24 October 2001
Transcript: Powell, UK Foreign Secretary Straw Joint Press Availability
(Powell: Military action in Afghanistan may continue during Ramadan)
(2700)
"We are sensitive to Ramadan, but we can't let that be the sole
determinant of whether or not we continue our military activities,"
Secretary of State Colin Powell told journalists October 24 during a
press availability at the State Department with British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw.
Noting that the Afghan winter and Ramadan will both begin in
mid-November, Powell said "the important point to remember is we have
military objectives to accomplish, and I would like to see all of
those objectives accomplished in the next few days."
He added, however, that the assessment to continue military action or
not will be made "at that time ... and if it's necessary to continue
military action, then that is the judgment that I am sure the
President will support."
Straw said the future of Afghanistan would be part of the agenda
during their meeting, which was to follow the press availability.
"We have done a great deal of thinking on both sides of the Atlantic
about the future of Afghanistan. You can't say exactly what form of
government it should have, but I think we can see the building blocks
that are necessary to secure a stable and safe future for that
country," he said.
Asked about the possibility of military action against Iraq, Powell
refused to speculate. The first priority is to deal with the al-Qaida
network in Afghanistan and wherever it is located around the world, he
said.
"And then, in due course, we will turn our attention to other sources
of terrorism, which are so destabilizing in the world. And we will
keep a close eye on Iraq during that whole process," Powell said.
Straw concurred: "You take military action on the basis of the
clearest possible evidence of wrongdoing, and also following a view
that no other methods of restraint will work. Those conditions have
been present in respect to the al-Qaida organization, and the Taliban
in Afghanistan. It is only there at the moment that military action is
on the agenda."
On the Middle East, Powell reiterated the U.S. position that the aim
should be to get back to the more hopeful state of affairs that
existed before the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam
Zeevi.
He added that "it's important for Chairman Arafat to do everything
within his power to make the arrests of those who are responsible and
to get the violence down to zero, preferably, but to the lowest level
possible. And I think at this time, it would be appropriate for the
Israeli Government to immediately withdraw from the Area A villages
that they have occupied."
Both men also welcomed recent progress in the Northern Ireland peace
process.
Following is a transcript of the press availability:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 24, 2001
JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY WITH BRITISH SECRETARY OF STATE OF FOREIGN
AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS JACK STRAW AND SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L.
POWELL
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, D.C.
11:35 A.M. EDT
SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great
pleasure to welcome again my colleague, Foreign Minister Jack Straw,
and look forward to a profitable discussion. This is a little bit
different, in that we are giving the press conference before the
meeting, due to schedule difficulties, and I have to get up on the
Hill very quickly.
But it is a pleasure to welcome him, especially today, after we have
seen such progress yesterday in the Northern Ireland peace process,
and I want to extend my congratulations to Jack and to Prime Minister
Tony Blair and to the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, for this step
forward, and it shows what can happen when one remains persistent and
with a determination to solve what appear to be intractable problems.
I am sure that the Minister and I will also have occasion to talk a
great deal about the situation in Afghanistan. And let me take this
opportunity to again thank the British Government for the strong
support that they have given to us in this time of crisis since the
11th of September. As always, we can count on the United Kingdom, and
they have come through again. And likewise, we deeply appreciate their
military contribution to the campaign.
But more than just these political-military things, we deeply
appreciate the outpouring of support that we received from the British
people during this time of challenge and crisis. We also had a chance
to extend our condolences to Her Majesty's citizens who were lost in
the World Trade Center as well.
We will be speaking, I am sure, also about the future of Afghanistan.
The Foreign Minister gave a very important speech earlier this week
that talked about what we have to do with respect to putting in place
a broad-based government and what we have to do with respect to
helping the people of Afghanistan get on a path to a better life in a
post-Taliban regime. And I am sure there are a full range of European
issues, NATO issues, that we will also have a chance to discuss in the
next hour or so.
So, Jack, welcome. It is always a pleasure to have you, sir.
