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CNN Live Today
Newest Flashpoints of Iraqi Anger; Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Deepening
Aired May 20, 2004 - 10:00 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, HOST: We're at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. As always we start with the headlines at this hour.
The U.S. military and Iraqi police raid the home of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi and the nearby compound of the Iraqi National Congress. Chalabi was once a close advisor to the Pentagon. He is speaking out on his own behalf live right now; we'll have some of his comments just ahead.
Now, two new photos from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. In one, Specialist Charles Graner is smiling over a body giving the thumb's up. In another, Specialist Sabrina Harmon is in a similar pose. The pictures have not yet been authenticated. Graner and Harmon are among those who already face charges in the scandal.
In southern Gaza, another day of operations for the Israeli military, it leaves at least eight dead, sources tell CNN. The strikes happened in Rafah. In one incident, sources say that Israeli forces fired rockets at a building. Israelis says the rocket attack was targeting three people seen placing explosives in the street. We'll have more just ahead.
And back here in the U.S., police in Baltimore are looking for anyone who knows this little girl. The 3-year-old says her name is Courtney. She was found May 5 when her father left her with a stranger and never returned. The girl says she's from Brooklyn, New York and that she had been living with her father in the Baltimore warehouse.
Live this hour, coalition leaders hold a briefing in Iraq. There are numerous stories competing for the world's attention today. There are more photos of alleged prisoner abuse that have surfaced. U.S. and Iraqi forces have raided the home of a prominent leader and a deadly U.S. strike is again stoking Iraqi anger.
As soon as the briefing begins in Baghdad, we will go back live and bring it to you. And while we wait for the briefing, let's get the latest from the Pentagon. The newest flashpoints of Iraqi anger. We begin with this morning's raid on Chalabi's home.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following the developing story; she joins us now with more.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the National Congress, once one of the closest allies of the Bush administration in Iraqi opposition groups, is still speaking to reporters at this hour in Baghdad. Talking about the raid that Iraqi police and U.S. military forces conducted against his compound; here is a bit of what a very angry Ahmed Chalabi had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED CHALABI, LEADER, IRAQI NAT'L CONGRESS: My house was attacked at 11:00 by Iraqi police, with American MPs. Surrounded, we avoided by a hairsbreadth a clash with my guards. I was asleep. They, police -- I opened the door and the police went into my room carrying pistols. They had been through other rooms of the house. I told them to get out! They said, "We are slaves under orders." Nevertheless, I told them to get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Mr. Chalabi went on to give a number of very complex reasons why he believes his house and compound were raided, including some relationship to the de-Baathification being undertaken by the coalition. He says he was the one who brought to light the Oil For Food scandal, that he has recently been criticized by the CPA, the coalition, for wanting to see a greater Iraqi sovereignty and getting coalition advisors out of the Iraq. And he said, finally, because he has questioned the mission of Brahimi to select a new Iraqi transitional government. He also said that the CIA has a grudge against him.
Now, of course, it is just this month that the Bush administration has stopped its payments to Mr. Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. Those payments over $300,000 a month. The Bush administration saying the payments had been stopped because there is no longer a need to support Iraqi opposition groups, because Iraqi is not liberated and moving towards sovereignty. We expect, Daryn, to hear from the coalition momentarily. And they are certain -- General Kimmitt, Dan Senor, certain to be asked more questions exactly why the coalition conducted this raid -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Absolutely, and I know you're standing by right along with us for that briefing to begin out of Baghdad. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
While we wait for the briefing to begin -- and we will hear more from Barbara later in the morning. While we wait for that briefing to begin, let's check in, in Baghdad -- OK. Apparently, Baghdad is not ready to talk with us. So we will be getting to our Harris Whitbeck in just a little bit.
Still, a lot more news to get to. While we wait for the briefing to begin, and let's check in, in the Middle East. The Israeli- Palestinian conflict is deepening. More casualties reported in Gaza today. Palestinian officials say that more people were killed, as the Israeli military continues its incursion into Gaza.
With more on that, here is our Matthew Chance with more on that. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, despite that international criticism, the Israeli armed forces seem to be intensifying their operations in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Israeli defense forces say more than a thousand troops have been deployed to areas of the Rafah refugee camp, backed by and tanks and helicopter gun ships. There have been fierce clashes with Palestinian militants on the ground as well. Defense officials here in Gaza, saying that at least eight Palestinians have been killed as a result of the most recent clashes. That brings to more than 40, the number of Palestinian dead in the past three days of this operation. Tentative, of course, killed when Israeli forces opened fire during a protest by Palestinian demonstrators near the Rafah refugee camp.
