[Peace-discuss] transcript of Kucinich on "ABC This Week" today

[Jim Buell]

Dennis Kucinich had a lot to say this morning on one of the Sunday news 
shows - "ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos." It's only a five 
minute segment, but he talked fast :). In case anyone's interested, here's 
a transcript I pieced together this afternoon.

peace,
Jim

------------

[Unofficial transcript of Dennis Kucinich interview on ABC's This Week With 
George Stephanopoulos, Sunday, February 09, 2003.]

Stephanopoulos: And joining us now from Cleveland, Ohio is Congressman 
Dennis Kucinich, who is heading to Iowa this week to lay the groundwork for 
a presidential campaign built around an anti-war message. Good morning, 
Congressman.

Kucinich: Good morning.

Stephanopoulos: You heard Secretary Powell. He was relatively dismissive of 
that French-German plan for more robust inspections. He said the time is 
now to act. And he said what we need is change in Baghdad, not change in 
the inspectors. How do you respond to that?

Kucinich: Well, if regime change is the goal here then certainly we're 
headed towards war. However, while the secretary made a compelling case in 
front of the United Nations for Iraq's noncompliance with UN resolutions, 
what he did not say is that Iraq has been connected to 9/11, that Iraq has 
been connected to Al Qaeda's role in 9/11 - our intelligence has not 
substantiated that  or that Iraq played a role in the anthrax attack on our 
country. That anthrax, by the way, came from Ft. Detrick, Maryland. So I 
think the imminent threat that would be needed to approach a threshold of 
war has not yet been established by the Secretary of State or anyone else 
in the administration.

Stephanopoulos: But we know from the secretary and from U.N. reports that 
Iraq has thousands of tons of biological weapons, of anthrax, of VX, of 
Sarin and they haven't turned it over. Doesn't that pose a threat to the 
United States?

Kucinich: It certainly requires more rigorous inspections. What we don't 
know is how useable any of these weapons might be. But the mere presence of 
biological or chemical weapons in a country does not constitute a cause for 
war. In the case of Iraq, based on all the intelligence we have, it 
certainly constitutes a demand for more inspections, for U.N. peacekeepers, 
for increased surveillance. When you think about it, the United States has 
such awesome intelligence capabilities. We're able to produce these 
pictures that Mr. Powell showed at the Un. I mean, we certainly, working 
with the United Nations, should be able to contain Iraq ,and Iraq has been 
contained successfully through inspections in the past.

Stephanopoulos: The UN weapons inspectors said there would have to be 
drastic changes in Iraqi behavior to justify continued inspections. If Hans 
Blix comes back to the United Nations on Friday and says simply, you know, 
the Iraqis haven't changed, they're still blocking us, would you then 
support military action under the U.N. umbrella?

Kucinich: I think what we need to do is to be sure that any action that the 
United Nations takes would not be a result of being dragged into it by the 
United States. I think that we need as a nation to encourage patience 
towards peace and not impatience towards war. So while the United Nations 
certainly has a leading role to play here, and while the United States as 
the most powerful nation in the world can be in a position to guide the 
United Nations. I'm hopeful even at this late date that our nation will be 
pronounced in its efforts to work this out peacefully. And if we are headed 
towards that direction, I think the United Nations will follow.

Stephanopoulos: But if it reaches a dead end, that's the question i'm 
asking, if it reaches a dead end and the U.N. Security Council authorizes 
force, will you support it?

Kucinich: I would say that the only time that I would support the use of 
force is if there were an imminent threat to the United States, if our 
country was in danger. We have the right to defend ourselves. That's a 
foundational principle of this country. But we haven't seen that imminent 
threat yet.

Stephanopoulos: You're still not answering the question though.

Kucinich: I would say, look, I think we have to see what the U.N. has to 
say and we have to see what proof is available that there is an imminent 
threat. If there is an imminent threat to the United States of America, I 
would say I would support whatever it takes to defend this country.

Stephanopoulos: You know, on Friday you responded to the announcement from 
Attorney General Ashcroft on the terror alert, saying that the war rhetoric 
and the massive troop buildup is putting our nation at greater risk. so you 
think actually that the President's actions in recent days have made the 
united states more vulnerable?

Kucinich: Well, when you consider the bellicose rhetoric that comes from 
the administration, when you consider the administration pronouncements 
that they're talking about using nuclear weapons against Iraq, an 8,000 
missile strike against Baghdad, it certainly creates more unsettling 
conditions in the world and thereby makes the united states even more 
vulnerable to the intentions  of terrorists. so I think you have to see a 
direct relationship between the increase in the threshold for terror in 
this country and the administration's foreign policies.

Stephanopoulos: Finally, sir, you are heading to Iowa this weekend. There 
is a lot of talk that you are going to be running for President. What can 
you bring to a presidential campaign that the other Democrats aren't 
bringing to the race?

Kucinich: Well, I haven't announced any intention but i would say this: 
that I think we need to take a fresh look at foreign policy. I think we 
need to look at ourselves as a nation among nations that can work for peace 
in this world without war. I think we need to look at the world as 
interconnected, as interdependent, and that war itself should be archaic. 
We have a right to defend ourselves as a nation but I think our best 
defense is working with the world community to achieve peace through 
containment and deterrence and not through proliferation of war. In fact, 
this foreign policy could lead to our inability to meet the needs of people 
here at home for health care, for jobs, for retirement security, and I 
think that is something at needs to be discussed in the debate nationally, 
and I will be in Iowa to meet with some supporters as I indicate a 
willingness to respond to people I've been hearing from all over the nation 
who do not want to see war, who want to see this matter resolved 
peacefully, and there need to be voices out there who can show that the 
country is capable of new foreign policies, that can enhance our ability to 
not only meet our domestic needs and provide for the security this nation 
but also can enable America to play a leading role in the world, to have a 
new era of peace so our children aren't going to be subject to these kinds 
of terrorist threats in the future.

Stephanopoulos: Congressman, thank you very much.

Kucinich: Thank you.

Stephanopoulos: We'll be right back.