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CNN Live At Daybreak
Aziz: 'No Need for New U.N. Resolution'
Aired October 02, 2002 - 06:02 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration's call for a regime change in Iraq took a new twist, too, when White House spokesman, Ari Fleisher, was asked about the cost of a possible Gulf War.
Here is how it played out in yesterday's news briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm asking you, if you intend to advocate from that podium that some Iraqis -- you know, person will put a bullet in his head?
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Regime change is welcome in whatever form that it takes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the answer is yes.
FLEISCHER: Thank you. Regime change is welcome in whatever form it takes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Yes, that includes assassination. Fleischer later said he was simply making a rhetorical point that the U.S. policy barring assassinations of international leaders by U.S. officials still stands.
But, Iraqi officials are blasting U.S. efforts to get a new and stronger U.N. resolution passed.
CNN's Jane Arraf has a live update from Baghdad.
Jane, before we get to that, is there any reaction out of Iraq to Ari Fleischer's comments?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: No immediate reaction yet, but as you can imagine, it takes quite a while for a reaction to filter down from the palace, which is the only reaction that really counts.
But it's not a surprise to the Iraqi government that the American administration wants to see Saddam Hussein dead. The point being, though, that Saddam Hussein does have a lot of enemies, and if someone were actually to assassinate him, would they be able to, it probably would have happened before this, which is part of the reason why they're fully confident that he is able to extend any sort of attempt from within Iraq, anyway -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, Jane, I read our viewers a bit of the U.S. resolution concerning weapons inspectors to Iraq, and one part of it says: "Immediate and unrestricted access to presidential palaces."
Now, Hans Blix negotiated a resolution, but does not include that, and, of course, that still remains the major sticking point. Could that change from Baghdad's perspective?
ARRAF: It really doesn't look very likely. What he has been hearing from everyone -- from officials, from unofficial sources -- is this is really the bottom line; that Iraq has really gone a long way to saying that it wants these inspectors back. In fact, according to the agreement reached in Vienna, they are opening up almost all of their sites with no notice. These were disputed sites that were deemed sensitive sites before. That leaves the palaces.
And in Ankara earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz made clear that that really was where Iraq was going to take a stand; that it would not comply with any new plans to get into those palaces with no notice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISER: This proposal of the United States is unacceptable, not only by Iraq. It is unacceptable by the Security Council, because there is no need for a new resolution. The standing resolutions of the Security Council concerning the inspections are valid, and they are enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, the reason Iraq says it's unacceptable is there is a procedure already in place that was agreed with the U.N. and it says, if you want to inspect palaces, you have to give Iraq notice and actually have people going along with those weapons inspectors -- people such as diplomats.
Also, today, we have just received a copy of Iraq's official response to the British dossier detailing why Britain believes, along with the U.S., that Iraq is a threat. Now, this is a 29-page document that goes into great detail, trying to refute all of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's allegations almost point-by-point.
For instance, they say, allegations that they're importing tubes for use in a possible nuclear program are "ridiculous," and they give technical reasons why it's ridiculous.
So again, part of the Iraqi campaign to convince its allies and the rest of the world that it's really the victim of an American and British campaign to not only get these weapons inspectors in and let them roam around wherever they want, but to actually get rid of Saddam Hussein -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf reporting live for us from Baghdad this morning, thank you. 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 October 2, 2002 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration's call for a regime change in Iraq took a new twist, too, when White House spokesman, Ari Fleisher, was asked about the cost of a possible Gulf War.
Here is how it played out in yesterday's news briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm asking you, if you intend to advocate from that podium that some Iraqis -- you know, person will put a bullet in his head?
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Regime change is welcome in whatever form that it takes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the answer is yes.
FLEISCHER: Thank you. Regime change is welcome in whatever form it takes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Yes, that includes assassination. Fleischer later said he was simply making a rhetorical point that the U.S. policy barring assassinations of international leaders by U.S. officials still stands.
But, Iraqi officials are blasting U.S. efforts to get a new and stronger U.N. resolution passed.
CNN's Jane Arraf has a live update from Baghdad.
Jane, before we get to that, is there any reaction out of Iraq to Ari Fleischer's comments?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: No immediate reaction yet, but as you can imagine, it takes quite a while for a reaction to filter down from the palace, which is the only reaction that really counts.
But it's not a surprise to the Iraqi government that the American administration wants to see Saddam Hussein dead. The point being, though, that Saddam Hussein does have a lot of enemies, and if someone were actually to assassinate him, would they be able to, it probably would have happened before this, which is part of the reason why they're fully confident that he is able to extend any sort of attempt from within Iraq, anyway -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, Jane, I read our viewers a bit of the U.S. resolution concerning weapons inspectors to Iraq, and one part of it says: "Immediate and unrestricted access to presidential palaces."
Now, Hans Blix negotiated a resolution, but does not include that, and, of course, that still remains the major sticking point. Could that change from Baghdad's perspective?
ARRAF: It really doesn't look very likely. What he has been hearing from everyone -- from officials, from unofficial sources -- is this is really the bottom line; that Iraq has really gone a long way to saying that it wants these inspectors back. In fact, according to the agreement reached in Vienna, they are opening up almost all of their sites with no notice. These were disputed sites that were deemed sensitive sites before. That leaves the palaces.
And in Ankara earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz made clear that that really was where Iraq was going to take a stand; that it would not comply with any new plans to get into those palaces with no notice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISER: This proposal of the United States is unacceptable, not only by Iraq. It is unacceptable by the Security Council, because there is no need for a new resolution. The standing resolutions of the Security Council concerning the inspections are valid, and they are enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, the reason Iraq says it's unacceptable is there is a procedure already in place that was agreed with the U.N. and it says, if you want to inspect palaces, you have to give Iraq notice and actually have people going along with those weapons inspectors -- people such as diplomats.
Also, today, we have just received a copy of Iraq's official response to the British dossier detailing why Britain believes, along with the U.S., that Iraq is a threat. Now, this is a 29-page document that goes into great detail, trying to refute all of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's allegations almost point-by-point.
For instance, they say, allegations that they're importing tubes for use in a possible nuclear program are "ridiculous," and they give technical reasons why it's ridiculous.
So again, part of the Iraqi campaign to convince its allies and the rest of the world that it's really the victim of an American and British campaign to not only get these weapons inspectors in and let them roam around wherever they want, but to actually get rid of Saddam Hussein -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf reporting live for us from Baghdad this morning, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
