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American Morning
Politics of War
Aired January 24, 2003 - 09:06 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: Monday, of course, the deadline for the report by the U.N. inspectors. Tuesday, the president gives his State of the Union Address. And it seems to some observers that the likelihood of war, as well as opposition to it, are growing by the day.
Let's check in with senior analyst Jeff Greenfield. We are so jealous. He joins us this morning from Palm Beach, Florida.
Good morning, Jeff. I guess the question I have for you this morning, it seems quite obvious that the administration is redoubling its sales effort, will it work?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Yes. I should tell you it's record cold down here, too, so don't be too jealous.
But you're quite right, Paula, it's clear there's a multi-front effort by the administration to resolve a series of doubts. If we just look at the last couple of days, we have Secretary of State Powell on the Jim Lehrer "NewsHour" saying look, despite what's going on in some parts of Europe, the U.S. will not be going it alone.
Let's listen to Secretary of State Powell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are those who feel that if the inspectors just had more time they would find everything. We have a view, and I think others have a view quite similar to ours, that says in the absence of cooperation, the inspectors will not find everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now you also had, as you mentioned, Paula, Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz saying that this whole idea of talking to Iraqi scientists is silly. There's no way they're going to provide an accurate picture.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: Today we know from multiple sources that Saddam has ordered that any scientist who cooperates during interviews will be killed, as well as their families. Furthermore, we know that scientists are being tutored on what to say to the U.N. inspectors and that Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as scientists to be interviewed by the inspectors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now in "The New York Times" on the op-ed page, we had National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice casting doubt on Iraq's good faith. She's hardly the only one. What she said, and let's read the quote, "by both its actions and its inactions," she wrote, "Iraq is proving not that it is a nation bent on disarmament, but that it is a nation with something to hide. Iraq is still treating inspections as a game. It should know time is running out" -- unquote. So you can see where they're -- where they're headed -- Paula.
ZAHN: Yes, I was actually in attendance at Mr. Wolfowitz's speech yesterday, and the time is running out phrase is a phrase he uttered a number of times as well. So does this reflect uneasiness on the administration's part, particularly as we move ahead to Monday's very important deadline?
GREENFIELD: I think you have to talk about the four audiences that it's appealing to. In the United States, clearly there's been an increase in doubt. We saw that "Wall Street Journal"-NBC News poll showing that by almost two to one Americans want to give the inspectors more time rather than rushing to war. And by an even bigger margin, 63 to 29 percent, they want the U.S. to go to war only with United Nations' backing, not unilaterally.
The second audience is Europe. We've talked about, you've talked about France and Germany, their leaders standing up and saying we're not going to be part of this world. That led Donald Rumsfeld, as we just heard, to say well they're the old Europe and he cites Italy and Spain, among other European countries.
Now the third audience, which is really interesting, are the neighbors of Iraq. And here I think the administration can point to some success. Our publication, "TIME" magazine, and we're all part of the same company, has an interesting map this week showing that among many of the countries surrounding Iraq, the United States has gotten a kind of series of approvals, including from countries like Syria and Iraq for at least limited assistance, air space for flyovers, bases from which to launch attacks.
And the fourth and maybe the most critical audience is Iraq itself. It was very interesting that just a couple of days ago the Defense Department said its daily briefings that we carry on CNN are going to be translated into Arabic and broadcast into Iraq. They clearly want Iraq to get the message that the United States is prepared to go to war with or without allies and hope, they assume, that someone in Iraq will take the decision out of the United States' hands.
So as we approach the deadline and the -- and the State of the Union, it is a very consequential time, you know, big news on all fronts.
ZAHN: We're looking forward to having you be part of our coverage on Monday as we will start covering the proceedings at the U.N. live at about 9:30 in the morning.
Travel well, Jeff, enjoy the weather, even though it's a little colder than usual there.
GREENFIELD: Thank 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 24, 2003 - 09:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Monday, of course, the deadline for the report by the U.N. inspectors. Tuesday, the president gives his State of the Union Address. And it seems to some observers that the likelihood of war, as well as opposition to it, are growing by the day.
Let's check in with senior analyst Jeff Greenfield. We are so jealous. He joins us this morning from Palm Beach, Florida.
Good morning, Jeff. I guess the question I have for you this morning, it seems quite obvious that the administration is redoubling its sales effort, will it work?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Yes. I should tell you it's record cold down here, too, so don't be too jealous.
But you're quite right, Paula, it's clear there's a multi-front effort by the administration to resolve a series of doubts. If we just look at the last couple of days, we have Secretary of State Powell on the Jim Lehrer "NewsHour" saying look, despite what's going on in some parts of Europe, the U.S. will not be going it alone.
Let's listen to Secretary of State Powell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are those who feel that if the inspectors just had more time they would find everything. We have a view, and I think others have a view quite similar to ours, that says in the absence of cooperation, the inspectors will not find everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now you also had, as you mentioned, Paula, Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz saying that this whole idea of talking to Iraqi scientists is silly. There's no way they're going to provide an accurate picture.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: Today we know from multiple sources that Saddam has ordered that any scientist who cooperates during interviews will be killed, as well as their families. Furthermore, we know that scientists are being tutored on what to say to the U.N. inspectors and that Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as scientists to be interviewed by the inspectors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now in "The New York Times" on the op-ed page, we had National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice casting doubt on Iraq's good faith. She's hardly the only one. What she said, and let's read the quote, "by both its actions and its inactions," she wrote, "Iraq is proving not that it is a nation bent on disarmament, but that it is a nation with something to hide. Iraq is still treating inspections as a game. It should know time is running out" -- unquote. So you can see where they're -- where they're headed -- Paula.
ZAHN: Yes, I was actually in attendance at Mr. Wolfowitz's speech yesterday, and the time is running out phrase is a phrase he uttered a number of times as well. So does this reflect uneasiness on the administration's part, particularly as we move ahead to Monday's very important deadline?
GREENFIELD: I think you have to talk about the four audiences that it's appealing to. In the United States, clearly there's been an increase in doubt. We saw that "Wall Street Journal"-NBC News poll showing that by almost two to one Americans want to give the inspectors more time rather than rushing to war. And by an even bigger margin, 63 to 29 percent, they want the U.S. to go to war only with United Nations' backing, not unilaterally.
The second audience is Europe. We've talked about, you've talked about France and Germany, their leaders standing up and saying we're not going to be part of this world. That led Donald Rumsfeld, as we just heard, to say well they're the old Europe and he cites Italy and Spain, among other European countries.
Now the third audience, which is really interesting, are the neighbors of Iraq. And here I think the administration can point to some success. Our publication, "TIME" magazine, and we're all part of the same company, has an interesting map this week showing that among many of the countries surrounding Iraq, the United States has gotten a kind of series of approvals, including from countries like Syria and Iraq for at least limited assistance, air space for flyovers, bases from which to launch attacks.
And the fourth and maybe the most critical audience is Iraq itself. It was very interesting that just a couple of days ago the Defense Department said its daily briefings that we carry on CNN are going to be translated into Arabic and broadcast into Iraq. They clearly want Iraq to get the message that the United States is prepared to go to war with or without allies and hope, they assume, that someone in Iraq will take the decision out of the United States' hands.
So as we approach the deadline and the -- and the State of the Union, it is a very consequential time, you know, big news on all fronts.
ZAHN: We're looking forward to having you be part of our coverage on Monday as we will start covering the proceedings at the U.N. live at about 9:30 in the morning.
Travel well, Jeff, enjoy the weather, even though it's a little colder than usual there.
GREENFIELD: Thank 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
