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White House: U.S. Sure Iraq Has Prohibited Weapons
Aired January 10, 2003 - 06:07 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: Turning our attention now to Iraq, the chief U.N. weapons inspector says there is "no smoking gun," indicating Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. But Hans Blix says Iraq did not cooperate fully with inspectors in its weapons declaration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: The declaration didn't provide us any new evidence and didn't answer the questions that were put already in 1991 -- '99 by the Amarin (ph) report. And that the Iraqis could have looked at those questions and answered more -- answered better. So, we are not satisfied.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Yesterday, inspectors briefed the U.N. Security Council on the weapons hunt. A formal report is due by January 27.
In the meantime, the White House says the fact that U.N. inspectors have found no smoking gun doesn't mean Iraq is clean.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House message is very clear: It's not over until it's over. Just because U.N. weapons inspectors say there is "no smoking gun" does not mean Saddam Hussein doesn't have weapons of mass destruction.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer making three very critical points. First of all, saying the administration has intelligence that shows that Iraq does have a weapons program, has even shared some of that intelligence with inspectors. Also emphasizing that there is no deadline for the president to decide whether or not to use military action against Saddam Hussein. Yes, there's a deadline, January 27, for the weapons inspectors to release their findings to the U.N. Security Council, but it does not mean that the administration won't allow more time for the inspections to play out. And third, that the burden is on Saddam Hussein to prove that he has no weapons of mass destruction; that it is not the burden of the inspectors to prove that he has none.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The problem with guns that are hidden is you can't see their smoke. And so, we will still wait to see what the inspectors find in Iraq, and what events in Iraq lead to.
MALVEAUX: So, why the massive military buildup? Ari Fleisher says to push along diplomacy. But the president has yet to make that critical decision of whether or not to use military force against Saddam Hussein.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 January 10, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning our attention now to Iraq, the chief U.N. weapons inspector says there is "no smoking gun," indicating Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. But Hans Blix says Iraq did not cooperate fully with inspectors in its weapons declaration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: The declaration didn't provide us any new evidence and didn't answer the questions that were put already in 1991 -- '99 by the Amarin (ph) report. And that the Iraqis could have looked at those questions and answered more -- answered better. So, we are not satisfied.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Yesterday, inspectors briefed the U.N. Security Council on the weapons hunt. A formal report is due by January 27.
In the meantime, the White House says the fact that U.N. inspectors have found no smoking gun doesn't mean Iraq is clean.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House message is very clear: It's not over until it's over. Just because U.N. weapons inspectors say there is "no smoking gun" does not mean Saddam Hussein doesn't have weapons of mass destruction.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer making three very critical points. First of all, saying the administration has intelligence that shows that Iraq does have a weapons program, has even shared some of that intelligence with inspectors. Also emphasizing that there is no deadline for the president to decide whether or not to use military action against Saddam Hussein. Yes, there's a deadline, January 27, for the weapons inspectors to release their findings to the U.N. Security Council, but it does not mean that the administration won't allow more time for the inspections to play out. And third, that the burden is on Saddam Hussein to prove that he has no weapons of mass destruction; that it is not the burden of the inspectors to prove that he has none.
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The problem with guns that are hidden is you can't see their smoke. And so, we will still wait to see what the inspectors find in Iraq, and what events in Iraq lead to.
MALVEAUX: So, why the massive military buildup? Ari Fleisher says to push along diplomacy. But the president has yet to make that critical decision of whether or not to use military force against Saddam Hussein.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
