Bush to Go On Iraq TV : President to Make Tape for Airing

President Bush today accepted an offer from Iraq to speak on state-run Iraqi television, calling it “a real opportunity” to get his message to the people of that country.

“The President has a very distinct message that he wants to give to the people of Iraq,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said aboard Air Force One en route to a campaign rally for Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden.

“Iraq’s information minister has offered to broadcast a message from President Bush to the people of Iraq on their state-run television,” Fitzwater said. “Although we have not heard from Iraq directly, we accept their offer of a broadcast to the Iraqi people. The President will tape a message to the Iraqi people in the next few days, which will be provided to the Iraqi information minister.”

Naji al-Hadithi, director general of Iraq’s information ministry, said earlier today in Baghdad that he was making the offer on President Saddam Hussein’s instructions. He said an Iraqi television crew was ready to go to Washington to interview Bush.

That won’t be necessary, the White House said.

“We’ll produce it ourselves,” said Fitzwater, who said the White House envisions a 10- to 15-minute broadcast that will also be made available to the rest of the world.

He said Bush is not worried about the possibility of censorship.

“We assume that their offer means they will broadcast it in its entirety,” the spokesman said.

“The President has a very distinct message that he wants to give the people of Iraq (about) our purpose for being in the Gulf. He thinks this is a good opportunity,” Fitzwater said. “We take them at their word.”

Bush complained last week that he was not getting equal time to get his message across to the people of Iraq. Hussein has been interviewed by CBS-TV anchorman Dan Rather, and his speeches, delivered through a spokesman in Baghdad, have been aired at length on CNN and other American networks.

In his recent interview with Rather, Hussein said he wanted to debate Bush and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the Persian Gulf situation via television.

“I say he can put an empty chair there as far as I’m concerned,” Bush replied at an Aug. 30 news conference.

In his remarks in Topeka, Bush said U.S.-Soviet cooperation in the Persian Gulf standoff is an example of the benefits of the warming relationship between the two nations, a partnership that he hopes to strengthen in a weekend meeting with Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

“The Persian Gulf shows what this cooperation can achieve. . . . This meeting can further expand cooperation between the U.S. and Soviet Union,” Bush said.

Bush also said the United States is resolute in the goals of its military presence in the Gulf region.

“We will not stand by while one country devours another unthreatening country whole,” he said of Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. “Our cause may not be easy, but it will always be right. So we will do whatever it takes to help our men and women restore peace and, thus, complete their mission.” On a separate matter, the White House said there is no new U.S. economic aid package for the Soviet Union in the offing, as some reports have said.