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CNN Live Today

Analysis With Don Shepperd

Aired December 15, 2003 - 10:17   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: Now that Saddam Hussein is caught the search for answers begins. Intense interrogations are taking place at an undisclosed location in Iraq. And here to talk about more about the questioning and capture itself is Don Sheppard. He is a CNN military analyst and also of course a retired major general in the Air Force.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for joining us.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: My pleasure, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: As they say, it is all in the details, as you have heard the details in the past 24 hours is there anything that stands out to you? Some 600 soldiers, we're told, for the 4th Infantry Division taking part, some Special Operation forces as well, an accumulation of intelligence overall. Did it just happen that all the pieces finally came together in the right way?

SHEPPERD: It sounds like what we're hearing, Soledad, is that an intelligence tip led to two sites, they searched both of the of the sites initially they didn't find him. And then they did find the area that was hiding.

The thing they surprised me about all this is not the raid because this in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Task Force 121 that has been talked about for some time, a quick reaction force. Once they decide to go can go very quickly. Sizable force, 600 people.

But the thing that surprised me was that in the end he didn't fight. I thought for sure that he would fight, perhaps even blow himself up with a grenade, and it didn't happen.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of what kind of message that sends, not only to Iraqis, which is obviously one very important audience here, but also to the affect that it has on the U.S. military as well, sort of the technique that was able to bring in all these people and all this effort without a shot fired.

SHEPPERD: Yes, I don't know what effect this is going to have on the world community or Arab community that was watching this. It will be played in many forums and people will draw their own conclusions.

But the conclusion for me is that these soldiers that did this are well trained and well disciplined and armed with their values. They could easily have wasted him, they could have thrown a grenade down the hole, shot down in the hole. They could have shot him as he came out. And they didn't.

This speaks very well of the training, the courage, the expertise of our soldiers, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Do you expect that Saddam Hussein was in any way truly leading the insurgency, or do you think that sort of he was a figure head in a psychological sense but not more than that?

SHEPPERD: I think the latter. He was an important figure head, a symbol for the people and these insurgents not only within Iraq but insurgents -- but a symbol of the reaction against Americans everywhere. So he is very, important.

I don't think he's ever been an operational commander. Also, it's very obvious that he did not have communications that you would need to command any number of troops or sophisticated organization.

It looks like he was pretty isolated, serving as a figure head and on the run and moving all of the time with a small group of people knowing his whereabouts, Soledad.

In the end found him in what they're finding in a spider hole. Where does the term spider hole come from?

SHEPPERD: I think it actually comes Vietnam conflict where you had many of those over there, small holes in the ground with breathing tubes. Very, very difficult to find. Just enough space to lead people out.

The tunnels at Coochee (ph) in Vietnam are one those. There's other places over there. I think that's where it comes from.

And literally there are hundreds of these around Iraq. And again the insurgency's not over. Other people will be using these and the place is awash in money and awash in arms.

O'BRIEN: Major general Done Sheppard joining us this morning, retired, of course. Nice to have you, sir. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

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 December 15, 2003 - 10:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now that Saddam Hussein is caught the search for answers begins. Intense interrogations are taking place at an undisclosed location in Iraq. And here to talk about more about the questioning and capture itself is Don Sheppard. He is a CNN military analyst and also of course a retired major general in the Air Force.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for joining us.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: My pleasure, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: As they say, it is all in the details, as you have heard the details in the past 24 hours is there anything that stands out to you? Some 600 soldiers, we're told, for the 4th Infantry Division taking part, some Special Operation forces as well, an accumulation of intelligence overall. Did it just happen that all the pieces finally came together in the right way?

SHEPPERD: It sounds like what we're hearing, Soledad, is that an intelligence tip led to two sites, they searched both of the of the sites initially they didn't find him. And then they did find the area that was hiding.

The thing they surprised me about all this is not the raid because this in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Task Force 121 that has been talked about for some time, a quick reaction force. Once they decide to go can go very quickly. Sizable force, 600 people.

But the thing that surprised me was that in the end he didn't fight. I thought for sure that he would fight, perhaps even blow himself up with a grenade, and it didn't happen.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of what kind of message that sends, not only to Iraqis, which is obviously one very important audience here, but also to the affect that it has on the U.S. military as well, sort of the technique that was able to bring in all these people and all this effort without a shot fired.

SHEPPERD: Yes, I don't know what effect this is going to have on the world community or Arab community that was watching this. It will be played in many forums and people will draw their own conclusions.

But the conclusion for me is that these soldiers that did this are well trained and well disciplined and armed with their values. They could easily have wasted him, they could have thrown a grenade down the hole, shot down in the hole. They could have shot him as he came out. And they didn't.

This speaks very well of the training, the courage, the expertise of our soldiers, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Do you expect that Saddam Hussein was in any way truly leading the insurgency, or do you think that sort of he was a figure head in a psychological sense but not more than that?

SHEPPERD: I think the latter. He was an important figure head, a symbol for the people and these insurgents not only within Iraq but insurgents -- but a symbol of the reaction against Americans everywhere. So he is very, important.

I don't think he's ever been an operational commander. Also, it's very obvious that he did not have communications that you would need to command any number of troops or sophisticated organization.

It looks like he was pretty isolated, serving as a figure head and on the run and moving all of the time with a small group of people knowing his whereabouts, Soledad.

In the end found him in what they're finding in a spider hole. Where does the term spider hole come from?

SHEPPERD: I think it actually comes Vietnam conflict where you had many of those over there, small holes in the ground with breathing tubes. Very, very difficult to find. Just enough space to lead people out.

The tunnels at Coochee (ph) in Vietnam are one those. There's other places over there. I think that's where it comes from.

And literally there are hundreds of these around Iraq. And again the insurgency's not over. Other people will be using these and the place is awash in money and awash in arms.

O'BRIEN: Major general Done Sheppard joining us this morning, retired, of course. Nice to have you, sir. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

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