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American Morning

World View

Aired September 23, 2003 - 09:46   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: The president yet again only minutes away from making that speech, critical speech at the U.N. The international view right now for what is at stake today, two locations to check in.
Our CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is live in London for thoughts from Britain, and Jim Bittermann is live in Paris. Let's start in Paris with Jim and the whole position right now for the French president, Jacques Chirac. Has he softened his stance at all, given the turmoil we saw last February and last March of this year, Jim?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean if you look at newspapers this morning, Bill, you wouldn't think so. This is the way "Le Racione (ph)" put it: "Bush-Chirac, The Return Match," as if the battle is still going on.

I think for most in the French administration, the war is over and the U.S. won. It's really now a question of what to do with the next six months or year and how to win the peace in Iraq.

Now Jacques Chirac made it pretty clear over the weekend that there are three conditions that will permit him to vote for a resolution that the U.S. may table in the United Nations in the next few days. Basically, he wants to see sovereignty transferred to the governing council in Iraq almost immediately, wants to see a deadline, in any case, for sovereignty to be transferred, at least in a symbolical way. Then secondly, he wants to see real power change hands over the next three to six months in Iraq. And thirdly, he wants a greater role for the United Nations in Iraq. That's something that the French president has pushed for all along.

So basically, with those three conditions, Chirac would vote for any U.S. resolution.

However, the U.S. made it pretty clear none of those conditions are going to be met in the resolution. So as a consequence, I think the best that the U.S. can hope for is that France will abstain from voting. Chirac in that same interview made it pretty clear that France might abstain rather than vote for the U.S. resolution -- Bill.

HEMMER: Interesting development.

Suzanne Malveaux talking about that very same issue yesterday at the White House. Very interesting. Jim, thanks.

To London and Christiane for what's being said there today. Christiane, hello.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Bill, what it is in all the newspapers here, the fact that President Bush is going back to the United Nations, they're comparing what he's going to say today with what he said almost exactly a year ago, when at that time they were very happy that he had turned to the U.N.

But of course, this is Britain. Britain stood fast with the United States over the war in Iraq, Tony Blair, one of Bush's principal supporters.

The problem, of course, over the past few months, reflected by a poll by "The Guardian" newspaper that was released today. "The Guardian" and ICM Showing a steady decline in support for the war. In April, the British public supported the war, a peak percentage of 63 percent.

By the summer, July, that had slipped to 51 percent support for the war. And now, for the first time, a clear majority are saying that the war was unjustified, 53 percent. So that's a dramatic decline in those numbers.

and apparently, it is because of the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and the continuing inability -- rather, the instability in Baghdad, along with all the drama that's been going on at the Hutton Inquiry here in Britain.

Nonetheless, of course, the key thing that everybody here is looking for is it is likely that Bush and Blair will succeed in getting the required nine votes for this resolution. But how will that translate? Will it mean much more money for reconstruction? Will it mean, critically, a large multinational force will be offered to keep the peace there? And that, again, is a matter of speculation in the British press today -- Bill.

HEMMER: We'll be watching it. Christiane, thanks. Jim Bittermann prior to that. From Paris and London, the views as we approach again about 10 minutes away from our special starting here on CNN.

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 23, 2003 - 09:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The president yet again only minutes away from making that speech, critical speech at the U.N. The international view right now for what is at stake today, two locations to check in.
Our CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is live in London for thoughts from Britain, and Jim Bittermann is live in Paris. Let's start in Paris with Jim and the whole position right now for the French president, Jacques Chirac. Has he softened his stance at all, given the turmoil we saw last February and last March of this year, Jim?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean if you look at newspapers this morning, Bill, you wouldn't think so. This is the way "Le Racione (ph)" put it: "Bush-Chirac, The Return Match," as if the battle is still going on.

I think for most in the French administration, the war is over and the U.S. won. It's really now a question of what to do with the next six months or year and how to win the peace in Iraq.

Now Jacques Chirac made it pretty clear over the weekend that there are three conditions that will permit him to vote for a resolution that the U.S. may table in the United Nations in the next few days. Basically, he wants to see sovereignty transferred to the governing council in Iraq almost immediately, wants to see a deadline, in any case, for sovereignty to be transferred, at least in a symbolical way. Then secondly, he wants to see real power change hands over the next three to six months in Iraq. And thirdly, he wants a greater role for the United Nations in Iraq. That's something that the French president has pushed for all along.

So basically, with those three conditions, Chirac would vote for any U.S. resolution.

However, the U.S. made it pretty clear none of those conditions are going to be met in the resolution. So as a consequence, I think the best that the U.S. can hope for is that France will abstain from voting. Chirac in that same interview made it pretty clear that France might abstain rather than vote for the U.S. resolution -- Bill.

HEMMER: Interesting development.

Suzanne Malveaux talking about that very same issue yesterday at the White House. Very interesting. Jim, thanks.

To London and Christiane for what's being said there today. Christiane, hello.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Bill, what it is in all the newspapers here, the fact that President Bush is going back to the United Nations, they're comparing what he's going to say today with what he said almost exactly a year ago, when at that time they were very happy that he had turned to the U.N.

But of course, this is Britain. Britain stood fast with the United States over the war in Iraq, Tony Blair, one of Bush's principal supporters.

The problem, of course, over the past few months, reflected by a poll by "The Guardian" newspaper that was released today. "The Guardian" and ICM Showing a steady decline in support for the war. In April, the British public supported the war, a peak percentage of 63 percent.

By the summer, July, that had slipped to 51 percent support for the war. And now, for the first time, a clear majority are saying that the war was unjustified, 53 percent. So that's a dramatic decline in those numbers.

and apparently, it is because of the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and the continuing inability -- rather, the instability in Baghdad, along with all the drama that's been going on at the Hutton Inquiry here in Britain.

Nonetheless, of course, the key thing that everybody here is looking for is it is likely that Bush and Blair will succeed in getting the required nine votes for this resolution. But how will that translate? Will it mean much more money for reconstruction? Will it mean, critically, a large multinational force will be offered to keep the peace there? And that, again, is a matter of speculation in the British press today -- Bill.

HEMMER: We'll be watching it. Christiane, thanks. Jim Bittermann prior to that. From Paris and London, the views as we approach again about 10 minutes away from our special starting here on CNN.

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