17 September 2001
Transcript: Powell Pleased with Support for Anti-Terrorism Coalition
(Says first targets are al-Qaida, Usama bin Ladin) (3030)
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the first task for the
global anti-terrorism campaign is to deal with those who attacked the
United States September 11th, killing thousands.
"In the first round of this campaign, we have to deal with the
perpetrators of the attacks against America in New York and in
Washington," Powell said September 17 at a mid-day State Department
news briefing. "It is becoming clearer with each passing hour, with
each passing day, that it is the al-Qaida network that is the prime
suspect, as the President has said. And all roads lead to the leader
of that organization, Usama bin Ladin, and his location in
Afghanistan."
Powell said the United States means no ill toward the people of
Afghanistan, where bin Ladin and the al-Qaida organization have been
located, but "they should not allow these invaders to put their
society at risk."
He said he was pleased that nations across the globe were expressing
their support for the coalition to combat terrorism.
"This expression of support is characteristic of the expressions of
support we have continued to receive as we call leaders around the
world and as we begin this building of a coalition, a coalition that
will be conducting a campaign, a campaign that will have many parts to
it, as I have said to you before -- legal, political, diplomatic, law
enforcement, intelligence collection, and military as appropriate," he
said.
Following is the transcript of Powell's briefing:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
September 17, 2001
On-The-Record Briefing by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
September 17, 2001
1:42 p.m. EDT
Washington, D.C.
SECRETARY POWELL: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry I'm a
little late. I just got off the phone with the President of Yemen,
President Salih, and we had a good conversation about the support that
Yemen is giving to us in this crisis. They have been very helpful
recently in the continuation of the Cole investigation and now are
helping us with respect to leads in this current crisis, the September
11th incident.
He also mentioned to me that the President of Syria is visiting and
that later this afternoon the two presidents will issue a joint
statement, once again condemning the actions of last week, condemning
those who are responsible for it, condemning terrorism, and committing
themselves to work with us in the days and weeks ahead as we deal with
this problem.
This expression of support is characteristic of the expressions of
support we have continued to receive as we call leaders around the
world and as we begin this building of a coalition, a coalition that
will be conducting a campaign, a campaign that will have many parts to
it, as I have said to you before, legal, political, diplomatic, law
enforcement, intelligence collection, and military as appropriate. And
so I am pleased that the coalition is coming together.
I think everybody recognizes that this challenge is one that went far
beyond America, far beyond New York City and far beyond Washington.
Thirty-seven countries lost citizens in the World Trade Center, and
what we have to do is not only deal with this present instance but the
whole concept of terrorism, deal with it as a scourge upon
civilization and go after it.
But in the first round of this campaign, we have to deal with the
perpetrators of the attacks against America in New York and in
Washington. It is becoming clearer with each passing hour, with each
passing day, that it is the al-Qaida network that is the prime
suspect, as the President has said. And all roads lead to the leader
of that organization, Usama bin Ladin, and his location in
Afghanistan. That is why we are pleased that the Pakistani Government
sent emissaries in to try to persuade the Afghans, the Taliban
leadership, that they should do what they have been required to do for
a number of years under UN resolutions and reject this presence in
their country, this invasion of their country by a terrorist
organization.
We mean no ill toward the people of Afghan; they are a suffering
people, they are a poor people. It is for that reason alone they
should not allow these invaders to put their society at risk and to
connect themselves to the government of Afghanistan.
So I am very pleased that more and more people around the world
recognize the nature of this campaign, recognize that we have to get
involved, recognize it is not going to be solved in one day or one
week, but will be a long-term campaign. As the President and other
government officials have indicated earlier, we are also doing
everything necessary to protect ourselves here at home and to put
ourselves on the right kind of security footing so that we can be
vigilant and alert to the threats that still exist within the country
or may be directed at us in the future.
With that, I will take a few questions. I am once again under a time
limit.
QUESTION: Is it too early -- do you have any indications of how the
message is being received by Taliban? The Saudi Foreign Minister is
coming here Wednesday, and could you tell us what you will ask of the
Saudis and, whatever they do, would you prefer this time that they be
explicit?
SECRETARY POWELL: I always like explicit rather than vague, and I look
forward to seeing Foreign Minister Saud when he comes here. I have
spoken to him, I guess it was last Thursday or Friday -- I'm losing
track of the days -- and so I expect he will be forthcoming. I expect
he will be coming with a message of support and commitment.
