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CNN Saturday Morning News

Iraq Begins Destroying Al Samoud 2 Missiles

Aired March 01, 2003 - 08:00   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: Iraq is back in the world spotlight again today. A short time ago at a military complex north of Baghdad, Iraq began destroying Al Samoud 2 missiles. We'll have a live report from Rym Brahimi in Baghdad and Richard Roth at the United Nations, whose chief inspector -- where the chief inspector ordered the Al Samouds destroyed. Then, our Suzanne Malveaux has White House reaction to these latest developments.
But we will begin in Baghdad, where Iraq appears to be responding to a critical U.N. disarmament order.

Rym Brahimi joins us now with the latest -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, that destruction process of the Al Samoud 2 missile is, indeed, under way from what we understand from U.N. officials. Now, that destruction process is taking place at a site outside of the Iraqi capital, about 15 kilometers north, about a 25 minute drive north of Baghdad. It's a military site. There's been quite a lot of activity around that site. A lot of trucks were seen moving around, some of them carrying what appeared to be missile launchers. A lot of them moving around and also some soldiers seemed to be coming out of those barracks. They appear to be new recruits.

Now, that destruction process of the Al Samoud 2 missile comes after technical talks were held early this morning in Baghdad between U.N. and Iraqi officials. The aim of those talks was to discuss the way in which they were going to destroy that Al Samoud missile. And one of the ways being discussed, from what we understand, was crushing the missiles.

But, of course, what has been asked of Iraq is not only to destroy the missiles, but also their components, a lot of the engines and the software that was designed, that is used to design those missiles. And we understand that tomorrow at another site, well, some of these casting chambers used for the missiles are going to be destroyed, as well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad this morning.

Thank you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, ordered Iraq to begin the destruction of the missiles today. Earlier, Blix turned in this report to the Security Council about Iraq's documentation of its weapons destruction. He said, and I quote, "The declaration of December 7 has not been found to provide new evidence or data that may help to resolve outstanding disarmament issues.

Let's go live now to CNN United Nations correspondent Richard Roth -- Richard, what's the latest?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest, the Hans Blix latest report is in the hands of Security Council members. You read from one line. And some of this already gets quickly outdated in a way that December 7 declaration, that was the 12,000 pages Iraq filed late last year and Blix is saying that that wasn't enough, but that's been known.

His quarter update for the last three months superseding the massive filing says, again, as we've been reporting, that the results in terms of disarmament have been very limited so far and that it's hard to understand why some of the measures now being taken by Iraq -- this is prior to the Al Samoud destruction, if that is, indeed, taking place -- why it couldn't have been initiated earlier if it had been taken earlier "they might have borne fruit by now."

Hans Blix is watching, presumably from home, what happens in and around Baghdad today regarding the Al Samoud missiles. He made it clear that he was hoping something would happen. He said on Friday it would be in Iraq's best interests and it would be a significant disarmament step.

If it is, if those missiles don't have warheads with them, though, these are not weapons of mass destruction per se.

As for the United Nations itself, the Security Council has no talks scheduled for Monday. A lot of the discussions on the resolution that's being tussled over by the big powers is being discussed over the phone or in person by representatives of governments outside of New York, outside of the U.N.

What about damage to the United Nations system? A lot of critics say if the U.S. goes militarily alone outside of the Security Council framework, it could do great damage to the U.N. Also worried about that, Canada's ambassador, Paul Heinbecker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL HEINBECKER, CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: If the Council is heading into deadlock and if there are people on both sides who see, as we see, and believe as we believe, that this is highly undesirable, that this is a very dangerous thing, that we're going to need the U.N. to be effective in the future, we're going to need the U.N. to be effective on terrorism, we're going to need the U.N. to be effective on North Korea and on any, and on other unknown crises which are certain to come, if we're going to need an effective U.N., then we ought to be very careful about causing it damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Heinbecker of Canada appearing on CNN's "Diplomatic License" program.

Hans Blix is expected to deliver an oral report with an update on the Al Samoud missiles coming up next week late in the weekend, probably -- Anderson.

COOPER: Richard, I want to talk about the Russia possibly vetoing any new resolution. What would happen if Russia did veto it?

ROTH: If Russia, Russia would probably never get to veto it because the U.S. would presumably withdraw its proposed resolution facing that veto threat. However, Russia and France are still talking tough about vetoing. The U.S. may, indeed, want to show that these countries oppose disarmament efforts in Iraq and they may let it happen.

It's still, as the U.S. ambassador said, going to be an interesting week ahead.

COOPER: It certainly will.

Richard Roth, thanks very much.

