continue their own military service in Iraq, but they say they are torn between their family at home and their military family. A statement was read on their behalf in Wisconsin earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Specialist Michelle Witmer's family stood by silently at a news conference outside Milwaukee as a family friend thanked the public for its outpouring of sympathy. Witmer was killed in Baghdad when her Humvee was attacked. Among the family members attending the news conference, Witmer's sisters, Rachel and Charity, also in the military and also stationed in Iraq.
Before the three sisters went off to war, their mother, Lori Witmer spoke to them about their service.
L. WITMER: I am so proud of you. I wish I could take credit for all of it, but I love who you all are. And I am so proud, so proud.
BLITZER: Now that Michelle is dead, Rachel and Charity are back in Wisconsin on leave. And their mother hopes they won't be returning to Iraq. The Pentagon says that's up to Rachel and Charity. But at the news conference, the family spokesperson said the sisters haven't made a decision yet on whether they will request a transfer.
JOAN APT, WITMER FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: At this time, Charity and Rachel are deferring their decision regarding their future plans. They are focusing their attention on spending time with their family and grieving the loss of Michelle.
BLITZER: A spokesman for the Wisconsin National Guard says the sisters will get the time they need to make their decision.
LT. COL. MARK BURNS, WISCONSIN NATIONAL GUARD: Rachel and Charity will make the decision when they are comfortable making it. And the Wisconsin National Guard stands by to assist them and to support them whatever the decision may be, but we have given them no timetable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Michelle Witmer was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She and her sisters joined the National Guard to help pay for college.
A job too risky for its rich rewards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE HEERING, HALLIBURTON DRIVER: Now people are getting hurt. People are dying. You know, it's not worth it as a civilian, I feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Civilian workers caught in the conflict now returning home from Iraq. Hear their story. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Several Halliburton workers are missing in Iraq.
And as CNN's Brian Todd reports, both the company and some of its employees are reassessing the risk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back from harm's way, a reunion made all the more emotional by the thought of how close it came to not happening at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope, not letting go.
(LAUGHTER)
TODD: Stacy Clark and Steve Heering, truck drivers for a company called Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, they headed to Iraq because the money was good. They say they were scheduled to be there a year and quit after four months.
HEERING: Now people are getting hurt, people are dying. You know, it's not worth it as a civilian, I feel.
TODD: Heering says the job wasn't bad for the first two months. Then they started taking small-arms fire. Then an ambush last week nearly killed both men. STACY CLARK, HALLIBURTON DRIVER: The good lord brought me home. I'm telling you, and that boy right there, I'm telling you all, I was brought behind his truck. I seen a grenade. The guy come out of the woods and he threw a grenade underneath the trailer. It explodes.
TODD: Through the smoke and fire, they got out, barely.
We contacted Halliburton for more details. The company confirms the assault took place during a routine transport transmission they were conducting for the U.S. Army. Halliburton says, to protect the privacy of their employees, they won't release names or further details. But Halliburton does confirm to CNN that Kellogg, Brown and Root has made a joint decision with the U.S. Army to suspend some convoys until additional security can be put in place by the U.S. military.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: None of the coalition forward operating bases are in danger of running out of supplies at this time.
TODD: Halliburton says it has lost 30 people in Iraq and Kuwait from a staff of more than 24,000 in the region. The company says it's hoping for the safe return of American hostage Thomas Hamill, another driver for Kellogg, Brown and Root. Clark and Heering say they both got assurances before they went to Iraq.
HEERING: I was told we were going to be secure. The military is doing their job, but it's just -- it's not safe enough.
TODD: A security expert has this advice for civilian contractors in Iraq: If you go over there, put your game face on and leave it on.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And I'll be back tonight for the president's news conference, 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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