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American Morning
Interview with Terry Taylor
Aired September 23, 2002 - 08:04 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: We're going to move on now to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is on a mission trying to sell the president's war plan to NATO allies at a meeting in Poland. Meanwhile, as discussions continue between the U.N. and Iraq over weapons inspections, could Baghdad be using the time to hide its most deadly weapons?
Terry Taylor is the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He joins us from Washington this morning.
Welcome.
Good to have you with us this morning, sir.
TERENCE TAYLOR, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning.
ZAHN: So, Terry, what do you think Iraq is up to right now?
TAYLOR: Well, I think there's a very good case for thinking that they're using this as a form of negotiating by another means. At least that is the fear. And if the record of the 1990s is anything to go by, I think that's the thing that the U.S. administration and others need to guard against.
ZAHN: The president has made it clear that he is fearful that Saddam might share his weapons with terrorists. Do you share that fear?
TAYLOR: Well, I think that's a reasonable fear, although I don't, I haven't seen any clear evidence that that is the case. But certainly weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a regime such as there is in Baghdad would be something to be considerably worried about in that regard.
ZAHN: Tell us a little bit about the reality of what you think inspections might be like if they are ever allowed again.
TAYLOR: Well...
ZAHN: Particularly when it comes to the use of the term unconditional.
TAYLOR: Well, this is the challenge. One would never know that until the inspectors got on the ground. What, there are two conditions that are required and that is, the first one is, of course, Iraqi cooperation. And I think that can only come about as long as there is the threat of, a credible threat of the destabilizing of at least the regime, use of substantial force. If that's not present or somehow diluted, I don't think there's any incentive for the Iraqis to cooperate.
And, also, the U.N. Security Council must be more or less united in seeing this thing through, otherwise it will be just another, a negotiation by another means.
ZAHN: I guess the key issue is whether Saddam would ever allow for his palaces to be inspected. And the Iraqis claim that that's not going to happen. Describe to us what it was like on the ground for you when you were an inspector. How did it work?
TAYLOR: Well, there was some degree of cooperation, at least until about 1997, because of the fact that there was this threat of the destabilizing use of military force, big force, not just bombing. And so we were obstructed, me and my colleagues, in many ways, through forged documents, through not giving us the people to talk to who we should talk to, and, of course, in the end in some places not being given access.
I think as soon as we got in the '97-'98, when Western attention was focused elsewhere, in the Balkans, and the use of force seemed very unlikely, that's when the cooperation stopped.
ZAHN: Do you expect that if inspectors are allowed back in and that threat of force remains that things would be any different this time around?
TAYLOR: Well, that's hard to tell. We'll just have to see. I think the U.S. administration and the U.K., as well, would like to see a step taken so that the Iraqis are given an opportunity to demonstrate whether they're really going to cooperate in any way at all. If the U.N. Security Council is divided, there might be some slim chance. It's a step worth trying.
ZAHN: There has been a report that was circulated last week that would suggest that if inspectors were allowed in, this time they would not have the same access to U.S. intelligence and allied intelligence that they had during the last round of inspections. Have you heard that? And if that's true, what does it mean?
TAYLOR: Well, I haven't heard that specifically. But I think it would be a very bad thing if the U.N. inspectors didn't have access to information provided by other U.N. member states, including, of course, the United States and others. It was very important during the early phases of the inspection process and in any case, the U.N. cease-fire resolution, that is U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, calls upon all U.N. member states to give assistance in this way in providing information for the inspectors.
It would be, I think, a very bad thing if this wasn't carried through.
ZAHN: Tomorrow British Prime Minister Tony Blair expected to release this dossier on Iraq. Do you think that could be the smoking gun?
TAYLOR: Well, I don't know whether it will be a smoking gun. I think it'll confirm a lot of the information, hard information that's out there already available. I think we have already seen and heard of the U.K.'s determination to see this thing through now and stand by the U.S. administration in taking a very strong line. So I think we'll see perhaps a bit more information. But what the substance will be, I don't know at this stage.
ZAHN: Terry Taylor, we appreciate your perspective.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
TAYLOR: My pleasure.
