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President Bush Signs Resolution

Aired October 16, 2002 - 11:16   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check in with our Kelly Wallace, who is there at the White House.
Kelly -- can you give us a better idea of exactly who might be in there and who we might see there on the dais?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We understand, Leon, lawmakers, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, Democrats, including Senator Joseph Biden of the Foreign Relations Committee and others.

Hard from this vantage point to see who is there, but clearly, the White House trying to have Democrats and Republicans there standing alongside the president to say this is a bipartisan resolution, a resolution which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate. It also passed, of course, in the House. You had some 100 plus Democrats and some Republicans, though, objecting to it.

We now see the president approaching the podium, and let's listen.

HARRIS: And as you see, he is also joined by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning. Welcome to the White House. I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who have joined us. I want to thank the members of Congress who are here on the stage. I want to thank the members of Congress who are here in the audience. I'm honored to have you here.

The resolution I'm about to sign symbolizes the united purpose of our nation, expresses the considered judgment of the Congress and marks an important event in the life of America.

The 107th Congress is one of the few called by history to authorize military action to defend our country and the cause of peace. This is among the most serious and difficult decisions a legislator can face. Members of both houses, both political parties have deliberated with care, and they have spoken with clarity on behalf of the American people. We will face our dangers squarely and we will face them unafraid.

With this resolution, Congress has now authorized the use of force.

I have not ordered the use of force. I hope the use of force will not become necessary. Yet confronting the threat posed by Iraq is necessary by whatever means that requires.

Either the Iraqi regime will give up its weapons of mass destruction or for the sake of peace the United States will lead a global coalition to disarm that regime. If any doubt our nation's resolve, our determination, they would be unwise to test it.

The Iraqi regime is a serious and growing threat to peace. On the commands of a dictator, the regime is armed with biological and chemical weapons, possesses ballistic missiles, promotes international terror and seeks nuclear weapons.

The same dictator has a history of mass murder, of striking other nations without warning, of intense hatred for America and of contempt for the demands of the civilized world.

If Iraq gains even greater destructive power, nations in the Middle East would face blackmail, intimidation or attack. Chaos in that region would be felt in Europe and beyond. And Iraq's combination of weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorist groups and ballistic missiles would threaten the peace and security of many nations.

Those who choose to live in denial may eventually be forced to live in fear. Every nation that shares in the benefits of peace also shares in the duty of defending the peace. The time has arrived once again for the United Nations to live up to the purposes of its founding: to protect our common security.

The time has arrived once again for free nations to face up to our global responsibilities and confront a gathering danger.

In 1991, Iraq was given 15 days to fully disclose all weapons of mass destruction. The dictator has successfully defied that obligation for 4,199 days.

And during this 11-year period of his dictatorship, the regime has become highly skilled in the techniques of deception. It has blocked effective inspections of so-called presidential sites -- actually 12 square miles with hundreds of structures where sensitive materials could be hidden.

The regime has forged documents, disabled surveillance cameras and developed mobile weapons facilities to keep ahead of any inspector.

The Iraqi regime has frustrated the work of international inspectors by firing warning shots, by tapping their telephones, confiscating their documents, blocking aerial inspection flights and barring access to sites for hours while evidence is carried away.

At one location, inspectors actually witnessed Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and then dumping the ashes in a river. Aboard U.N. helicopters, Iraqi escorts have physically struggled with inspectors to keep them from approaching certain areas.

For Iraq, the old weapons inspections process was a little more than a game in which cheating was never punished, and that game is over. The ploys and promises of the Iraqi regime no longer matter. The regime is free to continue saying whatever it chooses. It's fate depends entirely on what it actually does.

Our goal is not merely to limit Iraq's violations of Security Council resolutions or to slow down its weapons programs. Our goal is to fully and finally remove a real threat to world peace and to America. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully.

Hopefully, we can do this without any military action.

Yet if Iraq is to avoid military action by the international community, it has the obligation to prove compliance with all the world's demands. It's the obligation of Iraq.

Compliance will begin with an accurate and full and complete accounting for all chemical, biological and nuclear weapons materials as well as missiles and other means of delivery anywhere in Iraq. Failure to make such an accounting would be a further indication of the regime's bad faith and aggressive intent.

Inspectors must have access to any site in Iraq at any time without pre-clearance, without delay, without exceptions. Inspectors must be permitted to operate under new, effective rules. And the Iraqi regime must accept those rules without qualification or negotiation.

