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American Morning
Discussion with Senator Bill Nelson
Aired July 10, 2003 - 08:35 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, a member of the Armed Services Committee, just back from Iraq. He's our guest right now back in D.C.
Senator, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
SEN. BILL NELSON (D-FL), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Your assessment of whether or not the U.S. Army right now and special forces in that country are making any progress, any inroads against these former members of the Baath regime targeting American soldiers now on a daily basis?
NELSON: Bill, we're making progress. But it is under very, very difficult conditions. I saw that progress, for example, on the street corners. Economic activity is coming back. I saw stacks of crates of refrigerators and stoves.
But your report is a very accurate one from Nic Robertson. It is very hazardous. There seems to be premeditated assassinations that are going on on, probably planned before the war. And they have two different methods. They'll sneak up through crowds to security being provided by our soldiers, and then they will shoot them in the head and then slip off into the crowd. A Florida National Guardsman was killed Sunday night that way.
And then two days ago, another technique is they'll put a land mine on a road, and when the convoy comes by with the Humvee, they will then detonate it from a remote-controlled device, and that has been very successful. But our troops' morale amazingly is still very, very high.
HEMMER: You said something in there I want to pick up on. You say this was planned before the war, possibly. Where's the evidence for that, senator?
NELSON: It's almost too professionally executed. This isn't just a bunch of thugs running around. This is a group of Saddam loyalists, probably the Fedayeen, that are in a premeditated way thinking that they're going to demoralize us and make us get out. But they're not.
HEMMER: How do you beat them, then?
NELSON: Well, what you do is you get Ambassador Bremer to be successful by getting the country stabilized economically and politically, as he is trying to do. The problem is, we need about eleven Bremers, instead of just one. And then the people will start coming. And then, of course, if you get Saddam, then you've taken away a major cause for their resistance.
HEMMER: What do you make of the secretary of defense yesterday on Capitol Hill saying this is costing the U.S. now $3.9 billion per month.
NELSON: Well, he testified to our Senate Armed Services Committee, and finally admitted, under intense questioning by Senator Byrd of West Virginia, that exact figure. Also, you saw a little bit of difference between the secretary and General Franks, in that the general said the 150,000 troops that we have in there and the 80,000 in the Gulf region supporting those 150,000, they're going to be there for a long time.
HEMMER: Listen, earlier, I mentioned the economic progress that you have noted on the streets and the sidewalks. The reports we're getting is that Iraqis cannot get these services fast enough. And I know there's been progress, but there's still a lot of work to be done, too, in the near future. You've also gotten an opportunity to go to the jail cell where it's believed that Scott Speicher, a Navy pilot downed at the beginning of the Gulf War back in January of 1991 is believed to have been held. About a month ago, we saw this videotape that came back to us with his initials, it looked like his initials, carved into this wall.
Is there reason to believe right now, did you have evidence on this trip, that should give Scott Speicher's surviving family reason to believe that he may still be alive and present in Iraq?
NELSON: Yes, Bill. For the first time, I'm optimistic. It doesn't mean that he's alive. But I'm optimistic that we are finally going to be able to ascertain the fate of Captain Speicher. There is new evidence. It is evidence that he is starting to give us a clue, as to what happened. Now, I can't tell you what the evidence is. But I can tell you, in the sifting through, for example, all the rubble that the Speicher team was doing while I was in that prison, in the talking to all of the these Iraqis that are now beginning to speak, and going to different locations, in piecing all of that together, I have optimism for the first time in a couple of months.
HEMMER: All right, listen, I know you can't talk about the specifics that you learned over there. But many people said you're just giving the family false hope in the end here. What is the incentive, in the few short seconds we have left here, what's the incentive for the Iraqis to still hold this captain 12, 13 years later now?
NELSON: Well, I don't think there's any incentive. And I think that's why, if he's held by the Fedayeen, we've got to break them down, and ultimately, be able to rescue him. And then if they have already executed him, we have to then get the proof of that. That family, you're right, has been through -- to Hell and back, and they at least need to know.
HEMMER: Thank you, senator. Bill Nelson, the Democrat from Florida with us in D.C. Nice to talk to you again.
NELSON: Thanks, Bill.
