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Administration Agrees to Hand Over Power to Interim Iraqi Government as Soon as June

Aired November 17, 2003 - 07:32   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: Back to Iraq right now and these large scale attacks against Iraqi insurgents could counterbalance a concession by the White House yesterday. On the eve of the president's trip to London, the administration has agreed to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government as soon as June.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, the first stop for us this morning there -- Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, President Bush returned from Camp David reacting to the extraordinary events over the weekend, the crash of those Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq, killing 17 U.S. soldiers; those twin terrorist attacks in Turkey; and an alleged audiotape of Saddam Hussein. But the president highlighting this new plan with Iraqis to turn power back to them as quickly as possible through a transitional government by June. That would mean the end of a U.S. occupation there. The president insisting that this would protect U.S. security interests, promote democracy and is not a cut and run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Iraq, it was a tough week, but we made progress toward a sovereign and free Iraq. The Iraqi Governing Council has laid out a timetable for the transfer of sovereignty. We're pleased with that timetable. We think it makes sense. On the one hand, the politics is moving on. On the other hand, we're going to stay tough and deal with the terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And part of that, of course, means the presence of U.S. troops to be negotiated at a later time. Also, I should let you know, as you had mentioned, the president is going to be visiting one of his staunchest allies in the war on terror, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was personally invited by the queen. It's a state visit. He'll be staying at the Buckingham Palace. It is expected, however, there will be tens of thousands of protesters in London and the security is going to be unprecedented -- Bill.

HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks.

Suzanne Malveaux on the front lawn this morning.

Attacks against coalition forces by Iraqi insurgents increasing sharply this month. To counter that, U.S. forces mounting their largest military operations of that occupation. It suggests a learning curve on the part of the resistance.

A bit earlier today, I talked with "Time" magazine reporter Brian Bennett.

He has an article out today on newsstands about the insurgents.

The first question, how many are they in Iraq right now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN BENNETT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, General Abizaid came out and said that there could be as many as 5,000 insurgents. And he was actually criticized for possibly underestimating the number. According to my sources, I think the number could even be less than that. If you have, people have told me if you have a well organized, well led resistance force of maybe several hundred or a thousand, they could be inflicting the amount of damage and instigating the amount of chaos that we've seen in the last couple of weeks.

HEMMER: Your article also says the insurgents are getting smarter by the day, maybe by the week.

How do you know this? BENNETT: One source who used to work for the former regime and is now in contact with some of the resistance cell leaders in different parts of the country has said that some of the cell leaders who used to operate independently have now started to come together on a weekly basis. The leaders of these cells are coming together and trading information about the location of U.S. bases, of possible targets and trading information about tactics that have been effective against the American soldiers in the past.

HEMMER: And based on the reporting you've done, Brian, there was a report out last week, a general working in the Sunni Triangle says that this may have been planned prior to the war.

Do you have any evidence that backs that up? BENNETT: As far as I can tell, talking to sources who are close to the resistance and also talking to some American intelligence sources, it doesn't seem like there's an indication that this resistance was planned from the very beginning. The evidence that they give is that there were the first few months when -- then the Americans didn't see that much organized resistance and that it took some time, in fact, maybe a full five months for the former regime members to come together with other people who wanted to oppose the occupation, to organize them, to train them and to identify the proper targets and the proper tactics to attack the Americans.

So it doesn't seem, to some people, and people who are close to the resistance, that they're following a organized plan that was laid out in advance, but that it was a more organic effort that's evolved over the last several months.

HEMMER: And what are you finding out from the Iraqi side as to how much influence Saddam Hussein has today? There was an audiotape over the weekend.

What can we say for certain? BENNETT: Well, one source close to the resistance told me that he knows for a fact that Saddam Hussein has been passing messages through an intermediary to a few resistance cell leaders. That's not to say that Saddam Hussein is orchestrating the resistance attacks on a national level or that he's sitting in a hide out with a sand box deciding where the next attack is going to be, just that he has been passing messages to a few leaders involved in the attacks on the Americans.

As far as Saddam's announcement that came out this week, one interesting thing that he said that could pose major problems for the American presence here is that he said let's try to focus on not just killing the Americans, but killing those Iraqis who are cooperating with the Americans. And this could cause -- since it's much easier to target those Iraqis, this could cause a lot of upheaval and chaos.

HEMMER: Yes. Finally, Brian, the amount of money that some of these insurgents might be being paid, you say about $1,000 for an attack on U.S. troops.

How do you know the money is being paid out? How do you know that this is what's being offered? BENNETT: This comes from both an American colonel operating in Baghdad and also from General Abizaid's speech this last weekend. They know that from talking to captured resistance members who have told them. These American officials say that the motivation for a lot of these men who are planting improvised explosive devices on the side of the road is simply money, that they're unemployed and out of work and looking for a way to make a little cash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: That's Brian Bennett of "Time" magazine working this story in Baghdad.

