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Interview With Robin Wright
Aired February 02, 2004 - 14:34 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, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush moves to get an unbiased look at prewar intelligence. His hand-picked commission is to look into why forbidden weapons have not turned up in Iraq. Washington's former top weapons hunter says a lot is riding on this investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KAY, FRM. CIA WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Our credibility not only with foreigners -- countries we've asked to support us, but probably domestically in our own country is at stake now. That's I think one reason we in fact do need an investigation, to try to understand what went wrong is it is because it is at stake.
It's quite clearly -- there have been things that have been wrong. Arrows of interpretation and analysis. And we need to understand why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Want to get some international perspective, we turn to "Washington Post" correspondent Robin Wright. Robin, good to see you.
ROBIN WRIGHT, "WASHINGTON POST": Nice to see you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What do you think about what David Kay had to say? Is the U.S. credibility on the line here? Is it at an all-time low?
WRIGHT: I don't know about being at an all-time low, but I think the United States does face some serious problems in trying to sell its foreign policy agenda.
Clearly there are a lot of questions being asked, particularly among populations be they in Europe or the Middle East, Asia, elsewhere, about America's decision to go to war with evidence that turned out to be very wrong.
PHILLIPS: Well, what would this mean for future possible conflicts? I mean there's talk about Iran, there's talk about North Korea. Because of this, will it affect the credibility of if indeed that could happen, would happen, gaining support for another conflict?
WRIGHT: I suspect that the barometer will continue to be pretty high, and perhaps higher than in any recent conflict, to justify engaging in military action. The United States sold its case -- what looked like convincing evidence, to the international community. Shared intelligence that other nations had as well.
But it -- because it turned out to be so wrong, there will and lot of people asking tougher questions the next time around.
PHILLIPS: Well, if we talk about the establishment of an independent investigative committee now, is this -- will this mean anything to the critics? Will this be taken seriously?
WRIGHT: It probably will be taken seriously, but it will also depend on who is on that panel, what their conclusions are, how much access to intelligence they get, how effective they are in unraveling what went wrong this time around.
But even if it is a credible report that is judged to be fair and analyzing what the problems were, it may take years, you know, a decade and even a generation for the United States to recoup all the credibility lost because of this.
PHILLIPS: Who needs to be on this committee to really make a difference for individuals both Americans, and government officials, to take this seriously?
WRIGHT: Well, it clearly has to be bipartisan, has to have as many Democrats as Republicans. It needs to have people who are very experienced in intelligence and clearly it will all have to be Americans because it will involve having being a very sensitive American data.
PHILLIPS: "New York Times" -- not -- I'm sure "The Washington Post" has mentioned these names too also, Robin -- has mentioned Brent Scowcroft. What do you think? What kind of credibility could that lend? What kind of power or influence could he make in something like this?
WRIGHT: He's clearly very thoughtful man. Former national security adviser. He was in the military. But he was the national security advisers to the first President Bush. And that probably will lead some people to question him even though he is a very thoughtful man.
PHILLIPS: Robin Wright with "The Washington Post," appreciate your time today.
WRIGHT: Thank you.
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 February 2, 2004 - 14:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush moves to get an unbiased look at prewar intelligence. His hand-picked commission is to look into why forbidden weapons have not turned up in Iraq. Washington's former top weapons hunter says a lot is riding on this investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KAY, FRM. CIA WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Our credibility not only with foreigners -- countries we've asked to support us, but probably domestically in our own country is at stake now. That's I think one reason we in fact do need an investigation, to try to understand what went wrong is it is because it is at stake.
It's quite clearly -- there have been things that have been wrong. Arrows of interpretation and analysis. And we need to understand why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Want to get some international perspective, we turn to "Washington Post" correspondent Robin Wright. Robin, good to see you.
ROBIN WRIGHT, "WASHINGTON POST": Nice to see you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What do you think about what David Kay had to say? Is the U.S. credibility on the line here? Is it at an all-time low?
WRIGHT: I don't know about being at an all-time low, but I think the United States does face some serious problems in trying to sell its foreign policy agenda.
Clearly there are a lot of questions being asked, particularly among populations be they in Europe or the Middle East, Asia, elsewhere, about America's decision to go to war with evidence that turned out to be very wrong.
PHILLIPS: Well, what would this mean for future possible conflicts? I mean there's talk about Iran, there's talk about North Korea. Because of this, will it affect the credibility of if indeed that could happen, would happen, gaining support for another conflict?
WRIGHT: I suspect that the barometer will continue to be pretty high, and perhaps higher than in any recent conflict, to justify engaging in military action. The United States sold its case -- what looked like convincing evidence, to the international community. Shared intelligence that other nations had as well.
But it -- because it turned out to be so wrong, there will and lot of people asking tougher questions the next time around.
PHILLIPS: Well, if we talk about the establishment of an independent investigative committee now, is this -- will this mean anything to the critics? Will this be taken seriously?
WRIGHT: It probably will be taken seriously, but it will also depend on who is on that panel, what their conclusions are, how much access to intelligence they get, how effective they are in unraveling what went wrong this time around.
But even if it is a credible report that is judged to be fair and analyzing what the problems were, it may take years, you know, a decade and even a generation for the United States to recoup all the credibility lost because of this.
PHILLIPS: Who needs to be on this committee to really make a difference for individuals both Americans, and government officials, to take this seriously?
WRIGHT: Well, it clearly has to be bipartisan, has to have as many Democrats as Republicans. It needs to have people who are very experienced in intelligence and clearly it will all have to be Americans because it will involve having being a very sensitive American data.
PHILLIPS: "New York Times" -- not -- I'm sure "The Washington Post" has mentioned these names too also, Robin -- has mentioned Brent Scowcroft. What do you think? What kind of credibility could that lend? What kind of power or influence could he make in something like this?
WRIGHT: He's clearly very thoughtful man. Former national security adviser. He was in the military. But he was the national security advisers to the first President Bush. And that probably will lead some people to question him even though he is a very thoughtful man.
PHILLIPS: Robin Wright with "The Washington Post," appreciate your time today.
WRIGHT: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
