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American Morning
U.S. Gathering Allies for Iraq War
Aired January 23, 2003 - 07:07 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: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says the U.S. can find countries that are willing to help the U.S. if the war is needed to disarm Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Let there be no doubt there are large numbers of countries that are signed up to be helpful in the event that force is needed in dealing with Iraq. This business about going it alone or unilateral is nonsense. There are a substantial number of countries that are ready to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: But what dangers lie ahead if the U.S. does go to war alone?
Let's turn to our own military analyst General Wesley Clark who joins us this morning from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Good to see you again -- sir.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Nice to be with you -- Paula.
ZAHN: You just heard what Secretary Rumsfeld said that there are a number of countries lined up to help the U.S. in the event that the U.S. goes to war. Do you agree with that assessment?
CLARK: I think he's correct. I think there are a number of countries that will help. It won't be the overwhelming coalition that we had in 1990-'91 and we won't see ground groups from Arab countries in there with us, but we'll have bases in the Persian Gulf, we'll have overflight rights and we'll have access and I think the Brits will be with us on the ground.
ZAHN: And other than the Brits, what other kind of military help do you see the U.S. getting, particularly given the way this seems to be playing out at the U.N. right now with France and Germany?
CLARK: It's hard, but we're not quite at the end game diplomatically at the U.N. And I would not be surprised to see French forces alongside the Americans. There are some French aircraft in Saudi Arabia still in Operation Southern Watch and I think they may come in with us no matter what the political shenanigans are that are going on here. But there won't be a lot of different countries. The majority of the work on the ground is going to be done by the United States no matter what happens at the U.N.
ZAHN: What would be the consequences though if the U.S. is not able to line up this help that Donald Rumsfeld says they're counting on at the moment? What -- how would that work militarily?
CLARK: Well, militarily I think the real issue is how much access you can get to Saudi facilities. And what we would like to have is supports, the air field, the bases, the infrastructure, some of the logistic supplies that have been left in Saudi Arabia, all of that we'd like to have. Obviously we'd like to have Saudi forces and police or any other National Guard or military forces that they could spare come with us on this. Don't think we'll get that, but certainly full access to the air and ground spaces and facilities of Saudi Arabia is the key issue.
And next is Turkey. We think Turkey is going to go along with us. It won't be the same size force that we had originally talked about, some 80,000 Americans, but a few thousand, 10,000 to 15,000 to 20,000 Americans will be there. There'll be some troops that go in from Turkey into the northern front to stabilize that front and prevent an expansion of the conflict into the Kurdish area. And so we think we'll get that in any case.
Now beyond the military, of course there's the diplomatic and the overall perception of U.S. legitimacy and then there's the question of what happens afterwards.
ZAHN: Let's talk a little before what would -- what would happen at that stage. First of all, there is a lot of talk that this harsh rhetoric we've seen coming from the president and from Condoleezza Rice today in this op-ed piece is part of a very well choreographed plan to scare the heck out of Iraq. Do you -- do you see it making any difference at all? I mean it certainly hasn't affected Saddam Hussein's behavior in the last couple of months.
CLARK: Paula, I doubt that this is going to have any impact on Saddam Hussein, but it is an effort to persuade America's allies and it's a softening up phase prior to the administration prevent -- presenting its final, more detailed intelligence information that Colin Powell spoke of. And hopefully the allies will see this and it will change some minds there.
There's an important case to be made here. We know that Saddam Hussein has a well-orchestrated deception and denial program dating back a decade or more to cover up the existence of these weapons and facilities and capabilities. It's controlled at the very highest levels of the Iraqi government by Saddam himself and his son. And we've got a lot of information on this and it's a very effective program that's why the inspectors aren't finding anything.
ZAHN: General Wesley Clark, as always, thanks for your perspective. Appreciate it.
CLARK: Thank you. Good to be with you -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks. 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 23, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says the U.S. can find countries that are willing to help the U.S. if the war is needed to disarm Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Let there be no doubt there are large numbers of countries that are signed up to be helpful in the event that force is needed in dealing with Iraq. This business about going it alone or unilateral is nonsense. There are a substantial number of countries that are ready to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: But what dangers lie ahead if the U.S. does go to war alone?
Let's turn to our own military analyst General Wesley Clark who joins us this morning from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Good to see you again -- sir.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Nice to be with you -- Paula.
ZAHN: You just heard what Secretary Rumsfeld said that there are a number of countries lined up to help the U.S. in the event that the U.S. goes to war. Do you agree with that assessment?
CLARK: I think he's correct. I think there are a number of countries that will help. It won't be the overwhelming coalition that we had in 1990-'91 and we won't see ground groups from Arab countries in there with us, but we'll have bases in the Persian Gulf, we'll have overflight rights and we'll have access and I think the Brits will be with us on the ground.
ZAHN: And other than the Brits, what other kind of military help do you see the U.S. getting, particularly given the way this seems to be playing out at the U.N. right now with France and Germany?
CLARK: It's hard, but we're not quite at the end game diplomatically at the U.N. And I would not be surprised to see French forces alongside the Americans. There are some French aircraft in Saudi Arabia still in Operation Southern Watch and I think they may come in with us no matter what the political shenanigans are that are going on here. But there won't be a lot of different countries. The majority of the work on the ground is going to be done by the United States no matter what happens at the U.N.
ZAHN: What would be the consequences though if the U.S. is not able to line up this help that Donald Rumsfeld says they're counting on at the moment? What -- how would that work militarily?
CLARK: Well, militarily I think the real issue is how much access you can get to Saudi facilities. And what we would like to have is supports, the air field, the bases, the infrastructure, some of the logistic supplies that have been left in Saudi Arabia, all of that we'd like to have. Obviously we'd like to have Saudi forces and police or any other National Guard or military forces that they could spare come with us on this. Don't think we'll get that, but certainly full access to the air and ground spaces and facilities of Saudi Arabia is the key issue.
And next is Turkey. We think Turkey is going to go along with us. It won't be the same size force that we had originally talked about, some 80,000 Americans, but a few thousand, 10,000 to 15,000 to 20,000 Americans will be there. There'll be some troops that go in from Turkey into the northern front to stabilize that front and prevent an expansion of the conflict into the Kurdish area. And so we think we'll get that in any case.
Now beyond the military, of course there's the diplomatic and the overall perception of U.S. legitimacy and then there's the question of what happens afterwards.
ZAHN: Let's talk a little before what would -- what would happen at that stage. First of all, there is a lot of talk that this harsh rhetoric we've seen coming from the president and from Condoleezza Rice today in this op-ed piece is part of a very well choreographed plan to scare the heck out of Iraq. Do you -- do you see it making any difference at all? I mean it certainly hasn't affected Saddam Hussein's behavior in the last couple of months.
CLARK: Paula, I doubt that this is going to have any impact on Saddam Hussein, but it is an effort to persuade America's allies and it's a softening up phase prior to the administration prevent -- presenting its final, more detailed intelligence information that Colin Powell spoke of. And hopefully the allies will see this and it will change some minds there.
There's an important case to be made here. We know that Saddam Hussein has a well-orchestrated deception and denial program dating back a decade or more to cover up the existence of these weapons and facilities and capabilities. It's controlled at the very highest levels of the Iraqi government by Saddam himself and his son. And we've got a lot of information on this and it's a very effective program that's why the inspectors aren't finding anything.
ZAHN: General Wesley Clark, as always, thanks for your perspective. Appreciate it.
CLARK: Thank you. Good to be with you -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
