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American Morning
Tough Stance on Iraq by President Bush
Aired March 07, 2003 - 07:31 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our top story. We want to get you back overseas now. That tough stance by the president now, what is Iraq's reaction to the statements last night that the president is convinced Iraq will not disarm and that he, the president, is ready to take the U.S. to war, with or without U.N. approval?
Let's pick it up with Rym Brahimi again at her post there in the Iraqi capital for more -- Rym, hello.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Bill.
Well, the Iraqis, some of them did hear what President Bush said. They heard it on international radio stations and at best they feel this is an attempt by the U.S. to impose a new resolution at the U.N. Security Council. At worst, they see it as a declaration of war. They now think that war is imminent.
Now, today's headlines in the newspapers, Bill, the president quoting President Saddam Hussein, saying -- this is a newspaper called "Al-Iraq" -- the president saying in the headline if the U.S. attempts to attack Iraq, it will be a foolish act. The president also saying that Iraqis will fight whether the U.S. does it alone or whether it comes under international cover.
Now, in the past week we have seen the president meeting with military commanders, broadcast on Iraqi TV, those meetings. The president yesterday warned the U.S. that it will not be able to force Iraq into submission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. SADDAM HUSSEIN, IRAQ: Iraq is not easy morsel. It is a harsh one that will harm the mouth of the one who likes to eat and it is too difficult to be slowed. But our responsibility towards humanity makes us advise our enemy. But by god, if they dare to attack Iraq, they will see days during which they wish they don't attack us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, today, as you know, Bill, is Friday. It's the Muslim day of rest. There were sermons at various mosques. One of the government run mosques a sermon there, the preacher was saying -- and this was broadcast on Iraqi TV, as well -- that Iraqis did not want war, but if they were forced to, they would fight and would look forward to getting rid of their life in which the U.S., the British and the Israeli leaders have been brought together -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, we expect to hear more on this al-Samoud missile program later today by Hans Blix at the U.N. But in the meantime, what are they saying on the Iraqi side right now regarding those?
BRAHIMI: Well, right here, Bill, we're expecting another series of al-Samoud missiles to be destroyed. Inspection activity does continue. At least two sites are being checked out today. The inspectors are also, of course, checking out now the various components of the Al Samoud 2 missiles, the engines, the warheads that have been previously tagged. They're now inventorying them to try and gather them together at a place where they will also be destroyed.
Now, so far, if you include yesterday's destruction of six Al Samoud missiles, a total of 34 such missiles have been destroyed. Now, Hans Blix has called that the sort of spectacular demonstration of Iraq's disarmament. That said, a lot of diplomats here don't expect the Blix report this evening at the U.N. Security Council to be anything else than mitigated, as it very often is.
That said, of course, a lot of people here will be waiting to see what Hans Blix says, even if, as I said to you earlier on, a lot of people here do think that the U.S. is prepared to go to war whether or not that report is positive -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Thanks, Rym -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Bill.
During his prime time news conference last night, President Bush said the choice between war or peace still lies with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to remind you that it's his choice to make as to whether or not we go to war. It's Saddam's choice. He's the person that can make the choice of war and peace. Thus far, he's made the wrong choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: So, did the president win more support for his case either at home or overseas?
Joining us now to analyze the news conference, two former presidential speechwriters, David Frum, who wrote for President Bush early on in his administration, and Michael Waldman, who was one of President Clinton's speechwriters.
Do you guys like each other?
DAVID FRUM, SPEECHWRITER, BUSH WHITE HOUSE: Well, we had sons in the same nursery school class. ZAHN: Oh, good.
FRUM: Washington's a village.
ZAHN: So I don't have to worry about war breaking out here, here this morning?
MICHAEL WALDMAN, SPEECHWRITER, CLINTON WHITE HOUSE: Just like Clinton and Dole. Just a few levels down.
ZAHN: That's right. Well, we'll give you 15 seconds to rebut what the other one's saying in our point/counterpoint this morning.
First off, do you think the president's performance or what he said was powerful enough to preempt what Hans Blix might say later today at the U.N.?
WALDMAN: I didn't think that the -- I thought the president was appropriately sober, but I didn't think he set out new information or set out new ground that would change people's minds. I'm a big fan of presidential press conferences. I think they're a way to get a lot of information out. But the president put almost no new information out and the press asked almost no probing questions that would have elicited that. So I didn't think it changed things very much.