I know that they are looking at a number of ways in which they can
help us, and we will welcome that help and assistance. They are good
friends of ours. They have condemned this act from the very outset,
from the very beginning, from last Wednesday morning on. I am sure he
is coming with a message of continued support and commitment, but I
don't want to get into what specifically we might be asking of them.
QUESTION: Any early indications of what Taliban is saying?
SECRETARY POWELL: The Taliban, of course, is responding in the way
that it always has, that Usama bin Laden and his associates are guests
in their country. Well, it is time for the guests to leave.
QUESTION: First of all, the Pakistanis are saying that there was a
deadline of three days to hand over Usama bin Laden. Is that true?
SECRETARY POWELL: Whose deadline?
QUESTION: The deadline for the Taliban to turn over Usama bin Laden.
SECRETARY POWELL: The Pakistanis gave them a deadline?
QUESTION: Yes. Well, that's what I'm asking. Is it a Pakistani --
SECRETARY POWELL: I don't know if that is the case that the Pakistanis
actually said that and whether they said it in their own name or whose
name, but it wasn't in our name.
QUESTION: And secondly, have you made specific and formal requests to
all frontline states around Afghanistan, including Iran?
SECRETARY POWELL: We have not made specific requests for assistance.
Those requests are being considered now by our intelligence, law
enforcement and military communities to see what might be needed as we
put our contingency plans together. Nothing has been asked of Iran, in
particular.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you say whether this government intends
to contact the Taliban and to give either an ultimatum, or whatever
words you care to choose of the language? Can you deal with these
people?
SECRETARY POWELL: I am sure there will be some communication in the
future, but I would not like to characterize what that communication
might be yet.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, as you put the pieces of your diplomatic
puzzle together, what is the
-- could you sort of elaborate for us on the importance that Saudi
Arabia, Morocco and other Islamic states play within the Arab world in
sort of building this international consensus?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think they are important, not only those specific
countries but all countries, Arab and otherwise -- but especially Arab
to come out and condemn this kind of activity, because this is a
threat to their own countries. There isn't one of them you mentioned
that hasn't faced some kind of terrorist attack against their
legitimacy, against their own sovereignty. And so it is important for
them to speak out, especially when we have seen the strong statements
from Pakistan. And I think Pakistan would like to see other Arab and
Islamic countries speak out and act in as strong a way as Pakistan
has.
And, you know, Uzbekistan has been rather forthcoming and others have
been rather forthcoming. I think, as the days go by and as the various
plans come together, you will see more and more of them speaking out.
The UAE has said that it is reviewing its relationship with Taliban
activities within the UAE and we will see where that leads. The Sudan
has become suddenly much more interested and active in working with us
on various items. So there are a lot of things that are going on that
will become more manifest as time goes on.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, did you get the time to talk to the Greek
Foreign Minister, Yeoryios Papandreou, for this cause?
SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, I did. I did. I talked to my colleague,
Yeoryios Papandreou, over the weekend. I can get the specific date for
you. Richard has a rather imposing list of phone calls, but I can no
longer remember which day -- it was over the weekend -- both to my
Greek and to my Turkish colleagues on the same day.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is turning over Usama bin Laden enough? Are
there other things the Taliban will also have to do?
SECRETARY POWELL: We are after the al-Qaida network. It is not one
individual; it's lots of individuals and it's lots of cells. As I said
on television yesterday, Usama bin Laden is the chairman of a holding
company and within that holding company are terrorist cells and
organizations in dozens of countries around the world, any one of them
capable of committing a terrorist act. So it is not enough to get one
individual, although we will start with that one individual. It will
not be over until we have gotten into the inside of this organization,
inside its decision cycle, inside its planning cycle, inside its
execution capability, and until we have neutralized and destroyed it.
That is our objective.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the Taliban today is apparently offering that
an Islamic -- a court of Islamic clerics would determine the fate of
bin Laden and that they would accept that outcome. But this is
something they've offered before and the US rejected it before. I want
to know if that's -- if that's still your feeling, if that has any
kind of flexibility. And also, is there an interagency team planning
to go into Pakistan any time soon?
SECRETARY POWELL: On the first point, I will wait and see what they
end up doing and what that court decides, once it has convened in
whatever fashion it convenes itself and whatever action it takes. I
don't want to prejudge what we might do in response to what it might
do.
With respect to an interagency team going to Pakistan, we are making a
determination now and will take a day or two or a couple of days as to
what we might want to ask the Pakistanis for and, when that has been
determined, then we will form a team appropriate to that task.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, are you certain that Usama bin Laden is still
in Afghanistan and are you confident that the Taliban could actually
find him?
