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Are U.N. inspectors in the way of a war?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials are getting their first look at Iraq's massive document, offered to the United Nations by President Saddam Hussein to meet the terms of a resolution demanding that Iraq disclose information about weapons of mass destruction. Officials say it will take days to wade through the 11,807-page document. Will President Bush declare war even if weapons of mass destruction are not detailed in the report? Ken Adelman, former director of U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and currently on the Pentagon's defense policy board, stepped into the "Crossfire" with hosts Robert Novak and Paul Begala on Tuesday to discuss how he thinks the United States would fare in a possible war against Iraq. NOVAK: Ken Adelman, before we get into the inspection question, some months ago on this program, you said a military operation against Iraq would be a cakewalk ... ADELMAN: It's almost a year ago. NOVAK: And I asked you if you still agreed with that some months ago, and you said, yes, you did. And so a few weeks ago I interviewed your friend and colleague, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, from the NATO summit in Prague, and here's the exchange we had. (Video clip begins) NOVAK: Secretary Rumsfeld, your old friend and former colleague, Kenneth Adelman, who is a member of the Defense Policy Board, advisory board, has said on many, many occasions that a military operation against Iraq and Saddam Hussein would be a cakewalk. Do you share that analysis? RUMSFELD: Well, I really don't. I think any time the use of force is a possibility, people have to recognize that it is your last choice, not your first. (Video clip ends) NOVAK: How do you like being slapped down by your old pal? ADELMAN: I like Rumsfeld a lot. I worked for him three times in my life, and I enjoyed every one. I think it is wonderful. His job is very different from my job. My job is a prediction of what I think will happen there. And I told you the reasons why. His job is to make sure that everything is lined up and to make sure it is an operation that is going to be successful if the president says, "Go." So he can't say that, because it sounds very casual and it sounds like, "Oh, my gosh, we can slough off." But the fact is, for the four simple reasons I gave you, I think it will be an operation that we can win and win relatively quickly with little civilian casualties and [that will] change the nature of the Middle East. NOVAK: Ken, I talked to a lot of military officers and do you know how much they detest you saying that? They feel it is... ADELMAN: No, I don't, but thank you for telling me that, Bob. NOVAK: No, I mean it really is embarrassing to them that somebody even associated as a civilian... ADELMAN: It should be very flattering to them, because what I'm saying is the United States military is competent enough and motivated enough to do this job and to do it very, very well. It is a very high flattery to them. In other words, they're going to win, and what they're going to do is liberate Iraq in a way that frees the Iraqi people. That really does eliminate one of the, if not the, biggest threat facing America today. If you were a general, what would you want to live for, Bob? That's the most wonderful thing in the world to do. It's a real mission. BEGALA: Let me ask you about somebody else, not just Donald Rumsfeld on the right, but Tom Daschle on the left spoke today about the inspection regime. You may be surprised as to what he said about our president and how he's doing. Take a look. (Video clip begins) DASCHLE: I think the president is doing it about right. He's firm. He is working in a cooperative way with the United Nations and our allies around the world. I think he's put Saddam Hussein on very clear notice that we expect complete truth. Saddam Hussein has given no indication at this point that he will do anything different than what he's done over the last 10 years. (End of video clip) BEGALA: That's Tom Daschle yesterday on Wolf Blitzer's "Late Edition" program, very graciously gloating that Bush listened to him and not to you. Right? You and the right-wingers wanted to go right in and bomb Baghdad. The Democrats said, "No, let's go to the U.N., let's go to the Congress, let's go on in and inspect," and Bush sided with Daschle instead of you. How does that make you feel? ADELMAN: It doesn't make me feel bad at all. What the president is doing is going through various steps to gain the maximum support for liberating Iraq. I think it's a fine procedure. I think that what it does is comes at the price of delaying things, of complicating things because I think the U.N. inspectors are a big complication for us now. But I'm not going to object to Daschle praising the president. I think it's a wonderful thing. BEGALA: But the undercurrent here, the implied message you're giving me, is that our president is lying when he says... ADELMAN: No, I'm not saying that at all. BEGALA: Let me ask you a question. When he says that inspections can work and he doesn't want to go to war -- maybe I'm naive, I don't support him politically, but I actually believe him. You seem to be saying, "No, look, it's all a charade just to build support for a war." Is that true? ADELMAN: There is no way to realize our objectives and to protect America without eliminating Saddam Hussein. There is just no way. The only way to do that is liberation, is what I would say. BEGALA: He's either naive or he's lying, in your eyes? ADELMAN: No, I wouldn't say either one. I would say he's doing various steps to show that Saddam Hussein has been in power for, what, now, almost 30 years. It's very clear one of the most repressive regimes on earth, one of developing weapons of mass destruction, has a relationship with international terrorists and is a great threat to America.
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