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Wake-Up Call: Colin Powell Meets Counterparts at U.N. to Discuss Iraq

Aired January 20, 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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We do want to talk more about Iraq in this morning's "Wake-Up Call." Our State Department producer, Elise Labott, is on the phone for us this morning.
Elise, you're in New York, where Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with U.N. Security Council foreign ministers, right?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: That's right, Heidi. Secretary Powell is here for a U.N. Security Council meeting on combating terrorism, but he's facing a number of burning issues: Iraq, North Korea and Venezuela.

Last night, he met with the Chinese, French and Mexican foreign ministers. And on Iraq, he's making the argument that Iraq's continued lack of cooperation with inspectors makes it unlikely that the inspections process will succeed. And so, something else must be done to get Saddam Hussein to disarm.

And so, U.S. officials are unlikely to view this agreement between Iraq and the U.N. inspectors as good news, because the administration believes this is just a delaying tactic for the Iraqi government, and that they're not really committed to working with the international community on disarming. And as you know, the U.N. faces growing opposition from several council members, including France, Russia, Germany, to give the inspectors more time. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said maybe the inspections should continue.

So, Heidi, Secretary Powell certainly has his work cut out for him today.

COLLINS: That's right, Elise. And speaking of that international community, allies say that there's no smoking gun, and so the U.S. should not use military force. How does the U.S. respond to that?

LABOTT: Well, officials say, well, the U.S. may have no smoking gun proving Iraq has amassed weapons of mass destruction, but that Iraq's unwillingness to cooperate is what's at issue here. They say it's not just about doors opening, it's not even that inspectors found things. The U.S. says Iraq is on parole here, that the onus is on Baghdad to show it's ready to rehabilitate itself.

You know, one official likened this to opening yourself up to an audit, and that if you have nothing to hide, you do everything you can to prove you're innocent. And they say that Iraq has yet to show this type of cooperation. COLLINS: All right, Elise Labott, thank you so much for the update on that, coming to us from New York 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.




Discuss Iraq>


Aired January 20, 2003 - 06:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We do want to talk more about Iraq in this morning's "Wake-Up Call." Our State Department producer, Elise Labott, is on the phone for us this morning.
Elise, you're in New York, where Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with U.N. Security Council foreign ministers, right?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: That's right, Heidi. Secretary Powell is here for a U.N. Security Council meeting on combating terrorism, but he's facing a number of burning issues: Iraq, North Korea and Venezuela.

Last night, he met with the Chinese, French and Mexican foreign ministers. And on Iraq, he's making the argument that Iraq's continued lack of cooperation with inspectors makes it unlikely that the inspections process will succeed. And so, something else must be done to get Saddam Hussein to disarm.

And so, U.S. officials are unlikely to view this agreement between Iraq and the U.N. inspectors as good news, because the administration believes this is just a delaying tactic for the Iraqi government, and that they're not really committed to working with the international community on disarming. And as you know, the U.N. faces growing opposition from several council members, including France, Russia, Germany, to give the inspectors more time. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said maybe the inspections should continue.

So, Heidi, Secretary Powell certainly has his work cut out for him today.

COLLINS: That's right, Elise. And speaking of that international community, allies say that there's no smoking gun, and so the U.S. should not use military force. How does the U.S. respond to that?

LABOTT: Well, officials say, well, the U.S. may have no smoking gun proving Iraq has amassed weapons of mass destruction, but that Iraq's unwillingness to cooperate is what's at issue here. They say it's not just about doors opening, it's not even that inspectors found things. The U.S. says Iraq is on parole here, that the onus is on Baghdad to show it's ready to rehabilitate itself.

You know, one official likened this to opening yourself up to an audit, and that if you have nothing to hide, you do everything you can to prove you're innocent. And they say that Iraq has yet to show this type of cooperation. COLLINS: All right, Elise Labott, thank you so much for the update on that, coming to us from New York 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.




Discuss Iraq>