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War or Words Continues Between U.S., Syria

Aired April 15, 2003 - 14:18   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, ANCHOR: Syria's deputy ambassador to the United States accused the Bush administration today of launching a campaign of misinformation and disinformation.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic dust-up between the two nations continued with more strong words from the U.S. secretary of state. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel joins me now live with the latest.

Hi, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

While it is certainly worthy of note that Secretary Powell was the one who was put out front today to push this new U.S. policy of ramping up the pressure on Syria, it's equally important to listen to exactly what Secretary Powell has to say and the tone and the tenor that he takes.

He has a much more reassuring tone than we've heard from other members of the Bush administration.

As our viewers may have noted, the warnings from this administration to Syria began a few weeks back, beginning with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who threatened Bashar Al Assad, the Syrian president, and said that he had better stop sending what the U.S. alleged to be military equipment, including night vision goggles, into Iraq during the war.

Since that time, we've heard the list of U.S. allegations expanded upon, but as Secretary Powell noted today, most of these U.S. accusations are not new.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The issues that we have raised in recent days with respect to Syria's development of weapons of mass destruction, and you specifically mentioned chemical weapons, are issues that we have raised with Syria repeatedly over the years.

We are concerned about Syria's development of these kinds of weapons. We are concerned about Syria's continuing support of terrorist organizations. And in recent weeks, we have been concerned about the flow of material across the Syrian border into Iraq as well as the flow of individuals back and forth across the Syrian-Iraq border. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, one State Department official told me that what is most concerning to the Bush administration is that they do not want Syria to become the way Algeria was sort of a safe haven for Nazi war criminals after World War II, so they really want to shake up Damascus and let them know that they -- that they really mean it.

And secondly, they're concerned that the chemical and biological weapons that the U.S. alleges Syria has had going for about the last ten years, their program, that that doesn't land in the hands of known terrorist organizations that Syria supports, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

But the question is, as Secretary Powell pointed out, that isn't so much new. Why is the U.S. threatening Syria so much now? And the answer is that they want to get as much bang for the buck as possible. They want to scare, not only Syria, but Iran, North Korea, any country out there that the U.S. believes to have either a weapons program or support for terrorism.

But, again, listen to Secretary Powell. Today he said pointedly that the U.S. does not have a war plan to attack Syria, that it has no intention or list of other countries they plan to attack.

But, Kyra, that is not something that we've heard Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld say or for that matter, President Bush -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Andrea Koppel, live from the State Department. Thank you so 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 April 15, 2003 - 14:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: Syria's deputy ambassador to the United States accused the Bush administration today of launching a campaign of misinformation and disinformation.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic dust-up between the two nations continued with more strong words from the U.S. secretary of state. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel joins me now live with the latest.

Hi, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

While it is certainly worthy of note that Secretary Powell was the one who was put out front today to push this new U.S. policy of ramping up the pressure on Syria, it's equally important to listen to exactly what Secretary Powell has to say and the tone and the tenor that he takes.

He has a much more reassuring tone than we've heard from other members of the Bush administration.

As our viewers may have noted, the warnings from this administration to Syria began a few weeks back, beginning with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who threatened Bashar Al Assad, the Syrian president, and said that he had better stop sending what the U.S. alleged to be military equipment, including night vision goggles, into Iraq during the war.

Since that time, we've heard the list of U.S. allegations expanded upon, but as Secretary Powell noted today, most of these U.S. accusations are not new.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The issues that we have raised in recent days with respect to Syria's development of weapons of mass destruction, and you specifically mentioned chemical weapons, are issues that we have raised with Syria repeatedly over the years.

We are concerned about Syria's development of these kinds of weapons. We are concerned about Syria's continuing support of terrorist organizations. And in recent weeks, we have been concerned about the flow of material across the Syrian border into Iraq as well as the flow of individuals back and forth across the Syrian-Iraq border. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, one State Department official told me that what is most concerning to the Bush administration is that they do not want Syria to become the way Algeria was sort of a safe haven for Nazi war criminals after World War II, so they really want to shake up Damascus and let them know that they -- that they really mean it.

And secondly, they're concerned that the chemical and biological weapons that the U.S. alleges Syria has had going for about the last ten years, their program, that that doesn't land in the hands of known terrorist organizations that Syria supports, such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

But the question is, as Secretary Powell pointed out, that isn't so much new. Why is the U.S. threatening Syria so much now? And the answer is that they want to get as much bang for the buck as possible. They want to scare, not only Syria, but Iran, North Korea, any country out there that the U.S. believes to have either a weapons program or support for terrorism.

But, again, listen to Secretary Powell. Today he said pointedly that the U.S. does not have a war plan to attack Syria, that it has no intention or list of other countries they plan to attack.

But, Kyra, that is not something that we've heard Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld say or for that matter, President Bush -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Andrea Koppel, live from the State Department. Thank you so 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