Washington File, Dept. of State
Friday, September 5, 2003

During a far-ranging speech on U.S. foreign policy goals and commitments, Powell also said that the United States is committed to the global war on terrorism, the reconstruction and democratic evolution of Afghanistan and Iraq regardless of how long it takes, enhanced great power cooperation, improved U.S.-European Union relations, strengthened ties to Russia and China, and a resolution of issues with North Korea over nuclear weapons.

Powell noted that the Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to accept the terms of the "roadmap" to Middle East Peace, designed to bring stability to the region and eventual statehood for the Palestinians. The roadmap has been endorsed by the Quartet -- the United Nations, the EU, Russia and the United States working as partners to promote Middle East peace -- and many Arab nations also have joined in support of the roadmap.

"Since the president brought all of these parties together at Aqaba, where they all came together to endorse the roadmap, we have made some progress down the road to peace, but not enough," Powell said during remarks at George Washington University in Washington. "And we need to redouble our efforts. We need to keep the pressure on both sides to do everything they can to get to that point where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, Israelis in the state of Israel, Palestinians in a state of their own, called Palestine."

The United States supports Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to consolidate security forces to eliminate the terrorist organizations who are trying to destroy peace efforts, Powell said.

"We support Prime Minister Abbas' efforts to make sure that all financial authority and all financial resources are under his office, so they can be used to benefit the Palestinian people and not be diverted to other purposes," Powell said.

Powell said HAMAS and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and similar terrorist organizations, must be isolated and not allowed to derail peace efforts.

"The entire international community must come together to isolate them, brand them as terrorists, and do everything we can to cut off all of the funding that has been going to these organizations over the years," he said. "Unfortunately, Chairman Yasser Arafat has not been playing the helpful role. He has not been an interlocutor for peace over the years."

Powell said the roadmap is sound, and "we stand by it. And we know the travelers will get to their common destination, to peace, if they follow that map."

Other regional conflicts have demanded U.S. attention, Powell said, including the recent situation in Liberia where U.S. Marines supported the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that is providing peacekeeping forces. He said ECOWAS provided the troops and the political solution, and the United States provided the support.

On the U.S.-led coalition's liberation of Iraq, Powell said: "Let there be no doubt in anyone's mind that we did the right thing; that the world is better off without this despotic regime." He blamed the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime for the destruction of water and oil pipelines and the attacks on humanitarian workers in Iraq. But their attempts to destroy the hopes of the Iraqi people, the Secretary said, will fail.

Powell acknowledged that in Iraq "it is impossible to overcome, in only a few months, obstacles that have been decades in the making. Every day makes clearer how horribly the Iraqi people suffered under Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party." But he said: "The forces of destruction, the forces of the tragic past will not stop us. Together with our allies, and most of all, together with the Iraqi people, we are undoing the disasters of Saddam Hussein's misrule."

Powell said the United States has begun consultations with the U.N. Security Council on a new council resolution concerning Iraq.

"In this resolution," he explained, "we will invite the Iraqi Governing Council to submit a plan and a timetable for them to write a constitution, develop political institutions and conduct free elections, all of this leading to their resumption of sovereignty over their own country, over their own people.

Powell said the global war on terrorism is succeeding, though many of the victories remain out of the public view.

"Our reconstruction and humanitarian efforts translate military victory into lasting political accomplishments, and we are doing that in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our efforts will not cease; they will not falter; we will not fail," Powell said. "Military victory is only part of the solution. It's reconstruction that comes afterward that leaves us with a lasting peaceful situation."

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