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U.S. Army Experts: Mobile Labs Found in Iraq Not Linked to WMD

Aired April 15, 2003 - 15:36   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: And in Iraq, where the latest potential smoking gun has turn out not to be so, and apparently not weapons of mass destruction. Yesterday, Brigadier General Benjamin Freakly told CNN troops that apparently the 101st Airborne had found 11 mobile chemical, biological laboratories buried near Karbala.
Now Army experts were called in, and today they are telling CNN's Ryan Chilcote, while the containers could be mobile, they are not linked to chemical or biological weapons. And they were probably buried to protect them from bombs or looting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CWO MONTE GONZALEZ, EXPLOITATION TEAM: ... it's just a very vast industrial military complex. Based on our assessment and what we've looked at here, we don't find anything that links this facility to any sort of WMD program. It's all conventional weapons, production, and storage facility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Opening a meeting of Iraqi factions this morning, General Jay Garner said a free and democratic Iraq will begin today. President Bush chose the retired Army lieutenant general to head the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq. General Garner has experience in that country.

Let's go now to our CNN military affairs analyst, General Wesley Clark, formerly the NATO supreme commander. General Clark, good to have you with us.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hello, Miles.

O'BRIEN: When General Garner says a free and democratic Iraq will begin today, is that wishful thinking?

CLARK: Well, I think it is a start of a process. And of course no one can know exactly where it's going to go. But that's clearly the goal that Jay Garner has started with. And I think it's a worthy goal.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk about Jay Garner the person. You know him, and he has some experience, in particular in Iraq, working with the Kurdish problem that occurred a dozen years ago. What kind of a person is he? Is he up to the job? CLARK: Jay Garner is very bright. He's energetic. He's got the kind of personality that wins people over. Yet he can be forceful.

He can control a large organization, but he can also work with people of divergent views. So I think he's a very, very solid choice to do this.

O'BRIEN: Give us information about his background. He's a Vietnam veteran, started in 1960 with the Army. And ultimately, obviously, moved right up through the ranks.

Given his record in the Army, is he well suited for nation building? It doesn't seem like that's necessarily one of the disciplines that you'd find inside the Army.

CLARK: Actually, Jay Garner has a very broad background. He does have Vietnam experience. He's participated in all of the work that's been done through the Army and rebuilding the Army after Vietnam.

He's been a commander at every level. He was a very high-ranking staff officer in the Pentagon, who worked with the lessons learned of the first Gulf War. And he did have the experience in northern Iraq. So I think he's very well qualified to lead the kind of organization that he's put together, which will focus on bringing humanitarian assistance in and helping the Iraqi people meet their own needs.

O'BRIEN: All right. General Clark, let me ask you a question that might be a tough one for you to answer, but I'm going to give it a whirl anyway. Is a general officer the best person for this sort of job?

Clearly, early on, orders are a good thing and people responding to orders are a good thing, and that's what generals are used to. But ultimately, isn't nation building about the art of compromise? And that's not necessarily what you learn at West Point, is it?

CLARK: Well I think you learn compromise in any leadership position. And I think Jay Garner knows how to do that.

I mean you're asking is the general the right person? Well, I would like to see the United Nations involved in some way in this operation, because I think international legitimacy is important. But you know one of the things we did learn in Bosnia and Kosovo is that in the immediate aftermath of conflict you have to have people on the ground who can move resources and make things happen quickly.

And Jay Garner has that experience. And he knows -- I think it's clear from what he's doing today that he wants to transition this quickly to an operation that the Iraqis themselves will have a chance of running, a start toward an interim government, and so forth.

So you know people would have had some differing views on how to start the process. But given the policy that was decided by the U.S. government, I think Jay Garner is a great guy to implement it.

O'BRIEN: Quickly, would you take this job?

CLARK: Well, I think it's going to be a fascinating job, and I think it's a very, very important job. But I'm not going to be able to answer a hypothetical like that. It wasn't offered, and I think Jay is a guy who has got relevant experience, and I support him very much in it. I hope he'll do a great job with it.

O'BRIEN: General Wesley Clark, offering some -- proving that generals are somewhat diplomatic at times. Thank you very much for being with us. Always a pleasure.

