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American Morning
Who Should Look for Iraq's WMD?
Aired April 17, 2003 - 09:37 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We know to this date nothing has been found, but the Pentagon still convinced there are weapons of mass destruction there, and says the hunt has only begun. U.S. Special Forces yesterday raided the home of the woman known as Dr. Germ. Dr. Rihab Taha headed Iraq's biological weapons program. She was not there, not home at the time, but several boxes of documents were taken from her home in Baghdad.
Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, a CNN military analyst now joins us live at the CNN Center to talk more about the search that is ongoing. Good morning, General. Nice to see you again. You heard what Richard Roth said, the argument about U.N. inspectors going back -- or U.S. inspectors doing the job. What is the preferred method at this point? U.S., or give it to the U.N. to do?
LT. GEN. CLAUDIA KENNEDY, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I have a particular opinion, and that would be that it should be the U.S. and coalition forces, and there is a very capable force being put together right now, the joint task force, led by General Abizaid. They'll be able to do a great job.
HEMMER: Well, listen, General Richard Myers continues to talk about the game of hide and seek. Listen to what he said yesterday about the search right now for WMD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The Iraqi regime has perfected denial and deception. They know how to live in a country with inspectors in that country not finding anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: If they find nothing in a country the size of California, which is a huge task, we can all admit that, what then, though, if nothing is uncovered?
KENNEDY: I just do not believe that nothing will be uncovered. There are large parts of the country that have not been walked across by any sort of U.S. and coalition force. Now, if absolutely nothing is found after very thorough searching for months and months, then my question would be, where was it shipped?
HEMMER: Do you think it was shipped out?
KENNEDY: Well, if it's not in the country, it must have been shipped out because we absolutely know it was there. HEMMER: If it is shipped out, the chances of locating it then are what?
KENNEDY: It depends on how much they move it at the time we're doing our collection. If they are moving it, we'll find it. If they have already gotten it well hidden, it will be a tougher problem, but I believe, if we are very thorough, and if we are very patient and persistent, we'll win this part of the fight.
HEMMER: Quickly, general, your expertise in Army was in terms of intelligence. Right now, on intel on the ground in Iraq, what would be your best advice in locating?
KENNEDY: Well, right now, the best advice I would give is to keep doing what they are doing. They are working off of a prioritized list that consists of information from the U.N. inspectors past inspections, as well as current intelligence reporting, and I think that intelligence reporting is being enabled by technology that helps them really mine for the most specific information available.
HEMMER: Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, thanks for your thoughts there at the CNN Center.
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 April 17, 2003 - 09:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We know to this date nothing has been found, but the Pentagon still convinced there are weapons of mass destruction there, and says the hunt has only begun. U.S. Special Forces yesterday raided the home of the woman known as Dr. Germ. Dr. Rihab Taha headed Iraq's biological weapons program. She was not there, not home at the time, but several boxes of documents were taken from her home in Baghdad.
Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, a CNN military analyst now joins us live at the CNN Center to talk more about the search that is ongoing. Good morning, General. Nice to see you again. You heard what Richard Roth said, the argument about U.N. inspectors going back -- or U.S. inspectors doing the job. What is the preferred method at this point? U.S., or give it to the U.N. to do?
LT. GEN. CLAUDIA KENNEDY, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I have a particular opinion, and that would be that it should be the U.S. and coalition forces, and there is a very capable force being put together right now, the joint task force, led by General Abizaid. They'll be able to do a great job.
HEMMER: Well, listen, General Richard Myers continues to talk about the game of hide and seek. Listen to what he said yesterday about the search right now for WMD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The Iraqi regime has perfected denial and deception. They know how to live in a country with inspectors in that country not finding anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: If they find nothing in a country the size of California, which is a huge task, we can all admit that, what then, though, if nothing is uncovered?
KENNEDY: I just do not believe that nothing will be uncovered. There are large parts of the country that have not been walked across by any sort of U.S. and coalition force. Now, if absolutely nothing is found after very thorough searching for months and months, then my question would be, where was it shipped?
HEMMER: Do you think it was shipped out?
KENNEDY: Well, if it's not in the country, it must have been shipped out because we absolutely know it was there. HEMMER: If it is shipped out, the chances of locating it then are what?
KENNEDY: It depends on how much they move it at the time we're doing our collection. If they are moving it, we'll find it. If they have already gotten it well hidden, it will be a tougher problem, but I believe, if we are very thorough, and if we are very patient and persistent, we'll win this part of the fight.
HEMMER: Quickly, general, your expertise in Army was in terms of intelligence. Right now, on intel on the ground in Iraq, what would be your best advice in locating?
KENNEDY: Well, right now, the best advice I would give is to keep doing what they are doing. They are working off of a prioritized list that consists of information from the U.N. inspectors past inspections, as well as current intelligence reporting, and I think that intelligence reporting is being enabled by technology that helps them really mine for the most specific information available.
HEMMER: Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, thanks for your thoughts there at the CNN Center.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
