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CNN Live Today
Long Term Deployment in Gulf Impractical
Aired January 13, 2003 - 11:04 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the other hot spot we have been covering. U.N. inspectors are saying today that it could take a year to get around to all the suspect sites inside Iraq. Now they have said this in the past, but the statement coming today takes on new significance because it's made while a major buildup is underway in the Gulf.
Well, CNN's Rym Brahimi checks in now from Baghdad where inspectors are fanning out there to a number of spots again today, and Rym, I've got to think that people there in Iraq are welcoming this word coming from the IAEA about it taking a year to get around to all of the sites.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Leon, we haven't got an official reaction here on those comments, but definitely, Leon, this is something that the Iraqis would probably welcome.
In fact, the top adviser, the top scientific adviser to President Saddam Hussein has, in the past couple of days, says that if the U.S. and Britain are indeed really interested in following the legal route, then they have to wait until the inspectors have truly finished their work.
Let them -- give them time, he said. Give them time to go through the whole inspection process, and then come up with your conclusions.
Now, of course, this is a very vast country, about 435,000 kilometers wide, Leon, and we've been on some of those inspections with the inspectors. It takes a long time, even by helicopter, which cuts the travel time by half in most cases, you still have to take a whole day to inspect one site for something like an hour.
And, of course, it's a very big military industrial complex that has been built over the years in this country, so a lot of work here to do. Inspectors are going out and about, north, south, they are going in and around Baghdad, visiting universities, visiting various sites, asking questions to students, to professors, heads of departments, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. If you consider that from the beginning, Leon, they said that they wanted to visit at least 700 to 900 sites, and they've only covered, with almost two months down the line, only something like 300.
Now, this is a message -- Iraq, of course, keeps saying that it has no weapons of mass destruction, and it welcomes the inspection process in order to prove to the world that it has no weapons of mass destruction. That's been the line -- the line from the media, it's been the line that Iraqi officials have been trying to put through not only to the media but also to a certain number of peace groups that have come through Iraq in recent weeks.
The latest peace group, an American peace group, that arrived last night, some 35 American academics. They arrived here in Baghdad. They say they come from some 28 universities from across the United States.
The first thing they did this morning in Iraq, Leon, was to visit a hospital. It's the Saddam Children's Hospital, a hospital that is frequently visited by visitors from overseas. Now, they were there also with Bianca Jagger (ph), who is a prominent peace activist. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIANCA JAGGER, PEACE ACTIVIST: I'm here as well to tell to the Iraqi government, you must comply. You must protect your people and prevent a war, but I am here, especially, for Americans to understand that this war will not be a sanitized war, that there will be thousands of innocent civilians, children and women who will die, and is that the answer?
Is there no other -- no other answer? Is there no other alternative? Why is there an alternative for North Korea? Why is not there an alternative which is a negotiated settlement with Iraq?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, these peace activists, Leon, were going out and about visiting also a shelter today that was bombed in the '91 Gulf War. Tomorrow, their work begins in earnest where they meet with Iraqi -- academics from the university, and where they will start discussing in any way to, in their words, find a solution to prevent a war -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you, Rym. Rym Brahimi reporting to us live for the evening hours there in Baghdad. Be careful, Rym. We'll see you later -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, more U.S. troops are packing up and moving out today, and the U.S. prepares for possible war with Iraq.
Thousands of Marines left Camp Lejeune, North Carolina yesterday. More are scheduled to leave today. The Pentagon has issued deployment orders for 62,000 troops since Friday. They're going to join the 65,000 soldiers, sailors, and airmen and Marines that are already in the Persian Gulf region. The latest deployments are mostly land forces from the Marines and the Army.
I want to get some more insight on the military movement, along with the road to possible war with Iraq, and joining us from Tucson, Arizona, CNN military analyst and retired Air Force major general, Don Shepperd.
General, good morning. Thanks for being with us from the desert this morning. Appreciate it.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Daryn. You bet. It is a little early out here, Daryn.
KAGAN: I know that, and so I appreciate the early wakeup call. I want to try to help -- I want you to help us try to make sense of these two different stories we were looking at. First of all, the increased deployment, 62,000 additional troops being deployed, those orders coming on Friday. The 65,000 that are already there, and yet you get this word from the United Nations, from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, from the IAEA, You know what, eight to nine months, perhaps as much as a year would be very good for these inspectors.
SHEPPERD: Yes, this is going to be tough diplomacy and tough rhetoric to work our way through justification for military action. What's appearing to shape up here, Daryn, is there's going to be no smoking gun, no single photograph like the Cuban missile crisis that you can hold up at the United Nations, saying, Here is the rationale for military action.
