Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=OCTOBER 2, 2002

TYPE=INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

TITLE=DAVID ALBRIGHT / IRAQ WEAPONS

NUMBER=3-365

BYLINE=STEVE BARAGONA

DATELINE=

INTERNET=

/// Editors: This interview is available in Dalet under SOD/English News Now Interviews in the folder for today or yesterday ///

HOST: Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix says his team may begin looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq within weeks. Mr. Blix's team would operate under a 1998 agreement that limits inspectors' access to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces. But the United States wants a new, stricter U-N resolution that would grant the inspectors unlimited access to any site, any time. Former U-N weapons inspector David Albright told V-O-A News Now's Steve Baragona that Mr. Blix and The Director General Of The International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El Baradei, should wait for a new resolution.

MR. ALBRIGHT: The problem with what Blix and El Baradei are doing is they're working under old rules that are not sufficient to conduct adequate inspections. And so it's my own view that they should just stop. The process really has to be centered on the Security Council, and the Security Council has to come up with a new resolution that strengthens the inspections.

MR. BARAGONA: So you're saying the inspection team should not go forward because the inspection rules are not strict enough?

MR. ALBRIGHT: No, the old rules are just not sufficient. And the inspectors have to go everywhere on no notice, or short notice, in Iraq. Otherwise the inspection teams will never develop confidence that there is an absence of secret or undeclared activities. So you have to eliminate all of those restrictions. And so the restrictions on visiting presidential sites has to be lifted.

MR. BARAGONA: If and when inspectors arrive in Iraq, how quickly can they tell what the situation there is?

MR. ALBRIGHT: This again is the responsibility of the Security Council to develop a plan, where the international community can know rather quickly whether Iraq is cooperating and intends to comply. So I think within two weeks after a declaration is submitted you can get a good idea of if Iraq intends to fulfill its obligations.

MR. BARAGONA: So, not long?

MR. ALBRIGHT: I think if the goals are clear, they could go in, in the time it takes to fly to Bahrain and then take a plane into Baghdad. And I think speed matters in this case. I mean, we don't want to know an answer a year from now. And that is Iraq's strategy; they would like to stretch this out as long as possible. They would love it if Blix and his team would come in and say, oh, we need a year to decide.

I mean, the Security Council is ready to act, and so it is important to act now. And also, as the Security Council lost interest in Iraq and lost its desire to really enforce or support its own resolutions, Iraq got the message that it could defy the will of the Security Council without much fear of any serious consequences. And I think my experience, and everyone's experience, in the nineties is don't let this drag on. They do lose interest. They get sidetracked.

MR. BARAGONA: Do you think Iraq will disarm voluntarily, or is removing Saddam Hussein from power the only way?

MR. ALBRIGHT: I think they could comply because they value their survival over these weapons. It may be that these weapons are so fundamental to the regime that the regime cannot give them up, but I think we should make it clear that it can't get away with cheating and will have to make a fundamental choice: Is it going to cooperate and comply or is it going to suffer regime change?

HOST: David Albright is a former U-N weapons inspector. He is currently president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington. He spoke with VOA News Now's Steve Baragona.

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