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CNN Live Today

Discussion with Daniel Senor

Aired February 09, 2004 - 10:33   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we take you live to Baghdad for the latest on a story that is breaking: "The New York Times" and other sources reporting today about a document found that talked about al Qaeda trying to ignite a sectarian war within Iraq.
For more on that we want to bring in Dan Senor. He is with the Coalition Provisional Authority. We've had him on this program before and he is joining us live from Baghdad.

Dan, hello. Thank you for joining us.

DANIEL SENOR, SR. ADVISER, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Tell us more about this document, what it showed and how it played out and how it talked about potential links between al Qaeda and other groups within Iraq.

SENOR: Sure.

The two most striking elements to the document, Daryn, are, one, the strategy; the strategy of tearing apart this country, provoking bloodshed, provoking ethnic civil war, pitting Shia against Sunni and engaging the Kurds. That is the strategy going forward. It also talks about increased attacks against the Americans and efforts to kidnap coalition military forces.

The other striking element to the document, however, is that it clearly outlines what has been working from our perspective. The document expresses great concern about our efforts to hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis. In fact, it explicitly says that once the Iraqis are in control of their government it'll make it virtually impossible for the foreign terrorists to operate.

It also says that as the Iraqi security forces are ramped up -- there are now well over 150,000 Iraqis serving in security forces in Iraq today -- it's become increasingly difficult for the foreign terrorist organizations to operate around the country.

So it's a clear outline of their plans ahead, but it's also a clear outline of what's working.

KAGAN: Where was this document found?

SENOR: It was in the possession of an al Qaeda courier. It was a document we believe to be drafted by Mr. Zarqawi. It was clearly intended to be read by senior leadership within al Qaeda outside of Iraq. And it was en route when we captured an individual, detained him and found it in his possession.

KAGAN: And, Mr. Zarqawi, is he in custody, or is he still running around Iraq somewhere, as far as you know?

SENOR: As far as we know, we are pursuing him. And we will be, obviously, ramping up our own efforts to capture him, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the plans he lays out in this document are of deep, deep concern to us, to the coalition, and to the Iraqi people, and to the Iraqi political and religious leaders we have been discussing this with.

KAGAN: Dan, does this document tell you really anything more -- in terms of details it tells you things you might not know. But the intent and that desire, is that really surprising? You knew that al Qaeda would want to come into Iraq. You knew that they would want some kind of insurgency. Is it more that -- the interest is in the details of what would have been inside this document?

SENOR: The clear strategy of provoking civil war is something we have suspected all along was what the foreign terrorists were trying to do. But here it's really explicitly outlined why they think it's important to do, how they expect to do it.

But also what was really interesting to us is we felt all along that as we have recruited more and more Iraqis to serve in the security forces, as we've done more and more to politically empower the Iraqi people, that that would isolate the terrorists. It's one thing for us to see those trend lines. It's another thing for an al Qaeda operative to actually acknowledge that those are his biggest challenges.

KAGAN: And let's look at this document on the backdrop of what we've learned over the last week. There were reports last week of an assassination attempt on the life of the Shiite cleric, the leading Shiite cleric, Al Sistani. Those reports denied and yet this is a man who clearly right now appears to be the most powerful man in Iraq.

SENOR: Right.

We don't know of any direct link to any attempt on Ayatollah Sistani's life specifically because his own affiliates, his son, for instance, and one of -- an official who works closely with him, have denied those reports -- denied there was actually an attempt on his life.

But it's clear there have been successful attacks against Shia religious leaders over the past few months, and it's clear that Mr. Zarqawi intends to pursue similar style attacks in the months ahead.

KAGAN: And despite the revelation of this document, despite everything that's going on, the timetable remains the same for turning over power from the Americans back over to the Iraqis for this summer?

SENOR: That's correct. June 30th we will hand over sovereignty to the Iraqi people. That is the plan. That is the plan we have agreed to with the governing council. And this document highlights all the more reason why it is so important to move ahead, because it is isolating the terrorists.

If there is a sovereign Iraqi government in control here, it's going to make it that much harder for the terrorists to operate here. The terrorists understand that. We understand that. And the Iraqi people understand that.

KAGAN: Dan Senor, with the Coalition Provisional Authority, thanks for joining us from Baghdad, telling us more about this document and the progress being made in Iraq.

SENOR: Thank you, Daryn.

