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Iraqi Media Say Bush is Lying About Iraq
Aired January 22, 2003 - 07:07 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.
PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR: Now, meanwhile, in Iraq, the weapons hunt goes on. U.N. teams headed to at least four different sites today, including a chemical team which visited a complex south of Baghdad. That as President Bush, as John King reported, issues new warnings.
Let's talk about the mood in Baghdad this morning with Nic Robertson, who joins us from there.
Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, no official reaction to the words from President Bush, but certainly we read in the newspapers here, the newspapers, of course, very much reflecting the government thought.
One of the editorials in one paper saying that President Bush knows that he is lying, that he should be silent, he should be quiet, and that he should let the U.N. inspectors get on with their work.
The article says that President Bush knows Iraq doesn't have weapons of mass destruction and that the U.N. team should just carry on with their work without the pressure and without what this article called blackmail.
The last time an Iraqi official here spoke about the United States was yesterday. That was vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan. He was very critical of the United States administration.
That has been the position of the Iraqi officials all along here, certainly no comment, no response to President Bush at this time, but I think the position here, very clear, Paula.
ZAHN: But you don't really -- like you said, there's no official reaction to the president's speech. Are you inclined to think it's going to be just like every time the president has spoken?
ROBERTSON: That, I think, is very much what we can expect from here. There's been no change all along in the view here from Iraqi officials that the United States is just simply trying to manipulate the United Nations, trying to use Resolution 1441 to start some kind of war with Iraq.
That has been the position here and I don't expect to see any deviation from that.
However, there has been, as I say, no official response that one should wait -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, reporting from Baghdad this morning, thanks so much for that report.
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 22, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, ANCHOR: Now, meanwhile, in Iraq, the weapons hunt goes on. U.N. teams headed to at least four different sites today, including a chemical team which visited a complex south of Baghdad. That as President Bush, as John King reported, issues new warnings.
Let's talk about the mood in Baghdad this morning with Nic Robertson, who joins us from there.
Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, no official reaction to the words from President Bush, but certainly we read in the newspapers here, the newspapers, of course, very much reflecting the government thought.
One of the editorials in one paper saying that President Bush knows that he is lying, that he should be silent, he should be quiet, and that he should let the U.N. inspectors get on with their work.
The article says that President Bush knows Iraq doesn't have weapons of mass destruction and that the U.N. team should just carry on with their work without the pressure and without what this article called blackmail.
The last time an Iraqi official here spoke about the United States was yesterday. That was vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan. He was very critical of the United States administration.
That has been the position of the Iraqi officials all along here, certainly no comment, no response to President Bush at this time, but I think the position here, very clear, Paula.
ZAHN: But you don't really -- like you said, there's no official reaction to the president's speech. Are you inclined to think it's going to be just like every time the president has spoken?
ROBERTSON: That, I think, is very much what we can expect from here. There's been no change all along in the view here from Iraqi officials that the United States is just simply trying to manipulate the United Nations, trying to use Resolution 1441 to start some kind of war with Iraq.
That has been the position here and I don't expect to see any deviation from that.
However, there has been, as I say, no official response that one should wait -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, reporting from Baghdad this morning, thanks so much for that report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
