Interview With Andrea Koppel of CNN
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Ankara, Turkey
February 6, 2005
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, I'd like to begin with where you're going to be spending the next couple of days. In his
State of the Union this week, President Bush said that with Congressional approval, he would like to offer the
Palestinians 350 million dollars to try to help them out. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of enthusiasm for this
based on the reaction in Congress. Part of that could be because the Arab world has not made good on its pledge for
about a billion dollars. A couple of things: are you confident that you are going to get Congressional approval? And
what is the U.S. going to do to get the Arab world to ante up?
SECRETARY: The Congress has been supportive in the past, for instance when we have made direct aid in small amounts of
money to the Palestinians -20 million dollars- just a few months ago, because I believe that people understand that it
is a new day with the Palestinian leadership, that in fact they have put financial controls in place. There is greater
transparency in Palestinian economic affairs. Frankly, for a long time there wasn't, and so it was understandable why
there were concerns. I'm quite sure that as this process moves forward, that we will get support to have the United
States be in the forefront of helping the Palestinian people to build the institutions of democracy to reconstruct areas
that are, from which the Israelis will withdraw, because it will be an important element of an overall program. It's not
just the money, but an overall program of reconstruction and reform in the Palestinian political leadership and
Palestian political institutions.
As to the rest of the Arab world, yes the Arab world should be more generous. Some have been very generous; others have
made pledges that have not been fulfilled. And it will be part of our diplomacy to go to them and say that now is the
time because you can't have it both ways. You can't say that there needs to be an Israeli-Palestinian peace on the one
hand, and on the other hand, fail to put up the resources to help that move along.
QUESTION: You mentioned the transparency within the Palestinian authority and now there is a new Palestian President.
There is still a perception among the Palestinian people that the Palestinian authority itself is corrupt. Are you going
to tie U.S. aid to a pledge from President Abbas to launch and anti-corruption drive?
SECRETARY: There's no doubt that we cannot be in a position of giving aid where there is not transparency. All of
American development assistance in recent years, like the Millennium Challenge account for instance, insists on good
governance as one of the prerequisites for the granting of American assistance. And so I would think that we would also
expect good governance in the Palestinian territories if American aid is going to be flowing there.
But I have to say that I've been encouraged by some of the things that the president has done, President Abbas has
done, but also his finance minister, Sam Fiyad, who has gone a long way in putting controls- economic controls- and has
gone a long way to transparency, publishing for instance the Palestinian Authority budget on the internet. And so,
there's a lot to work with here, and I'm quite certain that we can manage this.
QUESTION: So you don't think that an anti-corruption drive would be necessary?
SECRETARY: Well I think that an anti-corruption drive is absolutely necessary. But it's not just necessary for the
grantee of American aid; it's necessary for the confidence of the Palestinian people. They need to know that this is
going to be a government that is different than the one that they've experienced for the last decades. And it's going to
be important for the democratic progress of the Palestinians that there be an anti-corruption drive, and we are prepared
to help in any way, and I believe that President Abbas and his cabinet will be devoted to such.
QUESTION: One of the mistakes of the past is that the U.S. didn't do enough to try to get the Arab world vested in the
peace process. What is your strategy to do that?
SECRETARY: That is absolutely right that the Arab world, I think, was not as vested in the process. They were concerned
that the process take place, but perhaps not as active in it. There are very good signs in this regard. The decision of
each to invite the Palestinians and the Israelis to Sharm el-Sheik this coming week is an example of the Arabs, I think,
taking responsibility and stepping forward in the peace process. Egypt and Jordan have been very and Jordan will of
course be there- Egypt and Jordan have been active on the security front, and that's very good.
QUESTION: It's true, but they are both the Arab states that have diplomatic relations with Israel. What about the rest
of the Arab world?
SECRETARY: Well the rest of the Arab world should be active. I would note that the Saudis, from Crown Prince Abdullah,
did put forward an initiative that had some good elements several years ago. And perhaps we could build on some of those
initiatives and some of those overtures to greater involvement of the Saudis as well. When the Quartet has met, for
instance, it has often been the case in the past, that there have been consultations with the Arab states including with
the Saudis, either before or after those Quartet meetings. .
