28 September 2001
Transcript: Powell Says Now Is the Time to Stop Support for Terrorism
(Coalition necessary to carry out campaign, he says) (1930)
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the strengthened
international anti-terrorism campaign getting under way gives nations
that have actively supported terrorists and their infrastructure in
the past an opportunity to stop.
"It's time to stop this kind of support for such organizations and
providing them a haven," Powell said September 27 in an interview on
National Public Radio. "We'll see whether or not nations who have been
doing this in the past take the opportunity."
If these nations fail to take this opportunity, Powell said, then they
will face hostility from the rest of the world.
"What we are saying is, where is this getting you; what is this doing
to the world; look what it's doing to culture and civilization; and
look at the effect it's having," he said.
Powell said it takes a coalition of nations to carry out the war
against terrorism because it involves intelligence-sharing,
controlling people crossing borders, and tracking financial
transactions and terrorists' financial systems. It can't be done
alone, he said.
However, President Bush reserves all of the authority given him in the
Constitution to utilize the necessary power to defend U.S. citizens,
he said. Actions by the United Nations and others to support the
battle against terrorists does not restrict the president's authority,
but does enhance his authority to act, he said.
Following is a transcript of Powell's interview:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
September 27, 2001
INTERVIEW OF SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL
BY NOAH ADAMS OF NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
ON "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED"
September 27, 2001
Washington, D.C.
SECRETARY POWELL: Hello.
QUESTION: Hi, Mr. Secretary. It's Noah Adams here.
SECRETARY POWELL: Hello, Noah. How are you?
QUESTION: I'm fine. I appreciate you helping us. Can we go ahead and
start? Are you all set?
SECRETARY POWELL: Yes.
QUESTION: Good. You've had meetings today with King Adbullah of Jordan
and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr. Cem. And I'm just curious, what
sort of assurances were they looking to you for? In other words, sort
of in private conversations, what do they really want to hear from
you?
SECRETARY POWELL: I met with King Abdullah and with Foreign Minister
Cem of Turkey, and also Foreign Minister Downer of Australia, as well.
And what they were all looking for was a sense of where we were taking
this campaign. And what I tried to reassure them all of is that it is
a long-term campaign in which the United States will be patient, will
persevere, and it is directed against terrorists; it's not directed
against Arabs, it's not directed against those who believe in Islam.
It's directed against terrorism; in the first instance, terrorism
reflected in the presence of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and elsewhere in
the world, and the leader of al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden. But terrorism
exists in other forms, other organizations, and we will be pursuing
them as well, because this is a plague on all civilized nations, not
just on the United States. I reminded them that it was the World Trade
Center that was bombed. Almost 80 nations lost citizens in that
terrible tragedy.
They assured me of their support. Each member of this coalition we're
forming -- that's "coalition" with a small "c", not a new
organization, but just a coalition of nations that are inclined to
join in the struggle against terrorism -- but the nations in this
coalition will participate in different ways. Some are prepared to
give direct military support; others, it will be mostly rhetorical
support or help with intelligence activity, financial network
uprooting, and the like. And we are pleased that almost every
civilized nation in the world has joined us in this effort, Iraq being
a rather significant and expected exception.
And I just expressed my appreciation for their efforts, and they
expressed their appreciation for knowing that the United States is
serious about waging this campaign in a careful but persistent way.
And they were all very admiring of President Bush's speech last
Thursday night, which essentially laid the campaign out.
QUESTION: You have mentioned before that the campaign might present a
chance -- sort of looking through a wider view of history -- an
opportunity that countries could redefine themselves, could have a
fresh start in dealing with the U.S.. Do you think it's possible?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it's possible if they seize the opportunity.
The President, in his speech, made it clear that he was putting out
that opportunity for them when he said that, if you continue to act in
this way, then you can expect us to be hostile toward you. "Continue"
means, this is the time to stop supporting terrorist organizations. A
number of the countries who have spoken up, such as Syria, for
example, are on a list of states that sponsor terrorist organizations.
And what we were saying is, where is this getting you; what is this
doing to the world; look what it's doing to culture and civilization;
and look at the effect it's having. It's time to stop this kind of
support for such organizations and providing them a haven.
And we'll see whether or not nations who have been doing this in the
past take the opportunity. If they don't take the opportunity, then
just as President Bush said, I think the rest of the world will treat
them with hostility.
