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CNN Live Sunday

Bush Administration Appears Divided on Iraq

Aired September 01, 2002 - 18:01   ET

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

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is back in the White House after his Texas vacation, and his administration is still looking at what to do about Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell tells Britain's BBC he thinks weapons inspectors should return. Last week, Vice President Dick Cheney called for pre-emptive action against Iraq. We get more from CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush returns from his month-long working vacation, facing an apparent private split within the administration on Iraq, now spilling into public view. Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with BBC Television, says the first order of business should be to send weapons inspectors back into Iraq.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Iraq has been in violation of these many U.N. resolutions for most of the last 11 or so years. And so, as a first step, let's see what the inspectors find. Send them back in.

MALVEAUX: But Vice President Dick Cheney earlier in the week, in a high-profile speech, makes the case for pre-emptive military action, suggests U.N. weapons inspections may be pointless, because Saddam Hussein has a history of breaking agreements.

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Return of inspectors would provide no assurance whatsoever of his compliance with the U.N. resolutions.

MALVEAUX: But a White House spokesman downplayed any differences between Mr. Bush's top advisers, saying the bottom line is both want unfettered access for weapons inspectors to return to Iraq and both support U.S. policy of regime change, the ousting of Saddam Hussein.

But one top adviser to Bush Sr.'s administration is worried that the current policy on Iraq is in disarray.

LAWRENCE EAGLEBURGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We do not understand the morass we will be walking into unless the threat is so immediate that we must act. And Vice President Cheney keeps saying it is immediate, and then we hear immediately thereafter that the president hasn't made up his mind yet. I think there's a disconnect there, and I don't understand it. MALVEAUX: Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, is now dismissing the idea of weapons inspectors returning altogether, accusing the Bush administration of being insincere.

TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQ'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: When they speak about weapons of mass destruction, is it a genuine concern, or is it a pretext to be used to justify the unjustifiable attack on Iraq?

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MALVEAUX: Now, President Bush will go before the U.N. General Assembly on September 12 in New York, following September 11 moral observances, to make the case for the need for support from the international community on the war on terror. But the administration has yet to determine whether or not that is also making the case for military action -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thanks very much.

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