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Guerrilla Attacks on U.S. Troops Strategically, Operationally Insignificant

Aired November 03, 2003 - 11:35   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: The downing of an American transport helicopter in Iraq and the deaths of 16 soldiers raised new concerns today about the occupation. Is there an organized insurgency? Could the Bush administration rethink its strategy?
We have ken Pollack on the phone, a CNN analyst and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, joining us, as I said, on the phone. Ken, good morning.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Hi, Daryn. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing just great. And we will be going to the president as soon as he starts making those remarks.

Meanwhile, I want to ask you about some comments form the top commander, U.S. commander Iraq. He said on Saturday that these guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops strategically and operationally are insignificant. That was Saturday.

Sunday this huge attack on the Chinook helicopter. How does that change things?

POLLACK: Obviously, Daryn, we're engaged in a guerrilla war. We've known that for quite some time. And while it's certainly true that tactically none of these attacks is terrible significant, in some ways it's also irrelevant. Tactical attacks in guerrilla wars are never what matters.

What matters is hearts and minds. What matters to the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and the hearts and minds of the American people.

If the American people get tired of taking these casualties, if they believe that the war is unwinnable and that the administration has the wrong strategy, then these kind of little tactical defeats are going to matter a great deal.

KAGAN: Which brings to mind the question of who is doing this and who is behind this. Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday on "Meet The Press" he believes Saddam Hussein is in the country and that he's probably in northern Iraq.

POLLACK: I think that's probably true. I think Saddam probably is still in Iraq. It's not like him to have left the country. Given the difficulty that the United States is having in securing him and the last of his loyalists, it does seem like he is able to operate within the country.

Beyond that, though, I think we have to recognize that there are a range of different threats out there. And Saddam Hussein is not the only problem.

I'm somewhat concerned that we're getting fixated on Saddam Hussein. There are a number of different groups inside of Iraq who don't want the United States there and are willing to kill Americans to try to drive the Americans out.

Certainly capturing Saddam Hussein would be wonderful for the Iraqi people. And it probably would have some emilierating (ph) effect on the insurgency overall.

But I don't think that we should assume that just getting Saddam Hussein is going to solve all of these problems.

KAGAN: So you see this as a bigger problem?

POLLACK: Absolutely. You know, we've got a number of people in Iraq who want nothing to do with Saddam Hussein, but also don't like the United States. We've got al Qaeda fighters who are moving into Iraq. And other foreign jihadists who are moving into the country.

You've got Sunni tribesmen who may or may not like Saddam Hussein, but who believe that the United States is taking Iraq in a direction that is going to disenfranchise them and put the country in the hands of the Shi'a and Kurds to their disadvantage.

All of these different groups are very small percentages of the Iraqi population. But they're all out there, and they all have their own reasons for wanting to shoot and kill Americans, as in many cases some having nothing to do with Saddam Hussein.

KAGAN: All right, Ken Pollack, thanks for joining us on the phone. We appreciate it.

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




Operationally Insignificant>


Aired November 3, 2003 - 11:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The downing of an American transport helicopter in Iraq and the deaths of 16 soldiers raised new concerns today about the occupation. Is there an organized insurgency? Could the Bush administration rethink its strategy?
We have ken Pollack on the phone, a CNN analyst and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, joining us, as I said, on the phone. Ken, good morning.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Hi, Daryn. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing just great. And we will be going to the president as soon as he starts making those remarks.

Meanwhile, I want to ask you about some comments form the top commander, U.S. commander Iraq. He said on Saturday that these guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops strategically and operationally are insignificant. That was Saturday.

Sunday this huge attack on the Chinook helicopter. How does that change things?

POLLACK: Obviously, Daryn, we're engaged in a guerrilla war. We've known that for quite some time. And while it's certainly true that tactically none of these attacks is terrible significant, in some ways it's also irrelevant. Tactical attacks in guerrilla wars are never what matters.

What matters is hearts and minds. What matters to the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and the hearts and minds of the American people.

If the American people get tired of taking these casualties, if they believe that the war is unwinnable and that the administration has the wrong strategy, then these kind of little tactical defeats are going to matter a great deal.

KAGAN: Which brings to mind the question of who is doing this and who is behind this. Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday on "Meet The Press" he believes Saddam Hussein is in the country and that he's probably in northern Iraq.

POLLACK: I think that's probably true. I think Saddam probably is still in Iraq. It's not like him to have left the country. Given the difficulty that the United States is having in securing him and the last of his loyalists, it does seem like he is able to operate within the country.

Beyond that, though, I think we have to recognize that there are a range of different threats out there. And Saddam Hussein is not the only problem.

I'm somewhat concerned that we're getting fixated on Saddam Hussein. There are a number of different groups inside of Iraq who don't want the United States there and are willing to kill Americans to try to drive the Americans out.

Certainly capturing Saddam Hussein would be wonderful for the Iraqi people. And it probably would have some emilierating (ph) effect on the insurgency overall.

But I don't think that we should assume that just getting Saddam Hussein is going to solve all of these problems.

KAGAN: So you see this as a bigger problem?

POLLACK: Absolutely. You know, we've got a number of people in Iraq who want nothing to do with Saddam Hussein, but also don't like the United States. We've got al Qaeda fighters who are moving into Iraq. And other foreign jihadists who are moving into the country.

You've got Sunni tribesmen who may or may not like Saddam Hussein, but who believe that the United States is taking Iraq in a direction that is going to disenfranchise them and put the country in the hands of the Shi'a and Kurds to their disadvantage.

All of these different groups are very small percentages of the Iraqi population. But they're all out there, and they all have their own reasons for wanting to shoot and kill Americans, as in many cases some having nothing to do with Saddam Hussein.

KAGAN: All right, Ken Pollack, thanks for joining us on the phone. We appreciate it.

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




Operationally Insignificant>