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American Morning

Interview With Brigadier General Jeffery Hammond

Aired January 27, 2005 - 07:32   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: Iraq, again, three days until it makes history on Sunday. And keeping candidates and voters secure this Sunday is a huge job. Tomorrow through Sunday has been declared a national holiday in Iraq. A nationwide curfew, travel restrictions, border restrictions are in effect.
On Election Day, Sunday, civilian vehicle traffic is forbidden, and security will be visible at some 30,000 polling stations. The Iraqi army, the National Guard, the police are charged there with keeping things safe. But tens of thousands of multinational forces are also on hand to help out.

And getting Iraqi voters to and from the polls safely on Sunday is priority No. 1 for the man in charge of security in Baghdad. That's Brigadier General Jeffrey Hammond, with me from the Iraqi capital to talk about what he can tell us three days away from the vote.

And, General, welcome back here. We spoke a little more than a week ago. There are a number of things back in the U.S. newspapers here I want to get your reaction to. The first thing comes from Senator John Warner yesterday on Capitol Hill. He talked about preparing the American people for -- quote -- "as many eventualities that could possibly happen." What would you like the American people to know based on your expectations in three days?

BRIG. GEN. JEFFERY HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY: Well, I'd like them to know that their credentials, the U.S. Army soldier is on point. We've long and hard trained and prepared for this election as it's upcoming. We've set the conditions.

We are in a support role, though. We should understand that. The lead here is with the Iraqi security forces. The Iraqi security forces are actually guarding the polling sites with American forces supporting, but being very active, very active and not passive.

HEMMER: General, I'm trying to get a better idea what that means for the U.S. military on Sunday. Does that mean you're hanging out down the road waiting for things around the corner in the event that you are called and you can respond immediately? Is that the best way to describe it?

HAMMOND: No, it probably means two things. No. 1, it means over the last 30 days we have pressed the insurgent hard. Ruthlessly. In fact, we've conducted over 270 combat operations, and in doing so we've detained over 800 insurgents and captured over 100 weapon caches. Now, you can imagine that that should obviously put some sort of dent in the insurgents' resources and his ability to continue to wage this fight. And we believe it has. We truly believe it has.

But furthermore, our role is not only going to be standing by to support, but I would argue that we're going to be in a outer-cordon type mission of controlling traffic, posturing ourselves in a position where if we have to respond, we can react immediately.

HEMMER: If that is the case then, respond to this: John Burns from "The New York Times," you know, he has been stationed in Baghdad for well over a year by now. This is what he writes. He writes, Baghdad was hit in the past week alone by seven suicide car bombings, 37 roadside bombs, 52 insurgent attacks, and he continues, involving RPGs and automatic rifles. The suicide bombs alone have killed at least 60 people and injured more than 150 others.

How do we then get a clear idea between the crackdown that you describe and the evidence on the ground in terms of violence?

HAMMOND: Well, that's interesting figures that he shares with you. I'm not going to deny that this won't be a perfect environment here. We anticipate and have anticipated since the beginning that as we got closer to the elections that there would be a spike in violence.

But I will tell you, I will tell you that over the last 14 days things have been pretty steady. In fact, we've seen actually less number and types of incidents than we previously had seen in the past. However, over the last 24 hours, we're starting to see a slight increase in the spike. And clearly, clearly, as we approach Election Day, the insurgent is going to do everything within his capability to attempt to disrupt and derail this election. And to that end, we're going to do everything within our capability to stop such an ambition.

HEMMER: It was about 12 days ago when you were asked about Zarqawi. This is what you said at the time -- I'm quoting: "I'd love to capture, detain or kill Zarqawi. I'm very optimistic that sooner or later we're going to get him. Sooner or later we got Saddam. The bloodhounds are on him right now. They're on his trail."

Do you have any evidence to believe that he will be captured or killed anytime soon?

HAMMOND: Well, I stand by that statement. My focus right now, as you and I are looking at each other and talking, is Baghdad and the elections on the 30th. That's where our focus is. We're working this thing 24 hours. We're not letting go of this thing.

And I'm telling you, there's four million people registered to vote here in Baghdad, and these people clearly know -- they might not know clearly what they're voting about or who for, but they know it's something to do with democracy and the next step forward.

I eagerly anticipate the 30th for I believe that a majority of these folks will step forward as brave individuals and express their desire for a new and a long-term future here in Iraq.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, General. We'll be watching from this side of the world. That's U.S. Brigadier General Jeffrey Hammond in charge of Baghdad for today and also this weekend. Thank you, General. Good luck.

