14 September 2003
Top Administration Officials Defend Policies Toward Iraq
Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld interviewed on national TV Sept. 14
By David Anthony Denny
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington --- Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld explained and defended Bush administration policy toward Iraq on national television September 14.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Cheney said the United States "can do what we have to do to prevail in this conflict [in Iraq]. Failure is not an option.
"Go back again and think about what's involved here," Cheney continued. "This is not just about Iraq.... This is about a continuing operation in the war on terror, and it's very, very important that we get it right," he said.
International terrorists, Cheney contended, "understand what is at stake here; it's one of the reasons they're putting up as much of a struggle as they have, it is because they know that if we succeed here, that it's going to strike a major blow at their capabilities."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continued the terrorism theme on CBS's "Face the Nation." He said the $87 billion budget supplemental President Bush recently requested is for fighting terrorism.
"It's a lot better fighting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan than in the United States," Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld denied suggestions that U.S. troops are becoming "bogged down" in Iraq.
"We're not, he said, adding that major combat operations ended just 4 1/2 months ago. That short a time "is not 'bogged down,' in my view," he said.
Rumsfeld compared the time it took to rebuild Germany after World War II with the time the United States has been in Iraq and concluded that "we're doing better all around."
Responding to criticism that he is too "stubborn" to acknowledge a need for more troops in Iraq, Rumsfeld said that he regularly discusses military needs with General Abizaid, General Sanchez, and other military officials.
"Our military people are persuaded that we do not need more U.S. forces there," he said. He pointed out that coalition forces are engaged in reconstruction efforts, not active combat, and said those who say the United States should send more troops are not providing any "good reasons" with "substance."
The defense secretary stressed that the goal in Iraq is "transition from liberation activity to a situation where the Iraqi people take responsibility for their own security."
"The effort is not rebuilding Iraq," Rumsfeld said. ... "This proposal is to say, 'Look, we have a chance to put that country on a path to democracy' ... that will be a very good thing for that region."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who met with the foreign ministers of Britain, China, France and Russia in Geneva September 13, talked about U.S. efforts to get another U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq.
"We believe that with one more resolution, one with a broader mandate than 1483 and 1500 -- the first two postwar resolutions -- with that broader political mandate, other countries in the world might find it easier to participate in either military activity or reconstruction activity," Powell said on CNN's "Late Edition."
On "Fox News Sunday," Powell said Iraq's Governing Council and its new government ministries aren't yet ready to take over governing the country on their own.
Asked about France's problem with the draft U.N. resolution, Powell said, "The French suggested a rapid turnover [to the Iraqis], sometime within the next month or so, but that's not practical. ... And so what we have to do is work with [the new Iraqi institutions], grow them, build them; and we're off to a good start."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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