QUESTION: You and the President have placed a high priority on democratization and certainly you must be aware of the
fact that in recent elections, municipal elections in Gaza, Hamas - one of the Palestinian rejection groups- one of
those committed to the destruction of the state of Israel has swept those elections and seems poised now to win
legislative elections this summer. What is the U.S. going to do if Hamas is legitimately elected?
SECRETARY: Well there's a long time between now and those elections for the legislative council.
QUESTION: About six months
SECRETARY: Well, that's a long time in politics. And I would note that these were municipal elections not national
elections. If you look at what happened in the national elections Mahmoud Abbas won a very sizable majority because I
think that the Palestinian people do not accept a plan and a program that they recognize would simply result in the
continuation of violence.
The reason that Mahmoud Abbas I believe was popularly elected is that he has said that there should not be an armed
intifada, that in fact they need a peaceful road. I can't believe that Palestinian mothers want a world in which people
strap suicide belts onto young girls and young men so that they blow up other young girls and young men. And so a
program that appeals to that, I simply don't believe is going to be successful. And the Palestinian authority for its
part will have to show that it is able to do some of the things that the people were voting for in municipal elections-
like run orphanages, deal with the social welfare of the people and fight corruption.
QUESTION: One of the expectations of the summit that's expected to happen on Tuesday in Egypt is that there could be a
ceasefire between Israelis and the Palestinians. What is the U.S. prepared to do to help stabilize the ceasefire?
SECRETARY: Well, in any case if there can be a period of calm in which there is not fighting the most important
elements will be to have some monitoring of that situation but also to take the most difficult steps that would really
ensure its permanence. There will have to be efforts to fight terrorism. There will have to be efforts to unify the
Palestinian security forces and train them so that they are part of the solution, not part of the problem. And the
United States will be very actively involved both bilaterally and probably trilaterally to try and stabilize the
situation on the ground but also to help to bring about Palestinian security forces that can actually fight terror.
QUESTION: Are you prepared to appoint a Mideast envoy? Do you think that this is the time?
SECRETARY: The President and I have talked about it. It's not any particular objection to the concept of an envoy. The
issue is when and what would an envoy do. And right now we believe that the path that the parties are on in which they
really have a sustained a good deal of momentum themselves can be helped along by American engagement in the security
side, in the reconstruction side
QUESTION: perhaps boots on the ground, so to speak?
SECRETARY: Well putting people there or working with people who can go there frequently to help the parties keep moving
ahead. We are not yet at that part of the Road Map that talks about final status. There is a lot of work between now and
then. But if we use this period well - the period of reform of Palestinian institutions, reconstruction efforts, reform
of the security agencies, the peaceful withdrawal of Israelis from the Gaza and the four West Bank settlements - if we
use this period well and achieve those, then we will be back on the Road Map. And I'm quite certain that we will be well
along the way to the President's vision of two states living side by side in peace.
QUESTION: I'd like to end by asking you Iran. During his State of the Union, the President said, as you stand for your
liberty, America stands with you. What happens if the President gets his wish, the Iranian people rise up and the
Mullahs oppose them with force and it's not a velvet revolution, a rose revolution or an orange revolution. What will
the U.S. do to support the Iranian people?
SECRETARY: Well we've all learned that we can never predict how history turns out, and therefore it's really not a good
thing to speculate about how it might. But what the President is doing is that he was saying to the Iranian people
"you're not forgotten in this great sweep of reform that we are encouraging and seeing in the Middle East".
Iran and its unelected few are out of step with trends that are taking place in the Middle East. Imagine the specter of
Iranians, of Afghans voting in Iran for a free Afghan government of Iraqis voting in Iran for a free Iraqi government,
but Iranians being presented with the prospect of sham elections in a few months which nobody will recognize as having
anything to do with free and fair elections.
So Iran is not immune from what is going on around them, and we also recognize that the Iranian people have
demonstrated time and time again their desire for democratic development; that there's a vibrant civil society, and
vibrant business groups and women's groups. Reaching out to them is important to say to them that we know and associate
ourselves with the aspirations of the Iranian people.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you very much.
SECRETARY: Thank you.
2005/130
Released on February 6, 2005
ENDS