*EPF503 02/09/01
Transcript: Secretary of State Colin Powell's Briefing, Feb. 9, 2001
(Powell announces his trip to Mideast & NATO with possible additions en route, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, Jordan, Kuwait for 10th anniversary, NMD issues noted, Iraqi issues, EU, Russia, China, Greece/Olympics/terrorism) (2310)

Following is the State Department transcript:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

February 9, 2001

ON-THE-RECORD BRIEFING BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL

February 9, 2001 Washington, D.C.

SECRETARY POWELL: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. What a beautiful room you have down here. I hope to be spending a lot of time here with you in the months ahead. This is the first formal opportunity I've had to appear before you, although we have had a few occasions over the past few weeks.

And I hope you understand that it will be my policy to do everything I can to help you do your jobs, try to do these press conferences on a fairly regular basis and give you the access that I know you want, and I want you to have, so that you can report the activities of the Department of State and the foreign policy of President Bush and his team.

And I have been rather busy and I hope you can appreciate that it took me a little while to get to this point. I've met with some 25 Foreign Ministers, Presidents and other leaders of nations over the last three weeks, and have been making dozens upon dozens of phone calls to reach out and talk to our allies and talk to our friends around the world.

And I'm here this afternoon to let you know that the first trip -- I think it's already been told to you by Richard Boucher, but my first trip will be to the Middle East region. I plan to visit in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel and Gaza and the West Bank, Jordan, and to be in Kuwait on the 26th for the 10th anniversary Gulf War celebrations.

And then I will be going from there on to Brussels, where I have been invited by NATO to join a meeting and exchange views with my NATO colleagues. I was invited by Lord Robertson. And I also hope at that same time, and expect at that same time, to meet with European Union leaders and Commission President Romano Prodi.

And the purpose of this trip will be to share views with friends in the region, especially in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank, to make an assessment of the situation; talking to, I would expect, Chairman Arafat and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Barak if he is still in the caretaker status, of course, and also with Mr. Sharon.

And with that, I will take whatever questions you have for a few moments. I only have a few moments on this occasion, and then I'll turn it over to Richard.

Q: So far as the Administration coming down with a policy on missile defense. Could you give us some indication of how the Administration is going to proceed, and also especially in talking to the Russians, and how long might this take?

Mr. Cook, your good friend, talked to us the other day and of course suggested all of the above, and thought it would take some time, he thought, before you would choose a defense system.

SECRETARY POWELL: Let me add one P.S. to my earlier statement. The travel itinerary I gave you, there may be other additions and modifications as we go along, and we will let you know as they arise and as we go along.

With respect to your specific question, the first thing we really have to do is give Secretary Rumsfeld a chance to get his team in place and to make an assessment of the various technologies that are out there, to look at the work that has been done in recent years, and to come up with a concept. I can't tell you how long that will take because that is Secretary Rumsfeld's decision to make, and he will have to take a good hard look at that.

While, however, he is making that assessment, it gives the rest of us the opportunity to discuss with our friends and allies and the Russians and the Chinese and others what we had in mind, and how it all fits into an overall strategic framework that involves offensive nuclear weapons, our nonproliferation efforts, and defensive systems, both of a Theatre Missile Defense nature and National Missile Defense nature.

So I think the point that Foreign Secretary Cook was making, and I would like to make, is that there is more than adequate time to consult with anybody who has an interest in our plans, and to get their input so that we can use that with Secretary Rumsfeld and his team as they make their assessments, and have an opportunity to hear the various views that are out there and try to design a system that deals with the problem that exists. And that problem is simply that there are nations on Earth who are developing these weapons that can threaten their neighbors and can threaten us, and it would be irresponsible of us not to move forward with technologies that have the possibility of being able to stop these kinds of weapons.

We think it is, at the end of the day, stabilizing, that it is a part of an overall deterrent system, and that it will strengthen deterrence. And so the President is fully committed to move in this direction, but we will do it in a deliberate way, examining technology to make sure it works, understanding the cost implications of what we are doing, and understanding the arms control and diplomatic considerations that must be taken into account to do this in a way that will reassure the world that this adds to deterrence and does not take away from deterrence.

Q: Sir, the view from the Bush Administration on this issue seems to have been, we are going ahead with this, and our challenge is to simply convey that to our allies, and then once they realize the United States is serious, they will go along.

I wonder, is that an accurate assessment of what you are doing? And if it is, does that fit into the humility approach to foreign policy that you have talked about? It seems rather blunt, you know, we are doing it; you better learn to like it. That seems to be the approach.

SECRETARY POWELL: Humility can coexist with principle. Our principle and our belief is that this adds to deterrence. This is the right thing to do, and so President Bush has stated clearly, as have all the other members of this team, that we are planning to go forward with missile defense because we believe it is achievable; we believe we can do it in an economical way; we believe it adds to deterrence. And we are going to consult with our allies to hear their concerns, but we are not going to get knocked off the track of moving in this direction as long as the technology points us in that direction.

