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American Morning

Did Mr. Powell Take Case Against Iraq to New, Convincing Level?

Aired February 06, 2003 - 08:04   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: Powerful and compelling, those are among the words some are using to describe Colin Powell's presentation at the U.N.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We wrote 1441 to give Iraq one last chance. Iraq is not so far taking that one last chance. We must not shrink from whatever is ahead of us. We must not fail in our duty and our responsibility to the citizens of the countries that are represented by this body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So, did Mr. Powell take the case against Iraq to a new and convincing level?

Joining us now from Washington to talk us more through the impact of Powell's speech, former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Good to see you again.

Welcome.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: So, the question I have for you this morning, and we all know that Secretary of State Powell had a number of different audiences to reach out to yesterday -- the American public, world leaders and then, of course, those all important members of the Security Council -- was there anything you saw in the reaction from the foreign secretaries of, let's say, France, Germany and Russia, that would indicate to you that there will be movement on the issue of more time for inspectors?

COHEN: Well, Paula, I couldn't help but think of a portion of an old song that I remember. For those who understand, there's no need to explain. For those who refuse to understand, there's no explanation. And I think that was the case yesterday. Those who expressed their remarks immediately following Secretary Powell's presentation, they were already prepared. I think that they were not going to be moved by anything he said at that time. And I think they're actually looking for more time in order to resolve their own differences.

Ultimately I believe given the power of the facts involved that Secretary Powell laid out, that the French ultimately would be supportive of the United States. And, frankly, I think that solidarity on the part of the Security Council will make the prospect of war less likely rather than more likely and that's a message I think they have to really understand.

Saddam is going to continue to try to exploit every difference that he can find. And to the extent that these differences remain, he will not comply ever.

So solidarity of opinion that he has failed to measure up to his responsibilities, I think, could be the last hope for avoiding war in this particular case.

ZAHN: But let's talk time line here. When do you see that solidarity coming about?

COHEN: I think we're talking a matter of a few weeks. I think the United States is going to allow the inspectors to conic to conduct their auditing functions, so to speak, and demand that Saddam produce evidence of what he has had in the past and if he has disposed of it how, where and when, under what circumstances. He has not made any attempt to do that and I think that at a very minimum the inspectors will say produce this evidence.

And then I think during that interim time, the United States will continue with its allies to build the military forces in the region and I would say it's just a matter of weeks, not much longer.

ZAHN: Help us understand this morning, though, why you believe that if ultimately France comes around and maybe even Germany eventually, how that decreases the likelihood of war.

COHEN: Because I think to the extent that Saddam understands that he has no allies, he has no supporters, that he's completely isolated, then and only then does he ever take any steps in terms of moving to, toward compliance. I recall back in November of 1998 when we and our British friends actually had launched our aircraft to go after Saddam's facilities, that he sent a signal that he was prepared to comply and to have the inspectors come back in with Ambassador Butler. Of course, he failed in that regard, as well, but it was clear that only when he saw that we were on our way and that we were serious, we were going to take some action, did he make any move at all.

In this particular case, if you have solidarity on the part of the Security Council, then I think Saddam would know the game really is up, he can't exploit differences with the French or the Chinese or others, and I think that would be critically important.

ZAHN: Secretary Cohen, what is your single largest regret about how the Clinton administration dealt with Saddam Hussein?

COHEN: I don't have any regrets other than the fact that we were unable to persuade the international community, including the members of the Security Council, that he was in total non-compliance with those Security Council resolutions. As I mentioned, we had to launch an operation called Desert Fox, very limited, because we didn't have public support, international support for taking action in the face of flagrant violations of his obligations.

So my regret was that we had similar facts that what Secretary Powell presented. We had similar overhead photography. We had similar evidence of trucks moving things out as the inspectors were being held up at the door. And yet there were other members in the Security Council and elsewhere that said we're just going to pass resolutions and never enforce them. So it was an inability to persuade them at that point.

9/11 has changed that. September 11 has now concentrated the minds wonderfully of all of us who are concerned about weapons of mass destruction being used against civilized society. And that's the point that we have to make. This is not simply the United States that should be concerned about this. The entire world community is at risk with weapons that can be demonstrated covertly and have devastating consequences to all of us.

ZAHN: I think a lot of people listening to you this morning would agree that your song analogy is alive and well.

Secretary William Cohen, former secretary of defense, thanks for your time this morning.

COHEN: My pleasure.

ZAHN: We want to remind you all to stay tuned to CNN for live coverage of Colin Powell's address to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing is expected to begin about 9:30 Eastern time. And that would be 6:30 Pacific Time.

