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Bush Addresses Troops, Says War Going Well
Aired March 26, 2003 - 15:13 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR: President Bush left Washington today, went to MacDill Air Base down in Florida, where the central command is located, to rally the troops, but also to reassure -- I think you'd have to say -- an increasingly anxious American public that this war is going well.
Our senior White House correspondent John King joins us now.
John, the president is now on his way back to the White House. But he made it clear, again today, that the war is going well, but we're not at the end of it yet.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, the president's main goal today, to rebut the critics, the many critics who are questioning the U.S. war strategy at the one-week mark in this campaign.
You see President Bush and first lady Laura Bush right there, coming down the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. They are not coming back to the White House: destination now is Camp David.
Tonight, dinner with the closest U.S. ally in the war on Iraq, the British prime minister, Tony Blair. Talks into the night and then again tomorrow.
We are told three top priorities in those discussions: discussing the war strategy as the key battles around Baghdad take shape. Also, discussing efforts to speed up humanitarian aid into Iraq. Some progress on that front today, but not enough, aid groups say. And the one point of disagreement, at least minor disagreement, between the two leaders, the post-war role of the United Nations in Iraq.
Mr. Bush is known to be much more skeptical than Mr. Blair, who represents the European view that the United Nations should have a very quick and very robust role in administering post-war Iraq. The United States is quite skeptical about that. That's one point of contention between these two close allies.
Now you mentioned the president's trip. As we watch him here get onto Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base for the trip to Camp David. The trip earlier was to MacDill Air Force Base, which is the headquarters of the central command.
Mr. Bush warmly greeted by the families and the troops on-hand there, saluting the war effort underway in Afghanistan.
To those critics who say perhaps the United States underestimated the depths to which Iraq would resist, or perhaps overestimated its technological superiority on the battlefield, Mr. Bush said no, he believed the battle plan was being executed quite well. But he also did note the toughest fights perhaps just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our military's making good progress in Iraq, yet this war is far from over. As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the most desperate elements of a doomed regime. We cannot know the duration of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A rebuttal to the critics there.
Also, some time greeting the families. You see Mr. Bush getting lunch here at MacDill Air Force Base, spending some time with the troops. He was very warmly received. In addition to sitting down with the troops here, Mr. Bush also after his speech and here in the dining hall, shaking hands with troops and saying thank you along the way.
Some tough words in the Bush speech, as well. We have been tracking the reports and obviously watching the videos shown on Iraqi television of the prisoners of war inside Iraq and their treatment.
A stern warning from the president in the presence of those military families. He said the United States would do everything it could. But he also put Iraq on notice. He said to those Iraqi troops who might be mistreating captured U.S. and coalition forces that in his words, "the day of Iraq's liberation will also be a day of justice" -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: John, when you and I talked a little earlier, I was asking you about the White House reaction to polls showing that more Americans are concerned about the course of this war. And you said the White House, as much as anything else, is concerned about what the news media is reporting.
Are they really, at this point, upset with the media and what it's doing?
KING: Well, I wouldn't call it upset. They're just a bit exasperated. They recognize that we live in a world of 24-hour cable news, we live in a fast-food society and the American people are used to things being resolved quickly.
And they say that perhaps because of the success in the first Persian Gulf War, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan, and perhaps because of some of the lead-up speculation that Iraq wouldn't put up much of a fight, that the American people thought this would be over quickly. The administration says this could take several weeks, perhaps even a bit longer, in the initial combat phase. And so they're a bit exasperated that a week into it, when we see these skirmishes with Marines or some of these fire fights, that there seem to be criticism of the strategy.
They say yes, there are some nuisance disturbances, yes, they have had to adjust a little bit because of the resistance, especially of those paramilitary forces, but they insist here at the White House and at the Pentagon, that the overall battle plan is being implemented quite well.
Mr. Bush, in fact, was supposed to say today that the troops were ahead of schedule. He scratched that line out of his speech. Aides say he was simply being cautious in his public assessments, not that he in any way has any questions about either the plan itself or how it is being implemented in the field.
WOODRUFF: Interesting, just quickly, John, that they did share that with you, that he took the line out.
KING: And I bet they regret sharing it by this time of day.
WOODRUFF: All right, John King, at the White House. Thank you, John. And of course we'll be coming back to you in the hours to come.
