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CNN Saturday Morning News

Cheney Will Speak to Iraqi Opposition Groups Today

Aired August 10, 2002 - 09:03   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's no secret the Bush administration would like to oust Saddam Hussein. U.S. officials have been meeting in Washington with Iraqi opposition groups, and Vice President Dick Cheney will speak to the groups by teleconference hookup today.
For details, here's CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux in Crawford, Texas, where the president is on a working vacation. Hi, there, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.

Well, the president is already talking about Iraq this morning. He left his Crawford ranch about 6:30. He's playing golf now. He teed off about 7:20 in the morning, jumped off in a golf cart, and answered a few questions from our pool reporter about Iraq.

He said that there's no timetable to decide whether or not we'll use military action against Saddam Hussein. He went on to say that he assumes that Iraq is an enemy until proven otherwise. And then he also reiterated that the United States is still consulting with members of Congress, friends, and allies before the United States takes any type of action against Saddam Hussein.

Now, as you mentioned, about 90 minutes or so is when leaders of six Iraqi opposition groups are going to be going to the old Executive Office Building, that's where they've set up a video link. They'll be linked to Vice President Dick Cheney at his home in Wyoming. They'll be able to talk directly to the vice president.

This is really all a part of the United States's message to make it clear that they're serious about -- getting serious about ridding Saddam Hussein as well as these weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was just yesterday that there were meetings with these opposition leaders with members of the State Department and Pentagon officials.

They came out of these meetings, really, posing a united front, these Iraqi opposition leaders saying, Yes, we're going to be getting along with each other, we're also going to be working with the United States. But in return, they asked for support from the international community as well as the United States, particularly protection against Saddam Hussein and his forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FAISAL QARAGHOLI, IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS: Don't forget that Iraqi people were let down many times by the policies of the United States before.

But this time, we think they are very serious, and we are absolutely partners in this operation, because we are in the end of the day, we are the one who are going to take Saddam out of the -- out of Baghdad, because we know the area, we know the people.

And we are -- in this meeting that we asked the Americans that, to have very precise attacks on Saddam Hussein himself and his closest circles, because most of the Iraqi people, Iraqi army, security apparatus, they are waiting for the right moment before the uprise and turn against Saddam Hussein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, there were no discussions in terms of how the United States would aid these Iraqi opposition groups, be it funding or training or providing weapons, that type of thing. We're told from administration officials this was really a first step, an agreement in principle on working together -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Suzanne, from Crawford, Texas.

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