Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Rumsfeld to Visit Iraq, Afghanistan
Aired April 26, 2003 - 18:09 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: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is on his way to Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor joins us now live from the Pentagon with more on Donald Rumsfeld's trip -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, for security reasons the exact location and itinerary of the secretary's trip is not being given out, but he is now saying or officials are now telling us we can say he will go to Iraq, he will go to Afghanistan, and some Persian Gulf countries.
He'll be speaking there to the troops, thanking them for what they've done. He'll be speaking to the commanders. He'll also be talking to some Persian Gulf leaders.
Rumsfeld is calling this an update on a work in progress. He says -- very bluntly -- it is not, in his view, a victory lap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: 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 is 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 says that in Iraq he'll be discussing with commanders how to transition from a period where fighting has been the main job to a period of stability efforts. He doesn't use the words peacekeeping and nation building, but others would to describe what those troops will be up to in the next coming months and years, possibly.
In Afghanistan, similar task, fewer troops on the ground. Rumsfeld is a little defensive about how small the force is. He was saying that all those editorial writers who say there aren't enough troops, don't have any troops to offer themselves. And not all of the other nations that have been asked have been willing to either. Still he thinks things are going, on balance, well. And that reconstruction efforts can get into full gear soon.
Finally, he was asked about the senior Iraqi officials that are coming into American hands. He said that one or two seemed to be either turning themselves in or being captured almost everyday. Including, of course, Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, former deputy prime minister in Iraq.
And he was asked whether Tariq Aziz is cooperating. He said, he's seen the first readouts from Tariq Aziz's conversations with his interrogators and that so far, it is just too early to say -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, David Ensor, thanks for the update.
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 - 18:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is on his way to Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN national security correspondent David Ensor joins us now live from the Pentagon with more on Donald Rumsfeld's trip -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, for security reasons the exact location and itinerary of the secretary's trip is not being given out, but he is now saying or officials are now telling us we can say he will go to Iraq, he will go to Afghanistan, and some Persian Gulf countries.
He'll be speaking there to the troops, thanking them for what they've done. He'll be speaking to the commanders. He'll also be talking to some Persian Gulf leaders.
Rumsfeld is calling this an update on a work in progress. He says -- very bluntly -- it is not, in his view, a victory lap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: 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 is 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 says that in Iraq he'll be discussing with commanders how to transition from a period where fighting has been the main job to a period of stability efforts. He doesn't use the words peacekeeping and nation building, but others would to describe what those troops will be up to in the next coming months and years, possibly.
In Afghanistan, similar task, fewer troops on the ground. Rumsfeld is a little defensive about how small the force is. He was saying that all those editorial writers who say there aren't enough troops, don't have any troops to offer themselves. And not all of the other nations that have been asked have been willing to either. Still he thinks things are going, on balance, well. And that reconstruction efforts can get into full gear soon.
Finally, he was asked about the senior Iraqi officials that are coming into American hands. He said that one or two seemed to be either turning themselves in or being captured almost everyday. Including, of course, Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, former deputy prime minister in Iraq.
And he was asked whether Tariq Aziz is cooperating. He said, he's seen the first readouts from Tariq Aziz's conversations with his interrogators and that so far, it is just too early to say -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, David Ensor, thanks for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
