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Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Visiting with U.S. Troops in Qatar

Aired December 12, 2002 - 05:15   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is visiting with U.S. troops at that huge air base in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. He also had some very interesting comments to make to our own Wolf Blitzer.
We want to camp As Salyiyah in Qatar now and our John Vause, who is live by video phone -- John, good morning.

A busy day there in Qatar.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Carol.

Actually, we've got the satellite linked up and working. The picture should be a little bit better.

Right now the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, he's meeting with the U.S. military personnel here, along with General Tommy Franks. He's taking their questions.

But earlier he sat down with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and he answered some of their questions about the looming showdown with Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us.

How close is the United States to going to war right now?

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, Wolf, that's not knowable, really. It depends on how the Iraqi government responds to the U.N. resolution and what the reaction of the United Nations and the Security Council members is to the way they respond.

BLITZER: Am I hearing you suggest that it's going to be up to the U.N. Security Council to make that decision or the United States government?

RUMSFELD: It's up to the members to individually and collectively if they wish to, but certainly the president's been very clear that, what his views are.

BLITZER: You're not giving the U.N. Security Council veto authority over a U.S. decision?

RUMSFELD: No, indeed, he has not done that. BLITZER: What do you, is your preliminary reading, based on the information you're getting, on the Iraqi report, those 12,000 pages or so that they handed over to the weapons inspectors?

RUMSFELD: Well, I really don't have a preliminary reading. It seems to me that it's an important document. It could have important implications for the world. And the only fair thing to do is to allow the experts that are currently reviewing it the time that's necessary. It's tens of thousands of pages long. It's in English as well as Arabic. And it merits attention not just by our government, but by the other governments that have access to it.

BLITZER: Is the U.S. military right now ready, if the president were to give that order, to go into battle?

RUMSFELD: The United States is capable of doing what the president might ask it to do.

BLITZER: Let me rephrase the question. Have you signed off on a plan that would get this job done quickly?

RUMSFELD: The job of the Department of Defense in any country, a ministry of defense has an obligation to do planning and we've been doing it for decades, as you know well as a former Pentagon correspondent. And we always have plans prepared for various contingencies. In every corner of the globe, we've taken the time, invested the time to make those kinds of plans.

BLITZER: You're a hands-on kind of secretary of defense. Are you satisfied with the plan that is now in the works?

RUMSFELD: Well, you know, as things change, circumstances change, one needs to make adjustments and calibrations. And we do that on a fairly continuous real time basis.

BLITZER: Basically what you're saying is that you like the plan?

RUMSFELD: Sure. I'm, I think General Franks and his team have done a very good job. But that as he and I both know, as new information becomes available, new intelligence, things, events occur, different countries offer assistance, why, adjustments and calibrations are made.

BLITZER: If you conclude that the Iraqi report doesn't tell the truth, that they do, indeed, have weapons of mass destruction capabilities, will you, the U.S. government, make that information public to the world?

RUMSFELD: That's a decision, of course, for the president and not for me. The, it is clear that the Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction. The issue is not whether or not they have weapons of mass destruction, the issue is whether or not the Iraqi government has made a decision that the game is up and that it will comply with the United Nations resolutions and it will disclose what it has and participate in a process with the U.N. monitoring and inspection group to disarm itself of those capabilities. BLITZER: Is Saddam Hussein capable of making that kind of change?

RUMSFELD: Time will tell. People do unusual things when they feel in duress. Obviously, he wouldn't have inspectors in there right now if he didn't feel that he'd been pressured to do so by the threat of the use of force, if there had not been an overwhelming vote in the United States Congress and a unanimous vote in the United Nations. Absent those things, he'd still be just fine developing his weapons of mass destruction.

BLITZER: So you're leaving open the possibility he could have a change of heart?

RUMSFELD: Well, I kind of look at all the options. One option, he could get up tomorrow morning and decide the game's up, I'm going to leave town and I'm going to go live with Idi Amin or some ex-leader in the world. A second thing that could happen is his team could get up tomorrow morning and decide that they're tired of him and that they'd prefer he not be running their country because he's not doing a good job for his country. And that's a possibility.

A third possibility is he could get up in the morning and decide the game is up, I'm going to let the U.N. inspectors come in, I'm going to tell the truth, I'm going to show them everything now. And the fourth choice is the one that he's been on for a decade, and that's to string along the U.N. and the rest of the world and lie.

