Iraq in the Crosshairs?

This partial transcript of the Fox News Channel broadcast War on Terror: The Hunt for the Killers, November 26, 2001, was provided by the Federal Document Clearing House. Click here to order the complete transcript.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Saddam Hussein agreed to allow inspectors in his country. And in order to prove to the world he's not developing weapons of mass destruction, he ought to let the inspectors back in.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If he does not do that, what will be the consequences?

BUSH: That's up for him — he'll — he'll find out.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: ... thinking right now about taking the war to Iraq? You suggested that on Wednesday, when you said that Afghanistan was just the beginning.

BUSH: I stand by those words. Afghanistan is still just the beginning. If anybody harbors a terrorist, they're a terrorist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DHUE: All right. Pretty clear words from the president.

So are Iraq and Saddam Hussein the next targets in the war against terror? Well, joining me now is attorney and former CIA director under President Bill Clinton James Woolsey.

Hello, Mr. Woolsey. Great to have you here tonight.

JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Good to be with you, Laurie.

DHUE: All right. You have been to Britain twice in the last few months reportedly in search of evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the 911 terror attacks. What can you tell me about your visits to Britain? And are you advising the U.S. government?

WOOLSEY: All I'll say, Laurie, is I'm on four advisory boards. All of these are uncompensated for the federal government, two for defense, one of the Navy, one for the CIA. Some of these I've been on for 20 years. And sometimes they ask me for advice. And when they do, I try to pull facts together and give the best advice I can. And when I was in Britain in late September of this year, I actually paid a courtesy call on the American ambassador and told him exactly what I was doing. So I'll refer any further questions to the Department of State. They know what I was doing.

DHUE: All right. I can tell that's about all I'm going to get out of you about your visits.

WOOLSEY: Exactly.

DHUE: OK. Dick Cheney and Colin Powell have said that they do not believe there is any evidence linking Saddam Hussein to what happened on 911. What do you think?

WOOLSEY: Well, I don't think 911 is the only issue, or 911 and the anthrax. but I must say I think those statements date back some weeks to shortly after September 11. I don't know that they've said that real recently.

But nonetheless, I think the issue is terrorism as a whole. And I think one very important thing the president said today was that for all practical purposes, weapons such as nuclear and biological in the hands of Saddam Hussein are essentially weapons of terror, to terrorize other countries. So I think the issue really is terror against us and others, including developing weapons of mass destruction and including, for example, such things as Saddam's attempt to assassinate former president Bush in the spring of 1993.

Now, as far as 911 and the anthrax goes, I think there are three or four relevant points. We know that in the late '90s and up until recently, there have been a lot of high-level contacts between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government, particularly Iraqi intelligence. We know through the Czechs — and they've said publicly that the lead bomber of September 11, Mohammed Atta, met on at least one occasion, when he traveled to Prague on brief visits, he met with al-Ani, a senior Iraqi intelligence officer who was stationed in Prague.

We know that at Salman Pak, on the southern edge of Baghdad, five different eyewitnesses — three Iraqi defectors and two American U.N. Inspectors — have said — and now there are aerial photographs to show it — a Boeing 707 that was used for training of hijackers, including non-Iraqi hijackers trained very secretly to take over airplanes with knives.

DHUE: Mr. Woolsey, we're running out of time. What I need to ask you is, it sounds like you're establishing a very clear link between Saddam Hussein and terrorism. So then, based on what the president said today, can we assume that the president is getting ready to widen this, to go beyond Afghanistan?

WOOLSEY: I don't know. I think we ought to wait until Afghanistan is successfully concluded. And I rather imagine he will have some planning done and wait to decide. But I think Iraq is very much at the heart of the problems of the Mid East today, and Saddam Hussein's regime, really, in my judgment, needs to be put in the crosshairs.

DHUE: When you and I were talking earlier, you said you think the time is right now to begin to do some serious planning, when it comes to Iraq. What kind of serious planning are you talking about?

WOOLSEY: Planning on how we would use air power, planning on how we would support the Iraqi resistance, which Congress has wanted us to do for the six years, but we haven't done nearly enough of, planning on, for example, whether we could declare no-drive zones, as well as no-fly zones, for Saddam's military vehicles, as well as for his aircraft in the northern and southern parts of the country, planning on what countries, such as Turkey, whom we would really need badly, we might get the assistance of. I think there's a whole range of things we need to get started on.

DHUE: Is there a danger, however, that when and if we ever do decide to attack Iraq, that we will shatter this coalition that we have assembled in the last couple of months, including Turkey?

WOOLSEY: We shouldn't start with the coalition and work backwards to the policy. We ought to start with who has come at us and harmed the United States and then put what we need together in order to get that job done. My experience in a number of different jobs in government in this area has been that when the United States acts decisively and goes to its friends and allies and says, "We're going to do this, and we want you with us," we get a lot better response than if we start with the lowest denominator of a large group of countries and say, "Gee, what do you think we ought to do?"

I think we will have our close friends and allies with us, if we determine we have to do this, and I think they'll be very helpful.

DHUE: Final question. I need a very short answer from you. Can we win a war against Iraq?

WOOLSEY: Absolutely. This man has governed this country with terror for 30 years. He's very vulnerable. He's very unpopular. And there will be cheering in the streets, just as there has been in Afghanistan, if we overthrow him.

DHUE: Former CIA director James Woolsey, thank you, as always, for joining us here on Fox.

WOOLSEY: Good to be with you.

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