A reminder, tomorrow here on AMERICAN MORNING, before he leaves for Europe, Colin Powell will be with us on AMERICAN MORNING, the only interview he is granting to American television networks prior to his departure for Brussels and then London with the president.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Government as Soon as June>


Aired November 17, 2003 - 07:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Iraq right now and these large scale attacks against Iraqi insurgents could counterbalance a concession by the White House yesterday. On the eve of the president's trip to London, the administration has agreed to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government as soon as June.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, the first stop for us this morning there -- Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well, President Bush returned from Camp David reacting to the extraordinary events over the weekend, the crash of those Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq, killing 17 U.S. soldiers; those twin terrorist attacks in Turkey; and an alleged audiotape of Saddam Hussein. But the president highlighting this new plan with Iraqis to turn power back to them as quickly as possible through a transitional government by June. That would mean the end of a U.S. occupation there. The president insisting that this would protect U.S. security interests, promote democracy and is not a cut and run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Iraq, it was a tough week, but we made progress toward a sovereign and free Iraq. The Iraqi Governing Council has laid out a timetable for the transfer of sovereignty. We're pleased with that timetable. We think it makes sense. On the one hand, the politics is moving on. On the other hand, we're going to stay tough and deal with the terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And part of that, of course, means the presence of U.S. troops to be negotiated at a later time. Also, I should let you know, as you had mentioned, the president is going to be visiting one of his staunchest allies in the war on terror, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was personally invited by the queen. It's a state visit. He'll be staying at the Buckingham Palace. It is expected, however, there will be tens of thousands of protesters in London and the security is going to be unprecedented -- Bill.

HEMMER: Suzanne, thanks.

Suzanne Malveaux on the front lawn this morning.

Attacks against coalition forces by Iraqi insurgents increasing sharply this month. To counter that, U.S. forces mounting their largest military operations of that occupation. It suggests a learning curve on the part of the resistance.

A bit earlier today, I talked with "Time" magazine reporter Brian Bennett.

He has an article out today on newsstands about the insurgents.

The first question, how many are they in Iraq right now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN BENNETT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, General Abizaid came out and said that there could be as many as 5,000 insurgents. And he was actually criticized for possibly underestimating the number. According to my sources, I think the number could even be less than that. If you have, people have told me if you have a well organized, well led resistance force of maybe several hundred or a thousand, they could be inflicting the amount of damage and instigating the amount of chaos that we've seen in the last couple of weeks.

HEMMER: Your article also says the insurgents are getting smarter by the day, maybe by the week.

How do you know this? BENNETT: One source who used to work for the former regime and is now in contact with some of the resistance cell leaders in different parts of the country has said that some of the cell leaders who used to operate independently have now started to come together on a weekly basis. The leaders of these cells are coming together and trading information about the location of U.S. bases, of possible targets and trading information about tactics that have been effective against the American soldiers in the past.

HEMMER: And based on the reporting you've done, Brian, there was a report out last week, a general working in the Sunni Triangle says that this may have been planned prior to the war.

Do you have any evidence that backs that up? BENNETT: As far as I can tell, talking to sources who are close to the resistance and also talking to some American intelligence sources, it doesn't seem like there's an indication that this resistance was planned from the very beginning. The evidence that they give is that there were the first few months when -- then the Americans didn't see that much organized resistance and that it took some time, in fact, maybe a full five months for the former regime members to come together with other people who wanted to oppose the occupation, to organize them, to train them and to identify the proper targets and the proper tactics to attack the Americans.

So it doesn't seem, to some people, and people who are close to the resistance, that they're following a organized plan that was laid out in advance, but that it was a more organic effort that's evolved over the last several months.

HEMMER: And what are you finding out from the Iraqi side as to how much influence Saddam Hussein has today? There was an audiotape over the weekend.

What can we say for certain? BENNETT: Well, one source close to the resistance told me that he knows for a fact that Saddam Hussein has been passing messages through an intermediary to a few resistance cell leaders. That's not to say that Saddam Hussein is orchestrating the resistance attacks on a national level or that he's sitting in a hide out with a sand box deciding where the next attack is going to be, just that he has been passing messages to a few leaders involved in the attacks on the Americans.

As far as Saddam's announcement that came out this week, one interesting thing that he said that could pose major problems for the American presence here is that he said let's try to focus on not just killing the Americans, but killing those Iraqis who are cooperating with the Americans. And this could cause -- since it's much easier to target those Iraqis, this could cause a lot of upheaval and chaos.

HEMMER: Yes. Finally, Brian, the amount of money that some of these insurgents might be being paid, you say about $1,000 for an attack on U.S. troops.

How do you know the money is being paid out? How do you know that this is what's being offered? BENNETT: This comes from both an American colonel operating in Baghdad and also from General Abizaid's speech this last weekend. They know that from talking to captured resistance members who have told them. These American officials say that the motivation for a lot of these men who are planting improvised explosive devices on the side of the road is simply money, that they're unemployed and out of work and looking for a way to make a little cash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: That's Brian Bennett of "Time" magazine working this story in Baghdad.

A reminder, tomorrow here on AMERICAN MORNING, before he leaves for Europe, Colin Powell will be with us on AMERICAN MORNING, the only interview he is granting to American television networks prior to his departure for Brussels and then London with the president.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Government as Soon as June>