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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Ayad Allawi, Iraq’s interim Prime Minister from 2004 to 2005, about pre-war intelligence on Iraq, and his own party’s role in its gathering.

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MARCO WERMAN: Ayad Allawi was Iraq’s interim Prime Minister from 2004 to 2005.  He’s currently a member of the Council of Representatives in Iraq’s Parliament.  Now Mr. Allawi, it’s alleged that the Iraq National Accord, the INA that was your party in 2002 was the source of much of the pre-war information about Iraq.  This includes some of the information, or misinformation as we now know, about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.  For example, the suggestion that Saddam Hussein could launch WMDs in 45 minutes.  Did you or the INA cherry-pick intelligence to help get the results you wanted, the ousting of Saddam Hussein?

AYAD ALLAWI: No, we definitely were following up events in Iraq and were – - a lot of the information out of Iraq when – - by Saddam Hussein and by his regime against the Iraqi’s.  But we were not really the people who were behind the information on the weapons of mass destruction.

MARCO WERMAN: And did you agree with that intelligence?

AYAD ALLAWI: We knew that Saddam was capable of making; he had the means to make weapons of mass destruction.  He did have weapons and he did use weapons of mass destruction.  So we were not against the information.

MARCO WERMAN: And yet military forces that came in, the U.S. coalition forces, could not find those weapons.  So what was ultimately wrong with that information?

AYAD ALLAWI: Well this is a question that should be posed to the forces, the United States and other forces, coalition that came into Iraq.

MARCO WERMAN: Mr. Allawi your term as interim Prime Minister of Iraq covered that very difficult year of May 2004 to April 2005.  Your website says that time is now considered by many Iraqis to be the most productive and promising since Iraq’s liberation from Saddam.  Tell me, it was a violent time, what more could you have done during that period to change the violent situation?

AYAD ALLAWI: I should have accelerated the calling back the military and the police and the intelligence.  I should have accelerated that although I did get back some good numbers back into the Army.  I reformed the Army.  I recreated the Army.  I recreated intelligence.  I recreated the police and I recreated the judiciary, which I think all were, and still are, should be important parts of the civility of the country.  So the thing that I regret most is that I was not really, I should have accelerated this.

MARCO WERMAN: So today you’re still heavily involved in politics.  You’re in a coalition with both Sunni and Shiite politicians, the Iraqi National Movement.  What is the platform of the Iraqi National Movement?

AYAD ALLAWI: We are people who are supportive to this, all secular people, the intelligence, the people across Iraq.  We are proud that we have candidates in each province, whether it’s a Shiite province or a Sunni province.  We are non-sectarian forces.  We are – - Iraqis.  And we want to get an inclusive political process to exclude only terrorists and those who perpetrate crimes against the people here.  And we want, really, to build a state and institutions of the state which is loyal to the country, loyal to the constitution, based on professionalism and efficiency.

MARCO WERMAN: Ayad Allawi, Iraq’s interim Prime Minister from 2004 to 2005.  Thank you for your comments sir.

AYAD ALLAWI: Thank you sir.  Thank you very much.

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