Myers: Democracy in Iraq will take 'a lot of sacrifice'
 |
Gen. Richard Myers
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
U.S. forces: A major Iraqi general captured in Ba'qubah raids.
CNN's Satinder Bindra on a police commander in a rough Baghdad neighborhood.
The Spanish prime minister makes a morale-boosting visit.
|
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
(CNN) -- The United States has launched a new offensive against insurgents in Iraq, who continue to attack coalition and Iraqi forces despite the capture of deposed President Saddam Hussein.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the situation in Iraq.
BLITZER: General Myers, ... [There are] reports of a U.S. military sweep designed to capture insurgents. What can you tell our viewers?
MYERS: Well, as we've said before, the main opposition right now are former regime elements. And with the capture of Saddam Hussein, we learned a little bit more about how they're organized and some of the individuals involved. And what you see now is forces taking advantage of that intelligence and going out and rounding up people. We've got over 200 detainees so far.
BLITZER: Only within the last day or so?
MYERS: The last several days, yes.
BLITZER: Was [the] individual who led you to Saddam Hussein coerced to cooperate, or did he voluntarily come forward? The question's significant, as far as the $25 million reward.
MYERS: He did not come forward ...
BLITZER: He was coerced to talk. So he's not going to get any reward, obviously.
MYERS: Well, I don't know. That will be up to other authorities.
BLITZER: When Saddam Hussein was captured, how much cooperation did he show?
MYERS: My understanding is that he was not particularly cooperative. In other words, other than not putting up a fight and so forth, but he was not forthcoming with other information.
BLITZER: Because there's a story in Time magazine, the new issue coming out, that at one point he spat on a U.S. soldier who, in turn, slapped him. Is that true?
MYERS: I have no knowledge of that. ... I was just in Iraq. We talked to the folks over there. That never came up.
BLITZER: So you would know if that were true.
MYERS: I think I would know if that were true. ... The one thing we can say [is that] ... he came out of this hole. He had to be very, very frightened. He had to be disoriented. He did bump his head coming out of the hole. So my guess is he was pretty docile.
BLITZER: Did you know how long had he been in that hole when he emerged?
MYERS: I don't know.
BLITZER: What is his status right now legally? Is he a POW?
MYERS: They're working through all that, at this point. And as you know, he's under interrogation by another government agency. And we'll just have to see how that plays out.
BLITZER: He's under interrogation by the CIA, but are U.S. military personnel involved in that interrogation detailed to the CIA-led interrogation?
MYERS: Well, the CIA has a lead for it. And it could be that there are Department of Defense individuals that are involved. But the CIA's got the lead.
BLITZER: But is he accorded the rights of the Geneva Convention?
MYERS: He's being treated as if he were an enemy prisoner of war. ... We're treating him with all the rights that he would have under Article 5 of the Geneva Convention.
BLITZER: There's some suggestion, as you've heard from critics, that the picture of him with the tongue depressor, with checking his lice, with a full beard, that he was humiliated, and that that was in contravention of the Geneva Convention, the visual image that we all saw.
MYERS: Yes, and I don't think that's right. I think the most important thing we could do for the security of Iraqi people, for the security of our coalition forces, for all those people in Iraq that are trying to make a better Iraq, is to show the fact that Saddam Hussein is, indeed, captured. ...
BLITZER: Because, as you know, some in the Arab world think it was humiliating to the entire Arab people the way he was exposed, shown.
MYERS: I understand that. And at the same time, just like with his sons before with him, he was such a -- at one time -- such a powerful figure in Iraq, it was important to show the Iraqi people that he's no longer going to be an influence in their life, that the Baathist regime that he led is gone forever.
BLITZER: In terms of the interrogation, before there's any trial, he's going to be interrogated for some time. Now, how does that work? How do you go through that interrogation? Can you use methods like sleep deprivation to try to disorient him? Is that acceptable?
MYERS: There are certain interrogation techniques that are acceptable and certain that are unacceptable. It's very clear; our interrogators understand that. We have very explicit instructions out there. Everything is in accordance with international law, as we understand it.
And as you know, all our prisoners, to include the ones at Guantanamo, are monitored almost continuously by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which gives us feedback on our treatment of those individuals.
BLITZER: Is he talking right now? Can you give us a general sense, without saying what he's saying? But is he cooperating or is he being defiant?
MYERS: My last report was that he was not being cooperative, that "defiant" is probably a pretty good word.
BLITZER: What is the most important information you'd like him to share with you?
MYERS: Well, I think there are lots of [things]. I think more about how the Baath Party is structured, to know what his involvement was in the former regime elements and their attacks on the coalition, on the infrastructure, on the Iraqi -- the people in governance positions and so forth. ... Clearly, anything he knows about weapons of mass destruction. ...
BLITZER: Was he personally ordering the insurgency, in charge of the insurgency, giving instructions to his loyalists? Or was he simply trying to save his hide?
MYERS: We're still trying to learn, Wolf, those intricacies of that relationship. We have some information. We'll learn more as we pick up more individuals and find out exactly how much he was involved. I don't think we have a totally clear picture at this point.
BLITZER: One final question, lest we forget. ... Since the war started back in March, 461 U.S. troops have died over in Iraq. [When] you see those numbers, what goes through your mind?
MYERS: Well, of course the first thing that goes through your mind is the tragedy to the individual and to the individual's family and the extended family and friends. That's tough business, and we all acknowledge that.
On the other hand, we know, trying to bring a country that's been in dictatorship, that's been ruled by fear and terror, that if you want to change it to a democracy, that it's going to take a lot of sacrifice. Not just American blood and treasure, but Iraqi blood and treasure. They've killed many Iraqi police chiefs. We hear threats now to some of the people in the governing council.
We know every time you try to bring a democracy out of a regime that was hideous before, that it's going to take a lot of personal courage. Our soldiers saw that every day. They're not going to back down from this. I think we have, I know we have, the resolve and the will to carry this through. And I know the international community does, as well.
