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American Morning

Rallying the Troops

Aired April 30, 2003 - 09:03   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It has long been said the Iraqis need the U.S. military for security, and the U.S. military needs a number of Iraqis to help them get this job done and show the world that it can be done.
Jim Clancy's nearby. Let's go to Jim live in Iraq now.

Jim, good afternoon there.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you.

You know, it was just about three weeks ago to this hour that U.S. troops brought down that statue that was in the square behind me, Bill. And Donald Rumsfeld here, the first cabinet-level U.S. official to come to Iraq, to survey the scene, thank the troops personally. He did that in Basra for the British forces earlier in the day. Now he's in Baghdad. He's going to be, as you said, talking to them. We'll be carrying that here. He's got a message for the Iraqis as well that was taped. It's going to be broadcast by an aircraft that flies over Baghdad via radio. They're going to be able to hear that message.

It is going to say this country's not ours, this doesn't belong to the United States, it's yours, you have to run it, we're here to help you, we're not going to stay here; our troops aren't going to be here one day longer than necessary. We heard that message before, Bill, but it's important for the Iraqis to sort everything out. He's not going to be meeting, mingling, if you will, with Iraqi civilians on the streets, that's for sure, because of security reasons. We understand he did, however, manage to meet with some there at one of the U.S. bases that was well-protected.

He's also not going to be able to visit another site he'd like to on this trip. That would be a site that contained weapons of mass destruction. The fact is, thus far, U.S. forces haven't found any. This isn't Donald Rumsfeld's first trip to Baghdad either. He was here in 1983. He shook President Saddam Hussein's hand there. Now he's shaking a finger at Saddam Hussein, asking for the Iraqi's in order to help find him and other regime officials -- Bill.

HEMMER: Jim, also we can anticipate Donald Rumsfeld talking about the successes in this war, and also in the deck of cards. Of the 55 wanted by the U.S., it has been said to date 15 have now either been captured or turned themselves in, or negotiated some sort of surrender.

As we look at the remaining 45, Jim, or 40, rather, excuse me, with 15 now captured, what is critical in the U.S. eyes right now in trying to obtain either the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or possibly his two sons?

CLANCY: Well, a lot of this is patience. There's a sense that they may still be in Iraq, and there's a sense, as you heard it today from him, saying to the Iraqi people directly, some of you out there probably know where these people are. Go to -- report to U.S. forces, share that information with them. and we'll take them into custody, because they are going to try to undermine your chance for freedom, your chance for democracy. If this letter that was written to a London newspaper, Arabic newspaper is legitimate, that is exactly what's going on. He's telling people to rise up against U.S. forces.

People are still very cautious about how the U.S. is going to handle all of this. And certainly they want to see more of these people taken into custody, because they are exactly the up ones that might organize any kind of resistance if there should be impatience, if there should be dissatisfaction with how the U.S. mission is going.

HEMMER: A tall order for Jay Garner, trying to get the interim government established, set up and running within a month. When they talk about interim, is there a definition that applies there in Iraq?

CLANCY: Well, everybody more or less has the broad outline that it's going to take two years to really put together not only an election, but, Bill, this a country that had not multiparty democracy at all. Yes, there were some parties, but in name only. Everything was controlled by one central figure, one central party, the Baath Party. These people need some time to put their own political system together, get their own factions together, discuss things. And that's what they hope to do.

An interim government, though, is critical for the way that it delivers on the promise of freedom. I talked to General Blount (ph) the other day, the head of the 3rd Infantry Division, and he said a man came to me and said, who do I apply to get a permit to run a newspaper? And he said, it's free, you done need a permit. The man thought, and he looked at him, and said, well then, general, who do I take my scripts to get them approved once I have a newspaper? People don't really understand what they're getting here. It's going to take some time.

HEMMER: Wow. Let's talk about Fallujah quickly here. It would be wrong for us interpret the entire country of Iraq is opposed to U.S. forces on the ground. But how are you perceiving right now on the streets of Baghdad the level of acceptance that Iraqis have right now for the U.S. military and the work they're trying to get done on a daily basis?

CLANCY: Very high level of acceptance. There is certainly some times when, you know, people are impatient, and the Iraqis are impatient. They have been told, we're coming, we're going to free you, and they're saying, well, what is freedom if we don't have any security? They want to see more security. I think we're going to see that in the days ahead. That's certainly a number one priority. Also, the people here, they are helping the U.S. military. I talked to the commanders in the field, I talked to Iraqis on the streets. They want to cooperate.