FOREIGN MINISTER STRAW: Colin, thank you very much indeed for that
welcome. I am delighted to be here. The last time I was in this room
was towards the end of June, in rather more benign circumstances.
Since then, we have had the atrocities on the 11th of September. And I
think it is worth my underlining to you and to the American people the
huge admiration we have in the United Kingdom for the steadfastness
and courage which was shown on the 11th of September by so many people
in New York and Washington and elsewhere, for the steadfastness and
patience and wisdom shown by your President, by you, sir, and by
members of your administration for all the work that is now being done
by United States forces as well, and for the fact that whilst it's --
and I can say this as somebody who has only ever been a politician --
politicians, sometimes put their reputations but no more on the line.
It is members of our armed forces who put their lives on the line, and
we expect great things from them and we get great things from them.
You have been very kind, as your President has, about the sentiment
and the feeling in the United Kingdom. It was instinctive. It was just
there, because we feel part of almost of a family. But it was also
instinctive because of a recognition that, on two occasions, in a very
short space of time, the United States came to our aid. We would not
enjoy the freedoms which we do in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in
Europe and throughout the rest of the world without the selfless aid
of the United States at our time of need. So it is the least, the very
least, that we can do.
Secretary Powell has gone through the agenda that we will be
discussing during our lunch. Obviously, includes the future of
Afghanistan. You were good enough to mention the speech which I made
two days ago. We have done a great deal of thinking on both sides of
the Atlantic about the future of Afghanistan. You can't say exactly
what form of government it should have, but I think we can see the
building blocks that are necessary to secure a stable and safe future
for that country.
On the issue of terrorism, thank you, too, for what you have said
about the Northern Ireland peace process. That, I think, is a very
good example about how, from very, very dark circumstances -- and we
have had to live with terrorism -- the people of Northern Ireland,
much worse, have had to live with terrorism for year after year after
year, killed hundreds of people. But from very, very dark beginnings,
it is possible to see a light and then, provided the process is kept
going and kept going through those difficulties, you can achieve a
result. And that, I believe, is what has happened. Thank you.
POWELL: Thank you, Jack. We have time for a couple of questions.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the situation on the West Bank, a little
unclear. But Israel or Israeli forces have made two arrests and,
apparently, maybe a half-dozen Palestinians have been killed. You and
the President have asked Israel to step back, to pull back. What do
you make of all this? Do you approve of the arrests, and I guess you
don't approve of the continued presence?
POWELL: Well, I think it's important for us to try to get back to
where we were a week-and-a-half or so ago, when we started to see some
movement toward the Mitchell Committee implementation, interrupted by
the tragic, tragic death of the Israeli cabinet minister.
But right now, I think it's important for Chairman Arafat to do
everything within his power to make the arrests of those who are
responsible and to get the violence down to zero, preferably, but to
the lowest level possible. And I think at this time, it would be
appropriate for the Israeli Government to immediately withdraw from
the Area A villages that they have occupied. And let's try not to let
this cycle of violence become even more intense than it has been in
recent days. It is a very volatile period, and I would like to see
this start moving in the other direction.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, just as a soldier, how much do you think
you are going to be able to achieve militarily on the ground by this
deadline now of mid-November, winter and Ramadan, in terms of removing
the Taliban, in terms of eliminating the bin Laden network?
POWELL: We are, of course, sensitive to the fact that Ramadan will be
beginning in the middle of November, and winter also will start about
that same time -- the winter period -- which makes military operations
more difficult.
But the important point to remember is we have military objectives to
accomplish, and I would like to see all of those objectives
accomplished in the next few days. And as we approach this period of
Ramadan and winter, we will just have to make an assessment at that
time as to where we are, and if it's necessary to continue military
action, then that is the judgment that I am sure the President will
support. And we will wait to hear from our military authorities about
it.
We are sensitive to Ramadan, but we can't let that be the sole
determinant of whether or not we continue our military activities.