In Ankara, the Turkish parliament is in debate on allowing U.S. troops to deploy there for a war on Iraq. The U.S. envisions 60,000 troops in Turkey to launch a northern front against Iraq. While the debate continues, 40 U.S. transport ships filled with military equipment sit idle off the Turkish coast, waiting to unload.

Outside the parliament building in Ankara, here's what's happening. Hundreds of Turks holding "No War" banners gathered to protest a possible war in Iraq. Polls show that 90 percent of Turks oppose war.

Elsewhere, thousands turned out for anti-war demonstrations in Bahrain, Egypt, as well as in Yemen, burning American flags and effigies of President Bush.

COLLINS: So, how is today's news being received in Washington?

Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from Washington with the very latest -- hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

President Bush is at Camp David for the weekend. It is really a critical week for him, really a countdown to a potential war. Administration officials this morning are simply dismissing Iraq's destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles simply as deception, as more games. White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said that this is exactly what the president had expected, that they would go ahead and destroy these, at least some of these missiles. This is something that Saddam Hussein did more than a decade ago.

Why is this not acceptable to the White House? Because they say it does not come close to completely disarming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Total disarmament is total disarmament is total disarmament. It's not a piece of disarmament. As I said the other day, that if somebody takes one bullet out of the chamber of a gun while they have six other bullets in the gun, they haven't disarmed. They've merely put one bullet aside where they still have five that can kill you.

That's the analogy here that is at play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But, of course, as you know, this complicates matters for the United States to win a second resolution with the U.N. Security Council. It is fair to say administration officials are less confident this week than they were two weeks ago on actually getting that kind of support. They're looking at possible vetoes from France, now even Russia, but also administration officials are telling us that the president is even more resolved that he may have to do it without them -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Suzanne, what does Saddam Hussein need to do to avert a war at this point?

MALVEAUX: You know, it's a very good question because the White House says either he gets out of town, he leaves Iraq or either he completely disarms. And what does that mean? Well, Fleischer gives an example. He says Saddam Hussein has to come up with an -- and I'm telling the example -- 26,000 liters of anthrax, one and a half tons of nerve agent. All of these things he has to come up with that he hasn't accounted for and prove that he has destroyed them.

Short of that, short of Saddam Hussein presenting this to the U.N. Security Council, there is no way that he can show that he's completely disarmed.

COLLINS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for the update.

And coming up later tonight on CNN, a special CNN Present. Sheila MacVicar travels to the Arab world to talk with the people most affected by the conflict with Iraq. "Showdown Iraq: On The Brink," that's tonight at 8:00.

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 March 1, 2003 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq is back in the world spotlight again today. A short time ago at a military complex north of Baghdad, Iraq began destroying Al Samoud 2 missiles. We'll have a live report from Rym Brahimi in Baghdad and Richard Roth at the United Nations, whose chief inspector -- where the chief inspector ordered the Al Samouds destroyed. Then, our Suzanne Malveaux has White House reaction to these latest developments.
But we will begin in Baghdad, where Iraq appears to be responding to a critical U.N. disarmament order.

Rym Brahimi joins us now with the latest -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, that destruction process of the Al Samoud 2 missile is, indeed, under way from what we understand from U.N. officials. Now, that destruction process is taking place at a site outside of the Iraqi capital, about 15 kilometers north, about a 25 minute drive north of Baghdad. It's a military site. There's been quite a lot of activity around that site. A lot of trucks were seen moving around, some of them carrying what appeared to be missile launchers. A lot of them moving around and also some soldiers seemed to be coming out of those barracks. They appear to be new recruits.

Now, that destruction process of the Al Samoud 2 missile comes after technical talks were held early this morning in Baghdad between U.N. and Iraqi officials. The aim of those talks was to discuss the way in which they were going to destroy that Al Samoud missile. And one of the ways being discussed, from what we understand, was crushing the missiles.

But, of course, what has been asked of Iraq is not only to destroy the missiles, but also their components, a lot of the engines and the software that was designed, that is used to design those missiles. And we understand that tomorrow at another site, well, some of these casting chambers used for the missiles are going to be destroyed, as well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad this morning.

Thank you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, ordered Iraq to begin the destruction of the missiles today. Earlier, Blix turned in this report to the Security Council about Iraq's documentation of its weapons destruction. He said, and I quote, "The declaration of December 7 has not been found to provide new evidence or data that may help to resolve outstanding disarmament issues.

Let's go live now to CNN United Nations correspondent Richard Roth -- Richard, what's the latest?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest, the Hans Blix latest report is in the hands of Security Council members. You read from one line. And some of this already gets quickly outdated in a way that December 7 declaration, that was the 12,000 pages Iraq filed late last year and Blix is saying that that wasn't enough, but that's been known.

