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CNN Live Sunday
Interview With Paul Wolfowitz
Aired June 01, 2003 - 18:35 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is in South Korea right now. He met with U.S. soldiers stationed near the border with North Korea and he's reassuring Seoul that planned changes in America's military structure will not affect U.S.-South Korean relations.
Now, Wolfowitz emphasized the importance of deterrence against Pyongyang. While in Asia, Wolfowitz met with CNN's Maria Ressa and they talked about Wolfowitz' controversial interview in "Vanity Fair." He says his comments about U.S. reasons for going into Iraq were distorted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You were recently quoted as saying that the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was more of a bureaucratic decision to go in. Do you want to respond to that?
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEP. DEFENSE SECRETARY: No, that's a misquote, in fact I believe the full quote actually you can see on our Web site where the full interview is there.
RESSA: But that along with the intelligence information used by the U.S. and Great Britain, which was later deemed sketchy, questioned the credibility of U.S. motives making the weapons of mass destruction seem like just an excuse to go in.
WOLFOWITZ: I can tell you quite emphatically it was not an excuse. I mean what really changed in our whole perception of this issue was September 11. Before September 11, terrorism was viewed as something ugly but you lived with it. Saddam Hussein was viewed as something ugly but it was something for the Iraqi people to take care of.
After September 11, terrorism looked different. Saddam Hussein who played with terrorists and had weapons of mass destruction looked much more threatening to the United States than just to his own people, and so it changed the calculation entirely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: A press release promoting the "Vanity Fair" article said Wolfowitz was contradicting the Bush administration by saying that weapons of mass destruction had never been the most compelling justification for going to war with Iraq, he in that interview with Maria Ressa denying that. 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 1, 2003 - 18:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is in South Korea right now. He met with U.S. soldiers stationed near the border with North Korea and he's reassuring Seoul that planned changes in America's military structure will not affect U.S.-South Korean relations.
Now, Wolfowitz emphasized the importance of deterrence against Pyongyang. While in Asia, Wolfowitz met with CNN's Maria Ressa and they talked about Wolfowitz' controversial interview in "Vanity Fair." He says his comments about U.S. reasons for going into Iraq were distorted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You were recently quoted as saying that the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was more of a bureaucratic decision to go in. Do you want to respond to that?
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEP. DEFENSE SECRETARY: No, that's a misquote, in fact I believe the full quote actually you can see on our Web site where the full interview is there.
RESSA: But that along with the intelligence information used by the U.S. and Great Britain, which was later deemed sketchy, questioned the credibility of U.S. motives making the weapons of mass destruction seem like just an excuse to go in.
WOLFOWITZ: I can tell you quite emphatically it was not an excuse. I mean what really changed in our whole perception of this issue was September 11. Before September 11, terrorism was viewed as something ugly but you lived with it. Saddam Hussein was viewed as something ugly but it was something for the Iraqi people to take care of.
After September 11, terrorism looked different. Saddam Hussein who played with terrorists and had weapons of mass destruction looked much more threatening to the United States than just to his own people, and so it changed the calculation entirely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: A press release promoting the "Vanity Fair" article said Wolfowitz was contradicting the Bush administration by saying that weapons of mass destruction had never been the most compelling justification for going to war with Iraq, he in that interview with Maria Ressa denying that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
