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American Morning

U.S. Officials Think Saddam Hussein May be Playing Direct Role

Aired October 31, 2003 - 8:08   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials think Saddam Hussein may be playing a direct role in anti-American attacks in Iraq. In a report in this morning's "New York Times", the officials cite intelligence reports that Hussein is a leader in the Iraqi opposition. But they also say those reports are far from conclusive.
CNN analyst Ken Pollack is here with us from Washington to try to make it a little more conclusive for us. Ken, good to have you with us.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Thanks, Miles. Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: What do you make of those reports? Would you put a lot of credence into them?

POLLACK: Well, I think that U.S. intelligence is starting to get a much better handle on what's going on. They're making captures of important people, they're starting to get better cooperation from Iraqis. And that seems to be filling out to a certain extent the picture that they have of how Saddam's terrorists are operating against U.S. forces. Also giving them a little bit more of an insight into how some of the foreign operatives are working. So it seems reasonable to believe that because of these New sources, the New information they're getting is probably more solid than it was even say a few months ago.

O'BRIEN: Now, I heard you say before the war that Saddam Hussein, once he is out of power, becomes irrelevant. Apparently that may not be the case. Maybe Saddam Hussein has changed roles, though, to that of a terrorist leader.

POLLACK: Well, what you heard me say before the war was that Saddam Hussein becomes irrelevant to the course of Iraq's reconstruction. By and large, I think that that is still true. Saddam Hussein probably is not going to come back into power. In fact, I'd be willing to bet a lot of money on it.

That said, he is not completely irrelevant because he is still able to direct these attacks. We have to keep in mind, though, and it's really important, Saddam is not the only cause of these attacks. There are a number of different groups inside of Iraq that are launching attacks on Americans.

If Saddam Hussein were somehow eliminated tomorrow, I don't think you'd see these attacks stop. You might see them abate for a little bit, you might see them lessened in some ways. But the attacks would continue. And ultimately, the success or failure of the reconstruction of Iraq is not going to hinge on what Saddam Hussein does.

He is out there. He is going to be a constant irritant. He will try to bloody U.S. forces. But he's not going to be the one who determines where Iraq goes.

That's going to be determined mostly at this point in time by the United States, the decisions that we make, whether we're able to bring on board additional allies, and what we're able to do, how we're able to help the Iraqi people. That's ultimately what's going to matter.

O'BRIEN: Now, in that tape that was playing just as you were speaking, Saddam Hussein was pulling a sword out. The sheath was held by Izzat Ibrahim who is in the inner most inner circle and is supposedly part of this terrorist campaign and the orchestration of it. Do you buy that story, as well? And if so, what's the significance of that?

POLLACK: Well, there's no reason not to believe it. Again, it seems like it's coming from a decent source. U.S. intelligence has gotten a hold of a number of people who were assisting Saddam's loyalists if these kind of attacks. We know that there are a number of ties out there. They seem to have pretty good information.

It makes sense also, because Izzat Ibrahim is exactly the kind of person who Saddam Hussein would be turning to, to run these kinds of operations. He is a long-time friend of Saddam's, they rose together in the Ba'ath Party. He is completely committed to Saddam Hussein, and he is one of Saddam Hussein's ultimate thugs. He is the guy who Saddam turned to time and again to slaughter people, to do the nastiest, worst, most horrible things that his regime was capable of doing.

O'BRIEN: If you're looking for half-full here, I guess you could say that if, in fact, all of this bears itself out, that Hussein and Ibrahim are orchestrating all this, perhaps in concert with al Qaeda operatives, they would leave a fairly significant footprint.

POLLACK: There's no question about that. Although it's kind of interesting to me that if Izzat Ibrahim is conducting these attacks, coordinating them in the Baghdad area, he's a very recognizable figure.

You saw his picture. He's got red hair in a country that's overwhelmingly dark haired. He's very well known to Iraqis. If he is moving around Baghdad freely, that, I think, tells us something about the security environment there, that still U.S. forces don't have a complete control over the situation in Baghdad.

But I think that the bigger thing to point to, Miles, really is the passage of the $87 billion by the House last night. Because ultimately, if the problems in Iraq are going to abate, it's going to take a long time and they're going to abate because the U.S. is going to change the political and economic climate. Not because we're going to track down every last one of Saddam's terrorists.

O'BRIEN: So that is good news then from your viewpoint? POLLACK: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: All right. Ken Pollack, thanks, as always. Appreciate it.

