MONDAY, 5 JANUARY 2004
502 Byliner: Secretary of State Powell Describes ''What We
Will Do in 2004''
(FR) (Op-ed column from the New York Times) (1190)
503 Text: U.S. Acts to Expedite Assistance to Iran Earthquake
Victims
(Issuing special licenses for humanitarian organizations) (450)
504 Attacks in Baghdad Down Since Saddam Captured, General Says
(Defense Department Report, December 31: Iraq operations) (480)
*AEF502 01/02/2004
Byliner: Secretary of State Powell Describes ''What We Will Do in 2004''
(FR) (Op-ed column from the New York Times) (1190)
(This byliner by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell first appeared in the New York Times January 1, 2004, and is in the public domain. No republication restrictions.)
(begin byliner)
What We Will Do in 2004
By Colin L. Powell
Washington — As we Americans turn the last page of our calendars, many of us are moved to review the achievements of the year gone by and to make resolutions for the year ahead. This can be a frustrating business if one dwells on subjects like exercise and dieting, but the twin task of stock-taking and resolution-making is a worthy discipline — and not just for individuals.
We in the Bush administration have also taken stock and made resolutions. We do so with confidence because President Bush's vision is clear and right: America's formidable power must continue to be deployed on behalf of principles that are simultaneously American, but that are also beyond and greater than ourselves.
We resolve, of course, to expand freedom, and we are focused in particular on Afghanistan and Iraq. The Afghan people now have a constitution, a rapidly advancing market economy, and new hope as they look toward national elections. The aspirations of a free and talented Iraqi nation are also taking wing, now that Saddam Hussein's murderous and dangerous regime is no more. We are working to return sovereignty to the Iraqi people through a fair and open process and to ensure that the country receives the maximum feasible debt relief. As the Coalition Provisional Authority closes its doors on June 30, in accord with the Nov. 15 transition plan, we will open an embassy in Baghdad.
While our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq will continue in 2004, we are resolved as well to turn the president's goal of a free and democratic Middle East into a reality. We will expand the Middle East Partnership Initiative to encourage political, economic and educational reform throughout the region. We will also stand by the Iranian people, and others living under oppressive regimes, as they strive for freedom.
This struggle will not be confined to the Middle East. We are working for the advent of a free Cuba, and toward democratic reform in other countries whose people are denied liberty. And we are resolved to support the young democracies that have risen in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The consolidation of freedom in many new but often fragile democracies will shape the aspirations of people everywhere, assuring that the 21st century will be a century of liberty worldwide.
Our efforts will apply to individuals as well as nations. In 2003 we freed thousands from oppression through President Bush's program to combat human trafficking — whether for prostitution or forced labor or to turn children into soldiers. We have saved lives and redeemed the enslaved, and we will do more in 2004. Also in 2004, the president's plan for H.I.V. and AIDS relief will help free millions worldwide from the devastation of this horrible disease.
We resolve to promote prosperity, too. A new international consensus is helping poorer countries develop themselves through good governance, sound economic, trade and environmental policies and wise investments in their people. The centerpiece of our program for development, to be started in 2004, is the Millennium Challenge Account — an incentive system that makes assistance contingent on political and economic reform.
We also made important strides in 2003 toward a more open international trade and investment climate, signing free trade pacts with Chile, Singapore and the countries of Central America. In 2004 the president will lead the effort to reinvigorate our global free trade strategy, and to advance regional and bilateral free trade as opportunities arise. His proposal to develop a Middle East free trade agreement is high on the agenda.
We are resolved, as well, for peace. Freedom cannot flourish and prosperity cannot advance without security, and this we are determined to achieve. Americans are safer as 2004 begins than they were a year ago. Afghanistan is no longer a devil's playground for terrorists, nor is Iraq an incubator for weapons of mass murder that could have fallen into terrorists' hands.
Al Qaeda remains a great danger — the main reason for our current heightened security posture. But its members are increasingly on the run, in hiding, in jail or dead. Its finances and communications are being disrupted, and closer intelligence and law enforcement cooperation among peace-loving countries is making headway against terrorist plots.
Iran has felt our sustained pressure and that of our allies to come clean on its nuclear weapons program, and has begun to do so. And Libya has renounced terrorism and weapons of mass destruction thanks to the president's robust counter-proliferation strategy and bold British and American diplomacy. In our own hemisphere, narco-traffickers and terrorists are on the defensive thanks to strong United States support for a resolute Colombian government.
The war on terrorism remains our first priority, but success in that war depends on constructive ties among the world's major powers. These we pursue without respite; America's relations with Russia, China and India all improved in 2003. Ties with allies old and new have been strengthened as well, despite the growing pains of adjustment to a new era. Indeed, both NATO and the European Union will expand this year, which is good news for international security.
Our partnerships remain strong as do the institutions of international cooperation. We will rely on both to advance freedom, prosperity and peace in 2004. As we work to restore a liberated Iraq to its people, we invite the United Nations and the international community to help Iraqis establish a new citadel of free minds and free markets in the Middle East. With our NATO allies we will support the Afghan people as they heal their wounds and chart their future.
