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American Morning

Bush Says Iraq Will be Disarmed One Way or Another

Aired February 27, 2003 - 08:04   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: More now on our top story. President Bush says Iraq will be disarmed one way or another and he said overthrowing Saddam Hussein would pave the way for peace in the Middle East.
Let's catch up with John King to see what the take there is in Washington the morning after -- good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.

On the one hand, the president insists he has not made a final decision to go to war in Iraq, yet in that speech last night, Mr. Bush laid out an agenda, an ambitious agenda for a post-war, post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and made clear in that speech that if there is a war, the goals go well beyond disarming the Iraqi regime, even well beyond regime change.

Mr. Bush says U.S. troops would stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to build a new and secure government. Mr. Bush says that government should be a democracy, although exactly what form it would take, the president says that's up to the Iraqi people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq's new government. That choice belongs to the Iraqi people. Yet we will ensure that one brutal dictator is not replaced by another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Critics in the region, including the Iraqi leader himself, would say this is an abuse of American power and an example of American arrogance, the United States thinking it can go into another country, a sovereign nation, and remove one government and replace it with another. Mr. Bush says, however, that this is necessary not only to free the Iraqi people from repression. Mr. Bush says a new Iraqi democracy would be a beacon of hope across the Middle East and, in his view, a gateway, perhaps, to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

The president laying out this ambitious agenda last night, in part to counter criticism in the region from Arabs and Muslims that the U.S. has some imperialist design on Iraq and that the U.S. is working in close concert with Israel -- Paula.

ZAHN: John, just a final thought about the impact the White House thought Saddam Hussein's interview might have with Dan Rather. We've heard, you know, some members of the administration say that this was pretty much a charm offensive, but filled with propaganda from Saddam Hussein. And yet you have weapons inspectors saying this morning the interview proved what a wily man this is and how effective he was on television last night, not wearing military garb but civilian clothes and that he came off maybe differently than some folks expected him to.

KING: Well, the conclusion here at the White House is that Saddam Hussein believes he can further stoke up the anti-war sentiment here in the United States and across Europe and elsewhere by giving interviews such as this. They believe that is the Iraqi leader's intent. U.S. officials say there are some things in that interview, like his apparent refusal to destroy those al-Samoud missiles, that if he sticks to that position, would help the U.S. in the end.

The bottom line here, Paula, is they watch these things. They closely analyze them. They say in the end, though, that President Bush puts absolutely zero stock in anything Saddam Hussein says and he believes the test should be what Iraq does. We'll see how the interview, though, and other comments by the Iraqi leader impact the biggest debate of all, the key debate at the United Nations Security Council.

ZAHN: Well, that's the debate we're keeping a very close eye on, indeed, throughout our corporation.

Thanks, John.

John King reporting from the White House.

Let's go back to Baghdad now, where Nic Robertson joins us -- good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, Iraqis will be able to see that interview with President Saddam Hussein made by CBS Anchor Dan Rather on Iraqi television tonight. They'll be able to weigh it up and analyze it for themselves and they'll be able to hear the Iraqi leader deny that he has any ties to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. SADDAM HUSSEIN, IRAQ: We have never had any relationship with Mr. Osama bin Laden and Iraq has never had any relationship with al Qaeda. And I think that Mr. Bin Laden himself has recently, in one of his speeches, given such an answer that we have no relation with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, the broadcast Iraqis were able to see on television last night had quite a different tone and message that people were able to see here. President Saddam Hussein met with the governors from around Iraq who said Iraq was ready to, ready and prepared should there be any invasion. And President Saddam had a very stark message for the people of Iraq. To ensure their safety from bombs, he said that they should dig trenches in their gardens and whenever there was bombing they should get into those trenches because only in there would they be safe, a very different message from the, a very different tone from the type of message he had in the meeting with Dan Rather.

Also, perhaps some progress here for the U.N. weapons inspectors. They have been destroying some mustard gas artillery shells. Now, that work had been put on hold because they couldn't get the mustard gas out of the shells. Now they've found a way of drilling into the shells, getting that out. But the big issue for the U.N. weapons inspectors here, that's the issue of will Iraq destroy those al-Samoud 2 missiles. U.N. spokesmen here saying still no movement on that issue -- Paula.