Where we have seen problems is where you have politics. Every one in this country knows, everyone knows that the U.S. troops someday are going to be leaving. This U.S. Troops out, without a timetable or anything like that, is something that's being picked up as political opportunism, if you will, when it's mixed with guns, when guns show up at some of these demonstrations, this is where we're seeing problems. And there has to be a meeting of the minds between U.S. forces and the Iraqis themselves, in particularly their religious and political leadership, to keep guns out of the equation.

HEMMER: Jim Clancy, live in Baghdad. And again, we'll get you there, as we look at the picture from that hangar in Baghdad when Donald Rumsfeld gets ready to speak there -- Daryn.

KAGAN: While we're waiting for the secretary of defense, let's pick up on something you were talking about, Bill, and that is more clashes in Fallujah, second time in under 48 hours that this town just west of Baghdad has problems.

Our Karl Penhaul is in Fallujah, joins us by videophone.

Karl, hello.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Yes, another day, another protest. We have been down to the hospital this morning, and doctors have confirm that two Iraqi civilians died in today's protest, 15 others were injured.

As in the previous 48 hours, there are conflicting reports about where the gunfire started. The demonstrators themselves say that the gunfire came from a compound occupied by U.S. troops. The company commander of the U.S. troops has told me that the demonstrators started throwing rocks inside the compound, and then gunshots from an AK-47 came from within the crowd. In response to that, his men fired warning shots. He says that then a shot was fired into a convoy of U.S. vehicles. The convoy returned fire.

The certain thing is there have been deaths. Again, those deaths are leading to more intense protests, anti-American protests. That said, the level of protests we're seeing here is probably 250, 300 people on the street. And this is, after all, a city of probably 100,000, 150,000. So by no means, huge, huge protests in the context of the size of the city -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Karl Penhaul in Fallujah, thank you.

Bill, more as we wait for Donald Rumsfeld.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Barbara Starr's now at the hangar. She's traveling with the secretary of defense and now joins us live from Baghdad.

Barbara, the message today is what there in Baghdad?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a very traumatic day here in Baghdad. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld moving throughout the city in an armed convoy. He's back at Baghdad International Airport now before he will fly back to Kuwait. He's going to meet with the troops here, thank them for a job he believes is very well done.

Earlier in the day, we went to a power plant in the southern edge of Baghdad, the secretary getting a good look firsthand at the effort to restore services to this city.

And he began the day earlier in Basra in the south meeting with British commanders.

All of this in effort to get a sense of the security and stability situation here in Iraq. He even traveled to a former palace of Saddam Hussein's on the outskirts of Baghdad here. Now it's called "cobra base." It's a military base from which much of the coalition operations are directed.

Getting a sense of the stability the security situation, how things are shaping up here on the ground, how soon U.S. troops may be able to return home. The plan now is that by the end of next month, there will be the beginning of a new Iraqi interim authority, a transitional government, if you will, key Iraqi leaders put into place, setting the groundwork possibly for a new Iraq in the months ahead.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Barbara, hang with me a second here -- I know it's windy there -- but can Donald Rumsfeld get in front of that microphone today and say, mission accomplished, or will he recognize the challenges straight ahead that many of which you just pointed out?

STARR: Well, he is likely to say that the mission has been largely accomplished, but that still much work remains to be done. There is certainly a sense of unease in much of Iraq. There are demonstrations. There are local militia groups, we were told today, that are controlling parts of Iraq. But everyone here is telling us that is part of democracy in Iraq. The demonstrations are now allowed, of course, for the first time in decades. They believe that this is a healthy sign, but they don't, by any stretch of the imagination, of course, want to let it get out of control.

So in the next several days, in fact, hundreds of additional U.S. military police, MPs, will be moving into Baghdad and trying to get a further handle on the security situation.

But the bottom line is they think much has been accomplished, a lot more remains to be done, and they want to focus on the services back for the civilians of Baghdad. They think that's going to go a long way to making sure things lead to a more stabile and secure environment. HEMMER: Barbara, this visit today also comes at a time an interesting contrast when we do not even know the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein. We don't know if he's alive or if he's dead. If he's alive, he could still be living in that very city of Baghdad.

Upon your tour with the secretary of defense, what has he said about the importance and the relevance of Saddam Hussein today?

STARR: Well, the final word on that is that they believe now that Saddam Hussein is not relevant, dead or alive. The regime is gone. They believe that's really been the essential mission that's been accomplished here. They say they have no specific word about Saddam Hussein, no confirmation that he is dead, no confirmation that he's alive. They're continuing to assess the intelligence.

HEMMER: Barbara Starr, live in Baghdad, thanks for that.

