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CNN Live At Daybreak
International Wrap: Eye on World
Aired February 26, 2003 - 06:37 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On another front, there is a meeting today among different factions in northern Iraq. It's important, because one of those factions could govern Iraq if Saddam is ousted.
Senior international editor David Clinch is here to tell us more about why the United States is so very interested in this meeting.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right. Not just interested actually, Carol, but actually attending this meeting inside Iraq in northern Iraq today.
As you read your papers today and you read about how much this war may cost, and you read your papers today and you read about how many hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops may be needed to govern Iraq after a war happens...
COSTELLO: Now, the money -- before you go on, the money amount we're talking about is $80 billion.
CLINCH: Anything from 80 to way over $100 billion.
COSTELLO: That's just for a year.
CLINCH: A key point here from the United States' point of view is, who will govern Iraq? And the people that we have to get used to the names of -- people like Chalati (ph), Barzani (ph), Telebonni (ph), all of these people -- Kurdish representatives, Shiite representatives, everybody in the opposition in Iraq meeting today in northern Iraq, again inside Iraq.
A U.S. official, you see him here, meeting with the leaders last night will be sitting down with them today.
And the issues are not just who will rule Iraq. I mean, they're all looking for the Hamid Karzai of Iraq, if you know what I mean. He's the man who currently leads Afghanistan, who actually will be meeting with George Bush today. They're all looking for the man who can be that, unify Iraq, unify this opposition...
COSTELLO: Otherwise, might Iraq end up like Bosnia? You know, cut into different...
CLINCH: Absolutely. Well, in some ways it is like Bosnia, but with -- or like Yugoslavia, but you know, with Saddam (UNINTELLIGIBLE) holding it all together. And you know, if the United States gets rid of Saddam Hussein, it then has to deal with all of these groups. They have yet to find somebody who can lead it. But even beyond that, the opposition groups themselves have serious problems with the idea that Turkey might send troops in when a war happens into northern Iraq...
COSTELLO: And just to make -- to let people understand this, Turkey doesnt like the Kurds in northern Iraq, because they view them as terrorists.
CLINCH: Well, in some degree, yes. And more importantly, they're worried that the Kurds will try and form their own nation there in northern Iraq, and the U.S. may allow Turkish troops to come in to prevent that. We don't know.
The Kurds in the opposition in Iraq even have a problem with the United States coming in at the last minute and saying, we're going to put hundreds of thousands of troops, and we are going to govern Iraq until we sort out who is running it. They say that's not the way it should be. It should be one of them, and it should happen quickly.
COSTELLO: And all of this while the Turkish parliament still decides on whether to vote to allow...
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: ... U.S. troops to come into Turkey.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, thank you very much.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: I know you're busy. We'll let you get back to work.
CLINCH: OK.
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 February 26, 2003 - 06:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On another front, there is a meeting today among different factions in northern Iraq. It's important, because one of those factions could govern Iraq if Saddam is ousted.
Senior international editor David Clinch is here to tell us more about why the United States is so very interested in this meeting.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Right. Not just interested actually, Carol, but actually attending this meeting inside Iraq in northern Iraq today.
As you read your papers today and you read about how much this war may cost, and you read your papers today and you read about how many hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops may be needed to govern Iraq after a war happens...
COSTELLO: Now, the money -- before you go on, the money amount we're talking about is $80 billion.
CLINCH: Anything from 80 to way over $100 billion.
COSTELLO: That's just for a year.
CLINCH: A key point here from the United States' point of view is, who will govern Iraq? And the people that we have to get used to the names of -- people like Chalati (ph), Barzani (ph), Telebonni (ph), all of these people -- Kurdish representatives, Shiite representatives, everybody in the opposition in Iraq meeting today in northern Iraq, again inside Iraq.
A U.S. official, you see him here, meeting with the leaders last night will be sitting down with them today.
And the issues are not just who will rule Iraq. I mean, they're all looking for the Hamid Karzai of Iraq, if you know what I mean. He's the man who currently leads Afghanistan, who actually will be meeting with George Bush today. They're all looking for the man who can be that, unify Iraq, unify this opposition...
COSTELLO: Otherwise, might Iraq end up like Bosnia? You know, cut into different...
CLINCH: Absolutely. Well, in some ways it is like Bosnia, but with -- or like Yugoslavia, but you know, with Saddam (UNINTELLIGIBLE) holding it all together. And you know, if the United States gets rid of Saddam Hussein, it then has to deal with all of these groups. They have yet to find somebody who can lead it. But even beyond that, the opposition groups themselves have serious problems with the idea that Turkey might send troops in when a war happens into northern Iraq...
COSTELLO: And just to make -- to let people understand this, Turkey doesnt like the Kurds in northern Iraq, because they view them as terrorists.
CLINCH: Well, in some degree, yes. And more importantly, they're worried that the Kurds will try and form their own nation there in northern Iraq, and the U.S. may allow Turkish troops to come in to prevent that. We don't know.
The Kurds in the opposition in Iraq even have a problem with the United States coming in at the last minute and saying, we're going to put hundreds of thousands of troops, and we are going to govern Iraq until we sort out who is running it. They say that's not the way it should be. It should be one of them, and it should happen quickly.
COSTELLO: And all of this while the Turkish parliament still decides on whether to vote to allow...
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: ... U.S. troops to come into Turkey.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: David Clinch, thank you very much.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: I know you're busy. We'll let you get back to work.
CLINCH: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
