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American Morning
Washington Pressuring Teheran to Do More to Combat Terrorism
Aired May 27, 2003 - 08:25 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Senior White House officials will meet this morning to discuss U.S. policy toward Iran. The Bush administration has accused Iran of harboring al Qaeda members. The Iranian government denies it.
Still, Washington is pressuring Teheran to do more to combat terrorism, an opinion being echoed on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PORTER GOSS (R-FL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The president of the United States has declared that we are going to deal across- the-board with the war on terror wherever it is. There is ample indication that part of the war on terror problem exists in Iran. There are a number of options of how to deal with that, but it is clear we're going to deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So, should the U.S. try to bring about a regime change in Iran?
With us to debate that issue this morning from Washington, Victor Kamber of The Kamber Group, and Cliff May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Good morning to you both and thanks for being here.
VICTOR KAMBER, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning.
CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR The DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning.
COLLINS: Cliff, I'd like to start with you.
Should the Bush administration pursue regime change in Iraq?
MAY: It's certainly something to consider, something to look at, something to think about how that might be brought about. Iran, since 1979 -- I was there at the time the Ayatollah Khomeini arrived there and took over and it was the first jihadist state, shouting "Death To America!" It's been a sponsor of terrorism. We know now that it's developing nuclear weapons as well as long range missiles. It's part of Bush's axis of evil and it's a very big problem.
Now, that doesn't mean that the tanks that are now in Baghdad take a right turn and head for Teheran. It does mean we don't rule out the possibility of military action at some point and that we ratchet up the pressure to get a different kind of regime there.
But, by the way, we have this to say, most of the people in Iran do not like the mullahs who run the place any better than we do. The people in Iran, we know, would -- are the most pro-American people just about anywhere in the Middle East and they would like to see a democratic government come about instead of this terrible regime they now have.
COLLINS: Victor, is the Bush administration on the right track here?
KAMBER: I don't know what track they're on. And I'm not sure they know what track they're on. I mean, you know, a week ago it was North Korea. Two weeks ago it was Libya. A month ago or two months ago it was Iraq. Now it's Iran. You know, I think part of what Cliff said is absolutely correct, which is we do know that the mullahs in power in Iran are not popular. It's -- I happen to feel it's a better regime today than we had under Khomeini. It has become more human rights oriented, more progressive than Khomeini. It doesn't mean it's a good one.
Whether or not -- I mean, what George Bush -- let's understand what he's trying to do. He looked at the Reagan legacy. Reagan brought down communism in his mind. He wants to change the face of the Mideast and he wants to do it at the expense of, I think, Islam, which frankly he's not going to change.
Communism was an economic policy, this is a religious policy, a religion, and he's not going to change what's out there in the world.
Whether or not Iran has nuclear weapons, I mean the one country we know has nuclear weapons we're not doing anything about, and that's North Korea. I'm just not sure what policy George Bush is following. Again, I wish this is where we bring world pressure on Iran. Do we need to deal with terrorism? Absolutely. I'm not sure he knows what's there or not. MAY: You know, Heidi, I hope that Vic is not suggesting that terrorism is somehow part of the Islamic religion.
KAMBER: I'm not at all.
MAY: Because it's not.
KAMBER: No.
MAY: What we are saying, what the president, I believe, is saying to the Islamic world and the Arab world is we want to welcome you into the free world and hope you'll join us. But if not, if instead you are going to promote terrorism and develop weapons of mass destruction, persecute your own people and organize death to America rallies, which we've ignored for years and years, if you are going to choose to be our enemy, we're a dangerous enemy to have.
KAMBER: Yes, but he's saying... MAY: That wasn't always clear.
KAMBER: ... a clear...
COLLINS: Gentlemen, let me interrupt for just one moment, if I may.
Cliff, let me ask you, there was a point that Victor brought up that I'd like to address, if we could. Cliff, what is the difference, then, between North Korea and Iran? MAY: Those are two of the three members of the axis of evil. One member of the axis of evil, Saddam Hussein, is now no longer a problem for us. We have serious concerns about both North Korea and Iran. We haven't dealt with them enough in the -- or properly -- in the past. We have to deal with both of them.
Now, that doesn't mean we deal with all dictators in the same way. Different strokes for different dictators. We have more than just military tools. We have covert, we have economic, we have political, we have diplomatic. We have to use all of those to bring pressure to bear because these two regimes are two of the worst regimes in the world and most antagonistic to the United States...
KAMBER: But the one...
MAY: ... and the most dangerous to our security interests.
KAMBER: But the one we know of we're not dealing with. MAY: No, we are dealing with them.
KAMBER: No, we're not.
MAY: No, no, no -- we're just dealing with them...
COLLINS: Gentlemen, unfortunately I'm going to have to interrupt again. I am so sorry, but we are out of time this morning.
A heated debate, as usual, on this very topic.
Victor Kamber of The Kamber Group this morning and Cliff May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Thank you to you both so much.
