WRAP Adds comment from French UN Ambassador

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QUALITY AS INCOMING
1. Cheney walking to podium
2. Audience
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dick Cheney, US Vice President:
“Some claim we should not have acted because the threat from Saddam Hussein was not imminent. Yet as the president has said, since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike. I would remind the critics of the fundamental case the president made since September 11th. Terrorist enemies of our country hope to strike us with the most lethal weapons known to man, and it would be reckless in the extreme to rule out action and save our worries until the day they strike.”
4. Cheney speaking
5. Powell walking out of State Department
6. Camera
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Colin Powell, US Secretary of State:
“I think it was important to remind the American people that the war was fully justified, and we seek every opportunity that there is to do that. I’ve been out, I put an Op-Ed (subjective report) piece in the Washington Post earlier this week which commented on the Kay report and made the case clearly, I think that Iraq was in material breach of its obligations based on the information we have from David Kay. And the president wanted the American people to understand clearly that there are no second thoughts on our part, and that the evidence is overwhelming.”
8. Press
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Colin Powell, US Secretary of State:
“I spent most of my day today on the resolution, working on language. I talked to a number of my colleagues, I’ll be talking to more of them this afternoon and evening. I think we’re making some progress. I think we’re making some progress. watch this space ”
10. Powell walking away

Washington, DC (October 10, 2003)
11. French Ambassador to the United States Jean-David Levitte walking to podium
12. Audience listening
13. SOUNDBITE (English) French Ambassador to the United States Jean-David Levitte
“Here, everybody is trying to find the best way forward to help the Iraqi people. So we propose ideas, and if they can be taken on board c’est bon. We will be more than happy to vote in favor in that context. If not, maybe we’ll abstain. But certainly we will not vote ‘No’.”
14. Pan from audience to Levitte

STORYLINE:

US Vice President Dick Cheney said on Friday the US still faced enemies that could inflict hundreds of thousands of American deaths in a single day.

He defended the Iraq invasion as a critical strike against such terror.

Speaking in Washington during the same week that US President George W. Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice gave similar speeches defending the war in Iraq, Cheney struck back at criticism that has built over the past several months.

Cheney’s speech was the latest in a wave of public appearances and interviews top White House officials were using to answer critics of Bush’s handling of Iraq.

Asked why the administration felt the need to launch a major public relations campaign defending the war in Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said it wanted the American people to know “there are no second thoughts” about launching the war, adding “the evidence is overwhelming.”

Meanwhile, the administration continued to review its options on Iraq at the United Nations, amid growing doubts about the measure’s chances for success.

Powell said he spent his day working on the resolution and talking to colleagues, adding, they’re making “some progress.”

One key player in the debate over a new resolution signalled it may be offering a conciliatory softening in its stance.

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