ZAHN: What would you have asked the president last night?
WALDMAN: Well, just for one example, one of the reporters did remember to ask what are your estimates of the cost? And the president said well, we'll get around to that and when we are ready we'll let you know.
ZAHN: Well, he basically said he would ask for a supplemental...
WALDMAN: But I would certainly hope that...
ZAHN: ... authorization.
WALDMAN: Right. But I certainly would hope that with war perhaps days or hours away, they have a guess as to what it might cost and at some point they would share that information with the taxpayers. That kind of thing, that's not something that people should want to hide, but what you would want to put out in a press conference like that.
ZAHN: Was it irresponsible for the administration not to get that kind of information out there last night?
FRUM: Well, I don't think you want to put in the president's mouth a guess that you know is very likely going to be wrong. Wars are inherently unpredictable in their expense. The place to put that is in a memo from the budget director so if it turns out to be too high or too low, no one can say the president misled us or deceived us, because the information -- it's a guess.
The president, I thought, was very effective. He was effective, first of all, as Michael says, he was sober. He also went through a very methodical case of linking all of the pieces of the case one more time for -- and overseas, as well, as an American audience.
One thing, if we're offering helpful suggestions, the thing that I would have thought would have been appropriate, and I think it's an innovation that ought to be instituted, is the president ought to have made room to take one or two questions from a member of the foreign press. I think if there -- if you're looking for ways to say we do care what you think, to have somebody from Britain or France or Germany or Japan and to let them ask a question, I think, would have done a lot.
ZAHN: What about Michael's criticism, though, that we've heard a lot of what we had heard before, that no new ground was broken and the American public really didn't hear anything else they haven't heard if they've been watching the news or reading newspapers?
FRUM: But, you know, this is one where you are trapped a little bit, because there are two criticisms of President Bush. One is he hasn't begun to make the case and the other is he keeps saying the same old thing. But those can't both be true, that he has been making this case -- and he's making it now, I think, very much with an eye to a foreign audience, of starting with the predicates, framing the Blix question, here is what we want Blix to answer and then going through, here is the connection we see between Iraq and international terrorism, here is the connection we see between the security elements and the idealistic elements about Iraqi democracy.
ZAHN: The president made it quite clear that whether he has U.N. approval or not on a second resolution or amendment or whatever you want to call this thing they're going to be debating over the next couple of days, he is prepared to go it alone. But it is clear that this second resolution or piece of paper would give him some kind of political cover.
Did you learn anything new last night about how he faces that challenge?
WALDMAN: Well, he did say last night that whether or not we thought we would win, he was going to seek to bring that up for a vote on the Security Council and that was, I suppose, important information. You do see kind of a game of global chicken between the United States and its allies that's quite breathtaking. You don't see this kind of thing very much. You might see it in a subcommittee of the U.S. Congress on a bill nobody cares about, but on the U.N. Security Council on a matter of war and peace, it's quite unusual.
I think, if I could differ with my friend David, I think the president keeps saying the same thing and he has not, to a big part of the world, made the case. You know, I kind of am in the position of thinking this could be a war that is very necessary but that we are doing it in the worst imaginable way, finding a way to have the United States go to war against Saddam Hussein and have the entire world united against us. There's something about our language, there's something about the doctrines we've been putting out, there's something about the approach the United States has been taking that is alienating the very people who we should be wanting to be helping us.
And I think calling on international reporters would have been a good idea. Answering some of the questions that not just, you know, yammering members of the American press or people on the street, but the leaders of our allies are asking, that is something that the president could have put out. And I, you know, it was almost a weird time for a press conference. He would have been better off not saying anything than saying that.
ZAHN: Well, the timing of it certainly was no coincidence in advance of the very important reports we're going to hear today from Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei.
Frankly, I think there were a lot of women quite relieved that the president eventually called on a female correspondent last night.
True? It took a while to get to a woman correspondent.
FRUM: It took a while, but maybe without Helen Thomas there to ask the first one but...
ZAHN: You've got a good point there.
FRUM: That's right.
ZAHN: Michael Waldman, David Frum, thank you for both of your perspectives.
WALDMAN: Thank you.
FRUM: Thank you.
ZAHN: And glad you're friends now so we didn't have to worry about breaking up any fight over here.