And so while we are moving troops to give the president the options that he needs if he decides to take military action, the inspectors are asking for more time. How we sort through this is going to be difficult, but we've made it clear from the beginning with the United Nations that the United States does not need the OK of the United Nations for its own national security, but it's going to be very tough diplomatically to work through this. This is not the big military issue. It's a real diplomatic issue.
KAGAN: And once you have all these troops in the Persian Gulf region, is there a certain amount of time, a time limit how long you can support those troops there without either deciding to go ahead or pull back the action?
SHEPPERD: No. You can leave them there forever, but it's really difficult to keep up morale, to keep people on the point. The idea of deploying forces here in February or March and then waiting for another year before you have military action is not something that you really like to contemplate. It's very expensive, it is hard on the troops, it is hard on families and employers back home because there would be many guardsmen and reservists involved here.
So this is a march toward military action. It keeps pressure on the United Nations, it keeps pressure on Saddam Hussein, but it's going to be very difficult to work through and work this out for legitimacy for military action -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Interesting story story in the "New York Times" today, and our Barbara Starr was talking about it from the Pentagon as well, about the deployment and about the large number of private transportation companies, specifically aviation companies, that get those soldiers over there. They are getting specific information from the U.S. government when there are terror threats against planes or other modes of transportation to move these soldiers.
SHEPPERD: Yes. Misunderstood by most people is the fact that most of our military people move by civilian means, by private carriers, private trucking companies, and also private aircraft. About 90 percent of them, as a matter of fact.
Now during the Gulf War, we had alerts on terrorism, but it was nowhere near as poignant as now, where al Qaeda is on the loose, and clearly has said that they are targeting our troops.
Ever since I've been a kid with military exercises, we talk about security. Anytime that you mass troops for deployment, action, or redeployment, you have to assume that you're a target, and that appears to be what's shaping up, and all this information is being shared with the private carriers, so they can assist law enforcement and the military with the security, and they're doing this through a Web site, password protected. Not unusual, but very important this time around.
KAGAN: But definitely a sign of the times, definitely different than back in '91.
SHEPPERD: Different than '91. We didn't have the al Qaeda threat hanging over our head with the specific threats that are out there now.
KAGAN: Major General Don Shepperd. Thanks for getting up early in that desert, the Senoran (ph) Desert to talk about the other desert over there. Appreciate it, sir.
SHEPPERD: Sure.
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 January 13, 2003 - 11:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the other hot spot we have been covering. U.N. inspectors are saying today that it could take a year to get around to all the suspect sites inside Iraq. Now they have said this in the past, but the statement coming today takes on new significance because it's made while a major buildup is underway in the Gulf.
Well, CNN's Rym Brahimi checks in now from Baghdad where inspectors are fanning out there to a number of spots again today, and Rym, I've got to think that people there in Iraq are welcoming this word coming from the IAEA about it taking a year to get around to all of the sites.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Leon, we haven't got an official reaction here on those comments, but definitely, Leon, this is something that the Iraqis would probably welcome.
In fact, the top adviser, the top scientific adviser to President Saddam Hussein has, in the past couple of days, says that if the U.S. and Britain are indeed really interested in following the legal route, then they have to wait until the inspectors have truly finished their work.
Let them -- give them time, he said. Give them time to go through the whole inspection process, and then come up with your conclusions.
Now, of course, this is a very vast country, about 435,000 kilometers wide, Leon, and we've been on some of those inspections with the inspectors. It takes a long time, even by helicopter, which cuts the travel time by half in most cases, you still have to take a whole day to inspect one site for something like an hour.
And, of course, it's a very big military industrial complex that has been built over the years in this country, so a lot of work here to do. Inspectors are going out and about, north, south, they are going in and around Baghdad, visiting universities, visiting various sites, asking questions to students, to professors, heads of departments, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. If you consider that from the beginning, Leon, they said that they wanted to visit at least 700 to 900 sites, and they've only covered, with almost two months down the line, only something like 300.
Now, this is a message -- Iraq, of course, keeps saying that it has no weapons of mass destruction, and it welcomes the inspection process in order to prove to the world that it has no weapons of mass destruction. That's been the line -- the line from the media, it's been the line that Iraqi officials have been trying to put through not only to the media but also to a certain number of peace groups that have come through Iraq in recent weeks.
The latest peace group, an American peace group, that arrived last night, some 35 American academics. They arrived here in Baghdad. They say they come from some 28 universities from across the United States.
