[iwar] [fc:Sensitivity,.Ramadhan,.friends,.and.a.non-existent.coalition]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-28 12:14:16


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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 12:14:16 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Sensitivity,.Ramadhan,.friends,.and.a.non-existent.coalition]
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[Analysts Note: This fawning of Senator Biden over Sec. Powell can only be
witnessed as an attempt to curry favor with the State Department and
its numerous, Arabist members. It is unfortunate that the head of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee does not know that Israel was
attacked by Muslims in 1973 during the Jewish holiest day of Yom
Kippor AND during Ramadhan. Indeed, the 1973 war is known among
Muslims as the Ramadhan War. Are we to understand a unilateral, U.S.
dictate exists that says that while Muslims are allowed to attack
during Ramadhan, they cannot be attacked?
The president has said repeatedly that Bin Laden hi-jacked a religion;
why is Senator Biden so concerned about bombing during Ramadhan those
who are described as religious hi-jackers?
Are the Muslim citizens of the U.S. united with the nation over the
new anti-terrorism legislation, leading to the question: where is
Senator Biden getting his information.]

HEARING OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE SUBJECT:
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JOE BIDEN
(D-DE) WITNESS: SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL LOCATION: 325 RUSSELL
SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. TIME: 2:15 P.M. EDT DATE:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2001
--------
SEN. BIDEN: The hearing will come to order.
Welcome, Mr. Secretary. Our colleagues will be filing in as the vote
winds down. I guess it wound down now. And they'll have an opportunity
to question. But I think in the interest of your time, we should
begin.
With your permission, if and when we get a quorum here, which I fully
expect, we may interrupt you and pass out 12 ambassadorial nominees
while we have a quorum, if we can. I'm sure that won't offend you.
SEC. POWELL: It will not offend me in the slightest, Mr. Chairman.
SEN. BIDEN: Well, Mr. Secretary, I want to compliment you personally,
and I want to compliment the president on the way you have both united
the nation and, I think equally important, in a sense, for this
undertaking, clearly equally as important, the way you have put
together a coalition of the willing here, and some of the timid, it
seems to me. You put together a coalition of not only our traditional
friends, but you put together a coalition of our friends in the Muslim

world, as well as some who are not automatically considered to be
rallying to our concerns and needs.We need the support in the Islamic
world, as you know better than I do. And as you said yesterday about
bombing during Ramadan, we'll do what we need to do, but we'll be
sensitive to that concern.
I think the president has been incredibly skillful, along with you, in
keeping the coalition together; in keeping Muslim leaders on board who
are experiencing demonstrations and protests about U.S. bombings, and
accusations that we're attacking the whole Islamic world, which is
simply not true. And it's also significant credit to your personal
diplomacy.
Let me say that I cannot speak for all Democrats -- I don't think
there's ever been a man or woman born that could speak for all
Democrats -- but I am confident when I say both political parties are
united in our resolve to pursue and conclude successfully this war,
and to support the president's efforts. The world should know that we
support our president and our military forces in their mission. To the
best of my knowledge, there's no daylight, no daylight, between the
parties -- or between the Congress and the administration on the way
in which you are pursuing this effort.
The world should also know that there's broad agreement not only on
eliminating Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, as well as the
Taliban that supports him, but there's also broad agreement and
support for the president's resolve to keep a coalition together to
help feed displaced Afghans, as well as put together, possibly with an
extraterritorial help, with the United Nations or some other
international fora, a viable government that will be a source of
stability and not a source of unrest, after we successfully prosecute
this war effort.
I need not tell you this won't be easy. But be assured, many of us
will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in what are bound to be some
very difficult decisions you and the president are going to have to
make.
And on that score I'd like to personally thank you for keeping me and
the ranking member, who is still my chairman, and all the committee,
informed. There has never been a time, speaking for myself, that I
have ever called you or called any of your people that I haven't
gotten an immediate response, and the same can be said for
Senator Helms, and, I expect, for all of our colleagues here. And I
think to state the obvious, that's awfully important, to keep this
kind of cohesion which you've put in place.
And I also want to publicly acknowledge how much I personally
appreciate -- and Senator Helms can clearly speak for himself -- the
personal briefings he and I together and separately have received from
the President of the United States. This has not been an on-again,
off-again thing. It's been roughly about once every week or 10 days
he's had us down there. And he's not only telling us what's going on,
but genuinely asking for input. And I've been impressed. I've been
impressed. So impressed that publicly some of my colleagues wonder
whether or not I am under his influence. And I've said to them what
I'll say to you: as long as he's right, I am for him. I am for him,
and I think he's doing it the right way.
So, Mr. Secretary, there are going to be, as I said -- you know better
than we, having prosecuted another difficult war. This one, I think,
is even more complicated -- that there's going to be some tough
decisions. It'll be really easy to Monday morning quarterback. I
commit to you that I will not do that, and I don't think most of us up

here will do that. We know this is risky business, and this is very
difficult.
And one example is, if the newspaper is correct, Tuesday's successful
mission in Kabul shows the importance of our air power and the
partnership with folks on the ground who are in the coalition, of
those assets working together. If the initial reports are accurate, we
targeted and killed 22 hard-core terrorists linked to bin Laden in
a single pinpoint strike, based on human intelligence provided from
ground assets. That requires both things. It requires the air and the
coalition. And we carried this out without jeopardizing U.S.
servicemen and -- unnecessarily and without causing any collateral
damage.
And so they are the success stories, and they are significant. We're
going to hear the occasional mistake. I hope the American people can
keep this in perspective, and I believe they will, that there will be
some collateral damage. But that's a decision, a tough decision the
president is going to have to constantly make.
So, Mr. Secretary, you just returned from Shanghai, where you said, as
you have the ability to do better than most, you capsulized in one
sentence how the world has changed. You said, "Not only is the Cold
War over," you said, "the post-Cold War is over." And out of the
tragedy on 9/11, and from the president's initiative and your
diplomacy building this worldwide coalition, I believe we have a
number of opportunities to enhance our relationships with countries
from Russia to China and possibly even change on the margins the
dynamics with Iran. And I believe if we succeed in seizing these
opportunities, continuing the path the president has put us on, the
21st century has the significant possibility of being safer than the
20th century. And you and the president, if that occurs, will have
made a historic contribution to the well being of this nation.I yield
to my friend, Senator Helms.
SEN. JESSE HELMS (R-NC): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As a matter of
personal privilege, let me say that this morning, about 6:15 when I
was reading the newspapers, I ran across an item about the
distinguished chairman of this committee. I said this cannot be so,
because both papers that I saw implied strongly, if they did not state
outright, that Joe Biden has broken with bipartisan support for the
president.Now, Senator Biden and I attend a lot of meetings at the
White
House and sit side by side with the president, and I know how this
fellow operates, and I know that those reports were not accurate. And
I understand how first-hand accounts can happen, but I want to do what
the chairman is not going to do I'm sure, and I want to say that these
reports were taken out of context and were not accurate.
SEN. BIDEN: Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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