Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

U.S. Would U.N. force in Iraq under American leadership; Interview With Hassan Fattah

Aired August 28, 2003 - 08:01   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration, eager to stabilize the security situation in Iraq, now appears to be considering the idea of allowing the U.N. to lead a multinational force if the U.S. retains overall command.
Chris Plante is live at the Pentagon for us this morning -- Chris, good morning.

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.

Yes, Richard Armitage, who is the number two person at the State Department, and Colin Powell's right hand guy, met with reporters the other day, on Tuesday. And he said that there are several ideas that are being looked at or explored, I guess is a better term, he said. One is a multinational force under U.N. leadership. But the American would be in U.N. command. So they are looking at the possibility of going to the U.N. for military force, but definitely keeping an American general in charge of the force there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Chris, a quick question for you. What's the hesitation, I mean, and is there a lot of hesitation about going in this direction with a U.N. force?

PLANTE: Well, the Pentagon really doesn't have any problem with using U.N. troops or having U.N. troops go in here, but they had a bad experience in 1993 in Somalia, if you have seen "Black Hawk Down" or read the book "Black Hawk Down." Generals here generally feel that a big part of the problem that they experienced there had to do with the fact that U.N. troops were being relied on to respond to the situation and they dragged their feet in doing so, that the politics of the U.N. goes beyond New York and the U.N. building and into military deployment.

So, while they're happy to have blue helmets on the ground, as they call them, and U.N. troops involved in this effort, they just want to make sure that overall command would remain in the hands of U.S. military -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Chris Plante.

Chris, thanks for that update.

Could a multinational force ease tensions in Iraq?

Joining us this morning, Hassan Fatah.

He is the editor of the English language newspaper "Iraq Today." He's also a contributor to the "New Republic."

And he joins us from Baghdad this morning.

Good morning, Hassan.

Nice to see you, as always.

HASSAN FATTAH, EDITOR, "IRAQ TODAY": Good morning. Good morning. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Let's start with this word from the administration that they might be considering using U.N. troops. What's the reaction there been in Iraq? Is it being embraced by people on the streets there?

FATTAH: I think absolutely. I think including the world community is probably one of the most important pieces of the puzzle here. I really think that the world community should be involved in the political process, especially. Whether they're, whether the U.N. is involved in security aspects or not is an entirely different situation.

But I think that the world community can do a lot of things. It can bring a time line. It could bring a road map, really. And I think it could also bring its experience, its experience in rebuilding other countries, as it's done in the past.

There have been a lot of successful examples that can be followed.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the aid groups and the news there about the different groups that are withdrawing their staffs. For example, Oxfam withdrawing 15 workers yesterday, as you well know, the World Bank, the IMF, the Red Cross, downsizing a little bit.

What's the response and the reaction been among Iraqis to that news?

FATTAH: It's pretty scary, is it? I mean these are the guys who in normal circumstances are getting bummed out, the Red Cross. They are here, they're the aid groups of last resort. And they're leaving slowly but surely. It tells you how bad things are in a certain way and how uncertain things are. And it certainly has not bred a lot of confidence in a lot of the Iraqi people as a result.

O'BRIEN: Do they feel, then, that the situation is getting more and more desperate with every passing day?

FATTAH: Well, the fear is that this is just a spiral, that this is spiraling out of control, that what we saw last week at the U.N. bombing is just the beginning and we're going to see a lot more of that sort of thing. We've already seen some more violence this week. We've already seen some more American soldiers killed. And we've begun to see simply tales of sectarianism between different Iraqi groups, and that's been one of the biggest fears, I think, for a lot of Iraqis.

O'BRIEN: Is it spiraling out of control? I want to read you just a clip of what Paul Bremer said in an interview he gave to the "Washington Post." "It is not a country in chaos and Baghdad is not a city in chaos."

Does it feel chaotic to you?

FATTAH: You don't, you're not going to go out there and feel like this is chaos, that this is pandemonium. Unfortunately, that's the scary part, because a lot of things that are happening are so random. You can't really watch out for them. You can't really control them. You don't know where to stay away and where to go and that sort of thing. And that's a big piece of the puzzle. That's a big problem, really.

When aid groups are leaving because they're uncertain of their future, Iraqis sit and ask what happens to them.

O'BRIEN: What do you think has to happen in the short-term before people on the streets in Iraq feel like progress is being made in the right direction and that there is not this downward spiral that you talked about?

FATTAH: Well, I think the most important thing, really, is moving the political process much faster, letting Iraqis take more control of more of the country and letting it be seen and understood and not having any kind of murkiness in the process. I think that's the biggest problem in all of this, there's so much murkiness. You don't really know what's going on. And I think that affects a lot of how the Iraqis view it.

I also think that Iraqis, as well, should be taking a bigger part in the security situation. Give Iraqi police more control of the streets. Allow them to go out there. Buttress them. Give them more resources to do what they need to do.

O'BRIEN: Hassan Fattah is the editor of "Iraq Today."

Hassan, as always, nice to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

FATTAH: A pleasure.

Thank you so much, Soledad.