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 7, 2003 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our top story. We want to get you back overseas now. That tough stance by the president now, what is Iraq's reaction to the statements last night that the president is convinced Iraq will not disarm and that he, the president, is ready to take the U.S. to war, with or without U.N. approval?
Let's pick it up with Rym Brahimi again at her post there in the Iraqi capital for more -- Rym, hello.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Bill.
Well, the Iraqis, some of them did hear what President Bush said. They heard it on international radio stations and at best they feel this is an attempt by the U.S. to impose a new resolution at the U.N. Security Council. At worst, they see it as a declaration of war. They now think that war is imminent.
Now, today's headlines in the newspapers, Bill, the president quoting President Saddam Hussein, saying -- this is a newspaper called "Al-Iraq" -- the president saying in the headline if the U.S. attempts to attack Iraq, it will be a foolish act. The president also saying that Iraqis will fight whether the U.S. does it alone or whether it comes under international cover.
Now, in the past week we have seen the president meeting with military commanders, broadcast on Iraqi TV, those meetings. The president yesterday warned the U.S. that it will not be able to force Iraq into submission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. SADDAM HUSSEIN, IRAQ: Iraq is not easy morsel. It is a harsh one that will harm the mouth of the one who likes to eat and it is too difficult to be slowed. But our responsibility towards humanity makes us advise our enemy. But by god, if they dare to attack Iraq, they will see days during which they wish they don't attack us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRAHIMI: Now, today, as you know, Bill, is Friday. It's the Muslim day of rest. There were sermons at various mosques. One of the government run mosques a sermon there, the preacher was saying -- and this was broadcast on Iraqi TV, as well -- that Iraqis did not want war, but if they were forced to, they would fight and would look forward to getting rid of their life in which the U.S., the British and the Israeli leaders have been brought together -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, we expect to hear more on this al-Samoud missile program later today by Hans Blix at the U.N. But in the meantime, what are they saying on the Iraqi side right now regarding those?
BRAHIMI: Well, right here, Bill, we're expecting another series of al-Samoud missiles to be destroyed. Inspection activity does continue. At least two sites are being checked out today. The inspectors are also, of course, checking out now the various components of the Al Samoud 2 missiles, the engines, the warheads that have been previously tagged. They're now inventorying them to try and gather them together at a place where they will also be destroyed.
Now, so far, if you include yesterday's destruction of six Al Samoud missiles, a total of 34 such missiles have been destroyed. Now, Hans Blix has called that the sort of spectacular demonstration of Iraq's disarmament. That said, a lot of diplomats here don't expect the Blix report this evening at the U.N. Security Council to be anything else than mitigated, as it very often is.
That said, of course, a lot of people here will be waiting to see what Hans Blix says, even if, as I said to you earlier on, a lot of people here do think that the U.S. is prepared to go to war whether or not that report is positive -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Thanks, Rym -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Bill.
During his prime time news conference last night, President Bush said the choice between war or peace still lies with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to remind you that it's his choice to make as to whether or not we go to war. It's Saddam's choice. He's the person that can make the choice of war and peace. Thus far, he's made the wrong choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: So, did the president win more support for his case either at home or overseas?
Joining us now to analyze the news conference, two former presidential speechwriters, David Frum, who wrote for President Bush early on in his administration, and Michael Waldman, who was one of President Clinton's speechwriters.
Do you guys like each other?
DAVID FRUM, SPEECHWRITER, BUSH WHITE HOUSE: Well, we had sons in the same nursery school class. ZAHN: Oh, good.
FRUM: Washington's a village.
ZAHN: So I don't have to worry about war breaking out here, here this morning?
MICHAEL WALDMAN, SPEECHWRITER, CLINTON WHITE HOUSE: Just like Clinton and Dole. Just a few levels down.
ZAHN: That's right. Well, we'll give you 15 seconds to rebut what the other one's saying in our point/counterpoint this morning.
First off, do you think the president's performance or what he said was powerful enough to preempt what Hans Blix might say later today at the U.N.?
WALDMAN: I didn't think that the -- I thought the president was appropriately sober, but I didn't think he set out new information or set out new ground that would change people's minds. I'm a big fan of presidential press conferences. I think they're a way to get a lot of information out. But the president put almost no new information out and the press asked almost no probing questions that would have elicited that. So I didn't think it changed things very much.
