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American Morning

Iraq Ambush

Aired December 01, 2003 - 09:06   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us this morning to talk a little bit more about the ambush of those U.S. troops and the obstacles for the plan for Iraqi self-rule is "Washington Post" reporter Robin Wright.
Robin, good morning. Nice to see you.

ROBIN WRIGHT, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about this attack and the scale of the attack before we get into the strategy and the attack. What does that signify to you? A big change in tactics?

WRIGHT: Well, it will be interesting to watch how events unfold in the next few days, whether this is an aberration or part of a new pattern. In the past, the attacks have been much smaller. And if this does prove to be the kind of attack that we think it is, then it could be a major change.

O'BRIEN: Earlier, we were speaking to a retired Army General David Grange, and he said that it was good news for U.S. forces, because they're actually better able to manage an attack like that as opposed to one of the smaller hit and run sort of attacks. Would you agree with that?

WRIGHT: To a certain extent. But there's always a surprise element that puts the United States at a disadvantage.

O'BRIEN: Do you think that there's any link whatsoever to President Bush's visit, the timing of these attacks?

WRIGHT: Well, it's an interesting question. The fact that the president was able to land in Baghdad undetected, and leave, in many ways, is a signal on one side that the security is good enough. On the other, it's, in effect, a kind of invitation to say go after the United States to prove that the United States isn't as safe as it thinks it is.

O'BRIEN: Some of these attackers appear to have been wearing the uniforms of the Saddam Fedayeen. What would that indicate, do you think, to you, if that turns out to be the case? And I thought the Fedayeen strategy was actually, again, those smaller hit and run sort of attacks. So wouldn't that be very different than their typical strategy?

WRIGHT: It would from what we've seen so far. One of the big questions, though is how many of those killed are civilians? So we still have to get a lot more information about this attack before we're able to kind of analyze it fully.

WRIGHT: As you mentioned, we are at the halfway point between the declaration of the end of major combat, and also the July 1st handover. Give me an assessment from your perspective of how that is going so far. Will they make the deadline?

WRIGHT: Well, the United States has indicated that there's nothing that's going to make it change from the handover of power by July 1st. There is a major challenge, however -- the political transition which is so critical to the ability to withdraw troops is in a bit of disarray. There are a large number of Iraqis who are insisting that there be direct elections for some kind of provisional government, and that's a great idea, except that it's very difficult to carry out in significant parts of the country, particularly the area where there was an attack yesterday. Large chunk of the country around Sunni stronghold will be difficult to have any kind of elections, even to hold the kind of caucuses the U.S. has envisioned to pick delegates for provisional government. So there's a lot to be sorted out just technically and how to make this process work.

O'BRIEN: You say Paul Bremer is a lame duck. And this is part, do you think, because of this deadline? Does it effectively, would the deadline kind of allow people to run out the clock, so to speak?

WRIGHT: Absolutely. Once the United States announced that it intended to hand over power by the end of June, that, in effect, made the civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, a lame duck. All Iraqis who disagree with the U.S. plan have to do now is wait out the United States. And that, to a certain extent, is even true of some of our allies in the process, who have been insisting that they continue to have a strong role, that they not be disbanded -- this is the Governing Council -- they not be disbanded in favor of a new provisional government. And all they have to do is wait it out, as well, or slow down the process, and there's a lot that can be slowed down at this point.

O'BRIEN: Clearly, many ways in which the process can be slowed down. Robin Wright of "The Washington Post," it's nice to have you. Thanks for joining us.

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 December 1, 2003 - 09:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us this morning to talk a little bit more about the ambush of those U.S. troops and the obstacles for the plan for Iraqi self-rule is "Washington Post" reporter Robin Wright.
Robin, good morning. Nice to see you.

ROBIN WRIGHT, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about this attack and the scale of the attack before we get into the strategy and the attack. What does that signify to you? A big change in tactics?

WRIGHT: Well, it will be interesting to watch how events unfold in the next few days, whether this is an aberration or part of a new pattern. In the past, the attacks have been much smaller. And if this does prove to be the kind of attack that we think it is, then it could be a major change.

O'BRIEN: Earlier, we were speaking to a retired Army General David Grange, and he said that it was good news for U.S. forces, because they're actually better able to manage an attack like that as opposed to one of the smaller hit and run sort of attacks. Would you agree with that?

WRIGHT: To a certain extent. But there's always a surprise element that puts the United States at a disadvantage.

O'BRIEN: Do you think that there's any link whatsoever to President Bush's visit, the timing of these attacks?

WRIGHT: Well, it's an interesting question. The fact that the president was able to land in Baghdad undetected, and leave, in many ways, is a signal on one side that the security is good enough. On the other, it's, in effect, a kind of invitation to say go after the United States to prove that the United States isn't as safe as it thinks it is.

O'BRIEN: Some of these attackers appear to have been wearing the uniforms of the Saddam Fedayeen. What would that indicate, do you think, to you, if that turns out to be the case? And I thought the Fedayeen strategy was actually, again, those smaller hit and run sort of attacks. So wouldn't that be very different than their typical strategy?

WRIGHT: It would from what we've seen so far. One of the big questions, though is how many of those killed are civilians? So we still have to get a lot more information about this attack before we're able to kind of analyze it fully.

WRIGHT: As you mentioned, we are at the halfway point between the declaration of the end of major combat, and also the July 1st handover. Give me an assessment from your perspective of how that is going so far. Will they make the deadline?

WRIGHT: Well, the United States has indicated that there's nothing that's going to make it change from the handover of power by July 1st. There is a major challenge, however -- the political transition which is so critical to the ability to withdraw troops is in a bit of disarray. There are a large number of Iraqis who are insisting that there be direct elections for some kind of provisional government, and that's a great idea, except that it's very difficult to carry out in significant parts of the country, particularly the area where there was an attack yesterday. Large chunk of the country around Sunni stronghold will be difficult to have any kind of elections, even to hold the kind of caucuses the U.S. has envisioned to pick delegates for provisional government. So there's a lot to be sorted out just technically and how to make this process work.

O'BRIEN: You say Paul Bremer is a lame duck. And this is part, do you think, because of this deadline? Does it effectively, would the deadline kind of allow people to run out the clock, so to speak?

WRIGHT: Absolutely. Once the United States announced that it intended to hand over power by the end of June, that, in effect, made the civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, a lame duck. All Iraqis who disagree with the U.S. plan have to do now is wait out the United States. And that, to a certain extent, is even true of some of our allies in the process, who have been insisting that they continue to have a strong role, that they not be disbanded -- this is the Governing Council -- they not be disbanded in favor of a new provisional government. And all they have to do is wait it out, as well, or slow down the process, and there's a lot that can be slowed down at this point.

O'BRIEN: Clearly, many ways in which the process can be slowed down. Robin Wright of "The Washington Post," it's nice to have you. Thanks for joining us.

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