26 October 2003
U.S. Officials Say Attacks Will Not Deter Coalition Efforts in Iraq
Bremer, Powell talk show appearances October 26
By Peggy Hu
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Administration officials deplored the October 26 terrorist attacks on the Al Rasheed hotel in Baghdad but said that such incidents will not deter the coalition from rebuilding Iraq and helping to establish a democratically elected government.
Speaking on ABC's This Week October 26, L. Paul Bremer, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, said that the recent attacks on the Al Rasheed hotel, a Black Hawk helicopter, and a civilian contractor convoy are not an indication that the security situation in Iraq is getting worse.
"We certainly had a bad day," Bremer said. "And as I've stressed all along, we're going to have good days and bad days. Fortunately, the good days do outnumber the bad days."
Speaking on CNN's Late Edition, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the attack on the Al Rasheed hotel shows the situation in Iraq is "still dangerous," but noted that there are also "very, very positive signs in Baghdad and in Iraq throughout."
"We have increased the number of hours people can stay out in Baghdad because we do believe it is safer, and people want to stay out. Economy is starting to thrive in Baghdad," he said.
Powell said on NBC's Meet the Press that there is a need for more security throughout the country but said the additional security should come from Iraqi forces.
"As General Sanchez [the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq] says, the number of incidents have been increasing, and what we need is more security throughout the country. But that security really has to come not just from American or coalition troops, but from bringing up these Iraqi forces that Paul Wolfowitz and all of us have been talking about ... a new army, police force, people who know the neighborhoods, know who shouldn't be in a particular place, and who will have better access to the kinds of human intelligence you need to deal with these sorts of threats," he said.
According to Bremer, 90 percent of the attacks against coalition forces are taking place in an area north of Baghdad where Saddam Hussein traditionally had strong tribal and political support.
"The north of Iraq is quiet. The Shiia south, south from Baghdad, all the way to the Kuwaiti border, is essentially quiet, with very few exceptions," he said on ABC.
Bremer said border control is a major problem in Iraq and said "it would be useful to have other foreign troops there." He noted, however, that bringing Turkish troops into Iraq is a politically sensitive issue because "they were the colonial power for more than 400 years."
Bremer said the coalition has "encouraged the Iraqi Governing Council to open a dialogue with the Turkish government about their sensitivities."
The Iraqis have "invited the Turks to send a delegation, to discuss it further. And we'll just have to see how that dialogue goes. I think they need to talk directly to each other," he said.
On the economic front, Bremer said there is a "very broad, international effort to reconstruct Iraq," and noted that 73 countries attended the recent donors conference in Madrid.
"We raised 13 billion dollars and probably more once we get all the figures in and the trade credits are counted [not counting U.S. contributions]. We had 332 companies from 46 countries there," he said.
Powell said on CNN that President Bush "feels very strongly" that U.S. contributions toward Iraq's reconstruction should be in the form of grants rather than loans.
"We need to get this country up and running quickly," he said. "We need this infusion of dollars as we structure over a longer period of time the influx of grants and loans on a long-term basis."
"We have to remember that this was a conflict that we felt was important," Powell added. "We felt it was in our natural national interest and in the international interest of the world as well, and we have a particular obligation here."
Powell said how long coalition forces remain in Iraq depends on the timing of three factors: one, the creation, training, and deployment of Iraqi security forces; two the drafting of a constitution and the election of a representative government; and three, the reconstruction of the country.
During his interview on CNN, Powell also discussed the security barrier Israel is constructing in the West Bank.
"We are concerned about it," he said of the barrier. "It's one thing to put up a security fence, a barrier that is clearly on your property the dividing line, so to speak in order to protect yourself. And that would be understood."
However, he added, "as the fence goes deeply into Palestinian areas and starts to put more and more Palestinians outside of their normal traffic patterns and being able to get to their fields and farms and work places, and as it seems to prejudge what a future Palestinian state might look like, then that's troublesome to us."
Powell also discussed North Korea's security issues during his interview on NBC.
The Secretary said the United States would only enter into a multilateral security agreement with North Korea in return for a verifiable end to that country's nuclear weapons program.
"The president has made it clear since the beginning of this situation last year that he had no intention of invading North Korea, no intention of attacking North Korea," he said.
Powell noted that "in the last several days, after the president, once again, reaffirmed his position with President Hu Jintao of China and other leaders in Thailand last week, the North Koreans have responded ... to suggest they wish to pursue the ideas that the president has put on the table. I think this is a positive development, and we'll be discussing it with the other parties in the six-way talks."
(The Washington File is a product of 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=20031026214234uhp0.1069147&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
