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CNN Live Saturday

ElBaradei: Not Enough Cooperation From Iraq

Aired February 22, 2003 - 18:30   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N.'s chief nuclear weapons inspector says Baghdad is not cooperating enough with his teams. Mohamed ElBaradei says war is not inevitable but the world is getting impatient.
Senior White House Correspondent John King is at the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas where President Bush today made his impatience clear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The talks in Texas included a commitment from Spain to help sell a new Security Council resolution clearing the way for war with Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And it now faces a clear choice with all the world watching. The council will now show whether it means what it says.

KING: U.S. officials see a decisive three weeks ahead. The new resolution will be introduced next week, as early as Monday. Iraq faces a March 1 deadline to prove it will destroy prohibited missiles.

Chief Inspector Hans Blix is due to address the council on March 7 and the United States wants a vote on its new resolution soon after by the second full week of March.

JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Of course, time is not indefinite. We don't have much time.

KING: Iraq's Al Samoud 2 missiles and their rocket engines were deemed illegal by inspectors but Mr. Bush made clear even if Iraq destroys them it will be far from enough to meet the test of Security Council Resolution 1441.

BUSH: That resolution did not ask for hints of progress or minor concessions. It demanded full and immediate disarmament. That and that alone is the issue before the council.

KING: The weekend Bush-Aznar talks included a conference call with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Aznar later tried to address the overwhelming public opposition to war across Europe.

AZNAR (through translator): I hear many messages on unilateral actions but what I must say is that President Bush, the U.S. government, and all the allies are all working together in the framework of the United Nations.

KING: The White House sees Prime Minister Aznar as critical to selling the new resolution. He failed in an initial effort to win Mexico's support but says the lobbying might be easier once other Security Council members see the language.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And, as the U.N. debate intensifies, the president today predicting that Saddam Hussein will make some conciliatory gestures, or as the president put it, "play like he's going to disarm." But Mr. Bush made clear he believes there is no chance Saddam Hussein will comply with the U.N.'s demands and Prime Minister Aznar says the Security Council risks becoming a joke if it gives Iraq much more time - Carol.

LIN: John, we're about to talk to Jane Arraf in Ankara, Turkey about a new deal apparently which has been struck between the United States and Turkey, but I want to get reaction from you, if you have it, from the president and the White House to this deal.

KING: Well, the president was not asked about this today but Ari Fleischer, his press secretary, telling reporters the White House is optimistic that the deal will be formally announced within the next day or so.

Our understanding of it is the aid package is still the same size but the administration is taking some of the $6 billion in direct grants and frontloading the money, if you will, putting at least $1 billion up front right away so that Turkey can get a much bigger loan based on the $1 billion in U.S. cash. Turkey can then get a $10 billion loan.

The administration believes, Carol, by the beginning of the week we will finally have the path cleared for U.S. troops to go ashore in Turkey and begin building up a U.S. military presence on Turkish military bases - Carol.

LIN: Well, obviously is money talks, John, I mean is this a strategy that the Bush administration is planning on pursuing with other countries which might be stubborn about war with Iraq, checkbook diplomacy?

KING: Well, the administration would make the case in the case of Turkey that it did not increase the actual size of the package. It just was more creative in deciding how much of the money you could frontload. But certainly we have seen other examples of what you just called checkbook diplomacy.

There is generous U.S. assistance to Jordan right now and more to come, and there are some U.S. military operations and CIA operations, we are told, based out of Jordan. It is possible that other money could be used as well down the line.

In most cases, what the U.S. is offering is not straight up cash but security assurances to the Gulf nations like Qatar and Bahrain, U.S. troops in those countries and the commitment from the United States is to defend those countries, Kuwait another one, not only in the case of any Iraqi attack but down the line into the future as well.

LIN: And an expensive proposition it is. Thank you very much John King reporting live from Crawford, Texas.

