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NATO Vows to Stand Behind U.N. Iraq Resolution
Aired November 22, 2002 - 10:07 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: Now on to central Europe where NATO members have vowed to stand united behind the United Nations and has called for Iraq to disarm. The NATO action stopped short of making any military commitments, a sign of support sought by President Bush.
Our senior White House correspondent John King has been following all this; he's traveling with the president; he joins us now from Prague, the capitol of the Czech Republic this morning. Hello, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from Prague on a historic day for Europe and a historic day for the NATO Alliance.
Earlier today the main event at the NATO Summit here inviting seven new members to join. Countries once in the Soviet sphere of influence here in Europe -- the seven Eastern European nations that will soon be in the NATO fold. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
As the current members of NATO, the leaders of those nations, spoke this morning the French president Jacques Chirac among those making note of how much the map of Europe -- how much the world's strategic balance has changed since the Berlin Wall fell and Communism collapsed in Europe 13 Novembers ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT (VIA TRANSLATOR): Very small. This round of enlargement is indeed an historic moment -- a time when Europe meets united we are dropping the various caps and previews of the past and North America and Europe at this time are reaffirming that the indivisible nature of their security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Iraq, of course, a major sub-plot to the deliberations here. President Bush continuing this morning his efforts to court individual key members of NATO should it come to a military confrontation with Iraq at a meeting this morning with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair Mr. Bush thanked Mr. Blair for his firm support and said Saddam Hussein now faced the stark choice now that those U.N. Weapons inspectors were back on the ground in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Will he uphold the agreement? That he has made? And if he chooses to do so by disarming peacefully, the world will be better off for it. If he chooses not to disarm, we will work with our close friends, the closest of which is Great Britain, and we will disarm him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The leaders of NATO this morning unanimously adopting a tough statement on Iraq, it calls on Iraq to comply fully and immediately with that new United Nations Security Council resolution.
The statement goes on to say that the NATO allies stand united in their commitment to take effective action to assist and support the efforts of the U.N. in trying to disarm Iraq. That statement a political victory for President Bush; he came here trying to get NATO to take a tough stance on Iraq. Mr. Bush did not get everything he wanted because of some objections to the language from France and Germany but senior U.S. officials say they are quite pleased. They believe the NATO allies now joining the United Nations Security Council in sending a very tough message to Saddam Hussein -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well speaking of messages, John, we understand that pretty soon this morning you'll be -- and this evening there -- you'll be speaking with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Any expectation of what kind of message you may get from her?
KING: Well certainly we want to ask her about the developments in Iraq, about the president's most recent statements about what it might take to provoke a military confrontation with Iraq. Condoleezza Rice, of course, Leon, has some personal history here in the first Bush administration her portfolio on the National Security Council was Russia and the Soviet Union so interested in her personal reflections on adding these seven new nations to the NATO alliance, transforming the map of Europe.
HARRIS: Very good. John King, have a good one. We'll hope to -- we'll look forward to that interview. Have a good one; we'll see you in a bit. That's coming up in just a little less than two hours form now. John King's one on one interview with National Security Council Adviser Condoleezza Rice on Showdown Iraq noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific, of course, right there on CNN.
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 November 22, 2002 - 10:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to central Europe where NATO members have vowed to stand united behind the United Nations and has called for Iraq to disarm. The NATO action stopped short of making any military commitments, a sign of support sought by President Bush.
Our senior White House correspondent John King has been following all this; he's traveling with the president; he joins us now from Prague, the capitol of the Czech Republic this morning. Hello, John.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from Prague on a historic day for Europe and a historic day for the NATO Alliance.
Earlier today the main event at the NATO Summit here inviting seven new members to join. Countries once in the Soviet sphere of influence here in Europe -- the seven Eastern European nations that will soon be in the NATO fold. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
As the current members of NATO, the leaders of those nations, spoke this morning the French president Jacques Chirac among those making note of how much the map of Europe -- how much the world's strategic balance has changed since the Berlin Wall fell and Communism collapsed in Europe 13 Novembers ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT (VIA TRANSLATOR): Very small. This round of enlargement is indeed an historic moment -- a time when Europe meets united we are dropping the various caps and previews of the past and North America and Europe at this time are reaffirming that the indivisible nature of their security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Iraq, of course, a major sub-plot to the deliberations here. President Bush continuing this morning his efforts to court individual key members of NATO should it come to a military confrontation with Iraq at a meeting this morning with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair Mr. Bush thanked Mr. Blair for his firm support and said Saddam Hussein now faced the stark choice now that those U.N. Weapons inspectors were back on the ground in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Will he uphold the agreement? That he has made? And if he chooses to do so by disarming peacefully, the world will be better off for it. If he chooses not to disarm, we will work with our close friends, the closest of which is Great Britain, and we will disarm him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The leaders of NATO this morning unanimously adopting a tough statement on Iraq, it calls on Iraq to comply fully and immediately with that new United Nations Security Council resolution.
The statement goes on to say that the NATO allies stand united in their commitment to take effective action to assist and support the efforts of the U.N. in trying to disarm Iraq. That statement a political victory for President Bush; he came here trying to get NATO to take a tough stance on Iraq. Mr. Bush did not get everything he wanted because of some objections to the language from France and Germany but senior U.S. officials say they are quite pleased. They believe the NATO allies now joining the United Nations Security Council in sending a very tough message to Saddam Hussein -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well speaking of messages, John, we understand that pretty soon this morning you'll be -- and this evening there -- you'll be speaking with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Any expectation of what kind of message you may get from her?
KING: Well certainly we want to ask her about the developments in Iraq, about the president's most recent statements about what it might take to provoke a military confrontation with Iraq. Condoleezza Rice, of course, Leon, has some personal history here in the first Bush administration her portfolio on the National Security Council was Russia and the Soviet Union so interested in her personal reflections on adding these seven new nations to the NATO alliance, transforming the map of Europe.
HARRIS: Very good. John King, have a good one. We'll hope to -- we'll look forward to that interview. Have a good one; we'll see you in a bit. That's coming up in just a little less than two hours form now. John King's one on one interview with National Security Council Adviser Condoleezza Rice on Showdown Iraq noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific, of course, right there on CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
