Mutual Pleasures
Reported by Eleanor - September 12, 2004 -
Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday (Sept. 12, 5:00 p.m.) interviewed Colin Powell about the state of foreign policy. A summary of the interview with key points is provided here.
About North Korean nuclear weapons, Powell said the mushroom cloud this week was not a nuclear event. The site is being monitored. North Korea will be involved in a six-party discussion at month's end. Korean neighbors view nuclear tests with great alarm, and the goal is "de-nuclearization." Wallace: How serious is the nuclear threat? Powell: Serious. No one is immune. We've had no further attacks. Bush has done everything we can do. We're not safe yet. There are people who wish us harm. Civilized nations are coming together. Wallace: The chief criticism is taking the ball off Afghanistan. We would be better off if we finished the job in Afghanistan. Powell: 18 individuals are running for president in Afghanistan with elections in early October. NATO is there. Osama bin Laden is out there, but being pursued. Two terrible regimes are gone. Two elections are being prepared. We will prevail. Wallace: 1,000 have been killed in Iraq with an increase since June 28. With the violence threatening the election, will this go on for years? Powell: It will go on for a long time. We're training Iraqis to deal with their own security. Over time it will be brought under control. We're in maximum danger as the insurgents come after us who want to go back to the days of Sadam Hussein. We have faced challenges in the past. We will overcome. Wallace: Will the election happen in January? Powell: Allawi is determined to go forward. The insurgents are controlling some cities. We're helping the Iraqi government to recover each place under their control. Wallace: Kerry claims the war is the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time. Is that right? Powell: We removed a dictator. That was the right thing. We're focusing our energy on defeating the insurgents. We didn't underestimate the insurgency. Wallace: The president said he underestimated. Powell: We miscalculated. Wallace:Kerry says he can get more nations to help in Iraq. Powell: I'm not sure what he has in mind. They said they won't participate. There is nothing to suggest they'll change their minds about combat troops. We have worked with the French, Germans and Russians. They won't put troops there. Other nations are willing, and doing the right thing.
Wallace asked about the Viet Nam conflict concerning the two candidates, and Powell said they both served honorably under the policies in place at the time. He doesn't think we'll go back to subscription, but if we do, everyone will be equally liable.
On the U.S. role in the Sudan, Powell said we arranged a cease fire in April; we need donations; and we put forward a Security Council resolution that's working its way through the process.
When asked if he'll serve in a Bush second term, he said he would serve at the pleasure of the president. Actually, "the president and I will discuss mutual pleasures."
Comment: Powell presented nothing new, but lots of questions that could have been asked weren't, and being a good soldier, the answers can't be read from between the lines, like how did we get into this mess, and how do we get out of it. That's all I wanted to know.
