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CNN Live At Daybreak

President Bush's Ultimatum Last Night to Saddam Hussein

Aired March 18, 2003 - 05:33   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: As the showdown with Iraq nears a probable military resolution, we check the latest developments for you.
President Bush has given Saddam Hussein and his sons until Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern to leave Iraq or face an invasion. Baghdad has rejected that ultimatum. Turkey is now reconsidering allowing the U.S. to use its country as a staging area for an attack on Iraq. Turkey's cabinet plans to discuss an authorization measure today and parliament could take it up tomorrow. And the Pentagon says Iraq's Republican Guard is deploying in areas around Baghdad. U.S. officials say the move appears to be defensive, aimed at surviving the initial punishing air strikes.

Well, lives are on the line on both sides of the issue here. Thousands of coalition forces are awaiting the order to lock and load.

Our Senior White House Correspondent John King has details on President Bush's ultimatum last night to Saddam Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president gave Saddam Hussein one last chance to avert a war.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.

KING: That ultimatum gives Saddam until Wednesday night. Officials say war could begin any time after the deadline lapses and that Mr. Bush would deliver an Oval Office address after ordering troops into combat. The speech included a hopeful message to the Iraqi people.

BUSH: We will deliver the food and medicine you need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror. And we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free.

KING: And this blunt warning to the Iraqi military.

BUSH: Your fate will depend on your actions. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone.

KING: The United States, with more than 225,000 troops already deployed, will carry the overwhelming load in any war. But British troops also are on hand and Australia also says it will offer military assistance. Spain, Italy and Portugal back the U.S. position, as do Japan, Poland, Bulgaria and most of the new Eastern European democracies that were once part of the Soviet bloc.

But France, Germany, Russia and China are the major powers opposed to war with Iraq. Mexico refused to back the White House and Canada said Monday its troops would have no part in any war.

BUSH: These governments share our assessment of the danger, but not our resolve to meet it.

KING: The president warned the prospect of war in Iraq raised the likelihood of terrorist attack here at home and said the government is taking immediate measures to beef up airport and port security. Mr. Bush gave leading members of Congress a speech preview, and sources tell CNN the White House is poised to seek between $75 billion and $100 billion in emergency spending to pay for the war and its immediate aftermath.

Not long before the speech, one senior aide described the president as well aware of the gravity of the moment, but comfortable with the course he is on.

(on camera): Officials here have little doubt that the president's ultimatum will be ignored and that within days Mr. Bush will be ordering troops into combat to fulfill his promise that "the tyrant will soon be gone."

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we want to go overseas for a far different reaction to the president's speech.

Our Rym Brahimi is in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and brings us the story from there -- Rym, any update to the new information you had last half hour?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we are, indeed, having conflicting reports here over the expected arrival of the secretary general of the Arab League. Now, a short moment ago, officials from the foreign ministry said that he was on his way, expected at any time soon to land at Saddam International Airport. Well, we understand now that the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa is still in Cairo. Airport officials say that they're expecting that plane to land in an hour or so from now, or two hours from now. So, very conflicting reports.

Amr Moussa was here, as you know, visiting the president last year, in January of 2002, and then he was supposed to arrive on Friday with a delegation, including the foreign ministers of several Arab countries. That did not happen. The foreign ministry officials we spoke to didn't know, said they didn't know exactly why Amr Moussa would be coming to Baghdad and what he intended to do during this visit. We all, we were only told that the foreign minister of Iraq, Dr. Naji Sabri, intended to greet him at the airport. Now, that airport is going to be quite busy today. It's also the scene of the evacuation of international staff from the United Nations. Among them, of course, the inspectors. The inspection mission here had 134 staff until this morning, including 60 inspectors. Well, they've left. They left on a Boeing 727.

Let's listen to Hiro Ueki, famous last words from the spokesman of the inspection team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HIRO UEKI, UNSCOM SPOKESMAN: It's unfortunate that we have to leave now. I think we have done our part. Our job is unfinished, but I think all the inspectors and the support staff have done our best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRAHIMI: Iraqi officials say they're not happy about this development. They say the departure of the U.N. international workers was done under U.S. pressure. Iraqi people, however, see this as a clear sign that war is looming -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live for us from Baghdad this morning.

Thank you so much.

Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds are heading for the mountains now. They are afraid of what Saddam Hussein might do if there is a U.S.-led war.

CNN's Brent Sadler joins us from the Kurdish town of Erbil -- what's happening there, Brent?