With China, Japan, Russia and South Korea we will continue to tackle the problem of North Korea's dangerous nuclear weapons programs. We seek peace and reconciliation in the Korean peninsula, but we will not reward threats from Pyongyang or provide incentive for blackmail. With our quartet partners — the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — we will help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace, so that a free Palestine will exist alongside a secure and democratic Jewish state in Israel.
We are resolved, too, to share the burden to bring longstanding conflicts in Sudan, Liberia, Northern Ireland and elsewhere to an end. Such achievements will build momentum for the success of American diplomacy worldwide.
Freedom, prosperity and peace are not separate principles, or separable policy goals. Each reinforces the other, so serving any one requires an integrated policy that serves all three. The challenges are many, for the world is full of trouble. But it is also full of opportunities, and we are resolved to seize every one of them. If some of us drop a few pounds in the process, that's O.K., too.
(Colin L. Powell is the Secretary of State of the United States.)
(end byliner)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of
State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF503 01/02/2004
Text: U.S. Acts to Expedite Assistance to Iran Earthquake Victims
(Issuing special licenses for humanitarian organizations) (450)
Secretary of State Colin Powell has determined that, in response to the overwhelming humanitarian needs created by the earthquake in Iran, the U.S. will issue special licenses enabling the Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. nongovernmental organizations to export critically needed items for the Iranian relief effort.
"At this time of great emergency, we must do everything we can to help people in desperate need," Secretary Powell said.
Following is the text of a statement issued by the State Department on December 31:
(begin text)
State Department
Press Statement
Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
December 31, 2003
U.S. Expedites Assistance to Iran Earthquake Victims
At the direction of President George W. Bush, the United States has initiated a number of extraordinary steps to facilitate the engagement of U.S. relief organizations to assist the victims of last week's earthquake in Iran.
After consultation with Congress, Secretary of State Powell determined that, due to the extraordinary humanitarian needs created by this earthquake, it is in the national interest of the United States to issue additional licenses that will enable the Department of State and USAID as well as U.S. NGOs to export to Iran certain items needed for the management of the relief effort, including controlled items such as transportation equipment, satellite telephones, and radio and personal computing systems.
Secretary Powell said "at this time of great emergency, we must do everything we can to help people in desperate need." The Department of State is working closely with the Department of the Treasury, USAID, other U.S. government agencies, and Congress to facilitate this process.
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will issue a general license that temporarily permits U.S. individuals or NGOs to transfer funds to organizations operating in Iran to support humanitarian aid activities associated with the tragic earthquake in and around Bam. Donations of humanitarian relief items such as food, certain medicines, clothing and tents do not require a license.
OFAC will also issue today a license to a group of NGOs currently registered with USAID to enable them to operate for an initial period of 30 days. If during that period these organizations believe more time will be needed for their emergency humanitarian activities, they should apply to OFAC for an extension.
Other NGOs will be able to apply to OFAC for licenses, which will be reviewed on an expedited basis and issued retroactive to December 26, 2003. For further information, or to apply for a license, call (202) 622-2480 or fax license applications to (202) 622-0447.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of
State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF504 01/02/2004
Attacks in Baghdad Down Since Saddam Captured, General Says
(Defense Department Report, December 31: Iraq operations) (480)
Attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in the Baghdad area have "absolutely gone down" since the capture of Saddam Hussein, according to U.S. Army Brigadier General Martin Dempsey.
The commander of the U.S. 1st Armored Division, Dempsey briefed reporters in Baghdad and (via videoconference) at the Pentagon December 31. The unit's area of responsibility is Baghdad and surrounding areas.
Asked whether attacks in his area have gone up or down since Saddam Hussein's capture, Dempsey said, "Absolutely gone down. I'm reluctant to put a percentage on it because ... we tend to do analysis on a monthly ... basis. ... But clearly, the attacks on us have gone down [and] the intelligence being provided for us by local Iraqis has gone up."
Dempsey also said that useful information concerning coalition enemies in Baghdad had been gleaned with Saddam's capture. Asked whether he could be more specific, Dempsey said coalition forces had known there were eight to 10 enemy cells in Baghdad, but now they know the number of cells is 14.
"Now you might say, ‘Gee, how do you know there [are] exactly 14?' Well, you know, you have to form your own conclusions about that. ... I know who they are and I know where they are, and I know if I can find them that they no longer will be doing what they were doing before," Dempsey said.
At the beginning of the briefing, Dempsey gave an analysis of the Christmas Day attacks in Baghdad:
"Intelligence told us that the enemy wanted to muster several hundred attackers across the city and attack targets simultaneously. We assessed that he mustered and attacked us with approximately 20 personnel in 18 attacks." Nine of the 18 were hit-and-run attacks using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), Dempsey said, carried out by no more than six to eight individuals organized in three or four teams.
"So that's the magnitude of the attacks against us on Christmas, though many of you [reporters] who were in Baghdad at the time and felt the effect or heard the effect of the nine separate RPG attacks could very well have considered it to be a much larger enemy force," Dempsey said.
Asked when and where in Baghdad he foresaw being able to hand over security duties to Iraqis, Dempsey said there are "88 neighborhoods in the city, and we think there [are] only three or four of them that we couldn't be comfortable transitioning to local control right now. Now, we haven't done that ... because we're still in the period that I would describe as the ‘coaching, teaching and mentoring' aspect of giving the new Iraqi security apparatus some help --- training, essentially --- to take over that responsibility."
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of
State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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