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Bush Will Consult Allies Before Iraq Attack

Aired August 21, 2002 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush today promised to consult America's allies before any major new attack on Iraq, but ousting Saddam Hussein, he said, is in the interests of the world. The president spoke after a meeting in Texas of his top national security staff, a meeting in which Iraq supposedly never came up.
CNN's John King is live from Crawford, Texas, with more on this.

How can that happen when Iraq is so much in the headlines and we are hearing so many leaks out of the administration, John?

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it happens because the president of the United States has a number of other challenges he has to deal with and questions he has to answer. So as advertised, Mr. Bush says the subject of Iraq did not come up at all, even as he sat down with his top national security team, including the vice president; the general who runs the joint chiefs of staff; the general who runs missile defense program, and the defense secretary, Don Rumsfeld.

Mr. Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld joking after the meeting, Mr. Bush saying there is a churning in the news media focusing on Iraq. The defense secretary called it a frenzy. But even though Iraq did not come up at all in the meeting, Mr. Bush made clear that it is very much on his mind, and he said yes, it may not have been topic of this meeting, but that in past and in future sessions with the United States military, he will be talking about his policy, and a very public policy, of removing Saddam Hussein from power.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I need to do is to continue to, as we call it, consult with people who share our interests to make the world a safer place. And I will do so. The American people know my position, and that is is that regime change is in the interest of the world. How we achieve that is a matter of consultation and deliberation.

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KING: Mr. Bush saying that he is a patient man when it comes to this question. He also said, as you noted there, that he has not settled on the military as option.

But far away from Crawford, Texas, halfway across the world, in Kazakhstan, was General Tommy Franks. He is the general who would have to run any military operation against Iraq. He says diplomacy, consultation, that is the president's work; he understands what his orders are.

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GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I confine my efforts to the business of military planning and so that will be effort that I'll be about in the future, is conducting the planning that is necessary in order to be sure that our nation, the United States of America, and its allies, have credible options, which can be presented to the president.

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KING: In recent weeks, we have heard much criticism, some caution, from fellow conservative Republicans saying Mr. Bush appears to be in too much of a rush, that perhaps he hasn't made the case to the American people and key allies for a military confrontation with Saddam Hussein.

At this hour, in Houston, Texas, a fellow Texan, Tom DeLay, the number three Republican in the House of Representatives, is coming to the president's aid, Mr DeLay delivering a speech in which he makes the case that the case for removing Saddam Hussein is crystal clear -- carol.

LIN: Thank you very much, John King, live in Crawford, Texas.

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