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds have been heading for the mountains over the past 36 hours or so. And there was a big exodus again this morning, heading to safer areas. They're concerned most of all, they say, about the possibility of a chemical weapons attack.

I'm now joined by Fawzi Hariri, a spokesman for the

Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Are you surprised that so many people are getting out of the cities at this stage?

FAWZI HARIRI, KDP SPOKESMAN: I think not really because this area has, is the most vulnerable area for an attack by any chemical or biological weapons. And it's probably been the most neglected area by the international community in terms of providing any forms of protection.

SADLER: Are these people going to go to the borders of Iran and Turkey and create a massive exodus of refugees problem, as in '91? HARIRI: No. These people have already made plans over the past few months of renting accommodations in new villages that were rebuilt over the past 10 years or they're staying with relatives. So they will be at least 10, 15, 20 miles from the nearest border.

SADLER: But a sense of real foreboding I'm getting here today.

HARIRI: I think people are concerned. They are also joy at the fact that the president's speech was hopeful that within 48 hours, one way or the other, the issue of Iraq will be determined. But at the same time, they feel vulnerable, as I said, because they have been neglected really from any kind of protection that other neighboring countries with less potential of being attacked have been provided with.

SADLER: Now, there's no northern front, as we see it, on the ground today. What do you predict may happen between Iraqi forces just 20 minutes drive from where we're standing and the Kurdish forces, are we going to see clashes between Kurdish fighters and the Iraqis once the bombing starts, assuming it does?

HARIRI: Our view has always been that we will not get involved in the actual fighting if it wasn't coordinated with the allied international force. Now, the Iraqi Army on the lines have always advocated that they are not ready to fight for a dead, lost cause. So we are hoping that fighting will not take place and we would expect many of these soldiers, who are themselves really forced to be there, to actually surrender.

But we still wait to see what happens over the next 48, 72 hours.

SADLER: All right, Fawzi Hariri, thanks for joining us.

As he said there, we do expect in the first hours of a bombing campaign there to be mass surrenders of Iraqi troops along the border, as we saw back in the Kurdish uprising of 1991. What we see this morning from those Iraqi positions south of Erbil here, no real change in their status -- back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Brent Sadler, thanks for your live report. Appreciate it 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 March 18, 2003 - 05:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As the showdown with Iraq nears a probable military resolution, we check the latest developments for you.
President Bush has given Saddam Hussein and his sons until Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern to leave Iraq or face an invasion. Baghdad has rejected that ultimatum. Turkey is now reconsidering allowing the U.S. to use its country as a staging area for an attack on Iraq. Turkey's cabinet plans to discuss an authorization measure today and parliament could take it up tomorrow. And the Pentagon says Iraq's Republican Guard is deploying in areas around Baghdad. U.S. officials say the move appears to be defensive, aimed at surviving the initial punishing air strikes.

Well, lives are on the line on both sides of the issue here. Thousands of coalition forces are awaiting the order to lock and load.

Our Senior White House Correspondent John King has details on President Bush's ultimatum last night to Saddam Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president gave Saddam Hussein one last chance to avert a war.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.

KING: That ultimatum gives Saddam until Wednesday night. Officials say war could begin any time after the deadline lapses and that Mr. Bush would deliver an Oval Office address after ordering troops into combat. The speech included a hopeful message to the Iraqi people.

BUSH: We will deliver the food and medicine you need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror. And we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free.

KING: And this blunt warning to the Iraqi military.

BUSH: Your fate will depend on your actions. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone.

KING: The United States, with more than 225,000 troops already deployed, will carry the overwhelming load in any war. But British troops also are on hand and Australia also says it will offer military assistance. Spain, Italy and Portugal back the U.S. position, as do Japan, Poland, Bulgaria and most of the new Eastern European democracies that were once part of the Soviet bloc.

But France, Germany, Russia and China are the major powers opposed to war with Iraq. Mexico refused to back the White House and Canada said Monday its troops would have no part in any war.

BUSH: These governments share our assessment of the danger, but not our resolve to meet it.

KING: The president warned the prospect of war in Iraq raised the likelihood of terrorist attack here at home and said the government is taking immediate measures to beef up airport and port security. Mr. Bush gave leading members of Congress a speech preview, and sources tell CNN the White House is poised to seek between $75 billion and $100 billion in emergency spending to pay for the war and its immediate aftermath.

