25 June 2003
Powell Says Violent Resistance Has Achieved Nothing For Palestinians
(Discusses Middle East roadmap, Iraq with Al-Jazeera TV Network) (2210)
Following is a transcript of Secretary of State Colin Powell's June 23
interview with Al-Jazeera in which he discusses the road map for
Middle East peace and reconstruction efforts in Iraq:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
June 25, 2003
INTERVIEW
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell With Al-Jazeera TV Network
Dead Sea, Jordan
June 23, 2003
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for accepting our interview on
Al-Jazeera. First, I'd like to ask you, if we assume that the Roadmap
is the best, viable solution to resume the peace process in the Middle
East, and if we want to simplify the complexity of politics, in your
opinion, who has got the higher percentage of willingness to implement
the Roadmap? And, who has got a higher percentage of capabilities to
implement the Roadmap? Palestinians or Israelis?
SECRETARY POWELL: First of all, I think the Roadmap is the way
forward. It is the only way forward right now. As a result of the
Roadmap, we were able to bring together all of the leaders,
Palestinian leaders, the Israeli leaders, and the American President,
as well as all of the Arab leaders, the day before Aqaba, at Sharm
Al-Sheikh. And we've also had all of the members of the Quartet
involved. So, the entire international community is now aligned behind
the Roadmap. Now, I do not think there is any utility in my saying,
"he has this much, this is his percentage, this is his percentage."
All individuals, all of the parties to the Roadmap process have
obligations and have made commitments and we will be holding them all
to those commitments. In some cases, we have to build up the
capability of one side, particularly the Palestinian side with respect
to their ability to perform security functions in Gaza, and we will
help them with that. So, where there are weaknesses, shortcomings --
we need to work on those weaknesses and shortcomings, so that both
sides can see that the other side, each side, is a partner for peace
as we move forward. So, yes, there will be problems as we move
forward, but we must move forward, we must not lose this opportunity
for peace.
QUESTION: Don't you consider the State of Israel as a state that has
got willingness and has got a unified decision-making process so they
can take a decision to stop killing, or targeted killings, as you've
mentioned?
SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, they have that ability. It is a country with an
elected Prime Minister who has a responsibility to protect his people.
And we know the difficulty with respect to these targeted killings, as
you call them. And the issue is if somebody is coming in and is
intending to set off a bomb, should not such a government try to
defend its people from that kind of attack if it knows it is coming,
or try to stop those kinds of attacks? We can spend the rest of our
lives arguing about targeted killing, and settlements, and security,
and these various issues, but what we need to do is to solve this
problem, what we need to do is to end the terror. If we get Hamas and
the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Brigade and the others to
stop conducting these kinds of activities then there is no need for
the State of Israel to try to conduct preemptive actions because there
will be no actions that they have to preempt. So the bottom line is we
have to start somewhere, and let's start now, and let's start now by
speaking out against terror and violence as the leaders did at Sharm
al-Sheikh and Aqaba, and as the President has. If we do that, then we
can get started, get moving and not spend all of our energy arguing
about the latest incident on one side or with the other side. Let's
get going.
QUESTION: Can you explain to the Arab audience the difference you see
between legitimate resistance and terrorism in the Middle East?
SECRETARY POWELL: Innocent people being killed by bombs seems to me to
be absolutely clear. It is terrorism. A young, seven-year-old girl who
is murdered in the back of a car; she had nothing to do with the
political struggle. The same thing happens on the other side when the
response comes and innocent people lose their lives, young people on
the Palestinian side. My position as Secretary of State when I see
these incidents, either side, I mourn. I mourn for the lives that are
lost.
QUESTION: Is there any legitimate resistance?
SECRETARY POWELL: Let me answer the question this way. What has this
kind of resistance achieved for Palestinian people, whether you
describe it as legitimate or illegitimate, whether it is terrorism or
resistance, whatever you call it, let me ask the question this way,
what has it achieved for the Palestinian people? Has it moved the
Palestinian people one step or one day closer to the state that they
deserve, the state that President Bush wants to help create for them?
One should, ultimately, sit back and take a look and say, what have we
accomplished by the armed intifada for the last several years? Our
economy is destroyed, our children cannot go to school, we cannot go
to our jobs, and we are not closer to our goal of a state. So, Prime
Minister Abbas boldly stood up in Aqaba and said it is time for the
armed Intifada to end. Not my words, his words. Wise words. Correct
words. It is time for it to end, so that this cycle can be broken and
we can move forward and put hope into the hearts of the Palestinian
people and the people of Israel for better life for both sides.
Ultimately, they have to find a way to share this land together, and
we have spent too much time talking about violence, talking about
targeted assassinations, response, the cycle continues. It is time to
break out of it.
QUESTION: You said yesterday in the conference here that the
Palestinian people were trapped in the grip of a failed leadership.
