BRIEFING BY RICHARD BOUCHER
SPOKESPERSON

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

February 3, 2003

Excerpts

MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here. I don't have any statements or announcements, so I'd be glad to take your questions.

Mr. Schweid.

QUESTION: If I can check a minor technical point with you. In the Secretary's Wall Street Journal article, he refers to smuggling, without using that word -- you know, Iraq bringing in stuff -- through last month. Do you think he meant January or December, because it's already February?

MR. BOUCHER: I think it was last month when it was drafted, that the inspectors, if I remember correctly, Dr. Blix had said last month. But it meant December, and we just picked that up.

QUESTION: And another thing, Iraq-related maybe, I don't know. But we're getting reports from Kuwait that all communications, I think all communications, are out -- phones, Internet, everything. Is this anything that --

MR. BOUCHER: As far as I know, it's just a communications problem in Kuwait and not anything bigger than that.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you.

QUESTION: Well, is there something to that? And one would wonder how Barry had heard about it if, in fact, communications were cut off. (Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: Maybe he tried to call and nobody was there to tell him.

QUESTION: Is it an embassy-specific problem?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I think it's broader than that. You'll have to check with AT&T or the Kuwaiti equivalent of that to find out what's going on with communications there.

QUESTION: The United States has Polish diplomats representing it in Baghdad. Can you tell us whether you have asked them to withdraw from Baghdad?

MR. BOUCHER: Any questions about the status of Polish diplomats in Baghdad really need to be directed to the Polish Government. I would say that we deeply appreciate the efforts that they have been making and continue to make on behalf of the United States under the difficult circumstances in Baghdad. And I would point out to you the President said he still hopes for a peaceful solution to the differences with Iraq, still hopes for Iraqi compliance.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that? Do you mean that you haven't given the Polish Government any advice about whether they should stay, go, come, go?

MR. BOUCHER: We are always in very close touch with our Polish friends and colleagues regarding all the issues that might affect their personnel there, but any questions about the status of their personnel need to be directed to the Polish Government.

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QUESTION: In this case though, you have not asked Poland to no longer be your protecting power in Iraq, have you?

MR. BOUCHER: No, we have not.

Elise.

QUESTION: A question a little bit related to the Secretary's op-ed this morning in The Wall Street Journal, that he said that there was no smoking gun. Is the administration concerned that maybe expectations are a little too high for the Secretary's presentation tomorrow and that the world is expecting some kind of, you know, "gotcha" here that will, you know, suddenly turn public opinion on its face?

MR. BOUCHER: The administration has said that we are doing this presentation in order to support the report that the inspectors have already given. We've also made clear we think the case of Iraq's failure to comply is already quite clear from the evidence from the information that the inspectors conveyed.

This will -- presentation will, we think, be compelling. It'll be a straightforward explanation of the facts and we think an explanation that will reinforce the conclusion that the inspectors have been forced to draw, the reports that the inspectors have -- the facts that the inspectors have been forced to report to the Council: that Iraq is not cooperating, Iraq is concealing evidence, Iraq is trying to preserve its weapons of mass destruction. And so I think it will go a long way to bolstering that case, to making clear the facts as we think they already are clear.

We're not trying to hype this presentation. We have, I think, made clear it's a straightforward account of what's going on that supports the conclusions and the facts that the inspectors have already put forward. The bottom of the TV screen may have other small words on it, but we didn't write those.

QUESTION: Well, Richard, when you say, though, that you think it will be compelling, do you think it will be so compelling that anybody that didn't think before that Iraq was hiding things is now automatically going to say, "Oh, yes"?

MR. BOUCHER: I think that anybody with an open mind and open ears and open eyes will see that the Iraqis are failing to comply with the UN resolution.

...

QUESTION: There are reports out today from London quoting U.S. officials as saying that there are intercepts that will be presented with actual conversations saying -- with Iraqis sort of gloating over hiding things from the inspectors and making fun of the fact that they missed things. Can you tell us yet whether those kind of things have been declassified and cleared for presentation?

MR. BOUCHER: The material that's being assembled for use by the Secretary in his presentation is still highly classified and I'm not able to talk about what it might be or what form it might take.

