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CNN Live Saturday
Iraq Divides Itself Into 4 Military Districts
Aired March 15, 2003 - 17:32 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.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back to the story that we told you about at the top of the hour. Iraq has announced that it has put itself on a war footing, has divided itself into four military districts. Barbara Starr joins us now with more on this story -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Renay, it is not going to really affect U.S. war planning per se, but certainly the Bush administration is now going to watch all of this very carefully, to try and figure out what is going on inside Iraq, what Saddam Hussein may be signaling.
Sources have said that a similar reorganization took place in the past just before Operation Desert Storm 12 years ago. There is speculation that Saddam may be trying to decentralize some of his command structure in case there is war and there is significant bombing in Baghdad and some of the central command structure is destroyed. He is going to want some trusted lieutenants out in the field. That may be what this is all about -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: And one of those trusted lieutenants is somebody, you know, that he hopes that he can trust very well, his son, Qusay, who is in charge of the central or Baghdad district. Has that ever happened before within the Iraqi regime?
STARR: Well, you know, there have been people who have been earmarked. Qusay is one of his most trusted associates, of course, as his son. But it hasn't really been the case yet that Saddam himself has ever given up any power, any authority. He's still by all accounts from the U.S. government, he still pulls all of the strings.
But another thing that is going to be watched very carefully; U.S. officials feel -- they call it brittleness, that there may be some brittleness in the very high command of Saddam Hussein's regime, that he may feel not everyone is a trusted lieutenant. The administration will now be looking very carefully to see whether military commanders out in the field are also being replaced, whether or not they may not be so trusted at the moment, and some of this reorganization may be an effort to get rid of some of them on Saddam Hussein's part, put in some new people.
So a lot of things in play. A lot of uncertainty. The administration is going to look at this very carefully.
SAN MIGUEL: Indeed. CNN's Barbara Starr. Thank you very much for the report. 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 March 15, 2003 - 17:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back to the story that we told you about at the top of the hour. Iraq has announced that it has put itself on a war footing, has divided itself into four military districts. Barbara Starr joins us now with more on this story -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Renay, it is not going to really affect U.S. war planning per se, but certainly the Bush administration is now going to watch all of this very carefully, to try and figure out what is going on inside Iraq, what Saddam Hussein may be signaling.
Sources have said that a similar reorganization took place in the past just before Operation Desert Storm 12 years ago. There is speculation that Saddam may be trying to decentralize some of his command structure in case there is war and there is significant bombing in Baghdad and some of the central command structure is destroyed. He is going to want some trusted lieutenants out in the field. That may be what this is all about -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: And one of those trusted lieutenants is somebody, you know, that he hopes that he can trust very well, his son, Qusay, who is in charge of the central or Baghdad district. Has that ever happened before within the Iraqi regime?
STARR: Well, you know, there have been people who have been earmarked. Qusay is one of his most trusted associates, of course, as his son. But it hasn't really been the case yet that Saddam himself has ever given up any power, any authority. He's still by all accounts from the U.S. government, he still pulls all of the strings.
But another thing that is going to be watched very carefully; U.S. officials feel -- they call it brittleness, that there may be some brittleness in the very high command of Saddam Hussein's regime, that he may feel not everyone is a trusted lieutenant. The administration will now be looking very carefully to see whether military commanders out in the field are also being replaced, whether or not they may not be so trusted at the moment, and some of this reorganization may be an effort to get rid of some of them on Saddam Hussein's part, put in some new people.
So a lot of things in play. A lot of uncertainty. The administration is going to look at this very carefully.
SAN MIGUEL: Indeed. CNN's Barbara Starr. Thank you very much for the report. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
