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White House to Seek 2nd U.N. Resolution

Aired February 19, 2003 - 10:23   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: As usual, Iraq is front and center on the agenda at the White House this morning.
And our John King, senior White House correspondent, has just left the off camera briefing this there morning. Let's check in with him and see if there's been any developments to report yet.

Good morning, John. What's the word?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon.

The one significant development is the White House now confirming beyond any doubt at all that the United States will propose a second resolution to the United Nations Security Council. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer saying the question is still whether it will be proposed this week or next week. That resolution the United States will propose is whether Iraq is in continued material breach, and in the view of the White House, clear the way for possible military action.

Now we have been told that the administration wants a second resolution, and we also know that Great Britain very much wants a resolution. They have, though, in the public statements left a little bit of wiggle room. If they could not get the vote, there had been some wiggle room that the United States might in the end decide not to go forward with a second resolution. Ari Fleischer today, though, removing any doubt. He says the administration will propose a resolution. He says they're are still consultations with the exact language with Great Britain and conversations among other Security Council members to try to line up the vote. So it's still unclear to us whether that will come tomorrow or Friday, or slip into early next week.

And of note, Leon, is as the administration tries to round up the votes, some hardball politics here, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with a French radio station, says some nations are afraid to step up to the responsibility of enforcing the will of the international community. That a direct shot at the position of the government of France, which says it believes inspectors need more time and perhaps more resources in trying to roundup the votes for this tough new resolution, a very short resolution, we are told. The administration making the case that more time is not the solution, but proving that the world is ready to confront Saddam Hussein is -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, with those words there coming from the Secretary Powell there, John, it sounds as though the White House is not going to be changing its tact at all in the way it's dealing with the European matter, and the matter of the vibe that seems to be growing there in Europe.

KING: Not changing its tack. Certainly, you might see a case where the administration changes its timetable a little by allowing this debate to slip beyond the first week of March, perhaps by another week or so, if it believes would be the right course diplomatically, but no, the administration holding firm.

And we have seen, in recent days, the bitter debate over NATO's decision to finally give resources to Turkey to defend it in the event of war. Lord Robertson, the NATO secretary-general, will be here this evening the White House. President Bush will say thank you. But the administration says one lesson of that bitter debate, just over defending Turkey, is don't look for the administration to ask for any formal help from the full NATO alliance. If there is a war, the president will go country by country to line up those resources, not ask for any formal blessing, or especially any formal dedication of military hardware from the full NATO alliance.

HARRIS: Interesting.

Finally, John, let me ask you this, since you bring up Turkey, one of the issues that did come up in recent days was this matter of Turkey saying they would not necessarily allow U.S. troops on the territory and not on those bases there in Turkey for any staging to get troops into Iraq, and they wouldn't do so now unless the U.S. were to step up an aid deal with them, and President Bush said earlier that is not going to happen. Do we know whether or not that is still the case?

KING: You might call that more political hardball, Leon. Ari Fleischer saying this morning that it would be fair to say that the president made his final offer, and that it is now time for Turkey to take it or leave it, and the administration needs a decision in the next several days. Why within the next several days? There are thousands of troops and dozens of tanks and other military hardware on ships at sea that the administration believed were heading to Turkey for deployment there to possibly stage into Iraq.

This debate is simply about a few billion dollars right now. The administration says it needs a decision, because it needs to tell those ships where they should go to port.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, John. Good work. We'll seen you again in a few minutes. John King at the White House.

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 February 19, 2003 - 10:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: As usual, Iraq is front and center on the agenda at the White House this morning.
And our John King, senior White House correspondent, has just left the off camera briefing this there morning. Let's check in with him and see if there's been any developments to report yet.

Good morning, John. What's the word?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon.

The one significant development is the White House now confirming beyond any doubt at all that the United States will propose a second resolution to the United Nations Security Council. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer saying the question is still whether it will be proposed this week or next week. That resolution the United States will propose is whether Iraq is in continued material breach, and in the view of the White House, clear the way for possible military action.

Now we have been told that the administration wants a second resolution, and we also know that Great Britain very much wants a resolution. They have, though, in the public statements left a little bit of wiggle room. If they could not get the vote, there had been some wiggle room that the United States might in the end decide not to go forward with a second resolution. Ari Fleischer today, though, removing any doubt. He says the administration will propose a resolution. He says they're are still consultations with the exact language with Great Britain and conversations among other Security Council members to try to line up the vote. So it's still unclear to us whether that will come tomorrow or Friday, or slip into early next week.

And of note, Leon, is as the administration tries to round up the votes, some hardball politics here, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with a French radio station, says some nations are afraid to step up to the responsibility of enforcing the will of the international community. That a direct shot at the position of the government of France, which says it believes inspectors need more time and perhaps more resources in trying to roundup the votes for this tough new resolution, a very short resolution, we are told. The administration making the case that more time is not the solution, but proving that the world is ready to confront Saddam Hussein is -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, with those words there coming from the Secretary Powell there, John, it sounds as though the White House is not going to be changing its tact at all in the way it's dealing with the European matter, and the matter of the vibe that seems to be growing there in Europe.

KING: Not changing its tack. Certainly, you might see a case where the administration changes its timetable a little by allowing this debate to slip beyond the first week of March, perhaps by another week or so, if it believes would be the right course diplomatically, but no, the administration holding firm.

And we have seen, in recent days, the bitter debate over NATO's decision to finally give resources to Turkey to defend it in the event of war. Lord Robertson, the NATO secretary-general, will be here this evening the White House. President Bush will say thank you. But the administration says one lesson of that bitter debate, just over defending Turkey, is don't look for the administration to ask for any formal help from the full NATO alliance. If there is a war, the president will go country by country to line up those resources, not ask for any formal blessing, or especially any formal dedication of military hardware from the full NATO alliance.

HARRIS: Interesting.

Finally, John, let me ask you this, since you bring up Turkey, one of the issues that did come up in recent days was this matter of Turkey saying they would not necessarily allow U.S. troops on the territory and not on those bases there in Turkey for any staging to get troops into Iraq, and they wouldn't do so now unless the U.S. were to step up an aid deal with them, and President Bush said earlier that is not going to happen. Do we know whether or not that is still the case?

KING: You might call that more political hardball, Leon. Ari Fleischer saying this morning that it would be fair to say that the president made his final offer, and that it is now time for Turkey to take it or leave it, and the administration needs a decision in the next several days. Why within the next several days? There are thousands of troops and dozens of tanks and other military hardware on ships at sea that the administration believed were heading to Turkey for deployment there to possibly stage into Iraq.

This debate is simply about a few billion dollars right now. The administration says it needs a decision, because it needs to tell those ships where they should go to port.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, John. Good work. We'll seen you again in a few minutes. John King at the White House.

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