Secretary of State Colin Powell fielded questions about Iraq -- including a potential NATO role, American opinion on the war, and the continuing insurgency -- in television interviews June 27.

Powell, speaking from Turkey where he is attending the NATO conference in Istanbul, said on CBS's Face the Nation that he believes "there is a consensus in NATO" to respond favorably to Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's request for assistance in training police and security forces. He reiterated this view on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, observing that all indications are that NATO allies will vote to provide training. "We'll know tomorrow," he added.

In both interviews, the secretary was asked to respond to recent polls that indicate most Americans believe going into Iraq was a mistake. Powell responded unequivocally on Face the Nation: "[I]t wasn't a mistake. Saddam Hussein is gone ... He's not going to be filling mass graves anymore." Later, on CNN, he added, "You have to put them [the numbers] in context. The last several weeks have been difficult weeks for us."

Powell asserted on CNN that the world is a safer place after U.S. action in Iraq because the world is united in going after terrorist organizations and governments are working together "rounding up al-Qaeda."

Concerning the continuing and, by some accounts, increasing insurgency in Iraq as the country moves towards full sovereignty on June 30, Powell observed to CNN, "There are some people there who just don't want to see progress."

"Things are going to be tough for a while," he explained on Face the Nation. "Whether they get worse or not, I don't know, but it's going to be a difficult time . . . and it's going to take a while to build up Iraqi police forces and the Iraqi military again. You just don't do that overnight," Powell said.

The secretary also commented on the apparent evolution of the insurgency from "an occasional roadside bomb" to "a higher level of coordination," but cautioned against the assumption that "everything that is happening in Iraq from the insurgency side is all part of one organization." Powell explained on Face the Nation that, even though "we're seeing a higher level of command and control," that is not necessarily an indication of one organization or coordinated action among several organizations.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
June 27, 2004

2004/718
INTERVIEW
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
On CBS Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer and Doyle McManus

June 27, 2004
Ankara, Turkey

(10:30 a.m. EDT)

MR. SCHIEFFER:  And good morning again.  We are joined this morning by the Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in Ankara, Turkey on the eve of the NATO summit.  We are also joined by Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times, who will join in the questioning.

Mr. Secretary, good morning.

SECRETARY POWELL:  Good morning.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Mr. Secretary, let me begin with this.  NATO seems prepared to train Iraqi security forces, but has not said that it is interested in sending troops to help with security.  Does this mean the United States is going to have to send more troops to Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL:  I don't believe that is the case.  We are always examining our troop level there to see if it's adequate, and I believe at the moment it's adequate.  But as the President said, he will give our commanders whatever they think they need.

I think there is a consensus within NATO to respond to what they were asked for from the new prime minister, Prime Minister Allawi.  He asked for training of security forces, police and military forces, and I think there is a growing consensus within NATO, which we will have a chance to see tomorrow, that NATO is ready to do that.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Where is the training going to be done?  Inside Iraq or outside of Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL:  That hasn't been determined and that's one of the issues we'll be discussing at the NATO summit tomorrow.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Let me ask you, General Casey, who is going to take over as the top commander in Iraq, has been saying that one of his first priorities is he's going to need 25,000 troops to protect the UN mission as it prepares for elections in Iraq.  If NATO doesn't send those troops, where are they going to come from?

SECRETARY POWELL:  I would have to see exactly what General Casey said.  I think he speculated that more troops might be necessary for securing the countryside for the election process, but I don't know that he has made a specific request or was that concrete with respect to his estimate for additional troops.  And so I would have to wait till I see Secretary Rumsfeld tomorrow in Istanbul, where the NATO summit is being held, to see what his assessment is of the additional needs and, if there are needs that we have not planned for now, how we would meet those needs.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  So, at this point, you can't rule out whether more U.S. troops will be needed or won't be needed?

SECRETARY POWELL:  I cannot rule it out or rule it in.  General Casey was saying that he would make an assessment, see what's needed, and if he needs more he would ask for more.  But to the best of my knowledge, he has not made such a request yet because he hasn't arrived in theater yet to make the assessment that he described.