To ensure that we learn the truth, the regime must allow witnesses to its illegal activities to be interviewed outside of the country. These witnesses must be free to bring their entire families with them, so they are beyond the reach of Saddam Hussein's terror, Saddam Hussein's torture, Saddam Hussein's murder.

In addition to declaring and destroying all of its weapons of mass destruction, Iraq, in accordance with U.N. Security Council demands, must end its support for terrorism. As the U.N. demands, Iraq must cease the persecution of its civilian population. As the U.N. demands, Iraq must stop all illicit trade outside the oil-for- food program. Iraq must also release or account for all Gulf War personnel, including an American pilot whose fate is still unknown.

The United States takes the resolutions of the Security Council seriously. We urge other nations to do the same. We're working to build the broadest possible coalition to enforce the demands of the world on the Iraqi regime.

I've told all the members of the United Nations America will play its historic role in defeating aggressive tyranny. I hope the good people of Iraq will remember our history, not pay attention to the hateful propaganda of their government. America has never sought to dominate, it has never sought to conquer. We've always sought to liberate and to free.

Our desire is to help Iraqi citizens find the blessings of liberty within their own culture and their own traditions. Iraqi people cannot flourish under a dictator that oppresses them, threatens them. Gifted people of Iraq will flourish if and when oppression is lifted.

When Iraq has a government committed to the freedom and well- being of its people, America, along with many other nations, will share a responsibility to help Iraq reform and prosper, and we will meet our responsibilities. That's our pledge to the Iraqi people.

Like the members of Congress here today, I have carefully weighed the human costs of every option before us. If we go into battle, as a last resort, we will confront an enemy capable of irrational miscalculations, capable of terrible deeds.

As the commander in chief, I know the risks to our country. I'm fully responsible to the young men and women in uniform who may face these risks. Yet those risks only increase with time and the cost could be immeasurably higher in years to come.

To shrink from this threat would bring a false sense of temporary peace leading to a future in which millions live or die at the discretion of a brutal dictator. That's not true peace and we won't accept it.

The terrorist attacks of last year put our country on notice. We're not immune from the dangers and hatreds of the world. In the events of September 11, we resolve as a nation to oppose every threat from any source that could bring sudden tragedy to the American people. This nation will not live at the mercy of any foreign power or plot.

Confronting grave dangers is the surest path to peace and security. This is the expectation of the American people and the decision of their elected representatives.

I thank the Congress for a thorough debate and an overwhelming statement of support. The broad resolve of our government is now clear to all, clear to everyone to see: We will defend our nation and lead others in defending the peace.

May God bless your work.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: As we see there, President Bush now making it official. He has begun to sign, and has concluded signing the resolution passed by the Congress authorizing the use of military force if necessary against Iraq. President Bush said a number of occasions this morning that he hopes that the military force is not necessary, and he also offered plenty of words of friendship to the Iraqi people. However, he did throw the gauntlet down quite clearly with the Iraqi regime.

Our Kelly Wallace is standing by in Washington -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Leon, you touched on a very important point, the president saying that he hopes military force will not be necessary. That's an important message to send to skeptical U.S. allies. There are some who are concerned that this administration is rushing to a possible war against Saddam Hussein and is ruling out any more diplomatic solutions to this crisis. As we all know, a debate under way on this day up at the United Nations Security Council. This administration trying to get support of allies for a tough new U.N. resolution, calling for a new inspections regime to deal with Saddam Hussein.

So it does appear the president's words, in a way, to try and placate some critics, to try to get the message out that this administration wants to work with the U.N. You heard the president say clearly if the U.N. does not support anything, the president will lead a coalition of allies to deal with Saddam Hussein.

And then he did something else. He also, again, sending a message to the Iraqi people, saying that this administration in the United States is a country of liberators, not conquerors. Again, to try to get the message out, to send a message to the Iraqi people that they would be better off without Saddam Hussein. The administration certainly would hope it see the Iraqi people take matters into their own hands, remove Saddam Hussein from power to eliminate any military action, but his words, Leon, a clear indication this president will deal with the threat if necessary -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, Kelly.

Let's go to Baghdad as promised. Our Jane Arraf standing by there in the evening hours there in Baghdad, and she's been listening in there as well.

Jane, any idea of exactly how this is going to be received there, as if we had to guess?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there may be a couple of surprises, Leon. First of all, it's a very windy evening here. There's a sandstorm coming up. It keeps the dramatic mood of this place. The striking thing about President Bush's comment was his call that this might ensure that Iraq enjoyed the blessings of liberty.

