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America At War:
The United States and the World
With Philip Reeker
Deputy Spokesman of the Department of State
Friday, Nov. 2, 2001; 3:30 p.m. EST
What's going on in the news? Gov. Davis issues an alert for California bridges, the U.S. is intensifying bombing against the Taliban, and top public health officials warn that the anthrax attacks are still escalating. Currently, the United States and Russia are planning a deal that would allow extensive testing to develop a missile defense system.
Philip Reeker will brief readers of washingtonpost.com on the latest news from the State Department just as he briefs reporters in Washington on a regular basis. He will present and explain the U.S. government's position on the latest developments regarding Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, bioterrorism and the U.S. military strikes on Afghanistan.
Reeker, deputy spokesman since May 2000, oversees the Offices of Press Relations, Regional Media Outreach, and Foreign Press Centers in the State Department. He joined the Foreign Service with the U.S. Information Agency in March 1992, serving in Budapest, Hungary and then Skopje, Macedonia.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Philip Reeker: Hello everyone,
I am glad to be back on Washingtonpost.com. It's a nice way to end the regular work week!
Recently, as I am sure you are aware, the State Department has had an anthrax scare. One of our colleauges who works at our Sterling, VA mail facility was hospitalized last week. I am pleased to report that the employee is improving. Management, security and medical officials are working closely with the Centers for Disease Control to ensure that employees are safe. We are testing rooms in our buildings, providing antibiotics to employees that may have been exposed, and giving special instructions to employees that handle bulk mail. Secretary of State Powell held a special Town Hall meeting on this issue, and there have been several Q&A sessions during the week, open to all employees.
I mentioned in my last briefing that I would be speaking at another "Town Hall Meeting" this month, in Orlando, Florida. Let me take a moment to say a few words about it:
The U.S. Department of State, and the International Council of Central Florida Student Association will hold a Town Meeting on International Security Issues on Thursday, November 8, 2001. This event is one of a series of Town Meetings organized by the State Department to increase public understanding of current foreign policy issues. Town Meetings encourage public participation in the policy process and provide an opportunity to exchange views with State Department officials.
The Town Meeting will be held at the Sheraton Orlando North Hotel, 600 North lake Destiny Drive, Maitland, Florida – 6:00 – 9:15 p.m. Registration begins at 6:00 p.m.
Nancy Carter-Foster, Senior Advisor for Health Affairs, will speak on HIV/AIDS at 7pm, and I will be speaking on the global coalition against terrorism at 8:15pm.
For additional information please check out the website, which is www.state.gov/r/pa/pil/index.cfm?id=4371).
I would also like to take a moment to point out that we have a new listserve available. It is a new email service that brings statements, transcripts and fact sheets issued by the State Department regarding the international initiative to fight terrorism, and it is available via on-line subscription. To subscribe to DOSCOALITION (or any of the Department of State e-mail services), register on-line at http://www.state.gov/www/listservs_cms.html
With that, let me get to answering some of your questions.
Alexandria, Va.:
I see a lot of Islamic people in Pakistan, South Africa and the Palestinian areas marching around under pictures of Osama bin Laden.
Is the average pro-Osama peasant simply too ignorant and brainwashed to reason with?
Philip Reeker: I see those pictures on television, too. I think it's important to remember that those people are a relatively small number (we don't get pictures of all those people who aren't protesting or marching). Governments from all over the regions you mention are fully supportive of our effort to fight terrorism. It's important to remember that Osama bin Laden killed many Muslims, too, in the attacks on September 11. Bin Ladin doesn't represent Islam, as many Islamic scholars and leaders have noted. He's a cave-dwelling murderer who has no religion--no one who calls for the killing of innocent civilians can claim to have religion. Our efforts to reach out to Arab and Muslim audiences throughout the world are ongoing--it is an important challenge that we are working on. While this has been part of our efforts at the State Department for years, I think we are realizing that misperceptions of America overseas must be acknowledged, and it is part of the role of the State Department to make sure that accurate information is available and understood about America and our values.
Fort Worth, Texas:
Regarding Mr. Bush's hard line stand on the need for a missle defense system, do you think that Mr. Putin would be so opposed to it if the US offered to do it as a joint effort in which both countries would receive the systems? (This, of course, assumes that both countries believe that we are now needing this to protect against rogue states and terrorists.)
Philip Reeker: Your suggestion is duly noted! However, the best way I can answer this is by saying that this issue is being worked on, and leave it at that.
Secretary Powell had discussions yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov. They talked about strategic stability issues, strategic framework issues, as well as many others. Conversations with the Russians will continue.
Secretary Rumsfeld and Under Secretary of State Bolton departed today for Moscow for more discussions on the issue. As Secretary Powell said, he expects to see Foreign Minister Ivanov at the United Nations in New York a week from now.
Then President Bush and President Putin will meet again, at the summit in Crawford, Texas. So there is a lot of activity on this issue. We have a great opportunity to work closely with Russia on many issues, including the fight against terrorism.
