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CNN Live At Daybreak

International Wrap, Eye on World

Aired August 27, 2003 - 06:36   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: While the tomatoes fly in Spain, the political salvos fly in Washington. Paul Bremer is talking big bucks for Iraq. The Democrats are getting ready to attack.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is with us to tell us about what Paul Bremer said and more.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning, Carol. First of all, it's tomatoes, not tomatoes, but that's just between us.

So, yes, big stories for us all over the place -- Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Iran and everything. I think Iraq is the headline, though, for the domestic audience today, in my opinion, and particularly this story -- it's not really news, but it is very specific.

L. Paul Bremer, the top man in Iraq, telling "The Washington Post" in an interview today that, looking forward, the cost of paying for what he's trying to do -- the reconstruction of Iraq -- will run into the tens of billions of dollars. That's over and above the $4 billion a month we're already -- the United States is already paying for what's going on in Iraq in terms of paying for the U.S. troops. So, we're talking about paying for the reconstruction, paying for police, military security forces, the oil industry -- everything else -- tens of billions of dollars.

And just like the United States is asking for the rest of the world to contribute troops to maintain security, Bremer is also quoted as saying that the rest of the world should contribute some of these billions. Now, I think he may have just as hard a time convincing the rest of the world to pay up on that score as the United States is having getting troops from other countries. So, it remains to be seen.

COSTELLO: And some Americans might be wondering what's happened to Saddam Hussein's illicit millions that the U.S. military has found...

CLINCH: Right. Well, according to the...

COSTELLO: ... and what's with the money from the oil sales

CLINCH: According to the reports that we've got, all usable monies that have been found have been allocated to this fund that is being used to pay for these things already. It's just that that's run out already. These things are expensive -- or is about to run out, I should say.

So, L. Paul Bremer -- and we talked about this a few days ago and earlier this morning -- he is not on holiday back in Washington. He's back for these meetings on this funding issue. It's a very important issue. It's not just paying for the troops, but paying for the reconstruction. And who will pay for it? The United States. Can they afford to pay tens of billions of dollars every month, every year, to cover Iraqi police salaries, Iraqi army salaries? And if they can't, then, of course, then more U.S. troops need to stay there, and they may need to pay for that.

COSTELLO: Well, and the other question...

CLINCH: So, it's money, money, money.

COSTELLO: And the other question is: How long will taxpayers be willing to foot the bill, too?

CLINCH: Right. And one other thing, though, just in terms of money and Saddam Hussein. They are putting up posters today all over Baghdad promising a $25 million reward for Saddam Hussein. It's not new that they're asking -- offering the reward, but these posters are new. They're going up all around there.

Now, I don't know if you can see, but they all also feature his sons, Uday and Qusay, with large X's through their faces, so a very pointed message from the United States. If we catch them, they may be dead. They obviously killed his sons just a short while ago.

COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, many thanks. We appreciate it.

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 August 27, 2003 - 06:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: While the tomatoes fly in Spain, the political salvos fly in Washington. Paul Bremer is talking big bucks for Iraq. The Democrats are getting ready to attack.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is with us to tell us about what Paul Bremer said and more.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning, Carol. First of all, it's tomatoes, not tomatoes, but that's just between us.

So, yes, big stories for us all over the place -- Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Iran and everything. I think Iraq is the headline, though, for the domestic audience today, in my opinion, and particularly this story -- it's not really news, but it is very specific.

L. Paul Bremer, the top man in Iraq, telling "The Washington Post" in an interview today that, looking forward, the cost of paying for what he's trying to do -- the reconstruction of Iraq -- will run into the tens of billions of dollars. That's over and above the $4 billion a month we're already -- the United States is already paying for what's going on in Iraq in terms of paying for the U.S. troops. So, we're talking about paying for the reconstruction, paying for police, military security forces, the oil industry -- everything else -- tens of billions of dollars.

And just like the United States is asking for the rest of the world to contribute troops to maintain security, Bremer is also quoted as saying that the rest of the world should contribute some of these billions. Now, I think he may have just as hard a time convincing the rest of the world to pay up on that score as the United States is having getting troops from other countries. So, it remains to be seen.

COSTELLO: And some Americans might be wondering what's happened to Saddam Hussein's illicit millions that the U.S. military has found...

CLINCH: Right. Well, according to the...

COSTELLO: ... and what's with the money from the oil sales

CLINCH: According to the reports that we've got, all usable monies that have been found have been allocated to this fund that is being used to pay for these things already. It's just that that's run out already. These things are expensive -- or is about to run out, I should say.

So, L. Paul Bremer -- and we talked about this a few days ago and earlier this morning -- he is not on holiday back in Washington. He's back for these meetings on this funding issue. It's a very important issue. It's not just paying for the troops, but paying for the reconstruction. And who will pay for it? The United States. Can they afford to pay tens of billions of dollars every month, every year, to cover Iraqi police salaries, Iraqi army salaries? And if they can't, then, of course, then more U.S. troops need to stay there, and they may need to pay for that.

COSTELLO: Well, and the other question...

CLINCH: So, it's money, money, money.

COSTELLO: And the other question is: How long will taxpayers be willing to foot the bill, too?

CLINCH: Right. And one other thing, though, just in terms of money and Saddam Hussein. They are putting up posters today all over Baghdad promising a $25 million reward for Saddam Hussein. It's not new that they're asking -- offering the reward, but these posters are new. They're going up all around there.

Now, I don't know if you can see, but they all also feature his sons, Uday and Qusay, with large X's through their faces, so a very pointed message from the United States. If we catch them, they may be dead. They obviously killed his sons just a short while ago.

COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, many thanks. We appreciate it.

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.