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CNN Live Sunday
Bush Monitors Mideast Developments From Maine
Aired June 15, 2003 - 16:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is spending Father's Day at his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. But he continues to focus on events thousands of miles away in the Middle East. Today, he said it's crucial the haters of peace don't have their way in the troubled region. CNN's Chris Burns has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over a Father's Day weekend, golfing and reeling them in, President Bush offers words of reassurance and resolve. That, despite the latest violence, Middle East peace, tragically elusive during his father's presidency, is one fish that won't get away.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be a tough road. But I am determined to continue to lend the weight of this government to advance peace.
BURNS: His chief foreign policy lieutenant is headed to the region next weekend to push the road map for peace.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We will not stop, we will not step aside. The president is committed, I am committed, his administration is committed. We will succeed.
BURNS: Just days after the president said he was troubled by Israel's targeted attacks on Palestinian militants, he says the main focus is cracking down on the militants themselves.
BUSH: Those who love freedom and peace must deal harshly with Hamas. And the killers. And that's just the way it is in the Middle East.
BURNS: Beyond diplomacy and money, it's unclear whether the U.S. may someday commit troops to a peacekeeping effort. For now, an adamant no from the White House. But there's debate a Capitol Hill. One high-ranking Republican suggests possible U.S. participation in an international force, like NATO, to confront the militants.
SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), INDIANA: I don't think Americans are prepared to do that. But in response to questions as to how this is to be credible. Ultimately there has to be force that is credible to go after the terrorists.
BURNS: While the Palestinians have long clamored for international peacekeepers, the Israelis have firmly rejected a third party force.
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI VICE PRIME MINISTER: Do I want one American person to be a victim of a suicidal attack? The answer is definitely no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: The Bush administration says American troops would become targets if sent to the region now, that the parties themselves working with Arab nations must cooperate to quell the militants. But the idea of peacekeepers backed we U.S.-led NATO could become stronger once a peace deal is in sight. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And, Chris, let's talk about Iran. With the student protests continuing today there, did the president have any further comment on the situation?
BURNS: Well, yes, he did. A day after the Bush administration issued a statement saying they were concerned about the violence that was going on, the backlash by Islamic clerics and their followers against the students, they even arrests, the Bush administration said they were alarmed by those arrests. President Bush saying, himself, that he felt for those students, for their movement. He said freedom is a powerful incentive, saying that freedom will prevail, and that -- if I can read a section, he said that, it's the beginnings of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran, which he says, I think is positive. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Burns in Kennebunkport with the president.
Well, even as U.S. officials discuss how to stop violence in the Middle East, there's been more bloodshed in that region. For the latest now, let's turn to CNN's Matthew Chance in Gaza. Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Fredricka. A real atmosphere of tension and violence continuing in this region, but you know, behind it all, intensive talks here in Gaza carrying on between various Palestinian factions, the Palestinian Authority, the militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, along with a delegation of security officials from the neighboring country of Egypt.
Egyptians here are engaged in an effort to get the militant groups like Hamas to abandon or at least suspend their campaign of violence against Israel, to allow the U.S.-backed road map at least an opportunity to take root. An opportunity it hasn't really been given so far. Much, though, according to Palestinian officials, depends on what Israel can offer in return.
Palestinian officials, over the course of the last two days, have been in talks with their Israeli counterparts to discuss the possibility of Palestinian security personnel taking over responsibility for security inside the Gaza Strip, in exchange for a limited Israeli withdrawal from areas of the Gaza Strip and an all- important suspension of Israel's policy of assassination against the leading militant Palestinians, groups like Hamas. The kind of attacks we've been seeing over the past days on cars carrying militants that also injured and killed, on many occasions, bystanders.
It's still not clear, though, whether Israel will meet those conditions, whether it will do that, or indeed if it does, whether Hamas and the other militant groups will consider it to be enough for them to suspend their campaigns either. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And, Matthew, with the possibility of peacekeepers being in the West Bank and Gaza, what kind of reaction are you getting there on the ground?
CHANCE: Well, it's not clear, from our perspective here, that that is a real possibility. Certainly as Chris Burns mentioned a few moments ago in his report, the Palestinians have been clamoring for some kind of international peacekeeping force, an observer mission, something like that. They'd welcome the United States in that role, or the United Nations at least, which is what they've been calling for, for many, many years now.
The Israelis all along, though, have resisted any kind of sort of observer force or peacekeeping force here. They say, as Chris Burns mentioned, you know, that that would -- they would become the targets to some extent. But the other thing is that they believe their security is best kept by them. They don't trust that to anyone else.
