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Iraq Inspections: White House Welcomes Blix's Tough Tone
Aired January 16, 2003 - 10:02 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is headed to Iraq this weekend, but already he is sending a terse message. Earlier this morning, Blix announced evidence that Baghdad had concealed illegal imports and created a situation that he calls, quote, "very tense and very dangerous." Blix says that Baghdad has to diffuse the crisis immediately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Iraq must do more than they have done so far in order to make this a credible avenue. They have presented a declaration of 12,000 pages -- that did not provide any new evidence. And they need to be active, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) proactive in order to convince the Security Council through us that they do not have anymore weapons of mass destruction; or if they are there, that they deliver them so that they can be destroyed under our supervision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: White House officials welcome the tougher tone coming from Blix and also say that the threat of military action underlines the message from Washington.
Our senior White House correspondent John King is traveling with the president today. He joins us now from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon, from a rather chilly Scranton, Pennsylvania.
President Bush due here in a short time to discuss medical malpractice -- in his views as to what the Congress should do, but the White House, as you noted, reacting mostly favorably to what Dr. Blix said today. The White House thinks it is about time that Dr. Blix made clear, as he did today, that unless Iraq complies fully and soon, that the second avenue before the world would be a military confrontation to disarm Saddam Hussein.
There still could be a dispute with Dr. Blix down the road about the timetable for deciding enough is enough, but the White House believes that at least Dr. Blix is now sending a very strong message to Saddam Hussein, and equally tough if not even more tough talk from the White House this morning after hearing Dr. Blix.
One senior official telling me a short time ago, quote, "things are not going as well as the public has been led to believe" -- that in the context of the inspections on the ground in Iraq. This official said the United States has solid evidence that Iraq has moved evidence of its' weapons of mass destruction. Since that United Nations resolution was adopted, it sent the inspectors back in. The official also says Iraq is constantly interfering with the inspectors on the ground, most recently saying it could not guarantee the safety if the inspectors became more aggressive using aerial surveillance over Iraq.
White House officials also saying that by the end of this month, as Hans Blix reports to the Security Council, and as the president delivers his State of the Union address to the United States -- a speech, of course, also watched around the world -- officials saying by the end of this month, if Saddam Hussein has not turned the corner and started to comply, that you will hear a much tougher tone out of this White House. Hard to imagine it getting tougher, Leon -- tens of thousands of U.S. troops obviously being deployed to the region.
White House officials say time is running out, as the president said himself the other day, for Saddam Hussein to comply and comply fully, and they think it's the right thing for Dr. Blix to be making that quite clear to him as he heads into Baghdad.
HARRIS: Well, John, we also know that Hans Blix has been saying that there is also a later report, one due in March -- March 27th to be specific, and the Bush administration is really putting pressure on the U.N. Security Council to not let this process drag on that long.
What are you hearing about how successful the White House is in applying pressure on the Security Council?
KING: Well, we're in the early stages of the White House applying that pressure, but what you have here is a debate over which resolution takes precedence. Resolution 1441 is the resolution that sent those inspectors back in now -- that says Hans Blix has to report under the timetable, January 27th. He has to give a fairly comprehensive assessment as to whether Iraq is complying, and you heard Hans Blix this morning say it is not.
Hans Blix has also noted a previous resolution, it's number 1284 that gives UNMOVIC, his agency, more time to report. The White House says that resolution was adopted in very different times when the -- and that resolution assumes Iraqi cooperation. The White House is lobbying key members of the Security Council. Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser directly lobbied Dr. Blix earlier this week to make the case that January 27th is the date that should matter. It may not be a drop-dead date.
There may be some additional reports down the road, but the White House says anyone talking about reports in late March or beyond is not on the same page as President Bush.
HARRIS: Understood. All right, John, we'll let you go get warm now. Take care. John King reporting live for us from Scranton, Pennsylvania, where President Bush is traveling this morning.
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 January 16, 2003 - 10:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is headed to Iraq this weekend, but already he is sending a terse message. Earlier this morning, Blix announced evidence that Baghdad had concealed illegal imports and created a situation that he calls, quote, "very tense and very dangerous." Blix says that Baghdad has to diffuse the crisis immediately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Iraq must do more than they have done so far in order to make this a credible avenue. They have presented a declaration of 12,000 pages -- that did not provide any new evidence. And they need to be active, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) proactive in order to convince the Security Council through us that they do not have anymore weapons of mass destruction; or if they are there, that they deliver them so that they can be destroyed under our supervision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: White House officials welcome the tougher tone coming from Blix and also say that the threat of military action underlines the message from Washington.
Our senior White House correspondent John King is traveling with the president today. He joins us now from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon, from a rather chilly Scranton, Pennsylvania.
President Bush due here in a short time to discuss medical malpractice -- in his views as to what the Congress should do, but the White House, as you noted, reacting mostly favorably to what Dr. Blix said today. The White House thinks it is about time that Dr. Blix made clear, as he did today, that unless Iraq complies fully and soon, that the second avenue before the world would be a military confrontation to disarm Saddam Hussein.
There still could be a dispute with Dr. Blix down the road about the timetable for deciding enough is enough, but the White House believes that at least Dr. Blix is now sending a very strong message to Saddam Hussein, and equally tough if not even more tough talk from the White House this morning after hearing Dr. Blix.
One senior official telling me a short time ago, quote, "things are not going as well as the public has been led to believe" -- that in the context of the inspections on the ground in Iraq. This official said the United States has solid evidence that Iraq has moved evidence of its' weapons of mass destruction. Since that United Nations resolution was adopted, it sent the inspectors back in. The official also says Iraq is constantly interfering with the inspectors on the ground, most recently saying it could not guarantee the safety if the inspectors became more aggressive using aerial surveillance over Iraq.
White House officials also saying that by the end of this month, as Hans Blix reports to the Security Council, and as the president delivers his State of the Union address to the United States -- a speech, of course, also watched around the world -- officials saying by the end of this month, if Saddam Hussein has not turned the corner and started to comply, that you will hear a much tougher tone out of this White House. Hard to imagine it getting tougher, Leon -- tens of thousands of U.S. troops obviously being deployed to the region.
White House officials say time is running out, as the president said himself the other day, for Saddam Hussein to comply and comply fully, and they think it's the right thing for Dr. Blix to be making that quite clear to him as he heads into Baghdad.
HARRIS: Well, John, we also know that Hans Blix has been saying that there is also a later report, one due in March -- March 27th to be specific, and the Bush administration is really putting pressure on the U.N. Security Council to not let this process drag on that long.
What are you hearing about how successful the White House is in applying pressure on the Security Council?
KING: Well, we're in the early stages of the White House applying that pressure, but what you have here is a debate over which resolution takes precedence. Resolution 1441 is the resolution that sent those inspectors back in now -- that says Hans Blix has to report under the timetable, January 27th. He has to give a fairly comprehensive assessment as to whether Iraq is complying, and you heard Hans Blix this morning say it is not.
Hans Blix has also noted a previous resolution, it's number 1284 that gives UNMOVIC, his agency, more time to report. The White House says that resolution was adopted in very different times when the -- and that resolution assumes Iraqi cooperation. The White House is lobbying key members of the Security Council. Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser directly lobbied Dr. Blix earlier this week to make the case that January 27th is the date that should matter. It may not be a drop-dead date.
There may be some additional reports down the road, but the White House says anyone talking about reports in late March or beyond is not on the same page as President Bush.
HARRIS: Understood. All right, John, we'll let you go get warm now. Take care. John King reporting live for us from Scranton, Pennsylvania, where President Bush is traveling this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com