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CNN Live Today
Americans Split on Iraq Invasion
Aired September 18, 2002 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's poll numbers are enjoying a spike after his UN talk on Iraq last week. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is in Washington and Bill, is it safe to say that an increase or the increase in the president's popularity also is an indicator that more Americans like the idea of a U.S. invasion of Iraq?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the support for intervention in Iraq is high, it was high even before he spoke and I think he bolstered those numbers a little bit. But what we find in the poll is when Americans were asked, has he made a case that the U.S. should send in ground troops to overthrow Saddam Hussein, while the numbers have increased in the president's favor, Americans are still divided. They've gone from about 39 yes to 50 percent yes. But that means 50 percent still have doubts and questions.
So yes, the president's made progress, but no, he has not yet achieved a resounding success in getting the American people behind him.
WHITFIELD: In fact, there are some who are saying that many Americans feel a little confused over the issue. They're not quite sure what the evidence is. No one has heard anything specific as to what exactly is the evidence of Iraq acquiring or building weapons of mass destruction.
SCHNEIDER: Well that's right, the question that some of the critic and many Democrats are raising is, why now? Why does the United States have to act immediately? Has Saddam Hussein done something provocative comparable to, say, the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 when the whole world responded and authorized intervention in the Persian Gulf War? What exactly has he done to threaten the United States?
There's no question Americans are thoroughly agreed on the fact that Saddam Hussein is a bad man, that he's evil as the president describes him, that he's a dangerous person, that he has to be contained. But the notion of a ground force invasion by American troops, where the rest of the world seems very reluctant to support us, that raises a lot of questions to Americans, principally on the issue, why now? And the administration is trying to answer it.
What we see here is our latest poll result, in which 46 percent of Americans, almost half, say we should send troops to Iraq only if the United Nations supports military action. Only 37 percent say we should do it even if the UN opposes military action and 14 percent say we shouldn't send troops at all, which means that to send troops without UN authorization, most Americans would oppose.
WHITFIELD: Now, also Bill, we talk about some Americans who say they're perplexed over the entire issue. Even in today's "New York Times," in -- Thomas Friedman writes, "how come all of a sudden we have to launch a war against Saddam? I realize that he has thumbed his nose at the UN and he has dangerous weapons, but he's never threatened us and if he does, couldn't we just vaporize him? What worries me are Osama and the terrorists still out there."
So an awful lot of Americans, too, have chimed in with that very sentiment saying, well, I'm more concerned with the threats here at home on US soil, particularly as we launch the war on terrorism, we target Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda group, more than we are concerned about what is going on in Iraq.
SCHNEIDER: That's right, and that's why Secretary Rumsfeld was testifying before Congress and other members of the administration are trying to make the case. They've got several important questions to answer. One is, of course, is why now? Both the president and vice president have attempted to answer that question, when they said if we don't act now, within a year Saddam Hussein will have nuclear weapons and once he gets nuclear weapons, then he becomes a far more dangerous force. Should we wait for the smoking gun to become a mushroom cloud, the administration says? And that's an answer that has persuaded some Americans but as yet not a overwhelming majority.
The second question of course is, how does this compete with the war on terrorism? If we divert forces to fighting Saddam Hussein, what's it going to mean for trying to get Osama bin Laden, someone who has attacked the United States as well as his al Qaeda network. So these questions are questions that are on a lot of Americans' minds and the administration is attempting to answer them with this kind of testimony.
WHITFIELD: And Bill of course on the issue of the smoking gun, we heard Donald Rumsfeld -- Rumsfeld say at the House Arms Services Committee that, where's the smoking gun? Well, if there is a smoking gun, then in his opinion it would be too late. And we're continuing to monitor developments there from Capitol Hill as Donald Rumsfeld continues to talk to the House Arms Services Committee.
Thanks again Bill, appreciate it.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 18, 2002 - 11:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's poll numbers are enjoying a spike after his UN talk on Iraq last week. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is in Washington and Bill, is it safe to say that an increase or the increase in the president's popularity also is an indicator that more Americans like the idea of a U.S. invasion of Iraq?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the support for intervention in Iraq is high, it was high even before he spoke and I think he bolstered those numbers a little bit. But what we find in the poll is when Americans were asked, has he made a case that the U.S. should send in ground troops to overthrow Saddam Hussein, while the numbers have increased in the president's favor, Americans are still divided. They've gone from about 39 yes to 50 percent yes. But that means 50 percent still have doubts and questions.
So yes, the president's made progress, but no, he has not yet achieved a resounding success in getting the American people behind him.
WHITFIELD: In fact, there are some who are saying that many Americans feel a little confused over the issue. They're not quite sure what the evidence is. No one has heard anything specific as to what exactly is the evidence of Iraq acquiring or building weapons of mass destruction.
SCHNEIDER: Well that's right, the question that some of the critic and many Democrats are raising is, why now? Why does the United States have to act immediately? Has Saddam Hussein done something provocative comparable to, say, the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 when the whole world responded and authorized intervention in the Persian Gulf War? What exactly has he done to threaten the United States?
There's no question Americans are thoroughly agreed on the fact that Saddam Hussein is a bad man, that he's evil as the president describes him, that he's a dangerous person, that he has to be contained. But the notion of a ground force invasion by American troops, where the rest of the world seems very reluctant to support us, that raises a lot of questions to Americans, principally on the issue, why now? And the administration is trying to answer it.
What we see here is our latest poll result, in which 46 percent of Americans, almost half, say we should send troops to Iraq only if the United Nations supports military action. Only 37 percent say we should do it even if the UN opposes military action and 14 percent say we shouldn't send troops at all, which means that to send troops without UN authorization, most Americans would oppose.
WHITFIELD: Now, also Bill, we talk about some Americans who say they're perplexed over the entire issue. Even in today's "New York Times," in -- Thomas Friedman writes, "how come all of a sudden we have to launch a war against Saddam? I realize that he has thumbed his nose at the UN and he has dangerous weapons, but he's never threatened us and if he does, couldn't we just vaporize him? What worries me are Osama and the terrorists still out there."
So an awful lot of Americans, too, have chimed in with that very sentiment saying, well, I'm more concerned with the threats here at home on US soil, particularly as we launch the war on terrorism, we target Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda group, more than we are concerned about what is going on in Iraq.
SCHNEIDER: That's right, and that's why Secretary Rumsfeld was testifying before Congress and other members of the administration are trying to make the case. They've got several important questions to answer. One is, of course, is why now? Both the president and vice president have attempted to answer that question, when they said if we don't act now, within a year Saddam Hussein will have nuclear weapons and once he gets nuclear weapons, then he becomes a far more dangerous force. Should we wait for the smoking gun to become a mushroom cloud, the administration says? And that's an answer that has persuaded some Americans but as yet not a overwhelming majority.
The second question of course is, how does this compete with the war on terrorism? If we divert forces to fighting Saddam Hussein, what's it going to mean for trying to get Osama bin Laden, someone who has attacked the United States as well as his al Qaeda network. So these questions are questions that are on a lot of Americans' minds and the administration is attempting to answer them with this kind of testimony.
WHITFIELD: And Bill of course on the issue of the smoking gun, we heard Donald Rumsfeld -- Rumsfeld say at the House Arms Services Committee that, where's the smoking gun? Well, if there is a smoking gun, then in his opinion it would be too late. And we're continuing to monitor developments there from Capitol Hill as Donald Rumsfeld continues to talk to the House Arms Services Committee.
Thanks again Bill, appreciate it.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