There's a great deal of concern about the humanitarian situation as well as the bloodshed. Dozens of Palestinian homes have been destroyed. Hundreds of people are being made homeless because of that. Despite the criticism, though, Israel showing no sign of bringing to an end what has become one of the most intensive and bloody operations in the Gaza Strip for many years.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: All right. Baghdad ready to go for us now to give us the latest on what is a U.S. military strike that has left 40 people dead, also more on the raid that took place earlier this morning on Ahmed Chalabi's home.
With more on all of that, our Harris Whitbeck joining us live from Baghdad -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Ahmed Chalabi is holding a press conference right now, and he is expressing outrage over the raid that was led by U.S. soldiers and members of the Iraqi national police force on his headquarters, the headquarters of the Iraqi National Congress. He charges that that raid was ordered by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer; he said that the raid was politically motivated. He says U.S. soldiers called him a, quote, "slave." And he says that there is no justification for the raid, saying he considers himself to be one of America's strongest allies. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHALABI: America's best friend in Iraq. If the CPA a finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the CPA and Iraqi people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: Now, Chalabi is a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. And he says lately, he has been pushing for more independence, more Iraqi independence from the U.S. administration. He says that he, for example, he has asked that the symbols of the Iraqi government, including the presidential palace, currently used by CPA officials, should be turned over to the Iraqi government. He said let me people be free. He says that we are grateful, that the Iraqi people are grateful for -- to the U.S. for the liberation. But he said it is time that the Iraqi people took control again. So he is explaining the raid on his quarters this morning by politicizing it. He says that this all has been politically motivated and it was motivated by his calls for more Iraqi independence from the CPA.
Now, we are expecting a press conference by the Coalition Provisional Authority officials to start very shortly. And we understand at that press conference, the Iraqi judge who issued the warrant to be served at the INC headquarters to speak. so we'll have to wait and see what he says there. But there is a bit of a tit for tat going on in Baghdad at this hour. And it is something that could have potentially difficult connotations for the political situation here just weeks before the June 30 deadline, which is when the United States will turn political control of Iraq over to the Iraqi people -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And just to be clear, because we've heard about Ahmed Chalabi talking about Mr. Brahimi, the U.N. envoy. It's his job to figure out what type of government, who the turnover will go to. That still has not been established, has it?
WHITBECK: No, it hasn't. And he said -- Chalabi said that he had taken issue with some of the policies or statements that Dr. Brahimi had been putting forth. And again, he puts that forth as a reason for this raid on his headquarters. That raid happened earlier this morning in Baghdad. Again, it was -- there were U.S. troops there. There were also members of the Iraqi police force and they took documents from the INC headquarters, they also took a computer. Dr. Chalabi said that they took a, quote, "very valuable coin" from his property. He's this calling a theft. And again, he says there is no justification for it. We'll have to see what the CPA says about all this as well -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad, as you mentioned that briefing, we are standing by and when it begins, it will be seen live right here on CNN.
Meanwhile, let's check out some other headlines out of Iraq. Two U.S. soldiers have been killed in separate attacks in or near Baghdad. Iraqi insurgents also attacked a convoy of Spanish forces leaving Iraq en route to Kuwait. One Spanish soldier was injured and one Iraqi killed. And the U.S. military says there is no word on three Americans who are still missing six weeks after their convoy was ambushed near Baghdad on April 9.
Ten minutes past the hour, news now from the U.S. In New York City, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani faced questions from the 9/11 Commission and anger from some families, whose loved ones who were lost in those attacks. Critics say the proceedings were trying to whitewash severe failures in the city's emergency response. You saw this testimony live right here on this program yesterday. Among the problems cited in the panel's report this week, malfunctioning firefighter radios and the city's lack of disaster readiness. Today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," the former mayor said that he understood the heckler's outburst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDOLPH GIULIANI, FMR. MAYOR NEW YORK CITY: You can't tell someone how to grieve. They have the absolute right to be that way. They're going through a horrible experience; a difficult experience and they need a place to place their blame. It is very understandable. It does not -- it does not reflect the reaction of most people, however.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The commission resumes its hearings in two weeks. It will issue its report late in July.
