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American Morning
Discussion with Former U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Richard Butler
Aired February 12, 2002 - 07:32 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: As you have been hearing, we have lots of breaking news this morning and plenty of topics to talk about with Richard Butler, our ambassador-in-residence, beginning with the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic -- good morning.
RICHARD BUTLER, FORMER U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: We have already heard Mr. Milosevic say that this whole tribunal is a joke. He is not going to get a fair trial. And obviously that's got to be one of the chief concerns of the prosecutors here that the perception is that he did get a fair trial?
BUTLER: Absolutely, Paula. And of course, he would say that, wouldn't he? The last time we had such a trial was in Nuremberg after the Second World War. We couldn't have Adolph Hitler there, because he killed himself. Milosevic hasn't done that. He is there. The critical thing of this important trial is that the evidence be pinned on him. There is an abundance of evidence of the terrible things that happened, but in the end, this court will have to make sure that the line goes right back to him, otherwise, it won't be credible.
ZAHN: There is also a view, though, that the new Yugoslav government is very concerned about this trial hurting the future of its country, and they might, in the end, end up helping Milosevic.
BUTLER: I don't know whether they'll do the latter. The concern is, of course, clear. Yugoslavia is a melting pot of several nationalities and religions, and that's, you know, been at the bottom of these terrible things that have happened. But, Paula, all I can say again is that even for the current Yugoslav government, it will be very important for them to be able to look their various peoples in the eye and say this was a fair process. That's really important.
ZAHN: Let's move along to this latest FBI warning that came out last night, a little more specific than some of the previous warnings that an attack is likely to occur as early as today, perhaps in the United States, perhaps in Yemen. What do you make of it?
BUTLER: Well, they are doing it again, aren't they? I mean, they obviously have very, very serious information, even which includes today's date, and coming from interrogation of people who were captured in Afghanistan. Why they're doing it? It's hard to know exactly why. Obviously to make law enforcement officials aware, as a deterrent effect, I'm not sure.
ZAHN: Some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) suggest that -- I have heard some people say on the radio this morning to cover their own rear end.
BUTLER: Well, maybe there is that too. But I would like to think that they are checking this quickly with overseas sources, because there are other places in the world where al Qaeda and Taliban captives are being interviewed. And I think we need to get more information.
ZAHN: This warning comes at a time when "The Washington Post" is reporting the French have a lot of information, new information on al Qaeda.
BUTLER: Right.
ZAHN: What is the significance of that and the timing of this report?
BUTLER: Well, I have raised this question with you before. What do the French know, and when did they know it? I am very concerned about this. The French have arrested a Frenchman of Algerian origin just recently. Under interrogation, he has indicated that in the year 2000, he met Moussaoui, the man that we have in court now, the last of the September 11 conspirators, or allegedly, and Reid, the man who was going to light explosive in his shoes on an American aircraft.
ZAHN: Right.
BUTLER: He met these people in 2000. The French had Moussaoui in a jail previously. Now, they say they are getting a lot of good information from this latest guy that they have arrested.
ZAHN: How much of that information has the U.S. extracted from them?
BUTLER: Exactly. That's what I think we need to know. What do the French know? When did they know it? Did they know this before September 11? To what extent are they sharing it with us? I'm not, you know, aimlessly pursuing them. I think this is a very important question, and we need to know the answer.
ZAHN: But, Richard, what would be the incentive for the French to hold back any of this information from the United States?
BUTLER: Ah, good question. Let me...
ZAHN: It complicates...
(CROSSTALK)
BUTLER: Well, no, rationally you could argue, why on earth would they? Aren't we friends? But I'm not sure that the French track record is good in this context. I think they, on the whole, make us pay for every piece of information that they are prepared to share with us. I hope I am wrong. But I put this question out there. The French obviously have very considerable information about al Qaeda maybe before 9 -- 11 September -- 9/11. I think we need to know more from the French.
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: Ah. Well, let's move on to the issue of Iraq with a closing thought here.
BUTLER: Right.
ZAHN: Are you suggesting the French, in exchange for giving the United States more intelligence information, would want assurance that the U.S. will not attack Iraq?
BUTLER: Maybe. The French have a particular line on Iraq, which is very different from ours. But what is happing on Iraq is now clear. The administration is advancing quite fast now towards a plan to get rid of Saddam Hussein.
The timeline, Paula, is this. The vice president will go to the region -- the Middle East region in the next couple of weeks, and he will be talking there about U.S. concerns and possible action. We hear that already the neighbors of Iraq, Turkey and Jordan in particular, are saying, you know, we now accept that something has to happen to get rid of Saddam.
ZAHN: And I also read I think in "USA Today" this morning that Saudi Arabia is sort of accepting that possibility...
BUTLER: That's right.
ZAHN: ... and may allow, once again, for operations to be launched from Saudi Arabia.
BUTLER: So -- that's correct. And so I think we are seeing the development now towards a situation, where something will happen about Iraq, not until about May. That's the time when another sanctions review will take place at the U.N. If up to that time Iraq continues to refuse to accept weapons inspectors back inside Iraq, then, Paula, as I usually say, watch this space. I think it's developing towards action against Iraq.
ZAHN: And we'll be watching it with this man, who knows more about the region that just about anybody else, having served as the U.N. weapons inspector there for many years -- Richard Butler, thanks.
BUTLER: Good.
ZAHN: See you in the morning.
BUTLER: Good to see you.
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