MR. MCMANUS:  Mr. Secretary, one of the issues that's been bedeviling the Administration is the question of whether American forces can use torture or extreme methods in interrogations, whether that was going on at the Abu Ghraib prison.  Now, you've already taken a couple of diplomatic hits on that score.  You wanted a waiver at the UN for American troops and didn't get it.  The President had to sit and listen to European leaders, in effect, lecture him on the Geneva Convention.

Is that a problem when you meet with your European counterparts and is that a problem when you ask other NATO members to contribute troops to Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Abu Ghraib was a big hit.  There's no question about it. The President said so.  I have said so.  It's also absolutely clear that the President never, in any way, condoned the use of torture.  And I think what we're doing now is examining this entire matter from the ground up to see if instructions were not followed, to see where accountability should lie for what happened at Abu Ghraib.  What those soldiers did was unacceptable.  Why they did it will be the source of investigations and some of them are being court martialed now.

In my conversations with my European friends or other friends around the world, what I say to them is that we are devastated by what we saw at Abu Ghraib, but now watch what a democracy does when it has a problem like this.  How we use our laws to get to the bottom of this.  How we have a free media, how we have a Congress that is providing oversight to make sure that those responsible are brought to justice and held accountable.

With respect to the resolution at the UN earlier this week, we would have preferred to see a rollover for another year, but, frankly, Abu Ghraib made it difficult for some of the Security Council members to vote positively on that.  So we thought it would be better not to have a vote at all.

MR. MCMANUS:  And is the shadow of that issue one of the reasons that you've been getting pushback when you ask for more contributions to the troop strength in Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL:  No.  No, not really.  The pushback we're getting is the resistance that we've previously received.  Abu Ghraib didn't make it any harder or easier.  Keep in mind that there are some 16 NATO nations of the 26 nations in NATO that are involved in Iraq, and none of those nations stepped away and said they would leave Iraq either because of the increased violence as a result of the insurgency or Abu Ghraib.  They are all standing firm.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Mr. Secretary, The Washington Post says this morning that the CIA has suspended use of the unusual interrogation techniques like making people think they're going to be drowned and so forth.  We learned from that story that this memo that went out that the White House has now disavowed, saying that certain torture methods were okay, it apparently was vetted by the White House counsel, by people at the NSC, by Vice President Cheney's office.

I'm just wondering, did you ever see that memo?

SECRETARY POWELL:  If this is the Justice Department memo you're referring to --

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Yes.

SECRETARY POWELL:  -- the 50-page memo.  No, I did not see it.  I think it was internal to the Justice Department and parts of the White House, but it was not distributed interagency for comment.  Our position on these issues is well known and is the subject of memos that we provided to the Justice Department and to the White House.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Mr. Secretary, this week, as you well know, polls show that for the first time a majority of the American people think that going into Iraq was a mistake.  Do you believe the public is losing support for this effort, and what do you say to people now as we near this handover date when we turn it over to the Iraqis?

SECRETARY POWELL:  The first thing I'd say is it wasn't a mistake.  Saddam Hussein is gone.  We don't have to debate any longer as to whether or not there are or will be or were weapons of mass destruction.  They are gone.  He's gone.  It's not going to happen again.  He's not going to fill torture rooms.  He's not going to fill mass graves.

And the Iraqi people now have the opportunity to build a new society with a new political system resting on a foundation of democracy and freedom.  And they are about to have their own leaders back in charge.  Leaders who have already demonstrated a great deal of courage and a commitment to putting in place the kind of country that we want to see, one that rests of the rule of law.  And Prime Minister Allawi has made it clear that he and his government will take all steps necessary to defeat this insurgency.  What we have to do is make sure that we give them our solid support.