QUESTION: So you still haven't -- the agreement hasn't been reached on what exactly he will be allowed to include in that?

MR. BOUCHER: I didn't say anything about agreement. I said the material is still very highly classified and I'm not able to talk about it.

Sir.

QUESTION: How much are you sure of the Turkish parliament approve the U.S.-Turkish cooperation about the base and the forces, you know, the station of the U.S. forces? Because you already asked several contractors; they will start next week, I believe, is the refurbishing airports, military airports, and the ports also.

MR. BOUCHER: It's not a question for us. It's a question for the Turkish Government. We work with the Turkish Government on all these matters. We work with the Turkish Government in terms of all the aspects of our alliance and preparations on the military side. And the Turkish Government has explained to us at various moments their constitutional responsibilities towards parliament, but it's up to them to decide how to handle individual measures when they -- whether they have to go to parliament or not.

Sir.

QUESTION: Foreign Minister Papandreou is in Arab countries, in three, four Arab countries regarding the situation in Iraq. He also had a phone call with Secretary Powell yesterday. Will you give us your reaction to this trip, and also if you can share any details from the phone call?

MR. BOUCHER: Foreign Minister Papandreou talked to the Secretary on Saturday and they discussed the Minister's trip, they discussed the Israeli-Palestinian situation, obviously they discussed Iraq. No, I'm not in a position to go into any more detail than that, but they've kept in touch regularly, not only as Foreign Minister of Greece but also since he's taken over the European Union presidency. They've been in very close touch every few days, actually.

QUESTION: And your reaction to this specific initiative to go there and talk about Iraq with Arab countries?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any particular reaction. I think everybody understands the importance of Iraq complying with the UN resolution, of Iraq agreeing to disarm peacefully, and a lot of people are looking for ways of making that clear together, making that clear publicly, making that clear directly to Iraq. We think Iraq should pay heed to these calls. Iraq should listen to people in its region, to people from Europe, as well as to us, to say Iraq does have a final opportunity to resolve this peacefully by disarming peacefully, but that window is closing.

...

QUESTION: Richard, in response to an earlier question you said that anybody who listens to what the Secretary has to say on Wednesday, who has an open mind, open ears and open eyes will see the message, see the point.

Are you, in advance of his speech, questioning the intelligence of people who aren't -- who may not agree with you in the end, or are you simply saying that they are deaf and blind? (Laughter.) Or is it something else?

MR. BOUCHER: I said neither the one nor the other.

QUESTION: Well, you said that -- MR. BOUCHER: Jonathan.

QUESTION: -- anybody with an open mind, open eyes and open ears will see the point. There are going to be, very likely, people on the Security Council who do not see what the U.S. -- what the U.S. sees.

MR. BOUCHER: I wasn't referring to anybody on the Security Council, Matt.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Richard, yes, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch -- I don't know whether you've seen this -- has written to Secretary Powell seeking assurances that the evidence he presents on Wednesday will not contain material collected as a result of torture. Can you give them such an assurance?

MR. BOUCHER: I have not seen that and I don't know why the gentleman would suppose that anything we have is the result of torture.

QUESTION: Well, he was -- it was based on press accounts, recent press accounts suggesting that some of the detainees may have been mistreated.

MR. BOUCHER: I think that's a ridiculous charge for anyone to raise.

QUESTION: Can I come at sort of that subject a different way? Isn't there a risk -- I mean, maybe it's a risk the U.S. feels is worth taking -- in speaking of Iraqi scientists and other people who might want to cooperate and are being hampered, being harassed, as the Secretary said in the Journal article? Are you possibly risking making life tougher for some Iraqis by what you're going to say Wednesday?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to talk about what we're going to say Wednesday. I'm not going to talk about the sources of the information --

QUESTION: No, the principle of the disclosure.

MR. BOUCHER: I'll finish my answer.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not in a position to talk about the sources of the information, but you can be assured that as we look through what we're making public, we are looking very carefully at the sources of the information to make sure that we don't lose these sources, whether they are technical or human, and that lives are protected.

