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On Great Victory Day, Iraq Prepares for War, Offers Peace

Aired August 08, 2002 - 14:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The occasion was Iraq's Great Victory Day.
And CNN's Rym Brahimi is live from Baghdad with that.

Rym, about how many supporters turned out to hear Saddam Hussein's message?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, a lot of people were watching it on television. It was a broadcast speech to the nation, Fredricka. As you pointed out, the president clearly using his usual defiant rhetoric, this rhetoric that he's now famous for, referring the the U.S. forces as forces of darkness, saying, essentially, that any attempts to attack Iraq would be met with failure.

Let's just listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADDAM HUSSEIN, PRESIDENT OF IRAQ (through translator): The forces of evil will carry their coffins on their backs to die in disgraceful failure taking their skins back with them, or to dig their own graves after they bring death to themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRAHIMI: As you pointed out, Fredricka, the president was addressing his people on a very special day. Today marks the end of the Iran-Iraq war of 14 years ago. So it's a bit of an irony, really, that the day they are celebrating the end of one war, the Iraqis are actually preparing another.

In preparing, they seem to be serious about that. There's a couple of military parades in the past few days. There was one earlier today in which about 10,000 volunteers marched in the streets of Baghdad armed and chanting slogans saying they would defend their president and their country to the death, if need be.

At the same time, Fredricka, this president also mentions dialogue, calling, essentially, on the United States to talk with Iraq. How sincere he is is another matter.

In town these days, there's been a British member of Parliament. He met with President Saddam Hussein this morning. And we asked him about how he felt President Saddam Hussein's intentions look like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE GALLAWAY, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: He was remarkably calm in the circumstances, as calm a world leader as I have ever met. He was also at great pains to demonstrate to me, and obviously it's part of a diplomatic offensive, to convince people that the offers they are making are sincere and, moreover, that they represent a way out of this crisis, a peaceful and diplomatic route out of this crisis.

And personally, I believe people should pick those olive branches up, especially when the alternative is a devastating war which will plunge the whole region into chaos and bloodshed and no one can calculate what the end result will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRAHIMI: So basically, the message that's being conveyed here, Fredricka, is on the the one hand, if we are forced into a war, the Iraqis say, we will fight it to the bitter end. But other than that, we would much prefer not to have a war, and we are trying to do all we can to prevent that -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Rym Brahimi, from Baghdad. Thank you very much.

The White House, temporarily transplanted to Texas, is dismissing Iraq's dismissal of the prospects of war with the United States. And the Pentagon continues to dismiss speculation from the media, calling it all hypothetical.

CNN's Patty Davis is live from ground zero of U.S. military planning.

Hi there, Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

The Pentagon is giving no credibility to Saddam's speech today, saying that -- he was saying, of course, that any threats of a U.S. attack are doomed to failure.

Now, planning continues here at the Pentagon. General Tommy Franks briefed the president earlier this week with broad outlines of a plan, but no specifics.

The Iraqi opposition is here in Washington, D.C. to meet with the State Department and the Pentagon tomorrow. In a press conference they held today, opposition officials said that Saddam is ready for street fighting, to take on the United States on the streets of Iraq. Urban warfare, of course, would cause heavy casualties. A senior Pentagon official says that the senior U.S. military leadership is familiar with the difficulty of urban warfare, has dealt with it in its war planning, and says there's way to get around it.

Now, meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister says that his country does not want the United States to use Saudi Arabia to launch any attack against Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that that would not be a problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If they're helping us in ways that are different from that and they prefer not to discuss it, that's their choice, and we can live with that too. We need all the help we...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: Rumsfeld said that the United States is building a contingency air base -- an air command center -- in Qatar, which is nearby.

A lot of planning going on here at the Pentagon. But no decision yet on launching a war from President Bush -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Patty Davis, from the Pentagon. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

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