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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview With Former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday
Aired January 09, 2003 - 06:32 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: It's time to get back to the issue of Iraq now. As more U.S. forces get into position for a possible war, we're hearing words of warning.
We want to go live to Baghdad now. Joining us is Denis Halliday, a former United Nations assistant secretary-general.
Good morning.
DENIS HALLIDAY, FMR. U.N. ASST. SECY. GEN.: Good morning. Good to be with you.
COSTELLO: First off, tell us about your mission. It's a private one. What is it?
HALLIDAY: I came in simply to look and see and listen, talk to officials, talk to Iraqi families I know and talk to people in the streets, and it's been a very interesting week.
COSTELLO: And what are people in Iraq saying about the weapons inspectors?
HALLIDAY: They don't believe they're here for weapons of mass destruction. They think it's -- they believe it's part of a charade to a certain extent. But nevertheless, they are bending backwards to make it work. They're tolerating inconveniences, and I think it is working.
COSTELLO: You know, not many people...
HALLIDAY: But they don't believe that's what it's all about.
COSTELLO: Not many people in the United States believe that the Iraqis are bending over backwards to help the United Nations weapons inspectors.
HALLIDAY: Why is that? Because I mean, Mr. Blix has reported that Mr. Barudi (ph) has been very positive (ph) on the nuclear side of things. And I think the evidence is very clear, Iraq has no choice. They want to make sure that nobody can trip them up on this inspections process.
COSTELLO: But Hans Blix is going to go before the United Nations Security Council and say there are glaring omissions in Iraq's weapons declaration. HALLIDAY: Well, that's information that's paper (ph). That's asking Iraq to prove what they don't have, which is a very difficult process. But the process of viewing, looking and searching, that's ongoing and that's going on, I think, very well.
COSTELLO: So, you think Saddam Hussein is fully cooperating?
HALLIDAY: I do indeed. Last night, I met with General Amer al- Saadi, who manages -- oversees the role with UNMOVIC, and he's working well with these people. There's no serious difficulty. He feels they're satisfied, and so is he.
COSTELLO: So, if that's true, what's the answer here?
HALLIDAY: Well, the answer is that, you know, no matter what comes out of this report on the 27th of January, people here feel that Mr. Bush will go ahead with his intentions to take over Iraq, because it's not about weapons. It's about oil, it's about a military presence, it's about ambitions to remap the Middle East to suit American interests.
So, the Iraqis are not optimistic. They are very pessimistic. They don't think this war can be stopped, and they don't see how they can win either way.
COSTELLO: All right, Dennis Halliday, thanks for joining us live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Denis Halliday>
Aired January 9, 2003 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's time to get back to the issue of Iraq now. As more U.S. forces get into position for a possible war, we're hearing words of warning.
We want to go live to Baghdad now. Joining us is Denis Halliday, a former United Nations assistant secretary-general.
Good morning.
DENIS HALLIDAY, FMR. U.N. ASST. SECY. GEN.: Good morning. Good to be with you.
COSTELLO: First off, tell us about your mission. It's a private one. What is it?
HALLIDAY: I came in simply to look and see and listen, talk to officials, talk to Iraqi families I know and talk to people in the streets, and it's been a very interesting week.
COSTELLO: And what are people in Iraq saying about the weapons inspectors?
HALLIDAY: They don't believe they're here for weapons of mass destruction. They think it's -- they believe it's part of a charade to a certain extent. But nevertheless, they are bending backwards to make it work. They're tolerating inconveniences, and I think it is working.
COSTELLO: You know, not many people...
HALLIDAY: But they don't believe that's what it's all about.
COSTELLO: Not many people in the United States believe that the Iraqis are bending over backwards to help the United Nations weapons inspectors.
HALLIDAY: Why is that? Because I mean, Mr. Blix has reported that Mr. Barudi (ph) has been very positive (ph) on the nuclear side of things. And I think the evidence is very clear, Iraq has no choice. They want to make sure that nobody can trip them up on this inspections process.
COSTELLO: But Hans Blix is going to go before the United Nations Security Council and say there are glaring omissions in Iraq's weapons declaration. HALLIDAY: Well, that's information that's paper (ph). That's asking Iraq to prove what they don't have, which is a very difficult process. But the process of viewing, looking and searching, that's ongoing and that's going on, I think, very well.
COSTELLO: So, you think Saddam Hussein is fully cooperating?
HALLIDAY: I do indeed. Last night, I met with General Amer al- Saadi, who manages -- oversees the role with UNMOVIC, and he's working well with these people. There's no serious difficulty. He feels they're satisfied, and so is he.
COSTELLO: So, if that's true, what's the answer here?
HALLIDAY: Well, the answer is that, you know, no matter what comes out of this report on the 27th of January, people here feel that Mr. Bush will go ahead with his intentions to take over Iraq, because it's not about weapons. It's about oil, it's about a military presence, it's about ambitions to remap the Middle East to suit American interests.
So, the Iraqis are not optimistic. They are very pessimistic. They don't think this war can be stopped, and they don't see how they can win either way.
COSTELLO: All right, Dennis Halliday, thanks for joining us live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Denis Halliday>
