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American Morning

Interview with Ehud Barak

Aired October 28, 2002 - 07:42   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Concern about biological weapons is a key issue in the Bush administration's campaign to disarm Iraq, and if the standoff leads to war, Israel could be caught in the crossfire.
Today, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is being named as an adviser to a forum called BioSecurity 2002. It brings together officials from governments, science and medicine to prepare for bioterror attacks.

Joining me now to talk about that and what role Israel might play if there is war against Iraq is Ehud Barak.

Before we get to that, good morning -- welcome.

EHUD BARAK, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.

ZAHN: Glad to see you again.

What do you know, if anything, about this American diplomat killed in Jordan?

BARAK: I do not know, and no one knows at the moment. But it's more probable a terror attack. It doesn't look a neighbor's (ph) dispute.

ZAHN: And when you say, "terror attack," by whom? Is it a particular group?

BARAK: I know one of these radical Muslim fundamentalist groups.

ZAHN: And we don't have any idea of why he specifically would have been targeted.

BARAK: I don't know at the present nothing more than you know, but it doesn't make sense to think of it but as a terror attack.

ZAHN: Let's come back to the issue of bioterror. I know we just talked to Senator Joseph Lieberman about this devastating Council on Foreign Relations report that talked about how woefully ill-prepared the United States is in the event of a bioterror attack, where you had someone saying -- quote -- "When it comes to combating terrorism, the police officers on the beat are effectively operating deaf, dumb and blind." That was a quote out of the report.

What can you tell us about what Israel has done on the first responders' front to make its citizens safer? BARAK: We already have done three things. First of all, the whole population practically (ph) carries protection gears against chemical warfare.

Secondly, we have already vaccinated several thousands of first responders, as you call them, so that in a case that a need arises for fully-fledged vaccination, there will be enough serum within the blood of these people, and they are much better protected when they come to the arena.

And No. 3, we accumulated huge amounts of highly-aggressive antibiotics to respond to anthrax. Basically, we all have a global wake-up call to the anthrax attack in the wake of 9/11

ZAHN: I know that smallpox is also an issue that is being widely debated in Israel right now. Mr. Sharon's cabinet is saying there's no immediate danger of a smallpox attack on Israel. But there is a debate of whether to immunize citizens or not.

BARAK: Yes, there is, but for technical medical reasons, it doesn't make sense to vaccinate now, at this period, the whole population. There are some side effects that can appear if you vaccinate over a million people, and basically, the response time would be enough. If we have 15,000 people all we'll be vaccinating, then you can deal with side effects the first several days, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you can vaccinate immediately within 48 hours all of the population there, and then spread within another several days for the whole country.

ZAHN: Were you surprised by the findings of this Council report showing how ill-prepared the United States is in the face of another terrorist attack?

BARAK: I was not. I was the prime minister until two years ago. We were dealing with it all of these years. I know that President Clinton, several times he talked with me very openly about the fact that he can hardly sleep at night when he remembered all that he had been told during these briefings of the CIA and scientists and so on.

It is very dangerous global threat, and indeed, both of these committees -- it is not just people kind of -- the Council of Foreign Affairs. There are two Nobel Prize laureates in the sciences, you know, Joseph Bergen (ph), Steven Weinberg (ph). We had Admiral Crow (ph) and General Vezi (ph) of the Joints Chiefs, too, secretary of states, Joe Schutz (ph) and Warren Christopher.

This is a top-notch group that knows exactly -- Judge Webster (ph) was there -- know exactly what are the interests of the United States and basically of the whole world.

ZAHN: So, what is a lesson the United States hasn't learned?

BARAK: The real lesson is that the threat is there. It is much more serious than we usually talk about in public, and it should be taken (ph) in concrete actions. There are a set of recommendations that the administration already developed a set of recommendations, we developed in Israel and the British, the Germans, some others are working on the same issue.

There is a need to rate the preparedness of emergency forces to develop certain detectors that would be able to just to tell you that something -- some kind of germ had been spread. And there is an urgent need to bring together to one place scientists, medical doctors, intelligence people, foreign affairs people, and anyone who can contribute to an integrated, coherent, convergent solution.

ZAHN: Move onto the issue of Iraq. Based on the way things are going at the U.N., do you anticipate a war between the United States and whatever allies will support it and Iraq?

BARAK: No, I anticipate that the determination to see Saddam Hussein disarm, which is equivalent to ousted (ph) out of power will still be there. There will be a need for a U.N. Security Council resolution maybe under certain circumstances, even two. But the first one will leave a narrow track for preparation (ph) if there is a need and the second resolution will (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will pave the way for (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

I predict that Russia and France will be there and China might abstain, but even China might join ultimately.

ZAHN: Yes, ultimately is the word. I need a real quick answer to that. Are you confident that the Patriot missile (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the Arrow (ph) missiles that apparently are in place are enough to protect Israel? Or do you see Israel having to lob something back if Iraq attacks Israel?

BARAK: Israel is under threat, and if severely heat (ph), we'll have to respond. But we are doing what we can; I believe that you are doing what you can to reduce these probabilities dramatically.

What is clear is the bottom line. The U.S. force is much -- so much superior to Iraqi armed forces that this war, once it is launched, will be decisively won.

ZAHN: Mr. Barak, thank you for your time -- appreciate your dropping by. And best of luck to you on this Bioterror front. It's frightening to think about what you have to address on a daily basis there.

