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23 January 2003

Powell Says Other Nations Would Support Use of Force Against Iraq

(Secretary of State says declining public support for war can be
reversed) (2740)
Secretary of State Colin Powell says if military action is required to
disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, he is confident that other
nations will join the United States and Britain, despite indications
of currently flagging domestic and international support.
"[P]eople will understand that if we have to take military action, the
United States will not be doing it alone," Powell said in an interview
on the Public Broadcasting Service January 22.
"There will be other nations that will be joining us, whether part of
a U.N.-approved action under a second resolution or, if that's not
possible, and we believe military action is appropriate, there will be
other nations that will be joining us. It'll not just be the United
States and the United Kingdom," he said.
Powell urged the French and German governments to wait to see what
U.N. weapons inspectors say about Iraqi disarmament in their report to
the Security Council January 27 before announcing their opposition to
military action against Iraq. Russia and China, two permanent members
of the Security Council, also have voiced strong reservations about
launching war against Iraq.
Powell said he thinks that the Bush administration can reverse opinion
polls that indicate rising domestic and international opposition to
possible war with Iraq without U.N. endorsement.
"We watch these polls, of course, but we have to do what we believe is
right. And we believe that if we can make our case to the American
people, to the world, that support can be generated; it can be turned
around," Powell said.
Powell said the Bush administration will make its decision about
attacking Iraq after examining the U.N. weapons inspectors' report
January 27 and debating its implications with other members of the
Security Council.
He said he is not encouraged that Iraq is committed to disarmament
because Iraq continues to cheat and deceive the weapons inspectors.
Powell said the burden of proof is on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to
account for his weapons programs, not on the inspectors to find the
weapons.
Following is the transcript of Powell's interview:
(begin transcript)
Interview on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer
Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
January 22, 2003
MR. LEHRER: Mr. Secretary, welcome.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you, Jim.
MR. LEHRER: Is it correct to conclude from the statements of President
Bush and others in the last few days that the US has decided military
action is justified against Iraq now?
SECRETARY POWELL: The President hasn't come to a conclusion that
military action is appropriate yet. The President is in consultation
with leaders around the world and we are anxiously awaiting the report
of the two chief inspectors, Dr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei, on Monday.
And we'll study those reports carefully. There will be a debate within
the Security Council as to the implications and the meaning of those
reports. And then the President will make his decision after that.
But certainly we are not encouraged by what we have seen in recent
weeks. We are not encouraged by Saddam Hussein's performance. He
continues to cheat. He continues to deceive. You know, it's a question
of whether or not we're looking for a needle in a haystack or whether
he was supposed to open up the haystack and show us the needle. And
the right answer: He was supposed to come forward, give a full,
accurate, complete declaration. He has not done that. He is not
letting our reconnaissance planes fly. He is not providing the basic
information the inspectors need to do their job.
What happened to all the anthrax? All the botulinum? To the chemical
warheads? Things keep getting discovered that he should have brought
forward earlier. And so we are certainly not satisfied with his
performance at this time. We'll see what the inspectors say on Monday.
And then he'll be in consultation with his colleagues and will make
appropriate decisions as we move forward.
MR. LEHRER: Do you see this report on Monday as a final report or an
interim report, which is what the inspectors call it?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, technically, it is an interim report from the
inspectors. But the question of how much longer should the inspectors
work is really a function of what they're able to achieve in the
presence of this kind of performance on the part of the Iraqi regime
to deny them what they need to do their job -- to follow them around,
to have more people following them than are inspectors inspecting.
And so the question is: Do we do that for a few more weeks, a few more
months? It doesn't make any difference if he is not coming forward, if
he is not letting it be -- making it possible for the inspectors to do
what the resolution calls for.
The resolution does not call for them to go snooping all over Iraq to
see what they can find. The resolution puts the burden not on the
inspectors, but on Saddam Hussein to come forward -- complete
declaration, full cooperation, and telling us everything that has been
going on in Baghdad and throughout Iraq for, lo, these many years with
respect to weapons of mass destruction.