ZAHN: What would you have asked the president last night?
WALDMAN: Well, just for one example, one of the reporters did remember to ask what are your estimates of the cost? And the president said well, we'll get around to that and when we are ready we'll let you know.
ZAHN: Well, he basically said he would ask for a supplemental...
WALDMAN: But I would certainly hope that...
ZAHN: ... authorization.
WALDMAN: Right. But I certainly would hope that with war perhaps days or hours away, they have a guess as to what it might cost and at some point they would share that information with the taxpayers. That kind of thing, that's not something that people should want to hide, but what you would want to put out in a press conference like that.
ZAHN: Was it irresponsible for the administration not to get that kind of information out there last night?
FRUM: Well, I don't think you want to put in the president's mouth a guess that you know is very likely going to be wrong. Wars are inherently unpredictable in their expense. The place to put that is in a memo from the budget director so if it turns out to be too high or too low, no one can say the president misled us or deceived us, because the information -- it's a guess.
The president, I thought, was very effective. He was effective, first of all, as Michael says, he was sober. He also went through a very methodical case of linking all of the pieces of the case one more time for -- and overseas, as well, as an American audience.
One thing, if we're offering helpful suggestions, the thing that I would have thought would have been appropriate, and I think it's an innovation that ought to be instituted, is the president ought to have made room to take one or two questions from a member of the foreign press. I think if there -- if you're looking for ways to say we do care what you think, to have somebody from Britain or France or Germany or Japan and to let them ask a question, I think, would have done a lot.
ZAHN: What about Michael's criticism, though, that we've heard a lot of what we had heard before, that no new ground was broken and the American public really didn't hear anything else they haven't heard if they've been watching the news or reading newspapers?
FRUM: But, you know, this is one where you are trapped a little bit, because there are two criticisms of President Bush. One is he hasn't begun to make the case and the other is he keeps saying the same old thing. But those can't both be true, that he has been making this case -- and he's making it now, I think, very much with an eye to a foreign audience, of starting with the predicates, framing the Blix question, here is what we want Blix to answer and then going through, here is the connection we see between Iraq and international terrorism, here is the connection we see between the security elements and the idealistic elements about Iraqi democracy.
ZAHN: The president made it quite clear that whether he has U.N. approval or not on a second resolution or amendment or whatever you want to call this thing they're going to be debating over the next couple of days, he is prepared to go it alone. But it is clear that this second resolution or piece of paper would give him some kind of political cover.
Did you learn anything new last night about how he faces that challenge?
WALDMAN: Well, he did say last night that whether or not we thought we would win, he was going to seek to bring that up for a vote on the Security Council and that was, I suppose, important information. You do see kind of a game of global chicken between the United States and its allies that's quite breathtaking. You don't see this kind of thing very much. You might see it in a subcommittee of the U.S. Congress on a bill nobody cares about, but on the U.N. Security Council on a matter of war and peace, it's quite unusual.
I think, if I could differ with my friend David, I think the president keeps saying the same thing and he has not, to a big part of the world, made the case. You know, I kind of am in the position of thinking this could be a war that is very necessary but that we are doing it in the worst imaginable way, finding a way to have the United States go to war against Saddam Hussein and have the entire world united against us. There's something about our language, there's something about the doctrines we've been putting out, there's something about the approach the United States has been taking that is alienating the very people who we should be wanting to be helping us.
And I think calling on international reporters would have been a good idea. Answering some of the questions that not just, you know, yammering members of the American press or people on the street, but the leaders of our allies are asking, that is something that the president could have put out. And I, you know, it was almost a weird time for a press conference. He would have been better off not saying anything than saying that.
ZAHN: Well, the timing of it certainly was no coincidence in advance of the very important reports we're going to hear today from Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei.
Frankly, I think there were a lot of women quite relieved that the president eventually called on a female correspondent last night.
True? It took a while to get to a woman correspondent.
FRUM: It took a while, but maybe without Helen Thomas there to ask the first one but...
ZAHN: You've got a good point there.
FRUM: That's right.
ZAHN: Michael Waldman, David Frum, thank you for both of your perspectives.
WALDMAN: Thank you.
FRUM: Thank you.
ZAHN: And glad you're friends now so we didn't have to worry about breaking up any fight over here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