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 October 28, 2002 - 07:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Concern about biological weapons is a key issue in the Bush administration's campaign to disarm Iraq, and if the standoff leads to war, Israel could be caught in the crossfire.
Today, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is being named as an adviser to a forum called BioSecurity 2002. It brings together officials from governments, science and medicine to prepare for bioterror attacks.

Joining me now to talk about that and what role Israel might play if there is war against Iraq is Ehud Barak.

Before we get to that, good morning -- welcome.

EHUD BARAK, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.

ZAHN: Glad to see you again.

What do you know, if anything, about this American diplomat killed in Jordan?

BARAK: I do not know, and no one knows at the moment. But it's more probable a terror attack. It doesn't look a neighbor's (ph) dispute.

ZAHN: And when you say, "terror attack," by whom? Is it a particular group?

BARAK: I know one of these radical Muslim fundamentalist groups.

ZAHN: And we don't have any idea of why he specifically would have been targeted.

BARAK: I don't know at the present nothing more than you know, but it doesn't make sense to think of it but as a terror attack.

ZAHN: Let's come back to the issue of bioterror. I know we just talked to Senator Joseph Lieberman about this devastating Council on Foreign Relations report that talked about how woefully ill-prepared the United States is in the event of a bioterror attack, where you had someone saying -- quote -- "When it comes to combating terrorism, the police officers on the beat are effectively operating deaf, dumb and blind." That was a quote out of the report.

What can you tell us about what Israel has done on the first responders' front to make its citizens safer? BARAK: We already have done three things. First of all, the whole population practically (ph) carries protection gears against chemical warfare.

Secondly, we have already vaccinated several thousands of first responders, as you call them, so that in a case that a need arises for fully-fledged vaccination, there will be enough serum within the blood of these people, and they are much better protected when they come to the arena.

And No. 3, we accumulated huge amounts of highly-aggressive antibiotics to respond to anthrax. Basically, we all have a global wake-up call to the anthrax attack in the wake of 9/11

ZAHN: I know that smallpox is also an issue that is being widely debated in Israel right now. Mr. Sharon's cabinet is saying there's no immediate danger of a smallpox attack on Israel. But there is a debate of whether to immunize citizens or not.

BARAK: Yes, there is, but for technical medical reasons, it doesn't make sense to vaccinate now, at this period, the whole population. There are some side effects that can appear if you vaccinate over a million people, and basically, the response time would be enough. If we have 15,000 people all we'll be vaccinating, then you can deal with side effects the first several days, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you can vaccinate immediately within 48 hours all of the population there, and then spread within another several days for the whole country.

ZAHN: Were you surprised by the findings of this Council report showing how ill-prepared the United States is in the face of another terrorist attack?

BARAK: I was not. I was the prime minister until two years ago. We were dealing with it all of these years. I know that President Clinton, several times he talked with me very openly about the fact that he can hardly sleep at night when he remembered all that he had been told during these briefings of the CIA and scientists and so on.

It is very dangerous global threat, and indeed, both of these committees -- it is not just people kind of -- the Council of Foreign Affairs. There are two Nobel Prize laureates in the sciences, you know, Joseph Bergen (ph), Steven Weinberg (ph). We had Admiral Crow (ph) and General Vezi (ph) of the Joints Chiefs, too, secretary of states, Joe Schutz (ph) and Warren Christopher.

This is a top-notch group that knows exactly -- Judge Webster (ph) was there -- know exactly what are the interests of the United States and basically of the whole world.

ZAHN: So, what is a lesson the United States hasn't learned?

BARAK: The real lesson is that the threat is there. It is much more serious than we usually talk about in public, and it should be taken (ph) in concrete actions. There are a set of recommendations that the administration already developed a set of recommendations, we developed in Israel and the British, the Germans, some others are working on the same issue.

There is a need to rate the preparedness of emergency forces to develop certain detectors that would be able to just to tell you that something -- some kind of germ had been spread. And there is an urgent need to bring together to one place scientists, medical doctors, intelligence people, foreign affairs people, and anyone who can contribute to an integrated, coherent, convergent solution.

ZAHN: Move onto the issue of Iraq. Based on the way things are going at the U.N., do you anticipate a war between the United States and whatever allies will support it and Iraq?

BARAK: No, I anticipate that the determination to see Saddam Hussein disarm, which is equivalent to ousted (ph) out of power will still be there. There will be a need for a U.N. Security Council resolution maybe under certain circumstances, even two. But the first one will leave a narrow track for preparation (ph) if there is a need and the second resolution will (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will pave the way for (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

I predict that Russia and France will be there and China might abstain, but even China might join ultimately.

ZAHN: Yes, ultimately is the word. I need a real quick answer to that. Are you confident that the Patriot missile (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the Arrow (ph) missiles that apparently are in place are enough to protect Israel? Or do you see Israel having to lob something back if Iraq attacks Israel?

BARAK: Israel is under threat, and if severely heat (ph), we'll have to respond. But we are doing what we can; I believe that you are doing what you can to reduce these probabilities dramatically.

What is clear is the bottom line. The U.S. force is much -- so much superior to Iraqi armed forces that this war, once it is launched, will be decisively won.

ZAHN: Mr. Barak, thank you for your time -- appreciate your dropping by. And best of luck to you on this Bioterror front. It's frightening to think about what you have to address on a daily basis there.

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