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American Morning
Saddam Speaks
Aired January 06, 2003 - 08:32 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the issue of Iraq. Surprise weapons inspections from the air will soon get underway in Iraq. The latest development comes just as that country marks Army Day.
President Saddam Hussein used the occasion to accuse the U.N. team of spying.
Let's check in with our own Rym Brahimi. He joins us live from Baghdad with more on the speech and the U.S. reaction to it.
Good morning, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
As you mentioned, the Iraqi president accused the U.N. weapons inspectors who are here on the ground fulfilling their mission of spying. He said the way they were going about their work had nothing to do with disarming Iraq or searching for weapons, but rather he said gathering intelligence.
Let's listen to how he put that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM HUSSEIN, IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): The inspection teams are interested in collecting names and making lists of Iraqi scientists, addressing employees with questions that carry hidden agendas, giving special attention to military camps, to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) production and to other matters, all or most of which constitute purely intelligence work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, the president, as we mentioned, was addressing the nation on Army Day. It's actually the 82nd anniversary of Iraq's armed forces, and earlier on in the day, there was a celebration or, rather, a ceremony that was led by the vice president or the -- he's the president also of the Baath Ruling Party Revolutionary Command Council is the whole Iraqi members of cabinet were there. The whole high-ranking members of the Baath ruling party were there to attend the ceremony.
Now, among the other points that President Saddam Hussein made as he addressed the nation in that speech, were he addressed the crisis, the current crisis. Of course, that celebration has particular significance today, Paula, in light of the current buildup of U.S. forces in the region, and that was something the president addressed, saying that the U.S. was threatening not only Iraq, but also the rest of the region, because it wanted to dominate the entire region, to protect its own interests, but also to secure the interests of Israel. He also said the U.S. needed to do that right now to divert the American public opinion from its own failures, saying that the U.S. administration had failed the American people, had failed to prevent the September 11th attacks, had failed them with the economy, saying that the U.S. economy was almost collapsing and saying that U.S. had also failed in Afghanistan.
And then, finally, Paula, in what seemed to be a response to a lot of speculation around over what the Iraqi army would do if, indeed, there were a U.S.-led invasion in Iraq. The Iraqi president said he was confident that the army would stand firm and protect the nation -- Paula.
ZAHN: That was an interesting choice of words, particularly since a large part of the army abandoned him in Desert Storm. But we very much appreciate your update, Rym, and see you in our next hour.
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
Aired January 6, 2003 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the issue of Iraq. Surprise weapons inspections from the air will soon get underway in Iraq. The latest development comes just as that country marks Army Day.
President Saddam Hussein used the occasion to accuse the U.N. team of spying.
Let's check in with our own Rym Brahimi. He joins us live from Baghdad with more on the speech and the U.S. reaction to it.
Good morning, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
As you mentioned, the Iraqi president accused the U.N. weapons inspectors who are here on the ground fulfilling their mission of spying. He said the way they were going about their work had nothing to do with disarming Iraq or searching for weapons, but rather he said gathering intelligence.
Let's listen to how he put that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADDAM HUSSEIN, IRAQI PRESIDENT (through translator): The inspection teams are interested in collecting names and making lists of Iraqi scientists, addressing employees with questions that carry hidden agendas, giving special attention to military camps, to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) production and to other matters, all or most of which constitute purely intelligence work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, the president, as we mentioned, was addressing the nation on Army Day. It's actually the 82nd anniversary of Iraq's armed forces, and earlier on in the day, there was a celebration or, rather, a ceremony that was led by the vice president or the -- he's the president also of the Baath Ruling Party Revolutionary Command Council is the whole Iraqi members of cabinet were there. The whole high-ranking members of the Baath ruling party were there to attend the ceremony.
Now, among the other points that President Saddam Hussein made as he addressed the nation in that speech, were he addressed the crisis, the current crisis. Of course, that celebration has particular significance today, Paula, in light of the current buildup of U.S. forces in the region, and that was something the president addressed, saying that the U.S. was threatening not only Iraq, but also the rest of the region, because it wanted to dominate the entire region, to protect its own interests, but also to secure the interests of Israel. He also said the U.S. needed to do that right now to divert the American public opinion from its own failures, saying that the U.S. administration had failed the American people, had failed to prevent the September 11th attacks, had failed them with the economy, saying that the U.S. economy was almost collapsing and saying that U.S. had also failed in Afghanistan.
And then, finally, Paula, in what seemed to be a response to a lot of speculation around over what the Iraqi army would do if, indeed, there were a U.S.-led invasion in Iraq. The Iraqi president said he was confident that the army would stand firm and protect the nation -- Paula.
ZAHN: That was an interesting choice of words, particularly since a large part of the army abandoned him in Desert Storm. But we very much appreciate your update, Rym, and see you in our next hour.
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
