22 December 2004
Powell Looks Back on U.S. Foreign Policy Successes, Problems
Secretary calls relations with China, India, Pakistan, Russia positive
Washington -- President Bush is “a leader in the truest sense of the word,†according to outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The president sees challenges and does not walk away from them, Powell told journalists at a December 21 luncheon hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. He said Bush has a “toughness in his makeup and in his approach to problems†that he has demonstrated often. Powell predicted the president will continue to show that toughness in the next four years.
Asked what he considered the most important thing he had learned as secretary, Powell said it was the important role free trade and economic issues play in diplomacy and international affairs. He said he spent a great deal of time on these issues because there are so many “fledgling, fragile democracies†that, during his last tour in government, had either been Soviet satellites or were behind “little junta curtains.â€Â He said some of these new democratic leaders have told him their re-election depends on improving the lives of their people.
This brought Powell to a discussion of how important much low-profile work to strengthen fledgling democracies is and will continue to be. He gave as one example the Millennium Challenge Account, which provides U.S. aid to governments that commit to free-market reforms and transparency in government, along with anti-corruption reforms. He pointed to the U.S. creation of a $15-billion program to combat HIV/AIDS internationally as another.
Asked to evaluate the seriousness of Pakistani A.Q. Khan's proliferation activities, Powell responded that Khan was a very serious serial proliferator for many years, and was dangerous because at least part of his motivation was mercenary. He said he called Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in January and warned him that the United States had extensive evidence of Khan's proliferation activities and would shortly publicize it. “The next thing we knew, A.Q. Khan had been put in custody,†he said.
Another questioner asked Powell if the United States should be engaged in direct or indirect talks with the leaders of the insurgency in Iraq. “We will not talk with leaders of the insurgency,†he answered. “They're terrorists, they're murderers, and they have no interest in a free, fair election or democratic participation in such elections, or they wouldn't be doing what they're doing.â€
On the other hand, Powell cautioned against thinking that the January 30, 2005, elections in Iraq would end the insurgency. “Those who are determined to defeat the forces of democracy are not going to stop just because there was an election,†he said. If the election engenders a significant turnout of Sunni Islam voters, Powell said, it would be good for the country and for the democratization process.
Powell said he looks back on a number of successful efforts during his tenure at the State Department. He included U.S. relations with China, India, Pakistan and Russia among them, specifically mentioning the Moscow Treaty with Russia (reached in May 2002) to reduce nuclear weapons even further, as well as the U.S. role in working through the 2002 crisis between India and Pakistan. NATO expansion from 19 to 26 countries was also a success, he said.
“I'm proud to have been part of an administration that did get rid of two very bad regimes and pulling the world together in the war on terror, proud of what we've done with development assistance, HIV/AIDS, denuclearizing Libya, expansion of NATO, expansion of the European Union, the trade agreements we've entered into, what we did to stop a war in India-Pakistan, a lot of things like that,†he said.
The transcript of Powell's remarks is available on the Internet at: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/39999.htm
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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