Once again, standing by for that briefing to take place in Baghdad.
Also ahead when innocent people are killed caught in the cross hairs of war against terrorism. can enemies ever find a way to trust one another?
And a crucial point for oil supplies. We'll tell why some experts are concerned about the year 2026.
Later, a guy who just would not give up. A persistent poet, the 23-year literary journal -- journey from clerking to being published. We'll find out what he is doing now. A very inspirational story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Live picture from Baghdad. This is where we expect any minute the daily briefing by the Coalition Provisional Authority to begin. We will see the spokesman Dan Senor; we tend to see Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. And we heard our Harris Whitbeck report. We also expect to hear from the judge who issued the warrant for the raid on the home of Ahmed Chalabi. More on that just ahead.
And while we wait for that to get started, let's bring in retired senior diplomat Allen Keiswetter. He is now an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute.
Thanks you for being with us. Appreciate it.
ALLAN KEISWETTER, SCHOLAR, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: I'm glad to be here.
KAGAN: Let's talk about one of the top topics of the today, and that is Ahmed Chalabi. How is a man who some felt would be the next leader of Iraq, fall so fast and so swiftly?
KEISWETTER: I've met with Ahmed several times over the course of the years of my career. And I think the answer is that he personally is difficult to deal with in many ways, and he's very controversial. Also, the points of view that he reflects, however, are no longer the ones that are dominating the U.S. administration. He's closely associated, for example, with Wolfowitz and others. And so these points of view have now less sway than they did before.
KAGAN: For people not as familiar with the story as, of course, you are, he's the man of many believe responsible for convincing the Bush administration that, indeed, there were weapons of mass destruction, huge stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to be found within Iraq.
KEISWETTER: That's exactly right.
KAGAN: And has that, of course, hurt his credibility within the administration since that, so far, has not turned out to be the case?
KEISWETTER: Exactly.
KAGAN: The other big story we hear about today is the U.S. military strike in the western part of Iraq, it killed 40 people. The Iraqis, many people there saying that it was a wedding party that the U.S. fired upon. And the U.S. saying that they believed they were firing upon a safe house for insurgents. How do you get two completely different versions of the same story?
KEISWETTER: Well, I think is this a case in which we're just going to have to wait to see the evidence. I guess my own suspicion is that probably that the military is right. But we're going to have to wait to see. The point I would make here is that because of a lot of events in Iraq, the margin for error on the part of the CPA and of Centcom has certainly decreased, both among Iraqis and the U.S. And so I think is there a great premium in getting it right. And if it's not true in this case, this will, of course, be a further item in the indictments of the U.S. administration.
KAGAN: Let's talk about the bigger aim of the U.S. trying to win the hearts and minds, not just of Iraqis, but Arabs around the world. And how that campaign is not going well, especially over the last week simply on images alone, whether it's a prison abuse scandal, or yesterday, where you have the court-martial taking place of the first U.S. soldier implicated in the prison abuse scandal. But no pictures of that because there are no pictures in that courtroom. But there were pictures of what was taking place in Gaza and there were pictures of that strike in the western part of Iraq.
KEISWETTER: Well, we start from a very low level. The Pew survey has shown that there are few countries in the Middle East, other than Israel, who have a favorable view of us. For example, in Saudi Arabia, a couple of years ago, 60 percent of the U.S. -- of the population viewed the U.S. favorably. Now 90 percent view us negatively. The same thing is true in Jordan, where we have favorable view by about 1 percent of the people. And the events over the past week, just further reinforces these views.
And I think the top story throughout the Middle East is not Iraq, but rather, Gaza and the very events that you're now watching on your screen. And I would make the same point I made earlier. The margin for error here is decreased. I think this is reflected in administration's stance, both in New York, where it abstained on a U.N. resolution that condemned Israel for these raids. And by the fact that White House and the State Department have spoken out against and critically of Israel.
KAGAN: Well, once again, we're standing by waiting for the briefing to happen. We have received a two-minute warning and that was about a minute ago out of Baghdad, so you're going to stay with us. We're inviting you to stay with us until the briefing happens.
I want on talk about the difference between what did happen at the United Nations and the U.S. abstaining from that vote. Subtle compared to the image of when you see Israelis using U.S. Apache -- we'll get back to that comment in a moment. It looks like the briefing is beginning in Baghdad.
