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Nightline Daily E-Mail
December 5, 2003
TONIGHT'S FOCUS: What happened in that firefight in Samarra a week ago? Tonight you'll hear from a number of the soldiers who were directly involved. And who were they fighting? We'll have a look at the insurgents, who they are and how they operate. And finally the story of a father who went to Iraq to visit the spot where his son was killed.
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We reported last week on the firefight in the Iraqi town of Samarra. U.S. authorities said that more than 50 Iraqis were killed, making this the largest firefight since major combat ended. Of course, there were conflicting accounts of what happened, as residents there gave different stories. Tonight you'll hear from some of the American soldiers who were involved in that fight, who say that they were taking fire from all directions. Some of their vehicles were riddled by bullets, and an RPG round apparently hit a tank but did not explode. I write "RPG" assuming that by now you all know that means "rocket-propelled grenade." It's funny the terms that become part of our daily lives. Correspondent Jeffrey Kofman went up to interview the soldiers. Samarra is a very dangerous place for Westerners, especially Americans, to go. Our folks decided that it was not safe enough for them to go into the town itself. An Egyptian crew did go, thinking that they might have an easier time, that they may not run into the same hostility, but they were driven off by gunmen. Like I said, it's a very dangerous place.
There has also been a lot of reporting on who it is that we are fighting. Foreign fighters? Remnants of Saddam's Baath party? Al-Qaeda? Correspondent Mike Cerre will report on a TIME magazine reporter who has managed to get some access to the insurgents. He says that they are well-organized, well-financed, and, at least the ones he has been in contact with, are disdainful of foreign fighters, seeing them essentially as cannon-fodder.
And finally, Bob Woodruff went back to Iraq with a father who lost his son in the war. Bob was embedded in the son's unit during the invasion, and was there when he was killed. The father has since become something of an activist, and he wanted to go to Iraq to deliver some relief supplies, meet with the authorities, but perhaps most important, to visit the spot where his son died. Bob went there with him and recounted to him what happened that day.
So our plan tonight is to look at the war from a number of different angles. Chris Bury will anchor, and I hope you'll join us.
Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
ABCNEWS Washington bureau
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