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Bush: Attacks in Iraq Reaction to U.S. Success
Aired October 27, 2003 - 12:04 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush says the bombings are a desperate reaction to successes by the reconstruction effort.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is standing by at the White House, where Mr. Bush was briefed in person this morning by Iraq's American overseer -- obviously, L. Paul Bremer.
Kathleen -- what did he have to say?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, that meeting with Paul Bremer was supposed to focus on coalition progress in Iraq, but obviously there have been quite a number of setbacks over the last few days -- the Saturday rocket attack on Baghdad's Al Rashid Hotel, where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying. He was uninjured, but one U.S. colonel was killed, some 15 people were injured, and then today's car bombings.
So, the two obviously spent a great deal of time talking about security. President Bush called those behind today's attacks -- quote -- "cold-blooded killers and terrorists, who the U.S. will find them and bring to justice."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They hate freedom. They love terror. They love to try to create fear and chaos. And what we're determined in this administration is not to be intimidated by these killers. And, as a matter of fact, we're even more determined to work with the Iraqi people to create the conditions of freedom and peace, because it's in our national interests that we do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, President Bush said that a lot of potential U.S. targets in Iraq have already been hardened in order to protect them from any possible attacks. Obviously, one can expect to see more of that in the future.
And then, White House spokesman Scott McClellan briefed reporters a little bit later in the morning, pointing out that you can also expect to see some improvement and more focus on intelligence- gathering with the Iraqis in order to prevent these attacks from happening again in the future.
But both the president and his spokesman implied that they will likely continue, because both men insisted that every step toward normalcy and democracy in Iraq incites these so-called terrorists toward further violence -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Kathleen Koch at the White House. Kathleen, thank you.
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 October 27, 2003 - 12:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush says the bombings are a desperate reaction to successes by the reconstruction effort.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is standing by at the White House, where Mr. Bush was briefed in person this morning by Iraq's American overseer -- obviously, L. Paul Bremer.
Kathleen -- what did he have to say?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, that meeting with Paul Bremer was supposed to focus on coalition progress in Iraq, but obviously there have been quite a number of setbacks over the last few days -- the Saturday rocket attack on Baghdad's Al Rashid Hotel, where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying. He was uninjured, but one U.S. colonel was killed, some 15 people were injured, and then today's car bombings.
So, the two obviously spent a great deal of time talking about security. President Bush called those behind today's attacks -- quote -- "cold-blooded killers and terrorists, who the U.S. will find them and bring to justice."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They hate freedom. They love terror. They love to try to create fear and chaos. And what we're determined in this administration is not to be intimidated by these killers. And, as a matter of fact, we're even more determined to work with the Iraqi people to create the conditions of freedom and peace, because it's in our national interests that we do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, President Bush said that a lot of potential U.S. targets in Iraq have already been hardened in order to protect them from any possible attacks. Obviously, one can expect to see more of that in the future.
And then, White House spokesman Scott McClellan briefed reporters a little bit later in the morning, pointing out that you can also expect to see some improvement and more focus on intelligence- gathering with the Iraqis in order to prevent these attacks from happening again in the future.
But both the president and his spokesman implied that they will likely continue, because both men insisted that every step toward normalcy and democracy in Iraq incites these so-called terrorists toward further violence -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Kathleen Koch at the White House. Kathleen, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
