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American Morning
President Bush Turning Up Pressure on Members of Security Council
Aired October 29, 2002 - 09:08 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: With a vote only days away, President Bush is turning up the pressure on members of the U.N. Security Council. The president is repeating his promise that the U.S. will lead a coalition against Iraq if the U.N. doesn't have what Mr. Bush calls the courage or the will to pass a tough, new resolution.
Richard Roth standing by now, live at the United Nations. Get with him in just a moment.
But first, we have reaction coming from Baghdad. Our Rym Brahimi is there. Rym, good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT; Good morning, Leon.
Well, here in Baghdad, as you can imagine, things are seen very differently. In fact, the Iraqi officials seem to say they don't think the U.S. has a coalition, except for Britain, of course. The position regarding resolution by the U.N. hasn't been clarified yet. We don't know what would happen if the resolution was adopted. Iraqi officials say it's too early to tell, and they'll cross that bridge when they get to it. They've been voicing strong opposition through the state-run media, and speaking at the Security Council, Leon, the foreign minister yesterday called the U.S. draft resolution an attempt to colonize Iraq. The state-run media is saying that Washington is exercising dictatorial approaches to its foreign policy, and within the Security Council, calling on the international community not to yield to that dictatorial approach, calling on the international community to support Iraq and not allow the United States to dominate the rest of the world -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you, Rym.
Rym Brahimi, reporting to us in late afternoon time there in Baghdad.
Let's go back there to New York and the U.N. Richard Roth standing by there.
Richard, how do you see things shaping up there?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the United States, Leon, needs at least nine votes in favor without any vetoes to get this resolution passed. It's been kicking around here for several weeks, though no vote is expected today, though the council at 5:00 will discuss matters at 5:00. Yesterday, Hans Blix, the U.S.'s chief weapons inspector, along with Muhammad Al-Baradei, to his right there, the leader of the International Atomic Energy Agency, they went before the council to kind of ease some fears among member countries of the U.N., regarding the new resolution and what the inspectors will need or what they will have to work under.
Later, Hans Blix was asked if the terms of this tough resolution could lead to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think the intention is in the draft resolution, as to many other statements that we heard to give very clear signals to what we can do, and to avoid what people have referred to as cat and mouse play, and in this, it is helpful. We have stressed, both of us, that it's just as important in clarity in the text and clarity in mandate is the readiness of the council to uphold the resolution and the priorities (ph) of the inspectors, that there will be no sort of fatigue in the maintenance, because then our authority would go down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The inspectors will not leave for Iraq until the resolution is passed. The U.S. may make more adjustments to the text following the briefing by Mr. Blix -- Leon.
HARRIS: Richard, I have to ask you, the support that the U.S. has been able to build to this point has been limited, and it's been coming haltingly, harsh words coming out of Washington right now. How is that playing there, and how is that affecting the process there of building any support?
ROTH: The council members have heard remarks from President Bush before. Many of them say, we only got this resolution a week and a half ago. The U.S. was discussing with Russia and France before that. They're not going to let him pressure them. They say it's a matter of war and peace, including the secretary-general. They worry about the morning after in Baghdad, what happens in the region, and that's why they want to take their time with this important resolution.
HARRIS: Richard Roth at the U.N. Thank you, Richard. We'll see you soon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Council>
Aired October 29, 2002 - 09:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: With a vote only days away, President Bush is turning up the pressure on members of the U.N. Security Council. The president is repeating his promise that the U.S. will lead a coalition against Iraq if the U.N. doesn't have what Mr. Bush calls the courage or the will to pass a tough, new resolution.
Richard Roth standing by now, live at the United Nations. Get with him in just a moment.
But first, we have reaction coming from Baghdad. Our Rym Brahimi is there. Rym, good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT; Good morning, Leon.
Well, here in Baghdad, as you can imagine, things are seen very differently. In fact, the Iraqi officials seem to say they don't think the U.S. has a coalition, except for Britain, of course. The position regarding resolution by the U.N. hasn't been clarified yet. We don't know what would happen if the resolution was adopted. Iraqi officials say it's too early to tell, and they'll cross that bridge when they get to it. They've been voicing strong opposition through the state-run media, and speaking at the Security Council, Leon, the foreign minister yesterday called the U.S. draft resolution an attempt to colonize Iraq. The state-run media is saying that Washington is exercising dictatorial approaches to its foreign policy, and within the Security Council, calling on the international community not to yield to that dictatorial approach, calling on the international community to support Iraq and not allow the United States to dominate the rest of the world -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you, Rym.
Rym Brahimi, reporting to us in late afternoon time there in Baghdad.
Let's go back there to New York and the U.N. Richard Roth standing by there.
Richard, how do you see things shaping up there?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the United States, Leon, needs at least nine votes in favor without any vetoes to get this resolution passed. It's been kicking around here for several weeks, though no vote is expected today, though the council at 5:00 will discuss matters at 5:00. Yesterday, Hans Blix, the U.S.'s chief weapons inspector, along with Muhammad Al-Baradei, to his right there, the leader of the International Atomic Energy Agency, they went before the council to kind of ease some fears among member countries of the U.N., regarding the new resolution and what the inspectors will need or what they will have to work under.
Later, Hans Blix was asked if the terms of this tough resolution could lead to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think the intention is in the draft resolution, as to many other statements that we heard to give very clear signals to what we can do, and to avoid what people have referred to as cat and mouse play, and in this, it is helpful. We have stressed, both of us, that it's just as important in clarity in the text and clarity in mandate is the readiness of the council to uphold the resolution and the priorities (ph) of the inspectors, that there will be no sort of fatigue in the maintenance, because then our authority would go down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The inspectors will not leave for Iraq until the resolution is passed. The U.S. may make more adjustments to the text following the briefing by Mr. Blix -- Leon.
HARRIS: Richard, I have to ask you, the support that the U.S. has been able to build to this point has been limited, and it's been coming haltingly, harsh words coming out of Washington right now. How is that playing there, and how is that affecting the process there of building any support?
ROTH: The council members have heard remarks from President Bush before. Many of them say, we only got this resolution a week and a half ago. The U.S. was discussing with Russia and France before that. They're not going to let him pressure them. They say it's a matter of war and peace, including the secretary-general. They worry about the morning after in Baghdad, what happens in the region, and that's why they want to take their time with this important resolution.
HARRIS: Richard Roth at the U.N. Thank you, Richard. We'll see you soon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Council>
