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CNN Live At Daybreak
President Bush Suspends U.S. Sanctions on Iraq
Aired May 08, 2003 - 06:32 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: Lift the international sanctions. The United States, along with Britain and Spain, will introduce a Security Council resolution to end Iraq's oil-for-food program. But is the United Nations in the mood to cooperate?
Dana Bash live at the White House to tell us more about that.
Good morning -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, that's right. It is back to the United Nations for the Bush administration in terms of dealing with Iraq, but this time, as you mentioned, it is to propose a resolution that could come up perhaps as early as tomorrow, maybe next week. But that resolution would lift the economic sanctions that have been in place for more than a dozen years.
Yesterday, the president at a press conference with his top ally and co-sponsor of this resolution, Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, said that the reason that this is necessary is because the sanctions were put in place against the regime that just doesnt exist anymore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The regime that the sanctions were directed against no longer rules Iraq, and no country in good conscience can support using sanctions to hold back the hopes of the Iraqi people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Carol, we all remember how incredibly contentious the atmosphere was at the United Nations right before the war started with Iraq, the rift, really, between the U.S. and some of its allies there, like Russia and France.
The president and his top aides, including the secretary of state, yesterday sounded a very different tone. They sounded an optimistic tone in terms that the atmosphere will be going forward at the United Nations, saying that they believe that there is a lot of support for this resolution. There are some countries, like Russia, who would prefer to have a larger U.N. role in the future in terms of dealing with Iraq and its oil program and its humanitarian program, but they are pretty sure that they're going to go forward pretty quickly on this resolution. Now, in terms of trying to lead by example, the president did instruct the United States to lift some of its own sanctions on Iraq yesterday, some sanctions that didn't allow sending over even small sums of money. That has been lifted. Also, the U.S. humanitarian aid organizations have the ability to now get into Iraq and work there. Those are some of the sanctions that the president lifted yesterday.
And, Carol, just so you know, later today the president will continue his "thank-you tour." He met, of course, yesterday with the prime minister of Spain. Today, he will meet with the emir of Qatar and have some other meetings here to say thank you to the key countries that supported the U.S. in the war with Iraq -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I like that, the "thank-you tour." Thank you, Dana. Thanks for bringing us up-to-date.
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 May 8, 2003 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Lift the international sanctions. The United States, along with Britain and Spain, will introduce a Security Council resolution to end Iraq's oil-for-food program. But is the United Nations in the mood to cooperate?
Dana Bash live at the White House to tell us more about that.
Good morning -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, that's right. It is back to the United Nations for the Bush administration in terms of dealing with Iraq, but this time, as you mentioned, it is to propose a resolution that could come up perhaps as early as tomorrow, maybe next week. But that resolution would lift the economic sanctions that have been in place for more than a dozen years.
Yesterday, the president at a press conference with his top ally and co-sponsor of this resolution, Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, said that the reason that this is necessary is because the sanctions were put in place against the regime that just doesnt exist anymore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The regime that the sanctions were directed against no longer rules Iraq, and no country in good conscience can support using sanctions to hold back the hopes of the Iraqi people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Carol, we all remember how incredibly contentious the atmosphere was at the United Nations right before the war started with Iraq, the rift, really, between the U.S. and some of its allies there, like Russia and France.
The president and his top aides, including the secretary of state, yesterday sounded a very different tone. They sounded an optimistic tone in terms that the atmosphere will be going forward at the United Nations, saying that they believe that there is a lot of support for this resolution. There are some countries, like Russia, who would prefer to have a larger U.N. role in the future in terms of dealing with Iraq and its oil program and its humanitarian program, but they are pretty sure that they're going to go forward pretty quickly on this resolution. Now, in terms of trying to lead by example, the president did instruct the United States to lift some of its own sanctions on Iraq yesterday, some sanctions that didn't allow sending over even small sums of money. That has been lifted. Also, the U.S. humanitarian aid organizations have the ability to now get into Iraq and work there. Those are some of the sanctions that the president lifted yesterday.
And, Carol, just so you know, later today the president will continue his "thank-you tour." He met, of course, yesterday with the prime minister of Spain. Today, he will meet with the emir of Qatar and have some other meetings here to say thank you to the key countries that supported the U.S. in the war with Iraq -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I like that, the "thank-you tour." Thank you, Dana. Thanks for bringing us up-to-date.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
