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Saddam Hussein's Government Accepts U.N. Resolution
Aired November 13, 2002 - 13:04 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: First up, "Showdown: Iraq." Saddam Hussein's government has accepted the new U.N. resolution to disarm and allow the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. The response from Baghdad was delivered to Secretary General Kofi Annan's office at the United Nations and it will undoubtedly be the topic when Annan meets with President Bush later this afternoon.
John King is live from the White House. John, I would think that the White House is not too surprised by this decision by Iraq?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Not too surprised at all, Marty. And let me tell you, what is raising eyebrows here at the White House is not that Iraq says it will accept the resolution, but a statement by its ambassador to the United Nations, as he announced that decision, saying Iraq has no fear of weapons inspectors because, in his words, Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction.
Now that Iraq has accepted the inspections teams, accepted the terms of the resolution, it now has about 24 more days to file a report with the United Nations detailing any weapons of mass destruction programs, any stockpiles in Iraq.
Delivering the official first White House reaction was the Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan, He says that statement from Iraq, that it has no weapons of mass destruction, makes that second deadline all the more important.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They have a 30-day deadline to list and disclose all of that information. I haven't seen the contents of the letter so I don't want to jump into what I haven't seen at this point. But it's been made clear, if there is false information, or omissions, then that would be considered a violation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A violation, of course, would give the United States, in the view of this White House, the right to launch military strikes. The White House will not say whether that would come at that point or whether the administration would then present its intelligence to the weapons inspectors and urge them to go to sites in Iraq where the United States believes there are stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. President Bush discussed this issue earlier in the day, before Iraq's decision was known. Mr. Bush made clear he will have no patience at all if Iraq tries to interfere with inspections. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Zero tolerance. That's about as plain as I can make it. We will not tolerate any deception, denial, or deceit. Period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the U.N. secretary general, as you noted, Kofi Annan, due here in just a couple of hours. He will meet with President Bush. U.S. officials say the president first and foremost, wants to thank Mr. Annan for getting the often disruptive views of those on the Security Council to the consensus, the unanimous resolution. And the president wants to discuss a very aggressive timetable for getting the inspection teams on the ground in Iraq and putting this new Iraqi commitment to comply with the terms of this resolution to a quick test.
Marty?
SAVIDGE: John, another subject that has reared its head, Osama bin Laden, what is the president saying about this tape?
KING: Well, what the president is saying is that he will not confirm that it is the voice of Osama bin Laden. But what he says is there is a very troubling message on this tape, and that the United States and other like-minded nations around the world need to realize there are continued threats, and the war on terrorism is and will be quite a long one. And senior officials telling us, Marty, that the CIA and others are reporting to President Bush that they believe this is the voice of Osama bin Laden. They believe this audio tape is authentic. They need to do some more checking, though, to make sure that it's not fabricated from prior statements. Most don't believe that, though. Early analysis is that it is the voice of Osama bin Laden and that least as of a few weeks ago he was alive.
SAVIDGE: John King, live from the White House, our thanks.
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 November 13, 2002 - 13:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: First up, "Showdown: Iraq." Saddam Hussein's government has accepted the new U.N. resolution to disarm and allow the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. The response from Baghdad was delivered to Secretary General Kofi Annan's office at the United Nations and it will undoubtedly be the topic when Annan meets with President Bush later this afternoon.
John King is live from the White House. John, I would think that the White House is not too surprised by this decision by Iraq?
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Not too surprised at all, Marty. And let me tell you, what is raising eyebrows here at the White House is not that Iraq says it will accept the resolution, but a statement by its ambassador to the United Nations, as he announced that decision, saying Iraq has no fear of weapons inspectors because, in his words, Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction.
Now that Iraq has accepted the inspections teams, accepted the terms of the resolution, it now has about 24 more days to file a report with the United Nations detailing any weapons of mass destruction programs, any stockpiles in Iraq.
Delivering the official first White House reaction was the Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan, He says that statement from Iraq, that it has no weapons of mass destruction, makes that second deadline all the more important.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They have a 30-day deadline to list and disclose all of that information. I haven't seen the contents of the letter so I don't want to jump into what I haven't seen at this point. But it's been made clear, if there is false information, or omissions, then that would be considered a violation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A violation, of course, would give the United States, in the view of this White House, the right to launch military strikes. The White House will not say whether that would come at that point or whether the administration would then present its intelligence to the weapons inspectors and urge them to go to sites in Iraq where the United States believes there are stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. President Bush discussed this issue earlier in the day, before Iraq's decision was known. Mr. Bush made clear he will have no patience at all if Iraq tries to interfere with inspections. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Zero tolerance. That's about as plain as I can make it. We will not tolerate any deception, denial, or deceit. Period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, the U.N. secretary general, as you noted, Kofi Annan, due here in just a couple of hours. He will meet with President Bush. U.S. officials say the president first and foremost, wants to thank Mr. Annan for getting the often disruptive views of those on the Security Council to the consensus, the unanimous resolution. And the president wants to discuss a very aggressive timetable for getting the inspection teams on the ground in Iraq and putting this new Iraqi commitment to comply with the terms of this resolution to a quick test.
Marty?
SAVIDGE: John, another subject that has reared its head, Osama bin Laden, what is the president saying about this tape?
KING: Well, what the president is saying is that he will not confirm that it is the voice of Osama bin Laden. But what he says is there is a very troubling message on this tape, and that the United States and other like-minded nations around the world need to realize there are continued threats, and the war on terrorism is and will be quite a long one. And senior officials telling us, Marty, that the CIA and others are reporting to President Bush that they believe this is the voice of Osama bin Laden. They believe this audio tape is authentic. They need to do some more checking, though, to make sure that it's not fabricated from prior statements. Most don't believe that, though. Early analysis is that it is the voice of Osama bin Laden and that least as of a few weeks ago he was alive.
SAVIDGE: John King, live from the White House, our thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
