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CNN Live At Daybreak

Look at Timeline Facing Saddam Hussein

Aired March 05, 2003 - 05:32   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get right to the situation with Iraq and the time line facing Saddam Hussein. Today, the Organization of the Islamic Conference is meeting in emergency session in Doha, Qatar. The 56 member organization will try to find a way to avoid war. On Friday, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix makes his next and perhaps pivotal report to the Security Council. And then on Monday or Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council could vote on that U.S. resolution that might lead to war.
But nothing's a done deal yet, especially at the Security Council.

With more on the mood at the United Nations and the diplomatic efforts going on behind-the-scenes, let's check in with Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Security Council still remains divided over this proposed U.S. resolution.

(voice-over): At a monthly lunch for the Security Council with Secretary General Annan, the world's chief diplomat pleaded with both sides to come to some sort of agreement. Annan hopes that unity of the Council will be able to give some sort of international legitimacy to whatever happens.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Negroponte still defended the Washington resolution.

JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We've put down what we think to be a very reasonable resolution that concludes that Iraq is not complying with Resolution 1441 and prior disarmament resolutions. And we think that it's time for the Council to face that decision.

ROTH (on camera): Many countries disagree with the U.S. resolution and want to give this man, Hans Blix, and his inspectors more time to continue their efforts. Many people also think that a U.S. military assault on Iraq without authorization from the Security Council in a new vote would be disastrous for the United Nations as an organization. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: There are suggestions that if the Security Council does not vote for action, then its credibility would be mortally wounded. I tend to believe that if the Council were to manage to come together and resolve this crisis effectively and successfully, the credibility and the influence of the Council will be enhanced. ROTH: The U.S. insists time is running out. A Canadian compromise proposal does not seem to be making any traction here at the Council and Russia says it still has the right to use a veto, though so far it's not guaranteeing it.

Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: But the Bush administration is clearly growing impatient with the slow pace of progress on Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell indicates we may be getting closer to D-Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're not talking a long period of time. I don't want to get pinned down on days or weeks or a week, but certainly I think next week we would have to give very serious consideration as to what the next step should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The Bush administration is also thinking about giving Saddam Hussein an ultimatum before launching an attack.

We'll talk more about that in the next hour.

As a possible war with Iraq grows near, the voices of dissent get louder.

CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar got the message in three Arab lands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jordan spent the last Gulf War sitting on the fence and the next 10 years trying to build a better relationship with the U.S. Support for Saddam has, in most places, faded. But as even the government acknowledges, Jordan's people do not want this war.

MARWAN MUASHER, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We will not jeopardize our relations with the United States. On the other hand, it's going to be an extremely difficult position to defend in terms, in front of our public opinion.

MACVICAR: Especially in a country which believes the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is the central issue.

BASSEM AWADALLAH, JORDANIAN PLANNING MINISTER: People in the Arab world blame the unequivocal U.S. support for Israeli policies, right or wrong, which really help Israel to continue the occupation of Palestinian lands.

MACVICAR: And that support, they say here, leaves people questioning U.S. credibility and motives. DR. HISHAM BUSTANI, JORDANIAN DENTIST: Greater security for the American people by attacking Iraq? Tell me how.

MACVICAR (on camera): You don't feel that you would be safer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not really, considering that Israel is right on the other side.

MACVICAR (voice-over): As for U.S. claims that this war could help foster democracy...

FAWZI, JORDANIAN MERCHANT: Democracy never, never, never comes from outside.

MACVICAR: We had to go. We were overdue at the Syrian border. At Syria's foreign ministry we met Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, a key adviser to the president.

BOUTHAINI SHAABAN, SYRIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL: I fear that American people might suffer, you know, if a war in Iraq takes place, because terrorism would gain a more fertile soil.

MACVICAR: People are not very free to speak their minds here, but on the streets people echoed Dr. Shaaban.

SAWSAN ABU HARAF, MEDICAL STUDENT: I think America may face more terrorism. Maybe from the people of Iraq. They, the people of Iraq, they don't want to die.

MACVICAR: Our next stop, across one more border and into Lebanon, down into the now flooded plain of the Bekaa Valley. Syrian tank transports flashed by us on their way out of Lebanon, soldiers that had been in Lebanon since 1975.

(on camera): We're just coming into Beirut, a city that remembers and knows the consequences and costs of war all too well. This city was divided for years during a bloody civil war that pitted Christians against Muslims and left the center of the city literally a ruin.

