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Bush Administration Confident It Made Right Decision on Iraq

Aired June 06, 2003 - 15:02   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, CNN ANCHOR: With me now for more on the Pentagon report and its findings, is our White House correspondent, Chris Burns. Chris, is there a contradiction here, first of all, and of course, what's the administration saying about all this?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, the administration is expressing confidence. The president made his way to Camp David this afternoon without making any comment about that issue, though the White House very much has been on the defensive in a number of cases because of that. The questions in this country, and outside of the country, as to whether there really were weapons of mass destruction when the U.S.-led coalition attacked Iraq.

Now a senior administration official is saying that the White House is confident that the president made the right decision on the right information, that there was no question that there was evidence of weapons of mass destruction programs. And now as far as actual weapons themselves, that's another question.

But the White House also saying that the United Nations, with its U.N. resolution, as well as the Congress backed up the idea of going after Iraq if they did not come through by showing what weapons of mass destruction programs they had. There is also, of course, debate on Capitol Hill, though, as to whether there should be a hearing on this whole issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think it's important if a nation goes to war, that the cause of war be established. And also, what it does is it informs us as to what would be the threshold for this administration going to war against anyone. And if they can't make this case that they were in fact well informed with respect to going to war against Iraq, then it kind of casts doubt as to their plans to attack any other nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: And also comment from the Republicans on the other side. I'm not sure if we have that byte. But also refuting and saying, well look, you have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to have seen that Saddam Hussein did have weapons programs and probably weapons of mass destruction.

Of course, the polls here in the states are indicating that Americans, a majority of Americans think that whether or not there weapons of mass destruction, that the attack and toppling the Saddam Hussein was justified, and so President Bush doesn't face very much fire on this end. However, his key ally in the war effort, Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, faces a lot of fire over there, and a possible parliamentary investigation on that. So very much an issue here that the White House is trying to refute.

Back to you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: And Chris, changing the subject, the president, of course, just back from the Middle East. Today, there was an important development over there. The militant Islam group, Hamas, is now saying it will have no dealings with the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas. The White House has to be concerned about this.

BURNS: Well, they're being very, very careful about this. Obviously they don't want to comment on every step of the way of what they hope will be a road to peace. There is that road map that they want to pursue, that President Bush just came back from that three-way Red Sea summit with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

They want to push through with that. However, this does, of course, come in the wake of a targeted duel, targeted killing by Israel against two Hamas militants. And the Hamas, then the next day, saying that they're breaking off any talks with the Palestinians on reaching some kind of a cease-fire.

But; however, the White House says, look, this group, Hamas, is a terrorist group. They have to be dismantled. In the words of one senior White House official, he says the groups that pursue terror are enemies of peace. So it does appear that the White House is taking a hard line against Hamas, whether or not they renounce violence. They still exist, and the White House believes they have to be dismantled. Judy?

WOODRUFF: All right. They know that one's going to be a long road. All right, Chris Burns at the White House. Thank you very much.

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




Iraq>


Aired June 6, 2003 - 15:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: With me now for more on the Pentagon report and its findings, is our White House correspondent, Chris Burns. Chris, is there a contradiction here, first of all, and of course, what's the administration saying about all this?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, the administration is expressing confidence. The president made his way to Camp David this afternoon without making any comment about that issue, though the White House very much has been on the defensive in a number of cases because of that. The questions in this country, and outside of the country, as to whether there really were weapons of mass destruction when the U.S.-led coalition attacked Iraq.

Now a senior administration official is saying that the White House is confident that the president made the right decision on the right information, that there was no question that there was evidence of weapons of mass destruction programs. And now as far as actual weapons themselves, that's another question.

But the White House also saying that the United Nations, with its U.N. resolution, as well as the Congress backed up the idea of going after Iraq if they did not come through by showing what weapons of mass destruction programs they had. There is also, of course, debate on Capitol Hill, though, as to whether there should be a hearing on this whole issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think it's important if a nation goes to war, that the cause of war be established. And also, what it does is it informs us as to what would be the threshold for this administration going to war against anyone. And if they can't make this case that they were in fact well informed with respect to going to war against Iraq, then it kind of casts doubt as to their plans to attack any other nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: And also comment from the Republicans on the other side. I'm not sure if we have that byte. But also refuting and saying, well look, you have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to have seen that Saddam Hussein did have weapons programs and probably weapons of mass destruction.

Of course, the polls here in the states are indicating that Americans, a majority of Americans think that whether or not there weapons of mass destruction, that the attack and toppling the Saddam Hussein was justified, and so President Bush doesn't face very much fire on this end. However, his key ally in the war effort, Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, faces a lot of fire over there, and a possible parliamentary investigation on that. So very much an issue here that the White House is trying to refute.

Back to you, Judy.

WOODRUFF: And Chris, changing the subject, the president, of course, just back from the Middle East. Today, there was an important development over there. The militant Islam group, Hamas, is now saying it will have no dealings with the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas. The White House has to be concerned about this.

BURNS: Well, they're being very, very careful about this. Obviously they don't want to comment on every step of the way of what they hope will be a road to peace. There is that road map that they want to pursue, that President Bush just came back from that three-way Red Sea summit with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

They want to push through with that. However, this does, of course, come in the wake of a targeted duel, targeted killing by Israel against two Hamas militants. And the Hamas, then the next day, saying that they're breaking off any talks with the Palestinians on reaching some kind of a cease-fire.

But; however, the White House says, look, this group, Hamas, is a terrorist group. They have to be dismantled. In the words of one senior White House official, he says the groups that pursue terror are enemies of peace. So it does appear that the White House is taking a hard line against Hamas, whether or not they renounce violence. They still exist, and the White House believes they have to be dismantled. Judy?

WOODRUFF: All right. They know that one's going to be a long road. All right, Chris Burns at the White House. Thank you very much.

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




Iraq>