BLITZER: That's the most likely option, isn't it?

RUMSFELD: Oh, I don't guess I'm into probabilities. I'll wait and see.

BLITZER: If you were right now trying to assess where the U.S. military would be a month or two or three from now, what would be your assessment?

RUMSFELD: The job of the United States Department of Defense is to be ready to follow the orders of our country and we are ready to do that now and we'll be ready to do it then.

BLITZER: You probably noticed yesterday at that news conference here in Qatar after the signing agreement one of the reporters, local reporters asked you some provocative questions. You got a little testy.

RUMSFELD: Did I?

BLITZER: Is this getting personal to a certain degree, you and the Iraqi issue?

RUMSFELD: Not at all. Not at all. Absolutely not. There's nothing personal about it.

BLITZER: What is it, exactly, in your mind? RUMSFELD: Well, it's a, it's a, it's a fact that we're at a point in the history of the world where terrorist states have weapons of mass destruction and relationships with terrorist networks that are threatening to kill innocent men, women and children and last year killed 3,000 Americans.

BLITZER: Can you understand at all...

RUMSFELD: And...

BLITZER: Let me just...

RUMSFELD: No, let me finish. And the connection between those two poses a danger that's notably different in the 21st century than it was in the 20th century, where tens of thousands of people can be killed.

BLITZER: But can you understand at all why so many people in this part of the world, the Arab world, the Muslim world, are more sympathetic to Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, if you will, than perhaps to the United States' position?

RUMSFELD: Can I understand it? Sure. I've always understood that people have different views. I'm very comfortable with the idea that it's not a good thing for people to think they can go around murdering thousands of innocent men, women and children. And to the extent that's being taught, to the extent that's believed, to the extent that's being implemented, I'll be opposed to it.

BLITZER: There was a story in the "Washington Post" this morning suggesting a link, that the Iraqis were making V.X. nerve gas available to al Qaeda and in recent weeks, in fact, they have done this to an al Qaeda group and that the nerve gas was smuggled out through Turkey.

RUMSFELD: That's a statement about the "Washington Post?"

BLITZER: The "Washington Post" story.

RUMSFELD: And you want me to comment on it?

BLITZER: Would you?

RUMSFELD: I haven't read the article.

BLITZER: But without having read the article, is there a connection between al Qaeda and Iraq?

RUMSFELD: The Central Intelligence Agency has declassified some information that discusses the relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq. I've read it at a press conference, the unclassified version, and I'll stick with that statement.

BLITZER: You don't want to go beyond that?

RUMSFELD: It's why, it's not for me to be declassifying that type of information.

BLITZER: Why is it necessary for the Bush administration right now to issue this warning of potential nuclear retaliatory strike if anyone uses weapons of mass destruction against the United States?

RUMSFELD: I don't have any idea. I've not read it. I don't know what document it is and I'm not familiar with it.

BLITZER: It's this national security defense.

RUMSFELD: It must be something that the White House put out. I'm here. They're there. I have not read it. I was not aware of it. It didn't seem to me to be anything notably different from U.S. policy. We've had a longstanding policy of not ruling things out and -- but I have no idea who put it out, if anybody, or it leaked or what. I just am not familiar with it.

BLITZER: One final question, smallpox vaccines, are you ready to give that order to start massive vaccinations of the U.S. military?

RUMSFELD: I believe I've already given it.

BLITZER: When is it going to start formally?

RUMSFELD: Well, it's a matter of cranking up and preparing and getting ready and actually implementing it. But we've, it's been through the process at the Department of Defense and we've coordinated it with the White House and they're aware that we do plan to provide smallpox vaccinations to first responders and to people who conceivably could be vulnerable to the disease.

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

RUMSFELD: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Now, Donald Rumsfeld will also take time out to oversee some of that exercise Internal Look, that big computer simulated war game which is into its fourth day now. And we're hoping in the next hour or so to give you a look at that war game, as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John, I'm just curious as to what room you're sitting in.

VAUSE: This is actually the press briefing room. This is one of the areas that we can go. There are a lot of no go areas on this base, I can tell you. There's a lot of guys with machine guns and heavy automatic weapons walking around outside, making sure we don't go to the wrong place.

COSTELLO: Yes, it's a pretty good deterrent, is it?

VAUSE: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Thank you, John Vause. We appreciate it.

