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CNN Live Sunday
Did Bush Oversell Iraqi Threat?
Aired July 06, 2003 - 16:10 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: And now to Iraq and the contentious issue of weapons of mass destruction. Did President Bush oversell his case for the threat Iraq posed in his State of the Union Address? A former U.S. ambassador says he did. Months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, President Bush accused Iraq of trying to buy uranium from an African country. Former ambassador, Joseph Wilson, says that information simply wasn't true, and he says the CIA and the State Department knew it. But not everyone is agreeing with his assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: My judgment on this is that if they were referring to Niger when they were referring to uranium sales from Africa to Iraq, that information was erroneous and that they knew about it well ahead of both the publication of the British white paper and the president's State of the Union Address.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: The Defense Department itself said that there were shipments sought of uranium from Africa. They said that in December of 2002. So it wasn't just the president saying it in the State of the Union message in January this year, but the Defense Department had said nine months after this report from Joe Wilson, said in a printed document that was published all over the country, that there were uranium shipments from Africa and that that was the basis for proceeding against Saddam Hussein.
WILSON: Either the administration has some information that it has not shared with the public, or yes, they were using the selective use of facts and intelligence to bolster a decision in a case that had already been made, a decision that had been made to go to war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: In an opinion piece for the "New York Times" today, Wilson wrote, the CIA sent him to Niger at the request of Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Well, what's the reaction from the Bush administration over former Ambassador Wilson's accusations? For that we now go to White House correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, take it away. What is the White House saying at this hour?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, you know, this is an issue that has certainly plagued the Bush administration, particularly because, as you've just heard and as you've just said, that the president actually used the information in his State of the Union Address. Now, what senior officials have said for some time from National Security Adviser Dr. Condoleezza Rice, on down is that the White House, at the senior level, simply did not know that this information was faulty when the president used it in his State of the Union Address.
Now, with regard to ambassador Wilson's charge that it was actually the vice president's office that ordered him to go and that they did know about his conclusion that the information was faulty before the State of the Union Address, administration officials are, at this time, flatly denying that. One official is telling CNN, quote, that they were, quote, "unaware of the mission and unaware of the results or conclusion of his mission." So this is something that the White House is continuing to deny.
They say that the information that Ambassador Wilson came forward with today was out there, it's just that the person behind it in Ambassador Wilson was not known-- it was not known exactly who went on the mission. But they say simply that they do not know -- that Vice President Cheney's office did not know anything about this. But Republican and Democratic Senators on the Intelligence Committee did say today, Sean, that they are going to take this into consideration when they hold hearings on the overall question of what kind of intelligence information went into going to head with the war with Iraq when they have those hearings later on into the summer or into the fall. Sean?
CALLEBS: Well, Dana, let's pick up on what happened in Monrovia today in western Africa. President Charles Taylor saying he would leave, would seek asylum in Nigeria. The Bush administration has made it clear they want President Taylor out, they want him out now. Are they optimistic that Taylor will indeed keep his word this time?
BASH: That's the way you is interesting this time, because administration officials have certainly noted that Charles Taylor has said a number of times that he is going to leave the country, and President Bush said himself a number of times this past week, that it is imperative for Taylor to leave the country for any peace to come in that -- in that area. And they've made it clear, although not entirely conditional, on him leaving, on sending some troops into the region.
Now, an administration official was somewhat coldly responsive to Taylor saying that he would go to Nigeria as saying, quote, "the president has said Mr. Taylor needs to leave. Leave now, leave quickly, and that's where it stands. He needs to leave so that peace can be established." So essentially, what they're saying here at the White House is that they're glad he's saying he's going to leave, they're glad Taylor has a place to go, now he just has to do it -- Sean.
CALLEBS: OK. Dana Bash at the White House. Thanks very much.
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 July 6, 2003 - 16:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: And now to Iraq and the contentious issue of weapons of mass destruction. Did President Bush oversell his case for the threat Iraq posed in his State of the Union Address? A former U.S. ambassador says he did. Months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, President Bush accused Iraq of trying to buy uranium from an African country. Former ambassador, Joseph Wilson, says that information simply wasn't true, and he says the CIA and the State Department knew it. But not everyone is agreeing with his assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: My judgment on this is that if they were referring to Niger when they were referring to uranium sales from Africa to Iraq, that information was erroneous and that they knew about it well ahead of both the publication of the British white paper and the president's State of the Union Address.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: The Defense Department itself said that there were shipments sought of uranium from Africa. They said that in December of 2002. So it wasn't just the president saying it in the State of the Union message in January this year, but the Defense Department had said nine months after this report from Joe Wilson, said in a printed document that was published all over the country, that there were uranium shipments from Africa and that that was the basis for proceeding against Saddam Hussein.
WILSON: Either the administration has some information that it has not shared with the public, or yes, they were using the selective use of facts and intelligence to bolster a decision in a case that had already been made, a decision that had been made to go to war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: In an opinion piece for the "New York Times" today, Wilson wrote, the CIA sent him to Niger at the request of Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Well, what's the reaction from the Bush administration over former Ambassador Wilson's accusations? For that we now go to White House correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, take it away. What is the White House saying at this hour?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, you know, this is an issue that has certainly plagued the Bush administration, particularly because, as you've just heard and as you've just said, that the president actually used the information in his State of the Union Address. Now, what senior officials have said for some time from National Security Adviser Dr. Condoleezza Rice, on down is that the White House, at the senior level, simply did not know that this information was faulty when the president used it in his State of the Union Address.
Now, with regard to ambassador Wilson's charge that it was actually the vice president's office that ordered him to go and that they did know about his conclusion that the information was faulty before the State of the Union Address, administration officials are, at this time, flatly denying that. One official is telling CNN, quote, that they were, quote, "unaware of the mission and unaware of the results or conclusion of his mission." So this is something that the White House is continuing to deny.
They say that the information that Ambassador Wilson came forward with today was out there, it's just that the person behind it in Ambassador Wilson was not known-- it was not known exactly who went on the mission. But they say simply that they do not know -- that Vice President Cheney's office did not know anything about this. But Republican and Democratic Senators on the Intelligence Committee did say today, Sean, that they are going to take this into consideration when they hold hearings on the overall question of what kind of intelligence information went into going to head with the war with Iraq when they have those hearings later on into the summer or into the fall. Sean?
CALLEBS: Well, Dana, let's pick up on what happened in Monrovia today in western Africa. President Charles Taylor saying he would leave, would seek asylum in Nigeria. The Bush administration has made it clear they want President Taylor out, they want him out now. Are they optimistic that Taylor will indeed keep his word this time?
BASH: That's the way you is interesting this time, because administration officials have certainly noted that Charles Taylor has said a number of times that he is going to leave the country, and President Bush said himself a number of times this past week, that it is imperative for Taylor to leave the country for any peace to come in that -- in that area. And they've made it clear, although not entirely conditional, on him leaving, on sending some troops into the region.
Now, an administration official was somewhat coldly responsive to Taylor saying that he would go to Nigeria as saying, quote, "the president has said Mr. Taylor needs to leave. Leave now, leave quickly, and that's where it stands. He needs to leave so that peace can be established." So essentially, what they're saying here at the White House is that they're glad he's saying he's going to leave, they're glad Taylor has a place to go, now he just has to do it -- Sean.
CALLEBS: OK. Dana Bash at the White House. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