All right, well let's go to Jane Arraf who's reporting now from Ankara. Jane, what do you know about the deal that has been struck between Turkey and the United States? As we understand it the Pentagon officials are hoping to start moving troops as soon as possible.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, as soon as possible still will probably mean at least a couple of days. Now, Turkish officials are telling us this evening that they plan to schedule a vote of parliament on Tuesday. Now, before they do that they actually have to pin down the details of this agreement.

As John described it, it is a pretty big package with a lot of details to pin down and it's not just the money. A lot of Turkish concerns center on what happens to the Kurds in Northern Iraq, how much power they'll have after any war, what sort of weapons they'll have, all in an effort to make sure that Iraqi Kurds do not get even more power.

Now, in terms of this vote, it's been a bit touch and go just getting this deal together. It's going to be even more so when it gets to parliament. The opposition has said that it will vote against it and some of the members of the ruling party have said they'll vote against it, so they do expect support to be able to get it through but it likely will be very close - Carol.

LIN: All right, what about public opinion in Turkey because, as I understand it, the vast majority of people there oppose military action against Iraq? So, how is that likely to influence parliament's decision on Tuesday?

ARRAF: It's had a huge effect. In fact, polls here are consistently running over 90 percent of Turks saying that they don't believe there should be a war.

Now, if it's put to them that there's going to be a war anyway and should Turkey be in or out, there's a stronger percentage that do actually feel, along with their government, that it's better for Turkey to have a say in those decisions and better to side with the United States than to be left on the sidelines but certainly it is a factor for parliament.

The other factor though is this is a very new government and this really probably will be its first real test. This government is only a little more than three months old. It's a party that has never had power before and it swept into power in a landslide election.

So, it hasn't been tested yet in a vote like this. It will be a huge test of party discipline and a test of whether these parliamentarians are listening to the public or whether they're going to listen to their party, which is telling them that if they want to stay in power and stay allied with the U.S., they have to vote for this - Carol.

LIN: Well, Jane, as we say in the United States, out of the frying pan and into the fire. We'll see what happens on Tuesday. Thank you very much, Jane Arraf reporting live in Ankara.

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 February 22, 2003 - 18:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N.'s chief nuclear weapons inspector says Baghdad is not cooperating enough with his teams. Mohamed ElBaradei says war is not inevitable but the world is getting impatient.
Senior White House Correspondent John King is at the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas where President Bush today made his impatience clear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The talks in Texas included a commitment from Spain to help sell a new Security Council resolution clearing the way for war with Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And it now faces a clear choice with all the world watching. The council will now show whether it means what it says.

KING: U.S. officials see a decisive three weeks ahead. The new resolution will be introduced next week, as early as Monday. Iraq faces a March 1 deadline to prove it will destroy prohibited missiles.

Chief Inspector Hans Blix is due to address the council on March 7 and the United States wants a vote on its new resolution soon after by the second full week of March.

JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Of course, time is not indefinite. We don't have much time.

KING: Iraq's Al Samoud 2 missiles and their rocket engines were deemed illegal by inspectors but Mr. Bush made clear even if Iraq destroys them it will be far from enough to meet the test of Security Council Resolution 1441.

BUSH: That resolution did not ask for hints of progress or minor concessions. It demanded full and immediate disarmament. That and that alone is the issue before the council.

KING: The weekend Bush-Aznar talks included a conference call with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Aznar later tried to address the overwhelming public opposition to war across Europe.

AZNAR (through translator): I hear many messages on unilateral actions but what I must say is that President Bush, the U.S. government, and all the allies are all working together in the framework of the United Nations.

KING: The White House sees Prime Minister Aznar as critical to selling the new resolution. He failed in an initial effort to win Mexico's support but says the lobbying might be easier once other Security Council members see the language.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And, as the U.N. debate intensifies, the president today predicting that Saddam Hussein will make some conciliatory gestures, or as the president put it, "play like he's going to disarm." But Mr. Bush made clear he believes there is no chance Saddam Hussein will comply with the U.N.'s demands and Prime Minister Aznar says the Security Council risks becoming a joke if it gives Iraq much more time - Carol.

