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CNN Live At Daybreak

Donald Rumsfeld's Mission in Iraq

Aired September 04, 2003 - 06:08   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Don't look for more U.S. troops in Iraq. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that's not necessary. The feedback comes as he makes his way to the Middle East to get a firsthand sense of how things are going.
For more, let's go live to Baghdad with CNN's Ben Wedeman.

It will be later on when Rumsfeld makes it there, though, right, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: That's correct. Of course, for security reasons, we don't know when and where he's going, but we do know he's coming here to Iraq, as you said, to get a firsthand look at how things are going.

Now, he's obviously going to meet with the head of the coalition forces here in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who will have a very upbeat assessment by the looks of it. He was speaking to reporters earlier today, and he said that at least for the last seven days it has been a great week, in his words.

He said that several important events have happened. One of them is the transfer from the U.S. Marines to a Polish-led force of somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 of control of an area of five provinces in south-central Iraq. Now, that force is going to be composed of troops from 21 nations, a truly multinational and multilingual force. And that, of course, lessens somewhat the burden on U.S. troops here in Iraq.

He also pointed to the fact there are now more than 50,000 Iraqis involved in various aspects of security here in this country guarding the borders, ministries, policing the streets, and keeping an eye on the infrastructure.

He also pointed out to the funeral that occurred in Najaf just a few days ago for that senior Shiite cleric, who was assassinated there. He said that that was an instance where Iraqi security managed a crowd of more than 100,000 people. It went off by and large without incident, and it shows that Iraqis can and are anxious to manage their own security.

And he also said that he would like to see more Muslim troops -- troops from Muslim countries participating in the coalition forces. Obviously Turkey is one of the prime candidates for that. The feeling being that Muslim troops would be more sensitive to the particular religious sensibilities of Iraq -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you very much this morning from Baghdad.

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 September 4, 2003 - 06:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Don't look for more U.S. troops in Iraq. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that's not necessary. The feedback comes as he makes his way to the Middle East to get a firsthand sense of how things are going.
For more, let's go live to Baghdad with CNN's Ben Wedeman.

It will be later on when Rumsfeld makes it there, though, right, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: That's correct. Of course, for security reasons, we don't know when and where he's going, but we do know he's coming here to Iraq, as you said, to get a firsthand look at how things are going.

Now, he's obviously going to meet with the head of the coalition forces here in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who will have a very upbeat assessment by the looks of it. He was speaking to reporters earlier today, and he said that at least for the last seven days it has been a great week, in his words.

He said that several important events have happened. One of them is the transfer from the U.S. Marines to a Polish-led force of somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 of control of an area of five provinces in south-central Iraq. Now, that force is going to be composed of troops from 21 nations, a truly multinational and multilingual force. And that, of course, lessens somewhat the burden on U.S. troops here in Iraq.

He also pointed to the fact there are now more than 50,000 Iraqis involved in various aspects of security here in this country guarding the borders, ministries, policing the streets, and keeping an eye on the infrastructure.

He also pointed out to the funeral that occurred in Najaf just a few days ago for that senior Shiite cleric, who was assassinated there. He said that that was an instance where Iraqi security managed a crowd of more than 100,000 people. It went off by and large without incident, and it shows that Iraqis can and are anxious to manage their own security.

And he also said that he would like to see more Muslim troops -- troops from Muslim countries participating in the coalition forces. Obviously Turkey is one of the prime candidates for that. The feeling being that Muslim troops would be more sensitive to the particular religious sensibilities of Iraq -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you very much this morning from Baghdad.

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