NSC Briefing for Foreign Media

Real Audio of Briefing

       MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Foreign Press Center. We're delighted this afternoon to have for our regular briefing with the foreign media Sean McCormack from the NSC. And, because he only has 30 minutes today, we'll want to get started right away. Sean.

       MR. SEAN MCCORMACK: Thanks, Paul. I don't have any opening statements, so, why don't we go ahead and start off with your questions.

       Q Microphone?

       MODERATOR: It will be here in a minute.

       Q Thank you. Mohammad -- (inaudible) -- Abu Dhabi Television. Sean, I have a couple of questions.

       MR. MCCORMACK: Okay.

       Q Iraq. Saddam has accepted the resolution today. If he complies all the way, can you foresee any scenario under which Saddam can stay in power? And where that will lead the regime change policy, what that will do to the Iraqi people. My second question is Pat Robertson went at it again. He insulted Muslim and Islam. And White House kept quiet so far. I know the State Department is spending $50 million to show happy, smiling Muslims around the world, American Muslims, but is the White House aware of the kind of damage these characters are doing, especially those associated with this administration? And some Muslim-American organizations are asking White House to come out and say something. Are you going to say something about it?

       MR. MCCORMACK: Well, let me -- let me start with your second -- your second question first. The president -- I have -- I have not seen these remarks, but President Bush has made very clear his respect for the Muslim faith and for the contributions of Muslim-Americans to America, and the importance of Islam as a religion in the world. He believes it's a religion of peace, it's a religion of respect. There has unfortunately been a few killers who have hijacked this religion for their own -- for their own purposes, or tried to hijack this religion for their own purposes. But, you know, President Bush could not have been more clear in his respect for Islam and Muslims around the world. Just recently he had an Iftaar dinner to mark the start of Ramadan, and I think you'll see that other members of his administration are following the same practice at the embassies around the world in Muslim countries. I know I have been in -- served in these embassies where the ambassadors will host Iftaar dinners. So this is really a reflection of, you know, the president's view of Islam, and he does not share the view of anyone who seeks to speak ill or make negative comparisons of Islam or Islamic people.

       Q Why don't you say that publicly?

       MR. MCCORMACK: Again, I'm not aware of -- I'm not specifically aware of these remarks. I'll certainly take -- take a look at them, and if there's anything else to add, I'll certainly add it.

       On your first question --

       Q (Inaudible) --

       MR. MCCORMACK: What's that?

       Q (Inaudible) --

       MR. MCCORMACK: There is apparently some remarks that Pat Robertson --

       Q Pat Robertson --

       MR. MCCORMACK: -- that Pat Robertson made, yes.

       On your -- on your first question, I guess I would, you know, make one semantic distinction to begin with. You talked about Saddam Hussein accepting this resolution. It was never a matter of his accepting or rejecting the resolution. That has never been -- never been the choice. It is under Chapter 7 -- the Chapter 7 resolution, and it was the stated will of the Security Council and Iraq had no choice whether or not it was going to accept it or reject it.

       I've -- I have not seen the letter itself. I think that Secretary-General Annan's office will do an official translation. We'll take a look at it and we'll see -- see if there are any conditions in it, exactly what it says. All the news reporting that's come out -- and I think the Iraqi ambassador, perm rep to the U.N. has come out and said that they intend to comply with -- with the inspection regime. We'll see. You know, President Bush has made it quite clear that the goal of the resolution is disarmament, and there are two ways to do that -- peacefully, via the inspection route, and we hope that is the case. We've -- we worked very hard through the United Nations for eight weeks. This is probably the most extensive, exhaustive debate on any single issue in the history of the Security Council, so we made it very clear that we want this to be a peaceful disarmament. But make no mistake, if that is not the route that the Iraqi regime chooses, they will be disarmed by force.

       MODERATOR: Michael, over here.

       Q Michael Backfish (sp), German Business Daily Handelsblatt. In the end we'll have regime change in Iraq, either implicitly because Saddam complied, or externally by the use of force. What's the impact of that for the region of the Middle East? Is it a signal for a democratization of the whole region? And if so, is this a goal of U.S. foreign policy?

