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Odierno Doubts Saddam Commanding Attacks Against U.S. Troops
Aired August 07, 2003 - 14:02 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And we begin with supply and demand, command and control, and hide and seek in Iraq. It's all about Saddam who U.S. commanders now say is too busy trying to save his own skin to be calling the shots in a guerrilla uprising. Those who are in charge are said to be raising the bounty on U.S. targets in light of a sudden shortage of recruits.
Much of this is playing out in and around Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. And that's exactly where we find CNN's Jane Arraf -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Miles, we're actually at Saddam's former palace, now, of course, taken over by American soldiers. And the soldiers here under the top command of Major General Ray Odierno are saying actually the focus for Saddam isn't their main priority right now, it's drying up his support. They are targeting those mid-level people, they say, are paying people off, and as you mentioned, paying them more than ever, up to $5,000 per successful attack on U.S. soldiers to actually go out there.
Now, they're concentrating on these raids, and as the general says, people should not think that searching for Saddam is the only thing or the most important thing that they are doing out here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION: I want to make one thing clear, though, is -- that is not what we're focused on. Clearly, if we get leads we follow up on the leads, if we think he's in our area. And we will continue to follow up on the leads across my entire area of operation.
But that's not really our sole focus. Our focus is getting -- I don't think he is ordering any attacks on our soldiers. I don't think he has the capability to command and control. I think he's on the run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: It's a comment that perhaps reflects the difficulty of actually not only just finding Saddam but finding traces of Saddam. Now the general said he is likely in disguise, he's likely moving every three to four hours. They have intelligence that indicates they have found someone -- they say they don't know if it's Saddam, but clearly it's someone very important who has been at sites who have just been vacated.
But the general makes clear they do not know where Saddam is. He says they don't know that they will find them in 24 hours, 72 hours or even weeks. It is simply is not going to happen that quickly or that easily. But what they are doing is drying up the support that will continue to allow him to hide quite so easily -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Jane, when last we visited you about an hour ago, there were quite a few gunshots heard in -- hopefully not too close by. Were you able to figure out what's going on?
ARRAF: Well, we were told that was probably a settling of scores, not involving U.S. soldiers. And given that this is Tikrit, there must be an awful lot of scores to settle.
Now, after the gunfire, we heard mortar shelling. That's the American military calibrating their mortar and actually serving as warning shots across the river. They have had some mortar rounds fired at them as well. That has calmed down somewhat.
But certainly it's a very interesting area at night. Lots of gunfire out there. There are a lot of places in Tikrit that U.S. soldiers do not go at night. And we just do not know what's going on there beneath the sounds of repeated gunfire. Probably won't know until morning -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, an interesting place. We'll put that down as the euphemism of the day from Jane Arraf in Tikrit. 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
Troops>
Aired August 7, 2003 - 14:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And we begin with supply and demand, command and control, and hide and seek in Iraq. It's all about Saddam who U.S. commanders now say is too busy trying to save his own skin to be calling the shots in a guerrilla uprising. Those who are in charge are said to be raising the bounty on U.S. targets in light of a sudden shortage of recruits.
Much of this is playing out in and around Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. And that's exactly where we find CNN's Jane Arraf -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Miles, we're actually at Saddam's former palace, now, of course, taken over by American soldiers. And the soldiers here under the top command of Major General Ray Odierno are saying actually the focus for Saddam isn't their main priority right now, it's drying up his support. They are targeting those mid-level people, they say, are paying people off, and as you mentioned, paying them more than ever, up to $5,000 per successful attack on U.S. soldiers to actually go out there.
Now, they're concentrating on these raids, and as the general says, people should not think that searching for Saddam is the only thing or the most important thing that they are doing out here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION: I want to make one thing clear, though, is -- that is not what we're focused on. Clearly, if we get leads we follow up on the leads, if we think he's in our area. And we will continue to follow up on the leads across my entire area of operation.
But that's not really our sole focus. Our focus is getting -- I don't think he is ordering any attacks on our soldiers. I don't think he has the capability to command and control. I think he's on the run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: It's a comment that perhaps reflects the difficulty of actually not only just finding Saddam but finding traces of Saddam. Now the general said he is likely in disguise, he's likely moving every three to four hours. They have intelligence that indicates they have found someone -- they say they don't know if it's Saddam, but clearly it's someone very important who has been at sites who have just been vacated.
But the general makes clear they do not know where Saddam is. He says they don't know that they will find them in 24 hours, 72 hours or even weeks. It is simply is not going to happen that quickly or that easily. But what they are doing is drying up the support that will continue to allow him to hide quite so easily -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Jane, when last we visited you about an hour ago, there were quite a few gunshots heard in -- hopefully not too close by. Were you able to figure out what's going on?
ARRAF: Well, we were told that was probably a settling of scores, not involving U.S. soldiers. And given that this is Tikrit, there must be an awful lot of scores to settle.
Now, after the gunfire, we heard mortar shelling. That's the American military calibrating their mortar and actually serving as warning shots across the river. They have had some mortar rounds fired at them as well. That has calmed down somewhat.
But certainly it's a very interesting area at night. Lots of gunfire out there. There are a lot of places in Tikrit that U.S. soldiers do not go at night. And we just do not know what's going on there beneath the sounds of repeated gunfire. Probably won't know until morning -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, an interesting place. We'll put that down as the euphemism of the day from Jane Arraf in Tikrit. 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
Troops>
