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American Morning
Like Father, Like Son?
Aired March 18, 2003 - 09:20 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: With America now on the brink of another war with Iraq, comparisons between the current president and his father, Bush 41, are inevitable. Of course it was January 16, 1991, when the president announced the U.S. was launching an attack against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War. How does that speech compare with what we heard last night from his son, George W. Bush? We've got the man to answer that question, Jeff Greenfield who has dropped by for a closer look now.
Good morning.
Let's talk of the similarities first.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: I think both Presidents Bush were at pains to say that this was not a precipitous act, that the United States had been patient. George Bush, the father, pointed to the fact that sanctions after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait had been in effect for five months, but they hadn't worked, because Saddam was still in Kuwait. George W. Bush said we have had a dozen resolutions at the U.N., we've had inspectors, hundreds of them, and our good faith, as he put it, has not been rewarded, because he's not disarmed.
I think it's also interesting, Paula, that both Presidents Bush -- I have to remember how to say that carefully -- pointed to bigger dangers than the immediate one. Obviously George W. Bush has been taking about the danger of an attack either by getting weapons from terrorist or by Saddam himself using weapons of mass destruction; we are not going to wait till that happens.
And even George Bush the father, while he was talking of the invasion of Kuwait, said that Saddam was trying to add to his arsenal of chemical weapon, the most dangerous weapon of all, nuclear weapons. Those are two examples of similarities, I think.
ZAHN: I think it's easier to say the Bush presidents and the brothers Bush.
On to the issue of the key differences in the speeches?
GREENFIELD: Yes. I think the most obvious one, you and jack talked about it a few minutes ago, is the nature of who's with us. This is what George W. Bush said last night about the United Nations.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, listen to what George Bush the father said when he talked about Saddam's intentions leading up to first Gulf War.
Here's the father in 1991.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He tried to make this a dispute between Iraq and the United States of America. Well, he failed. Tonight, 28 nations, countries from five continents, Europe and Asia, Africa and the Arab League, have forces in the Gulf area, standing shoulder to shoulder against Saddam Hussein.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, Paula, this is an obvious difference for obvious reasons.
ZAHN: Sure.
GREENFIELD: Maybe Jack is exactly right, because this was precipitated, at least theoretically, the Bush administration is trying to say, by 9-11, as opposed to an invasion of Kuwait that every other nation could see as a threat. When you cross somebody's borders, it is obvious.
But the fact that the father stressed so much the nature of the coalition effort against Saddam Hussein really shows you in a diplomatic terms why this argument is much tougher for this President Bush.
ZAHN: You have analyzed a lot of presidential speeches, and in particular President Bush's 43 speeches over the last year or so. How does this one stack up?
GREENFIELD: If you're talking about rhetoric, it stacks up well. George Bush has in Michael Gersen (ph) one of the better speechwriters that any president has. So he marshals the arguments very well.
But I always thought, I thought this about the first President Bush's speech, if you are about to take a nation to war, I think the words you use pale the minute the war starts. This is going to be decided, as I said yesterday, by how the war goes, and the question is whether or not when the war ends, the assumptions of this war, that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, that there was a looming, if not imminent threat, that we're going to liberate Iraq, that it's going to bring about a more optimistic, a more hopeful sign of peace in the Middle East.
If those assumptions prove to be true, then -- if the rhetoric moves to be true, then it's great speech. If the rhetoric doesn't prove to be true, we're going to look back and say those words didn't mean much.
ZAHN: Yes, Senator Joe Biden was calling it the greatest gamble he has ever seen a political figure take in 45 years. Thanks, Jeff.
Appreciate your spending some time with us 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 March 18, 2003 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With America now on the brink of another war with Iraq, comparisons between the current president and his father, Bush 41, are inevitable. Of course it was January 16, 1991, when the president announced the U.S. was launching an attack against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War. How does that speech compare with what we heard last night from his son, George W. Bush? We've got the man to answer that question, Jeff Greenfield who has dropped by for a closer look now.
Good morning.
Let's talk of the similarities first.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: I think both Presidents Bush were at pains to say that this was not a precipitous act, that the United States had been patient. George Bush, the father, pointed to the fact that sanctions after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait had been in effect for five months, but they hadn't worked, because Saddam was still in Kuwait. George W. Bush said we have had a dozen resolutions at the U.N., we've had inspectors, hundreds of them, and our good faith, as he put it, has not been rewarded, because he's not disarmed.
I think it's also interesting, Paula, that both Presidents Bush -- I have to remember how to say that carefully -- pointed to bigger dangers than the immediate one. Obviously George W. Bush has been taking about the danger of an attack either by getting weapons from terrorist or by Saddam himself using weapons of mass destruction; we are not going to wait till that happens.
And even George Bush the father, while he was talking of the invasion of Kuwait, said that Saddam was trying to add to his arsenal of chemical weapon, the most dangerous weapon of all, nuclear weapons. Those are two examples of similarities, I think.
ZAHN: I think it's easier to say the Bush presidents and the brothers Bush.
On to the issue of the key differences in the speeches?
GREENFIELD: Yes. I think the most obvious one, you and jack talked about it a few minutes ago, is the nature of who's with us. This is what George W. Bush said last night about the United Nations.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, listen to what George Bush the father said when he talked about Saddam's intentions leading up to first Gulf War.
Here's the father in 1991.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He tried to make this a dispute between Iraq and the United States of America. Well, he failed. Tonight, 28 nations, countries from five continents, Europe and Asia, Africa and the Arab League, have forces in the Gulf area, standing shoulder to shoulder against Saddam Hussein.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, Paula, this is an obvious difference for obvious reasons.
ZAHN: Sure.
GREENFIELD: Maybe Jack is exactly right, because this was precipitated, at least theoretically, the Bush administration is trying to say, by 9-11, as opposed to an invasion of Kuwait that every other nation could see as a threat. When you cross somebody's borders, it is obvious.
But the fact that the father stressed so much the nature of the coalition effort against Saddam Hussein really shows you in a diplomatic terms why this argument is much tougher for this President Bush.
ZAHN: You have analyzed a lot of presidential speeches, and in particular President Bush's 43 speeches over the last year or so. How does this one stack up?
GREENFIELD: If you're talking about rhetoric, it stacks up well. George Bush has in Michael Gersen (ph) one of the better speechwriters that any president has. So he marshals the arguments very well.
But I always thought, I thought this about the first President Bush's speech, if you are about to take a nation to war, I think the words you use pale the minute the war starts. This is going to be decided, as I said yesterday, by how the war goes, and the question is whether or not when the war ends, the assumptions of this war, that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, that there was a looming, if not imminent threat, that we're going to liberate Iraq, that it's going to bring about a more optimistic, a more hopeful sign of peace in the Middle East.
If those assumptions prove to be true, then -- if the rhetoric moves to be true, then it's great speech. If the rhetoric doesn't prove to be true, we're going to look back and say those words didn't mean much.
ZAHN: Yes, Senator Joe Biden was calling it the greatest gamble he has ever seen a political figure take in 45 years. Thanks, Jeff.
Appreciate your spending some time with us 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
