UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Washington File

23 May 2003

Transcript: Powell Interview with French TV on U.S.-French Relations, Iraq

(May 22: Secretary of State welcomes UNSC vote lifting sanctions on
Iraq) (2730)
Secretary of State Colin Powell says that even though the United
States was disappointed with the French decision not to support the
coalition in its liberation of Iraq, he is pleased with French support
in approving United Nations Security Council 1483, which lifts
sanctions on Iraq.
"It shows the international community can come back together, is back
together for a single purpose now, and that is to help the Iraqi
people," Powell told French Television 1 May 22 in Paris.
He said the United States and France "have been allies for all these
years, [and] a major disagreement isn't going to break the alliance,
or the friendship."
Powell added that the United States has "to review all of the policies
that exist between our two nations to see if any modification is
required because of that disagreement. But I am confident that once we
have gotten through this difficult period, now that we are back
together again on this new resolution, we will have new areas in which
we can cooperate in the near-term."
In Iraq, he said, "we must help them build a new nation for
themselves," adding that "since we've conducted a military operation
with a coalition of the willing, we have an obligation to run the
government until such time as the Iraqi people have created a
government of their own."
When asked for a timeline, Powell said "a lot depends on how quickly
security is established and how quickly we are able to create a
provisional government that will lead to a full government.... And it
seems to me that everybody should be interested in doing it right, not
doing it fast."
The UNSC resolution calls for a review of the situation in Iraq within
a year.
On the Middle East peace process, Powell said President Bush is
"deeply committed to moving forward on the peace process, he is
committed to the road map that has been provided to both parties."
Asked about the recent terrorist attacks in Morocco and Saudi Arabia,
Powell said Al-Qaida has been dealt a very serious blow, but "we have
not eliminated them." He added, "I don't know if all the attacks we
have seen are Al-Qaida. That is still being determined by law
enforcement and intelligence experts."
He said anti-terrorist efforts include "making sure that no country is
allowed to just sit back and be a haven for terrorist networks. And if
you are harboring any terrorists then we have to look at you as well
as a potential source of terrorism. It doesn't mean go to war, but it
means holding countries to account when they are pursuing policies
that help terrorists. That's no longer acceptable."
Following is a transcript of Secretary Powell's interview:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Paris, France)
May 23, 2003
INTERVIEW
SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL
WITH FRENCH TELEVISION 1 (TF-1)
Intercontinental Hotel
Paris, France
May 22, 2003
QUESTION: Are you satisfied with this agreement between the great
powers?
SECRETARY POWELL: I am very satisfied with it. A 14-0 vote brought us
all back together again. Syria chose not to participate in the vote.
But it shows the international community can come back together, is
back together for a single purpose now, and that is to help the Iraqi
people. We will lift the sanctions that have been imposed on them now
for all these many years. And we will rebuild their infrastructure,
rebuild their schools, a free economy, but most importantly, we now
have the ability to create a democratic government, responsive to its
people, representing all its people, liberated people of Iraq. Now we
must help them build a new nation for themselves.
QUESTION: How long will it take for them to govern themselves in a
normal way?
SECRETARY POWELL: We will be withdrawing as soon as the job is done.
President Bush has made it clear that we don't want to stay there a
day longer than we have to. But right now, since we've conducted a
military operation with a coalition of the willing, we have an
obligation to run the government until such time as the Iraqi people
have created a government of their own. And when that government is up
and functioning and prepared to assume all of the responsibilities of
government, we want to leave. The United States does not need any
colonies, we don't need any more states to add to our 50 states, all
we want to do is help the people of Iraq to a better life and then,
come back to our shores.
QUESTION:  Is it a question of weeks, months?
SECRETARY POWELL: No, no, it is a question of longer than that. I
can't say whether it's a year, two years, I don't know. Anybody who
says they know, they don't know. A lot depends on how quickly security
is established and how quickly we are able to create a provisional
government that will lead to a full government. It takes time to
create a democracy and a functional legislature, a functional
judiciary, put in place a constitution, all this takes time. And it
seems to me that everybody should be interested in doing it right, not
doing it fast, and I think the United Nations, when they passed this
resolution, recognized that it will take time.
