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American Morning

Iraq Attacks

Aired December 12, 2003 - 09:16   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: Explosions in Baghdad this morning rocked what is known as the green zone. That is where the U.S.-led coalition has its headquarters. The blast followed three suicide attacks this week on Americans in Iraq. Is the violence there escalating?
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt is deputy director of operations in Baghdad. Dan Senor is senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority, and both are on a week's leave from Baghdad. They join us live from Washington this morning. Gentlemen, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

General Kimmitt, let's begin with you this morning. Give me a little background on this explosion within the green zone.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEP. DIR. FOR OPERATIONS: Well, last night, we understand that four rockets were fired from somewhere southeast in Baghdad. Those rockets landed inside the green zone, but quite far away from the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters.

O'BRIEN: And, in fact, general, this week has seemed to be really particularly violence in Iraq, suicide bombings that we talked about. Also journalists injured in a grenade attack on their Humvee. Is it fair to say that the violence is escalating? And if it is, is it because we're just seeing overall more brazen attacks, more sophisticated attacks? How would you characterize it?

KIMMITT: Well first of all, I'd agree with you that we're seeing more brazen attacks, but the overall number of attacks that we're seeing in fact has dropped dramatically over the last month.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Senor, you, as we mentioned, are the senior adviser to Paul Bremer. Give me a sense of the implication of these attacks and the brazen nature of these attacks, because of course, the real challenge is how do you both fight against these attacks, and at the same time not completely alienate the Iraqi population, from whom which we really need support?

DAN SENOR, SR. ADVISER TO COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: Sure. Iraq is now on the central front on the war on terrorism. The terrorists have figured out that the way to defeat the coalition, as they would see it, is to break our will. It's to isolate us with increased attacks against coalition members. You've seen that against the Spaniards, you've seen that against the Japanese, you've seen that against the Italians, with attacks against international organizations, like the United States and The Red Crescent and others, and it's increased attacks at the civilian headquarters of the coalition, the reconstruction team, in the hope that it will discourage our colleagues from wanting to stay there; it will create incentives for us to cut and run.

But our colleagues have been clear, the people I interact with every day, we're not going to be intimidated by these attacks. President Bush when he visited Iraq on Thanksgiving was very clear; he says that America and the coalition would not retreat in the face of a band of thugs, we've come to far, sacrificed too much to do that. So the important thing is to get the job done, and we're on path now for transfer of political sovereignty to the Iraqi people this summer, and we've got to keep that train moving.

O'BRIEN: Some say moving that train that fast is actually wrong- headed; it might even be irresponsible if the Iraqis are not ready to take an that responsibility. What's your response to people who criticize that move?

SENOR: I would say over 85 percent of Iraqis, Iraqi cities and towns, have municipal governments right now. There's a functioning governing council that is taking on more and more authority by the truckload. They've appointed 25 cabinet ministers to run the day-to- day operations of the Iraqi government. They're assuming more and more responsibility. They're ready for it. They're asking for it. And we've reached an agreement with them to hand total sovereignty over to them by the summer.

Doesn't mean we'll abandon our security commitments to Iraq. The president's been clear, we will not cut and run on the military side, but it's important for Iraqis to assume political authority for their day to9 day lives.

O'BRIEN: General, there's a report out of "The L.A. Times" that the CIA is embarking on its largest mobilization of manpower into Iraq. Do you think that is critical? That's really what's needed? More intelligence in the area, and that could help win the war on terror there?

KIMMITT: Well, every commander needs intelligence. Intelligence is the life blood of our operations over there. Whatever we can use, whatever we can bring into the country to increase the intelligence so that we can go after the heart of these terrorist cells who are attacking our soldiers will be appreciated.

O'BRIEN: Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt joining us this morning, also Dan Senor.

Gentlemen, thank you very much. As we mentioned, you're on a week's leave out of Baghdad, so we certainly appreciate your very limited time that you have to share. Thank you.