       MR. MCCORMACK: Well, our stated goals with respect to Iraq are clear -- and to kind of get back to your question as well about regime change -- you rightly point that, you know, whether peacefully or by force, the regime will be -- will have been changed in Iraq. As for, you know -- as for the changes -- the changes in the region, the -- a change in the regime in Iraq would have nothing but beneficial and positive effects for -- for the region. This is a regime that has sought to dominate its neighbors, and sought to dominate a region. That is, you know, President Bush pointed out, think about Saddam Hussein with nuclear weapons and trying to -- and trying to deal with this Saddam Hussein with nuclear weapons and his attempts to blackmail our friends and allies in the region and around the world. It is clearly a regime that is a threat to the region and the entire world, and the region would be better off without --without this regime. I think that -- I don't think that you're going to get any -- any argument from anybody on that point.

       As for the democracy, we believe strongly that the freedom to express one's self at work and at home is essential to each individual realizing their -- their full potential, which is, you know, essential for people's around the world, in every country around the world, providing for a better future for their children and for their country. Certainly we have talked about in the -- in the Palestinian areas the importance of democracy taking route, and we're working very hard to develop those institutions in Palestinian areas that would lead to democratic institutions that truly serves the people, and that would serve as an example -- or could serve as an example -- for other regimes in the region that are not democratic.

       Q Elaine Monaghan of The Times of London. I have two questions. The first one is doesn't the fact that Bin Laden now appears to be alive complicate your plans for Iraq? And the second one is, is there any truth to the report in the Washington Times today that the administration has evidence that Heathrow was going to be targeted?

       MR. MCCORMACK: On the Washington Times report, I don't have any information on that. I have -- give me a call and I'll check into it and I'll see if there's anything further that we can find out for you on that.

       In terms of Bin Laden being alive or not, we still don't know. We obviously have this audio tape that I think everybody is -- everybody is aware of. And at this point, we haven't made any judgments as to whose voice that is on that tape. We are doing an analysis of it. We certainly, you know, can't rule out that it's -- that it's his voice. Can't confirm it either, at this point. We have always gone on the assumption that we don't know whether or not he is alive or dead, and, you know, in some ways we've -- we've in fact always said that the war against terrorism is -- is about more than just one individual. This is about -- this has always been about going after terrorist networks around the world, wherever they may be. You know, there are thousands of trained killers in the -- we estimate up to 60 countries around the world. And every single day we are fighting, with a global coalition, these terrorists -- whether it be on a military front, diplomatic, political, economic, or financial front -- every single day we're engaged in that fight, as is a global -- global coalition. And we're, you know, we're going to -- we continue that today, and it's going to continue, you know, tomorrow and the next day, and out into the future until we've won.

       As for -- as for, well, how does this -- how does this affect Iraq, I -- you know, I'm not sure that it does at all. We've made quite clear that these -- these goals, fighting terrorism and Iraq, are mutually reinforcing. We believe that disarming Iraq furthers the war against terrorism. It takes away a possible -- one possible threat of a country that possesses weapons of mass destruction and has shown a willingness to use them, and possibly disrupting any sort of ties they may have or develop with terrorist organizations. So we view these goals as really mutually reinforcing. And certainly we have the wherewithal, and we believe the international community has the will and wherewithal to continue efforts on both of those fronts simultaneously.

       Q Andrei Sitov from Tass. To stay on the same subject of the tape, whoever it is -- and many experts apparently believe that it is in bin Laden's voice -- said that -- basically congratulated the perpetrators of the Bali atrocity, of the Moscow atrocity, all of that. It seems to reinforce the Moscow position that Chechnya is a part of a global jihad, if you will. First off, do you accept that view now? And, second of all, what are you prepared to do about it, about accepting and recognizing that the Chechens, or at least some factions of the Chechens, are terrorists?

       MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think that -- a couple of things. One, in terms of the tape, you rightly point out that the person on that tape cites a number of different terrorist incidents, and makes threats against many countries around the world, in essence threatening the world. And regardless of whose voice it is on the tape, we take that seriously, and we are going to continue working with the global coalition to fight terror on that front.

       In terms of Chechnya, our position on that is well known, and is unchanged. We recognize that there are some elements of al Qaeda and terrorist networks that have -- that have somehow used Chechen territory or Chechen causes perhaps a mask to further their own goals. And we have made quite clear that there is no national aspiration, no political cause that justifies the use of terrorism.