And I don't consider it as being an arrogant position or one that we're trying to force anything on the rest of the world. We're trying to convey the power of our position to the rest of the world, and at the same time hear from them, hear from our European allies, hear from China and Russia particularly, and see if we can convince them that there is a cooperative way to approach this that will benefit all of us.

Q: You said in your testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that you were looking at reenergizing sanctions against Iraq. Members of the opposition are in town right now. They just received a license to operate within Iraq with U.S. funds, looking for more logistical support.

When you take your trip to the region to meet with US allies there, will you be reviewing a much harder policy towards Saddam Hussein? And are you realistic that there could be a democratic regime change during your tenure?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I'm always optimistic. I think democracy is such a powerful set of principles and a powerful system that one can always hope that people who are not living under democratic systems will eventually come to the realization that they could do a lot better in the 21st century if they did live under a democratic system. That's a part of our principle and belief going into the 21st century.

As I travel throughout the region, I will be concentrating on the UN part of the policy, as opposed to the United States bilateral relationship with respect to Iraq and our other activities in the Gulf and with the Iraqi opposition. And the UN piece of it is rather straightforward and clear: it is an arms control regime. It is an arms control regime that Iraq agreed to at the end of the Gulf War, and it exists for one purpose, and that was to keep Iraq from threatening its neighbors with weapons of mass destruction that would be delivered by missiles. It was a regime that was for the purpose of protecting the children in the region, protecting the people of the region, and bringing Iraq into a world where one does not threaten and attack its neighbors with these kinds of horrible weapons.

And part of that regime was to deny Iraq the opportunity to purchase weapons or material that would allow them to do this, to keep their missile programs under control, and the Oil-for-Food program was put in place as a way of making sure that this regime did not hurt the people of Iraq. Saddam Hussein has more money available to him now than he had at the beginning of the last decade. At the beginning of the last decade, he wasted the money available to him by investing in the military. He can't do that as well now because of the regime that we have placed upon him. And there is more than enough money to take care of books for the children of Iraq, food for the children of Iraq, medicine for the children of Iraq. All that the children of Iraq require there is money for.

But what we will not allow him to have money for and not remove these sanctions from preventing him from doing is to go forward with weapons of mass destruction. And the sooner he comes to that realization that we can rally around that simple proposition that I just laid out for you, and the sooner he allows inspectors to come in and see whether or not he is or is not doing this. We think he is; he says he is not. There is a simple answer: Let the inspectors in, and we can get beyond this.

But until he does that, then I think we have to be firm; we have to be vigilant. And I will be carrying this message to my friends in the region. It is a problem of his making, and any suffering that is taking place in Iraq is the cause of his actions and his policies.

Q: If we can go back to your trip -- this is kind of a -- what kind of time frame are you talking about in terms of spending time at each of these stops? Is there a reason --

SECRETARY POWELL: Not as long as I would like it to be. This is about a five-day trip.

Q: Right. Is there a reason why there is no stop in Damascus, or is it just timing, or should we read into that that --

SECRETARY POWELL: Don't read anything, because you have only heard the first tranche, shall we say.

Q: Right.

SECRETARY POWELL: And I reserve the right to change my mind. I am the Secretary of State; I can change my mind.

(Laughter.)

Q: So you will be leaving --

SECRETARY POWELL: I think I'll let Richard go into the details, but we should be leaving the evening of the 22nd?

MR. BOUCHER: The 23rd.

SECRETARY POWELL: The evening of the 23rd or thereabouts, coming back the 27th or 28th, or the 1st, I guess. But it's about that kind of a window.

Q: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes. I'm the only newly confirmed person in the Department, and my leash will only let me go that far for that length of time.

Q: Secretary Powell --

SECRETARY POWELL: Hang on a minute. Let me go to the back, just to show that I'm fair. The gentleman who is almost leaping up.

Q: Mr. Secretary, (inaudible) attack over to Greece regarding the security of the Olympic Games in connection with terrorism?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'm sorry. I have a hearing loss.

Q: How do you respond to the accusations against Greece? The Olympic Games in connection with terrorism?

SECRETARY POWELL: The Olympic Games?

Q: And terrorism.

Q: Are the Olympics in danger.

SECRETARY POWELL: I am confident that the authorities will do everything to make sure that the Games go off in a safe manner. And anything we can do to assist them with the experience that we have from the past, or any other assistance we can give, will be made available to the government. But I have confidence in their ability to make this happen.

I'm afraid I do have to go to another meeting, so I have to turn it over to Richard at this point. I will be back, don't worry.

Thank you very much.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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