02 July 2003
Powell Sees Hopeful Signs in Mideast, But Terrorism Still a Threat
(No decision on U.S. action on Liberia, tells Fox News July 1) (1850)
Secretary of State Colin Powell says there are hopeful signs of
progress toward peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
"Today was a fascinating day," he said during an interview July 1 with
American television's Fox News, "to see the two prime ministers out
there talking about peace, talking about reconciliation, and promising
to work with each other and cooperate with each other."
He made that comment in reference to a meeting between Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem
July 1.
Powell said he believed organized terrorist elements still pose a
potential threat to progress along the U.S.-backed roadmap to peace.
While Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Brigades have
agreed to a three-month ceasefire, he noted that as long as these
groups retain their capabilities they can withdraw from a ceasefire at
some time in the future.
"So we hope they'll stay with the ceasefire, but ultimately, we are
going have to convert this kind of organization into organizations
that no longer are interested in using terror as a political weapon,"
Powell said.
Asked about the social services Hamas provides Palestinians under
occupation, Powell said the social services wing and the armed
militant wing "that is determined to destroy the state of Israel"
cannot be separated.
"These two wings cannot live separate lives. They are one
organization. And until Hamas abandons all efforts to conduct
terrorist activity ... then we have to be hard on all of Hamas,"
Powell said.
Turning to Africa, Powell said that the U.S. officials are examining
possible U.S. action to end violence in Liberia but have not yet
presented a recommendation to President Bush.
Commenting on Iraq, Powell voiced confidence in the ability of the
United States and its partners to overcome security setbacks and help
Iraqis develop the lasting institutions of a modern, representative
government.
"In conversations that I had with the president and I had with my
other colleagues in the National Security Council, we discussed the
very real likelihood that after this conflict there might be the
collapse of all law and order and the entire regime and all of the
institutions of the regime. And that's happened, so we have 24 million
people who are looking for institutions to be recreated and for order
to be restored. And we are hard at work in that, and I am quite
confident we will succeed," Powell said.
Following is the complete transcript of Secretary Powell's interview
on Fox News, July 1.
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
July 1, 2003
INTERVIEW
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
On Fox News with Brit Hume
July 1, 2003
(6:19 p.m. EDT)
MR. HUME: Mr. Secretary, thank you for doing this.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you, Brit. Good evening.
MR. HUME: Could you clear up something for me? I noticed you were
asked the other day about the ingredients of this new progress that's
being made down the roadmap, so to speak, and you mentioned Mahmoud
Abbas's presence. You mentioned the will of the people on both sides
in that conflict over there. You mentioned the involvement of the
President. You did not mention the outcome of the war in Iraq as
having had an effect there. Did it, in your judgment, or not?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it did, because with the end of the war in
Iraq and the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime, one of the threats
to Israel was eliminated and frankly, the power equation in the Middle
East in the Gulf region changed. And I think that gave Prime Minister
Sharon more flexibility in the decisions that he might make. And after
that was done, the President was able to devote his full attention to
getting the roadmap underway, and then of course, with the elevation
of Prime Minister Abbas to Prime Ministership, the conditions were met
for the presentation of the roadmap. And it's rather fascinating to
see what's happened just in the past month: from concern that we
weren't going anywhere to presentation of the roadmap, and then the
Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba Summits, and then the progress we have seen
so far on both parties -- that have been made by both parties.
And today was a fascinating day, as well, to see the two prime
ministers out there talking about peace, talking about reconciliation,
and promising to work with each other and cooperate with each other.
So this is very hopeful, Brit.
MR. HUME: As you go forward, Mr. Secretary, what are you most worried
about that could interfere here?
SECRETARY POWELL: What I'm worried about is remaining terrorist
organizations that have not given up the quest to destroy the state of
Israel and do not want peace.
MR. HUME: What are you talking about specifically there?
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm talking about Hamas. I'm talking about the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad. I'm talking about the Al-Aqsa Brigades.
They have entered into a ceasefire. But as long as they have the
capability to conduct these kinds of attacks, they can come out of a
ceasefire at some time in the future. So we hope they'll stay with the
ceasefire, but ultimately, we are going have to convert this kind of
organization into organizations that no longer are interested in using
terror as a political weapon.
