02 October 2001
Transcript: Powell Says bin Laden, al-Qaida First Priority
("Bad things" already happening to Taliban, he says) (1100)
Secretary of State Colin Powell told a national television audience
October 1 that "a lot of bad things" are happening to Afghanistan's
ruling Taliban group, and that the pressure is going to increase.
Interviewed by Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, Powell noted that
two of the only three governments in the world that had recognized the
Taliban have cut off diplomatic relations with them. Further,
financial support to Usama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network --
which supports the Taliban "to some extent" -- is being cut off around
the world, and a considerable U.S. military buildup in the region is
occurring, he said.
Powell said the focus of U.S. policy is not the overthrow of the
Taliban, but rather the pursuit of bin Laden and the al-Qaida network
in Afghanistan. "And if the Taliban does not realize that this could
cause them a great deal of difficulty as well and might lead to their
demise, they will soon come to that conclusion," he said.
Asked about bin Laden's guilt in the terrorist attacks of September
11, Powell said, "we think he's guilty and all roads point to him."
Following is the transcript of Powell's interview:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
Secretary Of State Colin L. Powell
With Dan Rather On The CBS Evening News
October 1, 2001
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the President said in his address to the
nation and to the joint session of Congress, and I quote, "The Taliban
must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists or
they will share their fate."
Now, they have not acted. They certainly have not acted immediately.
They have not handed over the terrorists but nothing bad has happened
to them. Why not?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I think a lot of bad things have happened to
them. First, they have had diplomatic relations cut by two of the
three countries in the world that recognize them. Secondly, we are
working hard with our allies around the world to shut off financial
support to the al-Qaida organization, which, to some extent, supports
the Taliban. The entire international community has mobilized against
them. They are going to find more pressure being applied to them. And,
at the same time, the United States is preserving its military
options, and there is a considerable buildup taking place in the
region.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I know that you are acutely aware, as every American
is, we have 13,000 casualties, dead, missing and wounded, if you put
all of those together. And it is -- if you forgive me for saying so,
it's fine to talk about coalitions, fine to talk about financial
pressure. But with 13,000 U.S. casualties, surely sometime we are
going to do more than just put together coalitions and talk about
cutting their finances.
A: Well, it's a lot more than that. What we really have to do is shut
down terrorism, not just find a single place to take revenge out on or
a group of people to take revenge out on. What the President has done,
and I think he has the full support of the American people, is to put
this coalition together to put in place a campaign that will go after
terrorism so that these sorts of things never happen again.
Q: Mr. Secretary, is or is it not administration policy to replace the
Taliban dictatorship in Afghanistan?
A: Administration policy is to go after the al-Qaida network and Usama
bin Laden in Afghanistan. And if the Taliban does not realize that
this could cause them a great deal of difficulty as well and might
lead to their demise, they will soon come to that conclusion. But we
are doing first things first. And first things first, in this
instance, is to go after al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden, and terrorist
networks.
Q: Has it been ruled out for at least the time being something such as
bombing targets in Iraq?
A: The President is focused on the first phase of this operation that
deals with al-Qaida and deals with Usama bin Laden and deals with the
general issue of terrorism around the world. He has ruled nothing out
with respect to second, third, or fourth phases of our campaign
militarily.
Q: General, there has been a lot of talk about presenting evidence
against Usama bin Laden. But we now know, it's been confirmed, that
bin Laden, while he says he wasn't responsible for these attacks, he
did praise them and say, in effect, he was happy for them. Given that
fact, do we need to present any further evidence? What other evidence
would anyone need?
A: Well, we think he's guilty and all roads point to him. And we have
assembled quite a bit of information -- not evidence for a court --
but information, information concerning his past actions with respect
to the bombing of our embassies in Africa a couple of years ago,
connections to the bombing of the USS Cole, connections going back to
earlier acts of terrorism, his statements.
And a lot of the information, frankly, is in the public domain. We
read it in the newspapers every day, and we see it as arrests are made
in different countries throughout the world with these arrests
increasingly tightening, tightening the ring around Usama bin Laden
and al-Qaida, making clear to anybody who has an interest in it who is
responsible for this.
Q: Mr. Secretary, the Taliban now has indicated that it has bin Laden,
it knows where he is, and he is still in Afghanistan. Do you believe
that?
A: I don't know what to believe with the Taliban. A few days ago, they
were saying they didn't know where he was. If they know where he is,
then I would suggest it would be their best course of action to go
knock on his door, pick him up, go get all of his lieutenants, turn
them over to us and then destroy all the camps that were left behind.
Q: Is there a time line on that, a deadline?
A: The President has established no deadline but I can assure you we
are moving forward rather deliberately.
Q: Secretary of State of the United States and retired US Army General
Colin Powell. Thank you.
A: 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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