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 January 27, 2005 - 07:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq, again, three days until it makes history on Sunday. And keeping candidates and voters secure this Sunday is a huge job. Tomorrow through Sunday has been declared a national holiday in Iraq. A nationwide curfew, travel restrictions, border restrictions are in effect.
On Election Day, Sunday, civilian vehicle traffic is forbidden, and security will be visible at some 30,000 polling stations. The Iraqi army, the National Guard, the police are charged there with keeping things safe. But tens of thousands of multinational forces are also on hand to help out.

And getting Iraqi voters to and from the polls safely on Sunday is priority No. 1 for the man in charge of security in Baghdad. That's Brigadier General Jeffrey Hammond, with me from the Iraqi capital to talk about what he can tell us three days away from the vote.

And, General, welcome back here. We spoke a little more than a week ago. There are a number of things back in the U.S. newspapers here I want to get your reaction to. The first thing comes from Senator John Warner yesterday on Capitol Hill. He talked about preparing the American people for -- quote -- "as many eventualities that could possibly happen." What would you like the American people to know based on your expectations in three days?

BRIG. GEN. JEFFERY HAMMOND, U.S. ARMY: Well, I'd like them to know that their credentials, the U.S. Army soldier is on point. We've long and hard trained and prepared for this election as it's upcoming. We've set the conditions.

We are in a support role, though. We should understand that. The lead here is with the Iraqi security forces. The Iraqi security forces are actually guarding the polling sites with American forces supporting, but being very active, very active and not passive.

HEMMER: General, I'm trying to get a better idea what that means for the U.S. military on Sunday. Does that mean you're hanging out down the road waiting for things around the corner in the event that you are called and you can respond immediately? Is that the best way to describe it?

HAMMOND: No, it probably means two things. No. 1, it means over the last 30 days we have pressed the insurgent hard. Ruthlessly. In fact, we've conducted over 270 combat operations, and in doing so we've detained over 800 insurgents and captured over 100 weapon caches. Now, you can imagine that that should obviously put some sort of dent in the insurgents' resources and his ability to continue to wage this fight. And we believe it has. We truly believe it has.

But furthermore, our role is not only going to be standing by to support, but I would argue that we're going to be in a outer-cordon type mission of controlling traffic, posturing ourselves in a position where if we have to respond, we can react immediately.

HEMMER: If that is the case then, respond to this: John Burns from "The New York Times," you know, he has been stationed in Baghdad for well over a year by now. This is what he writes. He writes, Baghdad was hit in the past week alone by seven suicide car bombings, 37 roadside bombs, 52 insurgent attacks, and he continues, involving RPGs and automatic rifles. The suicide bombs alone have killed at least 60 people and injured more than 150 others.

How do we then get a clear idea between the crackdown that you describe and the evidence on the ground in terms of violence?

HAMMOND: Well, that's interesting figures that he shares with you. I'm not going to deny that this won't be a perfect environment here. We anticipate and have anticipated since the beginning that as we got closer to the elections that there would be a spike in violence.

But I will tell you, I will tell you that over the last 14 days things have been pretty steady. In fact, we've seen actually less number and types of incidents than we previously had seen in the past. However, over the last 24 hours, we're starting to see a slight increase in the spike. And clearly, clearly, as we approach Election Day, the insurgent is going to do everything within his capability to attempt to disrupt and derail this election. And to that end, we're going to do everything within our capability to stop such an ambition.

HEMMER: It was about 12 days ago when you were asked about Zarqawi. This is what you said at the time -- I'm quoting: "I'd love to capture, detain or kill Zarqawi. I'm very optimistic that sooner or later we're going to get him. Sooner or later we got Saddam. The bloodhounds are on him right now. They're on his trail."

Do you have any evidence to believe that he will be captured or killed anytime soon?

HAMMOND: Well, I stand by that statement. My focus right now, as you and I are looking at each other and talking, is Baghdad and the elections on the 30th. That's where our focus is. We're working this thing 24 hours. We're not letting go of this thing.

And I'm telling you, there's four million people registered to vote here in Baghdad, and these people clearly know -- they might not know clearly what they're voting about or who for, but they know it's something to do with democracy and the next step forward.

I eagerly anticipate the 30th for I believe that a majority of these folks will step forward as brave individuals and express their desire for a new and a long-term future here in Iraq.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, General. We'll be watching from this side of the world. That's U.S. Brigadier General Jeffrey Hammond in charge of Baghdad for today and also this weekend. Thank you, General. Good luck.

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