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Final Iraqi Warhead Cleared

Aired January 21, 2003 - 13:02   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The collision course with Iraq and cracks among the allies. President Bush says he's convinced Iraq is not disarming, and as American troops pour into the region, he repeats his warnings that time is running out. But the cries from overseas are getting louder. Potential allies are saying, slow down.
We'll start at the White House. CNN's Dana Bash is there -- Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, the White House P.R. offensive is now in full force, and that offensive is to try to convince Americans and the world that Iraq is not disarming and that Saddam Hussein must comply very soon, and that time is running out.

And we heard a few hours ago from the president himself. He was expressing frustration that allies at the U.N. yesterday made it clear that they believe that inspectors do need more time. He said that the U.N. really must stay relevant, and for them to stay relevant, they must push Saddam Hussein the way the United States is pushing Saddam Hussein, to comply with weapons inspectors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has been told to disarm for 11 long years. He's not disarming. This business about more time, how much time do we need to see clearly that he's not disarming? As I said, this looks like a rerun of a bad movie and I'm not interested in watching it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Kyra, we also heard from Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. That was just within the last hour. He was laying out, really for the first time, this part of the showdown with Saddam Hussein, laying out for the first time some detailed accounts of where the U.S. believes Saddam Hussein is not coming forward with what he has.

He gave some specifics, saying that Saddam Hussein didn't talk about his VX gas that he has, sarin gas that he has, and other chemical and biological weapons that the U.S. says they know he has, and he didn't put forward in his report to the United Nations.

He said that cooperation -- this is the White House line here -- that cooperation is not just helping the inspectors through -- make their way through Iraq, that cooperation is disarming. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD ARMITAGE, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Keep in mind that the inspectors are not in the country on a scavenger hunt for weapons. They are there to confirm that Iraq has destroyed and dismantled the weapons that we know exist. And that is entirely unlikely, given that Saddam Hussein has not offered any evidence that he has done so. Some people may say there is no smoking gun, but there's nothing but smoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And Kyra, Armitage said that the world has all but exhausted its options in dealing with Saddam Hussein. He also -- the White House is releasing a 32-page report, this is it. It is called "The Apparatus of Lies," and they say that it will help -- start to help prove Saddam has a campaign of disinformation, of propaganda, and that it's hiding everything it has from the U.S., and the U.S. just has -- and that the world has to deal with him, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live from the White House, thank you.

Visiting and revisiting, searching and researching. At least eight U.S. -- U.N. weapons inspectors, rather, are visiting sites in Iraq today, some of them in the Baghdad area, others near Basra, and to the south and to the north in Masul (ph).

CNN's Nic Robertson live now in the Iraqi capital -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. Well, at least nine sites visited, some of them sites that have been visited over the last few days and weeks. Al-Qaqaa, a large military industrial complex just south of Baghdad, chemical weapons team went there. Now, that site has been associated with the production of propellants for Iraq's missile systems.

Perhaps the most significant trip by an inspection team today has been to Basra in the south. Now, when Hans Blix was here, he got an agreement with Iraqi officials that they would now go ahead and open that office in Basra in the south. It's about 300 miles from Baghdad, and by opening an office there, that will give the U.N. inspectors an opportunity to cover the south of Iraq much more quickly, much more readily.

Interesting how the meetings between Hans Blix and the officials here have been covered in the newspapers here. They've been characterized as friendly and as cooperative. But there still appears to be a war of words here as well. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, when speaking with some teachers here, said that the international community should be questioning the United States right now, he said, because Iraq is complying and working with the United Nations. But at the same time, he said the United States is building a force outside of Iraq, and the international community should do something about it, he said -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, the story that was making headlines for days last week, the chemical warheads that inspectors came across, what's the latest with that, Nic? Specifically, the warhead that was still being evaluated.

ROBERTSON: The warhead that was being evaluated was full of some kind of liquid. Now, the U.N. weapons inspectors went back to the site two days after that. They examined it, they opened it up. There was a liquid inside it. They had full protective gear on, but the Iraqi officials who were with them didn't have any protective equipment on. The analysis of that liquid inside was that it didn't have any chemical agents. It didn't have any derivatives -- those are the breakdown components, the sort of aged components of chemical weapons that might have been found. So apparently, that 12th warhead getting a clean bill of health -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Live from Baghdad, our Nic Robertson. Thanks, Nic.

