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Debate in Government About Releasing Sources, Methods
Aired January 29, 2003 - 13:35 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: While trying to sway the public, there's also the need to protect intelligence sources. We get more on this delicate balancing act from our national security correspondent, David Ensor. This is sticky wicket to say the least, isn't it, David?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Delicate, indeed, as you said, Miles.
There's a spirited debate continuing within the government, sources are telling us over how much classified intelligence Secretary Powell should reveal next week to the U.N. and the world, but all do agree on one thing: the goal, and that is to bolster the president's case for war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the U.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: ... showing Iraqis clearing out sites that the U.N. people are going to. They will also possibly include images of the secret mobile weapons -- biological weapons labs that the U.S. says the Iraqis use to keep ahead of inspectors, and it will include information from prisoner interrogations and from defectors.
The most heated debate, though, officials are telling me, is over how much to reveal from voice communications intercepted by the U.S., and by the National Security Agency, and from human agents, Iraqis who are working for the CIA.
For example, if Powell reveals something known about a specific facility, it could lead to the death of a U.S. agent who works there. And when it comes to interceptions of Iraqi communications, many viewers will recall how, when a story came out that Osama bin Laden's satellite phone was being monitored, he stopped using it.
U.S. lost an invaluable source. So there's a delicate balance, as we said, between putting enough out to be credible, and protecting sources and methods. Another problem, intelligence officials say, is that there are no stark smoking gun photos, and most of the evidence from multiple sources has to be woven together by an expert in order to be convincing.
And one more issue. How long will it be between when Powell shows the evidence and when and if the U.S. goes to war? The longer the gap, the less can safely be told, officials say, since intelligence sources need to be in place to help the troops should they invade.
So there is this spirited debate between the political and intelligence officials about this. Though, as one senior official told me, we do know we need to show some more leg -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: That's an interesting way of putting it, David. I have got to ask you, though, if the federal government had clear-cut evidence, and I am thinking of the sort of evidence that was released in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, absolutely clear cut, don't you think they would take measures to protect human assets, shut down technological assets, or whatever -- in other words, hunker down and release the evidence so that the war makings are to move forward?
ENSOR: I think if they had smoking gun evidence, it would be very, very tempting to release it, but there are these sources and methods considerations. It isn't always possible to protect your agents or get them out, or to disguise how you know from a particular photograph or a particular intercept that it tells you what you say it tells you.
So, it's just not as easy as people would hope it would be, and officials are sharply decided over how much to release.
O'BRIEN: It is a hall of mirrors, isn't it? David Ensor, thank you very much for being with us.
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 29, 2003 - 13:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: While trying to sway the public, there's also the need to protect intelligence sources. We get more on this delicate balancing act from our national security correspondent, David Ensor. This is sticky wicket to say the least, isn't it, David?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Delicate, indeed, as you said, Miles.
There's a spirited debate continuing within the government, sources are telling us over how much classified intelligence Secretary Powell should reveal next week to the U.N. and the world, but all do agree on one thing: the goal, and that is to bolster the president's case for war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the U.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: ... showing Iraqis clearing out sites that the U.N. people are going to. They will also possibly include images of the secret mobile weapons -- biological weapons labs that the U.S. says the Iraqis use to keep ahead of inspectors, and it will include information from prisoner interrogations and from defectors.
The most heated debate, though, officials are telling me, is over how much to reveal from voice communications intercepted by the U.S., and by the National Security Agency, and from human agents, Iraqis who are working for the CIA.
For example, if Powell reveals something known about a specific facility, it could lead to the death of a U.S. agent who works there. And when it comes to interceptions of Iraqi communications, many viewers will recall how, when a story came out that Osama bin Laden's satellite phone was being monitored, he stopped using it.
U.S. lost an invaluable source. So there's a delicate balance, as we said, between putting enough out to be credible, and protecting sources and methods. Another problem, intelligence officials say, is that there are no stark smoking gun photos, and most of the evidence from multiple sources has to be woven together by an expert in order to be convincing.
And one more issue. How long will it be between when Powell shows the evidence and when and if the U.S. goes to war? The longer the gap, the less can safely be told, officials say, since intelligence sources need to be in place to help the troops should they invade.
So there is this spirited debate between the political and intelligence officials about this. Though, as one senior official told me, we do know we need to show some more leg -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: That's an interesting way of putting it, David. I have got to ask you, though, if the federal government had clear-cut evidence, and I am thinking of the sort of evidence that was released in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, absolutely clear cut, don't you think they would take measures to protect human assets, shut down technological assets, or whatever -- in other words, hunker down and release the evidence so that the war makings are to move forward?
ENSOR: I think if they had smoking gun evidence, it would be very, very tempting to release it, but there are these sources and methods considerations. It isn't always possible to protect your agents or get them out, or to disguise how you know from a particular photograph or a particular intercept that it tells you what you say it tells you.
So, it's just not as easy as people would hope it would be, and officials are sharply decided over how much to release.
O'BRIEN: It is a hall of mirrors, isn't it? David Ensor, thank you very much for being with us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
