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American Morning
Talk With Ambassador Joe Wilson
Aired January 10, 2003 - 08:02 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 turn our attention now to Iraq. The leaders of the U.N. weapons hunt -- OK, there we are -- say the progress of their inspection teams can be measured in inches and they say more cooperation is needed from Iraq.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson is adjunct scholar at the Wilson Institute and used to be the U.S. Charge D'Affaires there in Iraq.
He joins us from Washington.
Happy new year.
I haven't seen you yet this year.
AMBASSADOR JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: Hi, Paula.
Happy new year.
And that's the Middle East Institute.
ZAHN: The Middle East? Oh, OK. We didn't get that right either. Sorry. We will make sure we'll get that right next time.
WILSON: Well, you got my name right.
ZAHN: Yes, well, that's a starter for a Friday. You know, everybody's anxious to get out of here today.
Let's start off with what Hans Blix told reporters yesterday, that the Iraqis so far are cooperating but they could do much more to prove they have no weapons programs. He went on to say like cough up new evidence and answer some lingering questions.
Do you have any faith that the Iraqis will do that?
WILSON: Well, I don't think the Iraqis are going to do it gracefully or easily. I think that we're going to have to keep the pressure on them, as we're doing, and I think that it's going to be incumbent upon Mr. Blix and the inspection, the inspectors from both UNMOVIC and the IAEA to begin asking the tough questions and making some substantial demands on the Iraqis to provide answers in a timely fashion.
ZAHN: Let's hear what John Negroponte from the U.N. had to say about the ball basically being in the Iraqis' court.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: How Iraq responds and the evidence it provides are important indicators of their cooperation. It is not, however, UNMOVIC's and IAEA's obligation to provide verifiable evidence of disarmament. That is Iraq's responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: So where does this go from here?
WILSON: Well, I think Ambassador Negroponte is right up to a point, and certainly I'm persuaded by his arguments and I think most Americans are persuaded by it. But if we're actually going to engage in a military action that includes the invasion of Iraq and the occupation of Baghdad, etc., etc., it seems to me we're going to have to make a case that is a little bit more substantial than the Iraqis thumbing their noses at the U.N. resolutions. After all, they're not the only country that's thumbed its nose at U.N. resolutions in the past.
We're essentially going to have to make the case that we have compelling evidence that's irrefutable that they've got weapons of mass destruction or weapons of mass destruction programs that pose an imminent national security threat to the United States and its allies, and that the only way that we can deal with it is through this regime change imperial conquest of Iraq.
ZAHN: So let me ask you this, are you saying the United States not only has a weak case at this point, but no case?
WILSON: No, I think we have a good case to continue what the president has called the process of either disarming Saddam peacefully or forcibly. But in order to take the next step, the military step, we're going to need to be a little bit more persuasive if we wish to do this in a way that gives us some legitimacy in doing so and is not [perceived in the world as an imperial act, an offensive act.
ZAHN: How meaningful is it to you the British, at least some members of the British government, are urging the prime minister there to think about putting off any military action to the fall?
WILSON: I think what was important that came out of yesterday's meeting was that there was an, there was increasingly a consensus that the question of whether or not there should be a military action or an invasion of Iraq is really contingent upon Iraqi compliance and not necessarily on a date precise. It's clear that the inspectors are not going to be able to get all the information that they need to be satisfied that the inspection regime is a failure by January 27th.
We can afford to wait. I've said all along on this program several times the question of whether there will be a war is for Saddam to answer. The question of both the timing and the type of war we prosecute is really ours and our allies. And it's imperative upon us to get that part of it right.
ZAHN: And you know what part we're going to get right next time, the place of your employment. We just like you so much we want everybody to hire you, you know?
WILSON: Well, thanks. They don't employ me, but they, I work with them on some of these issues.
ZAHN: All right, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, now currently with he said the Mideast Institute. We'll get that right next time.
Thanks again for joining us today.
WILSON: Thanks, Paula.
Nice to be with you.