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 21, 2003 - 13:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The collision course with Iraq and cracks among the allies. President Bush says he's convinced Iraq is not disarming, and as American troops pour into the region, he repeats his warnings that time is running out. But the cries from overseas are getting louder. Potential allies are saying, slow down.
We'll start at the White House. CNN's Dana Bash is there -- Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, the White House P.R. offensive is now in full force, and that offensive is to try to convince Americans and the world that Iraq is not disarming and that Saddam Hussein must comply very soon, and that time is running out.

And we heard a few hours ago from the president himself. He was expressing frustration that allies at the U.N. yesterday made it clear that they believe that inspectors do need more time. He said that the U.N. really must stay relevant, and for them to stay relevant, they must push Saddam Hussein the way the United States is pushing Saddam Hussein, to comply with weapons inspectors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has been told to disarm for 11 long years. He's not disarming. This business about more time, how much time do we need to see clearly that he's not disarming? As I said, this looks like a rerun of a bad movie and I'm not interested in watching it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Kyra, we also heard from Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. That was just within the last hour. He was laying out, really for the first time, this part of the showdown with Saddam Hussein, laying out for the first time some detailed accounts of where the U.S. believes Saddam Hussein is not coming forward with what he has.

He gave some specifics, saying that Saddam Hussein didn't talk about his VX gas that he has, sarin gas that he has, and other chemical and biological weapons that the U.S. says they know he has, and he didn't put forward in his report to the United Nations.

He said that cooperation -- this is the White House line here -- that cooperation is not just helping the inspectors through -- make their way through Iraq, that cooperation is disarming. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD ARMITAGE, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: Keep in mind that the inspectors are not in the country on a scavenger hunt for weapons. They are there to confirm that Iraq has destroyed and dismantled the weapons that we know exist. And that is entirely unlikely, given that Saddam Hussein has not offered any evidence that he has done so. Some people may say there is no smoking gun, but there's nothing but smoke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And Kyra, Armitage said that the world has all but exhausted its options in dealing with Saddam Hussein. He also -- the White House is releasing a 32-page report, this is it. It is called "The Apparatus of Lies," and they say that it will help -- start to help prove Saddam has a campaign of disinformation, of propaganda, and that it's hiding everything it has from the U.S., and the U.S. just has -- and that the world has to deal with him, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live from the White House, thank you.

Visiting and revisiting, searching and researching. At least eight U.S. -- U.N. weapons inspectors, rather, are visiting sites in Iraq today, some of them in the Baghdad area, others near Basra, and to the south and to the north in Masul (ph).

CNN's Nic Robertson live now in the Iraqi capital -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. Well, at least nine sites visited, some of them sites that have been visited over the last few days and weeks. Al-Qaqaa, a large military industrial complex just south of Baghdad, chemical weapons team went there. Now, that site has been associated with the production of propellants for Iraq's missile systems.

Perhaps the most significant trip by an inspection team today has been to Basra in the south. Now, when Hans Blix was here, he got an agreement with Iraqi officials that they would now go ahead and open that office in Basra in the south. It's about 300 miles from Baghdad, and by opening an office there, that will give the U.N. inspectors an opportunity to cover the south of Iraq much more quickly, much more readily.

Interesting how the meetings between Hans Blix and the officials here have been covered in the newspapers here. They've been characterized as friendly and as cooperative. But there still appears to be a war of words here as well. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, when speaking with some teachers here, said that the international community should be questioning the United States right now, he said, because Iraq is complying and working with the United Nations. But at the same time, he said the United States is building a force outside of Iraq, and the international community should do something about it, he said -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, the story that was making headlines for days last week, the chemical warheads that inspectors came across, what's the latest with that, Nic? Specifically, the warhead that was still being evaluated.

ROBERTSON: The warhead that was being evaluated was full of some kind of liquid. Now, the U.N. weapons inspectors went back to the site two days after that. They examined it, they opened it up. There was a liquid inside it. They had full protective gear on, but the Iraqi officials who were with them didn't have any protective equipment on. The analysis of that liquid inside was that it didn't have any chemical agents. It didn't have any derivatives -- those are the breakdown components, the sort of aged components of chemical weapons that might have been found. So apparently, that 12th warhead getting a clean bill of health -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Live from Baghdad, our Nic Robertson. Thanks, Nic.

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