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





Interview With Hassan Fattah>


Aired August 28, 2003 - 08:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration, eager to stabilize the security situation in Iraq, now appears to be considering the idea of allowing the U.N. to lead a multinational force if the U.S. retains overall command.
Chris Plante is live at the Pentagon for us this morning -- Chris, good morning.

CHRIS PLANTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.

Yes, Richard Armitage, who is the number two person at the State Department, and Colin Powell's right hand guy, met with reporters the other day, on Tuesday. And he said that there are several ideas that are being looked at or explored, I guess is a better term, he said. One is a multinational force under U.N. leadership. But the American would be in U.N. command. So they are looking at the possibility of going to the U.N. for military force, but definitely keeping an American general in charge of the force there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Chris, a quick question for you. What's the hesitation, I mean, and is there a lot of hesitation about going in this direction with a U.N. force?

PLANTE: Well, the Pentagon really doesn't have any problem with using U.N. troops or having U.N. troops go in here, but they had a bad experience in 1993 in Somalia, if you have seen "Black Hawk Down" or read the book "Black Hawk Down." Generals here generally feel that a big part of the problem that they experienced there had to do with the fact that U.N. troops were being relied on to respond to the situation and they dragged their feet in doing so, that the politics of the U.N. goes beyond New York and the U.N. building and into military deployment.

So, while they're happy to have blue helmets on the ground, as they call them, and U.N. troops involved in this effort, they just want to make sure that overall command would remain in the hands of U.S. military -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Chris Plante.

Chris, thanks for that update.

Could a multinational force ease tensions in Iraq?

Joining us this morning, Hassan Fatah.

He is the editor of the English language newspaper "Iraq Today." He's also a contributor to the "New Republic."

And he joins us from Baghdad this morning.

Good morning, Hassan.

Nice to see you, as always.

HASSAN FATTAH, EDITOR, "IRAQ TODAY": Good morning. Good morning. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Let's start with this word from the administration that they might be considering using U.N. troops. What's the reaction there been in Iraq? Is it being embraced by people on the streets there?

FATTAH: I think absolutely. I think including the world community is probably one of the most important pieces of the puzzle here. I really think that the world community should be involved in the political process, especially. Whether they're, whether the U.N. is involved in security aspects or not is an entirely different situation.

But I think that the world community can do a lot of things. It can bring a time line. It could bring a road map, really. And I think it could also bring its experience, its experience in rebuilding other countries, as it's done in the past.

There have been a lot of successful examples that can be followed.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the aid groups and the news there about the different groups that are withdrawing their staffs. For example, Oxfam withdrawing 15 workers yesterday, as you well know, the World Bank, the IMF, the Red Cross, downsizing a little bit.

What's the response and the reaction been among Iraqis to that news?

FATTAH: It's pretty scary, is it? I mean these are the guys who in normal circumstances are getting bummed out, the Red Cross. They are here, they're the aid groups of last resort. And they're leaving slowly but surely. It tells you how bad things are in a certain way and how uncertain things are. And it certainly has not bred a lot of confidence in a lot of the Iraqi people as a result.

O'BRIEN: Do they feel, then, that the situation is getting more and more desperate with every passing day?

FATTAH: Well, the fear is that this is just a spiral, that this is spiraling out of control, that what we saw last week at the U.N. bombing is just the beginning and we're going to see a lot more of that sort of thing. We've already seen some more violence this week. We've already seen some more American soldiers killed. And we've begun to see simply tales of sectarianism between different Iraqi groups, and that's been one of the biggest fears, I think, for a lot of Iraqis.

O'BRIEN: Is it spiraling out of control? I want to read you just a clip of what Paul Bremer said in an interview he gave to the "Washington Post." "It is not a country in chaos and Baghdad is not a city in chaos."

Does it feel chaotic to you?

FATTAH: You don't, you're not going to go out there and feel like this is chaos, that this is pandemonium. Unfortunately, that's the scary part, because a lot of things that are happening are so random. You can't really watch out for them. You can't really control them. You don't know where to stay away and where to go and that sort of thing. And that's a big piece of the puzzle. That's a big problem, really.

When aid groups are leaving because they're uncertain of their future, Iraqis sit and ask what happens to them.

O'BRIEN: What do you think has to happen in the short-term before people on the streets in Iraq feel like progress is being made in the right direction and that there is not this downward spiral that you talked about?

FATTAH: Well, I think the most important thing, really, is moving the political process much faster, letting Iraqis take more control of more of the country and letting it be seen and understood and not having any kind of murkiness in the process. I think that's the biggest problem in all of this, there's so much murkiness. You don't really know what's going on. And I think that affects a lot of how the Iraqis view it.

I also think that Iraqis, as well, should be taking a bigger part in the security situation. Give Iraqi police more control of the streets. Allow them to go out there. Buttress them. Give them more resources to do what they need to do.

O'BRIEN: Hassan Fattah is the editor of "Iraq Today."

Hassan, as always, nice to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

FATTAH: A pleasure.

Thank you so much, Soledad.

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





Interview With Hassan Fattah>