KAMBER: 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
Terrorism>
Aired May 27, 2003 - 08:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Senior White House officials will meet this morning to discuss U.S. policy toward Iran. The Bush administration has accused Iran of harboring al Qaeda members. The Iranian government denies it.
Still, Washington is pressuring Teheran to do more to combat terrorism, an opinion being echoed on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PORTER GOSS (R-FL), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The president of the United States has declared that we are going to deal across- the-board with the war on terror wherever it is. There is ample indication that part of the war on terror problem exists in Iran. There are a number of options of how to deal with that, but it is clear we're going to deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So, should the U.S. try to bring about a regime change in Iran?
With us to debate that issue this morning from Washington, Victor Kamber of The Kamber Group, and Cliff May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Good morning to you both and thanks for being here.
VICTOR KAMBER, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning.
CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR The DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning.
COLLINS: Cliff, I'd like to start with you.
Should the Bush administration pursue regime change in Iraq?
MAY: It's certainly something to consider, something to look at, something to think about how that might be brought about. Iran, since 1979 -- I was there at the time the Ayatollah Khomeini arrived there and took over and it was the first jihadist state, shouting "Death To America!" It's been a sponsor of terrorism. We know now that it's developing nuclear weapons as well as long range missiles. It's part of Bush's axis of evil and it's a very big problem.
Now, that doesn't mean that the tanks that are now in Baghdad take a right turn and head for Teheran. It does mean we don't rule out the possibility of military action at some point and that we ratchet up the pressure to get a different kind of regime there.
But, by the way, we have this to say, most of the people in Iran do not like the mullahs who run the place any better than we do. The people in Iran, we know, would -- are the most pro-American people just about anywhere in the Middle East and they would like to see a democratic government come about instead of this terrible regime they now have.
COLLINS: Victor, is the Bush administration on the right track here?
KAMBER: I don't know what track they're on. And I'm not sure they know what track they're on. I mean, you know, a week ago it was North Korea. Two weeks ago it was Libya. A month ago or two months ago it was Iraq. Now it's Iran. You know, I think part of what Cliff said is absolutely correct, which is we do know that the mullahs in power in Iran are not popular. It's -- I happen to feel it's a better regime today than we had under Khomeini. It has become more human rights oriented, more progressive than Khomeini. It doesn't mean it's a good one.
Whether or not -- I mean, what George Bush -- let's understand what he's trying to do. He looked at the Reagan legacy. Reagan brought down communism in his mind. He wants to change the face of the Mideast and he wants to do it at the expense of, I think, Islam, which frankly he's not going to change.
Communism was an economic policy, this is a religious policy, a religion, and he's not going to change what's out there in the world.
Whether or not Iran has nuclear weapons, I mean the one country we know has nuclear weapons we're not doing anything about, and that's North Korea. I'm just not sure what policy George Bush is following. Again, I wish this is where we bring world pressure on Iran. Do we need to deal with terrorism? Absolutely. I'm not sure he knows what's there or not. MAY: You know, Heidi, I hope that Vic is not suggesting that terrorism is somehow part of the Islamic religion.
KAMBER: I'm not at all.
MAY: Because it's not.
KAMBER: No.
MAY: What we are saying, what the president, I believe, is saying to the Islamic world and the Arab world is we want to welcome you into the free world and hope you'll join us. But if not, if instead you are going to promote terrorism and develop weapons of mass destruction, persecute your own people and organize death to America rallies, which we've ignored for years and years, if you are going to choose to be our enemy, we're a dangerous enemy to have.
KAMBER: Yes, but he's saying... MAY: That wasn't always clear.
KAMBER: ... a clear...
COLLINS: Gentlemen, let me interrupt for just one moment, if I may.
Cliff, let me ask you, there was a point that Victor brought up that I'd like to address, if we could. Cliff, what is the difference, then, between North Korea and Iran? MAY: Those are two of the three members of the axis of evil. One member of the axis of evil, Saddam Hussein, is now no longer a problem for us. We have serious concerns about both North Korea and Iran. We haven't dealt with them enough in the -- or properly -- in the past. We have to deal with both of them.
Now, that doesn't mean we deal with all dictators in the same way. Different strokes for different dictators. We have more than just military tools. We have covert, we have economic, we have political, we have diplomatic. We have to use all of those to bring pressure to bear because these two regimes are two of the worst regimes in the world and most antagonistic to the United States...
KAMBER: But the one...
MAY: ... and the most dangerous to our security interests.
KAMBER: But the one we know of we're not dealing with. MAY: No, we are dealing with them.
KAMBER: No, we're not.
MAY: No, no, no -- we're just dealing with them...
COLLINS: Gentlemen, unfortunately I'm going to have to interrupt again. I am so sorry, but we are out of time this morning.
A heated debate, as usual, on this very topic.
Victor Kamber of The Kamber Group this morning and Cliff May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Thank you to you both so much.
KAMBER: 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
Terrorism>
