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Cohen Weighs in on Fighting in Najaf, U.S. Troops Redeployment

Aired August 17, 2004 - 12:26   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.


ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: From the Olympic competition in Athens to the much more serious situation in Najaf, U.S. troop redeployment and much, much more to talk about during our regular weekly discussion of events in the news to talk about, with former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Secretary Cohen, the Iraqi delegation has been sent to Najaf to try and persuade Sadr to put -- to stop the rebellion, to join the political process now in Iraq. Do you think that that effort is going to go anywhere? Or do you think a showdown in Najaf is inevitable?

WILLIAM COHEN, FMR. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, this is the last chance, it seems to me, for al Sadr to take advantage of the offer that's being made. The offer to disband his militia, as such, to welcome them into the political process. Barring his acceptance of that, it seems to me, that the prime minister -- Prime Minister Allawi will have no choice but to then take and endorse military action, with all of the consequences that will flow from that.

But this really is a test of wills at this point. And it's a crossroads or tipping point, whatever the word used. And it's a crucial moment in the history and the future of Iraq right now.

VERJEE: Do you know the army itself? What kind of a fighting force is it? And what kind of tactics is the U.S. military employing?

COHEN: Well, the fighting force on the part of al Sadr there, they're really a guerilla fighters. They use rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, basically hit. And run and very effective in doing that, because they're basically wrapping themselves around the holy shrine; and that's where they are making their headquarters. Which presents a real problem for the coalition forces or the Iraqi forces to try and take that by military means.

And so, it presents a real dilemma for the Allawi government and for the U.S. forces as well.

VERJEE: The U.S. troops realignment in Europe, in Asia, does it help or undermine U.S. national security, as people like General Wesley Clark, Richard Holbrooke have been arguing it does undermine it?

COHEN: I think you have to wait and look at the real details involved. For years, there have been discussions and considerations of moving some of the forces out of Western Europe to a more forward base posture: Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, other countries closer to the areas which will present a flash point, or hot point for the United States and Western forces. So, this is not something that is suddenly burst upon the political scene. The question...

VERJEE: Were you looking at it in the planning you had done, Mr. Secretary.

COHEN: We had had some initial discussions about it. General Joe Ralston, who is with my firm today, was serving as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs and also as Supreme Allied Commander. And he began some initial considerations of this. I know that General Jones, who was my senior military assistant, who is now the SACUER, also was thinking in terms of how our forces might be repositioned to deal with the different types of threats in the future.

But there are other dimensions to this. The question becomes how many forces should be moved out? Where should they be moved? Where will we reposition the heavy military equipment? It would make very little sense to pull that all that back to the United States and then have to redeploy it at some future time. So the equipment will have to be pre-positioned in other countries, even as forces are withdrawn back to the United States.

Then there's the expense involved. In the short term, it will cost more money to the United States to achieve this particular goal. And there are political consequences. Namely, will this weaken the U.S.'s role in NATO, in Western Europe? Will the countries there see this as being punitive or being responsible?

A lot of discussion has to take place. A lot of negotiation has to take place before we reach any final conclusion about this.

And then you have to take into account what's taking place in South Korea. Again, very sensitive issue, although we're not supposed to use the word "sensitive" in today's political drama.

But dealing with our South Korean allies, dealing with others in the region, in terms of how we reposition forces or draw down those forces will have significant geopolitical consequences in dealing with North Korea, also with our allies in Japan.

VERJEE: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, joining us on YOUR WORLD TODAY for our weekly segment, thank you so much.

COHEN: Pleasure to be with you.

END

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Aired August 17, 2004 - 12:26:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: From the Olympic competition in Athens to the much more serious situation in Najaf, U.S. troop redeployment and much, much more to talk about during our regular weekly discussion of events in the news to talk about, with former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Secretary Cohen, the Iraqi delegation has been sent to Najaf to try and persuade Sadr to put -- to stop the rebellion, to join the political process now in Iraq. Do you think that that effort is going to go anywhere? Or do you think a showdown in Najaf is inevitable?

WILLIAM COHEN, FMR. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, this is the last chance, it seems to me, for al Sadr to take advantage of the offer that's being made. The offer to disband his militia, as such, to welcome them into the political process. Barring his acceptance of that, it seems to me, that the prime minister -- Prime Minister Allawi will have no choice but to then take and endorse military action, with all of the consequences that will flow from that.

But this really is a test of wills at this point. And it's a crossroads or tipping point, whatever the word used. And it's a crucial moment in the history and the future of Iraq right now.

VERJEE: Do you know the army itself? What kind of a fighting force is it? And what kind of tactics is the U.S. military employing?

COHEN: Well, the fighting force on the part of al Sadr there, they're really a guerilla fighters. They use rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, basically hit. And run and very effective in doing that, because they're basically wrapping themselves around the holy shrine; and that's where they are making their headquarters. Which presents a real problem for the coalition forces or the Iraqi forces to try and take that by military means.

And so, it presents a real dilemma for the Allawi government and for the U.S. forces as well.

VERJEE: The U.S. troops realignment in Europe, in Asia, does it help or undermine U.S. national security, as people like General Wesley Clark, Richard Holbrooke have been arguing it does undermine it?

COHEN: I think you have to wait and look at the real details involved. For years, there have been discussions and considerations of moving some of the forces out of Western Europe to a more forward base posture: Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, other countries closer to the areas which will present a flash point, or hot point for the United States and Western forces. So, this is not something that is suddenly burst upon the political scene. The question...

VERJEE: Were you looking at it in the planning you had done, Mr. Secretary.

COHEN: We had had some initial discussions about it. General Joe Ralston, who is with my firm today, was serving as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs and also as Supreme Allied Commander. And he began some initial considerations of this. I know that General Jones, who was my senior military assistant, who is now the SACUER, also was thinking in terms of how our forces might be repositioned to deal with the different types of threats in the future.

But there are other dimensions to this. The question becomes how many forces should be moved out? Where should they be moved? Where will we reposition the heavy military equipment? It would make very little sense to pull that all that back to the United States and then have to redeploy it at some future time. So the equipment will have to be pre-positioned in other countries, even as forces are withdrawn back to the United States.

Then there's the expense involved. In the short term, it will cost more money to the United States to achieve this particular goal. And there are political consequences. Namely, will this weaken the U.S.'s role in NATO, in Western Europe? Will the countries there see this as being punitive or being responsible?

A lot of discussion has to take place. A lot of negotiation has to take place before we reach any final conclusion about this.

And then you have to take into account what's taking place in South Korea. Again, very sensitive issue, although we're not supposed to use the word "sensitive" in today's political drama.

But dealing with our South Korean allies, dealing with others in the region, in terms of how we reposition forces or draw down those forces will have significant geopolitical consequences in dealing with North Korea, also with our allies in Japan.

VERJEE: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, joining us on YOUR WORLD TODAY for our weekly segment, thank you so much.

COHEN: Pleasure to be with you.

END

TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com