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CNN Live Saturday
Can Iraq Become Political Problem for Bush?
Aired June 21, 2003 - 16:04 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is still riding high in the polls, even though Americans are still dying in Iraq and Saddam Hussein and the banned weapons of mass destruction remain absent. Could Mr. Bush's credibility on Iraq become a political problem for him? CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux looks into that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thursday night in the central Iraqi town of Fallujah, Islamic fighters fire rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. soldiers, injuring two. The same day, in a separate attack, another grenade kills an American ambulance driver 20 miles south of Baghdad.
Saturday, a group which claims no links to Saddam Hussein vows the killing will continue, until American soldiers leave Iraq. So far, more than 50 Americans have died in Iraq since President Bush declared major combat over. A little less than half of those from hostile action.
Now the Bush administration is on the defensive, eager to show it is confronting the problem. The president in his weekly radio address.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our military is acting decisively against these threats. In Operation Peninsula Strike and Operation Desert Scorpion, our forces have targeted Baath Party loyalists and terrorist organizations. In Baghdad, more than 28,000 American combat forces and military police are enforcing the law and arresting criminals.
MALVEAUX: While lawmakers are focusing on the issue of post-war casualties...
SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: Close to 200 have been killed, and 25 percent of them since the declaration that the major hostilities were concluded. We're very concerned in our committee, as I find colleagues throughout the Senate.
MALVEAUX: So far, no public outcry from American voters. But analysts and pollsters say if the death toll continues to climb, President Bush will begin to lose support for the war, and candidate Bush, engaged in record-breaking fund-raising, could lose support for a second term. NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: The last thing the Bush administration wants is to have the state of Iraq continue to be a festering problem as we head into the reelection campaign for George W. Bush next year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, today the United States's top civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, says that those responsible for the attacks, the resistance seems to be coming from small groups without a central command, but with U.S. intelligence assessments saying that Saddam Hussein is likely alive and in Iraq, the concern now is that this may bolster the confidence of those responsible for those attacks, that they believe that Saddam Hussein might return to power -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Now, Suzanne, let me ask you about casualties. Of course, no one wants casualties, but the White House had made it clear early on that there was an expectation that there would be some following this war. So the number that they've come across so far involving U.S. troops, is that number acceptable, or is that potentially dangerous for the White House?
MALVEAUX: Well, it's a very interesting situation, because before the war with Iraq, there were a lot of pollsters, they asked Americans what they thought would be an acceptable number. It's a strange question, I know, but a lot of Americans felt like perhaps 1,000 casualties in a situation like the one that we saw before, relative to that number it was really just several hundred. They do not believe that it's necessarily going to be a danger when you actually compare those numbers, but, again, pollsters also saying it really depends if Americans see that the broad picture, the main goal is being met here, that is that the Iraqi people also appreciate the fact that U.S. troops are there and that they've liberated those people as well -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux from the White House. Thanks very much.
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 June 21, 2003 - 16:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is still riding high in the polls, even though Americans are still dying in Iraq and Saddam Hussein and the banned weapons of mass destruction remain absent. Could Mr. Bush's credibility on Iraq become a political problem for him? CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux looks into that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thursday night in the central Iraqi town of Fallujah, Islamic fighters fire rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. soldiers, injuring two. The same day, in a separate attack, another grenade kills an American ambulance driver 20 miles south of Baghdad.
Saturday, a group which claims no links to Saddam Hussein vows the killing will continue, until American soldiers leave Iraq. So far, more than 50 Americans have died in Iraq since President Bush declared major combat over. A little less than half of those from hostile action.
Now the Bush administration is on the defensive, eager to show it is confronting the problem. The president in his weekly radio address.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our military is acting decisively against these threats. In Operation Peninsula Strike and Operation Desert Scorpion, our forces have targeted Baath Party loyalists and terrorist organizations. In Baghdad, more than 28,000 American combat forces and military police are enforcing the law and arresting criminals.
MALVEAUX: While lawmakers are focusing on the issue of post-war casualties...
SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: Close to 200 have been killed, and 25 percent of them since the declaration that the major hostilities were concluded. We're very concerned in our committee, as I find colleagues throughout the Senate.
MALVEAUX: So far, no public outcry from American voters. But analysts and pollsters say if the death toll continues to climb, President Bush will begin to lose support for the war, and candidate Bush, engaged in record-breaking fund-raising, could lose support for a second term. NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: The last thing the Bush administration wants is to have the state of Iraq continue to be a festering problem as we head into the reelection campaign for George W. Bush next year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, today the United States's top civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, says that those responsible for the attacks, the resistance seems to be coming from small groups without a central command, but with U.S. intelligence assessments saying that Saddam Hussein is likely alive and in Iraq, the concern now is that this may bolster the confidence of those responsible for those attacks, that they believe that Saddam Hussein might return to power -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Now, Suzanne, let me ask you about casualties. Of course, no one wants casualties, but the White House had made it clear early on that there was an expectation that there would be some following this war. So the number that they've come across so far involving U.S. troops, is that number acceptable, or is that potentially dangerous for the White House?
MALVEAUX: Well, it's a very interesting situation, because before the war with Iraq, there were a lot of pollsters, they asked Americans what they thought would be an acceptable number. It's a strange question, I know, but a lot of Americans felt like perhaps 1,000 casualties in a situation like the one that we saw before, relative to that number it was really just several hundred. They do not believe that it's necessarily going to be a danger when you actually compare those numbers, but, again, pollsters also saying it really depends if Americans see that the broad picture, the main goal is being met here, that is that the Iraqi people also appreciate the fact that U.S. troops are there and that they've liberated those people as well -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux from the White House. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