We noticed the resolution asks for a review of the situation in a
year, within a year. So certainly, the United Nations in this Security
Council resolution recognizes that it is going to take some time. It
doesn't mean that we need a new resolution at the end of the year, but
let's see where we are in a year. Hopefully, we will be well on our
way and I hope, I would love to see an Iraqi government in place next
week or next month, but it will be in place when it is the right
government and it is prepared to govern the country in a way that the
country will not be a threat to its neighbors and not develop weapons
of mass destruction and not practice terrorism against its own people,
against others, and it will be responsible nation, a changed nation.
At that time, we will declare success, and we will leave.
QUESTION: And if Iraq should find itself with an Islamic
fundamentalist regime, as in Iran, would the United States consider
this a failure?
SECRETARY POWELL: I hope we will be successful, and I am confident we
will be successful in persuading the people of Iraq that it is in
their interest to have a representative form of government, that takes
into account the interests of the Kurds, the Sunnis, the Shiite, and
other groupings within the country in a democratic system. It doesn't
mean that it is non-religious. It is going to be a country that has
Islamic faith. Turkey has Islamic faith, but it also has a
representative form of government. So, democracy and Islam can
co-exist. What we do not want to see is a new dictatorship of a kind
that we see in, let's say Iran, where you have a theocratic, religious
dictatorship, where all the power is in the hands of a few clerics.
That, I think we would find to be unacceptable and would not be a
successful outcome. I am confident that the people of Iraq do not want
to see a government that looks like the government of Iran.
QUESTION: Since you did not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
do you think that at least on that point France was right?
SECRETARY POWELL: No, France agreed that there were weapons of mass
destruction when they voted for Resolution 1441. France, along with
all the other nations that voted for 1441, acknowledged that Iraq was
in material breach of its obligations to come forward with all the
information that it had concerning weapons of mass destruction. France
along with the others believed that there was still a program there.
Now, if France and the United States differ as how to find out about
that program, we believe that the inspectors were being deceived and
would never get to the answer. So, we believed that after a reasonable
period of time with inspectors, without the kind of cooperation that
was required by 1441, it was appropriate to use military force. So
far, we have found the biological weapons vans that I spoke about when
I presented the case to the United Nations on the 5th of February, and
there is no doubt in our minds now that those vans where designed for
only one purpose, and that was to make biological weapons. I'm also
confident that as our experts continue looking through the
documentation and interview people they will find out more
information.
QUESTION:  (Inaudible)
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we disagreed with France's attitude, we were
disappointed that we were unable to persuade France that they should
be a part of this effort to disarm Iraq and get rid of this regime
that would not disarm itself. And so, we would have much preferred, as
we went into this effort to liberate Iraq, that France would have been
with us rather than opposed to, or critical of us. But, you know, that
was something that happened several months ago. Now, we are working
with France on a new Security Council resolution, helping the people
of Iraq.
But was there disappointment? Yes. Did we have a major disagreement?
Yes. But because we are friends and we have been allies for all these
years, a major disagreement isn't going to break the alliance, or the
friendship. Will it put pressure on us? Yes. Should we try to work our
way through this and see if there are still some rough edges that have
to be dealt with? Yes. Let's not pretend there was no disagreement.
There was. But you know, you can have disagreements within families
just as you can have between enemies. In this case, it was a
disagreement between members of a family, in a great alliance, not two
nations that are enemies with each other.
QUESTION:  And do you still want to punish Paris?
SECRETARY POWELL: I am not punishing France or Paris. I am here. I
have just met with my colleague [Foreign Minister] Dominique de
Villepin, participated in a G-8 meeting. President Bush will be here,
very shortly, to participate in the G-8 meeting in Evian. Will we look
at the programs that we have with France.
QUESTION:  Will he speak with President Chirac?
