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American Morning

Blair Outlines Government's New Evidence Against Iraq

Aired September 24, 2002 - 09:02   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Saddam Hussein's program to develop weapons of mass destruction is "active, detailed and growing." And in a speech earlier this morning, before a special session of parliament, Mr. Blair outlined the government's new evidence against Iraq. For the latest reaction now from Britain9, let's go to Sheila MacVicar, who's standing by in London.
Good morning, Sheila.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, that debate continuing in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Blair has been on his feet again, answering questions from members of his own party, as well as members of the opposition. The prime minister laid out the case against Saddam Hussein, a man he called a cruel and sadistic dictator. He talked about 11 years of defiance of more than 40 U.N. resolutions, and a history of flouting U.N. resolutions, obstruction, defiance and denial.

What we did not hear from Prime Minister Blair this morning though was a call for regime change. The prime minister talked about disarmament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It should have been resolved years ago through a proper process of disarmament and the U.N. Disarmament of all weapons of mass destruction is the demand. One way or another, it must be acceded to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACVICAR: Now the prime minister is not, as I said, talking about regime change, instead talking about disarmament. He says that the British government and British intelligence services, in conjunction with U.S. intelligence service have information that strongly suggest, that indicates, he says, that does indeed show that Iraq and Saddam Hussein have continued to try to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. They say that they have knowledge that Iraq's current military strategy envisages the use of biological and chemical weapons in the field, and that those weapons could be deployed and used 45 minutes after an order is given.

He said that they have evidence to prove that he continues to produce both chemical and biological weapons, and that on the nuclear front, he is trying to acquire uranium from Africa. Now, the uranium they say, of course, could only be for the purposes of a nuclear weapons program. Iraq has no such civilian use for uranium. They say that if they were able to acquire fissile material, already enriched uranium, they would be a year or two away from the bomb.

Now in terms of delivery systems, they point to what are known as the Al Hussein missiles, the scud missiles that we saw during the Gulf War fired at Saudi Arabia and Israel. They say Iraq still possesses 20. That means that they could still -- they would still remain a threat. In addition to that, they say that he has an active program, ongoing now to build new missiles with an even longer range, and thus they say that is evidence of his continuing aggressiveness, not just to his immediate neighbors, but to those in the region around him -- Paula.

ZAHN: The prime minister clearly has a tough sales job, even among members of his own party. Can you give any sense at all of how he is doing right now in countering arguments from the opposition that there is no real new information here and certainly no new evidence that he is sharing with the public?

MACVICAR: Well, it's not only arguments from the opposition. Some of the strongest arguments are coming from back ventures within his party. There are real questions being posed here about the question of why now, why Iraq, why now? And that was part of what the prime minister tried to lay out this morning, suggesting that in fact this is an 11-year history, that if we -- he argued, you know, don't back up the diplomacy with force, then he will assume that it is OK to go ahead and act. That is what he is trying to do -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks, Sheila. Appreciate the update.

Iraq of course already calling the charges of Prime Minister Tony Blair baseless.

Rula Amin is standing by in Baghdad. She joins us now with the latest reaction to the prime minister's speech.

Good morning, Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

As you said, the Iraqis dismissed this British report as baseless. They say it's lies, and they are saying that the British and the U.S. has so far did not come up with very solid evidence that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction.

We also we heard from Iraq's foreign minister, who is on a tour in the Arab countries, trying to rally support from those Arab countries to Iraq's position. He said that the British are trying to spread fear in the region. He challenged that they would send British experts, weapons experts to Iraq, and that Iraq would allow them to come here, to verify that Iraq doesn't have any more weapons of mass destruction. This is the official line that we have here. "Iraq doesn't have weapons of mass destruction. Whatever it had before had been destroyed."

And the Iraqis are saying they already made their compromise to allow the inspectors back, to verify that statement -- Paula.

ZAHN: Rula Amin, appreciate the update.

AMIN: The U.S. is also pressing the case against Iraq on the world stage this morning. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is in Warsaw, Poland, meeting with NATO defense ministers.

Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is traveling with the secretary in Warsaw.

Good morning, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, just since the last time we talked, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld had SOME blunt words for his fellow NATO defense ministers, telling them it would send the wrong signal to the world if NATO did not create a new 20,000 strong rapid-deployment force, so they can better respond to the threat from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction around the world.

Rumsfeld also is again stating the case against Iraq, sharing with its NATO allies, the latest U.S. intelligence about the threat from Saddam Hussein, which is short of a smoking gun, but still the U.S. claims somewhat compelling, and the U.S. is also really the object of a somewhat of a diplomatic offensive here at NATO headquarters. Germany, which has just finished its election campaign, is trying to mend fence with United States.

The German defense minister making several overtures trying to talk to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who refused to schedule any meeting with him. The U.S. is miffed about the tone of anti- Americanism in that German election campaign, but Germany offered today along with the Dutch to do more in Afghanistan, if not Iraq, by taking over the leadership of the International Security Assistance Force there. The U.S. is looking for a strong country to take over the leadership of that security force for a longer term, and it looks like Germany and the Netherlands are stepping up to the plate there.

ZAHN: Is that something the U.S. would welcome, this overture from the Germans?

MACVICAR: Well, they definitely would like to see a strong military presence in charge. The British have been running the force, and Turkey has agreed to takeover leadership of it for a short period of time, but they would like something on a longer term basis to provide stability in Afghanistan, and free up U.S. troops to be used elsewhere, such as Iraq, so that would be a welcome move.

ZAHN: Jamie McIntyre, thanks so much, reporting from Warsaw. He is traveling with the secretary of defense. Appreciate it.

