Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Search for Scott Speicher

Aired April 17, 2003 - 10:38   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now from Norfolk, Virginia is Amy Waters Yarsinske. She is author of a book about Scott Speicher. It's called "No One Left Behind."
Mrs. Waters Yarsinske, thanks for joining us this morning.

Do you believe from your research that Scott Speicher is still alive and in Iraq?

AMY WATERS YARSINSKE, AUTHOR: I absolutely do, and contrary to what Barbara learned from the Pentagon, it seems like they have a conflict of their information.

KAGAN: How's that?

WATERS YARSINSKE: The current intelligence assessment is that he's still alive, and the team is on the ground over there, the intelligence team, the spec-ops teams are own the ground going through prisons, the bunker cells, gathering information, but the current assessment is that he's still alive.

KAGAN: What do you make the latest reports that he has been spotted?

WATERS YARSINSKE: Not surprised. There is a lot of movement in the upper regime that we're looking for, and we're listening to their signal intelligence, our signal intelligence listening to their phone conversations and trapping sat phones and that sort of thing, so we're getting a lot of pings off of what they are talking about, whether it's when to leave the country or Scott Speicher or whatever going on over there at this time. So we had a lot of openings in our detection ability to learn more about Scott's fate. We just need more people on the ground over there to move fast that are looking for him.

KAGAN: I want to ask you more about that, but first, let me be dubious for a second, for people who -- I'm sure you've heard it all, that people that doubt, why would the Iraqis keep Scott Speicher alive all these years?

WATERS YARSINSKE: It'll be following a pattern, Daryn. They've done this repeatedly with other prisoners. They've kept the Iranians for over 20 years in some cases, and then returned them, never having admitting they had them, and you heard Saddam Hussein refer to as a Stalinist. Well, he's learned that incommunicado strategy is a very powerful tool to use against his enemies. They suggestion that you even suggest you have someone is a very powerful tool. But he's done it with Kuwaitis, he's done it with Iranians, he's done it with Scott, with any number of other people, and kept them for long periods and them turned them loose.

KAGAN: One more doubt here. Since the country has opened up here, since no one's in charge, why hasn't Scott Speicher surfaced? We've seen the other POWs found?

WATERS YARSINSKE: The best option or that is that Saddam put his care in one of the other members of his regime while the war was fought, and that person or those persons still have Scott and are moving around with him, trying to hide from our forces, and in that case, we're always going be one step behind unless get more people on ground looking for him.

KAGAN: Which leads to my final question -- are you satisfied with the efforts right now?

WATERS YARSINSKE: I was very impressed by spec ops, and intel in this war in the Gulf. I know it's a large country with a lot of places to look, and Vince Brooks has made it very clear, but I think on Scott's behalf, we need more people on ground that could physically search, more spec ops to look for him, all interconnected with underground facilities, we need to get to those quickly as possible, in the event Scott's been left alone without food and water.

KAGAN: Sounds like nothing you would like more than to write one more chapter for your book, a happy ending.

WATERS YARSINSKE: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Thank you for your time.

WATERS YARSINSKE: Thank you.

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 17, 2003 - 10:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now from Norfolk, Virginia is Amy Waters Yarsinske. She is author of a book about Scott Speicher. It's called "No One Left Behind."
Mrs. Waters Yarsinske, thanks for joining us this morning.

Do you believe from your research that Scott Speicher is still alive and in Iraq?

AMY WATERS YARSINSKE, AUTHOR: I absolutely do, and contrary to what Barbara learned from the Pentagon, it seems like they have a conflict of their information.

KAGAN: How's that?

WATERS YARSINSKE: The current intelligence assessment is that he's still alive, and the team is on the ground over there, the intelligence team, the spec-ops teams are own the ground going through prisons, the bunker cells, gathering information, but the current assessment is that he's still alive.

KAGAN: What do you make the latest reports that he has been spotted?

WATERS YARSINSKE: Not surprised. There is a lot of movement in the upper regime that we're looking for, and we're listening to their signal intelligence, our signal intelligence listening to their phone conversations and trapping sat phones and that sort of thing, so we're getting a lot of pings off of what they are talking about, whether it's when to leave the country or Scott Speicher or whatever going on over there at this time. So we had a lot of openings in our detection ability to learn more about Scott's fate. We just need more people on the ground over there to move fast that are looking for him.

KAGAN: I want to ask you more about that, but first, let me be dubious for a second, for people who -- I'm sure you've heard it all, that people that doubt, why would the Iraqis keep Scott Speicher alive all these years?

WATERS YARSINSKE: It'll be following a pattern, Daryn. They've done this repeatedly with other prisoners. They've kept the Iranians for over 20 years in some cases, and then returned them, never having admitting they had them, and you heard Saddam Hussein refer to as a Stalinist. Well, he's learned that incommunicado strategy is a very powerful tool to use against his enemies. They suggestion that you even suggest you have someone is a very powerful tool. But he's done it with Kuwaitis, he's done it with Iranians, he's done it with Scott, with any number of other people, and kept them for long periods and them turned them loose.

KAGAN: One more doubt here. Since the country has opened up here, since no one's in charge, why hasn't Scott Speicher surfaced? We've seen the other POWs found?

WATERS YARSINSKE: The best option or that is that Saddam put his care in one of the other members of his regime while the war was fought, and that person or those persons still have Scott and are moving around with him, trying to hide from our forces, and in that case, we're always going be one step behind unless get more people on ground looking for him.

KAGAN: Which leads to my final question -- are you satisfied with the efforts right now?

WATERS YARSINSKE: I was very impressed by spec ops, and intel in this war in the Gulf. I know it's a large country with a lot of places to look, and Vince Brooks has made it very clear, but I think on Scott's behalf, we need more people on ground that could physically search, more spec ops to look for him, all interconnected with underground facilities, we need to get to those quickly as possible, in the event Scott's been left alone without food and water.

KAGAN: Sounds like nothing you would like more than to write one more chapter for your book, a happy ending.

WATERS YARSINSKE: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Thank you for your time.

WATERS YARSINSKE: Thank you.

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