SECRETARY POWELL: I can't be certain of where he is. I am reasonably
confident and certain that if the Taliban government wanted to find
him, they would know where he is, if he is still in Afghanistan, and I
have seen nothing to indicate he is not still in Afghanistan.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, how do you plan to follow up on the positive
signals being sent from Iran?
SECRETARY POWELL: From Iran?
QUESTION: Yes.
SECRETARY POWELL: As I said yesterday, these are positive signals, and
I've had it reinforced that it is a positive signal. And it is worth
exploring, and that is where I would leave it right now, not move it
any further than that -- worth exploring. Remember now, as you surely
do, that Iran is a nation we have designated as sponsoring state
terrorism. And they may want to make cause against the Taliban, but
will they make cause against other terrorist organizations that they
have provided support to?
And I am willing to explore that, but let's not get any further than
that. Some suggested that they are part of the coalition, they're
going to be partners. Not so fast. We recognize the nature of that
regime. They have said something that is different than what we have
heard from them previously. They, too, are shocked by what happened,
they tell us. And so it seems to me that is an opening worth
exploring, and that is as far as we go right now.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, who has not responded well? What countries
have disappointed you in their response? And secondly, last week
Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz used the phrase "ending regimes
that sponsor terrorism." No Administration official has repeated that
formula. Are we really after ending regimes, or are we simply going to
try to change their behavior?
SECRETARY POWELL: We are after ending terrorism. And if there are
states and regimes, nations, that support terrorism, we hope to
persuade them that it is in their interests to stop doing that. But I
think ending terrorism is where I would like to leave it, and let Mr.
Wolfowitz speak for himself.
QUESTION: What countries have fallen short, let's say?
SECRETARY POWELL: Oh, I really don't have a list of fall-shorts. Some
have been able to do more than others. Some it is rhetorical in nature
and they really don't have much else to give us other than words of
support and encouragement. Others it is far more than that, to the
point of if you have to something militarily, ask us if we can
participate.
So it is a full range. But within the capabilities that they have, I
am satisfied, very satisfied, with most of the responses that I have
received. Where there is an opportunity for a country to do more and
they haven't yet offered to do more, I would rather deal with them
rather than single them out.
One more, then I've got to go.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, NATO said they would be with us, but
apparently Italy -- there was a statement this morning that Italy
would not participate militarily in any sort of action. And there have
been some countries in the Middle East and elsewhere that have
expressed concern that this is going to be too broad a campaign and
they want it to be very narrowly focused, and they're nervous.
What would you say to them?
SECRETARY POWELL: We are sensitive to all those concerns. I heard
something quite different from Italy, but my Italian colleague will be
here this week so Renato and I can talk directly. And we --
QUESTION: If I could follow on that --
SECRETARY POWELL: Hold on, hold on. Pushy, pushy. Now I forgot the
question. Next?
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: The question was --
SECRETARY POWELL: Jane, pick it up.
QUESTION: The Taliban -- you just said a little earlier that there
will be communication but you would prefer not to characterize it, yet
yesterday I think you said that in a couple of days the United States
would be talking to the Taliban.
Are you suggesting here that the first communication will be military
rather than anything else?
SECRETARY POWELL: No. I think both statements are consistent --
communication, contact.
QUESTION: So when will the United States be talking to the Taliban?
Will we be sending someone in from Islamabad?
SECRETARY POWELL: That's what I also said today, that I am not
prepared to comment on the modalities or when or under what set of
circumstances or what the nature of the communication will be, because
that is still being resolved.
Okay, Barbara. Do you remember what the question was? I remember the
answer.
QUESTION: I do. The second part of the question -- forgive me, as an
ex-New Yorker -- was about Israel. Ariel Sharon has not been terribly
helpful, it seems, in this. A lot of Arab countries are saying we have
to do something about this conflict and we have to restrain Sharon or
a coalition isn't going to fly.
SECRETARY POWELL: I think we do have to do something about the
situation in the Middle East. I carve out part of my day to press and
work on that. Prime Minister Sharon and I had a very long phone
conversation last night, and we talked about his latest approach of
his son and an official from the Ministry visiting with Chairman
Arafat and talking about how this series of meetings could get
started.
And I never lose sight of the fact that one of the underlying
continuing problems we will have -- we had it before 11 September,
we're going to have it for the foreseeable future -- is that we have
to get into the Mitchell plan and we have to get back to negotiations
in due course. And so I can assure you I haven't taken the United
States' eye off that ball.
I do have to go. Thank you.
(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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