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American Morning
White House Turning Up Pressure on Iraq
Aired January 23, 2003 - 07:04 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 to account, but some key U.S. allies say now is not the time to attack Iraq and they say they will not go along with the U.S. if the U.S. plans to do that.
Suzanne Malveaux is standing by at the White House. She has a live update for us now.
Good morning -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
The White House position could not be clearer from President Bush yesterday in St. Louis on down. The question no longer whether or not Saddam Hussein is willing to comply, he is not. The question now is whether or not what is the United States and U.S. allies going to do about it?
The Bush administration is pushing members of the U.N. Security Council, including the naysayers, Germany and France, to, at the very least, acknowledge Iraq's defiance, at the most, to commit to military action against Saddam Hussein if necessary. The strategy here is that the Bush administration wants the U.N. Security Council to put their credibility on the line much as the president did on September 12.
In an op-ed page in "The New York Times" this morning, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice laying out the case saying "it is appropriate to ask 'has Saddam Hussein finally decided to voluntarily disarm?' Unfortunately, the answer is a clear and resounding no." She says "it's Iraq's obligation to provide answers. It is failing in spectacular fashion. It is a nation with something to hide. It should know time is running out."
The administration argues that the inspectors are working only in the sense that it's demonstrating that Saddam Hussein is not complying, but the Bush administration says if you need more evidence, it's on its way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: My belief that 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 things that have gone on inside of Iraq. And I hope that we will have the opportunity to present this in the debate that's coming up. We will be making more statements in the days and -- ahead after the inspectors have given their report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And after their report, Paula, the State of the Union Address, the president will outline the case against Saddam Hussein. We are told he will not declare war, but he will give details about why he believes Saddam Hussein is not complying -- Paula.
ZAHN: If you would walk us through the strategy we might see as unfold there is talk that the United States, and in particular the Bush administration, is so upset about the way France and Germany has dealt with this that they want them to, both of those countries, to make a public declaration that Iraq has defied the U.N. Security Council resolution. How do you expect that to play out?
MALVEAUX: Well that's absolutely right, the administration does want that. That'll be very interesting to see how it plays out. The administration has committed to going back and consulting with members of the U.N. Security Council. And at the very least, what they're hoping that if France says it's going to veto this measure of possibly a second resolution, perhaps they'll abstain, that that might be some sort of compromise.
But as you know, Paula, they need to make sure that all five members of the permanent -- permanent members of the U.N. Security Council do not veto and they need at least nine votes of approval to go ahead with military action. But the administration also maintains that it can do it without the approval of the U.N. Security Council with its own group of allies.
ZAHN: Suzanne Malveaux, go get warm. It looks freezing down there this morning.
MALVEAUX: Thank you.
ZAHN: Get a little bit later on 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 - 07:04 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 to account, but some key U.S. allies say now is not the time to attack Iraq and they say they will not go along with the U.S. if the U.S. plans to do that.
Suzanne Malveaux is standing by at the White House. She has a live update for us now.
Good morning -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
The White House position could not be clearer from President Bush yesterday in St. Louis on down. The question no longer whether or not Saddam Hussein is willing to comply, he is not. The question now is whether or not what is the United States and U.S. allies going to do about it?
The Bush administration is pushing members of the U.N. Security Council, including the naysayers, Germany and France, to, at the very least, acknowledge Iraq's defiance, at the most, to commit to military action against Saddam Hussein if necessary. The strategy here is that the Bush administration wants the U.N. Security Council to put their credibility on the line much as the president did on September 12.
In an op-ed page in "The New York Times" this morning, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice laying out the case saying "it is appropriate to ask 'has Saddam Hussein finally decided to voluntarily disarm?' Unfortunately, the answer is a clear and resounding no." She says "it's Iraq's obligation to provide answers. It is failing in spectacular fashion. It is a nation with something to hide. It should know time is running out."
The administration argues that the inspectors are working only in the sense that it's demonstrating that Saddam Hussein is not complying, but the Bush administration says if you need more evidence, it's on its way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: My belief that 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 things that have gone on inside of Iraq. And I hope that we will have the opportunity to present this in the debate that's coming up. We will be making more statements in the days and -- ahead after the inspectors have given their report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And after their report, Paula, the State of the Union Address, the president will outline the case against Saddam Hussein. We are told he will not declare war, but he will give details about why he believes Saddam Hussein is not complying -- Paula.
ZAHN: If you would walk us through the strategy we might see as unfold there is talk that the United States, and in particular the Bush administration, is so upset about the way France and Germany has dealt with this that they want them to, both of those countries, to make a public declaration that Iraq has defied the U.N. Security Council resolution. How do you expect that to play out?
MALVEAUX: Well that's absolutely right, the administration does want that. That'll be very interesting to see how it plays out. The administration has committed to going back and consulting with members of the U.N. Security Council. And at the very least, what they're hoping that if France says it's going to veto this measure of possibly a second resolution, perhaps they'll abstain, that that might be some sort of compromise.
But as you know, Paula, they need to make sure that all five members of the permanent -- permanent members of the U.N. Security Council do not veto and they need at least nine votes of approval to go ahead with military action. But the administration also maintains that it can do it without the approval of the U.N. Security Council with its own group of allies.
ZAHN: Suzanne Malveaux, go get warm. It looks freezing down there this morning.
MALVEAUX: Thank you.
ZAHN: Get a little bit later on 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