       That said, we believe that there is only one way to finally resolve the issue with Chechnya and the Chechens, and that is through political dialogue and a political settlement. So I think you have to separate out those people, those terrorists, those outside terrorist groups as well -- those are two different subsets -- from the rest of the population. I don't think you can -- we certainly would not agree with any assertion that says that, you know. all Chechens are terrorists. We think that their terror -- are -- there are some there who want to use terror for political ends, and there are some who are involved, we believe still, in global terrorist networks, and we are going to do everything we can to work with the Russian government to ensure that those involved in terrorist networks -- we root out those involved with, for example, al Qaeda, and we will do everything we can to cooperate in that regard.

       But, again, we believe that the only final solution, the only solution for the situation in Chechnya, is a political solution.

       Q There are two questions -- (inaudible) -- Daily Times, Lahore, Pakistan. One, I wonder if you may have a reaction to the imminent formation in Islamabad which will contain the MMA, which is the grouping of extreme right-wing religious party. One.

       Two, my second question relates to North Korea. This story keeps coming up about Pakistan helping North Korea with the enrichment of uranium. Are you prepared -- are you in a position to go beyond what the secretary of State said on the 26th of October, in view of the story in the Washington Post today? Thank you.

       MR. MCCORMACK: You stole my answer for the second part. I don't really have anything to add to what Secretary Powell said on the 26th down in Mexico. He made clear that in a conversation that he had with President Musharraf -- President Musharraf assured him that Pakistan is not engaged in any proliferation activities with North Korea. We certainly expect Pakistan to live up to that pledge.

       The issues of proliferation are of great concern for us, and we will work with all of our friends and allies around the world to ensure that these technologies, these materials, this know-how, don't fall into the wrong hands. And we've devoted a lot of effort to that issue, both with Pakistan and many countries around the world. We've mad progress on this front, but there's always more to do, and we are going to keep working at it.

       Oh, the domestic -- yeah, that's really a question of domestic politics, and we have a practice of not commenting on domestic politics -- how governments get formed, what parties may be in those governments. Suffice it to say we will continue to work with President Musharraf on issues of common interest.

       Q (Off mike) -- some of these parties were aligned very closely with al Qaeda, with the Taliban. So it really -- it's not entirely domestic in that sense.

       MR. MCCORMACK: Well, again, we are going to -- I am not aware, you know, of the potential things that you are talking about, so I would -- you know, I am just not aware of those reports, or any information that suggests that. So putting that particular issue aside, I think that the only thing that we would say is we've had excellent cooperation from the government of Pakistan on the issue of fighting terrorism. We have had a number of cooperative efforts in Pakistan itself, and we expect that cooperation will continue.

       Q Ki-Yon Kuk with the Segye Times, Korea. The KEDO, Korean Energy Development Organization, board meeting will be held tomorrow in New York. What is your position on the shipment of the heavy pure oil to North Korea? Are you going to ask the other members of the KEDO to stop sending that heavy fuel oil?

       MR. MCCORMACK: I know this has been a topic of great interest in the media over the past couple of days. Yes, there is a meeting tomorrow of the KEDO executive board, and the U.S. has a seat on that board. What we have been doing and what we will continue to do, up until that meeting, and certainly after that meeting, is we are going to work with all of the other members of that board -- Japan, South Korea, the European Union, the chairmen -- on a common approach that we can take to North Korea on the issue of these oil shipments. And that is a subset of the other potential actions that we are working with our friends and allies on that we can take to ensure that North Korea gets the message that it will no longer be business as usual -- bad behavior will not be rewarded. North Korea has to understand that they must dismantle this -- their nuclear programs. When I say "programs" -- because apparently there are two -- a plutonium-base and a HEU-based -- highly-enriched uranium. There's been, you know, a lot of reporting on the HEU program. We have made it very clear, and our friends and allies in the region and around the world have made it very clear, that North Korea needs to dismantle that program. And we are going to be working with friends and allies around the world to ensure that North Korea understands that it must take that action.

       And to get back to your original question, we're -- I think at this point we are just going to -- we are going to work through diplomatic channels on this specific question of oil shipments. I am not going to comment in public at the moment as to what might the -- what the details of those conversations might be at this point.

       MODERATOR: Gentleman in the last row.