LIN: John, we're about to talk to Jane Arraf in Ankara, Turkey about a new deal apparently which has been struck between the United States and Turkey, but I want to get reaction from you, if you have it, from the president and the White House to this deal.

KING: Well, the president was not asked about this today but Ari Fleischer, his press secretary, telling reporters the White House is optimistic that the deal will be formally announced within the next day or so.

Our understanding of it is the aid package is still the same size but the administration is taking some of the $6 billion in direct grants and frontloading the money, if you will, putting at least $1 billion up front right away so that Turkey can get a much bigger loan based on the $1 billion in U.S. cash. Turkey can then get a $10 billion loan.

The administration believes, Carol, by the beginning of the week we will finally have the path cleared for U.S. troops to go ashore in Turkey and begin building up a U.S. military presence on Turkish military bases - Carol.

LIN: Well, obviously is money talks, John, I mean is this a strategy that the Bush administration is planning on pursuing with other countries which might be stubborn about war with Iraq, checkbook diplomacy?

KING: Well, the administration would make the case in the case of Turkey that it did not increase the actual size of the package. It just was more creative in deciding how much of the money you could frontload. But certainly we have seen other examples of what you just called checkbook diplomacy.

There is generous U.S. assistance to Jordan right now and more to come, and there are some U.S. military operations and CIA operations, we are told, based out of Jordan. It is possible that other money could be used as well down the line.

In most cases, what the U.S. is offering is not straight up cash but security assurances to the Gulf nations like Qatar and Bahrain, U.S. troops in those countries and the commitment from the United States is to defend those countries, Kuwait another one, not only in the case of any Iraqi attack but down the line into the future as well.

LIN: And an expensive proposition it is. Thank you very much John King reporting live from Crawford, Texas.

All right, well let's go to Jane Arraf who's reporting now from Ankara. Jane, what do you know about the deal that has been struck between Turkey and the United States? As we understand it the Pentagon officials are hoping to start moving troops as soon as possible.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, as soon as possible still will probably mean at least a couple of days. Now, Turkish officials are telling us this evening that they plan to schedule a vote of parliament on Tuesday. Now, before they do that they actually have to pin down the details of this agreement.

As John described it, it is a pretty big package with a lot of details to pin down and it's not just the money. A lot of Turkish concerns center on what happens to the Kurds in Northern Iraq, how much power they'll have after any war, what sort of weapons they'll have, all in an effort to make sure that Iraqi Kurds do not get even more power.

Now, in terms of this vote, it's been a bit touch and go just getting this deal together. It's going to be even more so when it gets to parliament. The opposition has said that it will vote against it and some of the members of the ruling party have said they'll vote against it, so they do expect support to be able to get it through but it likely will be very close - Carol.

LIN: All right, what about public opinion in Turkey because, as I understand it, the vast majority of people there oppose military action against Iraq? So, how is that likely to influence parliament's decision on Tuesday?

ARRAF: It's had a huge effect. In fact, polls here are consistently running over 90 percent of Turks saying that they don't believe there should be a war.

Now, if it's put to them that there's going to be a war anyway and should Turkey be in or out, there's a stronger percentage that do actually feel, along with their government, that it's better for Turkey to have a say in those decisions and better to side with the United States than to be left on the sidelines but certainly it is a factor for parliament.

The other factor though is this is a very new government and this really probably will be its first real test. This government is only a little more than three months old. It's a party that has never had power before and it swept into power in a landslide election.

So, it hasn't been tested yet in a vote like this. It will be a huge test of party discipline and a test of whether these parliamentarians are listening to the public or whether they're going to listen to their party, which is telling them that if they want to stay in power and stay allied with the U.S., they have to vote for this - Carol.

LIN: Well, Jane, as we say in the United States, out of the frying pan and into the fire. We'll see what happens on Tuesday. Thank you very much, Jane Arraf reporting live in Ankara.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com