Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
America's New War: Unclear Nature of Coalitions U.S. Will be Able to Build for Military Strike
Aired September 19, 2001 - 09:24 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a lot unclear at this point as to exactly the nature of the coalitions the United States will ultimately be able to build, and for some insights into that now, we turn to former ambassador Robert Hunter who -- well, I should call him ambassador now. He was the former ambassador to NATO.
Didn't make mean to take your title away there, sir. Good morning.
ROBERT HUNTER, FMR. U.S. AMB. TO NATO: That's great.
ZAHN: I reanointed you here.
HUNTER: Thank you.
ZAHN: Before we talk about any specifics of NATO action, I wanted to talk about Russia right now. We know that Colin Powell is meeting right now with the foreign minister of Russia, where the Deputy Secretary of State Armitage is in Moscow meeting with Russian officials. What role do you think Russia might play?
HUNTER: Well, the Russians don't want to get in way of what we're going to do. They have broader agenda. They would like to be reintegrated in the outside world. They'd like economic help more than anything else. They would like a free pass on Chechnya. They say, well, we will support you on this, but we have a terrorist problem, too. They would also like support of things they do like in places like Georgia, and with some of the Central Asian states, when they say, yes, we can understand Islamic fundamentalism. At the same time, they are going to be extremely cautious before they actually do anything with us. So the Russians will try to strike a hard deal. But they don't want to get in the way and look they are the country holding up what we're trying to do.
ZAHN: But the bottom, line, sir, is that Russia failed miserably in Afghanistan. What kind of help can Russia possibly provide that might make the outcome differently for the United States and its friendly coalition?
HUNTER: Well, if they wanted to help, about all they could do would be provide, one, intelligence and, secondly, some good object lessons about what it means to fight in Afghanistan. People have been trying to do since 1837 with the British, and nobody has ever fared very well in major land campaign. I think we already know that.
Essentially what we want from the Russians is a recognition by everybody that they are not working against us, that they are supporting us, and so they tell anybody responsive to Russians, they can't look to Moscow for help against us.
ZAHN: Early this morning, I talked with spokesperson from NATO headquarters, and he wasn't able to give me a lot of specifics, but I'm wondering if you can confirm for us this morning, if a NATO nation doesn't want to get involved militarily, can they opt out?
HUNTER: Well, absolutely. All that was decided last week, although it was the first time ever in NATO history, was for the 19 allies to agree that this was under the NATO treaty, an attack on one as an attack on all, and authorized the United States to have NATO backing, said that other allies would help out, including possibly military force. Nobody committed to do anything. What's been decided so far gives moral legitimacy, gives us added authority. It means you don't have to go to United Nations, and it creates a presumption that we can call on at least some of the allies for help. But nobody has agreed to do any of that so far.
ZAHN: Do you believe most NATO nations will contribute troops to military force if force is needed?
HUNTER: Well, they are going to come at us very hard, and say, exactly what do you have in mind? How do we know you're not going to make it worse? What precisely is it that you have in mind? I would think that the British and French will almost certainly be with us in any event. The British because of the special relationship, the French because they understand terrorism, and also they don't avoid a fight. The Germans are going to be quite leery. After all, it's still the memories of World War II, and a lot of the other countries won't want to get involved. What's going to happen with the allies after -- they give us more or less a free pass on the first strike. They understand. They cannot see the superpower that helped them on which they depend to lead the global economy, take care of the Balkans, they can't prevent that. Later on...
ZAHN: All right, unfortunately, I have to cut you. We have to take a short break here so we can catch the opening bell at the exchanges this morning. Appreciate your insights. Thanks again for joining us, sir.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
