'I Don't Need A U.N. Resolution Today'

Ari Fleischer: Let me give you a very quick rundown, just on the schedule, while we're there. And thenSecretary Powell will be happy to talk to you, take your questions.

Tonight, the President will have dinner with the Prime Minister of Great Britain at Hillsborough Castle.And tomorrow there will be a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister and the President, followed by a press conference which will take place at11:00 a.m. at Hillsborough Castle.

Following the press conference there will be a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Blair and PrimeMinister Ahern; and then there will also be a working luncheon with the Prime Minister -- both PrimeMinisters. That will be followed by an expanded trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Blair, Prime MinisterAhern and Northern Ireland leaders. And then we'll return to Washington, D.C. And with that, Secretary Powell, if you have any questions.

Colin Powell: Thank you. The only thing I might mention is that we've seen some progress in the last 12hours with respect to humanitarian supplies and support for our military coming through Turkey. So all of the backlogs that we had had andsome of the bureaucratic problems have been dealt with.

And some thousand metric tons of World Food Program supplies have crossed over from Turkey into NorthernIraq. I think you're familiar with the military situation, so I won't belabor that. And in the interest of time, I'll go right to whateverquestions you might have.

Mr. Secretary, what are we likely to see come out of this meeting tonight and tomorrow, with Mr. Blair?

Colin Powell: I think they will certainly have a good discussion about the state of the Operation IraqiFreedom and a great deal of progress has been made in recent days. I think British troops are doing very wellin the south, around Basra. And American troops are circling Baghdad, starting to probe into the city. So Ithink the campaign is going exceptionally well. It's been handled very professionally and will continue to beso. Humanitarian re-supply, I'm sure they will be talking about how to make sure that the population is takencare of, not only in the north, but in the south.

And I think they'll talk about the way forward. A lot of discussion about the role of the U.N., and I'msure that will be a subject for discussion. There isn't as much debate and disagreement about this as youmight read in the newspapers. Everybody knows from the Azore statement of a couple of weeks ago that therewill be are role for the U.N. as a partner in this process.

I've spent a good part of the weekend in conversation with Kofi Annan, and I think the Secretary Generalmay well have an announcement about that this afternoon, with respect to -- well, I'll let him make hisannouncement -- with respect to how he will participate in deliberations with the coalition.

As we said from the very beginning -- and I don't think there's any inconsistency here -- when you're in amilitary campaign such as this, when it comes to an end, the active hostilities come to an end, the militarycommander must be in charge for a period of time to stabilize the country, ensure security, make sure that themilitary -- the other side has been disarmed, find the weapons of mass destruction and make sure thathumanitarian supplies are coming in. That is his obligation as the military commander going in.

In this instance, though, we hope to quickly establish an interim authority that can show to the people ofthe world -- and especially the people of Iraq -- that it is our intention to put authority into their handsas fast as we can and as rapidly as they are able to use that authority.

And then, hopefully, the interim authority will grow -- embryonically, it starts, but it will grow into arepresentative government that will reflect the desires and aspirations and hopes of all of the people ofIraq.

Within that context, then, there is also a role for the United Nations -- initially, humanitarian -- WorldFood Program and other U.N. organizations are already there. And we'll be discussing with the Brits tonight,and we'll be discussing with other coalition partners -- and, ultimately, at the Security Council -- thenature of U.N. resolutions that would lay out what the role of the United Nations would be. And so I'm surethat the President and the Prime Minister will have a good discussion about the role of the U.N. But there'sno question the U.N. will play an important role.

What does the administration think about the British proposal that Straw put forward the other day -- theproposed resolution that Straw talked about the other day, Blair's blueprint for a U.N. role? Isn't it moreinvolved, has the U.N. more involved than the President would like? And will that be ironed out at this meeting, the small difference?

Colin Powell: We have had teams working on a resolution. And so there is no -- there aren't competingresolutions, there are points of view being brought together in a U.S. and UK group to make sure that we allhave a common view.

But the expression "more involved, less involved," really isn't appropriate. We've just startedto discuss this issue, we've just started to put down different points of view. And eventually now, it isn'tjust what the U.S.-UK think is appropriate; it's what we take into the Security Council and what the SecurityCouncil is prepared to do.

Keep in mind, the Secretary General has made it clear he does not want to have ownership of Iraq. He has nointention of the U.N. taking over full responsibility for the political future of Iraq. And I think thatthere's a way to make sure that all international organizations have an opportunity to play a role in therebuilding of Iraq after two decades of Saddam Hussein's deconstruction, or destruction of Iraq. Everybodywill have a role to play.

