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American Morning

Interview with Senator Saxby Chambliss

Aired June 09, 2003 - 07:17   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: On the political talk show circuit yesterday, two advisors to President Bush spoke with one voice denying that information about Iraq having banned weapons was exaggerated in order to justify the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: There is now a lot of revisionism that says there was disagreement on this data point, or disagreement on that data point, but the overwhelming assessment of the intelligence community, the director of Central Intelligence has a disciplined process which he runs. It's called a National Intelligence Estimate. And the overwhelming bulk of the evidence in there, not about a data point here or a data point there, but about what Saddam Hussein was doing was that he had weapons of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, despite those assertions, there are calls in Congress for investigations about the accuracy of the administration's prewar intelligence information.

Our guest in Washington, Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Senator, good morning. Thanks for being with us on this Monday morning.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Do you think it's time for the Senate to hold investigations into exactly what the information was about weapons of mass destruction?

CHAMBLISS: Daryn, I think it's very premature for that. You know, the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee have an obligation to do oversight on a continuing basis. And we've been doing that for months and months with respect to the issue involving weapons of mass destruction and the other reasons that were outlined for going into Iraq.

And, you know, just because we've not found that cache of weapons some people are getting excited about it.

(CROSSTALK) KAGAN: Yes, but, Senator, you minimize that point, but clearly something is not adding up as the administration had expected before the war. Will you at least acknowledge that?

CHAMBLISS: Well, there are several things you have to remember. First of all, there are over 1,100 sites that have been identified as potential storage and manufacturing locations for weapons of mass destruction. We've only checked about 20 percent of those particular sites. We haven't gotten our hands on all of the people in Saddam Hussein's regime that were responsible for manufacturing and distribution of those weapons, so there are any number of reasons why it's just premature at this point in time.

The one thing that I think all of us agreed on going into the conflict with Iraq was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass construction. There was never any dispute about that early on. And that evidence will bear itself out in the long term.

KAGAN: Well, there were voices out there, Senator, who were voicing that. But to get to this point, it sounds to me like you're saying timing, like, the administration needs more time.

CHAMBLISS: Well, it's just a fact of the matter that you're not going to find these weapons in short order, because Saddam Hussein was a master at disguise, he was a master at distortion. He's made a living off of surviving by hiding himself. So, he has hidden these weapons somewhere, and eventually they're going to be found.

KAGAN: Is that argument somewhat hypocritical, sir? Just because if you go back to March, (AUDIO GAP) who were asking for more time, talking about the difficulty of the situation, and the White House saying, sorry, time is up.

CHAMBLISS: I think the difference there was that the weapons inspectors were making no progress whatsoever, and we have made progress. We have found the mobile labs, which are a clear indication that weapons of mass destruction were being manufactured. And, you know, we're going to find them under the right circumstances with the right people giving us the information.

But there are other issues that we're working on with respect to Iraq right now also. You have to remember that we've got to restore total and complete order. We've got troops that are being shot at constantly. And we've got to bring Baghdad, as well as every other city in Iraq, under control, at the time we're continuing to look for those weapons of mass destruction.

KAGAN: There is a lot of work to do.

I want to bring up a different restoration issue, and that's the restoration of U.S. credibility, both here at home and abroad. Do you think if today the president came out and tried to sell the argument that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iran, or sell the argument that the United States had to go to war with Korea, that would be a tougher argument to make just because the evidence has not panned out inside of Iraq? CHAMBLISS: Well, the president doesn't have to restore anything. Saddam Hussein has openly admitted to the world that he had weapons of mass destruction. He used those weapons to kill his own people. We know that he had them. Resolution 1441 simply said you need to destroy those weapons and you need to tell us how you destroyed them.

So, there is no question but what he had them. So, I don't see restoring credibility as an issue the president has to deal with.

KAGAN: Senator Chambliss, thank you for your time this morning -- appreciate it.