Not long before the speech, one senior aide described the president as well aware of the gravity of the moment, but comfortable with the course he is on.

(on camera): Officials here have little doubt that the president's ultimatum will be ignored and that within days Mr. Bush will be ordering troops into combat to fulfill his promise that "the tyrant will soon be gone."

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we want to go overseas for a far different reaction to the president's speech.

Our Rym Brahimi is in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and brings us the story from there -- Rym, any update to the new information you had last half hour?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we are, indeed, having conflicting reports here over the expected arrival of the secretary general of the Arab League. Now, a short moment ago, officials from the foreign ministry said that he was on his way, expected at any time soon to land at Saddam International Airport. Well, we understand now that the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa is still in Cairo. Airport officials say that they're expecting that plane to land in an hour or so from now, or two hours from now. So, very conflicting reports.

Amr Moussa was here, as you know, visiting the president last year, in January of 2002, and then he was supposed to arrive on Friday with a delegation, including the foreign ministers of several Arab countries. That did not happen. The foreign ministry officials we spoke to didn't know, said they didn't know exactly why Amr Moussa would be coming to Baghdad and what he intended to do during this visit. We all, we were only told that the foreign minister of Iraq, Dr. Naji Sabri, intended to greet him at the airport. Now, that airport is going to be quite busy today. It's also the scene of the evacuation of international staff from the United Nations. Among them, of course, the inspectors. The inspection mission here had 134 staff until this morning, including 60 inspectors. Well, they've left. They left on a Boeing 727.

Let's listen to Hiro Ueki, famous last words from the spokesman of the inspection team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HIRO UEKI, UNSCOM SPOKESMAN: It's unfortunate that we have to leave now. I think we have done our part. Our job is unfinished, but I think all the inspectors and the support staff have done our best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRAHIMI: Iraqi officials say they're not happy about this development. They say the departure of the U.N. international workers was done under U.S. pressure. Iraqi people, however, see this as a clear sign that war is looming -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live for us from Baghdad this morning.

Thank you so much.

Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds are heading for the mountains now. They are afraid of what Saddam Hussein might do if there is a U.S.-led war.

CNN's Brent Sadler joins us from the Kurdish town of Erbil -- what's happening there, Brent?

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds have been heading for the mountains over the past 36 hours or so. And there was a big exodus again this morning, heading to safer areas. They're concerned most of all, they say, about the possibility of a chemical weapons attack.

I'm now joined by Fawzi Hariri, a spokesman for the

Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Are you surprised that so many people are getting out of the cities at this stage?

FAWZI HARIRI, KDP SPOKESMAN: I think not really because this area has, is the most vulnerable area for an attack by any chemical or biological weapons. And it's probably been the most neglected area by the international community in terms of providing any forms of protection.

SADLER: Are these people going to go to the borders of Iran and Turkey and create a massive exodus of refugees problem, as in '91? HARIRI: No. These people have already made plans over the past few months of renting accommodations in new villages that were rebuilt over the past 10 years or they're staying with relatives. So they will be at least 10, 15, 20 miles from the nearest border.

SADLER: But a sense of real foreboding I'm getting here today.

HARIRI: I think people are concerned. They are also joy at the fact that the president's speech was hopeful that within 48 hours, one way or the other, the issue of Iraq will be determined. But at the same time, they feel vulnerable, as I said, because they have been neglected really from any kind of protection that other neighboring countries with less potential of being attacked have been provided with.

SADLER: Now, there's no northern front, as we see it, on the ground today. What do you predict may happen between Iraqi forces just 20 minutes drive from where we're standing and the Kurdish forces, are we going to see clashes between Kurdish fighters and the Iraqis once the bombing starts, assuming it does?

HARIRI: Our view has always been that we will not get involved in the actual fighting if it wasn't coordinated with the allied international force. Now, the Iraqi Army on the lines have always advocated that they are not ready to fight for a dead, lost cause. So we are hoping that fighting will not take place and we would expect many of these soldiers, who are themselves really forced to be there, to actually surrender.

But we still wait to see what happens over the next 48, 72 hours.

SADLER: All right, Fawzi Hariri, thanks for joining us.

As he said there, we do expect in the first hours of a bombing campaign there to be mass surrenders of Iraqi troops along the border, as we saw back in the Kurdish uprising of 1991. What we see this morning from those Iraqi positions south of Erbil here, no real change in their status -- back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Brent Sadler, thanks for your live report. Appreciate it 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