An American abroad on board

On Sunday 6 December Andrew Marr interviewed US Ambassador to Britain His Excellency Luis Susman.

Please note 'The Andrew Marr Show' must be credited if any part of this transcript is used.

ANDREW MARR:

The long-awaited Copenhagen Summit gets underway tomorrow. The high hopes of a comprehensive deal on climate change have, however, been scaled back. But it looks as if world leaders may at least be able to agree some kind of plan of action, and of course the United States is crucial to that. So when I spoke to the American Ambassador in London Louis Susman yesterday, I began by asking him about President Obama's announcement that he'll go to Copenhagan for the politically sensitive conclusion of the talks.

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

President Obama is committed to the reforms that we need for climate change. He thinks, Andrew, it's not only a social and economic problem, but it's a moral issue to him. And I think he made the decision that he could be more effective in his leadership in the closing stages than in the early stages, which we were originally trying to coordinate with his trip to Oslo. So I think it's a very … it should be a telling sign to the world that he's serious.

ANDREW MARR:

And therefore, since everybody has been arguing about whether Copenhagen's going to happen as a deal or not, an optimistic sign for those who think it matters so much?

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

I hope so. It looks … I believe so. It isn't going to be a treaty at this point, but I think it's the first step towards a treaty. So I think that the Danish initiative to do this has been well received and it's a great beginning step.

ANDREW MARR:

And do you think that we will finally see Europe, China and America basically in the same place?

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

I hope so. I think we're working towards that. We've been encouraged by the actions of the Chinese, of the Indian nation and Brazil, which are major leaders. We need them in this area. So we're very confident that something meaningful will come out of Copenhagen.

ANDREW MARR:

In this country - you may have seen - there's been a huge row about some leaked data from one of the climate change centres, and the Met Office is now going back and doing an investigation of the statistics going all the way back. Has that overshadowed, do you think, some of the pre-Copenhagen debate and has it had much pick-up in your country?

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

There's no pick-up in our country. Our position is solid in what we believe is the need to change and that this is caused by human behaviour. And, so no, I don't see it having any effect in the United States.

ANDREW MARR:

Right. Let me turn to the other great issue of course, which is Afghanistan and President Obama's announcement about the troop surge and so on. There seems to be quite a clear difference of opinion at the moment between London and Washington about the end date - first of all whether there should be an end date; and, secondly, if there should, what it should be.

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

There's two parts of President Obama's comment about 18 months. You have to look at our objectives. Our objectives are not only to dismantle and totally destroy al-Qaeda so they can't come and harm us. It's to create stability in Afghanistan with the training of their police and their troops, and to reverse the momentum we see of the Taliban.

ANDREW MARR:

Could I just jump in for a second there? It's about stability now, however; not about transforming Afghanistan as a society and turning it into a place which is on all fours with Western democratic norms?

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

It's never been our mission. It may have been previous administrations' mission. It is not ours. The President says we do not have an open-ended commitment here. We are not giving a blank cheque to this cause. We have to focus the strategy on accomplishing that mission and bringing our troops home …

ANDREW MARR:

Yes.

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

… and we're not going to jump off a cliff, we're not going to go … We're going to do it responsibly and conditions on the ground may change.

ANDREW MARR:

Because I suppose that is the central question, isn't it - that you can't in advance declare the end point for a war? You know these situations are volatile.

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

Well, yes. But, remember, if we're sending in 30,000 more troops and we start reducing them, we still have 68,000 there.

ANDREW MARR:

Very interesting - the Conservative Leader here, David Cameron, has said it's perhaps optimistic to think that we'll be bringing troops home before next Christmas. There's a great debate here about how long it's going to go on.

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

Well it may be optimistic, but we're hoping it's realistic.

ANDREW MARR:

Okay. Can I ask you about something else that's caused quite a lot of concern here, which is the British man with Asperger's Syndrome, the autistic British man who is likely I suppose at the moment now to be extradited to the United States for hacking into - he doesn't deny it, so I can say hacking into - American military computers. Is there anything that you can say to his family or to people watching this programme about that case, the Gary McKinnon case?

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

First place, we don't comment on ongoing legal matters; and I have no knowledge, nor has any been presented to me, as to his medical condition. I know he was diagnosed by some doctors who saw him over television in 2008 - and you have to remember this happened in 2002, I think, or 1 - so I really can't comment, Andrew. It's going to have to work its way through the legal process. He will get a very fair trial. And America has always been appropriately involved in decisions of how people are placed, if it turns out he's placed into a confinement, as to health. We have very good prison hospitals and other aspects of that.

ANDREW MARR:

Right. Let's … Just talking about the general state of what people still call the 'special relationship' - rightly or wrongly, I don't know - between America and Britain, I mean it was said at the time of President Obama's inauguration that here was a President who didn't have as close links with this country perhaps as some previous Presidents have had. Talk me through how you see …

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

(over) I am delighted to talk you through it because I think in many circles people are stating that this special relationship is diminished in some way, and in my view it has been strengthened. It's been strengthened by this action as allies in Afghanistan and in Iraq. America doesn't have a better friend or a better ally. And President Obama is very clear. He doesn't believe there is an old Europe or a new Europe. It's a Europe that we want to be involved with.

ANDREW MARR:

Mr Ambassador, let me ask you finally about the football. England just been drawn in the same bracket as America, two relatively easy games; and perhaps a slightly harder game, England and America. What's going to happen?

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

Well, Andrew, we have great admiration for the wonderful English football team, and I'm sure they'll be up for the game in relation to a previous game we played together. It'll be a great game, but I'm rooting for America and I think we're going to win.

ANDREW MARR:

Wow! Alright, on that note thank you very much.

AMBASSADOR SUSMAN:

Thank you, sir.

INTERVIEW ENDS