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U.S. Asks U.N. for Help
Aired September 03, 2003 - 13:03 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And there are some estimates that put it at $4 billion a month, because of growing concerns about all the costs, both in money and let's not forget lives, the U.S. is sending out an SOS. And that could lead to a greater role for the United Nations.
For details, let's bring in CNN's senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth.
Richard, are we going to have a replay of that pre-war debate?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We might, but it probably will be more low key and behind closed doors. The U.S. is already working on some type of resolution, getting ideas from other countries. It certainly doesn't want to have an open session repeat of some of the vitriol of February and March, though it may be too early to say that everything will be settled peacefully.
There's the British ambassador on the left and U.S. ambassador Negroponte last week on a meeting that dealt with Iraq and other international affairs.
But right now, everything's behind closed doors. Publicly today, it was Secretary of State Powell who has come out and given some outline of the resolution, which he says has received initial positive response, though he acknowledged the countries haven't really seen the full text.
Powell said it would be a multinational force called for in this resolution to police Iraq. One, though, that would have at the helm of the unified command, the United States.
Also, it would then speed up the political process to turn over to the Iraqis more of a role, giving them the road map, you might say, toward sovereignty.
Powell, in questioning with reporters in the State Department, acknowledged the dynamic of the U.S. being still the major superpower and the country that led the effort into Iraq and now still looking for other troops from other countries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SEC. OF STATE: Certainly the United States will continue to play a dominant role, dominant political role through the work of Ambassador Bremer and his coalition colleagues. And the dominant role because of the size of the U.S. force presence that is there, and the leadership we are providing to the effort.
But a dominant role doesn't mean the only role. There are many roles to be played. And we believe that every peace loving nation in the world, every nation would like to see a more stable Middle East, that would like to see a democracy arise in that part of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: But as you heard in what Secretary of State Powell was saying directly is that it's still going to be up to countries who are opposed the war to now be willing to contribute forces.
Many of those countries, France, Germany, will be very concerned about a U.S. military commander. It was different in Somalia, where at the beginning, primarily humanitarian mission.
Here, those countries stated their political views, that they didn't think the war was necessary. They want to give their weapons inspectors more time. So they might be interested in helping, but they want to see a time table, a firm time table for Iraqis to take control. And they want to, certainly behind the scenes, get a piece of any economic and business reconstruction that would take place.
Secretary Powell saying it's all an evolution process right now regarding this proposed resolution. It could take a few days or take more time. They're going to be seeking out especially the response of (unintelligible) other permanent four members of the Security Council.
Certainly, the United Kingdom would be on the U.S. side, but Russia, China and France are another story -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: CNN's Richard Roth at the United Nations. Thanks 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
Aired September 3, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And there are some estimates that put it at $4 billion a month, because of growing concerns about all the costs, both in money and let's not forget lives, the U.S. is sending out an SOS. And that could lead to a greater role for the United Nations.
For details, let's bring in CNN's senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth.
Richard, are we going to have a replay of that pre-war debate?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We might, but it probably will be more low key and behind closed doors. The U.S. is already working on some type of resolution, getting ideas from other countries. It certainly doesn't want to have an open session repeat of some of the vitriol of February and March, though it may be too early to say that everything will be settled peacefully.
There's the British ambassador on the left and U.S. ambassador Negroponte last week on a meeting that dealt with Iraq and other international affairs.
But right now, everything's behind closed doors. Publicly today, it was Secretary of State Powell who has come out and given some outline of the resolution, which he says has received initial positive response, though he acknowledged the countries haven't really seen the full text.
Powell said it would be a multinational force called for in this resolution to police Iraq. One, though, that would have at the helm of the unified command, the United States.
Also, it would then speed up the political process to turn over to the Iraqis more of a role, giving them the road map, you might say, toward sovereignty.
Powell, in questioning with reporters in the State Department, acknowledged the dynamic of the U.S. being still the major superpower and the country that led the effort into Iraq and now still looking for other troops from other countries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SEC. OF STATE: Certainly the United States will continue to play a dominant role, dominant political role through the work of Ambassador Bremer and his coalition colleagues. And the dominant role because of the size of the U.S. force presence that is there, and the leadership we are providing to the effort.
But a dominant role doesn't mean the only role. There are many roles to be played. And we believe that every peace loving nation in the world, every nation would like to see a more stable Middle East, that would like to see a democracy arise in that part of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: But as you heard in what Secretary of State Powell was saying directly is that it's still going to be up to countries who are opposed the war to now be willing to contribute forces.
Many of those countries, France, Germany, will be very concerned about a U.S. military commander. It was different in Somalia, where at the beginning, primarily humanitarian mission.
Here, those countries stated their political views, that they didn't think the war was necessary. They want to give their weapons inspectors more time. So they might be interested in helping, but they want to see a time table, a firm time table for Iraqis to take control. And they want to, certainly behind the scenes, get a piece of any economic and business reconstruction that would take place.
Secretary Powell saying it's all an evolution process right now regarding this proposed resolution. It could take a few days or take more time. They're going to be seeking out especially the response of (unintelligible) other permanent four members of the Security Council.
Certainly, the United Kingdom would be on the U.S. side, but Russia, China and France are another story -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: CNN's Richard Roth at the United Nations. Thanks 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
