14 October 2003
Rice Says U.S. Welcomes Others' Input on Iraq Resolution
White House Report, October 14: Iraq resolution, Turkish troops, NSC role, Cuba, China policy, nominations
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told reporters October 14 that the Bush administration has put forward at the United Nations "a very good resolution" on Iraq, that looks toward the establishment of a freely elected and sovereign government there.
The resolution, she said, begins to bring the United Nations into the Iraq situation "in a way that is appropriate for the United Nations at this stage ... and encourages international organizations, particularly the international financial institutions, to get involved."
Asked about amendments to the resolution offered by other governments, Rice said, "We are looking at what the Russians and others have proposed. ... We are happy to look at suggestions that others might have."
Rice made her comments as she briefed reporters at the White House on President Bush's upcoming trip to Asia and Australia.
"[T]he process for getting to a fully elected government in Iraq has to be one that is related to the process that they need to go through; in other words, the writing of a constitution," she said.
The Iraqi people, she noted, "are talking about a constitutional convention, the writing of a constitution, elections, a sequence that will allow them to create institutions that can then structure and frame what is a society that really hasn't had a national conversation about its politics for more than 30 years. And I think that's what we have to stay focused on."
"Whatever the case with Saddam Hussein and his dead-enders, they are going to be defeated," she said. "[W]e're making a lot of progress " in rooting out the Ba'athists, she said, because the Iraqi people do not want to return to the Saddam Hussein days.
U.S. IN DISCUSSION WITH TURKEY, IRAQIS ABOUT TURKISH TROOPS
The question of deploying Turkish troops in Iraq "is a sensitive issue, " Rice said, "but we have welcomed what the Turks have done and we're in discussions with them. And we're in discussions with the Iraqis about how this might work. And so, you know, we will see where we end up. But we are in discussions with all the parties."
Turkey's parliament recently agreed to sending Turkish troops to help U.S. and other forces in Iraq.
PENTAGON REMAINS LEAD AGENCY IN RECONSTRUCTION OF IRAQ
Rice said her recent announcement of the creation of the Iraq Stabilization Group under her at the National Security Council does not indicate a major change in how the Bush administration is dealing with postwar Iraq.
"I want to be very clear. I'm the national security advisor. What I do is coordinate policy. I don't operate, I don't implement, I coordinate policy. It is the secretary of defense who will continue to run the postwar reconstruction, as he has done, and as he has done well," she said.
"[T]he Defense Department and Secretary Rumsfeld remain the lead agency in the reconstruction of Iraq. They are on the ground. [Ambassador] Jerry Bremer and the CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] report to the Pentagon, up through the Pentagon to the president. Nothing has changed in that; nothing was intended to change in that," she continued.
"What this is is an effort to provide here better support to the CPA in the field, to the Pentagon in their role, and to make certain that there is good interagency coordination and work so that this reconstruction can go forward.
"And since we're on, as Jerry Bremer said, an accelerated reconstruction calendar now, we have to make sure that there are not bottlenecks back here. We have to make sure that we're mobilizing the entire U.S. government. The Treasury Department has an important role to play. The State Department obviously has an important role to play. Justice has an important role to play. We're trying to mobilize the entire U.S. government to support this effort."
ADMINISTRATION POLICY TOWARD CUBA
President Bush "remains committed to a democratic Cuba and believes the Cuban people should not be forgotten in a hemisphere that is now overwhelmingly democratic. I mean, it's a reason that, at the OAS [Organization of American States], the only empty seat is Cuba," Rice told reporters.
She noted President Bush's recent announcement on tightening up travel restrictions by American citizens to Cuba. "People have been using the ability to travel for, say, humanitarian purposes to travel for other reasons, tourism," she said. "Those monies then go to Castro in hard dollars or in hard currency. He effectively takes the arbitrage and pays his workers in pesos. That's enriching this brutal and horrible regime," she said.
"Now, one reason that we believe we can bring more pressure on the regime is that Castro's true colors have always, I think, been understood by this administration, but they're really getting exposed internationally. Last year the president had what he called the New Cuba Initiative. He said to Castro, 'We will improve our relations with Cuba if you'll just allow free elections and some basic freedoms for your people.
"And what did Castro do? He cracked down even harder on dissidents. That was his answer. As a result, he's getting condemnation across the world, from places that never condemned him before, for the kinds of activities he's engaging in.
"We believe this is the time for maximum international pressure on Cuba. But the day will come when the Cuban people are free and just like people all over the world, this is the universal appeal of freedom. And one of the ways the president wants to get ready for that day is that he's appointed a commission, co-chaired by secretaries Martinez and Powell, which will help mobilize the U.S. government to be ready to support a free Cuba."
ONE-CHINA POLICY REAFFIRMED
Asked to comment on recent statements by Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian that there's one country on each side of the Taiwan Straits -- referring to mainland China and Taiwan -- Rice said:
"The U.S. is very clear on our policies about Taiwan, one-China policy. We are basing our policy on the Three Communiques. And we, of course, always remind people that we also have obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act to help Taiwan defend itself.
"So those are the basic blocks of American policy. It is our very strong belief that nobody -- nobody -- should try unilaterally to change the status quo here, that this will come to a peaceful resolution, there must be a peaceful resolution of the cross-straits issue. And so the United States will continue to remind all parties that that is the position of the United States government and that it is the position to which we expect everyone to adhere."
WHITE HOUSE SENDS TUTWILER NOMINATION, THREE OTHERS TO SENATE
The White House announced October 14 that it had sent to the Senate for confirmation President Bush's nomination of Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler, of Alabama, to be under secretary of State for public diplomacy, to replace Charlotte L. Beers, who resigned. Tutwiler until recently had been U.S. ambassador to Morocco.
The White House also announced that it had sent three other ambassadorial nominations to the Senate for confirmation.
-- Jon R. Purnell, of Massachusetts, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
-- Thomas Riley, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Morocco.
-- Margaret Scobey, of Tennessee, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Syrian Arab Republic.
(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=October&x=20031014185601ssorw0.727749&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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