Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Is The U.S. Making Progress Towards Peace In Iraq?

Aired August 02, 2003 - 18:07   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.


ARENA: Is the situation in Iraq getting better or worse, especially in light of the U.S. civilian administrator's new concerns about terrorist ties there?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BREMER: First of all, there is the long standing concern, the evidence of connections between the former regime and al Qaeda that goes back almost a decade. Secondly, there is clear evidence of an al Qaeda related terrorist group, the Ansar Al Aslam, reconstituting its capabilities inside of Iraq since the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: So is the U.S. making progress? And how close are coalition forces to getting to Saddam Hussein?

Well, joining me to address some of these questions is former CIA Near East and South Asia Division chief, Frank Anderson in Washington.

Mr. Anderson, thank you for joining us.

FRANK ANDERSON, FMR. CIA DIVISION CHIEF: Thank you.

ARENA: Well, let's start with the working assumption that Saddam Hussein is in his tribal homeland of Tikrit. How deep do those tribal ties run?

ANDERSON: Well, they run very deep. Now we've got good news and bad news in the last week. The good news is that a $30 million ransom was paid. And that's going to motivate a lot of people, however close they might be to Saddam to come forward with information.

ARENA: Well...

ANDERSON: There's a little...

ARENA: Go ahead.

ANDERSON: ...bad news in that the loss of, from the Iraqi point of view or from the Saddam family point of view of Uday and Qusay was accompanied by the kind of martyrdom of the young Mustafah Hussein that in that part of the world ballads get sung about. And it will motivate people to protect the family a little more. I just can't guess how long it'll take for us to get them, but certainly time is on our side and not theirs. ARENA: How key is the reward money? The military seems very optimistic that the $25 million reward for Saddam will definitely help.

ANDERSON: I think it's very key. There's -- that's a very powerful incentive, and particularly when it's accompanied by the relocation abroad, which means that the informant can count on living safely, rather than having to try to survive within Iraq with that label of foreign agent pinned upon him, which is a deadly thing in that part of the world.

ARENA: What role have the tapes that Saddam has been releasing more frequently lately been playing among the civilians there, just affecting their psyche?

ANDERSON: Difficult to tell. It certainly, for those who are motivated to serve the old regime and just motivated out of pride for having been part of this ruling class, however evil it was. The evidence that the bosses surviving is going to be one that will motivate an awful lot of people.

On the other hand, it will also serve to continue intimidating people that just, and there are an awful lot of them there. are just flat afraid of that regime coming back and wreaking its revenge.

ARENA: Of course, Tikrit though, being a favored son under Saddam's regime, a little bit harder to break that alliance there, isn't it?

ANDERSON: Certainly is. And as you pointed out earlier, this is a tribal area in which just family ties are going to pay a very strong role in motivating people to protect the Saddam and his entourage.

ARENA: What about the fact that his daughters have now shown up in Jordan? They did grant an interview with CNN, saying that they still love their father, are very sad for what they see going on in their home country. How is that playing a role, do you think?

ANDERSON: That's another one of good and bad news. The good news is is that when the females of ones family in that culture act against it by defecting, they have, no matter what they've said, that's an attack what's called hyba (ph) and the prestige. And that weakens this leader. The fact that the daughters are still speaking in this rhetoric of betrayal and love for their father might some be marginal benefit to him, though.

ARENA: We know the Pentagon has released a new deck of cards, so to speak, of what Saddam could look like, beardless, with a beard, white hair, you know, so on. How helpful do you think that that will be?

ANDERSON: Tough to say. I, you know, I spent my youth or a little part of it as an infantryman. And I'd certainly hate to have the job of being on a checkpoint on a road in Baghdad and responsible for not letting Saddam get by with that wide range of possible appearances. ARENA: All right, well a difficult job either way you look at it. Frank Anderson, thank you very much for joining us on this weekend.

ANDERSON: You're welcome.

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 August 2, 2003 - 18:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARENA: Is the situation in Iraq getting better or worse, especially in light of the U.S. civilian administrator's new concerns about terrorist ties there?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BREMER: First of all, there is the long standing concern, the evidence of connections between the former regime and al Qaeda that goes back almost a decade. Secondly, there is clear evidence of an al Qaeda related terrorist group, the Ansar Al Aslam, reconstituting its capabilities inside of Iraq since the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: So is the U.S. making progress? And how close are coalition forces to getting to Saddam Hussein?

Well, joining me to address some of these questions is former CIA Near East and South Asia Division chief, Frank Anderson in Washington.

Mr. Anderson, thank you for joining us.

FRANK ANDERSON, FMR. CIA DIVISION CHIEF: Thank you.

ARENA: Well, let's start with the working assumption that Saddam Hussein is in his tribal homeland of Tikrit. How deep do those tribal ties run?

ANDERSON: Well, they run very deep. Now we've got good news and bad news in the last week. The good news is that a $30 million ransom was paid. And that's going to motivate a lot of people, however close they might be to Saddam to come forward with information.

ARENA: Well...

ANDERSON: There's a little...

ARENA: Go ahead.

ANDERSON: ...bad news in that the loss of, from the Iraqi point of view or from the Saddam family point of view of Uday and Qusay was accompanied by the kind of martyrdom of the young Mustafah Hussein that in that part of the world ballads get sung about. And it will motivate people to protect the family a little more. I just can't guess how long it'll take for us to get them, but certainly time is on our side and not theirs. ARENA: How key is the reward money? The military seems very optimistic that the $25 million reward for Saddam will definitely help.

ANDERSON: I think it's very key. There's -- that's a very powerful incentive, and particularly when it's accompanied by the relocation abroad, which means that the informant can count on living safely, rather than having to try to survive within Iraq with that label of foreign agent pinned upon him, which is a deadly thing in that part of the world.

ARENA: What role have the tapes that Saddam has been releasing more frequently lately been playing among the civilians there, just affecting their psyche?

ANDERSON: Difficult to tell. It certainly, for those who are motivated to serve the old regime and just motivated out of pride for having been part of this ruling class, however evil it was. The evidence that the bosses surviving is going to be one that will motivate an awful lot of people.

On the other hand, it will also serve to continue intimidating people that just, and there are an awful lot of them there. are just flat afraid of that regime coming back and wreaking its revenge.

ARENA: Of course, Tikrit though, being a favored son under Saddam's regime, a little bit harder to break that alliance there, isn't it?

ANDERSON: Certainly is. And as you pointed out earlier, this is a tribal area in which just family ties are going to pay a very strong role in motivating people to protect the Saddam and his entourage.

ARENA: What about the fact that his daughters have now shown up in Jordan? They did grant an interview with CNN, saying that they still love their father, are very sad for what they see going on in their home country. How is that playing a role, do you think?

ANDERSON: That's another one of good and bad news. The good news is is that when the females of ones family in that culture act against it by defecting, they have, no matter what they've said, that's an attack what's called hyba (ph) and the prestige. And that weakens this leader. The fact that the daughters are still speaking in this rhetoric of betrayal and love for their father might some be marginal benefit to him, though.

ARENA: We know the Pentagon has released a new deck of cards, so to speak, of what Saddam could look like, beardless, with a beard, white hair, you know, so on. How helpful do you think that that will be?

ANDERSON: Tough to say. I, you know, I spent my youth or a little part of it as an infantryman. And I'd certainly hate to have the job of being on a checkpoint on a road in Baghdad and responsible for not letting Saddam get by with that wide range of possible appearances. ARENA: All right, well a difficult job either way you look at it. Frank Anderson, thank you very much for joining us on this weekend.

ANDERSON: You're welcome.

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