Allen Keiswetter, thank you for your time.
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 May 20, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, HOST: We're at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. As always we start with the headlines at this hour.
The U.S. military and Iraqi police raid the home of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi and the nearby compound of the Iraqi National Congress. Chalabi was once a close advisor to the Pentagon. He is speaking out on his own behalf live right now; we'll have some of his comments just ahead.
Now, two new photos from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. In one, Specialist Charles Graner is smiling over a body giving the thumb's up. In another, Specialist Sabrina Harmon is in a similar pose. The pictures have not yet been authenticated. Graner and Harmon are among those who already face charges in the scandal.
In southern Gaza, another day of operations for the Israeli military, it leaves at least eight dead, sources tell CNN. The strikes happened in Rafah. In one incident, sources say that Israeli forces fired rockets at a building. Israelis says the rocket attack was targeting three people seen placing explosives in the street. We'll have more just ahead.
And back here in the U.S., police in Baltimore are looking for anyone who knows this little girl. The 3-year-old says her name is Courtney. She was found May 5 when her father left her with a stranger and never returned. The girl says she's from Brooklyn, New York and that she had been living with her father in the Baltimore warehouse.
Live this hour, coalition leaders hold a briefing in Iraq. There are numerous stories competing for the world's attention today. There are more photos of alleged prisoner abuse that have surfaced. U.S. and Iraqi forces have raided the home of a prominent leader and a deadly U.S. strike is again stoking Iraqi anger.
As soon as the briefing begins in Baghdad, we will go back live and bring it to you. And while we wait for the briefing, let's get the latest from the Pentagon. The newest flashpoints of Iraqi anger. We begin with this morning's raid on Chalabi's home.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following the developing story; she joins us now with more.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the National Congress, once one of the closest allies of the Bush administration in Iraqi opposition groups, is still speaking to reporters at this hour in Baghdad. Talking about the raid that Iraqi police and U.S. military forces conducted against his compound; here is a bit of what a very angry Ahmed Chalabi had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED CHALABI, LEADER, IRAQI NAT'L CONGRESS: My house was attacked at 11:00 by Iraqi police, with American MPs. Surrounded, we avoided by a hairsbreadth a clash with my guards. I was asleep. They, police -- I opened the door and the police went into my room carrying pistols. They had been through other rooms of the house. I told them to get out! They said, "We are slaves under orders." Nevertheless, I told them to get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Mr. Chalabi went on to give a number of very complex reasons why he believes his house and compound were raided, including some relationship to the de-Baathification being undertaken by the coalition. He says he was the one who brought to light the Oil For Food scandal, that he has recently been criticized by the CPA, the coalition, for wanting to see a greater Iraqi sovereignty and getting coalition advisors out of the Iraq. And he said, finally, because he has questioned the mission of Brahimi to select a new Iraqi transitional government. He also said that the CIA has a grudge against him.
Now, of course, it is just this month that the Bush administration has stopped its payments to Mr. Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. Those payments over $300,000 a month. The Bush administration saying the payments had been stopped because there is no longer a need to support Iraqi opposition groups, because Iraqi is not liberated and moving towards sovereignty. We expect, Daryn, to hear from the coalition momentarily. And they are certain -- General Kimmitt, Dan Senor, certain to be asked more questions exactly why the coalition conducted this raid -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Absolutely, and I know you're standing by right along with us for that briefing to begin out of Baghdad. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
While we wait for the briefing to begin -- and we will hear more from Barbara later in the morning. While we wait for that briefing to begin, let's check in, in Baghdad -- OK. Apparently, Baghdad is not ready to talk with us. So we will be getting to our Harris Whitbeck in just a little bit.
Still, a lot more news to get to. While we wait for the briefing to begin, and let's check in, in the Middle East. The Israeli- Palestinian conflict is deepening. More casualties reported in Gaza today. Palestinian officials say that more people were killed, as the Israeli military continues its incursion into Gaza.
With more on that, here is our Matthew Chance with more on that. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, despite that international criticism, the Israeli armed forces seem to be intensifying their operations in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Israeli defense forces say more than a thousand troops have been deployed to areas of the Rafah refugee camp, backed by and tanks and helicopter gun ships. There have been fierce clashes with Palestinian militants on the ground as well. Defense officials here in Gaza, saying that at least eight Palestinians have been killed as a result of the most recent clashes. That brings to more than 40, the number of Palestinian dead in the past three days of this operation. Tentative, of course, killed when Israeli forces opened fire during a protest by Palestinian demonstrators near the Rafah refugee camp.