QUESTION: Richard Perle, who heads the Defense Policy Board at the
Pentagon, said last night on PBS that the U.S. is going to have to do
all the heavy lifting here. "It's wonderful to have the support of our
friends and allies, but our foremost consideration has to be to
protect this country and not take a vote among others as to how we
should do it."
Could there be a downside to coalition building?
SECRETARY POWELL: As Richard noted, we will do this because we are
protecting our own citizens, and I have not scheduled a vote for any
member of this coalition to participate in. The President reserves all
of the authority that the Constitution gives him to act in a way that
he believes is necessary to defend the citizens.
But the President has made it very clear that the kinds of things that
will probably be most successful in the campaign against terrorism are
intelligence-sharing, controlling people going across our borders,
financial transactions and how to get at their financial systems. You
can't do this, America alone. You need coalitions. And it seems to me
if you can put a coalition of likeminded nations together that have
all joined in a campaign against terrorism, that is a good thing, not
a bad thing, as long as it does not restrict America's ability to
defend itself. And rather than restricting our ability, it enhances
our ability to defend ourselves.
The President issued an Executive Order earlier this week going after
the financial resources of terrorist organizations. The U.N. will pass
a similar resolution in the next few days. And many of our coalition
members have already put in place a similar executive order. So that
doesn't restrict the President's authority; that enhances his
authority and makes us a safer place, not a weaker place.
So I think we met Richard's standard of not tying the President's
hands, but at the same time, using coalitions to enhance our security.
QUESTION: Many people around in the U.S., as well as overseas, are
waiting for evidence of a connection with Usama bin Laden. The NATO
defense ministers were grumbling a little bit yesterday in Brussels.
And you have said that the U.S. has put out a persuasive -- will make
a persuasive case before the American people. Is the schedule of that
disclosure slipping a little bit here?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I didn't have a precise schedule in front of
me. We're assembling lots of information. Some of it is intelligence
information; some of it is law enforcement information. And as we
assemble it, we will release that which is unclassified and we can
share, protecting that which is classified so that we don't give away
sources and methods, or tell the enemy what we know that we don't want
them to know what we know.
And so we will be careful with that. But I think it's important for us
to put the case out. The case is already out there. Usama bin Laden
was indicted for blowing up two American embassies in Africa a few
years ago. And so just on that alone, we have a basis to go after him.
But it is also clear, when one looks at what happened to our ship in
Yemen, the USS Cole; when one looks at an entire chain of events; and
when one looks at the information that I have seen, both classified
and unclassified, there's no question in our mind that he and the
al-Qaida organization is responsible for this. And we think it's in
our interest to give as much of this information to the world as we
can, while protecting our intelligence assets, so that everybody will
see the case as clearly as we do.
So the information will be coming out. And it is not that the schedule
has slipped. It's just that there's a lot of information we have to go
through.
QUESTION: I have a question about Afghanistan. President Bush asked
this week, in a way, for the cooperation of citizens within
Afghanistan, he said, who may be tired of having the Taliban in place.
Now, I wonder if there is concern that that could be giving the false
hope to the people of Afghanistan, as has come up in the past with
encouragement for the Kurds in northern Iraq, and way back in another
era, encouraging the revolutionaries in Hungary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I think what the President was saying in
response to the question put to him was that our goal is to go after
the al-Qaida organization and Usama bin Laden. It's up to the Afghan
people to determine how they will be governed and what the nature of
their leadership will be. And I think there is great dissatisfaction
with the Taliban leadership. It has impoverished the country; it has
suppressed fundamental human rights in a most vicious way, especially
the rights of women. And we know that there are many factions within
Afghanistan who would like to see the Taliban machine go. And if those
factions come together and push that regime aside, then so be it. But
the President was just making that observation to show that is a
possibility, and if that happens, that is a choice of the Afghans.
But I don't think he was in any way giving them false hopes about our
role. Our role, to the Afghan people, in the very near future will be
to try to help with some of these humanitarian problems they are going
to be facing over the fall and winter. So we are really ratcheting up
our ability to provide humanitarian aid, food aid and shelter aid, to
the people who are already displaced and more who are liable to be
displaced as a result of this current situation.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, thank you for your time, sir.
SECRETARY POWELL: You're quite welcome. Thank you. Bye-bye.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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