23 July 2003
Powell Defends U.S. Decision to Follow African, U.N. Lead on Liberia
Speaks to Washington Times editors and reporters July 22
Washington -- During a July 22 interview in his State Department office with editors and reporters of the Washington Times, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the current crisis in Liberia, noting that, as the world's only superpower, the United States has an "obligation" not to allow West Africa to "come apart."
In an article by Times reporter Nicholas Kralev, and in excerpts of the interview run by the Times on July 23, 2003, Powell defended President Bush's decision not to rush into deploying American troops before the objectives and strategy of a multinational force are clearly defined. A meeting in Senegal July 22, he said, was assessing "how quickly some element of the peacekeeping force from ECOWAS [the Economic Community of West Africa] can be moved to Monrovia."
Powell also gave a rundown of U.S. policy toward the African continent, including an eventual U.S. involvement in Liberia that would be limited in "scope and duration," according to Kralev's article.
"In Liberia if you ask the question, 'What is our strategic, vital interest?' it will be hard to define it that way," he said. "But we do have an interest in making sure that West Africa doesn't simply come apart. We do have an interest in showing the people of Africa that we can support efforts to stabilize a tragic situation as we work with others to bring relief to people — people who are desperately in need."
In addition, Powell said, "We do have a historic link to Liberia, and we do have some obligation as the most important and powerful nation on the face of the earth not to look away when a problem like this comes before us."
Asked if that meant the United States wanted to be a global police officer, Mr. Powell insisted that the Bush administration is not trying to police the world, according to the Kralev article.
"There is no situation we can ignore, but that doesn't mean necessarily the United States has to be the policeman that goes in. In the case of Cote d'Ivoire it was the French; in the case of Sierra Leone it was the British," he said in reference to recent peacekeeping missions to the two African nations.
According to the Liberian authorities, at least 600 people have been killed since rebels, fighting to oust President Charles Taylor, battled on the outskirts of Monrovia, the capital, July 19 and 20. The rebels said July 22 that they had ordered their forces to halt the attacks.
An amphibious group, led by the helicopter-landing ship USS Iwo Jima, carrying 2,000 U.S. Marines, awaited orders in the Red Sea on its way to the Mediterranean on whether to continue around North Africa to Liberia.
According to the Washington Times article, Powell repeatedly emphasized his close cooperation on Liberia with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, with whom he said he speaks on the phone at least once a day.
In his conversation with the Times staff, Powell also gave a rundown of President Bush's July 8-12 visit to five African nations, saying, "The president had a terrific trip to Africa week before last -- the first Republican president to visit Africa. And I would say no president has ever gone to Africa with as much substance as President Bush did when you look at what he did with respect to the Millennium Challenge Account, what he's doing with respect to HIV/AIDS, expansion of (the African Growth and Opportunity Act) and other programs that directly affect people in need in Africa, and to show U.S. commitment to Africa."
Powell said Bush also got a better understanding of the possibilities in Africa and the challenges in Africa. "Now why do I lead with Africa? It's to show that the president has a much broader agenda than one sees written about from day to day. And over the past 2-1/2 years now of his administration, he really has moved out on that agenda."
"And if you look at our national security strategy" the Secretary continued, "You will see... it talks about partnerships. It talks about alliances. It talks about human rights. It talks about open trade. It talks about all of those things that will make a better world for all people.
"It also talks about standing up for America's values, and also makes it clear that we will have a military second to none and when we are challenged, and if it goes to something that is a vital interest of ours or puts the American people at risk, the president will act.
"And so it's a broader agenda than often we're given credit for, and I think it's paid off in many ways."
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=July&x=20030723120123rehsif8.256167e-02&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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