The first thing they did this morning in Iraq, Leon, was to visit a hospital. It's the Saddam Children's Hospital, a hospital that is frequently visited by visitors from overseas. Now, they were there also with Bianca Jagger (ph), who is a prominent peace activist. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIANCA JAGGER, PEACE ACTIVIST: I'm here as well to tell to the Iraqi government, you must comply. You must protect your people and prevent a war, but I am here, especially, for Americans to understand that this war will not be a sanitized war, that there will be thousands of innocent civilians, children and women who will die, and is that the answer?
Is there no other -- no other answer? Is there no other alternative? Why is there an alternative for North Korea? Why is not there an alternative which is a negotiated settlement with Iraq?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, these peace activists, Leon, were going out and about visiting also a shelter today that was bombed in the '91 Gulf War. Tomorrow, their work begins in earnest where they meet with Iraqi -- academics from the university, and where they will start discussing in any way to, in their words, find a solution to prevent a war -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you, Rym. Rym Brahimi reporting to us live for the evening hours there in Baghdad. Be careful, Rym. We'll see you later -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, more U.S. troops are packing up and moving out today, and the U.S. prepares for possible war with Iraq.
Thousands of Marines left Camp Lejeune, North Carolina yesterday. More are scheduled to leave today. The Pentagon has issued deployment orders for 62,000 troops since Friday. They're going to join the 65,000 soldiers, sailors, and airmen and Marines that are already in the Persian Gulf region. The latest deployments are mostly land forces from the Marines and the Army.
I want to get some more insight on the military movement, along with the road to possible war with Iraq, and joining us from Tucson, Arizona, CNN military analyst and retired Air Force major general, Don Shepperd.
General, good morning. Thanks for being with us from the desert this morning. Appreciate it.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Daryn. You bet. It is a little early out here, Daryn.
KAGAN: I know that, and so I appreciate the early wakeup call. I want to try to help -- I want you to help us try to make sense of these two different stories we were looking at. First of all, the increased deployment, 62,000 additional troops being deployed, those orders coming on Friday. The 65,000 that are already there, and yet you get this word from the United Nations, from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, from the IAEA, You know what, eight to nine months, perhaps as much as a year would be very good for these inspectors.
SHEPPERD: Yes, this is going to be tough diplomacy and tough rhetoric to work our way through justification for military action. What's appearing to shape up here, Daryn, is there's going to be no smoking gun, no single photograph like the Cuban missile crisis that you can hold up at the United Nations, saying, Here is the rationale for military action.
And so while we are moving troops to give the president the options that he needs if he decides to take military action, the inspectors are asking for more time. How we sort through this is going to be difficult, but we've made it clear from the beginning with the United Nations that the United States does not need the OK of the United Nations for its own national security, but it's going to be very tough diplomatically to work through this. This is not the big military issue. It's a real diplomatic issue.
KAGAN: And once you have all these troops in the Persian Gulf region, is there a certain amount of time, a time limit how long you can support those troops there without either deciding to go ahead or pull back the action?
SHEPPERD: No. You can leave them there forever, but it's really difficult to keep up morale, to keep people on the point. The idea of deploying forces here in February or March and then waiting for another year before you have military action is not something that you really like to contemplate. It's very expensive, it is hard on the troops, it is hard on families and employers back home because there would be many guardsmen and reservists involved here.
So this is a march toward military action. It keeps pressure on the United Nations, it keeps pressure on Saddam Hussein, but it's going to be very difficult to work through and work this out for legitimacy for military action -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Interesting story story in the "New York Times" today, and our Barbara Starr was talking about it from the Pentagon as well, about the deployment and about the large number of private transportation companies, specifically aviation companies, that get those soldiers over there. They are getting specific information from the U.S. government when there are terror threats against planes or other modes of transportation to move these soldiers.
SHEPPERD: Yes. Misunderstood by most people is the fact that most of our military people move by civilian means, by private carriers, private trucking companies, and also private aircraft. About 90 percent of them, as a matter of fact.
Now during the Gulf War, we had alerts on terrorism, but it was nowhere near as poignant as now, where al Qaeda is on the loose, and clearly has said that they are targeting our troops.
Ever since I've been a kid with military exercises, we talk about security. Anytime that you mass troops for deployment, action, or redeployment, you have to assume that you're a target, and that appears to be what's shaping up, and all this information is being shared with the private carriers, so they can assist law enforcement and the military with the security, and they're doing this through a Web site, password protected. Not unusual, but very important this time around.
KAGAN: But definitely a sign of the times, definitely different than back in '91.
SHEPPERD: Different than '91. We didn't have the al Qaeda threat hanging over our head with the specific threats that are out there now.
KAGAN: Major General Don Shepperd. Thanks for getting up early in that desert, the Senoran (ph) Desert to talk about the other desert over there. Appreciate it, sir.
SHEPPERD: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
