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American Morning
White House Turning Up Pressure on Iraq
Aired January 23, 2003 - 09:04 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is turning up the pressure on Iraq. President bush says Saddam Hussein must be held accountable, but some key U.S. allies say now is not the time to attack Iraq, and they say they won't back the U.S. if it goes to war with Iraq now.
Let's check in with Suzanne Malveaux from the very latest at the White House.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
And the White House position could not be clearer from President Bush yesterday in St. Louis, Missouri on down. The question is no longer whether Saddam Hussein is going to comply, he is not. The question is, what is the United States and U.S. allies going to do about it? The Bush administration putting pressure now on members of the U.N. Security Council, even the naysayer, Germany and France, at the very least, to acknowledge Iraqi defiance, at the most commit to military action against Saddam Hussein if that is necessary.
The White House strategy here is to put creditability on the line of those members of the U.N. Security Council, just as the president had done September 12, when he called for U.N. resolution.
Today in the op-ed page of the "New York Times," Condoleezza Rice laying out the case, saying "It is Iraq's obligation to provide answer. It is failing in spectacular fashion. It is a nation with something to hide. It should know that time is running out. Now, the administration argues that inspectors are only working in the sense that it proves that Saddam Hussein is not willing to disarm. They say, though, however, if U.S. allies need more proof, they are now willing to give it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: My belief is we have more information and knowledge, much of it highly classified, that others do not have access to or at least say they are not aware of, of things that have gone on inside of Iraq. And I hope that we'll have the opportunity to present this in the debate that's coming up. We will be making more statements in the days ahead after the inspectors have given their report.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: And, Paula, the day after they give the report, that is when the president will deliver a State of the Union Address. We're told he's not going to declare war, but he is going to make his case why he believes Saddam Hussein has not complied, and that some sort of action needs to be taken -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Suzanne Malveaux, reporting from White House 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
Aired January 23, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The White House is turning up the pressure on Iraq. President bush says Saddam Hussein must be held accountable, but some key U.S. allies say now is not the time to attack Iraq, and they say they won't back the U.S. if it goes to war with Iraq now.
Let's check in with Suzanne Malveaux from the very latest at the White House.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
And the White House position could not be clearer from President Bush yesterday in St. Louis, Missouri on down. The question is no longer whether Saddam Hussein is going to comply, he is not. The question is, what is the United States and U.S. allies going to do about it? The Bush administration putting pressure now on members of the U.N. Security Council, even the naysayer, Germany and France, at the very least, to acknowledge Iraqi defiance, at the most commit to military action against Saddam Hussein if that is necessary.
The White House strategy here is to put creditability on the line of those members of the U.N. Security Council, just as the president had done September 12, when he called for U.N. resolution.
Today in the op-ed page of the "New York Times," Condoleezza Rice laying out the case, saying "It is Iraq's obligation to provide answer. It is failing in spectacular fashion. It is a nation with something to hide. It should know that time is running out. Now, the administration argues that inspectors are only working in the sense that it proves that Saddam Hussein is not willing to disarm. They say, though, however, if U.S. allies need more proof, they are now willing to give it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECY. OF STATE: My belief is we have more information and knowledge, much of it highly classified, that others do not have access to or at least say they are not aware of, of things that have gone on inside of Iraq. And I hope that we'll have the opportunity to present this in the debate that's coming up. We will be making more statements in the days ahead after the inspectors have given their report.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: And, Paula, the day after they give the report, that is when the president will deliver a State of the Union Address. We're told he's not going to declare war, but he is going to make his case why he believes Saddam Hussein has not complied, and that some sort of action needs to be taken -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Suzanne Malveaux, reporting from White House 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