Well, a lot of Iraqis might long for that sort of liberty he was talking about, the problem is there might be a very heavy cost. And that's really what people are worried about, that no matter what happens at the end of this. It's the process of what would definitely be a very brutal war in many people's minds, that really they would rather not have, even if it does not mean liberty at the end.

The other message to the Iraqi people that the United States is not a conqueror really won't go down that well here. People know the United States, while there are a lot of qualities they deeply admire, there are some that they don't. They really are convinced that the United States is interested in Iraqi oil, much more than their own benefit -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jane Arraf in Baghdad, thank you very much.

Fred, over to you. FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And perhaps among the listeners to President Bush's remarks, members of the U.N., President Bush probably making a very direct statement to most likely the permanent members of the U.N., since they are not quite on board with U.S. military action, or at least U.S. military action against Iraq. Our U.N. correspondent Richard Roth has been keeping tabs on things from there.

Richard, do you suppose the president remarks on or at least went into the territory of perhaps the support he might be gaining from any U.N. members?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, frankly, many council members didn't hear it, because they're sitting inside the United Nations Security Council, listening to various speakers. There is going to be a marathon debate already in progress about Iraq, and many of the countries do not sit on the Security Council unless they are not only opposed to the use of war by the United States. They don't like the idea they're not in on the negotiations of a new resolution, which President Bush wants which is still stalled.

Here inside the Security Council, we see the Kuwaiti ambassador, who also doesn't favor the use of force, he told the council, only as a last resort.

Earlier, shortly before President Bush spoke, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Aldouri, blasted the United States in a 45-minute address. He said the U.S. was using a massive propaganda campaign full of lies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED ALDOURI, IRAQI AMB. TO U.N.: The United States wants the Security Council to give them a blank check to occupy Iraq. Not only Iraq, the entire Arab nation, actually to violate them to subject their world to the American hegemony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Once again, Iraq saying to its ambassador that it does not have any weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical or biological. Iraq, again, says that the United States should just let the inspectors come in and that they'll find nothing. Secretary-General Kofi Annan through his deputy in the statement said any action on Iraq has to be done for the betterment of the world through the United Nations with everyone acting together -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard Roth, from the U.N. thank you very much.

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 16, 2002 - 11:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check in with our Kelly Wallace, who is there at the White House.
Kelly -- can you give us a better idea of exactly who might be in there and who we might see there on the dais?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We understand, Leon, lawmakers, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, Democrats, including Senator Joseph Biden of the Foreign Relations Committee and others.

Hard from this vantage point to see who is there, but clearly, the White House trying to have Democrats and Republicans there standing alongside the president to say this is a bipartisan resolution, a resolution which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate. It also passed, of course, in the House. You had some 100 plus Democrats and some Republicans, though, objecting to it.

We now see the president approaching the podium, and let's listen.

HARRIS: And as you see, he is also joined by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning. Welcome to the White House. I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who have joined us. I want to thank the members of Congress who are here on the stage. I want to thank the members of Congress who are here in the audience. I'm honored to have you here.

The resolution I'm about to sign symbolizes the united purpose of our nation, expresses the considered judgment of the Congress and marks an important event in the life of America.

The 107th Congress is one of the few called by history to authorize military action to defend our country and the cause of peace. This is among the most serious and difficult decisions a legislator can face. Members of both houses, both political parties have deliberated with care, and they have spoken with clarity on behalf of the American people. We will face our dangers squarely and we will face them unafraid.

With this resolution, Congress has now authorized the use of force.

I have not ordered the use of force. I hope the use of force will not become necessary. Yet confronting the threat posed by Iraq is necessary by whatever means that requires.

Either the Iraqi regime will give up its weapons of mass destruction or for the sake of peace the United States will lead a global coalition to disarm that regime. If any doubt our nation's resolve, our determination, they would be unwise to test it.

The Iraqi regime is a serious and growing threat to peace. On the commands of a dictator, the regime is armed with biological and chemical weapons, possesses ballistic missiles, promotes international terror and seeks nuclear weapons.

The same dictator has a history of mass murder, of striking other nations without warning, of intense hatred for America and of contempt for the demands of the civilized world.

If Iraq gains even greater destructive power, nations in the Middle East would face blackmail, intimidation or attack. Chaos in that region would be felt in Europe and beyond. And Iraq's combination of weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorist groups and ballistic missiles would threaten the peace and security of many nations.