QUESTION: The Vice Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Emma Nicholson just put out a release saying that she personally presented Hans Blix with incriminating new evidence against Saddam and the Iraqi regime. This detailed evidence apparently demonstrates that Iraq has been attempting to procure material to develop WMD.

Have you seen this evidence?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I think you'd have to ask the inspectors if they have it and if they passed it on, first. The fact that Iraq is continuing to procure materials and equipment to make weapons of mass destruction is something that we have said is true and which we know to be true.

QUESTION: This presentation that the Secretary will be making tomorrow, is it solely evidence that the --

MR. BOUCHER: Wednesday.

QUESTION: Oh, I'm sorry. Wednesday. Is it solely evidence that the U.S. possesses or is this culled together from other countries and other allies?

MR. BOUCHER: Did I mention I wasn't going to talk about the information nor the sources of that information? I'm not in a position to say at this point.

QUESTION: Can you just say, have you decided -- is it decided on what the presentation is going to look like? Is it going be like a PowerPoint, or is he going to have photographs that are on easels, or what?

MR. BOUCHER: Have I mentioned I'm not going to talk about the information or the sources of information?

QUESTION: I'm not asking you what it is. I'm asking how it's going to be presented.

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to describe it. I'm not going to talk about the kind of presentation he'll make. The information is still very highly classified and I'm not in a position to discuss it at this point.

QUESTION: So what is he going to say?

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Has anybody given any of the bit players, your allies or pseudo-allies been given any advance information by the U.S. --

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: -- even in a general sense of what he is going to --

MR. BOUCHER: That's what I'm afraid of. (Laughter).

QUESTION: No, no. I just wondered if it will come as a -- I don't suppose it should come as a surprise because it follows what the inspectors have been saying. But will they hear things that they had never heard before or see things they'd never heard before? You don't want to discuss this.

MR. BOUCHER: Generally, no.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Generally, no, that these are things that they have seen before or generally that you haven't shared it?

MR. BOUCHER: He asked me whether they will -- it will come as a complete surprise, and I said, generally, no.

...

QUESTION: Richard, I guess a last ditch effort is being arranged for Cairo, Egypt, with Arab leaders. They would like a summit before February 14th. I don't know if you've discussed with them. Could you tell us whether you've discussed the possibility of -- we've been mentioning about exile for Saddam Hussein. And also, what would you be telling those leaders to -- or suggest to them to defuse this issue?

MR. BOUCHER: I had not seen that particular report so I don't know if I can offer any more information about that particular meeting. But I would refer you back to what we said in general, that there are a great many people who are trying to make sure Saddam Hussein gets the message that he is not complying and he needs to comply because that's the only way to solve this peacefully; a great many people who are trying to make sure he gets the message that his behavior is a danger to the region, is a danger to his own people, by developing these weapons of mass destruction. So anybody that can make that message sink in, all the better. But we have to obviously prepare for the fact that he doesn't seem to be getting the message.

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MR. BOUCHER:The Secretary's discussions with the King of Bahrain covered the entire range of a very warm bilateral relationship. They talked about regional security and the international campaign against terrorism, our shared goal of reaching a just and lasting peace between Arabs and Israelis, and international efforts to ensure Iraqi disarmament and the continuing threat that Saddam Hussein represents to his neighbors, his own people, and to stability in the region.

Bahrain is a major non-NATO ally of the United States, a trusted partner in the international campaign against terrorism, and a firm supporter of our efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Gulf region.

...

QUESTION: Do you know if the U.S. will provide more Patriot protection for Bahrain, as pro-government newspapers reported yesterday? I doubt that they're off wildly on their own.

MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary and the King did not discuss military deployments today, so you'd have to go ask at the Pentagon about anything like that.

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QUESTION: On different subject. On Iraq, actually, concerning talks with the Turkish Government on this possible war with Iraq, where are you at this stage? Are you still continuing the talks or are you waiting a reply?

MR. BOUCHER: We're talking to the Turkish Government constantly. We've had a series of visitors, delegations back and forth. We've had military people out there working closely with the Turkish Government. And as you know, the Secretary of State met in Davos with Prime Minister Gul and party leader Erdogan.

Thanks.