There's a great deal of concern about the humanitarian situation as well as the bloodshed. Dozens of Palestinian homes have been destroyed. Hundreds of people are being made homeless because of that. Despite the criticism, though, Israel showing no sign of bringing to an end what has become one of the most intensive and bloody operations in the Gaza Strip for many years.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: All right. Baghdad ready to go for us now to give us the latest on what is a U.S. military strike that has left 40 people dead, also more on the raid that took place earlier this morning on Ahmed Chalabi's home.
With more on all of that, our Harris Whitbeck joining us live from Baghdad -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Ahmed Chalabi is holding a press conference right now, and he is expressing outrage over the raid that was led by U.S. soldiers and members of the Iraqi national police force on his headquarters, the headquarters of the Iraqi National Congress. He charges that that raid was ordered by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer; he said that the raid was politically motivated. He says U.S. soldiers called him a, quote, "slave." And he says that there is no justification for the raid, saying he considers himself to be one of America's strongest allies. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHALABI: America's best friend in Iraq. If the CPA a finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the CPA and Iraqi people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITBECK: Now, Chalabi is a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. And he says lately, he has been pushing for more independence, more Iraqi independence from the U.S. administration. He says that he, for example, he has asked that the symbols of the Iraqi government, including the presidential palace, currently used by CPA officials, should be turned over to the Iraqi government. He said let me people be free. He says that we are grateful, that the Iraqi people are grateful for -- to the U.S. for the liberation. But he said it is time that the Iraqi people took control again. So he is explaining the raid on his quarters this morning by politicizing it. He says that this all has been politically motivated and it was motivated by his calls for more Iraqi independence from the CPA.
Now, we are expecting a press conference by the Coalition Provisional Authority officials to start very shortly. And we understand at that press conference, the Iraqi judge who issued the warrant to be served at the INC headquarters to speak. so we'll have to wait and see what he says there. But there is a bit of a tit for tat going on in Baghdad at this hour. And it is something that could have potentially difficult connotations for the political situation here just weeks before the June 30 deadline, which is when the United States will turn political control of Iraq over to the Iraqi people -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And just to be clear, because we've heard about Ahmed Chalabi talking about Mr. Brahimi, the U.N. envoy. It's his job to figure out what type of government, who the turnover will go to. That still has not been established, has it?
WHITBECK: No, it hasn't. And he said -- Chalabi said that he had taken issue with some of the policies or statements that Dr. Brahimi had been putting forth. And again, he puts that forth as a reason for this raid on his headquarters. That raid happened earlier this morning in Baghdad. Again, it was -- there were U.S. troops there. There were also members of the Iraqi police force and they took documents from the INC headquarters, they also took a computer. Dr. Chalabi said that they took a, quote, "very valuable coin" from his property. He's this calling a theft. And again, he says there is no justification for it. We'll have to see what the CPA says about all this as well -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right. Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad, as you mentioned that briefing, we are standing by and when it begins, it will be seen live right here on CNN.
Meanwhile, let's check out some other headlines out of Iraq. Two U.S. soldiers have been killed in separate attacks in or near Baghdad. Iraqi insurgents also attacked a convoy of Spanish forces leaving Iraq en route to Kuwait. One Spanish soldier was injured and one Iraqi killed. And the U.S. military says there is no word on three Americans who are still missing six weeks after their convoy was ambushed near Baghdad on April 9.
Ten minutes past the hour, news now from the U.S. In New York City, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani faced questions from the 9/11 Commission and anger from some families, whose loved ones who were lost in those attacks. Critics say the proceedings were trying to whitewash severe failures in the city's emergency response. You saw this testimony live right here on this program yesterday. Among the problems cited in the panel's report this week, malfunctioning firefighter radios and the city's lack of disaster readiness. Today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," the former mayor said that he understood the heckler's outburst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDOLPH GIULIANI, FMR. MAYOR NEW YORK CITY: You can't tell someone how to grieve. They have the absolute right to be that way. They're going through a horrible experience; a difficult experience and they need a place to place their blame. It is very understandable. It does not -- it does not reflect the reaction of most people, however.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The commission resumes its hearings in two weeks. It will issue its report late in July.