We'll get back to you in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

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




Qatar>


Aired December 12, 2002 - 05:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is visiting with U.S. troops at that huge air base in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. He also had some very interesting comments to make to our own Wolf Blitzer.
We want to camp As Salyiyah in Qatar now and our John Vause, who is live by video phone -- John, good morning.

A busy day there in Qatar.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Carol.

Actually, we've got the satellite linked up and working. The picture should be a little bit better.

Right now the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, he's meeting with the U.S. military personnel here, along with General Tommy Franks. He's taking their questions.

But earlier he sat down with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and he answered some of their questions about the looming showdown with Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us.

How close is the United States to going to war right now?

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, Wolf, that's not knowable, really. It depends on how the Iraqi government responds to the U.N. resolution and what the reaction of the United Nations and the Security Council members is to the way they respond.

BLITZER: Am I hearing you suggest that it's going to be up to the U.N. Security Council to make that decision or the United States government?

RUMSFELD: It's up to the members to individually and collectively if they wish to, but certainly the president's been very clear that, what his views are.

BLITZER: You're not giving the U.N. Security Council veto authority over a U.S. decision?

RUMSFELD: No, indeed, he has not done that. BLITZER: What do you, is your preliminary reading, based on the information you're getting, on the Iraqi report, those 12,000 pages or so that they handed over to the weapons inspectors?

RUMSFELD: Well, I really don't have a preliminary reading. It seems to me that it's an important document. It could have important implications for the world. And the only fair thing to do is to allow the experts that are currently reviewing it the time that's necessary. It's tens of thousands of pages long. It's in English as well as Arabic. And it merits attention not just by our government, but by the other governments that have access to it.

BLITZER: Is the U.S. military right now ready, if the president were to give that order, to go into battle?

RUMSFELD: The United States is capable of doing what the president might ask it to do.

BLITZER: Let me rephrase the question. Have you signed off on a plan that would get this job done quickly?

RUMSFELD: The job of the Department of Defense in any country, a ministry of defense has an obligation to do planning and we've been doing it for decades, as you know well as a former Pentagon correspondent. And we always have plans prepared for various contingencies. In every corner of the globe, we've taken the time, invested the time to make those kinds of plans.

BLITZER: You're a hands-on kind of secretary of defense. Are you satisfied with the plan that is now in the works?

RUMSFELD: Well, you know, as things change, circumstances change, one needs to make adjustments and calibrations. And we do that on a fairly continuous real time basis.

BLITZER: Basically what you're saying is that you like the plan?

RUMSFELD: Sure. I'm, I think General Franks and his team have done a very good job. But that as he and I both know, as new information becomes available, new intelligence, things, events occur, different countries offer assistance, why, adjustments and calibrations are made.

BLITZER: If you conclude that the Iraqi report doesn't tell the truth, that they do, indeed, have weapons of mass destruction capabilities, will you, the U.S. government, make that information public to the world?

RUMSFELD: That's a decision, of course, for the president and not for me. The, it is clear that the Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction. The issue is not whether or not they have weapons of mass destruction, the issue is whether or not the Iraqi government has made a decision that the game is up and that it will comply with the United Nations resolutions and it will disclose what it has and participate in a process with the U.N. monitoring and inspection group to disarm itself of those capabilities. BLITZER: Is Saddam Hussein capable of making that kind of change?

RUMSFELD: Time will tell. People do unusual things when they feel in duress. Obviously, he wouldn't have inspectors in there right now if he didn't feel that he'd been pressured to do so by the threat of the use of force, if there had not been an overwhelming vote in the United States Congress and a unanimous vote in the United Nations. Absent those things, he'd still be just fine developing his weapons of mass destruction.

BLITZER: So you're leaving open the possibility he could have a change of heart?

RUMSFELD: Well, I kind of look at all the options. One option, he could get up tomorrow morning and decide the game's up, I'm going to leave town and I'm going to go live with Idi Amin or some ex-leader in the world. A second thing that could happen is his team could get up tomorrow morning and decide that they're tired of him and that they'd prefer he not be running their country because he's not doing a good job for his country. And that's a possibility.

A third possibility is he could get up in the morning and decide the game is up, I'm going to let the U.N. inspectors come in, I'm going to tell the truth, I'm going to show them everything now. And the fourth choice is the one that he's been on for a decade, and that's to string along the U.N. and the rest of the world and lie.