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 July 10, 2003 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, a member of the Armed Services Committee, just back from Iraq. He's our guest right now back in D.C.
Senator, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
SEN. BILL NELSON (D-FL), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thank you, Bill.
HEMMER: Your assessment of whether or not the U.S. Army right now and special forces in that country are making any progress, any inroads against these former members of the Baath regime targeting American soldiers now on a daily basis?
NELSON: Bill, we're making progress. But it is under very, very difficult conditions. I saw that progress, for example, on the street corners. Economic activity is coming back. I saw stacks of crates of refrigerators and stoves.
But your report is a very accurate one from Nic Robertson. It is very hazardous. There seems to be premeditated assassinations that are going on on, probably planned before the war. And they have two different methods. They'll sneak up through crowds to security being provided by our soldiers, and then they will shoot them in the head and then slip off into the crowd. A Florida National Guardsman was killed Sunday night that way.
And then two days ago, another technique is they'll put a land mine on a road, and when the convoy comes by with the Humvee, they will then detonate it from a remote-controlled device, and that has been very successful. But our troops' morale amazingly is still very, very high.
HEMMER: You said something in there I want to pick up on. You say this was planned before the war, possibly. Where's the evidence for that, senator?
NELSON: It's almost too professionally executed. This isn't just a bunch of thugs running around. This is a group of Saddam loyalists, probably the Fedayeen, that are in a premeditated way thinking that they're going to demoralize us and make us get out. But they're not.
HEMMER: How do you beat them, then?
NELSON: Well, what you do is you get Ambassador Bremer to be successful by getting the country stabilized economically and politically, as he is trying to do. The problem is, we need about eleven Bremers, instead of just one. And then the people will start coming. And then, of course, if you get Saddam, then you've taken away a major cause for their resistance.
HEMMER: What do you make of the secretary of defense yesterday on Capitol Hill saying this is costing the U.S. now $3.9 billion per month.
NELSON: Well, he testified to our Senate Armed Services Committee, and finally admitted, under intense questioning by Senator Byrd of West Virginia, that exact figure. Also, you saw a little bit of difference between the secretary and General Franks, in that the general said the 150,000 troops that we have in there and the 80,000 in the Gulf region supporting those 150,000, they're going to be there for a long time.
HEMMER: Listen, earlier, I mentioned the economic progress that you have noted on the streets and the sidewalks. The reports we're getting is that Iraqis cannot get these services fast enough. And I know there's been progress, but there's still a lot of work to be done, too, in the near future. You've also gotten an opportunity to go to the jail cell where it's believed that Scott Speicher, a Navy pilot downed at the beginning of the Gulf War back in January of 1991 is believed to have been held. About a month ago, we saw this videotape that came back to us with his initials, it looked like his initials, carved into this wall.
Is there reason to believe right now, did you have evidence on this trip, that should give Scott Speicher's surviving family reason to believe that he may still be alive and present in Iraq?
NELSON: Yes, Bill. For the first time, I'm optimistic. It doesn't mean that he's alive. But I'm optimistic that we are finally going to be able to ascertain the fate of Captain Speicher. There is new evidence. It is evidence that he is starting to give us a clue, as to what happened. Now, I can't tell you what the evidence is. But I can tell you, in the sifting through, for example, all the rubble that the Speicher team was doing while I was in that prison, in the talking to all of the these Iraqis that are now beginning to speak, and going to different locations, in piecing all of that together, I have optimism for the first time in a couple of months.
HEMMER: All right, listen, I know you can't talk about the specifics that you learned over there. But many people said you're just giving the family false hope in the end here. What is the incentive, in the few short seconds we have left here, what's the incentive for the Iraqis to still hold this captain 12, 13 years later now?
NELSON: Well, I don't think there's any incentive. And I think that's why, if he's held by the Fedayeen, we've got to break them down, and ultimately, be able to rescue him. And then if they have already executed him, we have to then get the proof of that. That family, you're right, has been through -- to Hell and back, and they at least need to know.
HEMMER: Thank you, senator. Bill Nelson, the Democrat from Florida with us in D.C. Nice to talk to you again.
NELSON: Thanks, Bill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