Once again, standing by for that briefing to take place in Baghdad.
Also ahead when innocent people are killed caught in the cross hairs of war against terrorism. can enemies ever find a way to trust one another?
And a crucial point for oil supplies. We'll tell why some experts are concerned about the year 2026.
Later, a guy who just would not give up. A persistent poet, the 23-year literary journal -- journey from clerking to being published. We'll find out what he is doing now. A very inspirational story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Live picture from Baghdad. This is where we expect any minute the daily briefing by the Coalition Provisional Authority to begin. We will see the spokesman Dan Senor; we tend to see Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. And we heard our Harris Whitbeck report. We also expect to hear from the judge who issued the warrant for the raid on the home of Ahmed Chalabi. More on that just ahead.
And while we wait for that to get started, let's bring in retired senior diplomat Allen Keiswetter. He is now an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute.
Thanks you for being with us. Appreciate it.
ALLAN KEISWETTER, SCHOLAR, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: I'm glad to be here.
KAGAN: Let's talk about one of the top topics of the today, and that is Ahmed Chalabi. How is a man who some felt would be the next leader of Iraq, fall so fast and so swiftly?
KEISWETTER: I've met with Ahmed several times over the course of the years of my career. And I think the answer is that he personally is difficult to deal with in many ways, and he's very controversial. Also, the points of view that he reflects, however, are no longer the ones that are dominating the U.S. administration. He's closely associated, for example, with Wolfowitz and others. And so these points of view have now less sway than they did before.
KAGAN: For people not as familiar with the story as, of course, you are, he's the man of many believe responsible for convincing the Bush administration that, indeed, there were weapons of mass destruction, huge stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to be found within Iraq.
KEISWETTER: That's exactly right.
KAGAN: And has that, of course, hurt his credibility within the administration since that, so far, has not turned out to be the case?
KEISWETTER: Exactly.
KAGAN: The other big story we hear about today is the U.S. military strike in the western part of Iraq, it killed 40 people. The Iraqis, many people there saying that it was a wedding party that the U.S. fired upon. And the U.S. saying that they believed they were firing upon a safe house for insurgents. How do you get two completely different versions of the same story?
KEISWETTER: Well, I think is this a case in which we're just going to have to wait to see the evidence. I guess my own suspicion is that probably that the military is right. But we're going to have to wait to see. The point I would make here is that because of a lot of events in Iraq, the margin for error on the part of the CPA and of Centcom has certainly decreased, both among Iraqis and the U.S. And so I think is there a great premium in getting it right. And if it's not true in this case, this will, of course, be a further item in the indictments of the U.S. administration.
KAGAN: Let's talk about the bigger aim of the U.S. trying to win the hearts and minds, not just of Iraqis, but Arabs around the world. And how that campaign is not going well, especially over the last week simply on images alone, whether it's a prison abuse scandal, or yesterday, where you have the court-martial taking place of the first U.S. soldier implicated in the prison abuse scandal. But no pictures of that because there are no pictures in that courtroom. But there were pictures of what was taking place in Gaza and there were pictures of that strike in the western part of Iraq.
KEISWETTER: Well, we start from a very low level. The Pew survey has shown that there are few countries in the Middle East, other than Israel, who have a favorable view of us. For example, in Saudi Arabia, a couple of years ago, 60 percent of the U.S. -- of the population viewed the U.S. favorably. Now 90 percent view us negatively. The same thing is true in Jordan, where we have favorable view by about 1 percent of the people. And the events over the past week, just further reinforces these views.
And I think the top story throughout the Middle East is not Iraq, but rather, Gaza and the very events that you're now watching on your screen. And I would make the same point I made earlier. The margin for error here is decreased. I think this is reflected in administration's stance, both in New York, where it abstained on a U.N. resolution that condemned Israel for these raids. And by the fact that White House and the State Department have spoken out against and critically of Israel.
KAGAN: Well, once again, we're standing by waiting for the briefing to happen. We have received a two-minute warning and that was about a minute ago out of Baghdad, so you're going to stay with us. We're inviting you to stay with us until the briefing happens.
I want on talk about the difference between what did happen at the United Nations and the U.S. abstaining from that vote. Subtle compared to the image of when you see Israelis using U.S. Apache -- we'll get back to that comment in a moment. It looks like the briefing is beginning in Baghdad.
Allen Keiswetter, thank you for your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
