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U.S. Commander of Land Forces in Iraq to Holds News Conference
Aired May 23, 2003 - 05:34 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: And now to the new Iraq. We hope to learn more about how the U.S. civil administration plans to improve conditions for Iraqis. The U.S. commander of land forces in Iraq holds a news conference about one and a half hours from now.
For more on what to expect and the day's other major developments, we take you live to Baghdad now.
And that's where we find Jane Arraf -- good morning, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, the biggest development so far, you touched on it earlier, is the arrest, the detention of Aziz Salih al-Numan. Now, he's number eight on that most wanted list and he is one of the people who is actually wanted for investigation for war crimes. This is man who was one of the top military commanders in Saddam Hussein's regime. He was governor of the holy Shia city of Najaf and during that time he is accused of torturing and killing Shia clerics, between 1980 -- during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and taking a large part in brutally putting down the uprising of Shias after the 1991 Gulf War.
Now, in an effort also to make sure, in its words, that Saddam Hussein's regime is eradicated forever, the civilian provisional authority here, the U.S. authority, rather, announced today that it is dissolving the Iraqi armed forces. As of now, the order is out that there is no Iraqi Army.
It has also dissolved the information ministry, among other organizations. And what that means essentially is that in the armed forces, all of these people now are out of work. That's between 350,000 and 400,000 soldiers who will be given a termination period. But we're now in that gray area where the part of old Iraq is gone, a very important part, and there's no new Iraqi Army yet to replace it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, but by dissolving the Iraqi armed forces, that puts about 400,000 Iraqis out of work. Won't that create another problem?
ARRAF: That's really the fear of a lot of people on the streets because it was seen, as well, after the 1991 Gulf War when all of these soldiers were out of work and fairly heavily armed. So it is a significant fear among the population.
Now, what U.S. officials say to that, because we asked them this morning, is that they intend to pump money into the economy and create jobs. The fact remains, though, that these are people who have been conscripted, in many cases, but have been soldiers, have been paid for being soldiers and now, for at least a few months, it seems, there will be nothing to replace that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jane Arraf live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Conference>
Aired May 23, 2003 - 05:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the new Iraq. We hope to learn more about how the U.S. civil administration plans to improve conditions for Iraqis. The U.S. commander of land forces in Iraq holds a news conference about one and a half hours from now.
For more on what to expect and the day's other major developments, we take you live to Baghdad now.
And that's where we find Jane Arraf -- good morning, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, the biggest development so far, you touched on it earlier, is the arrest, the detention of Aziz Salih al-Numan. Now, he's number eight on that most wanted list and he is one of the people who is actually wanted for investigation for war crimes. This is man who was one of the top military commanders in Saddam Hussein's regime. He was governor of the holy Shia city of Najaf and during that time he is accused of torturing and killing Shia clerics, between 1980 -- during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and taking a large part in brutally putting down the uprising of Shias after the 1991 Gulf War.
Now, in an effort also to make sure, in its words, that Saddam Hussein's regime is eradicated forever, the civilian provisional authority here, the U.S. authority, rather, announced today that it is dissolving the Iraqi armed forces. As of now, the order is out that there is no Iraqi Army.
It has also dissolved the information ministry, among other organizations. And what that means essentially is that in the armed forces, all of these people now are out of work. That's between 350,000 and 400,000 soldiers who will be given a termination period. But we're now in that gray area where the part of old Iraq is gone, a very important part, and there's no new Iraqi Army yet to replace it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, but by dissolving the Iraqi armed forces, that puts about 400,000 Iraqis out of work. Won't that create another problem?
ARRAF: That's really the fear of a lot of people on the streets because it was seen, as well, after the 1991 Gulf War when all of these soldiers were out of work and fairly heavily armed. So it is a significant fear among the population.
Now, what U.S. officials say to that, because we asked them this morning, is that they intend to pump money into the economy and create jobs. The fact remains, though, that these are people who have been conscripted, in many cases, but have been soldiers, have been paid for being soldiers and now, for at least a few months, it seems, there will be nothing to replace that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jane Arraf live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Conference>
