Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Rumsfeld Goes on Tour of Persian Gulf Region
Aired April 26, 2003 - 16:10 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on his way to the Persian Gulf region on what some are calling a victory tour, although he's careful not to call it that. Details of his itinerary are not being released for security reasons, but he is going to meet with U.S. forces in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor is live at the Pentagon with more -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as you say, Rumsfeld doesn't like the term "victory tour." He is going to Afghanistan and Iraq to visit with the troops, with commanders. He'll presumably go to some other Persian Gulf nations besides Iraq because he's going to talk to Persian Gulf leaders as well.
The trip is being sort of laid out bit by bit for security reasons. They don't want to go into the details of exactly when and where he will go. And as I say, he doesn't like it being described as a victory tour. Here's how he put it on a news conference on the plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: One ought not to think of this as a victory tour. It isn't. We've got a lot of hard work left. People are still being shot at, in some cases killed and wounded. And the task before us in Iraq is clearly one that's going to take a lot of attention, a lot of focus and a lot of effort over a period of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Rumsfeld also talked about the efforts in Afghanistan, the efforts to get reconstruction, to get it to work with the international community and get reconstruction teams into some parts of Afghanistan that are still not secure, but he hopes soon will be.
He was asked about Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq, and whether or not Mr. Aziz is providing any useful intelligence. He said he's just seen the preliminary information, the first chat with Aziz, and it isn't clear yet whether Aziz is going to provide useful information.
He, just before leaving, accepted the resignation of the secretary of the Army, Mr. White, who resigned yesterday. This was a man who apparently had his differences with Rumsfeld. He was a former Enron executive who had been asked by President Bush to be the civilian head of the Army. They had disagreements over the Crusader 155 mm howitzer that Rumsfeld and his group at the Pentagon wanted to kill off, and did succeed in doing that.
There was also an apparent -- an appearance of disagreement over how many troops it would take to keep Iraq under control after the war, with the head of the Army saying he thought it might take hundreds of thousands and Secretary White refusing to disagree with that, although Secretary Rumsfeld and his deputy, Mr. Wolfowitz, disagreed strongly. So Mr. Rumsfeld will presumably get his pick now for a new secretary of the Army, and there may be some changes in the Army structure as a result. Back to you, Anderson.
COOPER: David Ensor, thanks very much.
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 April 26, 2003 - 16:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on his way to the Persian Gulf region on what some are calling a victory tour, although he's careful not to call it that. Details of his itinerary are not being released for security reasons, but he is going to meet with U.S. forces in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor is live at the Pentagon with more -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, as you say, Rumsfeld doesn't like the term "victory tour." He is going to Afghanistan and Iraq to visit with the troops, with commanders. He'll presumably go to some other Persian Gulf nations besides Iraq because he's going to talk to Persian Gulf leaders as well.
The trip is being sort of laid out bit by bit for security reasons. They don't want to go into the details of exactly when and where he will go. And as I say, he doesn't like it being described as a victory tour. Here's how he put it on a news conference on the plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: One ought not to think of this as a victory tour. It isn't. We've got a lot of hard work left. People are still being shot at, in some cases killed and wounded. And the task before us in Iraq is clearly one that's going to take a lot of attention, a lot of focus and a lot of effort over a period of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Rumsfeld also talked about the efforts in Afghanistan, the efforts to get reconstruction, to get it to work with the international community and get reconstruction teams into some parts of Afghanistan that are still not secure, but he hopes soon will be.
He was asked about Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq, and whether or not Mr. Aziz is providing any useful intelligence. He said he's just seen the preliminary information, the first chat with Aziz, and it isn't clear yet whether Aziz is going to provide useful information.
He, just before leaving, accepted the resignation of the secretary of the Army, Mr. White, who resigned yesterday. This was a man who apparently had his differences with Rumsfeld. He was a former Enron executive who had been asked by President Bush to be the civilian head of the Army. They had disagreements over the Crusader 155 mm howitzer that Rumsfeld and his group at the Pentagon wanted to kill off, and did succeed in doing that.
There was also an apparent -- an appearance of disagreement over how many troops it would take to keep Iraq under control after the war, with the head of the Army saying he thought it might take hundreds of thousands and Secretary White refusing to disagree with that, although Secretary Rumsfeld and his deputy, Mr. Wolfowitz, disagreed strongly. So Mr. Rumsfeld will presumably get his pick now for a new secretary of the Army, and there may be some changes in the Army structure as a result. Back to you, Anderson.
COOPER: David Ensor, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
