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American Morning

Interview With Former Defense Secretary William Cohen

Aired October 07, 2003 - 07:16   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: The Bush administration says the effort to rebuild Iraq is entering what it calls a new phase. And to make that happen, the White House yesterday announced the formation of the Iraqi Stabilization Group, answering to the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, it's common for the national security counsel to coordinate efforts in interagency efforts, and Condi Rice, the national security adviser, is doing just that. And this group formed within the National Security Council is aimed at the coordination of interagency efforts, as well as providing a support group for the Department of Defense and Jerry Bremer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: A follow-up today now. Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, now chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group, is our guest back here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Nice to see you, Mr. Secretary. Good morning to you.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Good morning.

HEMMER: What's going on here, do you think?

COHEN: Well, I think it's an effort to change what appears a camel and to make it into a horse, to streamline a process which has been somewhat confusing and complex. As everyone knows, there has been great tension between the State Department and the Defense Department. The interagency process has not been particularly effective from at least what outsiders can see.

And so, this is an effort to deal with the problem. You have three ways of dealing with it. If you've got a problem, you can either change the subject, change the people or change the organization. Since you can't change the subject in this case and the people that he's got -- Jerry Bremer in particular is really outstanding -- then organizationally, they have to find a way to bring more discipline to the system. And I think that's exactly what's involved here.

HEMMER: From a camel to a horse, I think you're talking about a timeframe here, trying to speed that up. If you look at it in terms of the political side of this, 13 months to an election in the White House, "The Washington Post" quotes a senior administration official today saying this is to crack the whip, frankly, would you agree with all of that?

COHEN: Oh, I think that's clearly the case. The president doesn't want to be confronted next spring or next summer going into the final phases of an election with a situation which appears to be either a dysfunctional failing or simply lingering on in a very difficult way. It would not be a selling point for his administration. I think he realizes since he's made the war on terror to be critical to the success of his administration, than he has to deal with this effectively.

So, I think that he's been caught by the criticism in terms of what's happening on the ground, not feeling that the message is being conveyed in the right way, that there are success stories that have to be told, and we have to have a very multifaceted program in which to get more discipline in the system, execution of the policy and communication of that policy more effectively.

HEMMER: You mentioned the Department of Defense. Is this a shot at Donald Rumsfeld?

COHEN: I think what it is, it's an attempt to resolve conflicts in terms of who has jurisdiction over various facets of this program in a way that make it acceptable to the DOD, the Defense Department and to the State Department. You have the same people involved. Jerry Bremer still reports to Secretary Rumsfeld, but it's also clear that that line of chain of command goes directly now into the White House.

As one would have expected, it should have anyway. But now, it's very clear that that line of command goes right to the White House through Condi Rice to the president.

HEMMER: If you were back in your old position as secretary of defense, would you consider this a usurp of power that you would have at the Pentagon?

COHEN: No, because this is a situation which is really kind of a hybrid. Ordinarily, you would want the State Department to take over any reconstruction effort, as we saw in Bosnia and Kosovo. But the war is not over in Iraq right now. So, it's something of a mixed situation, where we're still involved in a war, as well as trying to reconstruct the country.

So, it's a much more complex situation which I think has led to this kind of confusion, and that's why I think the president is taking the right step in trying to streamline it and discipline the system as much as he can.

HEMMER: Another question on politics. Wesley Clark was NATO commander at the same time you were secretary of defense. He's now running for the White House. There is a lot of talk inside of Washington that there was friction between you and Wesley Clark at the time. Whether that is true or not, do you believe he would make a good president? COHEN: Well, there was friction between General Clark and myself. And frankly, I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on his political aspirations. I made a judgment during the time that he was serving as head of NATO, SACEUR, and I felt that the ax, as such, when it fell spoke for itself.

HEMMER: To be picked up another day. William Cohen, thank you for chatting with us today from Washington.

COHEN: My pleasure.

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 October 7, 2003 - 07:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration says the effort to rebuild Iraq is entering what it calls a new phase. And to make that happen, the White House yesterday announced the formation of the Iraqi Stabilization Group, answering to the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, it's common for the national security counsel to coordinate efforts in interagency efforts, and Condi Rice, the national security adviser, is doing just that. And this group formed within the National Security Council is aimed at the coordination of interagency efforts, as well as providing a support group for the Department of Defense and Jerry Bremer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: A follow-up today now. Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, now chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group, is our guest back here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Nice to see you, Mr. Secretary. Good morning to you.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Good morning.

HEMMER: What's going on here, do you think?

COHEN: Well, I think it's an effort to change what appears a camel and to make it into a horse, to streamline a process which has been somewhat confusing and complex. As everyone knows, there has been great tension between the State Department and the Defense Department. The interagency process has not been particularly effective from at least what outsiders can see.

And so, this is an effort to deal with the problem. You have three ways of dealing with it. If you've got a problem, you can either change the subject, change the people or change the organization. Since you can't change the subject in this case and the people that he's got -- Jerry Bremer in particular is really outstanding -- then organizationally, they have to find a way to bring more discipline to the system. And I think that's exactly what's involved here.

HEMMER: From a camel to a horse, I think you're talking about a timeframe here, trying to speed that up. If you look at it in terms of the political side of this, 13 months to an election in the White House, "The Washington Post" quotes a senior administration official today saying this is to crack the whip, frankly, would you agree with all of that?

COHEN: Oh, I think that's clearly the case. The president doesn't want to be confronted next spring or next summer going into the final phases of an election with a situation which appears to be either a dysfunctional failing or simply lingering on in a very difficult way. It would not be a selling point for his administration. I think he realizes since he's made the war on terror to be critical to the success of his administration, than he has to deal with this effectively.

So, I think that he's been caught by the criticism in terms of what's happening on the ground, not feeling that the message is being conveyed in the right way, that there are success stories that have to be told, and we have to have a very multifaceted program in which to get more discipline in the system, execution of the policy and communication of that policy more effectively.

HEMMER: You mentioned the Department of Defense. Is this a shot at Donald Rumsfeld?

COHEN: I think what it is, it's an attempt to resolve conflicts in terms of who has jurisdiction over various facets of this program in a way that make it acceptable to the DOD, the Defense Department and to the State Department. You have the same people involved. Jerry Bremer still reports to Secretary Rumsfeld, but it's also clear that that line of chain of command goes directly now into the White House.

As one would have expected, it should have anyway. But now, it's very clear that that line of command goes right to the White House through Condi Rice to the president.

HEMMER: If you were back in your old position as secretary of defense, would you consider this a usurp of power that you would have at the Pentagon?

COHEN: No, because this is a situation which is really kind of a hybrid. Ordinarily, you would want the State Department to take over any reconstruction effort, as we saw in Bosnia and Kosovo. But the war is not over in Iraq right now. So, it's something of a mixed situation, where we're still involved in a war, as well as trying to reconstruct the country.

So, it's a much more complex situation which I think has led to this kind of confusion, and that's why I think the president is taking the right step in trying to streamline it and discipline the system as much as he can.

HEMMER: Another question on politics. Wesley Clark was NATO commander at the same time you were secretary of defense. He's now running for the White House. There is a lot of talk inside of Washington that there was friction between you and Wesley Clark at the time. Whether that is true or not, do you believe he would make a good president? COHEN: Well, there was friction between General Clark and myself. And frankly, I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on his political aspirations. I made a judgment during the time that he was serving as head of NATO, SACEUR, and I felt that the ax, as such, when it fell spoke for itself.

HEMMER: To be picked up another day. William Cohen, thank you for chatting with us today from Washington.

COHEN: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.