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 April 30, 2003 - 09:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It has long been said the Iraqis need the U.S. military for security, and the U.S. military needs a number of Iraqis to help them get this job done and show the world that it can be done.
Jim Clancy's nearby. Let's go to Jim live in Iraq now.

Jim, good afternoon there.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you.

You know, it was just about three weeks ago to this hour that U.S. troops brought down that statue that was in the square behind me, Bill. And Donald Rumsfeld here, the first cabinet-level U.S. official to come to Iraq, to survey the scene, thank the troops personally. He did that in Basra for the British forces earlier in the day. Now he's in Baghdad. He's going to be, as you said, talking to them. We'll be carrying that here. He's got a message for the Iraqis as well that was taped. It's going to be broadcast by an aircraft that flies over Baghdad via radio. They're going to be able to hear that message.

It is going to say this country's not ours, this doesn't belong to the United States, it's yours, you have to run it, we're here to help you, we're not going to stay here; our troops aren't going to be here one day longer than necessary. We heard that message before, Bill, but it's important for the Iraqis to sort everything out. He's not going to be meeting, mingling, if you will, with Iraqi civilians on the streets, that's for sure, because of security reasons. We understand he did, however, manage to meet with some there at one of the U.S. bases that was well-protected.

He's also not going to be able to visit another site he'd like to on this trip. That would be a site that contained weapons of mass destruction. The fact is, thus far, U.S. forces haven't found any. This isn't Donald Rumsfeld's first trip to Baghdad either. He was here in 1983. He shook President Saddam Hussein's hand there. Now he's shaking a finger at Saddam Hussein, asking for the Iraqi's in order to help find him and other regime officials -- Bill.

HEMMER: Jim, also we can anticipate Donald Rumsfeld talking about the successes in this war, and also in the deck of cards. Of the 55 wanted by the U.S., it has been said to date 15 have now either been captured or turned themselves in, or negotiated some sort of surrender.

As we look at the remaining 45, Jim, or 40, rather, excuse me, with 15 now captured, what is critical in the U.S. eyes right now in trying to obtain either the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or possibly his two sons?

CLANCY: Well, a lot of this is patience. There's a sense that they may still be in Iraq, and there's a sense, as you heard it today from him, saying to the Iraqi people directly, some of you out there probably know where these people are. Go to -- report to U.S. forces, share that information with them. and we'll take them into custody, because they are going to try to undermine your chance for freedom, your chance for democracy. If this letter that was written to a London newspaper, Arabic newspaper is legitimate, that is exactly what's going on. He's telling people to rise up against U.S. forces.

People are still very cautious about how the U.S. is going to handle all of this. And certainly they want to see more of these people taken into custody, because they are exactly the up ones that might organize any kind of resistance if there should be impatience, if there should be dissatisfaction with how the U.S. mission is going.

HEMMER: A tall order for Jay Garner, trying to get the interim government established, set up and running within a month. When they talk about interim, is there a definition that applies there in Iraq?

CLANCY: Well, everybody more or less has the broad outline that it's going to take two years to really put together not only an election, but, Bill, this a country that had not multiparty democracy at all. Yes, there were some parties, but in name only. Everything was controlled by one central figure, one central party, the Baath Party. These people need some time to put their own political system together, get their own factions together, discuss things. And that's what they hope to do.

An interim government, though, is critical for the way that it delivers on the promise of freedom. I talked to General Blount (ph) the other day, the head of the 3rd Infantry Division, and he said a man came to me and said, who do I apply to get a permit to run a newspaper? And he said, it's free, you done need a permit. The man thought, and he looked at him, and said, well then, general, who do I take my scripts to get them approved once I have a newspaper? People don't really understand what they're getting here. It's going to take some time.

HEMMER: Wow. Let's talk about Fallujah quickly here. It would be wrong for us interpret the entire country of Iraq is opposed to U.S. forces on the ground. But how are you perceiving right now on the streets of Baghdad the level of acceptance that Iraqis have right now for the U.S. military and the work they're trying to get done on a daily basis?

CLANCY: Very high level of acceptance. There is certainly some times when, you know, people are impatient, and the Iraqis are impatient. They have been told, we're coming, we're going to free you, and they're saying, well, what is freedom if we don't have any security? They want to see more security. I think we're going to see that in the days ahead. That's certainly a number one priority. Also, the people here, they are helping the U.S. military. I talked to the commanders in the field, I talked to Iraqis on the streets. They want to cooperate.

