Intervew on WJR with Paul W. Smith

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, thank you, Paul W. I thought it was a remarkable event, and I want to thank you for serving as the emcee. But, you know, what we try to do is be candid with the situations that we face around the world. And in the Middle East, Arab nations and the Palestinians have obligations, as do the Israelis, and you don't serve any purpose by not talking about the responsibilities of both, or pandering to any one of the two groups.

MR. SMITH: Very well done. And in terms of obligations and responsibilities, you do believe the United States has an obligation and a responsibility in the Middle East, and no amount of terrorist activity or any activity is going to keep us from living up to that obligation and responsibility.

SECRETARY POWELL: That's exactly right. The President, last June, put down a vision, in June of 2002, of a Palestinian state. He wants to see a Palestinian state created, living alongside a Jewish state called Israel. But in order to achieve that vision, terrorism has to end.

We can't negotiate that state into existence in the presence of continuing terrorism on the part of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other organizations that really are killing innocent people and killing the dreams of the Palestinian people. And that's what has to be brought under control.

And if the new Palestinian Government, that we hope will be coming into office in the near future, takes that on as a mission and goes after the terrorist organizations, there is so much more we can do to help them and to put pressure on the Israelis to do what they said they would do under the roadmap, as it is called, that was laid out by the international community.

MR. SMITH: United States Secretary of State Colin Powell with us, and we have been hearing much of his speech last night in WJR News, basically, calling for a chance, an opportunity to build a new Middle East that is prosperous and peaceful. Israel has to stop building settlements. The Palestinians have to stop terrorism.

And we move from there into what we all hope will be a much positive, much more positive, better world picture. And one of the things that came up in a conversation with Secretary Powell from one of our business guys -- and this being a business forum, if you will, the U.S.-Arab economic forum -- the fact of the matter is David Littman, one of our financial guys said, you don't go to war with your customers.

SECRETARY POWELL: That's a very good observation, and it really describes what we were trying to do at this conference -- not just talk about the usual political issues, but to talk about economic issues, development issues.

We have to educate a new generation of Arab youngsters who are coming up, who have not been getting the kind of education they need to have the skills needed in the 21st century economy. We have got to get women into the workplace and into civil society. You can't be successful in the 21st century, if you're going to keep half of your population out of civil society and out of contributing to the society.

And those were the issues that were spoken about at this conference. And I was pleased to see so many corporate leaders there, whether it was the automotive chief executive officer Rick Wagoner and Bill Ford, as well as Carly Fiorina of Hewlett Packard, Philip Condit of Boeing, all of them were there to try to generate trade with the Arab world; trade brings jobs, jobs bring hope.

MR. SMITH: Mr. Secretary, you did bring up Iran and some of your concerns regarding Iran. We did not talk much about North Korea. I believe the Administration still believes diplomatic efforts are still effective in North Korea. What about Iran?

SECRETARY POWELL: In both Iran and North Korea, we believe diplomatic efforts are still quite appropriate. In the case of Iran, we have succeeded in bringing the entire international community around through the International Atomic Energy Agency, to the position that Iran must account to the world for what it's doing with its nuclear programs, and the IAEA will be meeting at the end of October to assess Iran's performance.

They need to sign what's called "an additional protocol to the nonproliferation treaty," and they need to satisfy the world that they really are doing nothing but generating nuclear power, and they have no interest in developing a weapon. The burden is on them to prove that. They say they're not, but prove it. And we'll continue to press that issue, but we think there is a diplomatic solution here.

MR. SMITH: Very quickly, because I do know you have to go, and I appreciate the time you have given us -- United States Secretary of State Colin Powell with us.

You have said, Secretary Powell, that there is a caricature in Washington, and that is that you're either in a constant battle with everybody -- "I am either going to get fired next week or quit next week."

And you said, "Sure. There is internal debate. And it's no secret that my views tend to be more moderate than some of my colleagues, but the President knew that when he hired me."

Was it easier being a general because you always knew who the enemy was?

SECRETARY POWELL: In some ways, it was easier. But, you know, all I had to do was worry about military matters. Now, as Secretary of State, I have to worry about diplomatic matters, economic matters, trade matters. My stage is a lot bigger.

And I'm pleased to be working for this President, who has strong cabinet officials in his cabinet, and he is willing to let us present our views as strongly as we wish to advocate for them. And what makes him a great leader is that he can decide what is best, and then we all recognize who is in charge. It's not anyone of the cabinet officers, it's the President; and once he decides, then we all move forward together.

MR. SMITH: Any chance you would re-up for a second term?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, you know, Paul, everybody asks that question. And what I simply say is that I serve at the pleasure of the President, and any political appointee who says anything else is looking for trouble. At least people are thinking about a second term, instead of asking me to quit next week.

MR. SMITH: Well put. Last question here. Everyone -- there was a time everyone thought that, you know, it sounded pretty good, General Powell as a presidential candidate. And you put the kibosh on that, at least, in the past. What do you think of a General Wesley Clark as a candidate for president?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I know General Clark very well. He has worked for me on a number of occasions over the past 20 years, and he is a very fine officer. But I elected that, in this political season that is upon us, and as Secretary of State, I was going to recuse myself from any further comment about Wes or Wes' possibilities in the political arena.

MR. SMITH: Next time you're here, you'll have to visit the Colin Powell Academy.

SECRETARY POWELL: I really am looking forward to it. I am very pleased that one of the original charter schools in Detroit was named after me. And I follow it, but I haven't visited it in awhile. So next time I come to Detroit, I'll try to get in early enough to go by and say hello.

MR. SMITH: Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for joining us.