BLITZER: That's the most likely option, isn't it?

RUMSFELD: Oh, I don't guess I'm into probabilities. I'll wait and see.

BLITZER: If you were right now trying to assess where the U.S. military would be a month or two or three from now, what would be your assessment?

RUMSFELD: The job of the United States Department of Defense is to be ready to follow the orders of our country and we are ready to do that now and we'll be ready to do it then.

BLITZER: You probably noticed yesterday at that news conference here in Qatar after the signing agreement one of the reporters, local reporters asked you some provocative questions. You got a little testy.

RUMSFELD: Did I?

BLITZER: Is this getting personal to a certain degree, you and the Iraqi issue?

RUMSFELD: Not at all. Not at all. Absolutely not. There's nothing personal about it.

BLITZER: What is it, exactly, in your mind? RUMSFELD: Well, it's a, it's a, it's a fact that we're at a point in the history of the world where terrorist states have weapons of mass destruction and relationships with terrorist networks that are threatening to kill innocent men, women and children and last year killed 3,000 Americans.

BLITZER: Can you understand at all...

RUMSFELD: And...

BLITZER: Let me just...

RUMSFELD: No, let me finish. And the connection between those two poses a danger that's notably different in the 21st century than it was in the 20th century, where tens of thousands of people can be killed.

BLITZER: But can you understand at all why so many people in this part of the world, the Arab world, the Muslim world, are more sympathetic to Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, if you will, than perhaps to the United States' position?

RUMSFELD: Can I understand it? Sure. I've always understood that people have different views. I'm very comfortable with the idea that it's not a good thing for people to think they can go around murdering thousands of innocent men, women and children. And to the extent that's being taught, to the extent that's believed, to the extent that's being implemented, I'll be opposed to it.

BLITZER: There was a story in the "Washington Post" this morning suggesting a link, that the Iraqis were making V.X. nerve gas available to al Qaeda and in recent weeks, in fact, they have done this to an al Qaeda group and that the nerve gas was smuggled out through Turkey.

RUMSFELD: That's a statement about the "Washington Post?"

BLITZER: The "Washington Post" story.

RUMSFELD: And you want me to comment on it?

BLITZER: Would you?

RUMSFELD: I haven't read the article.

BLITZER: But without having read the article, is there a connection between al Qaeda and Iraq?

RUMSFELD: The Central Intelligence Agency has declassified some information that discusses the relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq. I've read it at a press conference, the unclassified version, and I'll stick with that statement.

BLITZER: You don't want to go beyond that?

RUMSFELD: It's why, it's not for me to be declassifying that type of information.

BLITZER: Why is it necessary for the Bush administration right now to issue this warning of potential nuclear retaliatory strike if anyone uses weapons of mass destruction against the United States?

RUMSFELD: I don't have any idea. I've not read it. I don't know what document it is and I'm not familiar with it.

BLITZER: It's this national security defense.

RUMSFELD: It must be something that the White House put out. I'm here. They're there. I have not read it. I was not aware of it. It didn't seem to me to be anything notably different from U.S. policy. We've had a longstanding policy of not ruling things out and -- but I have no idea who put it out, if anybody, or it leaked or what. I just am not familiar with it.

BLITZER: One final question, smallpox vaccines, are you ready to give that order to start massive vaccinations of the U.S. military?

RUMSFELD: I believe I've already given it.

BLITZER: When is it going to start formally?

RUMSFELD: Well, it's a matter of cranking up and preparing and getting ready and actually implementing it. But we've, it's been through the process at the Department of Defense and we've coordinated it with the White House and they're aware that we do plan to provide smallpox vaccinations to first responders and to people who conceivably could be vulnerable to the disease.

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

RUMSFELD: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Now, Donald Rumsfeld will also take time out to oversee some of that exercise Internal Look, that big computer simulated war game which is into its fourth day now. And we're hoping in the next hour or so to give you a look at that war game, as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John, I'm just curious as to what room you're sitting in.

VAUSE: This is actually the press briefing room. This is one of the areas that we can go. There are a lot of no go areas on this base, I can tell you. There's a lot of guys with machine guns and heavy automatic weapons walking around outside, making sure we don't go to the wrong place.

COSTELLO: Yes, it's a pretty good deterrent, is it?

VAUSE: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Thank you, John Vause. We appreciate it.

We'll get back to you in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

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




Qatar>