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CNN Sunday Morning

Officials From Bush Sr.'s Administration Weigh in on Iraq

Aired August 25, 2002 - 10:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush continues his working vacation at his Texas ranch, but the subject of Iraq keeps coming up as officials from the first Bush administration weigh in. CNN's Kelly Wallace joins us from Crawford, Texas, near the president's ranch. Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, first you had Brent Scowcroft, who served as national security adviser in the former Bush administration, speaking out, using an opinion piece to warn this administration not to pursue any military invasion of Iraq.

Well, now you have James Baker, who served as secretary of state in the former Bush administration speaking out, and he's saying the administration should use military action to bring an end to Saddam Hussein's leadership, but he's saying this White House should get the support of the United Nations.

In an opinion piece in today's "New York Times," James Baker writes: "Although the United States could certainly succeed, we should try our best not to have to go it alone, and the president should reject the advice of those who counsel doing so. The costs in all areas will be much greater, as will the political risks, both domestic and international, if we end up going it alone or with only one or two other countries."

Now, one of the top Republicans in the House of Representatives disagrees. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay speaking out today, saying the U.S. needs to lead, and that the rest of the world will follow. You'll recall, Tom DeLay giving a big speech on Wednesday, strongly supporting the ouster of Saddam Hussein, and saying the administration should do whatever it takes to bring about regime change.

Now, as for President Bush, he continues to say he is a patient man. We saw him on Wednesday, speaking out after a meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other military advisers. The president says he will continue to consult with Congress and with allies about how to deal with Saddam Hussein, and the president making it clear that the subject of Iraq never came up in his meetings on Wednesday with his top advisers.

That subject, though, definitely likely to come up on Tuesday, and that is when the president is hosting Prince Bandar (ph), the Saudi ambassador of the United States to his Crawford, Texas, ranch. The Saudis have made it very clear they're against any military attack on Iraq, and, Carol, as you know, the Saudis have also said they will not allow U.S. forces to use Saudi soil to stage any invasion against Iraq. Carol, back to you.

LIN: So, Kelly, what are you hearing from administration sources as to how that conversation is going to go on Tuesday?

WALLACE: Well, they do expect, of course, the subject to come up, that they do expect to hear concerns from the Saudis about this. But again, what we're likely to hear the president say, privately, what he said publicly, that he's not made up his mind, that he's going to be patient and will continue to consult with allies, Arab allies, European allies, members of Congress, trying to sort of kind of put a tampering down on all this sort of talk of any imminent military attack.

Also, other subjects though on the table there, Carol, talking about the ongoing campaign against terrorism and trying to question and see what the Saudis can do or continue to do to prevent future terrorist attacks -- Carol.

LIN: This drum beat of criticism, Kelly, from the previous Bush administration, should we interpret that as direct criticism from Bush Senior as well as his son?

WALLACE: That is the key question. You know, you have had some people out there speculating about, in particular, Brent Scowcroft's opinion piece and whether that was a way for the president's father to kind of convey a message to his son indirectly. It does not appear that Brent Scowcroft would have done something like this without kind of running it by the former president. We do know that Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, was aware this was coming out.

You can kind of say this is sort of a way, using the public domain to get various opinions out, and the president's message continues to be he's listening and will continue to listen. But he hasn't made up his mind -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Kelly Wallace, reporting live from Crawford, Texas.

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