Bulletin de liaison etd'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Ozeti
International Herald Tribune
Monday, February 18, 2002
u.s. softens tone
on 2 'axis' nations
But Powell advises critics in Europe
to.'pound~on Iraq,' not Washington
By Brian Knowlton
InternatlOll8I
Herald TrIbune
WASHINGTON: Secretary of State
Colin Powell, maintaining a tough tone
on Iraq. said Sunday that even covert
action to oust President Saddam Hussein
could not be ruled out, but he appeared
to soften the administration's
tone on North Korea and Iran, the other
countries ,that Presi'dent George W.
Bush has described' as making up an
"axis of eviL"
Facing unusually sharp protests
from some European allies to the
speech that intrQduced the phrase,
Powell responded that ~my European
colleagues should be pounding on Iraq
as quickly as they pound on us when
the president. makes a strong, principled
speech." .' ,
The national security adviser, Con-
.doleezza Rice; made it plain, however,
that Bush was not about to order an attack
on Baghdad. She and other U.S. officials
have continued to refine Bush's
"axis of evil" message, saying no action
is imminent against any of the three
countries.
"I can assure you, " Rice said on CBS-
TV, "he has taken no decision about the
use offorce against Iraq."
Powell also rejected European suggestions
that Bush was showing a unilateralist
bent - treating European allies
as "satellites," in the words of the Ger-'
man foreign minister, Joschka Fischer.
Deputy Defense Secretary' PaUl
Wolfowitz, appearing on Fox-Tv,
agreed, saying that "the notion that
we're unilateralists is nonsense."
Wolfowitz is known as an administration
hard~liner. But he suggested
that Bush's intent had been partly to .
promote, not war, but discussion about
countries that he believes pose dangerous
risks:
"He put the whole world on notice,"
Wolfowitz said. "And he's really, in effect,
invited a dialogue about how you
deal with it."
Powell, who was traveling with Bush
,as the president began a trip to the Far
East, said again, however, that Bush saw
little hope for Iraq, as long as Saddam
remains in power.
, Almost seeming to place North Korea
and Iran in a separate category, he
said the United States.still hoped to renew
dialogue with them.
. With Bush about to visit Seoul, Powell
struck a somewhat conciliatory tone
toward North Korea, even while re- .
peating U.S. criticism of the hard-line
regime there for selling weapons technology
and spending heavily on its military
while many of its people go
hungry.
Asked by an NBC-TV interviewer
what message he would send to Kim
Jong Il on the North Korean leader's
60th birthday Sunday, Powell replied:
"The people of South Korea are one.
with you. All Koreans are of one body
and soul. And the South Koreans want
to reach out and help you in your time
of trouble, and America has said clearly
that we want to speak with North Korea"
at any time or place, without preconditions.
His comments appeared designed
partly to ease concerns in South Korea
that Bush's tough line on the North
could derail tentative moves by Seoul
toward closer, more open relations.
with Pyongyang.
OfTehran, he said: "We have not isolated
Iran totally. We are in touch with
them."
He said the United States appreciated
the role Iran had played in the
Bonn and' Tokyo conferences on Afghanistan.
At the same time, Powell
said, "We don't overlook the things that
are troubling."
Powell's comments mayalso have
aimed to respond to European critics,
who have said that to lump together in
menacing fashion three countries as diverse
as Iraq, Iran and North Korea
. .
.risked undermining reform-minded forces.
Bush, looking to a next phase in the U.S. war on
terrorism, has accused the three countries of pur-
. suing weapons of mass destruction.
Powell acknowledged that Bush's axis speech
had created "a bit of a stir in Europe," but added on .
.CNN that it was one that "we'll be able to manage
with consultations" and routine contacts.
He sharply rejected criticism that the Bush administration
was acting unilaterally. The president,
Powell tried to explain, often speaks his
mind plainly and directly in a way that can "jangle
people's nerves" but. he moves ahead in a
"prudent, disciplined, determined way." .
"What unilateral action have we taken that's
causing them to get so upset?" he asked.
. At the same time, Powell said that all sanctions
- political, diplomatic and military - remained .
on the table. And he drew deep lines in the sand
forSaddam.
The "easiest way" for Iraqi ieaders to "see if
there's a way out of this mess is to let the inspectors
in" without constraints or conditions, he said,
referring to United Nations weapons inspectors
. .
who were expelled by Saddam. But that alone
would not end U.S. pressure. "Even then, the
United States believes the Iraqis would still be better
offwith a new kind ofleadership."
The official Iraqi press agency, INA, quoted Saddam
on Saturday as saying his country .had been
misunderstood. Iraq "is not interested in acquiring
.weapons of mass destruction," he said, but only in
acquiring more science to help its own people and
others.
Powell told NBC that he did not believe the Iraqi
'.leader. "I've heard that before," he said. "We've
heard it for 10years."
.'. Asked if even a covert operation to remove Sad-
. dam might be considered, Powell replied, "You
can be sure that we're examining all possible op-
. tions." The administration would work to secure
support from its European allies and Iraqi neighbors,
but would not be blocked by their resistance,
he said.
Asked about suggestions that to unseat Saddam
•would plunge Iraq into internal fighting or yield a
successor no more to U.S. liking, Powell said that
some in the opposition "would give us, so to speak,
a better turn of the cards in Baghdad than the Hussein
regime."
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