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American Morning
Talk with Melissa Fleming, Spokeswoman for IAEA
Aired November 26, 2002 - 08:11 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: Now we're going to turn our attention back to the inspections in Iraq. The team now on the ground, the first wave of hands on experts who will actually conduct the hunt for weapons.
And Melissa Fleming is the spokesperson for the IAEA, the folks in charge of these inspections. And now on the eve of the resumption of inspections we got a chance to speak with her.
Melissa, good morning.
Thanks for joining us.
MELISSA FLEMING, IAEA SPOKESWOMAN: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: What do you think is going to be the biggest challenge confronting the inspectors?
FLEMING: That's a very good question. We haven't really thought about that. We're thinking about day to day operations right now. We're looking at two things. We're looking at full and complete cooperation from the Iraqis and we're also looking to uncover the truth. It's a daunting task, but we feel very well prepared and well equipped to move forward with it.
ZAHN: When you talk about full and complete cooperation, do you expect to get that?
FLEMING: We don't expect anything. We have suspicious minds and we can only find out whether they are going to pass the cooperation test when we take, when they take the test, and that is starting tomorrow.
ZAHN: When you say you have suspicious minds, what is it you're skeptical about specifically?
FLEMING: Well, we're skeptical for historical reasons. But it's just also the nature of our work. The organization I work for, the International Atomic Energy Agency, carries out nuclear inspections all over the world. And this is our approach. We go to a country and have to assume that they might be pursuing a nuclear program. We're going to be doing the same thing here in Iraq. And if we can prove otherwise, then that is also a successful inspection.
ZAHN: So you've heard what the Iraqis have repeatedly said, and particularly from this latest letter from the Iraqi foreign minister to the U.N. that they have no weapons of mass destruction? So you're saying from the get go you don't believe any of that?
FLEMING: Well, it's just a fundamental thing. We're not here to believe words. We're here to investigate actions and to look and see and verify with our own eyes. And only then can we make any kind of judgment about whether Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction or not.
ZAHN: Richard Butler, the man who once led these inspections, joined us in the last hour. And he said there is so much hypocrisy at work here. He said on the one hand the Iraqis say they have no weapons of mass destruction, on the other hand, they're now indicating that they might not be able to meet that December 8 deadline because they have to bring together thousands of pages of documents.
What does that say to you?
FLEMING: There are probably some legitimate concerns. It is difficult to make that detailed a declaration. As far as the inspectors here on the ground are concerned, the declaration is something that will be important to us operationally, but it is not the only document that is important to us, to our functioning every day. We're going to be going through our inspection operation plans systematically. When that declaration gets handed over to us on December 8, we'll be examining it very closely to see whether it does contain anything that would encourage us or make it important for us to refine our operational plan and no more than that.
We believe that the declaration will be particularly important for the Security Council members.
ZAHN: Melissa, I wanted to close with a question about the importance of defectors. There's a piece in the "Wall Street Journal" this morning talking about how there are a number of people who believe that if you interview Iraqi defectors outside of the country, it would "unmask Saddam's weapons in a hurry."
But according to this piece, Mr. Blix is not interested.
What do you hear on that front?
FLEMING: In the past defectors were key to our being able to uncover Iraq's secret nuclear weapons program. However, we are in a different time now. We're in a different mandate. It's possible that defectors could be helpful to us. It is very possible that we will be able to, we'll be satisfied with interviewing people here in Iraq on the ground as we work at inspection sites or taking them out of their workplace to a secure facility.
This time around, it is not required that they be accompanied by an Iraqi official. This is a big change. We might decide that it is not necessary to take them out of the country.
ZAHN: Melissa Fleming, we are delighted to have you with us this morning and bring us up to date on what some of the inspectors might face.
FLEMING: It's a pleasure.
ZAHN: Very much appreciate your time.
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 26, 2002 - 08:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to turn our attention back to the inspections in Iraq. The team now on the ground, the first wave of hands on experts who will actually conduct the hunt for weapons.
And Melissa Fleming is the spokesperson for the IAEA, the folks in charge of these inspections. And now on the eve of the resumption of inspections we got a chance to speak with her.
Melissa, good morning.
Thanks for joining us.
MELISSA FLEMING, IAEA SPOKESWOMAN: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: What do you think is going to be the biggest challenge confronting the inspectors?
FLEMING: That's a very good question. We haven't really thought about that. We're thinking about day to day operations right now. We're looking at two things. We're looking at full and complete cooperation from the Iraqis and we're also looking to uncover the truth. It's a daunting task, but we feel very well prepared and well equipped to move forward with it.
ZAHN: When you talk about full and complete cooperation, do you expect to get that?
FLEMING: We don't expect anything. We have suspicious minds and we can only find out whether they are going to pass the cooperation test when we take, when they take the test, and that is starting tomorrow.
ZAHN: When you say you have suspicious minds, what is it you're skeptical about specifically?
FLEMING: Well, we're skeptical for historical reasons. But it's just also the nature of our work. The organization I work for, the International Atomic Energy Agency, carries out nuclear inspections all over the world. And this is our approach. We go to a country and have to assume that they might be pursuing a nuclear program. We're going to be doing the same thing here in Iraq. And if we can prove otherwise, then that is also a successful inspection.
ZAHN: So you've heard what the Iraqis have repeatedly said, and particularly from this latest letter from the Iraqi foreign minister to the U.N. that they have no weapons of mass destruction? So you're saying from the get go you don't believe any of that?
FLEMING: Well, it's just a fundamental thing. We're not here to believe words. We're here to investigate actions and to look and see and verify with our own eyes. And only then can we make any kind of judgment about whether Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction or not.
ZAHN: Richard Butler, the man who once led these inspections, joined us in the last hour. And he said there is so much hypocrisy at work here. He said on the one hand the Iraqis say they have no weapons of mass destruction, on the other hand, they're now indicating that they might not be able to meet that December 8 deadline because they have to bring together thousands of pages of documents.
What does that say to you?
FLEMING: There are probably some legitimate concerns. It is difficult to make that detailed a declaration. As far as the inspectors here on the ground are concerned, the declaration is something that will be important to us operationally, but it is not the only document that is important to us, to our functioning every day. We're going to be going through our inspection operation plans systematically. When that declaration gets handed over to us on December 8, we'll be examining it very closely to see whether it does contain anything that would encourage us or make it important for us to refine our operational plan and no more than that.
We believe that the declaration will be particularly important for the Security Council members.
ZAHN: Melissa, I wanted to close with a question about the importance of defectors. There's a piece in the "Wall Street Journal" this morning talking about how there are a number of people who believe that if you interview Iraqi defectors outside of the country, it would "unmask Saddam's weapons in a hurry."
But according to this piece, Mr. Blix is not interested.
What do you hear on that front?
FLEMING: In the past defectors were key to our being able to uncover Iraq's secret nuclear weapons program. However, we are in a different time now. We're in a different mandate. It's possible that defectors could be helpful to us. It is very possible that we will be able to, we'll be satisfied with interviewing people here in Iraq on the ground as we work at inspection sites or taking them out of their workplace to a secure facility.
This time around, it is not required that they be accompanied by an Iraqi official. This is a big change. We might decide that it is not necessary to take them out of the country.
ZAHN: Melissa Fleming, we are delighted to have you with us this morning and bring us up to date on what some of the inspectors might face.
FLEMING: It's a pleasure.
ZAHN: Very much appreciate your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