QUESTION: Do you feel you can get the job done by then?
POWELL: I can't say. I think I'd better leave that to how events
unfold between now and then, and the judgment of our military
authorities, not mine.
QUESTION: Can you give us an idea of where the discussion or the
debate is regarding whether the US plans to put Iraq on its list of
targets very soon, especially now --
POWELL: On its list of what, targets?
QUESTION: Goes after Iraq soon. There is a lot of discussion about
this, especially now the speculation that some of the biological
agents, chemical agents, could be coming from Iraq. And would the
British support this as --
POWELL: First of all, that is speculation, and so I can't respond with
a concrete answer on that speculation. We keep a close eye on Iraq. We
will continue to work on modifying the sanctions regime so we keep the
Iraqi regime bottled up with respect to the development of weapons of
mass destruction, but we do not hurt the people of Iraq, so that they
can get the goods that they need. And I think the entire
[inter]national community is united around that strategy.
But as the President has said, first things first, and our first
priority right now is to deal with the al-Qaida network and Usama bin
Laden in Afghanistan, and wherever else it is located around the
world, or wherever else it has host countries supporting al-Qaida. And
then, in due course, we will turn our attention to other sources of
terrorism, which are so destabilizing in the world. And we will keep a
close eye on Iraq during that whole process.
STRAW: Our position on Iraq, just to repeat what I have said on many
occasions, is this, and it applies to any other country as well. You
take military action on the basis of the clearest possible evidence of
wrongdoing, and also following a view that no other methods of
restraint will work. Those conditions have been present in respect to
the al-Qaida organization, and the Taliban in Afghanistan. It is only
there at the moment that military action is on the agenda. Thank you.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you made reference to it's time for Chairman
Arafat to make arrests.
POWELL: More arrests. He's made some.
QUESTION: Right. Prime Minister Sharon has asked for those arrested to
be turned over to Israel. Would it be sufficient, as far as the U.S.
is concerned, if the Palestinians prosecute those that they may
arrest?
POWELL: I don't want to take a position on that. I just want to see --
let's get the perpetrators in solid custody, where they are not just
in some form of light house arrest, where they can walk out anytime
they wish. Let's get them in solid custody, where they clearly have
been arrested and they are no longer in a position to commit new acts
of terrorism, and then we can deal with the issue that you raise.
One more, and then we have to go to lunch.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, does the situation in Northern Ireland not
show us all that negotiations is really the only way forward in all of
these situations? And just secondly, when you met Martin McGuinness
yesterday, did he give you assurances that there is no link between
the IRA and the FARC guerillas in Colombia?
POWELL: We didn't, when I met with him yesterday, we didn't discuss
that. We were just sort of celebrating the progress that was achieved
yesterday. And I think negotiations are always to be preferred to
military conflict, and even when you have military conflict, it
doesn't always result in the kind of classic military win. Very often,
it sets the stage for negotiations.
And so I hope what we have seen in Northern Ireland in the last 24
hours, which culminates a process that took many, many years long to
get to this point, is an example of what can be achieved when people
of good will come together, recognize they have strong differences,
differences that they have fought over for years, but it's time to put
those differences aside in order to move forward and to provide a
better life for the children of Northern Ireland.
STRAW: Could I just add one thing to that, if I may? Of course,
negotiation is far, far better -- infinitely better -- than military
action. As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, we welcome hugely the
progress that has been made following the Good Friday Agreement. It
also has to be said that before that happened, there had to be a
change of approach by those who saw terrorism as the answer. And that
approach partly changed because of the firmness of the military and
police response to that terrorism. And if there had not been that firm
response by successive British governments and others to the terrorist
threat that was posed on both sides, we would not have been able to
get some of those people into negotiations. We would not be marking
what is a satisfactory day in the history of Northern Ireland today.
Thank you.
POWELL: Thank you, and now we do have to --
STRAW: Thank you very much indeed.
END 11:48 P.M. EDT
(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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