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





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Aired February 6, 2003 - 08:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Powerful and compelling, those are among the words some are using to describe Colin Powell's presentation at the U.N.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We wrote 1441 to give Iraq one last chance. Iraq is not so far taking that one last chance. We must not shrink from whatever is ahead of us. We must not fail in our duty and our responsibility to the citizens of the countries that are represented by this body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So, did Mr. Powell take the case against Iraq to a new and convincing level?

Joining us now from Washington to talk us more through the impact of Powell's speech, former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Good to see you again.

Welcome.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: So, the question I have for you this morning, and we all know that Secretary of State Powell had a number of different audiences to reach out to yesterday -- the American public, world leaders and then, of course, those all important members of the Security Council -- was there anything you saw in the reaction from the foreign secretaries of, let's say, France, Germany and Russia, that would indicate to you that there will be movement on the issue of more time for inspectors?

COHEN: Well, Paula, I couldn't help but think of a portion of an old song that I remember. For those who understand, there's no need to explain. For those who refuse to understand, there's no explanation. And I think that was the case yesterday. Those who expressed their remarks immediately following Secretary Powell's presentation, they were already prepared. I think that they were not going to be moved by anything he said at that time. And I think they're actually looking for more time in order to resolve their own differences.

Ultimately I believe given the power of the facts involved that Secretary Powell laid out, that the French ultimately would be supportive of the United States. And, frankly, I think that solidarity on the part of the Security Council will make the prospect of war less likely rather than more likely and that's a message I think they have to really understand.

Saddam is going to continue to try to exploit every difference that he can find. And to the extent that these differences remain, he will not comply ever.

So solidarity of opinion that he has failed to measure up to his responsibilities, I think, could be the last hope for avoiding war in this particular case.

ZAHN: But let's talk time line here. When do you see that solidarity coming about?

COHEN: I think we're talking a matter of a few weeks. I think the United States is going to allow the inspectors to conic to conduct their auditing functions, so to speak, and demand that Saddam produce evidence of what he has had in the past and if he has disposed of it how, where and when, under what circumstances. He has not made any attempt to do that and I think that at a very minimum the inspectors will say produce this evidence.

And then I think during that interim time, the United States will continue with its allies to build the military forces in the region and I would say it's just a matter of weeks, not much longer.

ZAHN: Help us understand this morning, though, why you believe that if ultimately France comes around and maybe even Germany eventually, how that decreases the likelihood of war.

COHEN: Because I think to the extent that Saddam understands that he has no allies, he has no supporters, that he's completely isolated, then and only then does he ever take any steps in terms of moving to, toward compliance. I recall back in November of 1998 when we and our British friends actually had launched our aircraft to go after Saddam's facilities, that he sent a signal that he was prepared to comply and to have the inspectors come back in with Ambassador Butler. Of course, he failed in that regard, as well, but it was clear that only when he saw that we were on our way and that we were serious, we were going to take some action, did he make any move at all.

In this particular case, if you have solidarity on the part of the Security Council, then I think Saddam would know the game really is up, he can't exploit differences with the French or the Chinese or others, and I think that would be critically important.

ZAHN: Secretary Cohen, what is your single largest regret about how the Clinton administration dealt with Saddam Hussein?

COHEN: I don't have any regrets other than the fact that we were unable to persuade the international community, including the members of the Security Council, that he was in total non-compliance with those Security Council resolutions. As I mentioned, we had to launch an operation called Desert Fox, very limited, because we didn't have public support, international support for taking action in the face of flagrant violations of his obligations.

So my regret was that we had similar facts that what Secretary Powell presented. We had similar overhead photography. We had similar evidence of trucks moving things out as the inspectors were being held up at the door. And yet there were other members in the Security Council and elsewhere that said we're just going to pass resolutions and never enforce them. So it was an inability to persuade them at that point.

9/11 has changed that. September 11 has now concentrated the minds wonderfully of all of us who are concerned about weapons of mass destruction being used against civilized society. And that's the point that we have to make. This is not simply the United States that should be concerned about this. The entire world community is at risk with weapons that can be demonstrated covertly and have devastating consequences to all of us.

ZAHN: I think a lot of people listening to you this morning would agree that your song analogy is alive and well.

Secretary William Cohen, former secretary of defense, thanks for your time this morning.

COHEN: My pleasure.

ZAHN: We want to remind you all to stay tuned to CNN for live coverage of Colin Powell's address to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing is expected to begin about 9:30 Eastern time. And that would be 6:30 Pacific Time.

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





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