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American Morning

Target: Terrorism: Conversation with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage

Aired October 03, 2001 - 11:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: We were just talking to Jamie McIntyre about the difficulties the United States faces in convincing the Saudi Arabian government to fully cooperate with the likely U.S. military strikes.

Earlier today, I had conversation with the Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Another key nation obviously in this diplomatic effort is Pakistan. The Pakistani government has been cooperating, but there is a great sensitivity about the United States using bases in Pakistan to launch operations into Afghanistan. I asked the deputy secretary of state if the United States had given any assurances to the government of Pakistan that it would not use those bases for U.S. military operations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ARMITAGE, U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States has not given such assurances to the government of Pakistan. We have agreements with the government about what we may need to do. We have not yet, to my knowledge, had to make use of Pakistani bases. We are aware of the political fragility of the society, but equally, we're gaining confidence each day that the leadership of President Musharraf is showing the way for 140 million Pakistanis to a better future. And I think we have seen the anti-Americanism to be less than might have been expected.

KING: A remarkable and a broad-based effort by the administration underway to build this international coalition. Some suggest that in doing so, perhaps the administration started to slow down on some other fronts that might offend some of the very people you want involved in this coalition, including our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel, stating the State Department is delaying the release of the annual report on freedom around the world, for fear of antagonizing countries that you hope will join this coalition, like the Chinese, like even the Saudi Arabians. Is that true, sir?

ARMITAGE: Well, I think if you look at last year's religious freedom report, you'll see that many countries that are countries of concern will be repeated this year. Since the events of September 11th, our attention has been primarily to coalition building, and I don't feel I have had the sufficient time to devote to the issue of religious freedom to warrant the issuance of the report. It'll be issued in good time, and it will be just like our trafficking and persons report, the one that fully reflects American values and American standards.

KING: How about the issue of missile defense? The president's budget and the quadrennial military review makes clear this administration is committed to a missile defense. He's asking for more money from the Congress. But is there a sense, and would the State Department recommend to the Pentagon, slow down a little bit, do not cross the line and antagonize the Russians by violating the ABM Treaty at this time.

ARMITAGE: Well, it's not for the State Department to recommend to the Defense Department something in the -- that's wholly in the DOD area. We have discussions with the Russian Federation. The president has discussions with President Putin to include missile defense. Those discussions are ongoing continually, and I'm very hopeful that we will have a satisfactory conclusion with the Russians.

KING: Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, we're grateful for your time this morning, sir. Thank you very much.

ARMITAGE: Thank you, Mr. King.

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