CBS Evening News open - 2004-12-21 - 1 of 2

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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Happy holidays from all of us at News

[0:02] Channel 5.

[0:06] >> Tonight, a lethal attack on US forces in

[0:09] Iraq. Soldiers in a mess tent

[0:12] slaughtered as they eat. Iraqi

[0:14] terrorists claim responsibility. And

[0:17] again, the question, are US troops

[0:19] getting the protection they need?

[0:22] Confusion over pain relievers. With all

[0:25] the safety questions, CBS asks the

[0:27] experts what you should do.

[0:30] This baby girl is in the record books.

[0:32] Why? Just wait. And Eye on America. Toys

[0:37] that claim to be educational. What, if

[0:40] anything, do they really teach your

[0:42] kids?

[0:49] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Dan

[0:52] Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:54] headquarters in New York.

[0:56] >> Good evening. It was one of the

[0:58] deadliest single attacks on American

[1:00] military forces in the Iraq War, and

[1:02] they never saw it coming. US troops and

[1:05] civilian support personnel were eating

[1:07] lunch today at a US base near the

[1:09] northern city of Mosul when a powerful

[1:12] explosion, possibly a rocket, tore

[1:14] through their mestant. All day, the

[1:16] casualty count continued to climb. The

[1:19] latest shows more than 20 killed, most

[1:21] of them American soldiers and about 60

[1:24] wounded. CBS's Kimberly Doer begins our

[1:27] coverage.

[1:29] >> The deadly explosion ripped through the

[1:31] heavily fortified US base. The full

[1:33] force hitting a vulnerable and packed

[1:35] mess tent at lunchtime.

[1:37] >> It was really just sort of a sea of

[1:39] wounded and dead. Um there were people

[1:41] crying or um there were folks that uh

[1:44] were numb uh that collapsed in grief.

[1:47] >> Reporter Jeremy Redmond was there.

[1:49] soldiers that were very quick thinking

[1:51] and turned their dining room tables

[1:53] upside down and placed the wounded on

[1:55] top of them. Outside, several medics had

[1:57] showed up and set up an area where

[1:58] they're working on the soldiers and the

[2:00] parking lot. There were incredibly brave

[2:02] soldiers that ran right into the tent

[2:04] when the explosion happened and carried

[2:06] other wounded out ones.

[2:08] >> They pulled the wounded from the

[2:09] wreckage among scattered lunch trays and

[2:12] pools of blood.

[2:13] >> People couldn't uh hear because of the

[2:15] blast. They were complaining they lost

[2:17] their hearing. It was very chaotic.

[2:19] >> The injured helped those even worse off,

[2:22] but many could not be saved. American

[2:24] soldiers along with Iraqi troops and US

[2:26] and foreign contractors were among the

[2:28] dead. Scores more were wounded. A

[2:31] bunker-like dining facility is just a

[2:33] few weeks from completion, and the unit

[2:35] was a month from going home and hadn't

[2:37] lost a soldier until today. Their loved

[2:40] ones are now hearing the worst. Our

[2:42] hearts go out to the families, the

[2:44] friends, the fellow soldiers uh who lost

[2:47] comrades in arms today.

[2:49] >> The bombing at forward operating base

[2:51] Marz is the deadliest incident since 17

[2:53] US soldiers were killed in Mosul last

[2:55] year when two Blackhawks collided,

[2:58] apparently struck by groundfire. Today's

[3:00] attack was claimed on an Islamic website

[3:02] by Ansar al-Suna, a militant group with

[3:05] ties to al-Qaeda. The group called it a

[3:07] martyrdom operation, usually code for a

[3:10] suicide bombing. Every manner of

[3:12] militant violence has been on the rise

[3:14] in Mosul, directed at local police and

[3:16] city officials as well as Americans. US

[3:19] commanders are planning new military

[3:21] crackdowns in hopes of crippling

[3:23] militant activity before the January

[3:25] polls, but so far multiple military

[3:27] campaigns have barely slowed the

[3:29] insurgents down. Kimberly Doer, CBS

[3:32] News, Baghdad.

[3:34] >> As details of this deadly attack emerged

[3:36] today, President and Mrs. Bush visited

[3:38] American troops wounded in the war at

[3:41] the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in

[3:43] Washington. Afterward, President Bush

[3:45] spoke about today's casualties.

[3:47] This time of year is particularly

[3:49] sorrowful for the families as we head

[3:51] into the Christmas season.

[3:56] We pray for them. We send our heartfelt

[3:59] condolences to the loved ones who suffer

[4:01] today.

[4:03] just want them to know that the mission

[4:07] um is a vital mission for peace.

[4:10] >> The president's staunchest ally in the

[4:12] Iraq war, Britain's Prime Minister Tony

[4:14] Blair was in Iraq today visiting British

[4:16] troops. Blair apologized to those

[4:18] wishing they were home for Christmas,

[4:20] but called the war quote a job worth

[4:23] doing. With today's deadbe attack, the

[4:25] question is again being asked, are US

[4:28] forces in Iraq getting the best

[4:29] security, the best protection possible?

[4:32] And if not, why not? CBS's David Martin

[4:35] at the Pentagon has that part of the

[4:37] story.

[4:38] >> This was what the mess tent looked like

[4:40] during Thanksgiving dinner. The hole

[4:42] torn by what could have been a rocket or

[4:44] a mortar shows how little protection