His quarter update for the last three months superseding the massive filing says, again, as we've been reporting, that the results in terms of disarmament have been very limited so far and that it's hard to understand why some of the measures now being taken by Iraq -- this is prior to the Al Samoud destruction, if that is, indeed, taking place -- why it couldn't have been initiated earlier if it had been taken earlier "they might have borne fruit by now."

Hans Blix is watching, presumably from home, what happens in and around Baghdad today regarding the Al Samoud missiles. He made it clear that he was hoping something would happen. He said on Friday it would be in Iraq's best interests and it would be a significant disarmament step.

If it is, if those missiles don't have warheads with them, though, these are not weapons of mass destruction per se.

As for the United Nations itself, the Security Council has no talks scheduled for Monday. A lot of the discussions on the resolution that's being tussled over by the big powers is being discussed over the phone or in person by representatives of governments outside of New York, outside of the U.N.

What about damage to the United Nations system? A lot of critics say if the U.S. goes militarily alone outside of the Security Council framework, it could do great damage to the U.N. Also worried about that, Canada's ambassador, Paul Heinbecker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL HEINBECKER, CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: If the Council is heading into deadlock and if there are people on both sides who see, as we see, and believe as we believe, that this is highly undesirable, that this is a very dangerous thing, that we're going to need the U.N. to be effective in the future, we're going to need the U.N. to be effective on terrorism, we're going to need the U.N. to be effective on North Korea and on any, and on other unknown crises which are certain to come, if we're going to need an effective U.N., then we ought to be very careful about causing it damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Heinbecker of Canada appearing on CNN's "Diplomatic License" program.

Hans Blix is expected to deliver an oral report with an update on the Al Samoud missiles coming up next week late in the weekend, probably -- Anderson.

COOPER: Richard, I want to talk about the Russia possibly vetoing any new resolution. What would happen if Russia did veto it?

ROTH: If Russia, Russia would probably never get to veto it because the U.S. would presumably withdraw its proposed resolution facing that veto threat. However, Russia and France are still talking tough about vetoing. The U.S. may, indeed, want to show that these countries oppose disarmament efforts in Iraq and they may let it happen.

It's still, as the U.S. ambassador said, going to be an interesting week ahead.

COOPER: It certainly will.

Richard Roth, thanks very much.

In Ankara, the Turkish parliament is in debate on allowing U.S. troops to deploy there for a war on Iraq. The U.S. envisions 60,000 troops in Turkey to launch a northern front against Iraq. While the debate continues, 40 U.S. transport ships filled with military equipment sit idle off the Turkish coast, waiting to unload.

Outside the parliament building in Ankara, here's what's happening. Hundreds of Turks holding "No War" banners gathered to protest a possible war in Iraq. Polls show that 90 percent of Turks oppose war.

Elsewhere, thousands turned out for anti-war demonstrations in Bahrain, Egypt, as well as in Yemen, burning American flags and effigies of President Bush.

COLLINS: So, how is today's news being received in Washington?

Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from Washington with the very latest -- hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

President Bush is at Camp David for the weekend. It is really a critical week for him, really a countdown to a potential war. Administration officials this morning are simply dismissing Iraq's destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles simply as deception, as more games. White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said that this is exactly what the president had expected, that they would go ahead and destroy these, at least some of these missiles. This is something that Saddam Hussein did more than a decade ago.

Why is this not acceptable to the White House? Because they say it does not come close to completely disarming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Total disarmament is total disarmament is total disarmament. It's not a piece of disarmament. As I said the other day, that if somebody takes one bullet out of the chamber of a gun while they have six other bullets in the gun, they haven't disarmed. They've merely put one bullet aside where they still have five that can kill you.

That's the analogy here that is at play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But, of course, as you know, this complicates matters for the United States to win a second resolution with the U.N. Security Council. It is fair to say administration officials are less confident this week than they were two weeks ago on actually getting that kind of support. They're looking at possible vetoes from France, now even Russia, but also administration officials are telling us that the president is even more resolved that he may have to do it without them -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Suzanne, what does Saddam Hussein need to do to avert a war at this point?

MALVEAUX: You know, it's a very good question because the White House says either he gets out of town, he leaves Iraq or either he completely disarms. And what does that mean? Well, Fleischer gives an example. He says Saddam Hussein has to come up with an -- and I'm telling the example -- 26,000 liters of anthrax, one and a half tons of nerve agent. All of these things he has to come up with that he hasn't accounted for and prove that he has destroyed them.

Short of that, short of Saddam Hussein presenting this to the U.N. Security Council, there is no way that he can show that he's completely disarmed.

COLLINS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you for the update.

And coming up later tonight on CNN, a special CNN Present. Sheila MacVicar travels to the Arab world to talk with the people most affected by the conflict with Iraq. "Showdown Iraq: On The Brink," that's tonight at 8:00.

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