       Q Sean, (Vincent Chinn ?) with the United Daily News, Taiwan. The Chinese are now having their party -- 16th Party Congress -- and the Chinese President Jiang Zemin made some comments, and he had some statements on Taiwan, including not giving up the use of force toward Taiwan. I am just wondering if you have any comment on that?

       And, by the way, in the Crawford summit meeting, the Chinese media has said that President Bush has agreed to visit China next year. Well, I am just wondering if that's true, or does the president really plan to go to China again?

       MR. MCCORMACK: I am not aware of any plans at this point for the president to visit China next year. The vice president has, however, accepted an invitation to travel to China, I believe in the springtime. I'm sure he'll also be making other stops, should he decide to do so.

       On the Chinese comments, I have not seen them, so I would hesitate to offer any comment on comments that I have not seen.

       MODERATOR: (Off mike.)

       Q (Inaudible) -- Jiji Press, Japan. It is (important?) to Japan that North Korea -- (inaudible) -- biological or chemical weapons?.

       MR. MCCORMICK: We have long-standing concerns about North Korea's development of weapons of mass destruction. That has included a variety of different types of weapons of mass destruction. As for this particular statement, I'm not familiar with it, I'm afraid. You might check with the State Department to see if they have anything more on that.

       MODERATOR: Two more questions. (Inaudible.)

       MR. MCCORMICK: Let's go to her first. She hasn't had one yet.

       Q (Inaudible) -- Venezuela. Terrorism is also present in Latin America. And days ago -- I don't know; yesterday, maybe -- a pipeline in Colombia was a target of terroristic attack. In case of an attack to Iraq, the oil supply is very important for the United States. How reliable is the oil supply from the region to the United States? And I just want to know, there is any agreement with Venezuela to increase the oil supply to the United States?

       MR. MCCORMICK: I'm not aware of any agreements between the United States and Venezuela in that regard. A lot of people want to spin out a lot of different permutations of what may or may not happen. I'm going to resist the temptation to comment on those.

       Look, I would just make the point that we hope that there's a peaceful resolution to the situation with Iraq. We hope that there is peaceful disarmament. But, again, as President Bush has said, we will reserve the right, acting with international coalition partners, to disarm Iraq by force if necessary.

       We'll take one more question.

       Q Going back to the Iraqi letter from today, you said, "We'll see." But the fact is, the letter is on the table. Would you say that we have at least a tiny glimmer of hope? Or would you say, judging from experience, the United States remains skeptical?

       MR. MCCORMICK: Well, again, I couch my comments in terms of I have not seen the letter yet. I'm basing my comments on what I have seen in the news media quoting and what -- people have kind of given me second-hand accounts of the letter. I don't have all the details of the letter. But I've heard that there is one or two sentences in there that said they intend to welcome the inspectors in.

       A glimmer of hope -- I'll go back to my original answer, which is probably unsatisfactory, is we'll have to see. And I say that because Iraq's history is one of not complying with resolutions. Iraq's history is one of even when they say they're going to comply, not complying; to duck and weave and to obfuscate and to lie.

       So we'll see what comes of these words, see if they are followed up by actions. And by that, you know, this resolution is this regime's final opportunity to disarm. And it is a test of the will of the Iraqi regime to cooperate in the process of disarmament.

       As I said before, they'll either be disarmed peacefully or by force. But we will have, in interpreting the Iraqi actions, a zero- tolerance policy. It's very simple. They will either cooperate and disarm or they won't. And in that case, we will see what happens.

       Q One question?

       MR. MCCORMICK: Okay, one more quick one.

       Q The U.N. has voted for a resolution -- I understand it's a non-binding resolution -- calling for the United States to end its embargo against Cuba. I guess it's about the 11th time they've done this. So I assume your policy towards Cuba has not changed. So how does it square with your citing Iraqi violations of U.N. resolutions for 11 times running? And how do you select --

       MR. MCCORMICK: Let's say 16, essentially 16.

       Q -- (inaudible)?

       MR. MCCORMICK: Sixteen times running. No, this is -- as you said, this is a non-binding resolution, and certainly it's important that the world express its view and have the opportunity to express its view through the United Nations. Our policy, as you said -- you stole my answer -- is well-known and long-standing and unchanged.

       All right, thanks very much.

       Q Thank you very much.