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American Morning

Bush Administration to Propose New U.N. Resolution

Aired September 03, 2003 - 08:03   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And let's go right to the White House and its push for urgently needed help in Iraq. As early as today, the Bush administration is expected to propose a U.N. Security Council resolution that would get the U.N. more involved in post-war Iraq.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House for us this morning -- Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, this is all about getting more international support, both military and monetary, in Iraq. President Bush has already met this morning with the leader of the Netherlands. Now, the Netherlands was one of the countries that backed the U.S. action in Iraq. They have about 1,200 troops there on the ground right now. But President Bush agreed yesterday afternoon during a meeting here at the White House with Secretary of State Colin Powell that it would take a resolution giving the action U.N. sanction, U.N. blessing, to get more nations to pitch in and get their troops involved.

This U.N. authorized multinational force, though, would remain under U.S. command and control. The resolution would also give the U.N. a greater role in the economic and political reconstruction of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I guess what I would say at this point is certainly the economic and reconstruction aspect remains important and may figure somewhat in the resolution. But until we've worked out the language, I wouldn't be able to give you any more details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: The plan is to perhaps as soon as today begin circulating this resolution behind-the-scenes, trying to garner some support before putting it to a full vote of the U.N. Security Council. And, of course, one of the items really bringing pressure to bear here is the growing cost of the U.S. action in Iraq. The latest estimates by the Congressional Budget Office are, depending on the number of troops that are needed, it will cost between $8 billion and $29 billion a year to keep U.S. troops on the ground there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Staggering numbers there.

Kathleen Koch for us this morning from the White House.

Kathleen, thanks.

KOCH: Sure.

O'BRIEN: As the U.S. circulates its proposal to members of the Security Council, a small polish-led international force today is taking control of parts of central Iraq.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live for us in Baghdad with the latest -- Ben, good morning. BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Soledad, there was a ceremony in the historic ancient city of Babylon today, where the U.S. forces handed over responsibility for a large area in south central Iraq to a Polish-led force. Now, this is truly a multinational force, including in addition to polish forces, forces from 20 other nations. It's going to be something of a translator's dream come true. You have countries including Denmark, Bulgaria, Spain, the Ukraine, Mongolia, El Salvador, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania, a true tower of babble, so to speak.

They'll be covering an area that until recently has been relatively quiet, very few incidents. However, last Friday's massive car bombing in Najaf, which is within the area that will be patrolled by the polish forces and other multinational forces, has caused a good deal of concern about the possibility of growing instability in exactly that area.

Meanwhile here in Baghdad today, the first post-war Iraqi government was sworn in. It's got 25 ministers, reflecting the ethnic makeup of this country, 13 of them Shiites. They make up about 60 percent of the population. Five ministers will be Kurds, five Arab Sunnis, one ethnic Turk and one Assyrian Christian.

The ultimate authority, however, will still rest with the U.S.- led coalition provisional authority -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Ben Wedeman.

A lot happening there obviously today.

Thanks for that update.

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 September 3, 2003 - 08:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And let's go right to the White House and its push for urgently needed help in Iraq. As early as today, the Bush administration is expected to propose a U.N. Security Council resolution that would get the U.N. more involved in post-war Iraq.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House for us this morning -- Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, this is all about getting more international support, both military and monetary, in Iraq. President Bush has already met this morning with the leader of the Netherlands. Now, the Netherlands was one of the countries that backed the U.S. action in Iraq. They have about 1,200 troops there on the ground right now. But President Bush agreed yesterday afternoon during a meeting here at the White House with Secretary of State Colin Powell that it would take a resolution giving the action U.N. sanction, U.N. blessing, to get more nations to pitch in and get their troops involved.

This U.N. authorized multinational force, though, would remain under U.S. command and control. The resolution would also give the U.N. a greater role in the economic and political reconstruction of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I guess what I would say at this point is certainly the economic and reconstruction aspect remains important and may figure somewhat in the resolution. But until we've worked out the language, I wouldn't be able to give you any more details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: The plan is to perhaps as soon as today begin circulating this resolution behind-the-scenes, trying to garner some support before putting it to a full vote of the U.N. Security Council. And, of course, one of the items really bringing pressure to bear here is the growing cost of the U.S. action in Iraq. The latest estimates by the Congressional Budget Office are, depending on the number of troops that are needed, it will cost between $8 billion and $29 billion a year to keep U.S. troops on the ground there -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Staggering numbers there.

Kathleen Koch for us this morning from the White House.

Kathleen, thanks.

KOCH: Sure.

O'BRIEN: As the U.S. circulates its proposal to members of the Security Council, a small polish-led international force today is taking control of parts of central Iraq.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live for us in Baghdad with the latest -- Ben, good morning. BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Soledad, there was a ceremony in the historic ancient city of Babylon today, where the U.S. forces handed over responsibility for a large area in south central Iraq to a Polish-led force. Now, this is truly a multinational force, including in addition to polish forces, forces from 20 other nations. It's going to be something of a translator's dream come true. You have countries including Denmark, Bulgaria, Spain, the Ukraine, Mongolia, El Salvador, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania, a true tower of babble, so to speak.

They'll be covering an area that until recently has been relatively quiet, very few incidents. However, last Friday's massive car bombing in Najaf, which is within the area that will be patrolled by the polish forces and other multinational forces, has caused a good deal of concern about the possibility of growing instability in exactly that area.

Meanwhile here in Baghdad today, the first post-war Iraqi government was sworn in. It's got 25 ministers, reflecting the ethnic makeup of this country, 13 of them Shiites. They make up about 60 percent of the population. Five ministers will be Kurds, five Arab Sunnis, one ethnic Turk and one Assyrian Christian.

The ultimate authority, however, will still rest with the U.S.- led coalition provisional authority -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Ben Wedeman.

A lot happening there obviously today.

Thanks for that update.

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