The polls you're making reference to are -- the polls you're making reference to reflect an unease that's come about in recent weeks because of the strong insurgency that we have been seeing.  But we knew we would see this kind activity as we got close to the changeover date.  And we'll probably see it after the changeover date for a while until people realize that these insurgents are not attacking Americans any longer; they're now attacking their own government, they're attacking their own people.  Most of the people being killed and injured by these bombs are innocent Iraqis, or Iraqi police who are trying to protect the Iraqi people.  And I hope that when they see that they're attacking their own future, attacking their own government, the Iraqi people will start to respond accordingly and do everything they can to help their government defeat this insurgency.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Mr. Secretary, can I just pick up on one thing you said there?  You said Saddam is gone and the weapons of mass destruction are gone.  Are you convinced there are no longer any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, if there ever were?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, we have not found any stockpiles.  We thought there were stockpiles there.  We have not found those stockpiles.  What we also knew was there, and there's no question about this, was an intention on the part of Saddam Hussein and his government to have such weapons.  They had them in the past and they maintained the capability to have them again in the future with dual-use facilities, with the infrastructure needed.  And I am absolutely convinced that if the international community had not acted, if the UN had simply just walked away and nobody acted, and they got rid of the sanctions they were under, then with Saddam Hussein still there and with that capability still there, we might well have seen stockpiles.  But we have not found stockpiles yet.  And I'm quite confident that this new government will in no way have such an intention and will in no way keep that kind of capability or want that kind of capability.

MR. MCMANUS:  Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the increase in attacks from the insurgents in Iraq and your deputy, Richard Armitage, told Congress last week that the insurgents seem to be better coordinated and even more effective than before.  We've heard military experts say that part of the problem in the short term is that the insurgents seem to be getting better faster than the new Iraqi security forces are getting better.  Do you share that assessment, and should the American people, in effect, expect things to get worse for a while before they turn the corner and start to get better?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Things are going to be tough for a while.  Whether they get worse or not, I don't know, but it's going to be a difficult time, Doyle, and it's going to take a while to build up Iraqi police forces and the Iraqi military again.  You just don't do it overnight.  And as you look at the insurgency and what it's been doing in recent weeks, as Secretary Armitage says, there does seem to be a level of coordination, a level of command and control within the insurgency that we have to target and go after.  We've got to get inside that command and control system, we've got to get inside their decision cycle, in order for us to be more effective in putting that insurgency down and in order for the Iraqis to be more effective in putting down the insurgency.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  When did we come to the conclusion that there is a central command authority for these people?  Because for so long when this violence was going on we were told this was just an uncoordinated group of thugs and terrorists at work.  Now, Secretary Armitage says that was a mistake.  When did we come to the conclusion that it was a coordinated thing that's going on there, Mr. Secretary?

SECRETARY POWELL:  I don't think that Secretary Armitage said it was a mistake.  I think that earlier we did not see the kind of coordination that we're seeing now where the attacks are larger.  You know, earlier it was just an occasional roadside bomb or a regular roadside bomb. But now we're seeing a higher level of coordination.  So that means that they have been spending time getting themselves organized and it just changes the nature of the enemy.  We've got to go after it.

I don't want to leave the impression, however, that everything that is happening in Iraq from the insurgent side is all part of one organization.  Part of it is related to the Zarqawi organization.  There may be other organizations.  Whether they are all linked together or not remains to be seen.  I wouldn't go that far.  But certainly we're seeing a level of command and control and a level of coordination that, it seems to me, is a little bit different than what we were seeing some months ago.

MR. SCHIEFFER:  Mr. Secretary, I know you have to catch a motorcade.  Thank you for joining us.

All right, the Secretary of State.  And I think that I misspoke myself at the beginning of the interview.  I said that General Casey, the new commander who is headed to Iraq, wants 25,000 more troops to protect the UN mission there.  I believe what he told Congress was he's looking for a brigade, about 5,000 troops.  Others in Central Command say it may take five times that many, 25,000.

