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American Morning
Saddam's Next Move
Aired March 18, 2003 - 09:13 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Con Coughlin is the author, "Saddam: King of Terror," now joins us now live in London.
They say three times is a charm, and we'll see if that's the case right now.
Con, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Your thoughts right now on the defiant voices we are hearing from Iraq already today?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR": Well, I think it's entirely in keeping with Saddam's personality. We've had Saddam saying no to the ultimatum, and we've had his son, Uday, saying no to the ultimatum. And Saddam is going to stand and fight. And as one of your correspondents was saying, Bill, he's going to fight dirty.
HEMMER: Yes, dirty in what sense? Chemical, biological?
COUGHLIN: He will try everything he can. I think -- I seriously think that if he can fire off some chemical weapons, and inflict some casualties, Saddam will be a very happy man.
We have to remember also, Bill, that in this coming conflict, Saddam does not care about Iraqi civilian casualties. Now, we in the West are very concerned about innocent Iraqis being killed. That is not a factor that Saddam takes into consideration.
HEMMER: Yes.
Con, you mentioned that if indeed that is going to be the case, and if you look at the size of the U.S. military right now surrounding his country, clearly, he is outnumbered in terms of men, in terms of technology. Can you frame for us how Saddam Hussein views a victory on his part?
COUGHLIN: Well, the big thought that Saddam will have, and this has governed everything Saddam has done over the last 12 or so years, Saddam believes that the West is weak. And even with this phenomenal military apparatus that is now surrounding him, Saddam still thinks that if he can inflict significant casualties on American and British forces, that they will stop fighting, and that was really what governed him -- governed his thinking during the last war, and that was certainly be governing his thinking now.
HEMMER: Con Coughlin, author of "Saddam: King of Terror," thanks for hanging in there. We had to shorten our interview based on technical problems. But thanks anyway for your time.
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 18, 2003 - 09:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Con Coughlin is the author, "Saddam: King of Terror," now joins us now live in London.
They say three times is a charm, and we'll see if that's the case right now.
Con, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Your thoughts right now on the defiant voices we are hearing from Iraq already today?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR": Well, I think it's entirely in keeping with Saddam's personality. We've had Saddam saying no to the ultimatum, and we've had his son, Uday, saying no to the ultimatum. And Saddam is going to stand and fight. And as one of your correspondents was saying, Bill, he's going to fight dirty.
HEMMER: Yes, dirty in what sense? Chemical, biological?
COUGHLIN: He will try everything he can. I think -- I seriously think that if he can fire off some chemical weapons, and inflict some casualties, Saddam will be a very happy man.
We have to remember also, Bill, that in this coming conflict, Saddam does not care about Iraqi civilian casualties. Now, we in the West are very concerned about innocent Iraqis being killed. That is not a factor that Saddam takes into consideration.
HEMMER: Yes.
Con, you mentioned that if indeed that is going to be the case, and if you look at the size of the U.S. military right now surrounding his country, clearly, he is outnumbered in terms of men, in terms of technology. Can you frame for us how Saddam Hussein views a victory on his part?
COUGHLIN: Well, the big thought that Saddam will have, and this has governed everything Saddam has done over the last 12 or so years, Saddam believes that the West is weak. And even with this phenomenal military apparatus that is now surrounding him, Saddam still thinks that if he can inflict significant casualties on American and British forces, that they will stop fighting, and that was really what governed him -- governed his thinking during the last war, and that was certainly be governing his thinking now.
HEMMER: Con Coughlin, author of "Saddam: King of Terror," thanks for hanging in there. We had to shorten our interview based on technical problems. But thanks anyway for your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