Where we have seen problems is where you have politics. Every one in this country knows, everyone knows that the U.S. troops someday are going to be leaving. This U.S. Troops out, without a timetable or anything like that, is something that's being picked up as political opportunism, if you will, when it's mixed with guns, when guns show up at some of these demonstrations, this is where we're seeing problems. And there has to be a meeting of the minds between U.S. forces and the Iraqis themselves, in particularly their religious and political leadership, to keep guns out of the equation.

HEMMER: Jim Clancy, live in Baghdad. And again, we'll get you there, as we look at the picture from that hangar in Baghdad when Donald Rumsfeld gets ready to speak there -- Daryn.

KAGAN: While we're waiting for the secretary of defense, let's pick up on something you were talking about, Bill, and that is more clashes in Fallujah, second time in under 48 hours that this town just west of Baghdad has problems.

Our Karl Penhaul is in Fallujah, joins us by videophone.

Karl, hello.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Yes, another day, another protest. We have been down to the hospital this morning, and doctors have confirm that two Iraqi civilians died in today's protest, 15 others were injured.

As in the previous 48 hours, there are conflicting reports about where the gunfire started. The demonstrators themselves say that the gunfire came from a compound occupied by U.S. troops. The company commander of the U.S. troops has told me that the demonstrators started throwing rocks inside the compound, and then gunshots from an AK-47 came from within the crowd. In response to that, his men fired warning shots. He says that then a shot was fired into a convoy of U.S. vehicles. The convoy returned fire.

The certain thing is there have been deaths. Again, those deaths are leading to more intense protests, anti-American protests. That said, the level of protests we're seeing here is probably 250, 300 people on the street. And this is, after all, a city of probably 100,000, 150,000. So by no means, huge, huge protests in the context of the size of the city -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Karl Penhaul in Fallujah, thank you.

Bill, more as we wait for Donald Rumsfeld.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Barbara Starr's now at the hangar. She's traveling with the secretary of defense and now joins us live from Baghdad.

Barbara, the message today is what there in Baghdad?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a very traumatic day here in Baghdad. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld moving throughout the city in an armed convoy. He's back at Baghdad International Airport now before he will fly back to Kuwait. He's going to meet with the troops here, thank them for a job he believes is very well done.

Earlier in the day, we went to a power plant in the southern edge of Baghdad, the secretary getting a good look firsthand at the effort to restore services to this city.

And he began the day earlier in Basra in the south meeting with British commanders.

All of this in effort to get a sense of the security and stability situation here in Iraq. He even traveled to a former palace of Saddam Hussein's on the outskirts of Baghdad here. Now it's called "cobra base." It's a military base from which much of the coalition operations are directed.

Getting a sense of the stability the security situation, how things are shaping up here on the ground, how soon U.S. troops may be able to return home. The plan now is that by the end of next month, there will be the beginning of a new Iraqi interim authority, a transitional government, if you will, key Iraqi leaders put into place, setting the groundwork possibly for a new Iraq in the months ahead.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Barbara, hang with me a second here -- I know it's windy there -- but can Donald Rumsfeld get in front of that microphone today and say, mission accomplished, or will he recognize the challenges straight ahead that many of which you just pointed out?

STARR: Well, he is likely to say that the mission has been largely accomplished, but that still much work remains to be done. There is certainly a sense of unease in much of Iraq. There are demonstrations. There are local militia groups, we were told today, that are controlling parts of Iraq. But everyone here is telling us that is part of democracy in Iraq. The demonstrations are now allowed, of course, for the first time in decades. They believe that this is a healthy sign, but they don't, by any stretch of the imagination, of course, want to let it get out of control.

So in the next several days, in fact, hundreds of additional U.S. military police, MPs, will be moving into Baghdad and trying to get a further handle on the security situation.

But the bottom line is they think much has been accomplished, a lot more remains to be done, and they want to focus on the services back for the civilians of Baghdad. They think that's going to go a long way to making sure things lead to a more stabile and secure environment. HEMMER: Barbara, this visit today also comes at a time an interesting contrast when we do not even know the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein. We don't know if he's alive or if he's dead. If he's alive, he could still be living in that very city of Baghdad.

Upon your tour with the secretary of defense, what has he said about the importance and the relevance of Saddam Hussein today?

STARR: Well, the final word on that is that they believe now that Saddam Hussein is not relevant, dead or alive. The regime is gone. They believe that's really been the essential mission that's been accomplished here. They say they have no specific word about Saddam Hussein, no confirmation that he is dead, no confirmation that he's alive. They're continuing to assess the intelligence.

HEMMER: Barbara Starr, live in Baghdad, thanks for that.

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