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American Morning
President on a Week-Long Trip to Asia
Aired February 18, 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The president on a week-long trip to Asia. He is in Japan now. He will be going to South Korea next, where his "axis of evil" remarks are not being particularly well received. Yesterday, Secretary of State Colin Powell once again defended the president's decision to include North Korea on his short list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have asked North Korea, "Come, let's talk, anytime, anyplace without any preconditions. We are waiting." Does that mean we can't identify the nature of that regime for what it is, evil? It is evil. Not the people of North Korea, but the regime itself, and the way it has conducted its business for the last 50 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAFFERTY: Joining us now with his view on this and some other subjects, Richard Butler, our ambassador-in-residence -- good morning to you, sir.
RICHARD BUTLER, FORMER U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning, Jack. You're looking different this morning.
CAFFERTY: In what way?
BUTLER: Well, you're not Paula.
CAFFERTY: That would be different.
BUTLER: I think I have noticed.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Nothing gets past you, does it?
BUTLER: No, I'm sharp as a tack. But it's good to be with you.
CAFFERTY: Well, it's good to be with you too, and actually, I am looking forward to this just because some of the reading over the weekend about the whining on the part of the European allies concerning our position on Iraq. We'll get to that in a moment.
The president said there is no explanation necessary. He identified Iran, Iraq and North Korea as countries that practice terrorism, weapons of mass destruction. They are dictatorial governments, yadda, yadda, yadda. Why was members of the administration, like Colin Powell on the Sunday talk shows, explaining what the president said requires no explanation?
BUTLER: Good question, because it does require explanation. The president in Tokyo said everyone understands this, but clearly within the administration, there is recognition that this rather colorful phrase, "axis of evil," needs to be further explained.
You know, Jack, I think we have got to divide it into two parts. The list of countries and what they are about is one part of it. The other part is the implied unilateralism by the United States. You know, where the president said, we are not going to wait for these people to come and get us. We will act first.
I suspect that it's the latter that has caused more concern rather than the former, because when you look at the list of three countries, as Colin Powell just said in that...
CAFFERTY: Yes.
BUTLER: ... I mean, they're a serious problem.
CAFFERTY: Yes, you can't dispute the definition of these three regimes as being evil. I mean, that pretty much speaks for itself. What is the...
BUTLER: Evil is a very strong word...
CAFFERTY: Well...
BUTLER: ... but in the sense that they present very, very serious problems. I'm with you. I'm with the president on this...
CAFFERTY: The president has said...
BUTLER: ... Iran, Iraq, North Korea.
CAFFERTY: The president said in Japan this morning, North Korea is a regime whose population is starving to death, while they concentrate their resources on producing weapons of mass destruction. It would seem to me that would meet the definition of evil, but perhaps I am mistaken.
BUTLER: If you choose to use that word. But let's you and I not quibble about that.
CAFFERTY: All right.
BUTLER: This is a very serious problem. And while their people are starving, while their people are under an incredibly repressive dictatorship, what are they doing? They are making long-range missiles and exporting them to the world. That's the evil bit that the administration is particularly concerned about.
