Interview on CBS's Early Show with Harry Smith

(7:05 a.m. EST)

MR. SMITH: Mr. Armitage, Mr. Secretary, good morning to you.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Good morning, Mr. Smith.

MR. SMITH: Good to see you. The CIA now is interrogating Saddam Hussein. Is there any news getting back to you at the State Department about what he's saying or what he's not saying?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, there's no news I want to share, that's for sure.

MR. SMITH: Well, the New York Post this morning is reporting that he's told interrogators that Iraq never surrendered, and that if an election were held today he'd be reelected.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: I suspect there's a lot of speculation in all the press, but it's been my experience surrounding Saddam Hussein in the last several days that those who know don't speculate, and those who speculate don't know.

MR. SMITH: All right. The United States Government is offering free air fair to nonessential Embassy personnel in Saudi Arabia, encouraging them to leave. Why?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: We've seen an increased threat level to Western and American interests in Saudi Arabia particularly, so we offer this for diplomats' families, et cetera. We've done this before. We'll keep this status for about 30 days, and then we'll review it.

MR. SMITH: Are all Americans in Saudi Arabia in danger?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, Western interests, and generally we have warned all American citizens that there are these problems, there are these potential dangers. So I think the short answer is yes, but proper precautions can be taken and should be taken, and you ought to be all right.

MR. SMITH: Would we be right to conclude that the Saudis are doing an inadequate job of controlling terrorists within their own borders?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Since the May bombing and the second bombing in November, the Saudis have been going after these terrorists and trying to tear them out, root and branch, and in the process they've also lost several of their policemen and SWAT members. I think they are really going after it. The problem is that there are many cells and it takes a while to dig them out. But the Government of Saudi Arabia has been terrific, particularly since May 12th and their Riyadh bombing.

MR. SMITH: Former Secretary of State Jim Baker has been in Europe trying to get some debt relief from the Europeans over there. Apparently, he's had some success. The larger Iraqi debt, apparently, is in the Middle East. Any relief forthcoming from there?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I suspect eventually there will be. Right now, we're concentrating on our European friends. And as you suggested in the lead-in, it appears that some in Europe who had opposed our going to war want to use this occasion to sort of put things right, and we certainly want to put the neuralgia of the past behind us, and Mr. Baker has really harvested it well.

MR. SMITH: Can you foresee a day when a multinational force -- NATO, whatever -- would be on patrol in Iraq?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Gosh, I'd sure like that. And one would say that with 60 countries participating and a great number, a lesser number but still a large number, 20-odd countries with troops on the ground, we're heading in that direction.

MR. SMITH: All right. Today in Iraq, two assassinations. Shiites attacking Sunni and vice versa, carrying on a trend that began, actually, several weeks ago now. The U.S. has gambled that these folks can live together in peace. Do you foresee that happening in the near future?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I suspect violence will continue for some time, and the President has told this to the nation and we've certainly discussed this with all of our partners.

You're right, the specter of communal violence and religious violence is there, particularly now free from the fear of Saddam Hussein. But Ambassador Bremer and his colleagues and the Coalition Provisional Authority are working rigorously to try to bring the Sunnis in to the governance and economic life of Iraq in an appropriate way.

MR. SMITH: All right, we've got to go.
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