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American Morning
Bush: War Will Last However Long it Takes
Aired March 28, 2003 - 07:56 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: We're going to go straight to the White House, where we find John King at this hour.
I understand there is some frustration among administration members that the press corps is asking maybe too many pointed questions about potentially underestimating the strength of these irregular troops in Iraq.
What do they have to say about that this morning -- John?
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, we have discussed this in small detail in recent days, a senior official this morning being quite out in the open about it. He says President Bush and other senior administration officials here have -- quote -- "some level of frustration with the press corps for accounts questioning the war strategy just days into the conflict." This senior official went on to say it was silly that such skepticism and questions were being raised so early on.
There was an official here last night who spoke of a -- quote -- "little sense of deja vu," saying early in the Kosovo campaign in the Clinton administration, and more recently early in the Afghanistan campaign and the war on terrorism, there was a similar wave of skepticism in the news media. Some in Afghanistan even called for Tommy Franks to be replaced as the commanding general.
This official last night saying that in two weeks or so perhaps we will all have a very different view. But now a separate official this morning raising that the president himself is exasperated and a little frustrated, was the way this official put it, with the questioning.
We saw some of that yesterday when the president was up at Camp David with the British prime minister, Tony Blair. Before that session, they were supposed to take three questions from each side -- three from the British, three from the Americans. Just before, they decided to cut it back, and you could see the president pounding the lectern at one point, clearly openly exasperated with questions about the timetable.
So as we question the war plan, even as some of the commanders question the strategy, we are told the president is a little frustrated and finds some of our questions silly -- Paula.
ZAHN: But let me ask you this, John, and we've just got about 15 seconds. When you have someone like Lieutenant General Wallace (ph), who is in charge of the entire army, all of the Army forces in the Persian Gulf, basically saying, we didnt war-game against this particular enemy, and we knew they were going to be out there, but we didn't know how they were going to fight, he's the one saying the stuff on the record and the questions in some cases have followed that.
KING: Yes, he is, and some troops in the field have complained as well that they're not allowed to use enough force in these skirmishes. We asked that specifically, specifically about General Wallace's (ph) comments this morning. The senior official declined to answer, instead talking about us and the president's frustration.
ZAHN: John King, thanks so much. We're going to be getting back to you throughout the 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 28, 2003 - 07:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go straight to the White House, where we find John King at this hour.
I understand there is some frustration among administration members that the press corps is asking maybe too many pointed questions about potentially underestimating the strength of these irregular troops in Iraq.
What do they have to say about that this morning -- John?
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, we have discussed this in small detail in recent days, a senior official this morning being quite out in the open about it. He says President Bush and other senior administration officials here have -- quote -- "some level of frustration with the press corps for accounts questioning the war strategy just days into the conflict." This senior official went on to say it was silly that such skepticism and questions were being raised so early on.
There was an official here last night who spoke of a -- quote -- "little sense of deja vu," saying early in the Kosovo campaign in the Clinton administration, and more recently early in the Afghanistan campaign and the war on terrorism, there was a similar wave of skepticism in the news media. Some in Afghanistan even called for Tommy Franks to be replaced as the commanding general.
This official last night saying that in two weeks or so perhaps we will all have a very different view. But now a separate official this morning raising that the president himself is exasperated and a little frustrated, was the way this official put it, with the questioning.
We saw some of that yesterday when the president was up at Camp David with the British prime minister, Tony Blair. Before that session, they were supposed to take three questions from each side -- three from the British, three from the Americans. Just before, they decided to cut it back, and you could see the president pounding the lectern at one point, clearly openly exasperated with questions about the timetable.
So as we question the war plan, even as some of the commanders question the strategy, we are told the president is a little frustrated and finds some of our questions silly -- Paula.
ZAHN: But let me ask you this, John, and we've just got about 15 seconds. When you have someone like Lieutenant General Wallace (ph), who is in charge of the entire army, all of the Army forces in the Persian Gulf, basically saying, we didnt war-game against this particular enemy, and we knew they were going to be out there, but we didn't know how they were going to fight, he's the one saying the stuff on the record and the questions in some cases have followed that.
KING: Yes, he is, and some troops in the field have complained as well that they're not allowed to use enough force in these skirmishes. We asked that specifically, specifically about General Wallace's (ph) comments this morning. The senior official declined to answer, instead talking about us and the president's frustration.
ZAHN: John King, thanks so much. We're going to be getting back to you throughout the 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.