ZAHN: Former U.N. weapons inspector.
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 September 23, 2002 - 08:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on now to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is on a mission trying to sell the president's war plan to NATO allies at a meeting in Poland. Meanwhile, as discussions continue between the U.N. and Iraq over weapons inspections, could Baghdad be using the time to hide its most deadly weapons?
Terry Taylor is the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He joins us from Washington this morning.
Welcome.
Good to have you with us this morning, sir.
TERENCE TAYLOR, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning.
ZAHN: So, Terry, what do you think Iraq is up to right now?
TAYLOR: Well, I think there's a very good case for thinking that they're using this as a form of negotiating by another means. At least that is the fear. And if the record of the 1990s is anything to go by, I think that's the thing that the U.S. administration and others need to guard against.
ZAHN: The president has made it clear that he is fearful that Saddam might share his weapons with terrorists. Do you share that fear?
TAYLOR: Well, I think that's a reasonable fear, although I don't, I haven't seen any clear evidence that that is the case. But certainly weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a regime such as there is in Baghdad would be something to be considerably worried about in that regard.
ZAHN: Tell us a little bit about the reality of what you think inspections might be like if they are ever allowed again.
TAYLOR: Well...
ZAHN: Particularly when it comes to the use of the term unconditional.
TAYLOR: Well, this is the challenge. One would never know that until the inspectors got on the ground. What, there are two conditions that are required and that is, the first one is, of course, Iraqi cooperation. And I think that can only come about as long as there is the threat of, a credible threat of the destabilizing of at least the regime, use of substantial force. If that's not present or somehow diluted, I don't think there's any incentive for the Iraqis to cooperate.
And, also, the U.N. Security Council must be more or less united in seeing this thing through, otherwise it will be just another, a negotiation by another means.
ZAHN: I guess the key issue is whether Saddam would ever allow for his palaces to be inspected. And the Iraqis claim that that's not going to happen. Describe to us what it was like on the ground for you when you were an inspector. How did it work?
TAYLOR: Well, there was some degree of cooperation, at least until about 1997, because of the fact that there was this threat of the destabilizing use of military force, big force, not just bombing. And so we were obstructed, me and my colleagues, in many ways, through forged documents, through not giving us the people to talk to who we should talk to, and, of course, in the end in some places not being given access.
I think as soon as we got in the '97-'98, when Western attention was focused elsewhere, in the Balkans, and the use of force seemed very unlikely, that's when the cooperation stopped.
ZAHN: Do you expect that if inspectors are allowed back in and that threat of force remains that things would be any different this time around?
TAYLOR: Well, that's hard to tell. We'll just have to see. I think the U.S. administration and the U.K., as well, would like to see a step taken so that the Iraqis are given an opportunity to demonstrate whether they're really going to cooperate in any way at all. If the U.N. Security Council is divided, there might be some slim chance. It's a step worth trying.
ZAHN: There has been a report that was circulated last week that would suggest that if inspectors were allowed in, this time they would not have the same access to U.S. intelligence and allied intelligence that they had during the last round of inspections. Have you heard that? And if that's true, what does it mean?
TAYLOR: Well, I haven't heard that specifically. But I think it would be a very bad thing if the U.N. inspectors didn't have access to information provided by other U.N. member states, including, of course, the United States and others. It was very important during the early phases of the inspection process and in any case, the U.N. cease-fire resolution, that is U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, calls upon all U.N. member states to give assistance in this way in providing information for the inspectors.
It would be, I think, a very bad thing if this wasn't carried through.
ZAHN: Tomorrow British Prime Minister Tony Blair expected to release this dossier on Iraq. Do you think that could be the smoking gun?
TAYLOR: Well, I don't know whether it will be a smoking gun. I think it'll confirm a lot of the information, hard information that's out there already available. I think we have already seen and heard of the U.K.'s determination to see this thing through now and stand by the U.S. administration in taking a very strong line. So I think we'll see perhaps a bit more information. But what the substance will be, I don't know at this stage.
ZAHN: Terry Taylor, we appreciate your perspective.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
TAYLOR: My pleasure.
ZAHN: Former U.N. weapons inspector.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
