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American Morning
Saddam Tape?
Aired November 17, 2003 - 07:06 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: If the voice on that tape over the weekend is that of Saddam Hussein, to whom is he speaking? And are they listening?
Former CIA case officer Robert Bare is the author of "See No Evil: the true story of a ground soldier in the CIA's war on terrorism." He also wrote "Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington has sold our soul for crude oil." He's with us now from our D.C. bureau.
Nice to see you back here on AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you.
Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: What do you make of Saddam Hussein, if indeed that is his voice on this tape, referring to jihad?
ROBERT BARE, FORMER CIA CASE OFFICER: If that is Saddam, where he's going is he wants to associate himself with this movement in the Middle East that's picked up recently since the war of jihad. The explosions in Turkey, the bombing in Nasiriyah last week, all of these are a movement which he hopes to ride.
HEMMER: And if he's able to ride that ride, you believe at this point he's irrelevant?
BARE: I think he's...
HEMMER: But if some people are following and listening to him, is that irrelevance, Robert?
BARE: Well, there are some people listening to him. He still has die-hard followers, but what he's hoping to do is expand his audience. But I don't think that right now that Saddam Hussein is controlling this resistance. It's operationally impossible for one man in hiding to control this. I think he's trying to assert his relevance in the middle of this.
HEMMER: You call this the super bowl of terrorism right now. How critical do you believe this is in terms of those outside of Iraq to come and join this battle? And where is the proof that they're flooding into Iraq at this point?
BARE: Well, there are some indications that there are even British subjects that are going to Iraq. There is one boy that's missing, and his family thinks that he went to Iraq and may have died in a suicide bombing. There are other indications there are al Qaeda, people coming across the border from Iran, from Syria, other parts of the Middle East. They believe this is the final battle for Islam, and I think that our military is faced with a whole panoply of problems, including Saddam and al Qaeda.
HEMMER: One of the things you report and talk about is the security situation in Iraq. Companies like Halliburton are using security guards like the mafia to keep them safe and protected. What have you learned about this and how they're able to move around the country?
BARE: Well, my friends working in Iraq now -- they're Westerners -- have been robbed, beaten up, their equipment stolen. What they've done is gone out and found local Iraqi groups who have reformed themselves as security companies. But, in effect, they are demanding money for their protection. It's protection money just like the mafia.
HEMMER: Yes. How safe is it for American workers to be in that country now?
BARE: It's not safe at all. Those are the soft targets they're going to go after, and they're going to continue to go after as long as we're there.
HEMMER: Robert Bare, thanks, from D.C.
BARE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Nice to chat with you.
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 November 17, 2003 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: If the voice on that tape over the weekend is that of Saddam Hussein, to whom is he speaking? And are they listening?
Former CIA case officer Robert Bare is the author of "See No Evil: the true story of a ground soldier in the CIA's war on terrorism." He also wrote "Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington has sold our soul for crude oil." He's with us now from our D.C. bureau.
Nice to see you back here on AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you.
Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: What do you make of Saddam Hussein, if indeed that is his voice on this tape, referring to jihad?
ROBERT BARE, FORMER CIA CASE OFFICER: If that is Saddam, where he's going is he wants to associate himself with this movement in the Middle East that's picked up recently since the war of jihad. The explosions in Turkey, the bombing in Nasiriyah last week, all of these are a movement which he hopes to ride.
HEMMER: And if he's able to ride that ride, you believe at this point he's irrelevant?
BARE: I think he's...
HEMMER: But if some people are following and listening to him, is that irrelevance, Robert?
BARE: Well, there are some people listening to him. He still has die-hard followers, but what he's hoping to do is expand his audience. But I don't think that right now that Saddam Hussein is controlling this resistance. It's operationally impossible for one man in hiding to control this. I think he's trying to assert his relevance in the middle of this.
HEMMER: You call this the super bowl of terrorism right now. How critical do you believe this is in terms of those outside of Iraq to come and join this battle? And where is the proof that they're flooding into Iraq at this point?
BARE: Well, there are some indications that there are even British subjects that are going to Iraq. There is one boy that's missing, and his family thinks that he went to Iraq and may have died in a suicide bombing. There are other indications there are al Qaeda, people coming across the border from Iran, from Syria, other parts of the Middle East. They believe this is the final battle for Islam, and I think that our military is faced with a whole panoply of problems, including Saddam and al Qaeda.
HEMMER: One of the things you report and talk about is the security situation in Iraq. Companies like Halliburton are using security guards like the mafia to keep them safe and protected. What have you learned about this and how they're able to move around the country?
BARE: Well, my friends working in Iraq now -- they're Westerners -- have been robbed, beaten up, their equipment stolen. What they've done is gone out and found local Iraqi groups who have reformed themselves as security companies. But, in effect, they are demanding money for their protection. It's protection money just like the mafia.
HEMMER: Yes. How safe is it for American workers to be in that country now?
BARE: It's not safe at all. Those are the soft targets they're going to go after, and they're going to continue to go after as long as we're there.
HEMMER: Robert Bare, thanks, from D.C.
BARE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Nice to chat with you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
