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American Morning

Inspections One Day Away

Aired November 26, 2002 - 07:03   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: A spokesman for the inspectors says their first stops tomorrow will probably be at sites that were visited by former arms teams. They want to see if equipment left there is still working. The inspectors are still holding a briefing in Iraq at this hour.
And our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, tells us what has been said so far. He joins us live from Baghdad -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Some very interesting details have come out, of course, over the last few weeks and months, years even. A lot of debate over exactly how the inspectors are going to get to work, and that's what we've been hearing today.

Now, they say we're going to see some different ways they're going to operate. When they arrive at a site, they're going to freeze it. That means nobody will be able to come in or go out of the site, no cars taking out documents. That's something that's happened in the past.

They say on these sites, they're going to take a lot of samples. They say they'll be able to go into buildings. And if they go into a room and take a sample, they said that room may look empty, but the simple sample they'll take would be able to tell them exactly what was going on there before.

He said they'll be taking a lot of photographs with them, and he said, don't be surprised if you see inspectors this time running around with big packs on their backs. He said they're going to keep a lot of information with them all the time for comparison, data comparison.

They'll be looking to take photographs of equipment they think may be dual-use equipment. This is equipment that may have been bought into Iraq under the auspices of being used in a civilian program, yet once in the country have been turned to the use of weapons of mass destruction. And he said on their computer databases, they'll be able to cross-reference the pictures of the equipment that they are photographing. He said they'll be able to send these photographs instantly back to Vienna or New York, so analysis can be done there very, very quickly.

He's also said that the teams will not be allowing, when they get to these sites, any Iraqi officials to come into those sites with them -- Paula.

ZAHN: Nic, what are the Iraqis saying about the December 8 cutoff, the first deadline?

ROBERTSON: They say a lot. The foreign minister here has said that this could be as many as several thousand pages of documentation if they're to include all of these other uses, particularly in the chemical field. Iraq says it has a lot of concerns. It has a huge petro-chemical industry, and it's concerned that if it just leaves one small item off that may be considered a dual-use item or that it should have put down, then it has said -- the foreign minister here said he's afraid the United States could use that as an excuse, as a reason to attack Iraq.

Certainly, Hans Blix said that the Iraqis had asked him such questions as, what if we're making plastic slippers? That's a chemical process. Do we even have to put that down? Raising some questions there -- Paula.

ZAHN: Are the Iraqis basically saying, Nic, that they don't think they can meet this December 8 deadline? Or are they going to try to comply and the records might not be complete? I'm not sure I really understand what they're saying.

ROBERTSON: Yes, Paula, I think everybody feels that way as well. It isn't clear. Are they saying that, gee, we just can't make this, you've given us way too much to do and there's no way that we can do it? Or, gee, we're going to try and do our best, and you know, if we make a couple of mistakes, then we're really sorry, but we're trying to be honest here? That's not clear.

I mean, the whole letter from the foreign minister really was airing their grievances. What Iraq is facing at the moment at the U.N. Security Council is complete agreement of the Security Council. And a letter with all of these grievances perhaps tries to drive a wedge between some of the countries on the U.N. Security Council, perhaps Iraq trying to seek some advantage there at this time. But, Paula, it's still not clear.

What we do know is that the U.N. inspections are really going to ramp up. That same day Iraq makes a declaration, 35 inspectors are going to arrive here that day -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

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 November 26, 2002 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: A spokesman for the inspectors says their first stops tomorrow will probably be at sites that were visited by former arms teams. They want to see if equipment left there is still working. The inspectors are still holding a briefing in Iraq at this hour.
And our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, tells us what has been said so far. He joins us live from Baghdad -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Some very interesting details have come out, of course, over the last few weeks and months, years even. A lot of debate over exactly how the inspectors are going to get to work, and that's what we've been hearing today.

Now, they say we're going to see some different ways they're going to operate. When they arrive at a site, they're going to freeze it. That means nobody will be able to come in or go out of the site, no cars taking out documents. That's something that's happened in the past.

They say on these sites, they're going to take a lot of samples. They say they'll be able to go into buildings. And if they go into a room and take a sample, they said that room may look empty, but the simple sample they'll take would be able to tell them exactly what was going on there before.

He said they'll be taking a lot of photographs with them, and he said, don't be surprised if you see inspectors this time running around with big packs on their backs. He said they're going to keep a lot of information with them all the time for comparison, data comparison.

They'll be looking to take photographs of equipment they think may be dual-use equipment. This is equipment that may have been bought into Iraq under the auspices of being used in a civilian program, yet once in the country have been turned to the use of weapons of mass destruction. And he said on their computer databases, they'll be able to cross-reference the pictures of the equipment that they are photographing. He said they'll be able to send these photographs instantly back to Vienna or New York, so analysis can be done there very, very quickly.

He's also said that the teams will not be allowing, when they get to these sites, any Iraqi officials to come into those sites with them -- Paula.

ZAHN: Nic, what are the Iraqis saying about the December 8 cutoff, the first deadline?

ROBERTSON: They say a lot. The foreign minister here has said that this could be as many as several thousand pages of documentation if they're to include all of these other uses, particularly in the chemical field. Iraq says it has a lot of concerns. It has a huge petro-chemical industry, and it's concerned that if it just leaves one small item off that may be considered a dual-use item or that it should have put down, then it has said -- the foreign minister here said he's afraid the United States could use that as an excuse, as a reason to attack Iraq.

Certainly, Hans Blix said that the Iraqis had asked him such questions as, what if we're making plastic slippers? That's a chemical process. Do we even have to put that down? Raising some questions there -- Paula.

ZAHN: Are the Iraqis basically saying, Nic, that they don't think they can meet this December 8 deadline? Or are they going to try to comply and the records might not be complete? I'm not sure I really understand what they're saying.

ROBERTSON: Yes, Paula, I think everybody feels that way as well. It isn't clear. Are they saying that, gee, we just can't make this, you've given us way too much to do and there's no way that we can do it? Or, gee, we're going to try and do our best, and you know, if we make a couple of mistakes, then we're really sorry, but we're trying to be honest here? That's not clear.

I mean, the whole letter from the foreign minister really was airing their grievances. What Iraq is facing at the moment at the U.N. Security Council is complete agreement of the Security Council. And a letter with all of these grievances perhaps tries to drive a wedge between some of the countries on the U.N. Security Council, perhaps Iraq trying to seek some advantage there at this time. But, Paula, it's still not clear.

What we do know is that the U.N. inspections are really going to ramp up. That same day Iraq makes a declaration, 35 inspectors are going to arrive here that day -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

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