And, of course, the new leadership of Mahmoud Abbas is now facing the
same attitude from the Israeli government. What can you do for him to
help him?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think we are working with him to help him. We are
having conversations between his government and the Israeli government
on security issues, on other issues. We are prepared to help him
economically, we are bringing another fifty million dollars of
assistance for him into the region, and he has made the right kind of
commitment to moving forward by ending the armed intifada and seeking
a peaceful solution. He has put in place a cabinet that is also
dedicated to that proposition, gaining control of the finances of the
Palestinian Authority, the money that belongs to the Palestinian
people so that it is used in an accountable, transparent way, so that
people know where their money is going. We have helped to increase the
flow of revenue the Israelis have been holding back to the Palestinian
authority. So, we are trying to help Prime Minister Abbas in every way
that we can. And we've also said to the Prime Minister that we need to
see positive action on the part of his government in order to end
terror and violence and to create conditions so that they can assume
responsibility for the security of Gaza and Bethlehem for a start, and
have the Israelis moves back so that the two sides can work together
on security, with Palestinians having primary responsibility for
security in Gaza.
QUESTION: If we speak about Iraq, if we presume that the military
plans you had to conquer Iraq were brilliant, how much can we say the
same about the plans you had for ruling Iraq?
SECRETARY POWELL: We have no desire to rule Iraq. Our desire is to
quickly put in place a responsible government of Iraqi people for
Iraqi people. It is going to take some time. Iraq has no democratic
tradition; we have to build institutions, we have to find leaders. And
while we are doing that, we have responsibilities as the occupying
power to make sure that we restore electricity, we fix the water
system, we start selling the oil in order to use that oil revenue for
the benefit of the people of Iraq. Ambassador Bremer was here
yesterday at the World Economic Forum conference to discuss the plans
that we have for putting in place a political committee of Iraqis
within the next month or so and a constitutional committee to draw up
a constitution for the Iraqi people so that they can then have
elections. And as soon as these processes get underway, and as soon as
we get to the point where Iraqi leaders have come forward and have
created their own government and are ready to take over full
responsibility, the United States and the Coalition Forces that are
here will leave. We have no desire to have another state. We do not do
colonies; we are not colonizers. When we have had to do this in the
course of the last fifty or sixty years in some nations, such as Japan
and Italy and Germany; the experience has been a good one. The United
States comes, it helps, it puts in place a better form of government
and then we leave. And we leave as permanent friends to the nation
that we helped, and that is what we expect will happen in Iraq.
QUESTION: Related to that, are you happy with previous perceptions
about the Iraqi Opposition figures, politically? Are you now happy
with what you expected from them?
SECRETARY POWELL: The Iraqi external Opposition figures, I think, will
be playing a role in the future. They struggled from outside Iraq to
bring about change. But we have to make sure that the government that
is formed is representative of all Iraqis, both those who were inside
the country, as well as those who were outside the country. And there
is enough work for all to do. But we have to make sure that we do it
in the right way, and in a way that is transparent. And as the Iraqi
people see how this process unfolds, they believe that we are not
trying to impose a certain few individuals or a certain system on
them, but it is a system that they are creating, not being created for
them by the Americans, or the British, or any other members of the
Coalition.
QUESTION: Last question, what are you doing to enhance the image of
the United States outside, especially in the Arab World?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think that now that the Iraq conflict, the
immediate conflict is over, and the people in this part of the world
watch what we do in Iraq, it is easy to say Americans are trying to
steal the oil, the Americans are trying to steal the country, but
watch, you watch what happens. And the people of the region will see
that the Iraqi people are going to have a better life, that their
infrastructure is going to be repaired, their children are going to
schools, that their press is free, that they are interacting with the
rest of the world. The people of the region will see that not one
dollar of Iraqi oil will go anywhere but to benefit the Iraqi people.
They will see over time our seriousness with respect to creating a
democratic government in Iraq that will live in peace with its
neighbors. The people of the region will see that the United States is
committed to the Roadmap, committed to creating a Palestinian State,
helping the Palestinian people create a Palestinian State that will
live side by side in peace with Israel. The people of the region will
see over time that in the United States, they have a nation that comes
for no purpose other than to seek peace in the region and help the
people of the region achieve a better life. They will see us involved
politically, they will see us involved in economic development, the
President's plan for a free trade agreement for the whole region will
benefit the region, and I think in time when these programs and these
efforts get underway and people can see them fairly and honestly and
openly, they will recognize that America is a partner for peace, a
partner for progress in the region, and these negative attitudes that
we now see will change.
QUESTION: Economy comes first or democracy?
SECRETARY POWELL: It is the same. You really cannot have one without
the other. You have to have democratic openness; you have to have a
democratic system in order to put in place the right kind of economic
system that can participate in the twenty-first century global
economy.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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