Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
One American Soldier, Three Iraqis Were Killed in Roadside Bombing
Aired December 05, 2003 - 08:19 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Iraq today, one American soldier and at least three Iraqis were killed in a roadside bombing. The American military confirmed the death of the U.S. soldier in the attack southeastern Baghdad. Two other Americans and 11 Iraqis were injured by the blast.
So are the insurgents who are attacking U.S. troops in Iraq getting secret financial support? Saddam Hussein reportedly hid up to $1 billion in oil revenue. The U.S. Treasury Department is trying to track that money.
With us from Washington to discuss the efforts, Deputy Assistant Secretary Juan Zarate.
Juan, thanks very much for being with us.
Good morning.
JUAN ZARATE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, TREASURY DEPARTMENT: Thanks for having me.
Good morning.
COOPER: Let me ask, before the war began, Saddam Hussein is said to have removed $1 billion in cash from the central bank in Baghdad.
Where is that money now and -- or how much of it has been recovered -- and is some of it still being used, do you think, to fund terror?
ZARATE: That's right. Saddam Hussein actually ordered his central bank to transfer over close to a billion dollars in U.S. currency as well as in euros. We've been able, with the good work of the Department of Defense and with our investigators on the ground to capture most of that, over $800 million, as well as close to 90 million euros. So we've captured most of that.
There is still some cash outstanding and we anticipate that some of that may be used by the insurgency to attack our soldiers. That's what...
COOPER: Juan, we're looking at some pictures of these steel boxes with the cash inside. This billion dollars that was taken out of the bank, it was removed. I guess Saddam wrote a letter to the guy who ran the bank. It was -- it's all cash. It's in dollars and euros, in, what 100 dollar bills? And it was all put in these boxes. Do you think this money, some of it, this some $100 million or $150 million or so still unaccounted for may actually be used to fund ongoing terror inside the country?
ZARATE: It very well could be. What we've been doing since March, when Secretary Snow launched a global campaign to freeze Iraqi assets and repatriate them for the use by the Iraqi people has been to look for all sources of funding. And, again, part of the urgency of our effort is making sure that any Iraqi funds that exist out there or any funds that were under the control of Saddam Hussein or his cronies are not being used by the terrorists who are attacking our soldiers or our coalition partners.
This is a global campaign. We've been working very closely with international partners. We've been working very closely within Iraq to try to find cachets (ph) of cash, as we have found to date. And as you've mentioned, a lot of these are found in pallets. We found them behind false walls. We found them in kennels. And we continue that search with the good work of the folks in Baghdad.
COOPER: You talk about this being a global effort. Apart from this $1 billion that was hidden inside the country of Iraq, a lot of money outside in banks. How much have you found so far? And there are some reports of large amounts of money in places like Syria, in Lebanon. Have you been able to find out exactly where everything is?
ZARATE: Well, we're in the middle of that process. We're working very closely with the countries you've mentioned, as well as quite a few others. We have estimated that there's over $2 billion in Iraqi assets. Much of that is state owned assets and much of that has already been frozen. We're working with our partners to make sure that that money is repatriated for the use of the Iraqi people for the reconstruction of Iraq.
Some of the assets held by Hussein, we think, were held in front companies in hidden accounts, dormant accounts. So we're in the process of uncovering where exactly those are and taking action to make sure that those are frozen.
COOPER: Juan Zarate, we appreciate you joining us this morning.
Thanks very much, Juan.
ZARATE: Thanks for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Bombing>
Aired December 5, 2003 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Iraq today, one American soldier and at least three Iraqis were killed in a roadside bombing. The American military confirmed the death of the U.S. soldier in the attack southeastern Baghdad. Two other Americans and 11 Iraqis were injured by the blast.
So are the insurgents who are attacking U.S. troops in Iraq getting secret financial support? Saddam Hussein reportedly hid up to $1 billion in oil revenue. The U.S. Treasury Department is trying to track that money.
With us from Washington to discuss the efforts, Deputy Assistant Secretary Juan Zarate.
Juan, thanks very much for being with us.
Good morning.
JUAN ZARATE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, TREASURY DEPARTMENT: Thanks for having me.
Good morning.
COOPER: Let me ask, before the war began, Saddam Hussein is said to have removed $1 billion in cash from the central bank in Baghdad.
Where is that money now and -- or how much of it has been recovered -- and is some of it still being used, do you think, to fund terror?
ZARATE: That's right. Saddam Hussein actually ordered his central bank to transfer over close to a billion dollars in U.S. currency as well as in euros. We've been able, with the good work of the Department of Defense and with our investigators on the ground to capture most of that, over $800 million, as well as close to 90 million euros. So we've captured most of that.
There is still some cash outstanding and we anticipate that some of that may be used by the insurgency to attack our soldiers. That's what...
COOPER: Juan, we're looking at some pictures of these steel boxes with the cash inside. This billion dollars that was taken out of the bank, it was removed. I guess Saddam wrote a letter to the guy who ran the bank. It was -- it's all cash. It's in dollars and euros, in, what 100 dollar bills? And it was all put in these boxes. Do you think this money, some of it, this some $100 million or $150 million or so still unaccounted for may actually be used to fund ongoing terror inside the country?
ZARATE: It very well could be. What we've been doing since March, when Secretary Snow launched a global campaign to freeze Iraqi assets and repatriate them for the use by the Iraqi people has been to look for all sources of funding. And, again, part of the urgency of our effort is making sure that any Iraqi funds that exist out there or any funds that were under the control of Saddam Hussein or his cronies are not being used by the terrorists who are attacking our soldiers or our coalition partners.
This is a global campaign. We've been working very closely with international partners. We've been working very closely within Iraq to try to find cachets (ph) of cash, as we have found to date. And as you've mentioned, a lot of these are found in pallets. We found them behind false walls. We found them in kennels. And we continue that search with the good work of the folks in Baghdad.
COOPER: You talk about this being a global effort. Apart from this $1 billion that was hidden inside the country of Iraq, a lot of money outside in banks. How much have you found so far? And there are some reports of large amounts of money in places like Syria, in Lebanon. Have you been able to find out exactly where everything is?
ZARATE: Well, we're in the middle of that process. We're working very closely with the countries you've mentioned, as well as quite a few others. We have estimated that there's over $2 billion in Iraqi assets. Much of that is state owned assets and much of that has already been frozen. We're working with our partners to make sure that that money is repatriated for the use of the Iraqi people for the reconstruction of Iraq.
Some of the assets held by Hussein, we think, were held in front companies in hidden accounts, dormant accounts. So we're in the process of uncovering where exactly those are and taking action to make sure that those are frozen.
COOPER: Juan Zarate, we appreciate you joining us this morning.
Thanks very much, Juan.
ZARATE: Thanks for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Bombing>