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 January 10, 2003 - 08:02 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 turn our attention now to Iraq. The leaders of the U.N. weapons hunt -- OK, there we are -- say the progress of their inspection teams can be measured in inches and they say more cooperation is needed from Iraq.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson is adjunct scholar at the Wilson Institute and used to be the U.S. Charge D'Affaires there in Iraq.
He joins us from Washington.
Happy new year.
I haven't seen you yet this year.
AMBASSADOR JOSEPH WILSON, FORMER U.S. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: Hi, Paula.
Happy new year.
And that's the Middle East Institute.
ZAHN: The Middle East? Oh, OK. We didn't get that right either. Sorry. We will make sure we'll get that right next time.
WILSON: Well, you got my name right.
ZAHN: Yes, well, that's a starter for a Friday. You know, everybody's anxious to get out of here today.
Let's start off with what Hans Blix told reporters yesterday, that the Iraqis so far are cooperating but they could do much more to prove they have no weapons programs. He went on to say like cough up new evidence and answer some lingering questions.
Do you have any faith that the Iraqis will do that?
WILSON: Well, I don't think the Iraqis are going to do it gracefully or easily. I think that we're going to have to keep the pressure on them, as we're doing, and I think that it's going to be incumbent upon Mr. Blix and the inspection, the inspectors from both UNMOVIC and the IAEA to begin asking the tough questions and making some substantial demands on the Iraqis to provide answers in a timely fashion.
ZAHN: Let's hear what John Negroponte from the U.N. had to say about the ball basically being in the Iraqis' court.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: How Iraq responds and the evidence it provides are important indicators of their cooperation. It is not, however, UNMOVIC's and IAEA's obligation to provide verifiable evidence of disarmament. That is Iraq's responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: So where does this go from here?
WILSON: Well, I think Ambassador Negroponte is right up to a point, and certainly I'm persuaded by his arguments and I think most Americans are persuaded by it. But if we're actually going to engage in a military action that includes the invasion of Iraq and the occupation of Baghdad, etc., etc., it seems to me we're going to have to make a case that is a little bit more substantial than the Iraqis thumbing their noses at the U.N. resolutions. After all, they're not the only country that's thumbed its nose at U.N. resolutions in the past.
We're essentially going to have to make the case that we have compelling evidence that's irrefutable that they've got weapons of mass destruction or weapons of mass destruction programs that pose an imminent national security threat to the United States and its allies, and that the only way that we can deal with it is through this regime change imperial conquest of Iraq.
ZAHN: So let me ask you this, are you saying the United States not only has a weak case at this point, but no case?
WILSON: No, I think we have a good case to continue what the president has called the process of either disarming Saddam peacefully or forcibly. But in order to take the next step, the military step, we're going to need to be a little bit more persuasive if we wish to do this in a way that gives us some legitimacy in doing so and is not [perceived in the world as an imperial act, an offensive act.
ZAHN: How meaningful is it to you the British, at least some members of the British government, are urging the prime minister there to think about putting off any military action to the fall?
WILSON: I think what was important that came out of yesterday's meeting was that there was an, there was increasingly a consensus that the question of whether or not there should be a military action or an invasion of Iraq is really contingent upon Iraqi compliance and not necessarily on a date precise. It's clear that the inspectors are not going to be able to get all the information that they need to be satisfied that the inspection regime is a failure by January 27th.
We can afford to wait. I've said all along on this program several times the question of whether there will be a war is for Saddam to answer. The question of both the timing and the type of war we prosecute is really ours and our allies. And it's imperative upon us to get that part of it right.
ZAHN: And you know what part we're going to get right next time, the place of your employment. We just like you so much we want everybody to hire you, you know?
WILSON: Well, thanks. They don't employ me, but they, I work with them on some of these issues.
ZAHN: All right, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, now currently with he said the Mideast Institute. We'll get that right next time.
Thanks again for joining us today.
WILSON: Thanks, Paula.
Nice to be with you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
