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American Morning
President Bush Speaks at Rally for U.S. Forces in Qatar
Aired June 05, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I mentioned the president's trip overseas, and right now heading back to the U.S. after that week-long trip, six countries, seven days, highlighted, again, by the Middle East summit that we saw live on AMERICAN MORNING yesterday. He did not leave the region, though, without meeting troops this morning in Doha, Qatar.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, was there on hand for the president's big thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president heads home from his week-long overseas trip confident he has the Israel-Palestinian peace process back on track, and also confident that he will in the end win a growing debate about whether the war in Iraq was justified to begin with.
Mr. Bush's final stop was here in Qatar. Mr. Bush visiting U.S. troops at an air base here that played a central role in the Iraqi war effort. Mr. Bush thanking the troops for their courage, he declared mission accomplished.
And the president, without mentioning the political controversy, did address questions that are swirling in Washington and London about whether Mr. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair exaggerated the intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, exaggerated the extent of those programs to justify the war. Mr. Bush says some evidence of Iraq's weapons programs has already been found. He specifically noted two mobile biological weapons labs the United States says it has discovered.
And Mr. Bush voiced confidence more evidence would be found in the days and weeks ahead.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder. He knew the inspectors were looking for them. You know better than me, he's got a big country in which to hide them. We're going to look. We'll reveal the truth. But one thing is certain: no terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the Iraqi regime is no more.
KING: In addition to thanking the troops, Mr. Bush also stopped by to thank the Qatari emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. This leader of this country has been very open in welcoming United States troops into Qatar, quite a contrast to Saudi Arabia. U.S. troops will soon be leaving Saudi Arabia. The Central Command post that was in Saudi Arabia is being moved to this country. So, Mr. Bush wanted to take time to thank a leader whose support was critical in the war effort in Iraq.
Now, it is back to Washington after a week overseas. Mr. Bush says his biggest challenge in the days ahead will be managing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that is revived now, he says, because of his hands-on diplomacy. Using a cowboy term, Mr. Bush said he is prepared to -- quote -- "ride herd" if Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon or the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, fall behind in their promises to keep the commitments they made at the Middle East peace summit. Mr. Bush says he is optimistic they will keep those promises. And if they do, he says he is prepared to push again to generate even more progress, even more momentum.
John King, CNN, Doha, Qatar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And that is the view from overseas.
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 June 5, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I mentioned the president's trip overseas, and right now heading back to the U.S. after that week-long trip, six countries, seven days, highlighted, again, by the Middle East summit that we saw live on AMERICAN MORNING yesterday. He did not leave the region, though, without meeting troops this morning in Doha, Qatar.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, was there on hand for the president's big thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president heads home from his week-long overseas trip confident he has the Israel-Palestinian peace process back on track, and also confident that he will in the end win a growing debate about whether the war in Iraq was justified to begin with.
Mr. Bush's final stop was here in Qatar. Mr. Bush visiting U.S. troops at an air base here that played a central role in the Iraqi war effort. Mr. Bush thanking the troops for their courage, he declared mission accomplished.
And the president, without mentioning the political controversy, did address questions that are swirling in Washington and London about whether Mr. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair exaggerated the intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, exaggerated the extent of those programs to justify the war. Mr. Bush says some evidence of Iraq's weapons programs has already been found. He specifically noted two mobile biological weapons labs the United States says it has discovered.
And Mr. Bush voiced confidence more evidence would be found in the days and weeks ahead.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a man who spent decades hiding tools of mass murder. He knew the inspectors were looking for them. You know better than me, he's got a big country in which to hide them. We're going to look. We'll reveal the truth. But one thing is certain: no terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the Iraqi regime is no more.
KING: In addition to thanking the troops, Mr. Bush also stopped by to thank the Qatari emir, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. This leader of this country has been very open in welcoming United States troops into Qatar, quite a contrast to Saudi Arabia. U.S. troops will soon be leaving Saudi Arabia. The Central Command post that was in Saudi Arabia is being moved to this country. So, Mr. Bush wanted to take time to thank a leader whose support was critical in the war effort in Iraq.
Now, it is back to Washington after a week overseas. Mr. Bush says his biggest challenge in the days ahead will be managing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that is revived now, he says, because of his hands-on diplomacy. Using a cowboy term, Mr. Bush said he is prepared to -- quote -- "ride herd" if Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon or the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, fall behind in their promises to keep the commitments they made at the Middle East peace summit. Mr. Bush says he is optimistic they will keep those promises. And if they do, he says he is prepared to push again to generate even more progress, even more momentum.
John King, CNN, Doha, Qatar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: And that is the view from overseas.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