[end CBS interview]

[begin CNN interview]

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
June 27, 2004
2004/719
INTERVIEW

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
On CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer

June 27, 2004
Ankara, Turkey

(12:05 p.m. EDT)

MR. BLITZER:  Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Late Edition.  Thanks very much for joining us.  You're in Turkey right now.  Three Turkish citizens are being held prisoner by, apparently, by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Iraqi terrorist.  What do you say to the Turkish Government that clearly is concerned about what's going on in Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, the President just met with Prime Minister Erdogan and obviously this came up.  And we assured the Prime Minister that we were doing everything we could to secure their safe release.  Once again, this shows that we're dealing with a terrible terrorist organization led by Mr. al-Zarqawi that doesn't care about human life, and that does not care about the Iraqi people.

The Iraqi people just want to be left in peace so that later this week they can see the full transfer of sovereignty and be responsible for their own destiny.  And Mr. Zarqawi and other evil terrorists such as him are trying to keep that from happening.  And they're taking innocent Turkish civilians, in this case, as a way to make their case.  And they will not succeed.  We cannot yield to this kind of terrorism.  And our heart goes out to the families of these individuals and we hope it will be possible to rescue them, but it's a dangerous situation.

MR. BLITZER:  It looks like these operations, these insurgent or terrorist operations in Iraq right now, are becoming increasingly better coordinated.  Do you get that sense?

SECRETARY POWELL:  There certainly is a level of coordination, in my judgment, and hopefully we can penetrate whatever system is operating there, whatever command and control system is at work.  Nevertheless, we expected that we would see this increased -- an increase in terrorist and insurgent activity as we got closer to the 1st of the month and the changeover.  And it might continue for a period after that.  But I know that our military are hard at work and we're building up the Iraqi security forces as fast as we can.

What's impressive is that the new leadership, President Sheikh Ghazi and Prime Minister Allawi, are not shrinking back from the challenge.  In fact, they are speaking out with strength and forcefulness and determination not to let these bandits and terrorists keep them from the goal of putting in place a stable government for the people of Iraq, a government that will rest on a solid foundation of democracy and freedom.

MR. BLITZER:  Prime Minister Allawi is now suggesting perhaps that elections be delayed, scheduled for next January, as you well know, because of the security situation.  Is that a good idea?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, I think it's too early to determine whether that's necessary or a good idea.  I think he was speculating on the possibility that if they don't get the security situation under adequate control it might be hard to have the elections at that time.  But those are the dates we're still shooting for, the dates that the UN resolution is based on, but we'll certainly be discussing this with the Prime Minister as we move along.

MR. BLITZER:  What about martial law being imposed in Iraq, as some top Iraqi leaders are now suggesting may be necessary?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, there were some rumors and some reports earlier this week that that might be under consideration, but I think the Prime Minister dampened down that reporting.  He had suggested it in an aside, but I think that's been dampened down.

Obviously, any government has to consider what emergency powers they have and might be needed at a particular point in time, but I'm not aware of any movement right now to move to some state of marital law or anything like martial law.

MR. BLITZER:  Do you expect the NATO Allies, Mr. Secretary, to go ahead and approve the request by the Iraqi government, Prime Minister Allawi, to at least start training Iraqi security forces?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, we'll certainly know tomorrow when NATO meets, but every indication I have now is that NATO is coming together to say that they would be willing to provide police and military training to Iraqi forces.  Exactly how that would be done, where it would be done, all of that remains to be determined.  But I think the Alliance is coming together on that issue.

MR. BLITZER:  Is France still holding out for something, as far as you know?

SECRETARY POWELL:  On this issue, I don't know.  When I get to Istanbul this evening and have a chance to meet with Ambassador Burns and my other foreign minister colleagues, we'll have a better understanding of that.  But right now, I sense a consensus is developing to respond in a positive way to Mr. Allawi's request.

MR. BLITZER:  For the first time in our CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that came out this past week, a majority of Americans now believe going to war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq was a mistake.  54 percent say it was a mistake sending troops to Iraq, 44 percent say it wasn't a mistake.  This is about the opposite of what occurred only two weeks earlier in polling.

How concerned are you that at least a big chunk of the American public now is thinking you made a mistake?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, of course, we are concerned with numbers like that, but you have to put them in context.  The last several weeks have been difficult weeks for us.  We've seen a number of bombings.  We've seen these insurgents and terrorists try to stop a peaceful changeover that will take place in a few days time.  And when you see these scenes day after day on your television set, it will affect the attitudes of the American people.