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




WMD>


Aired April 15, 2003 - 15:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And in Iraq, where the latest potential smoking gun has turn out not to be so, and apparently not weapons of mass destruction. Yesterday, Brigadier General Benjamin Freakly told CNN troops that apparently the 101st Airborne had found 11 mobile chemical, biological laboratories buried near Karbala.
Now Army experts were called in, and today they are telling CNN's Ryan Chilcote, while the containers could be mobile, they are not linked to chemical or biological weapons. And they were probably buried to protect them from bombs or looting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CWO MONTE GONZALEZ, EXPLOITATION TEAM: ... it's just a very vast industrial military complex. Based on our assessment and what we've looked at here, we don't find anything that links this facility to any sort of WMD program. It's all conventional weapons, production, and storage facility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Opening a meeting of Iraqi factions this morning, General Jay Garner said a free and democratic Iraq will begin today. President Bush chose the retired Army lieutenant general to head the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq. General Garner has experience in that country.

Let's go now to our CNN military affairs analyst, General Wesley Clark, formerly the NATO supreme commander. General Clark, good to have you with us.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hello, Miles.

O'BRIEN: When General Garner says a free and democratic Iraq will begin today, is that wishful thinking?

CLARK: Well, I think it is a start of a process. And of course no one can know exactly where it's going to go. But that's clearly the goal that Jay Garner has started with. And I think it's a worthy goal.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk about Jay Garner the person. You know him, and he has some experience, in particular in Iraq, working with the Kurdish problem that occurred a dozen years ago. What kind of a person is he? Is he up to the job? CLARK: Jay Garner is very bright. He's energetic. He's got the kind of personality that wins people over. Yet he can be forceful.

He can control a large organization, but he can also work with people of divergent views. So I think he's a very, very solid choice to do this.

O'BRIEN: Give us information about his background. He's a Vietnam veteran, started in 1960 with the Army. And ultimately, obviously, moved right up through the ranks.

Given his record in the Army, is he well suited for nation building? It doesn't seem like that's necessarily one of the disciplines that you'd find inside the Army.

CLARK: Actually, Jay Garner has a very broad background. He does have Vietnam experience. He's participated in all of the work that's been done through the Army and rebuilding the Army after Vietnam.

He's been a commander at every level. He was a very high-ranking staff officer in the Pentagon, who worked with the lessons learned of the first Gulf War. And he did have the experience in northern Iraq. So I think he's very well qualified to lead the kind of organization that he's put together, which will focus on bringing humanitarian assistance in and helping the Iraqi people meet their own needs.

O'BRIEN: All right. General Clark, let me ask you a question that might be a tough one for you to answer, but I'm going to give it a whirl anyway. Is a general officer the best person for this sort of job?

Clearly, early on, orders are a good thing and people responding to orders are a good thing, and that's what generals are used to. But ultimately, isn't nation building about the art of compromise? And that's not necessarily what you learn at West Point, is it?

CLARK: Well I think you learn compromise in any leadership position. And I think Jay Garner knows how to do that.

I mean you're asking is the general the right person? Well, I would like to see the United Nations involved in some way in this operation, because I think international legitimacy is important. But you know one of the things we did learn in Bosnia and Kosovo is that in the immediate aftermath of conflict you have to have people on the ground who can move resources and make things happen quickly.

And Jay Garner has that experience. And he knows -- I think it's clear from what he's doing today that he wants to transition this quickly to an operation that the Iraqis themselves will have a chance of running, a start toward an interim government, and so forth.

So you know people would have had some differing views on how to start the process. But given the policy that was decided by the U.S. government, I think Jay Garner is a great guy to implement it.

O'BRIEN: Quickly, would you take this job?

CLARK: Well, I think it's going to be a fascinating job, and I think it's a very, very important job. But I'm not going to be able to answer a hypothetical like that. It wasn't offered, and I think Jay is a guy who has got relevant experience, and I support him very much in it. I hope he'll do a great job with it.

O'BRIEN: General Wesley Clark, offering some -- proving that generals are somewhat diplomatic at times. Thank you very much for being with us. Always a pleasure.

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




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