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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With David Albright

Aired December 08, 2002 - 17:34   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now for another perspective, former weapons inspector David Albright is joining us once again. He heads the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington. Good to see you again, David.
DAVID ALBRIGHT, PRESIDENT ISIS: Hello.

LIN: In -- these documents are expected to arrive in New York in about three hours. What do you think is actually in those documents?

ALBRIGHT: Oh, it appears that there seems to be three parts. One, which is in English, appears to be the old declarations that Iraq filed and -- and -- General Saadi talked in fairly great detail about the nuclear declaration. One hopes that in that declaration they've answered some unanswered questions.

There's another part which traces activities from 1991 through -- or into -- 2002 from what General Saadi said, it appears that there's nothing in there of much significance. It's dual use activities.

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that in there they've put in descriptions of WMD programs or biological weapons activities. We'll have to see.

And then the third part appears to be supporting documentation of various types.

LIN: Now they're supposed to actually document not only what weapons they have but what intellectual capacity and industrial capacity they have so they may not actually have a weapon per se but they would have -- they would have to tell their ability to create that weapon, right?

ALBRIGHT: Well it's a new part of the resolution where they actually have to describe the facilities where they could make such weapons. I mean, it could be as simple as a distillery where you could use the fermenters to make biological...

LIN: That might explain that gin factory that they visited, huh?

ALBRIGHT: Sure -- no -- it could. And so -- but it's not the normal things that you would talk about if you were talking about their weapons of mass destruction programs. I mean, there's concern based on U.S. and British intelligence that they have actually dedicated production sites to make biological and chemical weapons and there's concern that those sites are not listed in this declaration. LIN: All right, Iraq's Chief of Inspections and Monitoring -- he spoke with reporters and he said that in this declaration that there would be, quote, "new elements with regards to site and activities." Do you anticipate that Iraq would actually fess up to some things that it knows United States is fully aware of and has documentation for?

ALBRIGHT: I hope they would at least do that. I mean, there's concern they're going to stick to this line they've done nothing in terms of weapons of mass destruction since 1991. And so one would hope that at least they're going to fess up to things that they anticipate the West knows about them. One would actually hope they would fess up to everything and we could avoid war. But if they -- if they're not even willing to fess up to the things that are known, then I think we're going to have a situation where Iraq is going to have to prove a negative, that they have done nothing and I think hat's going to be very difficult for them under the current circumstances.

LIN: You know, I just wonder -- the United States -- the Bush administration says we have evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, Iraq insists it does not. Is it possible, David, that in some form of the truth both could be right -- that -- that Iraq actually doesn't have the weapons of mass destruction but they either have the easy capacity or that they're being stored outside of the country and Iraq has access to it?

ALBRIGHT: It's possible. There's another possibility which is that at some point they destroyed everything and -- and -- could have been in September of this year and that they can say they don't have anything now. So I mean there are other possibilities and I do think the declaration has to be looked at very carefully before we form any firm conclusions and -- and -- I hope that much of it is made public. It appears that some of the most sensitive parts are actually in the nuclear weapons declaration, which was filed in 1996 and then added to a little bit in '97 and so -- and that's -- not the part that concerns people most, which is what's going on now.

LIN: Do you think if there is no such clear and formal declaration in these documents of weapons of mass destruction or their programs, do you think then that the Bush administration -- that President Bush should come out and tell the public what it is that the United States does, in fact, know about what Iraq has?

ALBRIGHT: I think it -- I think President Bush will have to and you mentioned the American public -- finally we do need to know. I mean, we are being asked to support a war. And I think we need to know even more than the other countries in the Security Council and so I think there'll be tremendous pressure on the Bush administration to present some of this evidence. They'll have to protect their sources and their methods but I do think we need to know what's going on and how good is their evidence.

LIN: Lives of young men and women are at stake there now as the U.S. builds up its troop presence in the Persian Gulf. Thank you very much. David Albright.

