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CNN Live Today

Talk with Former U.N. Weapons Inspector

Aired December 10, 2002 - 11:11   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go back to this issue of the weapons in Iraq and this document that has been turned over to the U.N. and U.S., we should say, by now. Let's bring in now Garth Whitty, he is a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. He joins us now from London.
Good to have you back with us again, Mr. Whitty. Let me ask you first off, have you seen yet this table of contents from this document that Michael Okwu was just reporting on? I'd like to know what your impressions are of it.

GARTH WHITTY, FMR. U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Yes, I have seen it. I don't think there are any surprises. And as was said by a previous speaker, most of this information has been with the U.N. in the past, and no surprises thus far.

HARRIS: Does that indicate anything to you what may be to come later?

WHITTY: Not really. I've always believed that what we will see is a huge amount of material that's already held. There may be some minor variation, and that's why, of course, the analysts will have to check very carefully between this document and existing documents. The implication of other countries in the provision of technical expertise and material and equipment, that's been known for a long time, as well.

HARRIS: Some of the other preliminary reports we've gotten from those who have had a chance to at least see some of it, or talk to those who have seen some of it, they say that much of it. if not most of it, appears to be a rehashing and maybe even a photocopying of documents that had been turned over in the past. Does that in your mind heighten your suspicions about what may have happened in that one period where there were no inspectors on the ground after 1998?

WHITTY: I think rehashing previously issued documentation was inevitable just by virtue of the fact of how much was produced in such a short space of time. But no, there is no surprise. I think we're still left in a position of the Iraqis saying that they no longer have a WMD program and some countries in the world community saying that they have evidence that suggests that they do.

HARRIS: Well, the Iraqis did say something about the evidence that would be uncovered in this document that may shock some, because they said there may be embarrassing information in there about nations and companies in nations that have been helping Iraq all along. What do you make of that statement? And what do you expect to see about that and what should be done about that?

WHITTY: I think we will see once again a rehashing of information that we've had in the past. I think that's broadly known that a large number of countries contributed either wittingly or unwittingly to the WMD program, going right back to the '80s. Most of those companies and supplies have been known in the past. There may be further information. Perhaps there were some suppliers that the Iraqis felt it prudent not to expose, that they will now expose. But I don't anticipate any major surprises.

HARRIS: Interesting. Finally, there's reports this morning that the Pentagon may be at least preparing some sort of overflight or surveillance information and may be making that available now to the inspectors, for instance, any information that can be gleaned from using these Predator unmanned flight machines that can go over land without any threat to any human life. What do you make of that? The Pentagon has been saying that the inspectors have not asked for that kind of help up to this point. Should they be asking for it?

WHITTY: They should indeed be asking for every piece of assistance that they can get. At the same time, they have to be fairly careful insofar as they represent the United Nations, not any one country and they have to be seen to be as neutral as possible. But whatever help can be provided to them, I would have thought that they would willingly accept.

HARRIS: Garth Whitty, former weapons inspector, once again, joining us from London. Thank you. Appreciate the insight. Have a good one. Take care.

WHITTY: Thank you.

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 December 10, 2002 - 11:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go back to this issue of the weapons in Iraq and this document that has been turned over to the U.N. and U.S., we should say, by now. Let's bring in now Garth Whitty, he is a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. He joins us now from London.
Good to have you back with us again, Mr. Whitty. Let me ask you first off, have you seen yet this table of contents from this document that Michael Okwu was just reporting on? I'd like to know what your impressions are of it.

GARTH WHITTY, FMR. U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Yes, I have seen it. I don't think there are any surprises. And as was said by a previous speaker, most of this information has been with the U.N. in the past, and no surprises thus far.

HARRIS: Does that indicate anything to you what may be to come later?

WHITTY: Not really. I've always believed that what we will see is a huge amount of material that's already held. There may be some minor variation, and that's why, of course, the analysts will have to check very carefully between this document and existing documents. The implication of other countries in the provision of technical expertise and material and equipment, that's been known for a long time, as well.

HARRIS: Some of the other preliminary reports we've gotten from those who have had a chance to at least see some of it, or talk to those who have seen some of it, they say that much of it. if not most of it, appears to be a rehashing and maybe even a photocopying of documents that had been turned over in the past. Does that in your mind heighten your suspicions about what may have happened in that one period where there were no inspectors on the ground after 1998?

WHITTY: I think rehashing previously issued documentation was inevitable just by virtue of the fact of how much was produced in such a short space of time. But no, there is no surprise. I think we're still left in a position of the Iraqis saying that they no longer have a WMD program and some countries in the world community saying that they have evidence that suggests that they do.

HARRIS: Well, the Iraqis did say something about the evidence that would be uncovered in this document that may shock some, because they said there may be embarrassing information in there about nations and companies in nations that have been helping Iraq all along. What do you make of that statement? And what do you expect to see about that and what should be done about that?

WHITTY: I think we will see once again a rehashing of information that we've had in the past. I think that's broadly known that a large number of countries contributed either wittingly or unwittingly to the WMD program, going right back to the '80s. Most of those companies and supplies have been known in the past. There may be further information. Perhaps there were some suppliers that the Iraqis felt it prudent not to expose, that they will now expose. But I don't anticipate any major surprises.

HARRIS: Interesting. Finally, there's reports this morning that the Pentagon may be at least preparing some sort of overflight or surveillance information and may be making that available now to the inspectors, for instance, any information that can be gleaned from using these Predator unmanned flight machines that can go over land without any threat to any human life. What do you make of that? The Pentagon has been saying that the inspectors have not asked for that kind of help up to this point. Should they be asking for it?

WHITTY: They should indeed be asking for every piece of assistance that they can get. At the same time, they have to be fairly careful insofar as they represent the United Nations, not any one country and they have to be seen to be as neutral as possible. But whatever help can be provided to them, I would have thought that they would willingly accept.

HARRIS: Garth Whitty, former weapons inspector, once again, joining us from London. Thank you. Appreciate the insight. Have a good one. Take care.

WHITTY: Thank you.

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