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American Morning
Showdown Iraq: Back to Baghdad
Aired February 07, 2003 - 07:34 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to get more from Iraq now, Bill, and the U.N.'s top two inspectors are expected to arrive in Baghdad tomorrow. The talks they will hold there could have a crucial effect on the report to the U.N. Security Council just one week from today.
Our Nic Robertson is on the scene in Baghdad.
Nic, what do you know about inspections taking place today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, there are a number of inspections today. We had a special facility with Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate, that's the group that goes out with the U.N. inspectors. Instead today, one team from the NMD here took a large group of journalists to two sites. The reason they took us to these sites, to disprove what Colin Powell had told the countries gathered at the United Nations.
They took us first to a site called al-Rafat (ph). That site was a missile test facility. Colin Powell used a satellite photograph to show a large missile test stand. That indeed was what we could see at that site. Difficult for us not being technical experts to know much about it. Iraqi officials told us that this was just for testing a type of missile that has a short range and is not banned. And they said as well that the reason it looked big was because it was a horizontal test stand.
Now at another site they took us to, Colin Powell had showed a picture from November the 10th when he said there'd been a spike in activity in Iraq where what appeared to be happening was Iraqi officials going to sites, and this was a missile storage facility, and removing ballistic missile components. What we saw today, and we were right -- standing right where the -- right at that site, right indeed where the truck in Colin Powell's satellite photograph was standing.
Iraqi officials telling us, however, that at this site, al- Musaeve (ph), it is a missile storage facility they say. It is -- there was a truck standing there that day. However, what they say is that Colin Powell's intelligence assessment of the satellite photographs was incorrect because the missiles stored there, the missile shown up on the photograph were in fact of a short range.
Again, difficult for us, Daryn, to make a comprehensive analysis. We can only see what we are shown by Iraqi officials on the ground. What we saw today were or what appear to be, at least, short-range missiles there -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Nic Robertson in Baghdad. Nic, thank you so much. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As we await the 14th of February, that's the day Colin Powell...
KAGAN: One week from today.
HEMMER: ... said two days ago when Blix goes back to the U.N. that it will be a very telling point in this conflict.
Thanks, Daryn.
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 February 7, 2003 - 07:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to get more from Iraq now, Bill, and the U.N.'s top two inspectors are expected to arrive in Baghdad tomorrow. The talks they will hold there could have a crucial effect on the report to the U.N. Security Council just one week from today.
Our Nic Robertson is on the scene in Baghdad.
Nic, what do you know about inspections taking place today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, there are a number of inspections today. We had a special facility with Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate, that's the group that goes out with the U.N. inspectors. Instead today, one team from the NMD here took a large group of journalists to two sites. The reason they took us to these sites, to disprove what Colin Powell had told the countries gathered at the United Nations.
They took us first to a site called al-Rafat (ph). That site was a missile test facility. Colin Powell used a satellite photograph to show a large missile test stand. That indeed was what we could see at that site. Difficult for us not being technical experts to know much about it. Iraqi officials told us that this was just for testing a type of missile that has a short range and is not banned. And they said as well that the reason it looked big was because it was a horizontal test stand.
Now at another site they took us to, Colin Powell had showed a picture from November the 10th when he said there'd been a spike in activity in Iraq where what appeared to be happening was Iraqi officials going to sites, and this was a missile storage facility, and removing ballistic missile components. What we saw today, and we were right -- standing right where the -- right at that site, right indeed where the truck in Colin Powell's satellite photograph was standing.
Iraqi officials telling us, however, that at this site, al- Musaeve (ph), it is a missile storage facility they say. It is -- there was a truck standing there that day. However, what they say is that Colin Powell's intelligence assessment of the satellite photographs was incorrect because the missiles stored there, the missile shown up on the photograph were in fact of a short range.
Again, difficult for us, Daryn, to make a comprehensive analysis. We can only see what we are shown by Iraqi officials on the ground. What we saw today were or what appear to be, at least, short-range missiles there -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Nic Robertson in Baghdad. Nic, thank you so much. BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As we await the 14th of February, that's the day Colin Powell...
KAGAN: One week from today.
HEMMER: ... said two days ago when Blix goes back to the U.N. that it will be a very telling point in this conflict.
Thanks, Daryn.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