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 12, 2003 - 09:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Explosions in Baghdad this morning rocked what is known as the green zone. That is where the U.S.-led coalition has its headquarters. The blast followed three suicide attacks this week on Americans in Iraq. Is the violence there escalating?
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt is deputy director of operations in Baghdad. Dan Senor is senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority, and both are on a week's leave from Baghdad. They join us live from Washington this morning. Gentlemen, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

General Kimmitt, let's begin with you this morning. Give me a little background on this explosion within the green zone.

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEP. DIR. FOR OPERATIONS: Well, last night, we understand that four rockets were fired from somewhere southeast in Baghdad. Those rockets landed inside the green zone, but quite far away from the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters.

O'BRIEN: And, in fact, general, this week has seemed to be really particularly violence in Iraq, suicide bombings that we talked about. Also journalists injured in a grenade attack on their Humvee. Is it fair to say that the violence is escalating? And if it is, is it because we're just seeing overall more brazen attacks, more sophisticated attacks? How would you characterize it?

KIMMITT: Well first of all, I'd agree with you that we're seeing more brazen attacks, but the overall number of attacks that we're seeing in fact has dropped dramatically over the last month.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Senor, you, as we mentioned, are the senior adviser to Paul Bremer. Give me a sense of the implication of these attacks and the brazen nature of these attacks, because of course, the real challenge is how do you both fight against these attacks, and at the same time not completely alienate the Iraqi population, from whom which we really need support?

DAN SENOR, SR. ADVISER TO COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: Sure. Iraq is now on the central front on the war on terrorism. The terrorists have figured out that the way to defeat the coalition, as they would see it, is to break our will. It's to isolate us with increased attacks against coalition members. You've seen that against the Spaniards, you've seen that against the Japanese, you've seen that against the Italians, with attacks against international organizations, like the United States and The Red Crescent and others, and it's increased attacks at the civilian headquarters of the coalition, the reconstruction team, in the hope that it will discourage our colleagues from wanting to stay there; it will create incentives for us to cut and run.

But our colleagues have been clear, the people I interact with every day, we're not going to be intimidated by these attacks. President Bush when he visited Iraq on Thanksgiving was very clear; he says that America and the coalition would not retreat in the face of a band of thugs, we've come to far, sacrificed too much to do that. So the important thing is to get the job done, and we're on path now for transfer of political sovereignty to the Iraqi people this summer, and we've got to keep that train moving.

O'BRIEN: Some say moving that train that fast is actually wrong- headed; it might even be irresponsible if the Iraqis are not ready to take an that responsibility. What's your response to people who criticize that move?

SENOR: I would say over 85 percent of Iraqis, Iraqi cities and towns, have municipal governments right now. There's a functioning governing council that is taking on more and more authority by the truckload. They've appointed 25 cabinet ministers to run the day-to- day operations of the Iraqi government. They're assuming more and more responsibility. They're ready for it. They're asking for it. And we've reached an agreement with them to hand total sovereignty over to them by the summer.

Doesn't mean we'll abandon our security commitments to Iraq. The president's been clear, we will not cut and run on the military side, but it's important for Iraqis to assume political authority for their day to9 day lives.

O'BRIEN: General, there's a report out of "The L.A. Times" that the CIA is embarking on its largest mobilization of manpower into Iraq. Do you think that is critical? That's really what's needed? More intelligence in the area, and that could help win the war on terror there?

KIMMITT: Well, every commander needs intelligence. Intelligence is the life blood of our operations over there. Whatever we can use, whatever we can bring into the country to increase the intelligence so that we can go after the heart of these terrorist cells who are attacking our soldiers will be appreciated.

O'BRIEN: Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt joining us this morning, also Dan Senor.

Gentlemen, thank you very much. As we mentioned, you're on a week's leave out of Baghdad, so we certainly appreciate your very limited time that you have to share. Thank you.

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