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 February 9, 2004 - 10:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we take you live to Baghdad for the latest on a story that is breaking: "The New York Times" and other sources reporting today about a document found that talked about al Qaeda trying to ignite a sectarian war within Iraq.
For more on that we want to bring in Dan Senor. He is with the Coalition Provisional Authority. We've had him on this program before and he is joining us live from Baghdad.

Dan, hello. Thank you for joining us.

DANIEL SENOR, SR. ADVISER, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Tell us more about this document, what it showed and how it played out and how it talked about potential links between al Qaeda and other groups within Iraq.

SENOR: Sure.

The two most striking elements to the document, Daryn, are, one, the strategy; the strategy of tearing apart this country, provoking bloodshed, provoking ethnic civil war, pitting Shia against Sunni and engaging the Kurds. That is the strategy going forward. It also talks about increased attacks against the Americans and efforts to kidnap coalition military forces.

The other striking element to the document, however, is that it clearly outlines what has been working from our perspective. The document expresses great concern about our efforts to hand over sovereignty to the Iraqis. In fact, it explicitly says that once the Iraqis are in control of their government it'll make it virtually impossible for the foreign terrorists to operate.

It also says that as the Iraqi security forces are ramped up -- there are now well over 150,000 Iraqis serving in security forces in Iraq today -- it's become increasingly difficult for the foreign terrorist organizations to operate around the country.

So it's a clear outline of their plans ahead, but it's also a clear outline of what's working.

KAGAN: Where was this document found?

SENOR: It was in the possession of an al Qaeda courier. It was a document we believe to be drafted by Mr. Zarqawi. It was clearly intended to be read by senior leadership within al Qaeda outside of Iraq. And it was en route when we captured an individual, detained him and found it in his possession.

KAGAN: And, Mr. Zarqawi, is he in custody, or is he still running around Iraq somewhere, as far as you know?

SENOR: As far as we know, we are pursuing him. And we will be, obviously, ramping up our own efforts to capture him, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the plans he lays out in this document are of deep, deep concern to us, to the coalition, and to the Iraqi people, and to the Iraqi political and religious leaders we have been discussing this with.

KAGAN: Dan, does this document tell you really anything more -- in terms of details it tells you things you might not know. But the intent and that desire, is that really surprising? You knew that al Qaeda would want to come into Iraq. You knew that they would want some kind of insurgency. Is it more that -- the interest is in the details of what would have been inside this document?

SENOR: The clear strategy of provoking civil war is something we have suspected all along was what the foreign terrorists were trying to do. But here it's really explicitly outlined why they think it's important to do, how they expect to do it.

But also what was really interesting to us is we felt all along that as we have recruited more and more Iraqis to serve in the security forces, as we've done more and more to politically empower the Iraqi people, that that would isolate the terrorists. It's one thing for us to see those trend lines. It's another thing for an al Qaeda operative to actually acknowledge that those are his biggest challenges.

KAGAN: And let's look at this document on the backdrop of what we've learned over the last week. There were reports last week of an assassination attempt on the life of the Shiite cleric, the leading Shiite cleric, Al Sistani. Those reports denied and yet this is a man who clearly right now appears to be the most powerful man in Iraq.

SENOR: Right.

We don't know of any direct link to any attempt on Ayatollah Sistani's life specifically because his own affiliates, his son, for instance, and one of -- an official who works closely with him, have denied those reports -- denied there was actually an attempt on his life.

But it's clear there have been successful attacks against Shia religious leaders over the past few months, and it's clear that Mr. Zarqawi intends to pursue similar style attacks in the months ahead.

KAGAN: And despite the revelation of this document, despite everything that's going on, the timetable remains the same for turning over power from the Americans back over to the Iraqis for this summer?

SENOR: That's correct. June 30th we will hand over sovereignty to the Iraqi people. That is the plan. That is the plan we have agreed to with the governing council. And this document highlights all the more reason why it is so important to move ahead, because it is isolating the terrorists.

If there is a sovereign Iraqi government in control here, it's going to make it that much harder for the terrorists to operate here. The terrorists understand that. We understand that. And the Iraqi people understand that.

KAGAN: Dan Senor, with the Coalition Provisional Authority, thanks for joining us from Baghdad, telling us more about this document and the progress being made in Iraq.

SENOR: Thank you, Daryn.

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