POLLACK: Thank you, Miles.





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Aired October 31, 2003 - 8:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials think Saddam Hussein may be playing a direct role in anti-American attacks in Iraq. In a report in this morning's "New York Times", the officials cite intelligence reports that Hussein is a leader in the Iraqi opposition. But they also say those reports are far from conclusive.
CNN analyst Ken Pollack is here with us from Washington to try to make it a little more conclusive for us. Ken, good to have you with us.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Thanks, Miles. Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: What do you make of those reports? Would you put a lot of credence into them?

POLLACK: Well, I think that U.S. intelligence is starting to get a much better handle on what's going on. They're making captures of important people, they're starting to get better cooperation from Iraqis. And that seems to be filling out to a certain extent the picture that they have of how Saddam's terrorists are operating against U.S. forces. Also giving them a little bit more of an insight into how some of the foreign operatives are working. So it seems reasonable to believe that because of these New sources, the New information they're getting is probably more solid than it was even say a few months ago.

O'BRIEN: Now, I heard you say before the war that Saddam Hussein, once he is out of power, becomes irrelevant. Apparently that may not be the case. Maybe Saddam Hussein has changed roles, though, to that of a terrorist leader.

POLLACK: Well, what you heard me say before the war was that Saddam Hussein becomes irrelevant to the course of Iraq's reconstruction. By and large, I think that that is still true. Saddam Hussein probably is not going to come back into power. In fact, I'd be willing to bet a lot of money on it.

That said, he is not completely irrelevant because he is still able to direct these attacks. We have to keep in mind, though, and it's really important, Saddam is not the only cause of these attacks. There are a number of different groups inside of Iraq that are launching attacks on Americans.

If Saddam Hussein were somehow eliminated tomorrow, I don't think you'd see these attacks stop. You might see them abate for a little bit, you might see them lessened in some ways. But the attacks would continue. And ultimately, the success or failure of the reconstruction of Iraq is not going to hinge on what Saddam Hussein does.

He is out there. He is going to be a constant irritant. He will try to bloody U.S. forces. But he's not going to be the one who determines where Iraq goes.

That's going to be determined mostly at this point in time by the United States, the decisions that we make, whether we're able to bring on board additional allies, and what we're able to do, how we're able to help the Iraqi people. That's ultimately what's going to matter.

O'BRIEN: Now, in that tape that was playing just as you were speaking, Saddam Hussein was pulling a sword out. The sheath was held by Izzat Ibrahim who is in the inner most inner circle and is supposedly part of this terrorist campaign and the orchestration of it. Do you buy that story, as well? And if so, what's the significance of that?

POLLACK: Well, there's no reason not to believe it. Again, it seems like it's coming from a decent source. U.S. intelligence has gotten a hold of a number of people who were assisting Saddam's loyalists if these kind of attacks. We know that there are a number of ties out there. They seem to have pretty good information.

It makes sense also, because Izzat Ibrahim is exactly the kind of person who Saddam Hussein would be turning to, to run these kinds of operations. He is a long-time friend of Saddam's, they rose together in the Ba'ath Party. He is completely committed to Saddam Hussein, and he is one of Saddam Hussein's ultimate thugs. He is the guy who Saddam turned to time and again to slaughter people, to do the nastiest, worst, most horrible things that his regime was capable of doing.

O'BRIEN: If you're looking for half-full here, I guess you could say that if, in fact, all of this bears itself out, that Hussein and Ibrahim are orchestrating all this, perhaps in concert with al Qaeda operatives, they would leave a fairly significant footprint.

POLLACK: There's no question about that. Although it's kind of interesting to me that if Izzat Ibrahim is conducting these attacks, coordinating them in the Baghdad area, he's a very recognizable figure.

You saw his picture. He's got red hair in a country that's overwhelmingly dark haired. He's very well known to Iraqis. If he is moving around Baghdad freely, that, I think, tells us something about the security environment there, that still U.S. forces don't have a complete control over the situation in Baghdad.

But I think that the bigger thing to point to, Miles, really is the passage of the $87 billion by the House last night. Because ultimately, if the problems in Iraq are going to abate, it's going to take a long time and they're going to abate because the U.S. is going to change the political and economic climate. Not because we're going to track down every last one of Saddam's terrorists.

O'BRIEN: So that is good news then from your viewpoint? POLLACK: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: All right. Ken Pollack, thanks, as always. Appreciate it.

POLLACK: Thank you, Miles.





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