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance in Gaza, thank you.
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 June 15, 2003 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is spending Father's Day at his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. But he continues to focus on events thousands of miles away in the Middle East. Today, he said it's crucial the haters of peace don't have their way in the troubled region. CNN's Chris Burns has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over a Father's Day weekend, golfing and reeling them in, President Bush offers words of reassurance and resolve. That, despite the latest violence, Middle East peace, tragically elusive during his father's presidency, is one fish that won't get away.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be a tough road. But I am determined to continue to lend the weight of this government to advance peace.
BURNS: His chief foreign policy lieutenant is headed to the region next weekend to push the road map for peace.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We will not stop, we will not step aside. The president is committed, I am committed, his administration is committed. We will succeed.
BURNS: Just days after the president said he was troubled by Israel's targeted attacks on Palestinian militants, he says the main focus is cracking down on the militants themselves.
BUSH: Those who love freedom and peace must deal harshly with Hamas. And the killers. And that's just the way it is in the Middle East.
BURNS: Beyond diplomacy and money, it's unclear whether the U.S. may someday commit troops to a peacekeeping effort. For now, an adamant no from the White House. But there's debate a Capitol Hill. One high-ranking Republican suggests possible U.S. participation in an international force, like NATO, to confront the militants.
SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), INDIANA: I don't think Americans are prepared to do that. But in response to questions as to how this is to be credible. Ultimately there has to be force that is credible to go after the terrorists.
BURNS: While the Palestinians have long clamored for international peacekeepers, the Israelis have firmly rejected a third party force.
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI VICE PRIME MINISTER: Do I want one American person to be a victim of a suicidal attack? The answer is definitely no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNS: The Bush administration says American troops would become targets if sent to the region now, that the parties themselves working with Arab nations must cooperate to quell the militants. But the idea of peacekeepers backed we U.S.-led NATO could become stronger once a peace deal is in sight. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And, Chris, let's talk about Iran. With the student protests continuing today there, did the president have any further comment on the situation?
BURNS: Well, yes, he did. A day after the Bush administration issued a statement saying they were concerned about the violence that was going on, the backlash by Islamic clerics and their followers against the students, they even arrests, the Bush administration said they were alarmed by those arrests. President Bush saying, himself, that he felt for those students, for their movement. He said freedom is a powerful incentive, saying that freedom will prevail, and that -- if I can read a section, he said that, it's the beginnings of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran, which he says, I think is positive. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Burns in Kennebunkport with the president.
Well, even as U.S. officials discuss how to stop violence in the Middle East, there's been more bloodshed in that region. For the latest now, let's turn to CNN's Matthew Chance in Gaza. Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Fredricka. A real atmosphere of tension and violence continuing in this region, but you know, behind it all, intensive talks here in Gaza carrying on between various Palestinian factions, the Palestinian Authority, the militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, along with a delegation of security officials from the neighboring country of Egypt.
Egyptians here are engaged in an effort to get the militant groups like Hamas to abandon or at least suspend their campaign of violence against Israel, to allow the U.S.-backed road map at least an opportunity to take root. An opportunity it hasn't really been given so far. Much, though, according to Palestinian officials, depends on what Israel can offer in return.
Palestinian officials, over the course of the last two days, have been in talks with their Israeli counterparts to discuss the possibility of Palestinian security personnel taking over responsibility for security inside the Gaza Strip, in exchange for a limited Israeli withdrawal from areas of the Gaza Strip and an all- important suspension of Israel's policy of assassination against the leading militant Palestinians, groups like Hamas. The kind of attacks we've been seeing over the past days on cars carrying militants that also injured and killed, on many occasions, bystanders.
It's still not clear, though, whether Israel will meet those conditions, whether it will do that, or indeed if it does, whether Hamas and the other militant groups will consider it to be enough for them to suspend their campaigns either. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And, Matthew, with the possibility of peacekeepers being in the West Bank and Gaza, what kind of reaction are you getting there on the ground?
CHANCE: Well, it's not clear, from our perspective here, that that is a real possibility. Certainly as Chris Burns mentioned a few moments ago in his report, the Palestinians have been clamoring for some kind of international peacekeeping force, an observer mission, something like that. They'd welcome the United States in that role, or the United Nations at least, which is what they've been calling for, for many, many years now.
The Israelis all along, though, have resisted any kind of sort of observer force or peacekeeping force here. They say, as Chris Burns mentioned, you know, that that would -- they would become the targets to some extent. But the other thing is that they believe their security is best kept by them. They don't trust that to anyone else.
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance in Gaza, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