And I believe that's also the commitment of Prime Minister Abbas. As
he has said, "The armed Intifadah must end." And he has also said,
"Those who have guns within any state must be under the control of the
government. The government has to have the power, the military power,
the armed power in a democratic state." And I hope he will continue to
believe in that and move in that direction.
MR. HUME: The President has spoken of dismantling Hamas. Can that be
done?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, it remains to be seen what Hamas chooses to do
as it moves forward. Hamas has a social wing to it where it provides
services to people, but it has this armed militant wing that is
determined to destroy the state of Israel. These two wings cannot live
separate lives. They are one organization. And until Hamas abandons
all efforts to conduct terrorist activity and all intent to conduct
terrorist activity, then we have to be hard on all of Hamas.
So we'll see how this evolves in the days ahead. I think it's very
good right now that we have the transfer of responsibility in Gaza;
hopefully, in Bethlehem within the next day or so, and the ceasefire
in place that seems to be holding even though there have been two
incidents, one yesterday and one today. But they seem to be minor
incidents, and I hope it will hold. We can't let these minor incidents
or a single incident destroy the promise of the roadmap that is now
before us.
MR. HUME: Mr. Secretary, the French and others are calling on the
United States to send forces in and get deeply involved in that messy
situation in Liberia, where blood continues to flow in the streets of
Monrovia, a dangerous and messy situation. What is the United States
prepared to do there?
SECRETARY POWELL: We're examining the situation very carefully. There
is a lull in the fighting right now between the rebel forces and the
government. President Bush has called on President Taylor to step
down. He is now an indicted war criminal. And we are concerned about
the humanitarian situation in the streets of Monrovia and all of the
displaced people, so we are in close touch with the United Nations.
I have had a number of conversations with Secretary General Annan over
the past week. And we're examining our options as to what we might do,
but the President has not yet made any decision. We have not provided
the President with a recommendation from his National Security team
yet.
MR. HUME: So would you rule forces in -- rule U.S. forces in or out,
or not at all?
SECRETARY POWELL: The President is examining all of the options, all
of the possibilities. I wouldn't rule anything in or out yet.
MR. HUME: In Iraq, I think that people reading front pages and,
perhaps, watching certain news broadcasts could come away with the
impression that the United States, having won the war, is now in the
process of losing the peace. What is your reaction to that?
SECRETARY POWELL: That's not -- simply not true. We had a meeting with
Ambassador Bremer this morning by video teleconferencing, and he was
pretty upbeat. While we see the same things that you see, Brit, on
television and in our morning papers, there are a lot of good things
that are going on.
Our brigade commanders out in the field now have money to help rebuild
schools and other facilities in all of the communities in which they
are working and stationed. The economy is slowly starting to get up to
speed again. It will take a long time, but it's slowly, slowly
starting to move. The oil is starting to flow. There are still
terrorists there. There are still Baath Party members who don't want
to give it up. There are still Fedayeen and others who are determined
not to see peace.
But I think over time, our military forces and a renewed Iraqi police
force will be able to deal with these elements, provide a level of
security throughout the country, so that we can get the infrastructure
up and running: the electrical system, the sewage system, the water
system. And that will start to show the Iraqi people that they're
going to have a better life, and the coalition will help them to that
better life. And as soon as possible, we want to transfer
responsibility to Iraqi officials so that they have responsibility for
their own country, their own people and their own destiny.
MR. HUME: We have just about a minute left, Mr. Secretary. Has this
phase of this proved more difficult and bloody than the United States
may have anticipated?
SECRETARY POWELL: It's proven to be difficult. I don't think any of us
were naïve about the difficulties we were facing. In conversations
that I had with the President and I had with my other colleagues in
the National Security Council, we discussed the very real likelihood
that after this conflict, there might be the collapse of all law and
order and the entire regime and all of the institutions of the regime.
And that's happened, so we have 24 million people who are looking for
institutions to be recreated and for order to be restored. And we are
hard at work in that, and I am quite confident we will succeed.
QUESTION: Secretary of State Colin Powell, thank you very much for
joining us.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Brit.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