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 September 24, 2002 - 09:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Saddam Hussein's program to develop weapons of mass destruction is "active, detailed and growing." And in a speech earlier this morning, before a special session of parliament, Mr. Blair outlined the government's new evidence against Iraq. For the latest reaction now from Britain9, let's go to Sheila MacVicar, who's standing by in London.
Good morning, Sheila.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, that debate continuing in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Blair has been on his feet again, answering questions from members of his own party, as well as members of the opposition. The prime minister laid out the case against Saddam Hussein, a man he called a cruel and sadistic dictator. He talked about 11 years of defiance of more than 40 U.N. resolutions, and a history of flouting U.N. resolutions, obstruction, defiance and denial.

What we did not hear from Prime Minister Blair this morning though was a call for regime change. The prime minister talked about disarmament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It should have been resolved years ago through a proper process of disarmament and the U.N. Disarmament of all weapons of mass destruction is the demand. One way or another, it must be acceded to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACVICAR: Now the prime minister is not, as I said, talking about regime change, instead talking about disarmament. He says that the British government and British intelligence services, in conjunction with U.S. intelligence service have information that strongly suggest, that indicates, he says, that does indeed show that Iraq and Saddam Hussein have continued to try to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. They say that they have knowledge that Iraq's current military strategy envisages the use of biological and chemical weapons in the field, and that those weapons could be deployed and used 45 minutes after an order is given.

He said that they have evidence to prove that he continues to produce both chemical and biological weapons, and that on the nuclear front, he is trying to acquire uranium from Africa. Now, the uranium they say, of course, could only be for the purposes of a nuclear weapons program. Iraq has no such civilian use for uranium. They say that if they were able to acquire fissile material, already enriched uranium, they would be a year or two away from the bomb.

Now in terms of delivery systems, they point to what are known as the Al Hussein missiles, the scud missiles that we saw during the Gulf War fired at Saudi Arabia and Israel. They say Iraq still possesses 20. That means that they could still -- they would still remain a threat. In addition to that, they say that he has an active program, ongoing now to build new missiles with an even longer range, and thus they say that is evidence of his continuing aggressiveness, not just to his immediate neighbors, but to those in the region around him -- Paula.

ZAHN: The prime minister clearly has a tough sales job, even among members of his own party. Can you give any sense at all of how he is doing right now in countering arguments from the opposition that there is no real new information here and certainly no new evidence that he is sharing with the public?

MACVICAR: Well, it's not only arguments from the opposition. Some of the strongest arguments are coming from back ventures within his party. There are real questions being posed here about the question of why now, why Iraq, why now? And that was part of what the prime minister tried to lay out this morning, suggesting that in fact this is an 11-year history, that if we -- he argued, you know, don't back up the diplomacy with force, then he will assume that it is OK to go ahead and act. That is what he is trying to do -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks, Sheila. Appreciate the update.

Iraq of course already calling the charges of Prime Minister Tony Blair baseless.

Rula Amin is standing by in Baghdad. She joins us now with the latest reaction to the prime minister's speech.

Good morning, Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

As you said, the Iraqis dismissed this British report as baseless. They say it's lies, and they are saying that the British and the U.S. has so far did not come up with very solid evidence that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction.

We also we heard from Iraq's foreign minister, who is on a tour in the Arab countries, trying to rally support from those Arab countries to Iraq's position. He said that the British are trying to spread fear in the region. He challenged that they would send British experts, weapons experts to Iraq, and that Iraq would allow them to come here, to verify that Iraq doesn't have any more weapons of mass destruction. This is the official line that we have here. "Iraq doesn't have weapons of mass destruction. Whatever it had before had been destroyed."

And the Iraqis are saying they already made their compromise to allow the inspectors back, to verify that statement -- Paula.

ZAHN: Rula Amin, appreciate the update.

AMIN: The U.S. is also pressing the case against Iraq on the world stage this morning. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is in Warsaw, Poland, meeting with NATO defense ministers.

Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is traveling with the secretary in Warsaw.

Good morning, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, just since the last time we talked, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld had SOME blunt words for his fellow NATO defense ministers, telling them it would send the wrong signal to the world if NATO did not create a new 20,000 strong rapid-deployment force, so they can better respond to the threat from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction around the world.

Rumsfeld also is again stating the case against Iraq, sharing with its NATO allies, the latest U.S. intelligence about the threat from Saddam Hussein, which is short of a smoking gun, but still the U.S. claims somewhat compelling, and the U.S. is also really the object of a somewhat of a diplomatic offensive here at NATO headquarters. Germany, which has just finished its election campaign, is trying to mend fence with United States.

The German defense minister making several overtures trying to talk to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who refused to schedule any meeting with him. The U.S. is miffed about the tone of anti- Americanism in that German election campaign, but Germany offered today along with the Dutch to do more in Afghanistan, if not Iraq, by taking over the leadership of the International Security Assistance Force there. The U.S. is looking for a strong country to take over the leadership of that security force for a longer term, and it looks like Germany and the Netherlands are stepping up to the plate there.

ZAHN: Is that something the U.S. would welcome, this overture from the Germans?

MACVICAR: Well, they definitely would like to see a strong military presence in charge. The British have been running the force, and Turkey has agreed to takeover leadership of it for a short period of time, but they would like something on a longer term basis to provide stability in Afghanistan, and free up U.S. troops to be used elsewhere, such as Iraq, so that would be a welcome move.

ZAHN: Jamie McIntyre, thanks so much, reporting from Warsaw. He is traveling with the secretary of defense. Appreciate it.

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