SECRETARY POWELL: I don't know if it will be one-to-one, but I am sure
they will see each other. President Chirac is the host of the G-8
meeting. And, President Bush, no doubt, will have a conversation with
President Chirac. More likely than not, it will be in the context of
the G-8 meeting. I don't think there is enough time for bilateral
meetings. But, I am sure they will have the chance to speak to one
another. They are all going to be together for the G-8, and the
President is looking forward to it.
But, France is an ally of the United States. Let's be candid about how
it is. We had a disagreement, and we have to review all of the
policies that exist between our two nations to see if any modification
is required because of that disagreement. But I am confident that once
we have gotten through this difficult period, now that we are back
together again on this new resolution, we will have new areas in which
we can cooperate in the near-term.
QUESTION: You now have a large dossier in yours hands, one that has
existed for 50 years -- the Middle East Peace Process. Does the Bush
Administration, which has the reputation of being close to Ariel
Sharon, can it help the Israelis and the Palestinians find a
rapprochement?
SECRETARY POWELL: We are working very hard to accomplish just that. We
are working closely with the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian
Authority, Prime Minister Abbas. President Bush spoke to him and to
Prime Minister Sharon the other day, and we have had representatives
from both sides in Washington in the past couple of days to discuss
with them how we can bridge the differences. And I, of course, was
traveling in the region last week. President Bush is deeply committed
to moving forward on the peace process, he is committed to the road
map that has been provided to both parties. We believe that the road
map is the way that the parties (inaudible) will talk, the only way
they will be able to move toward the vision of two states, living side
by side in peace.
And so we estimate... yes, it has been 50 years we have been working
on this problem, but we have to keep working on it and never lose
faith because both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people are
in difficulty right now. The economy is in difficulty. We see terror
and violence in the territories. It has to be brought to an end. It
all has to be brought to an end. We have to find a way for two peoples
to live side by side in their respective states. Living in peace.
QUESTION: There have been recent attacks in Morocco and in Saudi
Arabia. Does this constitute a setback on your struggle against
Al-Qaida?
SECRETARY POWELL: No, what it says is that Al-Qaida is still there. We
have dealt Al-Qaida a very serious blow. In Afghanistan, and through
the cooperation we enjoyed with France and Germany and so many other
countries around the world, go after their networks and rip up the
cells, the Al-Qaida cells that are there. We have hurt them a great
deal. But we have not eliminated them. I don't know if all the attacks
we have seen are Al-Qaida. That is still being determined by law
enforcement and intelligence experts.
But what it tells me is that they are still there, no matter how much
we've hurt them, they are going to try and hurt us and therefore, we
have to redouble our efforts. We must work closely together with
intelligence exchanges and law enforcement cooperation, chasing down
their finances, and when we find the cells going in and getting them
and making sure that no country is allowed to just sit back and be a
haven for terrorist networks. And if you are harboring any terrorists
then we have to look at you as well as a potential source of
terrorism. It doesn't mean go to war, but it means holding countries
to account when they are pursuing policies that help terrorists.
That's no longer acceptable.
QUESTION: Speaking frankly, Mr. Secretary, during this affair of Iraq,
did you sometimes feel like a dove amongst the hawks in the White
House?
SECRETARY POWELL: I am called many things -- hawk, dove, take your
pick. I don't believe in labels, and I don't have to establish my
credentials with anybody. I've been in war, I've fought wars, I've
sent men into battle. I know what war is all about. I was a soldier
for 35 years. My job now is to try and find peaceful solutions to
problems. That's what my President values, my peaceful solutions to
problems. And we work very hard, as we did in Iraq, to take it to the
United Nations to find a peaceful solution.
But I also know as a soldier, that when you can't find a peaceful
solution, a diplomatic solution, you must be prepared to use force.
Because without force, why would anybody listen to diplomacy without
the threat of force. And when diplomacy doesn't work and we threaten
to use force, then we have to use that force from time to time. And
so, I can be a dove when it seems appropriate, and when the dove is
not able to achieve the purpose, I can assure you, I can be a hawk.
INTERVIEWER:  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)



NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list