Bush Administration Questions Hussein Video
White House Says Tape Offers No 'Immediate Conclusions'
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as he appeared on Iraqi television Thursday, left, and in a 1998 file photo, right.
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2003; 12:26 PM
The White House today questioned the authenticity of a videotape showing Saddam Hussein speaking a few hours after the cruise missile strikes that opened the war in Iraq.
"We have reached no conclusions about that tape or about who's on the tape or when it was taped," press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
State-run Iraqi television broadcast a seven-minute statement in which the defiant official identified as Hussein, wearing a military uniform, vowed in Arabic to resist the invaders and erode U.S. patience. Western news accounts generally said the tape showed Hussein, but many newscasters noted that it could have been pre-recorded.
"Is it Saddam Hussein?" Fleischer asked. "When would it have been taped? We've reached no conclusion."
Fleischer, like Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at a later briefing, made no claims about the outcome of the attempt to decapitate the Iraqi leadership at the war's outset. "Bomb damage assessment takes time," he said. "We don't rush to conclusions, and bomb-damage assessment is ongoing in this case."
Similarly, Fleischer suggested that President Bush would have little to say about progress in the early stages of the war. "The president is not going to be a play-by-play commentator," he said. "The president has a long approach to this."
Administration officials stressed the potential swiftness of the war while they were trying to win diplomatic support, but now Bush and his aides are trying to lower public expectations and prepare the public for casualties and setbacks. Bush said in his four-minute remarks last night that the "campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict."
Fleischer said that while officials "hope that it will be as short a war as possible," Bush "thinks it's important to speak directly to the country about the possibility that this could be longer and harder than some people have estimated it to be."
Bush, an early riser, began his day with a 6 a.m. telephone call from National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to update him on overnight developments and give him an assessment of the missile strikes, which were aimed at a residence where intelligence reports indicated Hussein might be meeting with his inner circle.
Bush arrived in the Oval Office at 6:55 a.m., about his usual time, the official said.
An aide said Bush would make calls to several world leaders today. The aide said Bush will remain largely out of public view for the rest of the week. He was to continue his daily private meeting with Rumsfeld in addition to the daily National Security Council meeting they attend together.
Bush was scheduled to have lunch with Vice President Cheney, then hold a Cabinet meeting. Fleischer said that in addition to giving his Cabinet members an update on the war, the president will "urge the Cabinet to pursue their duties on the domestic front, as all -- it still is important for the budget to pass in the Congress, it still is important for energy independence to be achieved."
This evening, Bush is to have an Oval Office meeting and then eat dinner with Cameroon President Paul Biya.
The meeting could be seen as coming a little late: The African republic is a one of the six nations on the United Nations Security Council that remained uncommitted about the failed resolution that would have authorized force against Iraq. Cameroon is not one of the 30 countries that have allowed themselves to be publicly identified as allies of the U.S. and British forces.
Fleischer had no specific reaction to the condemnation today from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was quoted as telling senior ministers in the Kremlin that the military action "can in no way be justified" and is "a big political error."
Other overnight critics included China and the Vatican, plus Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and other largely Muslim countries. The governments of Japan and South Korea were among those issuing supportive statements, as did Albania, Denmark, Italy and Poland. Britain and Australia are supplying troops.
"The president understands and respects the thoughts of those who disagree," Fleischer said. "The United States and the coalition of the willing will not be deterred from the mission to disarm Saddam Hussein."
Fleischer said the number of allies is growing and that the administration would announce additions soon. He said Bush "is heartened by how much international there is for the disarmament of Saddam Hussein's regime."
Fleischer said that sometime before last night, Bush signed a classified "execute order" authorizing the use of force. He said Cheney and Rice notified the five top congressional leaders before last night's attack.
Fleischer said he has no information about any change in the 1976 executive order banning direct efforts by the U.S. government to assassinate foreign leaders, but said "command and control under international law is a legitimate target."
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