If he were to do that, if he had done it over the years, but
especially in the weeks since 1441 -- here's what we used to do, we're
not doing it now, you can audit it, here's what we have left that we
haven't told you about before but we're telling you now, here's the
difference between what you think we have and what we actually have,
and here's how we account for those differences -- if that had been
his attitude, we'd be in a different situation. That has not been his
attitude. He still thinks that he can string out this process and
escape the judgment of the international community. And the
international community cannot allow that to happen.
MR. LEHRER: The conclusion that you just spoke of, is this a United
States conclusion on its own, or is this based on debriefings from Mr.
Blix and Mr. ElBaradei and others involved in the UN inspecting
process itself?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it is a judgment that we have come to by
watching the process unfold over the last couple of months, but also
what we have heard from the inspectors. Dr. Blix was heard on
television earlier today complaining about the fact that Iraq will not
let reconnaissance planes assist in the effort. They're slow-rolling
it. They're making it impossible for us to assist the inspectors in
that regard.
We also saw the declaration that the Iraqis put forward. You know, we
had a specific reason for inserting the requirement for a declaration
in 30 days and insisting that the resolution call for the declaration
to be full, accurate and complete -- because we wanted to test the
Iraqis. Are you serious? Are you really going to start telling the
truth or are you not? And it is obvious that that declaration was not
anything that we could have confidence in and the United States
declared it a material breach at that time in December. Other nations
did not do so, but not one nation stood up and said this is a good
declaration and they're serious this time. And that's the problem we
have.
So we have enough to make a judgment, but we're going to wait and see
what the inspectors say on Monday. And then the President will be in
consultation with other heads of state and government, I'll be in
consultation with my colleagues on the Security Council, and
Ambassador Negroponte will be participating in the discussions that
will take place in New York.
MR. LEHRER: Well, it appears, you know, to an outside observer that a
huge collision is about to come about as a result of this report on
Monday. The position of France, Germany, Russia and China, among
others, are saying give the inspectors more time; military action is
not justified.
How do you explain that?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, there are those who feel that if the
inspectors just had more time, they would find everything. We have a
view -- and I think others have a view quite similar to ours -- that
says, in the absence of cooperation, the inspectors will not find
everything; they will not find that which is most troubling to us,
weapons of mass destruction, and the capacity to make those weapons.
And so in order for inspectors to do their work, they have to have
full Iraqi cooperation. But it's just more than cooperation. What the
resolution called for was not just Iraqi cooperation. It demanded that
Iraq be disarmed, Iraq disarm itself. And the inspectors were supposed
to verify or ascertain that disarmament.
And in the absence of Iraq stepping up to its responsibilities and
saying to the international community, "Not only am I claiming I am
free of weapons of mass destruction, I will give you all the evidence
you need to prove that fact," and that's what they have not done. And
they have said they don't have any weapons of mass destruction. If
that is the truth, come forward with the evidence for that truth and
lay it out before the world, lay it out before the inspectors to
verify, and there will be no war. But Iraq has not taken that step.
MR. LEHRER: Are we confronted with a situation here where the United
States and France and Germany and China and the rest of the world are
looking at the same information and interpreting it differently? Or
does the United States have knowledge about something that the rest of
the UN Security Council and the rest of the world doesn't know about?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it's a combination of the two, Jim. I
believe that we have more information and knowledge, much of it highly
classified, that others do not have access to, or at least say they
are not aware of, of things that have gone on inside of Iraq. And I
hope that we will have the opportunity to present this in the debate
that's coming up.
We will be making more statements in the days ahead after the
inspectors have given their report. My deputy, Deputy Secretary
Armitage, gave a powerful presentation yesterday on some of the
discrepancies that have not been dealt with, and Deputy Secretary
Wolfowitz of the Defense Department will be making a similar statement
tomorrow, and I'll be making a statement at Davos this coming weekend.
So I think we'll be putting out more information.