And as I said the other day in Brussels, the coalition, having spent the treasure, having taken thepolitical risk and having paid the cost in lives, must have a leading role as we transition from a phase ofhostilities to post-hostilities to reconstruction, to putting in place a representative government that belongto the Iraqi people.

The other responsibility that the coalition has, initially, is to protect the assets of the Iraqi people --their oil fields. It's one of the reasons the campaign was structured the way it was -- to get control and toprotect the oil fields as soon as possible. And so all of these obligations initially with the militarycommander -- the military commander being assisted by General Garner and his group, as we go in and help theministries get rid of the old Baath Party leadership, put in place responsible Iraqi leadership with theregional coordinators that we are now staffing General Garner with; and then an interim authority, growing itinto a full government, and the U.N. playing a role. And other international organizations playing a role --whether it's the World Bank, the IMF -- there is enough work for everyone to have a role. But the leading roleinitially, of course, has to be the coalition necessarily.

What is the peacekeeping force? Will it be a U.N. peacekeeping force? Will it be a coalition peacekeepingforce?

Colin Powell: We're examining what's going to be needed in the way of security or a peacekeeping force.It's not clear yet what's going to be required and when it's going to be required or where it's going to be required. It is for that reasonthat we are in discussions, not only with the U.N. but with NATO.

One of the items for discussion in Brussels last week was, is there a role for NATO. And I was very pleasedthat all of my NATO colleagues at the North Atlantic Council meeting we had, accepted the possibility thatthere may be a role for NATO organizations, NATO units to go in an peacekeeping, security or stability role,perhaps helping in the search for weapons of mass destruction infrastructure.

Now, they haven't decided that or voted upon it, but nobody rejected it as a possibility. So the messagethat we are trying to give people, and the President has been giving the message in the Azores presentation statement, and I'm sure you will hearit coming out of this message, this statement tomorrow and the conversations over the next 24 hours, is thatthe hostilities phase is coming to a conclusion. It's time for all of us to think about the post-hostilitiesphase, how we create a representative government consisting of all elements of Iraqi society -- those insidethe country now who are committed to a different kind of Iraq, an Iraq that's living in peace with itsneighbors; no weapons of mass destruction; everybody has a chance to participate in the life of the nation andthe government -- as well as those individual outside Iraq, the external opposition, who for all these yearsnever lost sight of the possibility of a free Iraq. They obviously have an important role to play in the newIraq, as w ell.

But the President is committed, as he has said, to all parts of Iraqi society being involved -- externaland inside.

You said the hostilities phase is coming to an end. Does that mean that you're relatively confident thatwe're not going to see this type of bloody, urban, door-to-door combat inside Baghdad?

Colin Powell: I've learned not to predict how a battle may or may not go. But, clearly, the campaign --which is less than three weeks old now -- has had remarkable achievements in terms of the speed with which the forces advanced, theintegration of the air battle and the land battle and the one single battle, dealing with problems as theycame along. We had a problem with rear-area security; they responded and dealt with it. They had a problem inBasra; the British surround it, take care of it, cut it off, reduce it. We'll keep focusing on Baghdad, whichis the center of mass, which is the main objective. And so what I see in this campaign, as a former Chairman,is a bold, daring campaign with a great deal of agility and flexibility displayed by the commanders and thetroops on the ground.

Has the operation come to a pause? No. It just changed its content briefly when we shifted to air power, asthe trains were being brought up, the supplies were being brought up and as the commanders shaped thebattlefield with air in order to get the land component going again. So there was never a pause. This battle has not stopped from day one. It just -- on any particular day, you may see moreof one element of combat power being applied than another element: air power, land power, information power,communications power, intelligence power. These are all part of a single campaign, a single battle plan, andit's been executed exceptionally well.

Ahmed Challabi said last night on "60 Minutes" he thinks the U.S. military should be there forpossibly two years. Is he being too pessimistic? And why?

Colin Powell: I don't know how long the U.S. military will be there. I think we'll have to see whatcircumstances exist when the hostilities phase comes to an end. Will we have truly broken the back of theregime and have they all gone? Or could we purge them quickly? So I think it's premature to make any judgmentas to how long the coalition will be there.

But as the President has said, we don't want to stay one day longer than we have to. And we don't want toleave one day earlier than we should.

To follow up on that, what's the concern about intra-ethnic tensions in the region? You talk aboutpurging the government, but you also have religious groups. You have the Kurdish minority in the north that isvery interested in its own territory. Is that realistic? Is his prediction, then, realistic, in order to makecertain that everyone sitting in his or her corner understands this is how we have to play the game?

