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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Seeks Internaitonal help in Iraq
Aired August 23, 2003 - 08:00 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.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, stopping those attacks in Iraq and maintaining security is the mammoth task now facing the Bush administration.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Crawford, Texas, where the president is on vacation -- Suzanne, any idea of what the administration plans to do?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, John, President Bush is back at Crawford, Texas after a two day swing through Oregon and Washington State. That's where he did a bit of fundraising as well as emphasizing his environmental agenda, talking about the importance of conserving salmon along the Snake River. But as you know, of course, the big story was on foreign policy and the president yesterday came right out and said that this administration needs and welcomes additional foreign troops inside of Iraq to help with the reconstruction effort. He also confirmed the administration is discussing a possible second U.N. Security Council resolution to attract some countries to get more involved. He even talked about, hinted about the possible role of those international troops, that they would be used inside of Iraq to guard the infrastructure, which would free up the hunter teams, the U.S. hunter teams, to go after the terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a foreign element that is moving into Iraq and these will be al Qaeda type fighters. They want to fight us there because they can't stand the thought of a free society in the Middle East. They hate freedom. They hate the thought of a democracy emerging and therefore they want to violently prevent that from happening. And it's hard to characterize what kind of movement it is, since this is the, you know, one of the -- this is one of the major battles of the first war of the 21st century.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, John, it's clear the administration is in a position now where it is really trying to seek more help from foreign countries. Also, in another major development, when it comes to the Middle East, the president very boldly took his first step against Hamas. Hamas, that claimed responsibility for that attack in Israel on Tuesday that killed some 20 people. The president called on the Treasury Department to block and freeze the assets of six top Hamas leaders throughout the world, also block the assets of five non- governmental organizations believed to contribute to Hamas. The president making it very clear that this administration no longer makes a distinction between the political wing of Hamas and the military wing, that the political leadership of Hamas is just as responsible for that terrorist attack -- John.
VAUSE: Suzanne Malveaux reporting for us live this morning from Crawford, Texas.
Thank you, Suzanne.
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 23, 2003 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, stopping those attacks in Iraq and maintaining security is the mammoth task now facing the Bush administration.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Crawford, Texas, where the president is on vacation -- Suzanne, any idea of what the administration plans to do?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, John, President Bush is back at Crawford, Texas after a two day swing through Oregon and Washington State. That's where he did a bit of fundraising as well as emphasizing his environmental agenda, talking about the importance of conserving salmon along the Snake River. But as you know, of course, the big story was on foreign policy and the president yesterday came right out and said that this administration needs and welcomes additional foreign troops inside of Iraq to help with the reconstruction effort. He also confirmed the administration is discussing a possible second U.N. Security Council resolution to attract some countries to get more involved. He even talked about, hinted about the possible role of those international troops, that they would be used inside of Iraq to guard the infrastructure, which would free up the hunter teams, the U.S. hunter teams, to go after the terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a foreign element that is moving into Iraq and these will be al Qaeda type fighters. They want to fight us there because they can't stand the thought of a free society in the Middle East. They hate freedom. They hate the thought of a democracy emerging and therefore they want to violently prevent that from happening. And it's hard to characterize what kind of movement it is, since this is the, you know, one of the -- this is one of the major battles of the first war of the 21st century.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, John, it's clear the administration is in a position now where it is really trying to seek more help from foreign countries. Also, in another major development, when it comes to the Middle East, the president very boldly took his first step against Hamas. Hamas, that claimed responsibility for that attack in Israel on Tuesday that killed some 20 people. The president called on the Treasury Department to block and freeze the assets of six top Hamas leaders throughout the world, also block the assets of five non- governmental organizations believed to contribute to Hamas. The president making it very clear that this administration no longer makes a distinction between the political wing of Hamas and the military wing, that the political leadership of Hamas is just as responsible for that terrorist attack -- John.
VAUSE: Suzanne Malveaux reporting for us live this morning from Crawford, Texas.
Thank you, Suzanne.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
