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American Morning

Talk with Robin Wright

Aired November 25, 2002 - 09:08   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the largest opposition groups to the Saddam Hussein regime, of course, is the Kurds. They live now relatively unbothered by the terrorism of the Iraqi president, but it wasn't always that way. Saddam killed thousands of Kurds with poison gas back in 1988.
Robin Wright is the chief diplomatic correspondent for "The Los Angeles Times" and the author of "Sacred Rage." She has interviewed Kurdish leaders about the current crisis, and she joins us now from Washington.

Welcome back, Robin. Good to have you with us.

ROBIN WRIGHT, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Thank you.

ZAHN: Thank you.

For folks who didn't have the opportunity to read any of your pieces surrounding these interviews you did with rival leaders, tell them why this is important about what they had to say?

WRIGHT: Well, the Kurds in the north are the largest group that Saddam Hussein has persecuted most consistently during the 23-year rule. And they now provide the kind of support the United States is looking for inside Iraq. They have created an autonomous zone in the north that they rule, and that has the only armed force not under Saddam Hussein's control. And the Kurds are now calling for the United States to get more involved with them, and to provide the kind of guarantees for them that would allow them whether it's provide troops for American aid or its facilities for American troops should there be an invasion.

ZAHN: What would be their level of cooperation if there was an invasion, because the Saudis are making it very difficult, are they not, for U.S. forces to come in from that border, as well as the Kuwaitis?

WRIGHT: The Kurds are in the north and they border Turkey, and Turkey is arguably the friendliest border the United States faces. None of which want any type of military operation. Because the Kurds have this area that is twice the size of New Jersey, about the size of Switzerland, they could provide effectively a piece of turf from which the Americans could operate.

ZAHN: Do you think they'll plan to do that, if it comes to that?

WRIGHT: While I was in the north, the Americans had already become involved. I think very quietly, since the passage of the U.N. Resolution, the United States has become more involved in the north, setting up listening posts for foreign intelligence purposes. Check out the four airstrips in the north. There is a significant U.S. presence for the first time really since the CIA closed down its station and fled Iraq in 1996.

ZAHN: Meanwhile, there was a report in the "New York Times" over the weekend Turkey is in the process of sending troops 60 miles into the border of northern Iraq to prevent, what, an influx of Kurdish refugees coming out if there is a war?

WRIGHT: Well, refugees is one issue, but remember, the Turks have the largest Kurdish population in the world, and have fought a 15-year insurgency, and are very nervous about the kind of model the Kurds are providing inside Iraq and how it might be an inspiration for their own wrest (ph) of Kurds.

If the Kurds play too much of a role in the event a U.S. military operation that in fact they might feel empowered or inspire brethren to do likewise. So the Turks are concerned about refugees, but also limiting the kind of Kurdish involvement in any U.S. military operation.

ZAHN: What do the two rival leaders tell you? What do they want ultimately?

WRIGHT: The Kurds ultimately want a guarantee from the United States, that the U.S. will back a post-Saddam Hussein regime that allows a federalist, pluralist system, whether it's modeled on the United States, Belgium, Switzerland, United Kingdom, that they want to make sure this enclave that they have built in the north, where there is in many ways a flourishing young Democracy, that they are allowed to remain the major power in the north, that they allow Baghdad to be the center for foreign policy and the central bank and natural resources and defense, and the Kurds in the north are allowed a great deal of self-determination or autonomy.

ZAHN: Wanted to close with what the Iraqi foreign minister had to say in his letter that is being pored over at the U.N. here this morning. And Richard Butler earlier this morning said that he found the letter absolutely hilarious if it wasn't so disturbing, and he said it was just another example of the propaganda that the Iraqis use so effectively. How is that letter playing from your perspective and the officials you've talked with this morning?

WRIGHT: Well, I think they're in the north, they already believe there will be a U.S. invasion. Remember, this is the one group of people inside Iraq that had the most experience. More than 5,000 people died in a village called Jalalja (ph) in 1988 in one attack alone, and there are thousands more who died. They know that Saddam Hussein has retained power, in part, because he's had access to the weapons that will allow him to put down his own people.

