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CNN Live Today

Analysis of Saddam's Sons

Aired March 19, 2003 - 10:45   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.


RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's ultimatum to Iraq demands the departure of President Saddam Hussein and his two sons, Uday and Qusay. We know a fair amount about the father, but what about the sons? They are key figurers in the Iraqi inner circle. We are going to talk now with our military analyst, Kelly McCann, who joins us now from Washington -- Kelly, thanks for being with us.
J. KELLY MCCANN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: Let's start with Qusay. He is the youngest, but he seems to have more duties, kind of running the day-to-day operations of the country. Let's start with his security obligations. He is in charge of the National Security Council in Iraq. What exactly does that mean?

MCCANN: Well, basically, it is a mirror image of, if you would, conceptually, anyway, our National Security Council. Underneath that, he has control over the Republican Guard, the special Republican Guard, and the whole special security organization, or the internal intelligence and security apparatus.

And I think it's a key distinction, Renay, that we go down a slightly different road. It not that Saddam Hussein trusts these children. It's that he distrusts them less. This isn't a loving, caring family relationship. This is more of a clan that operates in that manner. So I think that the key distinction is this isn't full and open wholesale trust. Saddam Hussein is fully aware that either of his sons could have taken power from him.

SAN MIGUEL: But there is a -- when you talk about distrust, especially between Qusay and Uday, the eldest, who we'll go ahead and we will show some of his duties right now. He used to be thought of as the heir apparent, the one who had the control of the intelligence and the military. And now it looks to me like all he's got is some of the media properties there. What happened? What went on to have him fall out of favor there?

MCCANN: Over the years, Qusay is deliberate. He is also a fairly sick and evil person. Uday is impulsive. He has personally beaten and clubbed to death, in fact, his father's favorite food tester, that's a job nobody would want.

SAN MIGUEL: Yes.

MCCANN: And you've got to remember that all three of these men have personally murdered people, have personally overseen the direct physical torture of people. Uday, for example, is the football federation president, but yet in 1997, in 1999, he was known to both order and oversee the torture of soccer players who didn't perform up to specification. I mean, it's insanity.

SAN MIGUEL: So he was a little bit too rash and impulsive to be, I guess, leading the country. So Qusay maybe getting the nod for that.

MCCANN: One last thing that happened, in 1996, when he was assassinated, he was less than fully ambulatory. And that, of course, is seen as being not fully fit and capable. Qusay is much less in the public's eye. He is much more quiet and behind the scenes, and I think that he got the vote of trust and confidence, or less trust, less distrust, if you will, from his father some years ago.

SAN MIGUEL: Not just the sons here, but Saddam Hussein apparently likes to keep everything in the family when it comes to his inner circle. There was a cousin known as "Chemical Ali." Talk a little bit about him, and why do they call him that?

MCCANN: Well, because he has -- had -- he was directly involved with gassing or developing the plan to gas their own people up in the northern provinces. I mean, the bottom line is that if anybody was going to press the button on a chemical weapon, it would probably be this man because he's done it before. And in fact, there's a lot of question because of our psy-op campaign whether the local area commanders will actually follow orders and utilize them if told to. Chemical Ali is likely to do that.

Again, there's layers of cousins and uncles within the Baath potty -- Party. It's more aptly described as the Tikrit clan. All of these people come out of Tikrit, which is, of course, where Saddam Hussein came from. Much more clannish than anything else.

SAN MIGUEL: Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid, and when you talk about whether or not he may use the chemical weapons again, it's because he's in charge of the southern section of Iraq, including Basra. We have to leave it there.

Kelly McCann, thanks for joining us -- we appreciate your time.

MCCANN: You bet, Renay.

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 March 19, 2003 - 10:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's ultimatum to Iraq demands the departure of President Saddam Hussein and his two sons, Uday and Qusay. We know a fair amount about the father, but what about the sons? They are key figurers in the Iraqi inner circle. We are going to talk now with our military analyst, Kelly McCann, who joins us now from Washington -- Kelly, thanks for being with us.
J. KELLY MCCANN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: Let's start with Qusay. He is the youngest, but he seems to have more duties, kind of running the day-to-day operations of the country. Let's start with his security obligations. He is in charge of the National Security Council in Iraq. What exactly does that mean?

MCCANN: Well, basically, it is a mirror image of, if you would, conceptually, anyway, our National Security Council. Underneath that, he has control over the Republican Guard, the special Republican Guard, and the whole special security organization, or the internal intelligence and security apparatus.

And I think it's a key distinction, Renay, that we go down a slightly different road. It not that Saddam Hussein trusts these children. It's that he distrusts them less. This isn't a loving, caring family relationship. This is more of a clan that operates in that manner. So I think that the key distinction is this isn't full and open wholesale trust. Saddam Hussein is fully aware that either of his sons could have taken power from him.

SAN MIGUEL: But there is a -- when you talk about distrust, especially between Qusay and Uday, the eldest, who we'll go ahead and we will show some of his duties right now. He used to be thought of as the heir apparent, the one who had the control of the intelligence and the military. And now it looks to me like all he's got is some of the media properties there. What happened? What went on to have him fall out of favor there?

MCCANN: Over the years, Qusay is deliberate. He is also a fairly sick and evil person. Uday is impulsive. He has personally beaten and clubbed to death, in fact, his father's favorite food tester, that's a job nobody would want.

SAN MIGUEL: Yes.

MCCANN: And you've got to remember that all three of these men have personally murdered people, have personally overseen the direct physical torture of people. Uday, for example, is the football federation president, but yet in 1997, in 1999, he was known to both order and oversee the torture of soccer players who didn't perform up to specification. I mean, it's insanity.

SAN MIGUEL: So he was a little bit too rash and impulsive to be, I guess, leading the country. So Qusay maybe getting the nod for that.

MCCANN: One last thing that happened, in 1996, when he was assassinated, he was less than fully ambulatory. And that, of course, is seen as being not fully fit and capable. Qusay is much less in the public's eye. He is much more quiet and behind the scenes, and I think that he got the vote of trust and confidence, or less trust, less distrust, if you will, from his father some years ago.

SAN MIGUEL: Not just the sons here, but Saddam Hussein apparently likes to keep everything in the family when it comes to his inner circle. There was a cousin known as "Chemical Ali." Talk a little bit about him, and why do they call him that?

MCCANN: Well, because he has -- had -- he was directly involved with gassing or developing the plan to gas their own people up in the northern provinces. I mean, the bottom line is that if anybody was going to press the button on a chemical weapon, it would probably be this man because he's done it before. And in fact, there's a lot of question because of our psy-op campaign whether the local area commanders will actually follow orders and utilize them if told to. Chemical Ali is likely to do that.

Again, there's layers of cousins and uncles within the Baath potty -- Party. It's more aptly described as the Tikrit clan. All of these people come out of Tikrit, which is, of course, where Saddam Hussein came from. Much more clannish than anything else.

SAN MIGUEL: Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid, and when you talk about whether or not he may use the chemical weapons again, it's because he's in charge of the southern section of Iraq, including Basra. We have to leave it there.

Kelly McCann, thanks for joining us -- we appreciate your time.

MCCANN: You bet, Renay.

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