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 March 26, 2003 - 15:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR: President Bush left Washington today, went to MacDill Air Base down in Florida, where the central command is located, to rally the troops, but also to reassure -- I think you'd have to say -- an increasingly anxious American public that this war is going well.
Our senior White House correspondent John King joins us now.
John, the president is now on his way back to the White House. But he made it clear, again today, that the war is going well, but we're not at the end of it yet.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Judy, the president's main goal today, to rebut the critics, the many critics who are questioning the U.S. war strategy at the one-week mark in this campaign.
You see President Bush and first lady Laura Bush right there, coming down the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. They are not coming back to the White House: destination now is Camp David.
Tonight, dinner with the closest U.S. ally in the war on Iraq, the British prime minister, Tony Blair. Talks into the night and then again tomorrow.
We are told three top priorities in those discussions: discussing the war strategy as the key battles around Baghdad take shape. Also, discussing efforts to speed up humanitarian aid into Iraq. Some progress on that front today, but not enough, aid groups say. And the one point of disagreement, at least minor disagreement, between the two leaders, the post-war role of the United Nations in Iraq.
Mr. Bush is known to be much more skeptical than Mr. Blair, who represents the European view that the United Nations should have a very quick and very robust role in administering post-war Iraq. The United States is quite skeptical about that. That's one point of contention between these two close allies.
Now you mentioned the president's trip. As we watch him here get onto Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base for the trip to Camp David. The trip earlier was to MacDill Air Force Base, which is the headquarters of the central command.
Mr. Bush warmly greeted by the families and the troops on-hand there, saluting the war effort underway in Afghanistan.
To those critics who say perhaps the United States underestimated the depths to which Iraq would resist, or perhaps overestimated its technological superiority on the battlefield, Mr. Bush said no, he believed the battle plan was being executed quite well. But he also did note the toughest fights perhaps just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our military's making good progress in Iraq, yet this war is far from over. As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the most desperate elements of a doomed regime. We cannot know the duration of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A rebuttal to the critics there.
Also, some time greeting the families. You see Mr. Bush getting lunch here at MacDill Air Force Base, spending some time with the troops. He was very warmly received. In addition to sitting down with the troops here, Mr. Bush also after his speech and here in the dining hall, shaking hands with troops and saying thank you along the way.
Some tough words in the Bush speech, as well. We have been tracking the reports and obviously watching the videos shown on Iraqi television of the prisoners of war inside Iraq and their treatment.
A stern warning from the president in the presence of those military families. He said the United States would do everything it could. But he also put Iraq on notice. He said to those Iraqi troops who might be mistreating captured U.S. and coalition forces that in his words, "the day of Iraq's liberation will also be a day of justice" -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: John, when you and I talked a little earlier, I was asking you about the White House reaction to polls showing that more Americans are concerned about the course of this war. And you said the White House, as much as anything else, is concerned about what the news media is reporting.
Are they really, at this point, upset with the media and what it's doing?
KING: Well, I wouldn't call it upset. They're just a bit exasperated. They recognize that we live in a world of 24-hour cable news, we live in a fast-food society and the American people are used to things being resolved quickly.
And they say that perhaps because of the success in the first Persian Gulf War, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan, and perhaps because of some of the lead-up speculation that Iraq wouldn't put up much of a fight, that the American people thought this would be over quickly. The administration says this could take several weeks, perhaps even a bit longer, in the initial combat phase. And so they're a bit exasperated that a week into it, when we see these skirmishes with Marines or some of these fire fights, that there seem to be criticism of the strategy.
They say yes, there are some nuisance disturbances, yes, they have had to adjust a little bit because of the resistance, especially of those paramilitary forces, but they insist here at the White House and at the Pentagon, that the overall battle plan is being implemented quite well.
Mr. Bush, in fact, was supposed to say today that the troops were ahead of schedule. He scratched that line out of his speech. Aides say he was simply being cautious in his public assessments, not that he in any way has any questions about either the plan itself or how it is being implemented in the field.
WOODRUFF: Interesting, just quickly, John, that they did share that with you, that he took the line out.
KING: And I bet they regret sharing it by this time of day.
WOODRUFF: All right, John King, at the White House. Thank you, John. And of course we'll be coming back to you in the hours to come.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