ZAHN: Robin Wright, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you for joining us in your very busy reporting schedule. Always glad to have you on the air. WRIGHT: Thanks,

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 25, 2002 - 09:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the largest opposition groups to the Saddam Hussein regime, of course, is the Kurds. They live now relatively unbothered by the terrorism of the Iraqi president, but it wasn't always that way. Saddam killed thousands of Kurds with poison gas back in 1988.
Robin Wright is the chief diplomatic correspondent for "The Los Angeles Times" and the author of "Sacred Rage." She has interviewed Kurdish leaders about the current crisis, and she joins us now from Washington.

Welcome back, Robin. Good to have you with us.

ROBIN WRIGHT, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": Thank you.

ZAHN: Thank you.

For folks who didn't have the opportunity to read any of your pieces surrounding these interviews you did with rival leaders, tell them why this is important about what they had to say?

WRIGHT: Well, the Kurds in the north are the largest group that Saddam Hussein has persecuted most consistently during the 23-year rule. And they now provide the kind of support the United States is looking for inside Iraq. They have created an autonomous zone in the north that they rule, and that has the only armed force not under Saddam Hussein's control. And the Kurds are now calling for the United States to get more involved with them, and to provide the kind of guarantees for them that would allow them whether it's provide troops for American aid or its facilities for American troops should there be an invasion.

ZAHN: What would be their level of cooperation if there was an invasion, because the Saudis are making it very difficult, are they not, for U.S. forces to come in from that border, as well as the Kuwaitis?

WRIGHT: The Kurds are in the north and they border Turkey, and Turkey is arguably the friendliest border the United States faces. None of which want any type of military operation. Because the Kurds have this area that is twice the size of New Jersey, about the size of Switzerland, they could provide effectively a piece of turf from which the Americans could operate.

ZAHN: Do you think they'll plan to do that, if it comes to that?

WRIGHT: While I was in the north, the Americans had already become involved. I think very quietly, since the passage of the U.N. Resolution, the United States has become more involved in the north, setting up listening posts for foreign intelligence purposes. Check out the four airstrips in the north. There is a significant U.S. presence for the first time really since the CIA closed down its station and fled Iraq in 1996.

ZAHN: Meanwhile, there was a report in the "New York Times" over the weekend Turkey is in the process of sending troops 60 miles into the border of northern Iraq to prevent, what, an influx of Kurdish refugees coming out if there is a war?

WRIGHT: Well, refugees is one issue, but remember, the Turks have the largest Kurdish population in the world, and have fought a 15-year insurgency, and are very nervous about the kind of model the Kurds are providing inside Iraq and how it might be an inspiration for their own wrest (ph) of Kurds.

If the Kurds play too much of a role in the event a U.S. military operation that in fact they might feel empowered or inspire brethren to do likewise. So the Turks are concerned about refugees, but also limiting the kind of Kurdish involvement in any U.S. military operation.

ZAHN: What do the two rival leaders tell you? What do they want ultimately?

WRIGHT: The Kurds ultimately want a guarantee from the United States, that the U.S. will back a post-Saddam Hussein regime that allows a federalist, pluralist system, whether it's modeled on the United States, Belgium, Switzerland, United Kingdom, that they want to make sure this enclave that they have built in the north, where there is in many ways a flourishing young Democracy, that they are allowed to remain the major power in the north, that they allow Baghdad to be the center for foreign policy and the central bank and natural resources and defense, and the Kurds in the north are allowed a great deal of self-determination or autonomy.

ZAHN: Wanted to close with what the Iraqi foreign minister had to say in his letter that is being pored over at the U.N. here this morning. And Richard Butler earlier this morning said that he found the letter absolutely hilarious if it wasn't so disturbing, and he said it was just another example of the propaganda that the Iraqis use so effectively. How is that letter playing from your perspective and the officials you've talked with this morning?

WRIGHT: Well, I think they're in the north, they already believe there will be a U.S. invasion. Remember, this is the one group of people inside Iraq that had the most experience. More than 5,000 people died in a village called Jalalja (ph) in 1988 in one attack alone, and there are thousands more who died. They know that Saddam Hussein has retained power, in part, because he's had access to the weapons that will allow him to put down his own people.

ZAHN: Robin Wright, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you for joining us in your very busy reporting schedule. Always glad to have you on the air. WRIGHT: Thanks,

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com