Warwick, N.Y.:
As a veteran of World War II , we learned a hard lesson
at Mount Casino that heavy bombing could not in itself
take an objective. Today's military leaders should
read the history of World War II, Korea and Vietnam
to realize the only way to take ground is with troops
on the ground. Why are they fearful of facing the truth
in the start of this war?
Philip Reeker: Particularly with November 11 coming up soon, let me take this opportunity to salute you and all American veterans (my Grandfather landed at Anzio and Salerno during World War II, and I remember his stories vividly).
Let’s remember, we were attacked less than 8 weeks ago, and have been taking military action for less than 4 weeks. I have to leave the military operations and planning to the Pentagon and to the President. Our forces have done a lot to eliminate Taliban air defenses and to take out Bin Ladin's terrorist training camps. But I think it's important to remember that we are waging this campaign using many tools -- financial (cutting off funding, closing accounts and seizing assets of terrorist groups), law enforcement (arrests have been made in some 25 countries), intelligence and information sharing, as well as focused military action. As the President has said, we will be patient in our resolve and persistent as we root out and chop up Al Qaida and other terrorists and those who harbor them. Thank you, sir, for your support.
Staten Island, N.Y.:
How can our government keep our information systems safe from furture terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or hacker attacks?
Philip Reeker: The Department of State has been actively pursing critical infrastructure protection and contingency planning for some time. That said, we endeavor to constantly improve our programs and to learn from experiences such as the bombings in East Africa and the events of Sept 11th.
My information resource colleagues tell me that information technology contingency planning at the Department of State is designed to mitigate the impact of localized and broader events such as natural disasters, terrorists attacks, and cyber terrorism on our ability to accomplish our mission, overseas and domestically. Obviously we wouldn't want to get into details, but the Department devotes a significant amount of resources and number of personnel to the protection of our information technology systems through information security programs.
Annandale, Va.:
Although I applaud the sentiment behind the food drops in Afghanistan, it appears to me that, in practice, this operation has given further ammunition to those who call us arrogant. I don't think it takes much common sense to understand that food we take for granted in the United States -- such as Poptarts and peanut butter -- are culturally and metabolically inappropriate for the vast majority of Afghan people. Are we doing any better in this regard?
Philip Reeker: The food we are sending into Afghanistan has been specially prepared for its nutritional value. It is vegetarian, and I expect it is quite welcome to those who are starving. The military has already dropped over 1.2 million "humanitarian daily rations" into Afghanistan (the fact that we took out Taliban air defenses has made this possible). That is only a very small part of the food we are sending in. Trucks are taking in food, and already there has been enough food delivered to feed 2 million people for one month. The United States of America has been the single largest donor of food aid to Afghanistan for a decade -- long before September 11. We have no quarrel with the Afghan people. They have suffered under 2 decades of civil war, draught, and the oppressive, illegitimate, terrorist-harboring Taliban. It is part of our values to send food to people that are starving and President Bush has pledged an additional $320 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan.
Washington, D.C.:
One day Pakistani President Musharraf says he wants bombing of Afghanistan to halt during Ramadan. The next day, he says he won't push President Bush on this and more or less admits bombing should continue as long as needed. What made him change his mind?
Philip Reeker: Let me just note what our Ambassador to Pakistan, Wendy Chamberlin, said about this exact question on Tuesday, on NBC's "Today" show (thanks, Katie Couric!) Amb. Chamberlin said,
“I think that's a bit of a misinterpretation of what [President Musharraf] was saying. He is absolutely totally in support of our effort. He renewed this support just [Monday], when I met him, when General Tommy Franks, the CENTCOM commander was visiting us, and we spent several hours with President Musharraf. There is no daylight between our position and the Pakistani Government's position.
“He does express a hope that the bombing could end soon. I don't think that there's a person on earth that doesn't agree that this thing should end as quickly as possible. But President Musharraf, President Bush, myself, everyone else hopes that we can achieve our objectives and achieve them very quickly, because after all, only in achieving those objectives are we going to have a world that's -- our citizens of the world are all safer from the threats that are emanating out of the al-Qaida organization in Afghanistan.” (thanks, Amb. Chamberlin)
In terms of the upcoming Ramadan holiday, let me point out that Prime Minister Ecevit of Turkey said yesterday that “Terrorism does not have a Ramadan.”
Secretary Powell has noted, you can’t say on a certain day in November because a religious period has begun, we’re going to stop all of our military activity if there is military activity that has to be done to accomplish the mission. But, at the same time, we are going to be sensitive to the fact that it is a very important period for Muslims throughout the world. In our planning, will be sensitive to that, but we won’t let that sensitivity stop us from doing what we might need to do to accomplish the mission.
Washington, D.C.:
How much cooperation is the U.S. getting from Saudi Arabia in investigating the alleged hijackers and other Saudi nationals with ties to Osama bin Laden? Is the U.S. pursuing evidence that links money from members of the Saudi royal family to al Qaeda?