ZAHN: Nic Robertson, thanks for that

Live report from Baghdad.

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 February 27, 2003 - 08:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our top story. President Bush says Iraq will be disarmed one way or another and he said overthrowing Saddam Hussein would pave the way for peace in the Middle East.
Let's catch up with John King to see what the take there is in Washington the morning after -- good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.

On the one hand, the president insists he has not made a final decision to go to war in Iraq, yet in that speech last night, Mr. Bush laid out an agenda, an ambitious agenda for a post-war, post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and made clear in that speech that if there is a war, the goals go well beyond disarming the Iraqi regime, even well beyond regime change.

Mr. Bush says U.S. troops would stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to build a new and secure government. Mr. Bush says that government should be a democracy, although exactly what form it would take, the president says that's up to the Iraqi people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq's new government. That choice belongs to the Iraqi people. Yet we will ensure that one brutal dictator is not replaced by another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Critics in the region, including the Iraqi leader himself, would say this is an abuse of American power and an example of American arrogance, the United States thinking it can go into another country, a sovereign nation, and remove one government and replace it with another. Mr. Bush says, however, that this is necessary not only to free the Iraqi people from repression. Mr. Bush says a new Iraqi democracy would be a beacon of hope across the Middle East and, in his view, a gateway, perhaps, to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

The president laying out this ambitious agenda last night, in part to counter criticism in the region from Arabs and Muslims that the U.S. has some imperialist design on Iraq and that the U.S. is working in close concert with Israel -- Paula.

ZAHN: John, just a final thought about the impact the White House thought Saddam Hussein's interview might have with Dan Rather. We've heard, you know, some members of the administration say that this was pretty much a charm offensive, but filled with propaganda from Saddam Hussein. And yet you have weapons inspectors saying this morning the interview proved what a wily man this is and how effective he was on television last night, not wearing military garb but civilian clothes and that he came off maybe differently than some folks expected him to.

KING: Well, the conclusion here at the White House is that Saddam Hussein believes he can further stoke up the anti-war sentiment here in the United States and across Europe and elsewhere by giving interviews such as this. They believe that is the Iraqi leader's intent. U.S. officials say there are some things in that interview, like his apparent refusal to destroy those al-Samoud missiles, that if he sticks to that position, would help the U.S. in the end.

The bottom line here, Paula, is they watch these things. They closely analyze them. They say in the end, though, that President Bush puts absolutely zero stock in anything Saddam Hussein says and he believes the test should be what Iraq does. We'll see how the interview, though, and other comments by the Iraqi leader impact the biggest debate of all, the key debate at the United Nations Security Council.

ZAHN: Well, that's the debate we're keeping a very close eye on, indeed, throughout our corporation.

Thanks, John.

John King reporting from the White House.

Let's go back to Baghdad now, where Nic Robertson joins us -- good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, Iraqis will be able to see that interview with President Saddam Hussein made by CBS Anchor Dan Rather on Iraqi television tonight. They'll be able to weigh it up and analyze it for themselves and they'll be able to hear the Iraqi leader deny that he has any ties to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. SADDAM HUSSEIN, IRAQ: We have never had any relationship with Mr. Osama bin Laden and Iraq has never had any relationship with al Qaeda. And I think that Mr. Bin Laden himself has recently, in one of his speeches, given such an answer that we have no relation with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, the broadcast Iraqis were able to see on television last night had quite a different tone and message that people were able to see here. President Saddam Hussein met with the governors from around Iraq who said Iraq was ready to, ready and prepared should there be any invasion. And President Saddam had a very stark message for the people of Iraq. To ensure their safety from bombs, he said that they should dig trenches in their gardens and whenever there was bombing they should get into those trenches because only in there would they be safe, a very different message from the, a very different tone from the type of message he had in the meeting with Dan Rather.

Also, perhaps some progress here for the U.N. weapons inspectors. They have been destroying some mustard gas artillery shells. Now, that work had been put on hold because they couldn't get the mustard gas out of the shells. Now they've found a way of drilling into the shells, getting that out. But the big issue for the U.N. weapons inspectors here, that's the issue of will Iraq destroy those al-Samoud 2 missiles. U.N. spokesmen here saying still no movement on that issue -- Paula.

ZAHN: Nic Robertson, thanks for that

Live report from Baghdad.

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