SERGE HOCHAR, CHATEAU MUSAR VINEYARDS: There are some whites, yes, mostly red.

MACVICAR: In the mountains north of Beirut, we went to visit Serge Hochar, a Christian and Arab and a renowned wine maker.

HOCHAR: We are entering a world of risk at the global stage. This is why I say what happened to Lebanon might happen to the world.

MACVICAR: If there is war, it may unleash forces across the region, people here say, that bring changes and unintended consequences and it is very, very hard to see, they say, what good this war could do.

Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And this year's Ash Wednesday services take on an added significant with a possible war looming.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Rome with word on an appeal from Pope John Paul II -- Jim, what is he pleading for people to do?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is Ash Wednesday, a traditional day of prayer and penitence, the beginning of the Lenten season. And the pope says this Ash Wednesday 2003 people should be praying for peace given the state of the world these days. He's just held his general audience here, a normal Wednesday audience, at which his message was very much geared toward peace. He said everyone has to knowingly assume their responsibility and make a common effort to spare humanity another dramatic conflict.

And he said in polish -- he spoke in about 10 different languages this morning -- he said in polish that when we're talking about questions of peace, it's never too late for dialogue.

The pope has been thoroughly engaged in this battle to avoid war with Iraq. He has been, over the last few days, sending his envoys out, for example. Roget Etchegary, the cardinal from France, went to Baghdad and met with Saddam Hussein personally. Later today, Pio Laghi, the former Vatican ambassador to the United States and a good friend of the Bush family will be meeting with President Bush and holding a mass in Washington, D.C.

And then, of course, there has been a steady stream of visitors to the offices of the pope here in the Vatican, as everyone has come through seeking what I guess you might call a little reflective morality. The pope, of course, will not bless those who want to, whose efforts are geared towards war in Iraq, not bless their ideas, anyway, of going to war in Iraq, because the pope doesn't buy into the argument there is such a thing as preventive war. He's not a pacifist, say those around him, but he is just against the idea of war right now. He said there's nothing that justifies war against Iraq right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Bittermann reporting live from the Vatican this morning.

Many thanks to you.

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 March 5, 2003 - 05:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get right to the situation with Iraq and the time line facing Saddam Hussein. Today, the Organization of the Islamic Conference is meeting in emergency session in Doha, Qatar. The 56 member organization will try to find a way to avoid war. On Friday, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix makes his next and perhaps pivotal report to the Security Council. And then on Monday or Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council could vote on that U.S. resolution that might lead to war.
But nothing's a done deal yet, especially at the Security Council.

With more on the mood at the United Nations and the diplomatic efforts going on behind-the-scenes, let's check in with Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Security Council still remains divided over this proposed U.S. resolution.

(voice-over): At a monthly lunch for the Security Council with Secretary General Annan, the world's chief diplomat pleaded with both sides to come to some sort of agreement. Annan hopes that unity of the Council will be able to give some sort of international legitimacy to whatever happens.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Negroponte still defended the Washington resolution.

JOHN NEGROPONTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We've put down what we think to be a very reasonable resolution that concludes that Iraq is not complying with Resolution 1441 and prior disarmament resolutions. And we think that it's time for the Council to face that decision.

ROTH (on camera): Many countries disagree with the U.S. resolution and want to give this man, Hans Blix, and his inspectors more time to continue their efforts. Many people also think that a U.S. military assault on Iraq without authorization from the Security Council in a new vote would be disastrous for the United Nations as an organization. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: There are suggestions that if the Security Council does not vote for action, then its credibility would be mortally wounded. I tend to believe that if the Council were to manage to come together and resolve this crisis effectively and successfully, the credibility and the influence of the Council will be enhanced. ROTH: The U.S. insists time is running out. A Canadian compromise proposal does not seem to be making any traction here at the Council and Russia says it still has the right to use a veto, though so far it's not guaranteeing it.

Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: But the Bush administration is clearly growing impatient with the slow pace of progress on Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell indicates we may be getting closer to D-Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're not talking a long period of time. I don't want to get pinned down on days or weeks or a week, but certainly I think next week we would have to give very serious consideration as to what the next step should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The Bush administration is also thinking about giving Saddam Hussein an ultimatum before launching an attack.

We'll talk more about that in the next hour.

