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American Morning
Dismantling of Banned Missiles Resumes in Iraq
Aired March 03, 2003 - 07:04 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: More now on our top story this morning in Iraq: the dismantling of banned missiles resumes. So, is that a signal that Baghdad is serious about disarmament?
Nic Robertson is standing by in Baghdad with more.
Good morning -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, Iraqi officials here say that seven to nine missiles, or those Al Samoud 2 missiles, will be destroyed today. The U.N. has said that 10 were destroyed over the weekend.
However, President Saddam Hussein's top scientific advisor said that if the United States acts in an illegal way -- that is, outside of U.N. Resolution 1441 and moves toward war -- then Iraq would stop destroying those missiles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. AMER AL-SA'ADI, HUSSEIN SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR: If it turns out at an early stage during this month that America is not going the legal way, then why should we continue?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, Iraqi officials have also said, following talks late Sunday with U.N. inspectors, that they will submit another report, a detailed report that will explain how they got rid of their VX and anthrax nerve agents. Now, the U.N. has already looked at one version of this report that calls for DNA analysis of soil samples, and the U.N. has already said it doesnt think the proposal Iraq is putting forward will lead to the discovery of how much of these chemical and biological agents Iraq disposed of in the past.
Also, faltering progress on the private interviews with Iraqi scientists. The U.N. in the last three days has requested nine private interviews, but has only succeeded in holding three private interviews with Iraqi scientists. One interview they asked for on Sunday, the Iraqi engineer in question could not be found and didn't show up for the interview. So slow progress there.
Also, President Saddam Hussein meeting with his top military commanders. We got an indication from that meeting of some of the preparations they're making in case of war. They talked about the preparations of urban conflict, about the training given to the soldiers to be ready to fight in the cities, and the fact that they'd already been given two months' worth of ammunition -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic, we've talked a lot over here about the cyber warfare campaign going on with the U.S. gumming up the computers of Iraqi army officers with all kinds of e-mails, and I understand that Saddam Hussein has finally talked about the leaflet campaign that's also ongoing. What does he have to say to the public about that?
ROBERTSON: Well, he was talking with his military commanders, and one of the commanders asked him, what about all of these leaflets that are dropped, telling the soldiers in the south of Iraq in the southern no-fly zone not to fire at the coalition aircraft. President Saddam Hussein just brushed it aside. He said we weren't defeated -- your battalion wasn't defeated fighting the Iranian forces back in the 1980s; they're not going to be defeated by this.
The cyber warfare is a very interesting aspect to the possible war. Very little in the way of Internet available to the public here. Most people don't have access to it. Mobile phones and e-mail are really a part of the 21st century, if you will, that haven't caught on here yet -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, thanks for the update from Baghdad.
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 March 3, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our top story this morning in Iraq: the dismantling of banned missiles resumes. So, is that a signal that Baghdad is serious about disarmament?
Nic Robertson is standing by in Baghdad with more.
Good morning -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, Iraqi officials here say that seven to nine missiles, or those Al Samoud 2 missiles, will be destroyed today. The U.N. has said that 10 were destroyed over the weekend.
However, President Saddam Hussein's top scientific advisor said that if the United States acts in an illegal way -- that is, outside of U.N. Resolution 1441 and moves toward war -- then Iraq would stop destroying those missiles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. AMER AL-SA'ADI, HUSSEIN SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR: If it turns out at an early stage during this month that America is not going the legal way, then why should we continue?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, Iraqi officials have also said, following talks late Sunday with U.N. inspectors, that they will submit another report, a detailed report that will explain how they got rid of their VX and anthrax nerve agents. Now, the U.N. has already looked at one version of this report that calls for DNA analysis of soil samples, and the U.N. has already said it doesnt think the proposal Iraq is putting forward will lead to the discovery of how much of these chemical and biological agents Iraq disposed of in the past.
Also, faltering progress on the private interviews with Iraqi scientists. The U.N. in the last three days has requested nine private interviews, but has only succeeded in holding three private interviews with Iraqi scientists. One interview they asked for on Sunday, the Iraqi engineer in question could not be found and didn't show up for the interview. So slow progress there.
Also, President Saddam Hussein meeting with his top military commanders. We got an indication from that meeting of some of the preparations they're making in case of war. They talked about the preparations of urban conflict, about the training given to the soldiers to be ready to fight in the cities, and the fact that they'd already been given two months' worth of ammunition -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic, we've talked a lot over here about the cyber warfare campaign going on with the U.S. gumming up the computers of Iraqi army officers with all kinds of e-mails, and I understand that Saddam Hussein has finally talked about the leaflet campaign that's also ongoing. What does he have to say to the public about that?
ROBERTSON: Well, he was talking with his military commanders, and one of the commanders asked him, what about all of these leaflets that are dropped, telling the soldiers in the south of Iraq in the southern no-fly zone not to fire at the coalition aircraft. President Saddam Hussein just brushed it aside. He said we weren't defeated -- your battalion wasn't defeated fighting the Iranian forces back in the 1980s; they're not going to be defeated by this.
The cyber warfare is a very interesting aspect to the possible war. Very little in the way of Internet available to the public here. Most people don't have access to it. Mobile phones and e-mail are really a part of the 21st century, if you will, that haven't caught on here yet -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, thanks for the update from Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
