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American Morning

Avoidable War?

Aired November 07, 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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Did Iraq make overtures to the U.S. that could have averted war? In the weeks leading up to the U.S. invasion, Saddam Hussein reportedly tried to cut a deal with the White House. A Lebanese-American businessman, Imad Hage, says he was asked to broker that deal, and he says he met separately with Iraqis, once in Baghdad and also a Pentagon advisor in London.
What was Iraq offering? And was that offer legitimate?

I spoke with Mr. Hage and asked him about his role in the alleged secret diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IMAD HAGE, LEBANESE-AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN: The fact of the matter, Bill, is that the Iraqis at some stage, through the director of intelligence, visited me in Beirut, had indicated that the Iraqis would be willing to allow between 1,000 to 2,000 U.S. agents, FBI and/or scientists into Iraq to verify, according to them, the absence of weapons of mass destruction or that they no longer had weapons of mass destruction.

The second point, they offered to turn over Yasin Abdul Rahman (ph), a terrorist involved with the World Trade Center bombing in 1994.

And on the third issue, they offered to hold free and fair elections in Iraq within a year or two.

They kept on asking why they were targeted or they would be targeted, that they didn't wish confrontation with the United States. If it was about oil, they'd be willing to make concessions on oil.

HEMMER: With whom did you talk within the Iraqi inner circle? Did you ever meet with Saddam Hussein?

HAGE: No, no, I never met with Saddam Hussein. I had no intention. As a matter of fact, when I went with my friend, I didn't even know who I was to be meeting. But the gentleman I met was the head of the Iraqi security agencies or the head of Iraqi intelligence. His name was Tahir Jalil Habbush Tikriti (ph).

HEMMER: You obviously believe the Iraqis. Knowing the years of deception...

HAGE: Well, I...

HEMMER: ... and the claims Saddam Hussein has made against inspectors in his own country, why would you consider them credible?

HAGE: Well, let me state some facts. I at no time stated that I do believe the Iraqis. Given the extent of concessions that I thought were substantial, that it was worth for some U.S. official to talk to these people. And I wanted to step aside, and it was up to the administration to decide what to do with this information.

I agree with you that the history of Saddam Hussein is one of deception. Yet, given the fact that the United States' prestige, its image, it's my desire for the U.S. to succeed in this war on terrorism, and Iraq is only one front in the U.S. war on terrorism.

So, I believe that somebody at least should give this a shot, and if these concessions are real, we could avert war, we could avert innocent loss of life.

HEMMER: Are you suggesting through all of this that war could have been averted?

HAGE: I cannot be so sure, Bill, if it could have been averted or not. But at least I thought that this effort should have been given a chance.

HEMMER: Are you saying that the Iraqi officials did not want war?

HAGE: Well, at least the people that talked to me, specifically Dr. Hassan Obedi, you know, I could feel that he was trying desperately to get a deal cut.

HEMMER: Also, there's a report out there that indicates that a meeting was up in Morocco in which the Iraqis did not show, which again goes back to the point that they could not take this offer seriously. As we sit here today, tell us why we should believe you and that story.

HAGE: Well, I'm not asking anybody to believe me. I'm just stating the facts. As I told you, had it not been through reporters and leaks in Washington, this story would have died with me. Unfortunately, I was put in this situation by reporters who got access to memos and documentations and e-mails passed from me to people at the Pentagon and/or Richard Perle. And, as such, they have decided to go public with stories. And when they contacted me, I was given a choice, either you could verify this information or we would with or without you. These articles will be published.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And, again, just to reiterate, the Pentagon insists that the Iraqi officials in Baghdad knew of other channels other than Mr. Hage to contact the White House if indeed it was serious. Mr. Hage does admit that he met with Richard Perle one time in London. When asked whether or not he ever met with anyone from the CIA, he said no.

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 November 7, 2003 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Did Iraq make overtures to the U.S. that could have averted war? In the weeks leading up to the U.S. invasion, Saddam Hussein reportedly tried to cut a deal with the White House. A Lebanese-American businessman, Imad Hage, says he was asked to broker that deal, and he says he met separately with Iraqis, once in Baghdad and also a Pentagon advisor in London.
What was Iraq offering? And was that offer legitimate?

I spoke with Mr. Hage and asked him about his role in the alleged secret diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IMAD HAGE, LEBANESE-AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN: The fact of the matter, Bill, is that the Iraqis at some stage, through the director of intelligence, visited me in Beirut, had indicated that the Iraqis would be willing to allow between 1,000 to 2,000 U.S. agents, FBI and/or scientists into Iraq to verify, according to them, the absence of weapons of mass destruction or that they no longer had weapons of mass destruction.

The second point, they offered to turn over Yasin Abdul Rahman (ph), a terrorist involved with the World Trade Center bombing in 1994.

And on the third issue, they offered to hold free and fair elections in Iraq within a year or two.

They kept on asking why they were targeted or they would be targeted, that they didn't wish confrontation with the United States. If it was about oil, they'd be willing to make concessions on oil.

HEMMER: With whom did you talk within the Iraqi inner circle? Did you ever meet with Saddam Hussein?

HAGE: No, no, I never met with Saddam Hussein. I had no intention. As a matter of fact, when I went with my friend, I didn't even know who I was to be meeting. But the gentleman I met was the head of the Iraqi security agencies or the head of Iraqi intelligence. His name was Tahir Jalil Habbush Tikriti (ph).

HEMMER: You obviously believe the Iraqis. Knowing the years of deception...

HAGE: Well, I...

HEMMER: ... and the claims Saddam Hussein has made against inspectors in his own country, why would you consider them credible?

HAGE: Well, let me state some facts. I at no time stated that I do believe the Iraqis. Given the extent of concessions that I thought were substantial, that it was worth for some U.S. official to talk to these people. And I wanted to step aside, and it was up to the administration to decide what to do with this information.

I agree with you that the history of Saddam Hussein is one of deception. Yet, given the fact that the United States' prestige, its image, it's my desire for the U.S. to succeed in this war on terrorism, and Iraq is only one front in the U.S. war on terrorism.

So, I believe that somebody at least should give this a shot, and if these concessions are real, we could avert war, we could avert innocent loss of life.

HEMMER: Are you suggesting through all of this that war could have been averted?

HAGE: I cannot be so sure, Bill, if it could have been averted or not. But at least I thought that this effort should have been given a chance.

HEMMER: Are you saying that the Iraqi officials did not want war?

HAGE: Well, at least the people that talked to me, specifically Dr. Hassan Obedi, you know, I could feel that he was trying desperately to get a deal cut.

HEMMER: Also, there's a report out there that indicates that a meeting was up in Morocco in which the Iraqis did not show, which again goes back to the point that they could not take this offer seriously. As we sit here today, tell us why we should believe you and that story.

HAGE: Well, I'm not asking anybody to believe me. I'm just stating the facts. As I told you, had it not been through reporters and leaks in Washington, this story would have died with me. Unfortunately, I was put in this situation by reporters who got access to memos and documentations and e-mails passed from me to people at the Pentagon and/or Richard Perle. And, as such, they have decided to go public with stories. And when they contacted me, I was given a choice, either you could verify this information or we would with or without you. These articles will be published.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And, again, just to reiterate, the Pentagon insists that the Iraqi officials in Baghdad knew of other channels other than Mr. Hage to contact the White House if indeed it was serious. Mr. Hage does admit that he met with Richard Perle one time in London. When asked whether or not he ever met with anyone from the CIA, he said no.

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