ALBRIGHT: OK, thank you. LIN: Always good to see 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







Aired December 8, 2002 - 17:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now for another perspective, former weapons inspector David Albright is joining us once again. He heads the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington. Good to see you again, David.
DAVID ALBRIGHT, PRESIDENT ISIS: Hello.

LIN: In -- these documents are expected to arrive in New York in about three hours. What do you think is actually in those documents?

ALBRIGHT: Oh, it appears that there seems to be three parts. One, which is in English, appears to be the old declarations that Iraq filed and -- and -- General Saadi talked in fairly great detail about the nuclear declaration. One hopes that in that declaration they've answered some unanswered questions.

There's another part which traces activities from 1991 through -- or into -- 2002 from what General Saadi said, it appears that there's nothing in there of much significance. It's dual use activities.

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that in there they've put in descriptions of WMD programs or biological weapons activities. We'll have to see.

And then the third part appears to be supporting documentation of various types.

LIN: Now they're supposed to actually document not only what weapons they have but what intellectual capacity and industrial capacity they have so they may not actually have a weapon per se but they would have -- they would have to tell their ability to create that weapon, right?

ALBRIGHT: Well it's a new part of the resolution where they actually have to describe the facilities where they could make such weapons. I mean, it could be as simple as a distillery where you could use the fermenters to make biological...

LIN: That might explain that gin factory that they visited, huh?

ALBRIGHT: Sure -- no -- it could. And so -- but it's not the normal things that you would talk about if you were talking about their weapons of mass destruction programs. I mean, there's concern based on U.S. and British intelligence that they have actually dedicated production sites to make biological and chemical weapons and there's concern that those sites are not listed in this declaration. LIN: All right, Iraq's Chief of Inspections and Monitoring -- he spoke with reporters and he said that in this declaration that there would be, quote, "new elements with regards to site and activities." Do you anticipate that Iraq would actually fess up to some things that it knows United States is fully aware of and has documentation for?

ALBRIGHT: I hope they would at least do that. I mean, there's concern they're going to stick to this line they've done nothing in terms of weapons of mass destruction since 1991. And so one would hope that at least they're going to fess up to things that they anticipate the West knows about them. One would actually hope they would fess up to everything and we could avoid war. But if they -- if they're not even willing to fess up to the things that are known, then I think we're going to have a situation where Iraq is going to have to prove a negative, that they have done nothing and I think hat's going to be very difficult for them under the current circumstances.

LIN: You know, I just wonder -- the United States -- the Bush administration says we have evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, Iraq insists it does not. Is it possible, David, that in some form of the truth both could be right -- that -- that Iraq actually doesn't have the weapons of mass destruction but they either have the easy capacity or that they're being stored outside of the country and Iraq has access to it?

ALBRIGHT: It's possible. There's another possibility which is that at some point they destroyed everything and -- and -- could have been in September of this year and that they can say they don't have anything now. So I mean there are other possibilities and I do think the declaration has to be looked at very carefully before we form any firm conclusions and -- and -- I hope that much of it is made public. It appears that some of the most sensitive parts are actually in the nuclear weapons declaration, which was filed in 1996 and then added to a little bit in '97 and so -- and that's -- not the part that concerns people most, which is what's going on now.

LIN: Do you think if there is no such clear and formal declaration in these documents of weapons of mass destruction or their programs, do you think then that the Bush administration -- that President Bush should come out and tell the public what it is that the United States does, in fact, know about what Iraq has?

ALBRIGHT: I think it -- I think President Bush will have to and you mentioned the American public -- finally we do need to know. I mean, we are being asked to support a war. And I think we need to know even more than the other countries in the Security Council and so I think there'll be tremendous pressure on the Bush administration to present some of this evidence. They'll have to protect their sources and their methods but I do think we need to know what's going on and how good is their evidence.

LIN: Lives of young men and women are at stake there now as the U.S. builds up its troop presence in the Persian Gulf. Thank you very much. David Albright.

ALBRIGHT: OK, thank you. LIN: Always good to see 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