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Interview With Sen. John McCain
Aired June 11, 2003 - 15:05 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: And now we want to go quickly to Capitol Hill where we're joined by Senator John McCain. Senator, why shouldn't someone watching this process, and the fact the president was just there a few days ago say, frankly, this whole process, this hope for peace, is doomed to failure?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, because we are not without options. One of them is to go after the funding of these terrorist organizations, including the Saudis, where there is clear evidence that that funding, at least indirectly, has come from Saudi Arabia. We must hold Mr. Yasser Arafat responsible. He controls the security forces and the police within the Palestinian organizations, and we should start holding people accountable.
And as far as this word "cycle" of violence, I guess a cycle of violence was when terrorists hit our World Trade Center, and we went to Afghanistan and took out al Qaeda and the Taliban. I guess when we respond to acts of terror, that is a cycle of violence. Look, we know who perpetrated this act of violence, this horrible act of violence, and any nation is going to respond, as the Israelis did when their citizens are slaughtered in this obscene way.
WOODRUFF: So you're saying it's not at all surprising the Israelis would respond as they did, but Senator, you mentioned the Saudis...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: As we would. As we would and have.
WOODRUFF: What are the consequences, though, for the Saudis or for anybody else who is putting money into the hands of Hamas and any of these other terrorist groups?
MCCAIN: The consequences, at least, as far as the Saudis are concerned for years is that they have kept these radical organizations away from them, which is a very dangerous game, to say the least. They express their sympathy. They teach their children in Saudi schools that the destruction of Israel is their goal. The whole atmosphere has to change, and for the Palestinians to still call Israel "occupied territories" and this whole environment has got to be changed, and we can change it, and we can force change now.
The victory in Iraq has a very beneficial effect, and we have every right to expect Yasser Arafat to act, as well as the prime minister, although his options are far more limited than that of Yasser Arafat. WOODRUFF: Senator, you mentioned the U.S. response. What about -- in the aftermath of the war in Iraq, increasing calls by, particularly Democrats, for oversight hearings and more than that, you have agreed that oversight hearings are fine. Senator J. Rockefeller, among others, are saying, That's not enough, we need very clear -- we need hearings that will look very deeply into what went wrong, and where are these weapons of mass destruction?
MCCAIN: After every conflict, we have congressional hearings, as we did after the Gulf War in '91, Bosnia, Kosovo, and they're appropriate. Our first witness will probably be General Franks who will review the conflict for us. There are other issues, like the friendly fire tragedies, that have to be addressed, but we also need to know where our equipment and our men and women did so magnificently.
Yes, the issue of weapons of mass destruction is an issue that would have to be looked at, but to assume that there was deception, to assume that there was misinformation, the burden of proof there rests with the critics, and I'm sure that this conflict will be well justified, and I'm still confident we will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
WOODRUFF: And if they aren't found?
MCCAIN: Well, I'm confident that they are -- that they will be.
WOODRUFF: All right.
MCCAIN: Thank you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: We heard it from you. Senator John McCain, thanks for talking to us.
MCCAIN: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: We appreciate it.
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 11, 2003 - 15:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: And now we want to go quickly to Capitol Hill where we're joined by Senator John McCain. Senator, why shouldn't someone watching this process, and the fact the president was just there a few days ago say, frankly, this whole process, this hope for peace, is doomed to failure?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, because we are not without options. One of them is to go after the funding of these terrorist organizations, including the Saudis, where there is clear evidence that that funding, at least indirectly, has come from Saudi Arabia. We must hold Mr. Yasser Arafat responsible. He controls the security forces and the police within the Palestinian organizations, and we should start holding people accountable.
And as far as this word "cycle" of violence, I guess a cycle of violence was when terrorists hit our World Trade Center, and we went to Afghanistan and took out al Qaeda and the Taliban. I guess when we respond to acts of terror, that is a cycle of violence. Look, we know who perpetrated this act of violence, this horrible act of violence, and any nation is going to respond, as the Israelis did when their citizens are slaughtered in this obscene way.
WOODRUFF: So you're saying it's not at all surprising the Israelis would respond as they did, but Senator, you mentioned the Saudis...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: As we would. As we would and have.
WOODRUFF: What are the consequences, though, for the Saudis or for anybody else who is putting money into the hands of Hamas and any of these other terrorist groups?
MCCAIN: The consequences, at least, as far as the Saudis are concerned for years is that they have kept these radical organizations away from them, which is a very dangerous game, to say the least. They express their sympathy. They teach their children in Saudi schools that the destruction of Israel is their goal. The whole atmosphere has to change, and for the Palestinians to still call Israel "occupied territories" and this whole environment has got to be changed, and we can change it, and we can force change now.
The victory in Iraq has a very beneficial effect, and we have every right to expect Yasser Arafat to act, as well as the prime minister, although his options are far more limited than that of Yasser Arafat. WOODRUFF: Senator, you mentioned the U.S. response. What about -- in the aftermath of the war in Iraq, increasing calls by, particularly Democrats, for oversight hearings and more than that, you have agreed that oversight hearings are fine. Senator J. Rockefeller, among others, are saying, That's not enough, we need very clear -- we need hearings that will look very deeply into what went wrong, and where are these weapons of mass destruction?
MCCAIN: After every conflict, we have congressional hearings, as we did after the Gulf War in '91, Bosnia, Kosovo, and they're appropriate. Our first witness will probably be General Franks who will review the conflict for us. There are other issues, like the friendly fire tragedies, that have to be addressed, but we also need to know where our equipment and our men and women did so magnificently.
Yes, the issue of weapons of mass destruction is an issue that would have to be looked at, but to assume that there was deception, to assume that there was misinformation, the burden of proof there rests with the critics, and I'm sure that this conflict will be well justified, and I'm still confident we will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
WOODRUFF: And if they aren't found?
MCCAIN: Well, I'm confident that they are -- that they will be.
WOODRUFF: All right.
MCCAIN: Thank you, Judy.
WOODRUFF: We heard it from you. Senator John McCain, thanks for talking to us.
MCCAIN: Thank you.
WOODRUFF: We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