As a possible war with Iraq grows near, the voices of dissent get louder.

CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar got the message in three Arab lands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jordan spent the last Gulf War sitting on the fence and the next 10 years trying to build a better relationship with the U.S. Support for Saddam has, in most places, faded. But as even the government acknowledges, Jordan's people do not want this war.

MARWAN MUASHER, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We will not jeopardize our relations with the United States. On the other hand, it's going to be an extremely difficult position to defend in terms, in front of our public opinion.

MACVICAR: Especially in a country which believes the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is the central issue.

BASSEM AWADALLAH, JORDANIAN PLANNING MINISTER: People in the Arab world blame the unequivocal U.S. support for Israeli policies, right or wrong, which really help Israel to continue the occupation of Palestinian lands.

MACVICAR: And that support, they say here, leaves people questioning U.S. credibility and motives. DR. HISHAM BUSTANI, JORDANIAN DENTIST: Greater security for the American people by attacking Iraq? Tell me how.

MACVICAR (on camera): You don't feel that you would be safer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not really, considering that Israel is right on the other side.

MACVICAR (voice-over): As for U.S. claims that this war could help foster democracy...

FAWZI, JORDANIAN MERCHANT: Democracy never, never, never comes from outside.

MACVICAR: We had to go. We were overdue at the Syrian border. At Syria's foreign ministry we met Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, a key adviser to the president.

BOUTHAINI SHAABAN, SYRIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL: I fear that American people might suffer, you know, if a war in Iraq takes place, because terrorism would gain a more fertile soil.

MACVICAR: People are not very free to speak their minds here, but on the streets people echoed Dr. Shaaban.

SAWSAN ABU HARAF, MEDICAL STUDENT: I think America may face more terrorism. Maybe from the people of Iraq. They, the people of Iraq, they don't want to die.

MACVICAR: Our next stop, across one more border and into Lebanon, down into the now flooded plain of the Bekaa Valley. Syrian tank transports flashed by us on their way out of Lebanon, soldiers that had been in Lebanon since 1975.

(on camera): We're just coming into Beirut, a city that remembers and knows the consequences and costs of war all too well. This city was divided for years during a bloody civil war that pitted Christians against Muslims and left the center of the city literally a ruin.

SERGE HOCHAR, CHATEAU MUSAR VINEYARDS: There are some whites, yes, mostly red.

MACVICAR: In the mountains north of Beirut, we went to visit Serge Hochar, a Christian and Arab and a renowned wine maker.

HOCHAR: We are entering a world of risk at the global stage. This is why I say what happened to Lebanon might happen to the world.

MACVICAR: If there is war, it may unleash forces across the region, people here say, that bring changes and unintended consequences and it is very, very hard to see, they say, what good this war could do.

Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And this year's Ash Wednesday services take on an added significant with a possible war looming.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is in Rome with word on an appeal from Pope John Paul II -- Jim, what is he pleading for people to do?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is Ash Wednesday, a traditional day of prayer and penitence, the beginning of the Lenten season. And the pope says this Ash Wednesday 2003 people should be praying for peace given the state of the world these days. He's just held his general audience here, a normal Wednesday audience, at which his message was very much geared toward peace. He said everyone has to knowingly assume their responsibility and make a common effort to spare humanity another dramatic conflict.

And he said in polish -- he spoke in about 10 different languages this morning -- he said in polish that when we're talking about questions of peace, it's never too late for dialogue.

The pope has been thoroughly engaged in this battle to avoid war with Iraq. He has been, over the last few days, sending his envoys out, for example. Roget Etchegary, the cardinal from France, went to Baghdad and met with Saddam Hussein personally. Later today, Pio Laghi, the former Vatican ambassador to the United States and a good friend of the Bush family will be meeting with President Bush and holding a mass in Washington, D.C.

And then, of course, there has been a steady stream of visitors to the offices of the pope here in the Vatican, as everyone has come through seeking what I guess you might call a little reflective morality. The pope, of course, will not bless those who want to, whose efforts are geared towards war in Iraq, not bless their ideas, anyway, of going to war in Iraq, because the pope doesn't buy into the argument there is such a thing as preventive war. He's not a pacifist, say those around him, but he is just against the idea of war right now. He said there's nothing that justifies war against Iraq right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Bittermann reporting live from the Vatican this morning.

Many thanks to you.

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