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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Details Progress Made in Iraq
Aired August 09, 2003 - 08:02 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today marks the 101st day since President Bush announced an end to military combat in Iraq and 122 Americans have died in Iraq since then, 56 of them from hostile fire. Mr. Bush has gathered his war council at his ranch in Texas.
White House correspondent Dana Bash now joins us live from Crawford, Texas -- good morning to you, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sean.
And it's that 100 day mark that the White House is using to really show that they say that there is progress being made in Iraq. We do, as you just said here, news, daily news of U.S. troops getting attacked in Baghdad and around Baghdad. As a matter of fact, we have news of four attacked just today.
But the White House is saying, it is saying that there is progress being made. As a matter of fact, they put out this report that lists a number of issues that they say they are making progress in -- the economy, democracy and so forth. And, as you said, the president did have his war council at his ranch yesterday, the defense secretary, the vice president and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
They all talked about, the president in particular talked about the fact that there is progress being made and that Iraq is the central area for the war on terrorism now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got a lot of brave soldiers slowly but surely demolishing the elements of the Ba'athist regime, those foreign terrorists who feel like they can use Iraq as a place to arm up and inflict casualty or perhaps gain strength to come and attack Americans elsewhere. We've been there 100 days. We've made a lot of progress in 100 days. And I am pleased with the progress we've made, but fully recognize we've got a lot more work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And having more work to do was another major part of the president's message yesterday and through the weekend. What the president says is that they are intending to stay in Iraq as long as it takes, and it is really unclear how long that will be. And it also is unclear, the president said, how much that will ultimately cost. But the president said that he will eventually have to ask Congress for a pretty large chunk of change in order to support the troops that are going to be in Iraq for the near future.
Now, as for the Democratic criticism that has really been growing against the president, not only because of the way the reconstruction effort has been going, but also because of allegations that the prewar intelligence might not have been all that it was cracked up to be, the president dismissed that yesterday. He said that that is all politics and that there are a lot of Democrats running for president right now -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Well, Dana, word also that the U.S. is spending about $4 billion a month in Iraq on the peacekeeping mission and we hear today that in the coming weeks ahead that the U.S. may push to open up for more international participation as they push for more reconstruction.
Is that going to be welcome news for the Bush administration?
BASH: Well, certainly. The White House has said many times that they welcome any and all participation in Iraq. As a matter of fact, the president made a point unsolicited yesterday to talk about the fact that Germany was certainly, was not in agreement with the White House at all going into the war in Iraq, but Germany has aided a lot, a lot more than people recognize.
But in terms of whether or not the U.S. would actually go for a U.N. resolution that would perhaps give over control that the U.S. currently has, that is something that has been a hot debate within the administration. There are many who believe that that is not a good idea, that there have been situations around the globe in the past where the U.N. might not have done the kind of job the U.S. would have liked them to do.
So at this point they are still saying that there are current U.N. resolutions on the books that do allow other countries to get involved in Iraq and they are certainly welcoming that right now.
CALLEBS: OK, thanks very much.
Our Dana Bash up early with the president out in Crawford, Texas.
Thanks, Dana.
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 August 9, 2003 - 08:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today marks the 101st day since President Bush announced an end to military combat in Iraq and 122 Americans have died in Iraq since then, 56 of them from hostile fire. Mr. Bush has gathered his war council at his ranch in Texas.
White House correspondent Dana Bash now joins us live from Crawford, Texas -- good morning to you, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Sean.
And it's that 100 day mark that the White House is using to really show that they say that there is progress being made in Iraq. We do, as you just said here, news, daily news of U.S. troops getting attacked in Baghdad and around Baghdad. As a matter of fact, we have news of four attacked just today.
But the White House is saying, it is saying that there is progress being made. As a matter of fact, they put out this report that lists a number of issues that they say they are making progress in -- the economy, democracy and so forth. And, as you said, the president did have his war council at his ranch yesterday, the defense secretary, the vice president and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
They all talked about, the president in particular talked about the fact that there is progress being made and that Iraq is the central area for the war on terrorism now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got a lot of brave soldiers slowly but surely demolishing the elements of the Ba'athist regime, those foreign terrorists who feel like they can use Iraq as a place to arm up and inflict casualty or perhaps gain strength to come and attack Americans elsewhere. We've been there 100 days. We've made a lot of progress in 100 days. And I am pleased with the progress we've made, but fully recognize we've got a lot more work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And having more work to do was another major part of the president's message yesterday and through the weekend. What the president says is that they are intending to stay in Iraq as long as it takes, and it is really unclear how long that will be. And it also is unclear, the president said, how much that will ultimately cost. But the president said that he will eventually have to ask Congress for a pretty large chunk of change in order to support the troops that are going to be in Iraq for the near future.
Now, as for the Democratic criticism that has really been growing against the president, not only because of the way the reconstruction effort has been going, but also because of allegations that the prewar intelligence might not have been all that it was cracked up to be, the president dismissed that yesterday. He said that that is all politics and that there are a lot of Democrats running for president right now -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Well, Dana, word also that the U.S. is spending about $4 billion a month in Iraq on the peacekeeping mission and we hear today that in the coming weeks ahead that the U.S. may push to open up for more international participation as they push for more reconstruction.
Is that going to be welcome news for the Bush administration?
BASH: Well, certainly. The White House has said many times that they welcome any and all participation in Iraq. As a matter of fact, the president made a point unsolicited yesterday to talk about the fact that Germany was certainly, was not in agreement with the White House at all going into the war in Iraq, but Germany has aided a lot, a lot more than people recognize.
But in terms of whether or not the U.S. would actually go for a U.N. resolution that would perhaps give over control that the U.S. currently has, that is something that has been a hot debate within the administration. There are many who believe that that is not a good idea, that there have been situations around the globe in the past where the U.N. might not have done the kind of job the U.S. would have liked them to do.
So at this point they are still saying that there are current U.N. resolutions on the books that do allow other countries to get involved in Iraq and they are certainly welcoming that right now.
CALLEBS: OK, thanks very much.
Our Dana Bash up early with the president out in Crawford, Texas.
Thanks, Dana.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
