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American Morning
Message Said to be From Saddam Urging Iraqis to Drive U.S. Forces Out
Aired September 18, 2003 - 07:20 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: A taped message said to be from Saddam Hussein urging Iraqis yesterday to drive U.S. forces out of that country. Al-Arabiyah broadcast a 14 minute audiotape calling for jihad yet again against the Americans. The CIA is watching that tape right now, studying it for authenticity.
Our CNN analyst, Ken Pollack, live with us today from our Rome bureau to talk about the latest on this.
And, Ken, welcome back from half a world away.
For our viewers, listen to a portion of the message from yesterday from that tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Oh, Iraqis, oh fighters, men and women, you must tighten the noose around the Americans and increase your attacks against them. You must conduct jihad by all means possible, financial and otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Much of that message yesterday, we've heard it before. What was interesting is that Nic Robertson went out, and at least for the Iraqis he spoke with in Baghdad, many people did not seem to care much. If that's the case throughout the rest of the country, what does that tell you?
KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Well, I think that what it suggests is that Saddam Hussein is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the course of developments in Iraq.
HEMMER: Ken, I apologize there. We're going to try and get your microphone up just a little louder so we all can hear you. I'm going to try it again, Ken, again. Give it a shot right now.
What does it tell you that a lot of Iraqis, at least Nic had contact with, seem to not care about this latest message?
All right, that's a problem. We apologize. We can bring you in a hurricane from North Carolina, but a bit of a difficulty there from Rome.
Ken Pollack, our CNN analyst.
If we can reestablish it, we'll get you back to it.
(INTERRUPTED BY AUDIO PROBLEMS)
HEMMER: Three times a charm. Live to Rome and Ken Pollack yet again.
Ken, a very important question here about the observations in Baghdad after this tape. What are yours after hearing the reports that a lot of Iraqis, frankly, do not care?
POLLACK: Well, I think that this is a really a critical point. Saddam Hussein is becoming less and less relevant to developments in Iraq. Yes, there are still some people out there who are attacking Americans on his behalf. But even that number seems to be diminishing and instead al Qaeda fighters seem to be on the rise as the biggest problem for the United States.
And for the average Iraqi, the biggest problem now is not Saddam Hussein and the possibility he's going to come back. They seem pretty certain that he isn't. Their biggest problem is getting the lights on, getting the power running and dealing with problems like the oil fire that we're seeing today. That's their biggest problem, not Saddam.
HEMMER: What do you make of the comments we heard from the White House yesterday, President Bush saying directly to John King that there is no connection they have found that ties Saddam Hussein to the attacks of 9/11, this after the vice president said they did not know on Sunday.
I'm not sure if we can say if this is a reversal of opinion from the White House, but from an outsider's perspective, what do you take away from the comments we've collected now over the past four days?
POLLACK: Well, I think this is a very important statement by President Bush, making it very definitive that the administration cannot find any link between al Qaeda and Iraq. And what that suggests is that, again, part of the administration's reason, rationale for war, and, importantly, rationale for going to war this year, has seemed to have slipped aside. And I think it's the president coming forward -- just as before the weapons of mass destruction debate, he seemed to be in the background and I think that his advisers felt that it was a mistake for him not to have come forward and say you know what, we made a mistake with the uranium from Niger.
This time the president's going to come right out forward and center and say we have not found any evidence. We still believe that the war was right to do, but we can't necessarily tie Saddam, and let's put an end to any of the debate about whether we can or we can't.
HEMMER: And they make it clear, too, going forward, they still believe there was a link to al Qaeda, but not a link to the attacks of two years ago.
POLLACK: Correct.
HEMMER: Ken, thanks for being patient with us.
From Rome, Ken Pollack.
POLLACK: Any time, Bill.
HEMMER: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Forces Out>
Aired September 18, 2003 - 07:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A taped message said to be from Saddam Hussein urging Iraqis yesterday to drive U.S. forces out of that country. Al-Arabiyah broadcast a 14 minute audiotape calling for jihad yet again against the Americans. The CIA is watching that tape right now, studying it for authenticity.
Our CNN analyst, Ken Pollack, live with us today from our Rome bureau to talk about the latest on this.
And, Ken, welcome back from half a world away.
For our viewers, listen to a portion of the message from yesterday from that tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Oh, Iraqis, oh fighters, men and women, you must tighten the noose around the Americans and increase your attacks against them. You must conduct jihad by all means possible, financial and otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Much of that message yesterday, we've heard it before. What was interesting is that Nic Robertson went out, and at least for the Iraqis he spoke with in Baghdad, many people did not seem to care much. If that's the case throughout the rest of the country, what does that tell you?
KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Well, I think that what it suggests is that Saddam Hussein is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the course of developments in Iraq.
HEMMER: Ken, I apologize there. We're going to try and get your microphone up just a little louder so we all can hear you. I'm going to try it again, Ken, again. Give it a shot right now.
What does it tell you that a lot of Iraqis, at least Nic had contact with, seem to not care about this latest message?
All right, that's a problem. We apologize. We can bring you in a hurricane from North Carolina, but a bit of a difficulty there from Rome.
Ken Pollack, our CNN analyst.
If we can reestablish it, we'll get you back to it.
(INTERRUPTED BY AUDIO PROBLEMS)
HEMMER: Three times a charm. Live to Rome and Ken Pollack yet again.
Ken, a very important question here about the observations in Baghdad after this tape. What are yours after hearing the reports that a lot of Iraqis, frankly, do not care?
POLLACK: Well, I think that this is a really a critical point. Saddam Hussein is becoming less and less relevant to developments in Iraq. Yes, there are still some people out there who are attacking Americans on his behalf. But even that number seems to be diminishing and instead al Qaeda fighters seem to be on the rise as the biggest problem for the United States.
And for the average Iraqi, the biggest problem now is not Saddam Hussein and the possibility he's going to come back. They seem pretty certain that he isn't. Their biggest problem is getting the lights on, getting the power running and dealing with problems like the oil fire that we're seeing today. That's their biggest problem, not Saddam.
HEMMER: What do you make of the comments we heard from the White House yesterday, President Bush saying directly to John King that there is no connection they have found that ties Saddam Hussein to the attacks of 9/11, this after the vice president said they did not know on Sunday.
I'm not sure if we can say if this is a reversal of opinion from the White House, but from an outsider's perspective, what do you take away from the comments we've collected now over the past four days?
POLLACK: Well, I think this is a very important statement by President Bush, making it very definitive that the administration cannot find any link between al Qaeda and Iraq. And what that suggests is that, again, part of the administration's reason, rationale for war, and, importantly, rationale for going to war this year, has seemed to have slipped aside. And I think it's the president coming forward -- just as before the weapons of mass destruction debate, he seemed to be in the background and I think that his advisers felt that it was a mistake for him not to have come forward and say you know what, we made a mistake with the uranium from Niger.
This time the president's going to come right out forward and center and say we have not found any evidence. We still believe that the war was right to do, but we can't necessarily tie Saddam, and let's put an end to any of the debate about whether we can or we can't.
HEMMER: And they make it clear, too, going forward, they still believe there was a link to al Qaeda, but not a link to the attacks of two years ago.
POLLACK: Correct.
HEMMER: Ken, thanks for being patient with us.
From Rome, Ken Pollack.
POLLACK: Any time, Bill.
HEMMER: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Forces Out>