Colin Powell: Obviously, we have given this a lot of thought -- Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, different groupswithin the Kurdish community, and a lot of tribal allegiances and alliances, as well. But we are committed tothe territorial integrity of the country. And that's another reason for us to make sure we stay there long enough so that is inculcated in the political thinking of the interimauthority.

It was one of the President's principal objectives and one of the issues he spent a lot of time thinkingabout is how to make sure that these diverse elements come together and stay together so that Iraq does notbreak into different parts. But there will be some challenges if we go down this road.

And I know that General Garner doesn't report to you directly, but why did he cancel his press conferencetoday?

Colin Powell: I don't know why he cancelled his press conference. I just don't know.

Is that a symbol of the lack of confidence that --

Colin Powell: I don't know. I wouldn't read to much into that. What he is doing is underway. We allunderstand -- read your papers today, and it will tell you who's responsible for what particular coordinationjobs. We've got a number of U.S. ambassadors in the group and more are going over to help the people who have experience who -- Arabists working with the others who are therealready. But why the press conference was canceled, I don't know.

Mr. Secretary, what's your timing on setting up the interim authority?

Colin Powell: We have to make sure we do it right. And we'll be sending people over this week to beginthe process of bringing together a group that would constitute the authority. But I'm reluctant to tell you orto speculate on how long that might take. We want to do it quickly because we want to see an interim authorityput in place early, so it can work with the military part of the coalition, with the civil administration orcivil coordination part of the coalition under General Garner. And then the U.N. working there.

We also want the interim authority to be there during all of this, because if we send regional coordinatorsin under General Garner's group and they start to see what ministries need, they start to clear away the oldBaath Party leadership and get down to bedrock, then it's at that point you want the interim authority thereto begin exercising authority over these ministries.

So these will be ministries and issues that will be handed off as quickly as possible, but in a sensibleway -- military to civil to Iraqis, with the U.N. playing a role. Of course, the U.N. has a big humanitarianrole to play, as well as, as you recall from the Azores statement, an endorsing role to play to the interimauthority to give it legitimacy.

What is this group doing this week? Specifically, what are they doing?

Colin Powell: Garner, or the other group?

The group that's going over to begin the process of bringing the interim authority --

Colin Powell: They're getting themselves organized today. I don't have their travel plans, so I can'ttalk to -- we'll make an announcement in due course.

But is it that they are starting the interim authority this week, or --

Colin Powell: No. I don't think I said that. No, what I said is -- what I said, they're going over tobegin the process, but I cannot tell you how long it will take.

Is it reasonable to predict when hostilities might be ending, or is this simply a prudent step?

Colin Powell: I would not speculate on such a matter. I would leave that to my military colleagues, andI bet they won't speculate either.

Can you tell us a little bit about the road map and Northern Ireland, as well, sir?

Colin Powell: I'm sure the Middle East peace process will be discussed. And as the President and thePrime Minister have said previously, the road map is an important element of our Middle East policy, and weare still planning to release the road map at the time that Mr. Abu Mazen gets his vote of confidence on hiscabinet and is confirmed. At that time the road map will be released.

And Northern Ireland?

Colin Powell: On Northern Ireland, I think it is very significant that the President will be meeting ona trilateral setting with Mr. Ahern and Mr. Blair, and then meeting with the principal leaders of both sides, and put our support behind theHillsborough Plan, as it is now called, looking for a breakthrough.

This is a very significant step in the life of Northern Ireland, and as you know, Mr. Blair and Mr. Ahernwill be presenting it on Thursday. And this was just a fortuitous chance for the President to engage with allof the parties and give his support to the Good Friday Agreement and this latest effort to move that agreementforward, the Hillsborough Plan. We hope that as a result of the President's commitment to it and the supporthe will show tomorrow, we can get on with the process of decommissioning and all of the other things that arecalled for in this Hillsborough Plan.

And tomorrow, can we expect to hear some resolution of the differences in what the U.N. role should be?Will Prime Minister Blair and the President come out and say, we've agreed on what role the U.N. should play, and these are the resolutionswe'd like the U.N. to pass? Is that we should expect to hear tomorrow?

Colin Powell: I'm quite sure that in tomorrow's statement you will hear something with respect to therole of the U.N. that both the Prime Minister and the President agree to. How did you like that? (Laughter.)

That sounded like a dodge. (Laughter.)

Ari Fleischer: No, it sounded like an answer.

Colin Powell: That's why they're called, joint statements.

Will it be any more specific than the agreement they reached at Camp David?