Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
President Bush Back in Washington
Aired August 31, 2003 - 10:06 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.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the situation in Iraq is among the pressing foreign policy issues greeting the president. He's now back in Washington. He's at church this morning after what the administration called a month-long working vacation in Texas.
CNN's John King is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and he's been following the president for the last month or so. But also, this issue with foreign policy, John, there's so many things which the wheels seem to be following off. Any indication there that administration may be changing tact?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. The administration says it will be determined and keep pressing forward, John. But look for the administration to face some tough questions in the coming week and weeks.
If the president pays any attention at all just to the Sunday news shows today, he will get a sense of the skepticism and the questions he will face as we go on. A key Democrat, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, among those seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, this morning saying he worries that the administration is so off course in Iraq that we could be heading toward a quagmire. He says Mr. Bush should have done and must now do more urgently to get more help from other countries on the ground inside Iraq. Even a key Republican, Senator Richard Lugar, of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, an ally of this president, says the administration has to make some difficult choices and will face some tough questions from Congress in the weeks ahead.
The president says the coalition effort is going well. He says you had to assume there would be some security problems in postwar Iraq. But the administration is changing tact somewhat in that it is trying to get the United Nations now to give its blessing to a multinational force so the administration can try to bring in help for the U.S. troops, get other countries to participate. But whether that effort will succeed is still in doubt because the administration is not willing to give the United Nations much more power. It will not give the United Nations any political power or any command and control over that security force.
So a big question as to whether the administration can sell it news plan in the United Nations. And as it tries to do that, tough questions coming from the Congress. Look for that to happen immediately. It's already happening out in the news cycle in the news shows today. It will happen when lawmakers get back on Capitol Hill later this week -- John. VAUSE: John, a couple of op-ed pieces in "The New York Times" today suggesting that a lot of these problems in Iraq and elsewhere are the result of bickering, if you like, between the Pentagon and the State Department. It's an old story, but how real is that assessment?
KING: Well, it is true that there have been tug of wars, if you will, at certain points, whether the issue is North Korea or whether the issue is Iraq. There have been disagreements. The State Department is much more open to involving the U.N. The Pentagon is very skeptical and reluctant to do so.
That is one of the reasons the United States refused to have a U.N. force, a U.N.-sanctioned and U.N.-commanded force after the war. It has never sought such a resolution, even now as it tries to get more international support because it faces the reality that U.S. troops are stretched are thin, many are tired. The president politically and from a military standpoint would like to rotate and bring some of those troops home. The only way to do that is to get more help.
So they are going back to the United Nations. But even as the president does that, the Pentagon is saying it will support that effort but only if a U.S. general is in charge. So certainly there have been disagreements on many of the policies in Iraq, in North Korea, two prime examples in may at the moment.
The president himself says he likes that. He likes disagreement and debate among his advisers. He wants everyone to share the opinion. He says in the end he makes the call. There are critics, though, who do say, John, that this administration seems confused at times.
VAUSE: John King reporting for us live this morning from the White House. Thank you, John.
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 August 31, 2003 - 10:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the situation in Iraq is among the pressing foreign policy issues greeting the president. He's now back in Washington. He's at church this morning after what the administration called a month-long working vacation in Texas.
CNN's John King is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and he's been following the president for the last month or so. But also, this issue with foreign policy, John, there's so many things which the wheels seem to be following off. Any indication there that administration may be changing tact?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. The administration says it will be determined and keep pressing forward, John. But look for the administration to face some tough questions in the coming week and weeks.
If the president pays any attention at all just to the Sunday news shows today, he will get a sense of the skepticism and the questions he will face as we go on. A key Democrat, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, among those seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, this morning saying he worries that the administration is so off course in Iraq that we could be heading toward a quagmire. He says Mr. Bush should have done and must now do more urgently to get more help from other countries on the ground inside Iraq. Even a key Republican, Senator Richard Lugar, of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, an ally of this president, says the administration has to make some difficult choices and will face some tough questions from Congress in the weeks ahead.
The president says the coalition effort is going well. He says you had to assume there would be some security problems in postwar Iraq. But the administration is changing tact somewhat in that it is trying to get the United Nations now to give its blessing to a multinational force so the administration can try to bring in help for the U.S. troops, get other countries to participate. But whether that effort will succeed is still in doubt because the administration is not willing to give the United Nations much more power. It will not give the United Nations any political power or any command and control over that security force.
So a big question as to whether the administration can sell it news plan in the United Nations. And as it tries to do that, tough questions coming from the Congress. Look for that to happen immediately. It's already happening out in the news cycle in the news shows today. It will happen when lawmakers get back on Capitol Hill later this week -- John. VAUSE: John, a couple of op-ed pieces in "The New York Times" today suggesting that a lot of these problems in Iraq and elsewhere are the result of bickering, if you like, between the Pentagon and the State Department. It's an old story, but how real is that assessment?
KING: Well, it is true that there have been tug of wars, if you will, at certain points, whether the issue is North Korea or whether the issue is Iraq. There have been disagreements. The State Department is much more open to involving the U.N. The Pentagon is very skeptical and reluctant to do so.
That is one of the reasons the United States refused to have a U.N. force, a U.N.-sanctioned and U.N.-commanded force after the war. It has never sought such a resolution, even now as it tries to get more international support because it faces the reality that U.S. troops are stretched are thin, many are tired. The president politically and from a military standpoint would like to rotate and bring some of those troops home. The only way to do that is to get more help.
So they are going back to the United Nations. But even as the president does that, the Pentagon is saying it will support that effort but only if a U.S. general is in charge. So certainly there have been disagreements on many of the policies in Iraq, in North Korea, two prime examples in may at the moment.
The president himself says he likes that. He likes disagreement and debate among his advisers. He wants everyone to share the opinion. He says in the end he makes the call. There are critics, though, who do say, John, that this administration seems confused at times.
VAUSE: John King reporting for us live this morning from the White House. Thank you, John.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
