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White House Talks With UN Weapons Inspectors on Iraq
Aired October 30, 2002 - 14:11 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The chief UN weapons inspector stopped by the White House today for talks about a mission that remains mostly hypothetical. CNN's Kelly Wallace has the latest on the talks, the mission and the patient waiting of the White House right now -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Marty, the waiting continues. The goal of the morning meetings though, White House officials say, to talk about ways to make an inspections regime more effective.
But this was also a strategic move by the White House, part of the ongoing efforts by the Bush administration to get support for a tough new UN resolution. As we know, President Bush wants this resolution to include -- quote -- "serious consequences if Iraq does not comply."
Now, it was really a full-court press earlier this morning. You had Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, and Muhammad Elbaradei -- he's the head of the International Atomic Energy -- meeting for about 10 minutes with President Bush.
They also spent some time with Secretary of State Colin Powell and with Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser. And then earlier in the morning, they had their own private session with Vice President Dick Cheney.
Now, the White House was very pleased with comments made by Dr. Blix earlier this week on Monday. And that is when Dr. Blix said he believed it would be -- quote -- "desirable" if Iraq gets the message that if it fails to cooperate with a new UN resolution, there would be reaction from the UN Security Council.
Now, we asked Ari Fleischer, the president's spokesman, if the president has asked Dr. Blix to convey that message to skeptical U.S. allies, such as the French. Fleischer said no. But clearly, the administration is hoping Dr. Blix' message, that there must be teeth in any new UN resolution, that that message gets out to skeptical allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's fair to say the inspectors don't want to be the cat in the cat and mouse game. They don't want to be the mouse in the cat and mouse game. They want to get run around. They want to be able to go in and do their jobs and disarm Saddam Hussein. Probably nobody is more committed to peace than the inspectors. And they know that, in order to secure the peace, they have to have the ability to do their job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Now, as for talks going on up at the United Nations, U.S. officials will only say that things are moving in the right direction. But they say differences remain. And we are hearing more and more talk about the "C" word, compromise.
A possible compromise that might allow the U.S. to convince the French and others to support this resolution would be that the Bush administration would say it would consult with the UN Security Council before pursuing any military action, but that it still believes it has the authority to act alone -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Kelly, while we've got you, let me ask you about this issue of war crimes charges, perhaps, against Saddam Hussein. What is the strategy here?
WALLACE: Well, the strategy, we know for the past few weeks that the State Department has been trying to pull together information about possible war crimes charges, allegations of war crimes that might have been committed by Saddam Hussein and his top advisers.
The strategy, though, as you're asking, it is a way to try and get a message to some of Saddam Hussein's closest advisers, that if they do pursue anything that the international community might view as a war crime, such as using chemical or biological weapons against other international forces or the Iraqi people, they will be held to account.
So the hope is that message gets to Saddam Hussein's people and they decide not to pursue that course, because they know they could face war crimes charges.
SAVIDGE: Got it. Kelly Wallace at the White House, thanks very much.
Aired October 30, 2002 - 14:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The chief UN weapons inspector stopped by the White House today for talks about a mission that remains mostly hypothetical. CNN's Kelly Wallace has the latest on the talks, the mission and the patient waiting of the White House right now -- Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Marty, the waiting continues. The goal of the morning meetings though, White House officials say, to talk about ways to make an inspections regime more effective.
But this was also a strategic move by the White House, part of the ongoing efforts by the Bush administration to get support for a tough new UN resolution. As we know, President Bush wants this resolution to include -- quote -- "serious consequences if Iraq does not comply."
Now, it was really a full-court press earlier this morning. You had Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, and Muhammad Elbaradei -- he's the head of the International Atomic Energy -- meeting for about 10 minutes with President Bush.
They also spent some time with Secretary of State Colin Powell and with Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser. And then earlier in the morning, they had their own private session with Vice President Dick Cheney.
Now, the White House was very pleased with comments made by Dr. Blix earlier this week on Monday. And that is when Dr. Blix said he believed it would be -- quote -- "desirable" if Iraq gets the message that if it fails to cooperate with a new UN resolution, there would be reaction from the UN Security Council.
Now, we asked Ari Fleischer, the president's spokesman, if the president has asked Dr. Blix to convey that message to skeptical U.S. allies, such as the French. Fleischer said no. But clearly, the administration is hoping Dr. Blix' message, that there must be teeth in any new UN resolution, that that message gets out to skeptical allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's fair to say the inspectors don't want to be the cat in the cat and mouse game. They don't want to be the mouse in the cat and mouse game. They want to get run around. They want to be able to go in and do their jobs and disarm Saddam Hussein. Probably nobody is more committed to peace than the inspectors. And they know that, in order to secure the peace, they have to have the ability to do their job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Now, as for talks going on up at the United Nations, U.S. officials will only say that things are moving in the right direction. But they say differences remain. And we are hearing more and more talk about the "C" word, compromise.
A possible compromise that might allow the U.S. to convince the French and others to support this resolution would be that the Bush administration would say it would consult with the UN Security Council before pursuing any military action, but that it still believes it has the authority to act alone -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Kelly, while we've got you, let me ask you about this issue of war crimes charges, perhaps, against Saddam Hussein. What is the strategy here?
WALLACE: Well, the strategy, we know for the past few weeks that the State Department has been trying to pull together information about possible war crimes charges, allegations of war crimes that might have been committed by Saddam Hussein and his top advisers.
The strategy, though, as you're asking, it is a way to try and get a message to some of Saddam Hussein's closest advisers, that if they do pursue anything that the international community might view as a war crime, such as using chemical or biological weapons against other international forces or the Iraqi people, they will be held to account.
So the hope is that message gets to Saddam Hussein's people and they decide not to pursue that course, because they know they could face war crimes charges.
SAVIDGE: Got it. Kelly Wallace at the White House, thanks very much.
