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American Morning

Discussion With David Albright

Aired January 15, 2003 - 09:06   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: We're going to turn now to the issue of Iraq and the weapons inspections going on in that country. President Bush has said he is fed up with Saddam Hussein's games and deceptions, and the inspectors say they will need more time. David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, is a former weapons inspector. He joins us live from Washington with more.
Good morning, David. Welcome back.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FMR. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning. Good to be here.

ZAHN: So how impatient are you with the inspections right now?

ALBRIGHT: I'm not as impatient as President Bush, but I am also impatient. There is an appearance that the inspectors do need time, and that's legitimate, but there's also the appearance it's a make- work program, that they're thinking too long-term, and it's been a problem that has been there since the start, that they're visiting too many old sites where no one expects there to be banned programs. They're not doing enough detective work or investigations. They're too slow on implementing their own rights, for example, to take Iraqi scientists out of Iraq.

And so there is frustration that is growing with the activities of the inspectors.

ZAHN: Whose fault is it that the progress is so slow? Is that the inspectors' fault themselves? I know you have argued on other appearances here that the inspectors have been hampered by not receiving intelligence information off the bat.

ALBRIGHT: Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around. I mean, the fact that there were teams, for example, on the nuclear side ready to take intelligence information and in December and move on it was very frustrating to the inspectors. The United States has been extremely slow in sharing actionable intelligence information. It's also been slow in creating procedures to take Iraqis out. I think the United States is moving on that direction , or moving on that issue now, but it still has been very slow, and so I think there is blame to go around.

ZAHN: There is also an argument there are not enough inspectors there, and if that is the case then, what do you think is a legitimate outpoint for these inspections to go on? I know you don't want this to go on for another year or two. ALBRIGHT: Well, there are enough inspectors. I mean, if the whole point is to rebuild the entire monitoring system that existed in 1998, then a lot of inspectors are needed. But if the point is to investigate the basic question, does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction, does it intend to cooperate, there is plenty of inspectors to do the job.

ZAHN: Hans Blix is going public yesterday with the fact that the Iraqis now are importing weapons materials. How concerning is that to you? Is that poking another finger in our eye?

ALBRIGHT: No. It's expected. I mean, that has been the view, is that Iraq has been breaking the embargo, bringing in military equipment, potentially bringing in weapons of mass destruction equipment. And so this is a good sign. It shows the inspectors are starting to investigate and coming up with results that were expected. I mean, I would have hoped that this would have starred two months ago, but I'm glad to see it going on now. And it's exactly the kind of thing that's going to get to this issue of Iraqi compliance and whether, fundamentally, it has weapons of mass destruction.

ZAHN: Let's talk about compliance for a moment. I know you, yourself, are well-versed with the documents handed over to the U.N. Is it true that you have found a bunch of technical discrepancies between what Iraqis said they had and what they've reported in the past?

ALBRIGHT: Well, they provided nothing in this declaration that is new, and that's important. Also, for example, you know, they made statements about the number of scientists. I think they gave a list of 500. The nuclear weapons program, prior to the Persian Gulf War, had spent a couple billion dollars. A few hundred scientists don't run that kind of program.

I looked at a document last night -- I hadn't looked at in several years -- there were 40 top nuclear scientists rewarded for their work in just getting $100 million contract. So there are hundreds and thousands of people in the nuclear program, and Iraq is turning over just a small number of those names. And so I think what you have is that Iraq clearly is not complying.

It's in what I would view now as material breach, based on just what they provided in their declaration and the level of cooperation they've given. Now, that may not be enough for people to say we should go to war, and people want more direct evidence of mass destruction.

But I do think enough has been accomplished by the inspectors to show that Iraq is continuing to be a material breach of its obligations, and the idea of the resolution was to give Iraq one last chance, and I think that they are wearing out the patience of people who are looking at this situation.

ZAHN: Clearly, the president has all but had it. David Albright, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on what the inspectors are up against, and we'd love to have you back. ALBRIGHT: Thank you.

