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CNN Live Sunday
Interview With Wendy Sherman
Aired December 14, 2003 - 16:34 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: For the Iraqi people the capture of Saddam Hussein may be the final proof that their long time dictator is gone for good. But what does it mean for the Bush administration's Iraq campaign? Wendy Sherman is with the Albright Group, an international advisory Firm, she also was the counselor at the Department of State with a rank of ambassador during the Clinton administration. Wendy Sherman, thank you being with us.
WENDY SHERMAN, THE ALBRIGHT GROUP: Good to be with you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: To what extent does the capture of Saddam Hussein break the back of the resistance against Americans in Iraq?
SHERMAN: Unfortunately I don't think we know the answer to that question yet. Clearly it is a big morale booster for the Americans. A big morale booster for the Iraqi people, which is the most important. And what I think it brings us is better intelligence, hopefully the calls by the president, by Prime Minister Blair for reconciliation. It will bring the Iraqi people together, and we may see a decrease in the violence. But I think in the short term we may see actually an increase in the violence until all of this sort of weighs on the people and they see where their future is really headed.
WOODRUFF: So does this make it easier for President Bush to accomplish his goal of turning Iraq back over to the Iraqi people, of getting that country back on a stable footing? Or what?
SHERMAN: Well, it certainly takes away the enormous fear that the Iraqi people have had that in fact Saddam Hussein someway somehow is going to come back. That is gone. The shadow is gone. On the other hand, I think we still have insurgents out there. And I think this is an opportunity for the president to internationalize this effort, to take off the made in America label, to really not only bring reconciliation among the Iraqi people but reconciliation around the word. And I hope that when Jim Baker goes off tomorrow on his diplomacy, I hope when the president speaks again that he really brings everybody in and stops drawing lines between the United States and other countries, and starts drawing everyone together.
WOODRUFF: Wendy Sherman, I also want to ask you about the political aspects of this here in this country. Where does this leave the Democratic race for president insofar as Iraq and the aftermath of the war in Iraq was a big piece of that campaign?
SHERMAN: Well, I think it is still a big piece of that campaign, because even though we all hope for success in Iraq, and we hope that success comes quickly, not over the long term, not after the next election but quickly, nonetheless people are still going to ask did it really have to be this difficult? Did we have to go it alone? Did we have to lose so many lives? So there are going to be a lot of questions left to be asked, even if this does help to get Iraq back to the Iraqi people.
So I think Iraq is still there. I think international policy is still there. We have the Middle East conflict, we have Afghanistan, we have the war against terrorism, we have -- President Musharraf almost was assassinated today in Pakistan. Pakistan without a leadership and loose nukes is a problem. We have a lot of problems on the waterfront, a lot to talk about in international relations.
WOODRUFF: So very quickly if you are Howard Dean, or if you're Wesley Clark, and the war has been the central argument for your campaign, are you at least to some extent slowed down by this event today?
SHERMAN: I think what you are is you have to be congratulatory to the president, which both of them were today. You then have to go back to your basic questions, about why did we go in? Is this the best way to make decisions? Is this the way to be commander in chief? And I think those questions will still be on the table. After what is a very good day for the administration and a very good day most of all for the Iraqi people.
WOODRUFF: Ambassador Wendy Sherman, thank you very much. It is always good to see you.
SHERMAN: Good to see you too.
WOODRUFF: I appreciate your dropping by.
SHERMAN: Sure.
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 December 14, 2003 - 16:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: For the Iraqi people the capture of Saddam Hussein may be the final proof that their long time dictator is gone for good. But what does it mean for the Bush administration's Iraq campaign? Wendy Sherman is with the Albright Group, an international advisory Firm, she also was the counselor at the Department of State with a rank of ambassador during the Clinton administration. Wendy Sherman, thank you being with us.
WENDY SHERMAN, THE ALBRIGHT GROUP: Good to be with you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: To what extent does the capture of Saddam Hussein break the back of the resistance against Americans in Iraq?
SHERMAN: Unfortunately I don't think we know the answer to that question yet. Clearly it is a big morale booster for the Americans. A big morale booster for the Iraqi people, which is the most important. And what I think it brings us is better intelligence, hopefully the calls by the president, by Prime Minister Blair for reconciliation. It will bring the Iraqi people together, and we may see a decrease in the violence. But I think in the short term we may see actually an increase in the violence until all of this sort of weighs on the people and they see where their future is really headed.
WOODRUFF: So does this make it easier for President Bush to accomplish his goal of turning Iraq back over to the Iraqi people, of getting that country back on a stable footing? Or what?
SHERMAN: Well, it certainly takes away the enormous fear that the Iraqi people have had that in fact Saddam Hussein someway somehow is going to come back. That is gone. The shadow is gone. On the other hand, I think we still have insurgents out there. And I think this is an opportunity for the president to internationalize this effort, to take off the made in America label, to really not only bring reconciliation among the Iraqi people but reconciliation around the word. And I hope that when Jim Baker goes off tomorrow on his diplomacy, I hope when the president speaks again that he really brings everybody in and stops drawing lines between the United States and other countries, and starts drawing everyone together.
WOODRUFF: Wendy Sherman, I also want to ask you about the political aspects of this here in this country. Where does this leave the Democratic race for president insofar as Iraq and the aftermath of the war in Iraq was a big piece of that campaign?
SHERMAN: Well, I think it is still a big piece of that campaign, because even though we all hope for success in Iraq, and we hope that success comes quickly, not over the long term, not after the next election but quickly, nonetheless people are still going to ask did it really have to be this difficult? Did we have to go it alone? Did we have to lose so many lives? So there are going to be a lot of questions left to be asked, even if this does help to get Iraq back to the Iraqi people.
So I think Iraq is still there. I think international policy is still there. We have the Middle East conflict, we have Afghanistan, we have the war against terrorism, we have -- President Musharraf almost was assassinated today in Pakistan. Pakistan without a leadership and loose nukes is a problem. We have a lot of problems on the waterfront, a lot to talk about in international relations.
WOODRUFF: So very quickly if you are Howard Dean, or if you're Wesley Clark, and the war has been the central argument for your campaign, are you at least to some extent slowed down by this event today?
SHERMAN: I think what you are is you have to be congratulatory to the president, which both of them were today. You then have to go back to your basic questions, about why did we go in? Is this the best way to make decisions? Is this the way to be commander in chief? And I think those questions will still be on the table. After what is a very good day for the administration and a very good day most of all for the Iraqi people.
WOODRUFF: Ambassador Wendy Sherman, thank you very much. It is always good to see you.
SHERMAN: Good to see you too.
WOODRUFF: I appreciate your dropping by.
SHERMAN: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