Those who choose to live in denial may eventually be forced to live in fear. Every nation that shares in the benefits of peace also shares in the duty of defending the peace. The time has arrived once again for the United Nations to live up to the purposes of its founding: to protect our common security.

The time has arrived once again for free nations to face up to our global responsibilities and confront a gathering danger.

In 1991, Iraq was given 15 days to fully disclose all weapons of mass destruction. The dictator has successfully defied that obligation for 4,199 days.

And during this 11-year period of his dictatorship, the regime has become highly skilled in the techniques of deception. It has blocked effective inspections of so-called presidential sites -- actually 12 square miles with hundreds of structures where sensitive materials could be hidden.

The regime has forged documents, disabled surveillance cameras and developed mobile weapons facilities to keep ahead of any inspector.

The Iraqi regime has frustrated the work of international inspectors by firing warning shots, by tapping their telephones, confiscating their documents, blocking aerial inspection flights and barring access to sites for hours while evidence is carried away.

At one location, inspectors actually witnessed Iraqi guards moving files, burning documents, and then dumping the ashes in a river. Aboard U.N. helicopters, Iraqi escorts have physically struggled with inspectors to keep them from approaching certain areas.

For Iraq, the old weapons inspections process was a little more than a game in which cheating was never punished, and that game is over. The ploys and promises of the Iraqi regime no longer matter. The regime is free to continue saying whatever it chooses. It's fate depends entirely on what it actually does.

Our goal is not merely to limit Iraq's violations of Security Council resolutions or to slow down its weapons programs. Our goal is to fully and finally remove a real threat to world peace and to America. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully.

Hopefully, we can do this without any military action.

Yet if Iraq is to avoid military action by the international community, it has the obligation to prove compliance with all the world's demands. It's the obligation of Iraq.

Compliance will begin with an accurate and full and complete accounting for all chemical, biological and nuclear weapons materials as well as missiles and other means of delivery anywhere in Iraq. Failure to make such an accounting would be a further indication of the regime's bad faith and aggressive intent.

Inspectors must have access to any site in Iraq at any time without pre-clearance, without delay, without exceptions. Inspectors must be permitted to operate under new, effective rules. And the Iraqi regime must accept those rules without qualification or negotiation.

To ensure that we learn the truth, the regime must allow witnesses to its illegal activities to be interviewed outside of the country. These witnesses must be free to bring their entire families with them, so they are beyond the reach of Saddam Hussein's terror, Saddam Hussein's torture, Saddam Hussein's murder.

In addition to declaring and destroying all of its weapons of mass destruction, Iraq, in accordance with U.N. Security Council demands, must end its support for terrorism. As the U.N. demands, Iraq must cease the persecution of its civilian population. As the U.N. demands, Iraq must stop all illicit trade outside the oil-for- food program. Iraq must also release or account for all Gulf War personnel, including an American pilot whose fate is still unknown.

The United States takes the resolutions of the Security Council seriously. We urge other nations to do the same. We're working to build the broadest possible coalition to enforce the demands of the world on the Iraqi regime.

I've told all the members of the United Nations America will play its historic role in defeating aggressive tyranny. I hope the good people of Iraq will remember our history, not pay attention to the hateful propaganda of their government. America has never sought to dominate, it has never sought to conquer. We've always sought to liberate and to free.

Our desire is to help Iraqi citizens find the blessings of liberty within their own culture and their own traditions. Iraqi people cannot flourish under a dictator that oppresses them, threatens them. Gifted people of Iraq will flourish if and when oppression is lifted.

When Iraq has a government committed to the freedom and well- being of its people, America, along with many other nations, will share a responsibility to help Iraq reform and prosper, and we will meet our responsibilities. That's our pledge to the Iraqi people.

Like the members of Congress here today, I have carefully weighed the human costs of every option before us. If we go into battle, as a last resort, we will confront an enemy capable of irrational miscalculations, capable of terrible deeds.

As the commander in chief, I know the risks to our country. I'm fully responsible to the young men and women in uniform who may face these risks. Yet those risks only increase with time and the cost could be immeasurably higher in years to come.

To shrink from this threat would bring a false sense of temporary peace leading to a future in which millions live or die at the discretion of a brutal dictator. That's not true peace and we won't accept it.

The terrorist attacks of last year put our country on notice. We're not immune from the dangers and hatreds of the world. In the events of September 11, we resolve as a nation to oppose every threat from any source that could bring sudden tragedy to the American people. This nation will not live at the mercy of any foreign power or plot.