ZAHN: David Albright, of the of the Institute for Science and International Security.

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 15, 2003 - 09:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn now to the issue of Iraq and the weapons inspections going on in that country. President Bush has said he is fed up with Saddam Hussein's games and deceptions, and the inspectors say they will need more time. David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, is a former weapons inspector. He joins us live from Washington with more.
Good morning, David. Welcome back.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FMR. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning. Good to be here.

ZAHN: So how impatient are you with the inspections right now?

ALBRIGHT: I'm not as impatient as President Bush, but I am also impatient. There is an appearance that the inspectors do need time, and that's legitimate, but there's also the appearance it's a make- work program, that they're thinking too long-term, and it's been a problem that has been there since the start, that they're visiting too many old sites where no one expects there to be banned programs. They're not doing enough detective work or investigations. They're too slow on implementing their own rights, for example, to take Iraqi scientists out of Iraq.

And so there is frustration that is growing with the activities of the inspectors.

ZAHN: Whose fault is it that the progress is so slow? Is that the inspectors' fault themselves? I know you have argued on other appearances here that the inspectors have been hampered by not receiving intelligence information off the bat.

ALBRIGHT: Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around. I mean, the fact that there were teams, for example, on the nuclear side ready to take intelligence information and in December and move on it was very frustrating to the inspectors. The United States has been extremely slow in sharing actionable intelligence information. It's also been slow in creating procedures to take Iraqis out. I think the United States is moving on that direction , or moving on that issue now, but it still has been very slow, and so I think there is blame to go around.

ZAHN: There is also an argument there are not enough inspectors there, and if that is the case then, what do you think is a legitimate outpoint for these inspections to go on? I know you don't want this to go on for another year or two. ALBRIGHT: Well, there are enough inspectors. I mean, if the whole point is to rebuild the entire monitoring system that existed in 1998, then a lot of inspectors are needed. But if the point is to investigate the basic question, does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction, does it intend to cooperate, there is plenty of inspectors to do the job.

ZAHN: Hans Blix is going public yesterday with the fact that the Iraqis now are importing weapons materials. How concerning is that to you? Is that poking another finger in our eye?

ALBRIGHT: No. It's expected. I mean, that has been the view, is that Iraq has been breaking the embargo, bringing in military equipment, potentially bringing in weapons of mass destruction equipment. And so this is a good sign. It shows the inspectors are starting to investigate and coming up with results that were expected. I mean, I would have hoped that this would have starred two months ago, but I'm glad to see it going on now. And it's exactly the kind of thing that's going to get to this issue of Iraqi compliance and whether, fundamentally, it has weapons of mass destruction.

ZAHN: Let's talk about compliance for a moment. I know you, yourself, are well-versed with the documents handed over to the U.N. Is it true that you have found a bunch of technical discrepancies between what Iraqis said they had and what they've reported in the past?

ALBRIGHT: Well, they provided nothing in this declaration that is new, and that's important. Also, for example, you know, they made statements about the number of scientists. I think they gave a list of 500. The nuclear weapons program, prior to the Persian Gulf War, had spent a couple billion dollars. A few hundred scientists don't run that kind of program.

I looked at a document last night -- I hadn't looked at in several years -- there were 40 top nuclear scientists rewarded for their work in just getting $100 million contract. So there are hundreds and thousands of people in the nuclear program, and Iraq is turning over just a small number of those names. And so I think what you have is that Iraq clearly is not complying.

It's in what I would view now as material breach, based on just what they provided in their declaration and the level of cooperation they've given. Now, that may not be enough for people to say we should go to war, and people want more direct evidence of mass destruction.

But I do think enough has been accomplished by the inspectors to show that Iraq is continuing to be a material breach of its obligations, and the idea of the resolution was to give Iraq one last chance, and I think that they are wearing out the patience of people who are looking at this situation.

ZAHN: Clearly, the president has all but had it. David Albright, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on what the inspectors are up against, and we'd love to have you back. ALBRIGHT: Thank you.

ZAHN: David Albright, of the of the Institute for Science and International Security.

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