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American Morning
Is U.S. Searching for a New Friend in Middle East?
Aired November 07, 2002 - 09:17 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: So, is the U.S. searching for a new friend in the region? Joining me now is former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy, who is now with the Council on Foreign Relations.
Welcome back.
RICHARD MURPHY, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thank you.
ZAHN: Where are the Saudis on this? Will they support us if there's a military attack on Iraq?
MURPHY: The Saudis are in the position of saying, you asked a hypothetical, and I'm not going to give you an answer, I'm not going to give you a specific answer. Your own president has not made a decision to attack. That's what the White House keeps saying. So, I'm not going to be pinned down. I think that was really clear from the way the foreign minister handled that interview.
ZAHN: But what do we think would happen if the U.S. military engaged in some kind of action against Iraq, along with several other allies? Where would Saudi Arabia be then?
MURPHY: Well, all I can say flatly now is Saudi Arabia, along with the states in the Arabian peninsula, whose help we would look for in the event of going to war, are absolutely delighted that President Bush decided to go through the United Nations. What they'll do when the day comes, it's very hard to predict, but personally, I think they will be helpful.
ZAHN: What should we read into the meeting, not coincidentally, a couple of days after the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia said this, that Colin Powell met at the State Department, with top United Arab Emirates' officials, and when questioned about the meeting at a State Department briefing, the official told CNN that -- quote -- "We are taking a few of the eggs out of the Saudi basket and putting them in other baskets. Tuesday's meeting was an important indication of the UAE's importance to U.S. regional policy."
What could the role could the UAE be?
MURPHY: Well, 12 years ago, the time of Desert Storm, the UAE and the other states each played a role, that's nothing new. It was in that case more logistical support.
But actually I think that the timing was coincidental, because that visit by the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs was an ongoing series of meetings, and this so-called strategic dialogue was set up two years ago.
ZAHN: That's good point to make.
MURPHY: Yes. So I don't say it's routine. Nothing is routine these days as the uncertainty grows about whether there's a war or not.
ZAHN: There's been a lot of cut about Qatar. Are you calling it Qatar now or Qatar.
MURPHY: Qatar.
ZAHN: Qatar. Qatar has a new air base that they seem to quite proud of. Could that substitute for Saudi airbases if military action is taken?
MURPHY: Well, my understanding is the Pentagon, again, started a couple years back deciding to diversify its support bases around the area, the various facilities. It's not up to the Saudi level, is my understanding, but it's a good, long airstrip, and it's going to be good enough for General Franks, shortly, to be conducting an exercise out of there. So, it's a good facility.
ZAHN: Final question for you this morning, we're reasonably sure that France is going to go along with this U.N. draft resolution. When that's all done, the Security Council, we talked a little bit of a process then that everybody's going to go through at the interim. At the end of that process, do you think there will be a war?
MURPHY: I don't think it's absolutely given that there will be a war, but the decision will be in Saddam's hands. If he complies, and I think that's his only choice, either comply or be destroyed. It's so different than it was in 1990, as he considered, should he pull out of Kuwait or not? He decided to take the chances. This time, there's no question that if a war starts, his regime is finished. So as a great survivor, I still think it's possible he may comply.
ZAHN: We were trying to read the tea leaves in the newspapers out of Iraqi bureau today, and in Baghdad, and we will -- I guess it all remains to be seen. We'll be watching alongside you.
Thank you, Ambassador Richard Murphy, for dropping by.
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 November 7, 2002 - 09:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: So, is the U.S. searching for a new friend in the region? Joining me now is former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy, who is now with the Council on Foreign Relations.
Welcome back.
RICHARD MURPHY, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thank you.
ZAHN: Where are the Saudis on this? Will they support us if there's a military attack on Iraq?
MURPHY: The Saudis are in the position of saying, you asked a hypothetical, and I'm not going to give you an answer, I'm not going to give you a specific answer. Your own president has not made a decision to attack. That's what the White House keeps saying. So, I'm not going to be pinned down. I think that was really clear from the way the foreign minister handled that interview.
ZAHN: But what do we think would happen if the U.S. military engaged in some kind of action against Iraq, along with several other allies? Where would Saudi Arabia be then?
MURPHY: Well, all I can say flatly now is Saudi Arabia, along with the states in the Arabian peninsula, whose help we would look for in the event of going to war, are absolutely delighted that President Bush decided to go through the United Nations. What they'll do when the day comes, it's very hard to predict, but personally, I think they will be helpful.
ZAHN: What should we read into the meeting, not coincidentally, a couple of days after the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia said this, that Colin Powell met at the State Department, with top United Arab Emirates' officials, and when questioned about the meeting at a State Department briefing, the official told CNN that -- quote -- "We are taking a few of the eggs out of the Saudi basket and putting them in other baskets. Tuesday's meeting was an important indication of the UAE's importance to U.S. regional policy."
What could the role could the UAE be?
MURPHY: Well, 12 years ago, the time of Desert Storm, the UAE and the other states each played a role, that's nothing new. It was in that case more logistical support.
But actually I think that the timing was coincidental, because that visit by the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs was an ongoing series of meetings, and this so-called strategic dialogue was set up two years ago.
ZAHN: That's good point to make.
MURPHY: Yes. So I don't say it's routine. Nothing is routine these days as the uncertainty grows about whether there's a war or not.
ZAHN: There's been a lot of cut about Qatar. Are you calling it Qatar now or Qatar.
MURPHY: Qatar.
ZAHN: Qatar. Qatar has a new air base that they seem to quite proud of. Could that substitute for Saudi airbases if military action is taken?
MURPHY: Well, my understanding is the Pentagon, again, started a couple years back deciding to diversify its support bases around the area, the various facilities. It's not up to the Saudi level, is my understanding, but it's a good, long airstrip, and it's going to be good enough for General Franks, shortly, to be conducting an exercise out of there. So, it's a good facility.
ZAHN: Final question for you this morning, we're reasonably sure that France is going to go along with this U.N. draft resolution. When that's all done, the Security Council, we talked a little bit of a process then that everybody's going to go through at the interim. At the end of that process, do you think there will be a war?
MURPHY: I don't think it's absolutely given that there will be a war, but the decision will be in Saddam's hands. If he complies, and I think that's his only choice, either comply or be destroyed. It's so different than it was in 1990, as he considered, should he pull out of Kuwait or not? He decided to take the chances. This time, there's no question that if a war starts, his regime is finished. So as a great survivor, I still think it's possible he may comply.
ZAHN: We were trying to read the tea leaves in the newspapers out of Iraqi bureau today, and in Baghdad, and we will -- I guess it all remains to be seen. We'll be watching alongside you.
Thank you, Ambassador Richard Murphy, for dropping by.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