Confronting grave dangers is the surest path to peace and security. This is the expectation of the American people and the decision of their elected representatives.

I thank the Congress for a thorough debate and an overwhelming statement of support. The broad resolve of our government is now clear to all, clear to everyone to see: We will defend our nation and lead others in defending the peace.

May God bless your work.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: As we see there, President Bush now making it official. He has begun to sign, and has concluded signing the resolution passed by the Congress authorizing the use of military force if necessary against Iraq. President Bush said a number of occasions this morning that he hopes that the military force is not necessary, and he also offered plenty of words of friendship to the Iraqi people. However, he did throw the gauntlet down quite clearly with the Iraqi regime.

Our Kelly Wallace is standing by in Washington -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Leon, you touched on a very important point, the president saying that he hopes military force will not be necessary. That's an important message to send to skeptical U.S. allies. There are some who are concerned that this administration is rushing to a possible war against Saddam Hussein and is ruling out any more diplomatic solutions to this crisis. As we all know, a debate under way on this day up at the United Nations Security Council. This administration trying to get support of allies for a tough new U.N. resolution, calling for a new inspections regime to deal with Saddam Hussein.

So it does appear the president's words, in a way, to try and placate some critics, to try to get the message out that this administration wants to work with the U.N. You heard the president say clearly if the U.N. does not support anything, the president will lead a coalition of allies to deal with Saddam Hussein.

And then he did something else. He also, again, sending a message to the Iraqi people, saying that this administration in the United States is a country of liberators, not conquerors. Again, to try to get the message out, to send a message to the Iraqi people that they would be better off without Saddam Hussein. The administration certainly would hope it see the Iraqi people take matters into their own hands, remove Saddam Hussein from power to eliminate any military action, but his words, Leon, a clear indication this president will deal with the threat if necessary -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, Kelly.

Let's go to Baghdad as promised. Our Jane Arraf standing by there in the evening hours there in Baghdad, and she's been listening in there as well.

Jane, any idea of exactly how this is going to be received there, as if we had to guess?

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there may be a couple of surprises, Leon. First of all, it's a very windy evening here. There's a sandstorm coming up. It keeps the dramatic mood of this place. The striking thing about President Bush's comment was his call that this might ensure that Iraq enjoyed the blessings of liberty.

Well, a lot of Iraqis might long for that sort of liberty he was talking about, the problem is there might be a very heavy cost. And that's really what people are worried about, that no matter what happens at the end of this. It's the process of what would definitely be a very brutal war in many people's minds, that really they would rather not have, even if it does not mean liberty at the end.

The other message to the Iraqi people that the United States is not a conqueror really won't go down that well here. People know the United States, while there are a lot of qualities they deeply admire, there are some that they don't. They really are convinced that the United States is interested in Iraqi oil, much more than their own benefit -- Leon.

HARRIS: Jane Arraf in Baghdad, thank you very much.

Fred, over to you. FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And perhaps among the listeners to President Bush's remarks, members of the U.N., President Bush probably making a very direct statement to most likely the permanent members of the U.N., since they are not quite on board with U.S. military action, or at least U.S. military action against Iraq. Our U.N. correspondent Richard Roth has been keeping tabs on things from there.

Richard, do you suppose the president remarks on or at least went into the territory of perhaps the support he might be gaining from any U.N. members?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, frankly, many council members didn't hear it, because they're sitting inside the United Nations Security Council, listening to various speakers. There is going to be a marathon debate already in progress about Iraq, and many of the countries do not sit on the Security Council unless they are not only opposed to the use of war by the United States. They don't like the idea they're not in on the negotiations of a new resolution, which President Bush wants which is still stalled.

Here inside the Security Council, we see the Kuwaiti ambassador, who also doesn't favor the use of force, he told the council, only as a last resort.

Earlier, shortly before President Bush spoke, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Aldouri, blasted the United States in a 45-minute address. He said the U.S. was using a massive propaganda campaign full of lies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED ALDOURI, IRAQI AMB. TO U.N.: The United States wants the Security Council to give them a blank check to occupy Iraq. Not only Iraq, the entire Arab nation, actually to violate them to subject their world to the American hegemony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Once again, Iraq saying to its ambassador that it does not have any weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical or biological. Iraq, again, says that the United States should just let the inspectors come in and that they'll find nothing. Secretary-General Kofi Annan through his deputy in the statement said any action on Iraq has to be done for the betterment of the world through the United Nations with everyone acting together -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard Roth, from the U.N. thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.