Philip Reeker: President Bush and Secretary Powell have repeated numerous times we are very satisfied with Saudi cooperation. Saudi Arabia is with us in the campaign against terrorism -- Bin Ladin has made clear he threatens them too. The requests we have put to them have been responded to. Since September 11 Saudi Arabia has broken diplomatic relations with the Taliban. We've made it a policy to let individual countries speak for themselves on steps they have taken. In the weeks and months ahead we will have other requests to put to the Saudis, and they have indicated full cooperation with us. Remember, there are many contributions countries can make to our efforts -- intelligence and information sharing, as well as financial and law enforcement cooperation. As President Bush has said from the beginning, many aspects, by their very nature, may never come to light. But we are confident Saudi Arabia will be forthcoming.
Navy Yard:
While I agree with our government's calls for Sharon to withdraw his forces, I am puzzled by our failure to equally insist that Arafat arrest the assasins and reign in the terrorist operating in his territory. If the US has asked Arafat to do this, they have either not been very public about it, or it has not been widely reported. Why the double standard?
Philip Reeker: There is no double standard. Every day we call upon Chairman Arafat to arrest and bring to justice those responsible for the death of the Israeli Tourism Minister. And I will do it again today, from here: Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must act now to carry out their responsibilities and move immediately to find, arrest, and bring to justice all those responsible for--and bring an immediate cessation of--terrorist actions and violence against Israelis. BOTH SIDES must do all they can to reduce the violence and restore calm. Only that will allow them to make progress toward real security. We have been very public in making these statements. If you are not finding our full statements in the press, then I encourage you to read our daily briefings from our website directly.
Fairfax, Va.:
Mr. Reeker, thank you for taking time to answer the public's questions during these uncertain times.
I have two questions. First, How would you rate the morale of the Department in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax scares?
Second, has the Department's new hiring initiative, spearheaded by Secretary Powell, been adversely by the attacks? Is the money still there to hire the projected number of Foreign Service personnel in 2002?
Philip Reeker: Thanks for thinking of us. I speak for all of my colleagues, of course, but personally I believe that morale remains very high at the State Department. You're right that these are uncertain times, but we are working harder than ever and we are focused on our contributions in the campaign against terrorism. What we are doing, under Secretary Powell's leadership, really matters -- and I think the American people are taking note of the importance of diplomacy and foreign policy. As for the campaign to atttract new officers, a record number of people took the Foreign Service Exam on September 29 -- even after the 9/11 attacks. We are committed to hiring the projected number and Secretary Powell and the President have worked closely with Congress to make sure we have the funding we need. There are so many issues we are dealing with -- and we are not going to let terrorists hijack our foreign policy!
New York, N.Y.:
I understand that the State Department used to be in charge of intelligence, until the CIA took that away when they were formed.
Just out of curiosity, how would things be different if the State Department had been in control of intelligence for the last 50 years? Also, any CIA-State Department rivalry that you know of?
Thank you, this is very interesting.
Philip Reeker: Let me just say that we work very closely with our colleagues in the Intelligence Community -- I speak with my counterparts (spokespeople) at the CIA every day. I haven't felt any rivalry, although perhaps they are jealous of my Washingtonpost.Com opportunities! I guess I have to leave your question to historians and analysts.
Buffalo, N.Y.:
I understand that mail service to our diplomatic missions abroad has been suspended. Does this mean diplomats aren't receiving any of their personal mail? When do you expect mail service to resume?
Philip Reeker: Yes, our diplomatic pouch mail service has been suspended while we check mail rooms; all of our bulk mail handlers are being given antibiotics. It does mean that many of my colleagues overseas are not receiving personal mail; although those that receive mail directly through the international mail system may be receiving things. We are hopeful the mail service can resume as soon as possible.
Takoma Park, Md.:
Hello Philip,
With the shift of U.S. attention to Central Asia in the aftermath of September 11, how will this affect US policy in the Balkans be affected? For example, what are the latest developments coming from Skopje, Macedonia?
Heather
Philip Reeker: Hello, Heather in Takoma Park! (OK, everyone, I think this is someone I know!)
As I mentioned earlier, while our campaign against terrorism is clearly the focus of most of our attention -- we have been attacked and are acting in self-defense agains terrorism -- we will not let terrorists hijack the rest of our foreign policy. It's all important to our security, prosperity, and indeed, our values.
We continue to follow closely developments in Macedonia. The Parliament moved forward this week with work on the constitutional amendments called for in the political framework agreement. I don't believe the Parliament met today, but we urge the political party leaders and other members of parliament to show some real leadership and resume their work on Monday. For Macedonia to move forward, it's important to bring this rapidly to a positive conclusion. The coordinated return of multiethnic Macedonian security forces to five villages (a pilot project) is continuing smoothly. Our Ambassador, Michael Einik, and his team have done a tremendous job. The U.S. remains committed to the Balkans and to Macedonia.
Philip Reeker: Well, once again, out of time -- leaving a lot of great questions. A number of people asked about the terrorist threats in California. I'm afraid that's not a subject I have any additional information on; we at the State Department deal with issues overseas. But we also work closely with our colleagues in the law enforcement community, at the White House, and in the Office of Homeland Security. We all have to be vigilant in these times. The Government is trying as hard as possible to make information available as we are able. We will continue to fight the campaign against terrorism until we regain the security we felt before September 11. I wish everyone a good weekend. PTR
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