CHAMBLISS: Thank you, 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 June 9, 2003 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: On the political talk show circuit yesterday, two advisors to President Bush spoke with one voice denying that information about Iraq having banned weapons was exaggerated in order to justify the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: There is now a lot of revisionism that says there was disagreement on this data point, or disagreement on that data point, but the overwhelming assessment of the intelligence community, the director of Central Intelligence has a disciplined process which he runs. It's called a National Intelligence Estimate. And the overwhelming bulk of the evidence in there, not about a data point here or a data point there, but about what Saddam Hussein was doing was that he had weapons of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, despite those assertions, there are calls in Congress for investigations about the accuracy of the administration's prewar intelligence information.

Our guest in Washington, Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Senator, good morning. Thanks for being with us on this Monday morning.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Do you think it's time for the Senate to hold investigations into exactly what the information was about weapons of mass destruction?

CHAMBLISS: Daryn, I think it's very premature for that. You know, the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee have an obligation to do oversight on a continuing basis. And we've been doing that for months and months with respect to the issue involving weapons of mass destruction and the other reasons that were outlined for going into Iraq.

And, you know, just because we've not found that cache of weapons some people are getting excited about it.

(CROSSTALK) KAGAN: Yes, but, Senator, you minimize that point, but clearly something is not adding up as the administration had expected before the war. Will you at least acknowledge that?

CHAMBLISS: Well, there are several things you have to remember. First of all, there are over 1,100 sites that have been identified as potential storage and manufacturing locations for weapons of mass destruction. We've only checked about 20 percent of those particular sites. We haven't gotten our hands on all of the people in Saddam Hussein's regime that were responsible for manufacturing and distribution of those weapons, so there are any number of reasons why it's just premature at this point in time.

The one thing that I think all of us agreed on going into the conflict with Iraq was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass construction. There was never any dispute about that early on. And that evidence will bear itself out in the long term.

KAGAN: Well, there were voices out there, Senator, who were voicing that. But to get to this point, it sounds to me like you're saying timing, like, the administration needs more time.

CHAMBLISS: Well, it's just a fact of the matter that you're not going to find these weapons in short order, because Saddam Hussein was a master at disguise, he was a master at distortion. He's made a living off of surviving by hiding himself. So, he has hidden these weapons somewhere, and eventually they're going to be found.

KAGAN: Is that argument somewhat hypocritical, sir? Just because if you go back to March, (AUDIO GAP) who were asking for more time, talking about the difficulty of the situation, and the White House saying, sorry, time is up.

CHAMBLISS: I think the difference there was that the weapons inspectors were making no progress whatsoever, and we have made progress. We have found the mobile labs, which are a clear indication that weapons of mass destruction were being manufactured. And, you know, we're going to find them under the right circumstances with the right people giving us the information.

But there are other issues that we're working on with respect to Iraq right now also. You have to remember that we've got to restore total and complete order. We've got troops that are being shot at constantly. And we've got to bring Baghdad, as well as every other city in Iraq, under control, at the time we're continuing to look for those weapons of mass destruction.

KAGAN: There is a lot of work to do.

I want to bring up a different restoration issue, and that's the restoration of U.S. credibility, both here at home and abroad. Do you think if today the president came out and tried to sell the argument that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iran, or sell the argument that the United States had to go to war with Korea, that would be a tougher argument to make just because the evidence has not panned out inside of Iraq? CHAMBLISS: Well, the president doesn't have to restore anything. Saddam Hussein has openly admitted to the world that he had weapons of mass destruction. He used those weapons to kill his own people. We know that he had them. Resolution 1441 simply said you need to destroy those weapons and you need to tell us how you destroyed them.

So, there is no question but what he had them. So, I don't see restoring credibility as an issue the president has to deal with.

KAGAN: Senator Chambliss, thank you for your time this morning -- appreciate it.

CHAMBLISS: Thank you, 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.