But, frankly, Jim, there are some nations in the world who would like
to simply turn away from this problem, pretend it isn't there. They
are troubled by the consequences of going down this road to the
requirements of 1441, which is ultimately the use of force if Iraq
does not comply. The United States fully understood that when we went
down the path of 1441, we were hoping for the best, but we were
preparing for the worst.
And let's also be clear about something else. The only reason the
Iraqis are participating in this inspection process now, the only
reason they allowed the inspectors to come back in in the first
instance, was because of the threat of force. And as my colleague, Don
Rumsfeld, said on another show earlier today, the deployments that are
now underway, those wonderful young men and women who are now
deploying to the region, are still supporting diplomacy. The President
has not yet made a decision for war, and that decision can be avoided
if something happens in the very near future on the part of the Iraqi
regime to come into compliance with their obligations under all these
resolutions.
But the one thing that we have also made clear is that time is running
out. We cannot let them stretch this game out until the world loses
interest in this issue. The United States will not lose interest in
this issue.
MR. LEHRER: As you know, support for the US position seems to be
dropping among nations around the world. Also, recent opinion polls
among the American people show the same thing. They want unified
action with the UN. They're less enthusiastic about the US going
alone.
Does that concern you at all?
SECRETARY POWELL: Certainly, it does. We watch these polls, of course,
but we have to do what we believe is right. And we believe that if we
can make our case to the American people, to the world, that support
can be generated; it can be turned around.
And I also think that people will understand that if we have to take
military action, the United States will not be doing it alone. There
will be other nations that will be joining us, whether part of a
UN-approved action under a second resolution or, if that's not
possible, and we believe military action is appropriate, there will be
other nations that will be joining us. It'll not just be the United
States and the United Kingdom.
I am also confident that it would be a successful operation, and in
the aftermath of that operation the Iraqi people will be better off,
as we would work with coalition partners and international
organizations to put in place a new government in Iraq that would be
responsive to its people and use the treasure that it has for the
benefit of its people, and not to threaten its people or to threaten
its neighbors or to threaten the world.
MR. LEHRER: Was it a correct reading of your response Monday to what
happened at the UN -- I won't go through the whole thing -- but that
you were a little annoyed with the French and their attitude about
this?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, the meeting was called at the request of the
French presidency to discuss terrorism, and we had a good, full
discussion of terrorism within the Security Council, and in private
meetings we also talked about Iraq and North Korea and other issues.
And so the French decided to focus on Iraq and we kind of, frankly,
trampled the purpose of the meeting. And so I responded to that. And
we're in touch with our French colleagues and to make sure that we all
understand each other's position as we go forward.
But the meeting was called to deal with terrorism, recognizing that
Iraq is in the background and everybody wants to talk about Iraq, but
15 foreign ministers came together to talk about terrorism in general.
MR. LEHRER: So you thought you were sandbagged on Iraq?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I wouldn't say "sandbagged" is the word. I
just think that my colleague, Foreign Minister de Villepin, found it
necessary to talk about Iraq. And when it came my turn for a press
conference following the Security Council meeting, I also spoke about
Iraq. It was the issue of the day. But it's unfortunate that we didn't
spend as much time in our press conferences getting the press
conference back to the subject of the day, which was terrorism.
MR. LEHRER: As you probably know, both French President Chirac and Mr.
Schroeder of Germany met together and had a joint news conference in
Brussels (sic) and said, essentially, that they're going to do
everything they can to prevent military action against Iraq.
What do you think of that?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I have heard that, and perhaps they should
wait and see what the inspectors have to say on Monday. The United
States is preparing itself for military action if it's called for. The
President still hopes for a peaceful resolution of this matter. But
that is in the hands of the Iraqi regime.
But what we are determined to see happen is that Iraq be disarmed,
disarmed peacefully; and if that turns out not to be possible, then
disarmed through the use of force. And I think all of the nations of
the world and all of the members of the Security Council should wait
and see what the inspectors have to tell us on Monday. And that's
certainly what the United States is waiting for.
MR. LEHRER: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much.
SECRETARY POWELL: You're welcome, Jim.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)