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Where Are Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Aired June 06, 2003 - 14:17   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: So, where are Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? Long before the war, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued a report saying, it had no reliable information that Iraq had or was building WMDs. Our Pentagon correspondents obtained a copy of a one-page summary issued in September 2002 and CNN senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is here to fill us in on all this. Hello, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. Well, it is important to be precise here about exactly what the report said. The Pentagon is rejecting any notion that this report in any way undercut the administration's argument that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The controversial sentence -- we should look at it right away -- is the one that says: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons, or where Iraq has or will establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities".

This refers to the current production of weapons of mass destruction in 2002, and whether Iraq was producing any new weapons. But today, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency said it was clear at the time that the DIA supported the view that Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE ADMIRAL LOWELL JACOBY, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: It is not, in any way, intended to portray the fact that we had doubts that such a program existed, that such a program was active, or such a program was part of the Iraqi WMD infrastructure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: And that position is clearly supported by the rest of the one-page summary obtained by CNN, which includes the following statements. One, unusual munitions transfer activity in mid-2002 suggests that Iraq is distributing CW munitions in preparation for an anticipated U.S. attack.

Another part of the report says Iraq probably possesses CW agent in chemical munitions, possibly including artillery rockets, artillery shells, aerial bombs, and ballistic missile warheads.

And finally, the summary says that Iraq is assessed to possess biological agent stockpiles that may be weaponized and ready for use. The DIA report clearly supports the Pentagon's argument that at least the intelligence suggested that Iraq did possess weapons of mass destruction. Today, John Warner, the chairman of the Senate Arms Services Committee, says he thinks the intelligence that they've been provided has been pretty good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R-VA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: There are always times when a single sentence or a single report evokes a lot of concern and some doubt, but thus far, in my own personal assessment of this situation, the intelligence community has diligently and forth rightly, and with integrity, produced intelligence and submitted to this administration and to the Congress of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: So to sum up, while at the point where the United States was planning to go to war with Iraq, what the DIA was saying was it didn't have specific intelligence that Iraq was doing anything at that time that could, for instance, be targeted by U.S. forces. But the report is replete with references to the belief that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction in various forms -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, Jamie, the focus has been, thus far, on how the intelligence reports might have been spun or there might have been pressure put on the intelligence agencies. I wonder if anybody in Washington is saying, is it possible the intelligence was just simply inadequate?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, intelligence is always inadequate to the extent it is never 100 percent. What the intelligence community says is, their job is to call all the information together, provide the policy makers, the leaders in the administration, the best information they have. And then it is up to those leaders to decide how they want to use it, how much weight they want to put on various parts of it.

And I think that's really where the crux of the argument is about whether the intelligence became politicized. The intelligence community itself takes great pride in producing what they believe is a neutral product that's simply a synthesis of everything they know. But this is, of course, something that is very subject to debate. A lot of what goes on in the intelligence community, well, is sort of a cover-all contingencies. They like to make sure that no matter what happens, they have got some intelligence report that suggested that might have been the case.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thank you very 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 June 6, 2003 - 14:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So, where are Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? Long before the war, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued a report saying, it had no reliable information that Iraq had or was building WMDs. Our Pentagon correspondents obtained a copy of a one-page summary issued in September 2002 and CNN senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is here to fill us in on all this. Hello, Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. Well, it is important to be precise here about exactly what the report said. The Pentagon is rejecting any notion that this report in any way undercut the administration's argument that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The controversial sentence -- we should look at it right away -- is the one that says: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons, or where Iraq has or will establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities".

This refers to the current production of weapons of mass destruction in 2002, and whether Iraq was producing any new weapons. But today, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency said it was clear at the time that the DIA supported the view that Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE ADMIRAL LOWELL JACOBY, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: It is not, in any way, intended to portray the fact that we had doubts that such a program existed, that such a program was active, or such a program was part of the Iraqi WMD infrastructure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: And that position is clearly supported by the rest of the one-page summary obtained by CNN, which includes the following statements. One, unusual munitions transfer activity in mid-2002 suggests that Iraq is distributing CW munitions in preparation for an anticipated U.S. attack.

Another part of the report says Iraq probably possesses CW agent in chemical munitions, possibly including artillery rockets, artillery shells, aerial bombs, and ballistic missile warheads.

And finally, the summary says that Iraq is assessed to possess biological agent stockpiles that may be weaponized and ready for use. The DIA report clearly supports the Pentagon's argument that at least the intelligence suggested that Iraq did possess weapons of mass destruction. Today, John Warner, the chairman of the Senate Arms Services Committee, says he thinks the intelligence that they've been provided has been pretty good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R-VA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: There are always times when a single sentence or a single report evokes a lot of concern and some doubt, but thus far, in my own personal assessment of this situation, the intelligence community has diligently and forth rightly, and with integrity, produced intelligence and submitted to this administration and to the Congress of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: So to sum up, while at the point where the United States was planning to go to war with Iraq, what the DIA was saying was it didn't have specific intelligence that Iraq was doing anything at that time that could, for instance, be targeted by U.S. forces. But the report is replete with references to the belief that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction in various forms -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, Jamie, the focus has been, thus far, on how the intelligence reports might have been spun or there might have been pressure put on the intelligence agencies. I wonder if anybody in Washington is saying, is it possible the intelligence was just simply inadequate?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, intelligence is always inadequate to the extent it is never 100 percent. What the intelligence community says is, their job is to call all the information together, provide the policy makers, the leaders in the administration, the best information they have. And then it is up to those leaders to decide how they want to use it, how much weight they want to put on various parts of it.

And I think that's really where the crux of the argument is about whether the intelligence became politicized. The intelligence community itself takes great pride in producing what they believe is a neutral product that's simply a synthesis of everything they know. But this is, of course, something that is very subject to debate. A lot of what goes on in the intelligence community, well, is sort of a cover-all contingencies. They like to make sure that no matter what happens, they have got some intelligence report that suggested that might have been the case.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thank you very 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