Wolfowitz: Just briefly to open, I do
think it’s very important to this whole
region that the United States remains
committed here. Every time in the past
when we’ve started to sound like we
were wavering, then people say, “no,
no, you mustn’t withdraw, you
mustn’t go isolationist.”
It’s sort of a measure, I think, of
confidence in the American commitment to this
part of the world that we’re being
accused of being unilateralist, although I
must say I find it a strange comment as I
said last night that when 15 NATO countries
are with us and four were against us I would
have thought that the four that were against
us might be criticized for being
unilateralist. But I think the
co-operation that we’re getting from
countries in this region on a whole range of
security issues but particularly in the fight
against terrorism is impressive and continues
very strong.
And
I suppose the one last comment I’d make
is that it is a very good sign that there
seems to be so little issues surrounding
China these days. I just met with the
Indian defense minister who’s recently
been to China. As a student, I believe
he was demonstrating in front of the Chinese
embassy and throwing stones at it and as he
told me, he was supposed to be banned for 100
years from China. I guess they gave him
time off for good behavior. But he had
a very good visit and their relations are
good, so many of the big issues in this part
of the world are going well.
It’s the North Korean problem that is a
tough one, but I think it’s a problem
as I said this morning that needs to be
addressed on a multilateral basis, needs to
be addressed with firmness, and needs to be
addressed with patience. It would be
nice to resolve it quickly but I don’t
see a way to do that.
Q. I just want to ask you a question on
the impact of the war in Iraq on the region,
particularly the Muslim countries. I
think the suspicions of the US have grown
deeper since the Iraq war, and Malaysia in
particular has been very vocal, I think they
have warned, Mahatir has warned, people of a
new form of colonialism and be careful any
time you’ll be attacked soon. How
is the US going to approach Muslim countries
like Malaysia and Indonesia?
Wolfowitz: I think in Indonesia the
government was very clear that whatever the
issue was, it wasn’t an issue over
Islam. It was an issue over Iraq, and I
think the relatively quick end of the war
probably mitigated the problems, and I
suspect the uncovering of mass graves and the
recognition that this dictator killed more
Muslims than probably any other individual in
the world, at least in recent memory,
probably has some impact as well. I
think the concerns of Indonesian Muslims, to
be honest, are very much focused on
Indonesia. And the overwhelming
proportion of them are very moderate in their
outlook and I think continue to be appalled
by what the terrorists are doing, not only to
us but to Indonesia. Indonesia’s
still suffering economically from the effects
of the Bali bombing and from the sense of
insecurity that the terrorists have brought,
so on that issue I think our co-operation is
very strong.
I
think the meetings are going to take place
next week in Sharm El-Sheikh and Aqaba to
move the Arab-Israeli peace process forward
ought to have a positive effect in this part
of the world as well. And in a somewhat
longer, at least medium term, I think the
opportunity to build a new and free Iraq is
something that ought to have a positive
impact on Muslims here also. But I come
back to the point -- I’ve lived in this
part of the world for several years. I
know many, many Muslims in this part of the
world, and I think their concerns are, though
they care about the Middle East, I think
their concerns are very much the conditions
in their own countries and in that respect we
have a big interest in seeing that there
continues to be progress here.
Indonesia, a particular concern of mine, not
just because I’ve lived there but
because it is the largest Muslim population
of any country in the world, it’s
struggling to manage a successful democratic
transition in the face of some real economic
hardship. And one of the better pieces
of good news that I’ve heard while I
was here is that Indonesia apparently is
going to register a reasonably strong
positive growth this year. That’s
very good.
Q: American military presence, the same
issue you’ve been asked about since you
arrived. In the wake of that LA Times
story which of course has circulated rather
widely, you made it clear that decisions
haven’t been taken. Is it
possible down the road that the US would ask
Australia, perhaps the Philippines, to base
troops there and can you address separately
the issue of troops and Malaysia and Vietnam
which seems even more outrageous.
Wolfowitz: That story in the broad
concept was generally pretty accurate, and in
some of the more salacious details, if I can
call them that, I don’t think
there’s any basis although I
can’t rule out that as I put it at some
eight level in the bureaucracy,
somebody’s entertaining the idea of
moving our Marines from Okinawa to
Australia. I don’t think that it
would be entertained at any serious level or
in any serious way.
Q: In any numbers?
Wolfowitz: Certainly not that
particular notion, nor do I think
there’s any realism in thinking about
naval bases in Vietnam which I read
about. It is true that the whole -- one
of the principles as I’ve said, in our
whole look at our worldwide posture is that
it’s an unpredictable world, and we
want to have forces that are flexible to
respond to unpredictable situations.
But I think it’s also a pretty solid
principle that we’ll want to have our
main points of access being in those
countries that have traditionally had the
strongest relations with us and have welcomed
our presence. And it is a fact of
history that the Philippines asked us to
leave and I don’t see a prospect of
them wanting us back, so that’s an
academic subject.
- END -
