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Calls for Hearings on War Increasing

Aired June 11, 2003 - 13:12   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: From Washington, CNN's Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst, reports on the problems this is causing for the Bush administration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Bush was definitive when he addressed the nation on the eve of war with Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.

SCHNEIDER: Just as Secretary of State Powell had been when he addressed the U.N. Security Council a month earlier.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons.

SCHNEIDER: No doubt, they said. Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, they said.

Where are they? The American public doesn't much care. Most Americans say the war was justified, even if the U.S. does not find any weapons. But the issue critics are raising is not whether the war was justified; it's whether the Bush administration has lost credibility.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We hope that we will find the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Failing to do that, there will be a serious question as to the credibility of the United States in the world.

SCHNEIDER: The charge is serious. Was there a policy of deliberate deception in order to make the case for war?

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: There is significant evidence that the intelligence was shaded.

SCHNEIDER: Manipulation of intelligence is not just unethical. It could have serious consequences, given the Bush administration's policy of preemptive action, one senator told CNN.

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: If that means that you are going to go into Iraq or into Iran or into North Korea, or whatever happens in the future, it puts an absolute premium on having superb intelligence.

SCHNEIDER: Realizing the danger, the White House dispatched National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary Powell to the talk shows last weekend. Their mission? Damage control.

POWELL: I spent four whole days and nights at the CIA going over all intelligence in order to make sure that what I presented was going to be solid, credible.

SCHNEIDER: This week, President Bush adjusted his terminology.

BUSH: Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a weapons program.

SCHNEIDER: Not weapons, a weapons program. This issue is not likely to go away as long as the war in Iraq remains controversial, which will happen if the situation in Iraq remains out of control. In the 40 days since the war officially ended, 44 Americans have been killed in Iraq, more than one a day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: If terrorist attacks continue, Americans will begin to ask, what exactly did the United States achieve in the war in Iraq, and was the threat from Iraq exaggerated -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Bill, what is the problem, I guess, would be the word, with erring on the side of a little more public disclosure. Obviously, keeping the secrets safe and sound, but giving the American people some sense of really what an understanding of what went on here? I know Senator McCain, a Republican, is saying, why not do an investigation?

SCHNEIDER: There is no problem whatever in doing that, it's just that a lot of people in the administration and Republicans suspect that Democrats are pursuing it for political purposes because they'd like to show that this administration was deliberately -- emphasize deliberately -- deceptive in pursuing a war based on intelligence that wasn't conclusive.

Senator Rockefeller's comments were critical here, because he said if this administration is going to pursue a policy of preemptive strikes, we'd better have superb, he said, intelligence before we go into a country preemptively.

O'BRIEN: And the credibility of that intelligence is just paramount, isn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. And, of course, it is a bigger issue in the rest of the world than it is in the United States, and that's important. Because other countries are saying, why should we ever follow the United States again? If the intelligence was faulty in this case and they sold the policy based on faulty assessments, when they say something else -- Iran, North Korea, some other country, is in violation, other countries say, why should we believe them? Americans give the president the benefit of the doubt, but in other countries, that's not always true.

O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider in Washington, thanks 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 11, 2003 - 13:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: From Washington, CNN's Bill Schneider, our senior political analyst, reports on the problems this is causing for the Bush administration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Bush was definitive when he addressed the nation on the eve of war with Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.

SCHNEIDER: Just as Secretary of State Powell had been when he addressed the U.N. Security Council a month earlier.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons.

SCHNEIDER: No doubt, they said. Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, they said.

Where are they? The American public doesn't much care. Most Americans say the war was justified, even if the U.S. does not find any weapons. But the issue critics are raising is not whether the war was justified; it's whether the Bush administration has lost credibility.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We hope that we will find the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Failing to do that, there will be a serious question as to the credibility of the United States in the world.

SCHNEIDER: The charge is serious. Was there a policy of deliberate deception in order to make the case for war?

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: There is significant evidence that the intelligence was shaded.

SCHNEIDER: Manipulation of intelligence is not just unethical. It could have serious consequences, given the Bush administration's policy of preemptive action, one senator told CNN.

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: If that means that you are going to go into Iraq or into Iran or into North Korea, or whatever happens in the future, it puts an absolute premium on having superb intelligence.

SCHNEIDER: Realizing the danger, the White House dispatched National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary Powell to the talk shows last weekend. Their mission? Damage control.

POWELL: I spent four whole days and nights at the CIA going over all intelligence in order to make sure that what I presented was going to be solid, credible.

SCHNEIDER: This week, President Bush adjusted his terminology.

BUSH: Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a weapons program.

SCHNEIDER: Not weapons, a weapons program. This issue is not likely to go away as long as the war in Iraq remains controversial, which will happen if the situation in Iraq remains out of control. In the 40 days since the war officially ended, 44 Americans have been killed in Iraq, more than one a day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: If terrorist attacks continue, Americans will begin to ask, what exactly did the United States achieve in the war in Iraq, and was the threat from Iraq exaggerated -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Bill, what is the problem, I guess, would be the word, with erring on the side of a little more public disclosure. Obviously, keeping the secrets safe and sound, but giving the American people some sense of really what an understanding of what went on here? I know Senator McCain, a Republican, is saying, why not do an investigation?

SCHNEIDER: There is no problem whatever in doing that, it's just that a lot of people in the administration and Republicans suspect that Democrats are pursuing it for political purposes because they'd like to show that this administration was deliberately -- emphasize deliberately -- deceptive in pursuing a war based on intelligence that wasn't conclusive.

Senator Rockefeller's comments were critical here, because he said if this administration is going to pursue a policy of preemptive strikes, we'd better have superb, he said, intelligence before we go into a country preemptively.

O'BRIEN: And the credibility of that intelligence is just paramount, isn't it?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. And, of course, it is a bigger issue in the rest of the world than it is in the United States, and that's important. Because other countries are saying, why should we ever follow the United States again? If the intelligence was faulty in this case and they sold the policy based on faulty assessments, when they say something else -- Iran, North Korea, some other country, is in violation, other countries say, why should we believe them? Americans give the president the benefit of the doubt, but in other countries, that's not always true.

O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider in Washington, thanks 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