I hope that as the Iraqi government takes over, the American people see that they are taking over and they now have sovereignty and they are now in charge of their country and moving their country in the right way, and as the security situation gets under control, and as the American people see that we are going to have elections and those elections will bring in a representative government, I think in due course they will see that we have made the right decision and what we are doing is noble work, and those numbers will change.

The President says the world is safer now as a result of what has happened in Iraq.  Listen precisely to what he said this week:

"I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place.  I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world."

Yet, in our CNN/USA Today poll this past week, we asked, "Did the war with Iraq make the U.S. safer from terrorism?"  Only 37 percent said yes, 55 percent said no.  This is almost a complete flip-flop, 180 degrees the exact opposite answers back in December, the last time we asked this same question.

I'll ask you:  Why is the world safer today than it was before the war in Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Because we increasingly are rounding up al-Qaida leaders.  We find that the Saudis have been able to kill some recently, some dealt with in Algeria.  Other places they're on the run, the remaining elements of al-Qaida in Afghanistan.  And so we have taken out a lot of the leadership structure of al-Qaida and we have the whole world unified going after these terrorist organizations.

That doesn't mean that the problem is solved, and terrorist organizations are responding as they come under assault.  The United States, fortunately, has not seen anything like the terrorist attacks of 2001.  And so terrorism is a real and present danger, but I think that we have made inroads against this terrorist threat and I think that's what the President was clearly referring to.

MR. BLITZER:  There is a top CIA official, a counterterrorism official, who has written a book going only by the name "Anonymous."  Among other things, he says this:

"U.S. leaders refused to accept the obvious: We are fighting a worldwide Islamic insurgency, not criminality or terrorism, and our policy and procedures have failed to make more than a modest dent in enemy forces."

I assume you know who this CIA counterterrorism analyst is, but do you agree with him?

SECRETARY POWELL:  I don't know who he is.  I haven't read his book.  I think what we are seeing are an insurgency in Iraq and terrorist activities elsewhere in the world.  I think what we are also seeing is that the world is coming together in a clear understanding that we have to deal with these kinds of terrorist organizations and not just write it all off to Muslim extremism.

There are some people here who just don't want to see progress.  They are not acting in the name of Islam.  They are working against Islam.  They are violating the basic tenets of Islam.  And what we have to do is to continue to bring the world together in this effort to defeat this kind of thinking and to defeat these individuals.  But I don't know who "Anonymous" is and can't really comment on his book because I haven't read it.

MR. BLITZER:  A couple of technical questions on the June 30th handover.  Will U.S. troops in Iraq -- serving in Iraq -- be immune from any Iraqi laws?  In other words, will they only be subject to U.S. military considerations?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, there is an order that is being worked out between the new Iraqi interim government and Ambassador Bremer during the next several days, Number 17 as it's called, which will grant those kinds of immunities.  It's anticipated that such immunities were going to be required.  The UN resolution and the letters that I exchanged with the Iraqi Prime Minister anticipated that this will be required.  And it would cover from now until an elected government comes in place, and then we can work out the normal arrangements of the SOFAs and other agreements of the kind that we have with most nations around the world.

I don't know whether or not Ambassador Bremer has finished his work on this with the interim government designate and whether it's ready to be issued or not.

MR. BLITZER:  One final question.  Saddam Hussein -- when do you hand him over to the Iraqis?

SECRETARY POWELL:  Well, that's also being worked out, but handover has two aspects to it.  There is the legal transfer of who has legal authority and responsibility for him and then there is physical custody, who can best protect him but also best keep him from escaping.  And all those items are being worked out.  I would expect that legal custody would be handed over shortly, but physical custody would remain in our hands for the foreseeable future.

MR. BLITZER:  Mr. Secretary, good luck to you, good luck on the NATO summit and especially good luck when you head to Sudan in the coming days.

SECRETARY POWELL:  Thank you very much, Wolf.