Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Bush Tells Saudi No Decision on Iraq

Aired August 28, 2002 - 07:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We move on now to Texas, where they're mending fences at the ranch, or at least trying to. President Bush has met in Texas with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Neither the president nor the prince is backing off of each position on Iraq, but it appears that they are trying to set a nicer tone.
Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, is standing by with more.

Suzanne -- good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, President Bush made his case for the need to oust Saddam Hussein before the Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar, at his Crawford ranch just yesterday. But Saudi officials are unmoved.

The president met with Prince Bandar for about an hour. They discussed a number of issues, including the war on terror, Middle East peace.

And on the issue of Iraq, the president stressed that no decision on military action has been made, that the Bush administration will continue to consult with its allies abroad on the best course of action in dealing with Iraq. And that weapons inspectors are only a means to an end, that Saddam must prove Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction, and that U.S. policy on Iraq's regime change stands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president made very clear, again, that he believes that Saddam Hussein is a menace to world peace, a menace to regional peace, and that the world and the region would be safer and better off without Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Saudi officials were not swayed by President Bush's argument.

And while a Saudi spokesperson said, yes, Saddam Hussein is a menace to the region, they said, military action would mean destabilizing the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ADEL AL-JUBEIR, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER: There is no country in the world that I know of that supports military action against Iraq at this time. Why is that such a surprise to people? The reason that's the case is because people believe that every option should be exhausted before the military option is used.

There is a process under way now. Let's see how that process goes, and let's build a case legally for it. We have not seen a case being built in terms of using force against Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, the Saudis argue that Saddam Hussein should be given one more chance to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq. The last time that happened was four years ago -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House -- Suzanne, thank you so much. We'll let you get in out of the rain this morning.

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