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Length: 2:43
WOLF BLITZER: And there was a very dramatic example
of the new surge in American casualties today, right
in the heart of the Iraqi capital.
Joining us now, our correspondent in Baghdad, Michael
Ware. Michael, as we're speaking now, it looks like
there's been some sort of incident or maybe even a
significant battle right in central Baghdad. What do
we know?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, welcome to the
war, Wolf. What we know, at this stage, from the U.S.
military is that at about 7:00 a.m. this morning,
local time, here in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, U.S.
and Iraqi forces were conducting what the military
said was a routine cordon and search. That means they
surround an area and then go essentially knocking
door-to-door, searching, looking for weapons, bad
guys, that sort of thing.
Now, at some point a group of insurgents opened fire
on these American and Iraqi forces with small arms.
By the end of the battle, there was four Iraqi
soldiers dead, and only three insurgents dead, but in
the meantime, 16 American soldiers had been wounded.
Now, we don't know how bad, if any of them are
critical. But 16 American soldiers, two more Iraqi
soldiers wounded, and reports of a child who was
wounded. Helicopters were called in for help. They
got shot up a little bit, had to go home and land,
and then they took to the air again. I mean, this is
happening in Iraq. It just happened right in the
center of the capital and it couldn't be missed.
BLITZER: And also happening today, a suicide bombing,
this one involving an Iraqi woman. What do we know
about this incident?
WARE: Well, we've seen this before, unfortunately. I
mean, it's an infrequent phenomenon, but it's
certainly not unheard of, the use of female suicide
bombers. Now, though American soldiers are constantly
trying to maintain their guard, one can't help but be
less suspicious of a woman, given that most of the
hostilities here are conducted by the men.
What we know is that this woman with explosives
strapped to her body walks into a crowd of men who
have come to join the police in the province of
Diyala, just north of the capital here in Baghdad, in
a small town known as Muqdadiya. Muqdadiya used to be
a fairly mixed Sunni/Shia kind of place. But I
haven't been there for some time. My friends who are
still there tell me that most of the Shia have been
driven out. Why? Because like much of Diyala, it's
become an al Qaeda stronghold. So this looks like al
Qaeda hitting back at anyone who dares to join the
police and work with the occupier.
-------- UPDATE ---------
I originally cut the end
of this segment for obvious reasons, but now that
Michael has gone public with the fact that he has a
son, here is the clip of Jack Cafferty’s comments
that immediately followed Michael’s report:
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Length: 0:41
BLITZER:
Let's go to Jack Cafferty, Jack Cafferty is in New
York. Michael Ware, he's got a unique perspective.
You know why, because he's been there for four years.
Can you imagine, Jack, risking your life for four
years to bring readers, first for "Time" magazine,
now for our viewers around the world, these
incredible stories.
JACK CAFFERTY: No. And I got a chance to meet him
when he was on break here a while ago and he came by
New York and in addition to being a good reporter,
he's a terrific guy, a nice man. Got a young son that
he's absolutely devoted to, and he's bringing us, I
think, probably the best coverage of the war in Iraq,
of anybody in the, at least in the broadcast media.
My humble opinion.
BLITZER: I agree.