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CNN Live Today
Bush Administration's Point Man Due to Arrive in Israel Later Today
Aired April 11, 2002 - 10:17 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we are going to focus on the U.S.-led peace efforts, and the Bush administration's point man, Secretary of State Colin Powell, is due to arrive in Israel later today after a travel-packed mission to muster international support.
Our White House correspondent Major Garrett joins us now with more from the White House -- Major, good morning.
MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Daryn. And the Bush White House is definitely trying to manage expectations for Secretary of State Powell's visit to the region, which begins later tonight and continuing on with meetings with Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer telling us just a few moments ago that the stated goal for Secretary of State Powell is to create an environment conducive for peace. When asked if that meant obtaining a cease-fire before returning to the United States, Ari Fleischer said, well, that was too much of a hypothetical. The administration did not want to get into that level of detail. Clearly not trying to create the expectation that a cease-fire will be achieved, though that is clearly among the expectations on the ground in the region.
Also Ari Fleischer said something about Ariel Sharon many in the region might find interesting. He described Ariel Sharon as a man committed to peace. This is a direct quote from Ari Fleisher: "Ariel Sharon is committed to finding peace in the region."
And there is been this recurrent theme at White House just exactly how exasperated, if at all, is the Bush administration at the Israeli Defense Forces' slow pace of withdrawal from the West Bank. Well, Ari Fleischer said the withdrawals are continuing and didn't offer any objections, either to the pace of those withdrawals or saying that they were actually happening fast enough. Ari Fleischer himself described it as a neutral statement.
The president met here at the White House earlier this morning with the bipartisan congressional leadership, and afterwards, Dennis Hastert said on CNN that he believes this administration stands squarely with the Israeli government, and believes the majority in Congress do as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I think there is strong support for Israel and Israeli government in this White House and at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. I think we stand very much in solidarity with Israel. We also understand that we have to have peace in the neighborhood, so that we can't put other countries in jeopardy. As well as Israel, we have Jordan and Egypt and Saudi Arabia and other countries that we need to make sure that there's peace there as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GARRETT: And Ari Fleischer also said that it is up to the Arab nations in the region and the Palestinian Authority chairman, Yasser Arafat to do more, specifically renounce terror as a means of obtaining political aims. That, however, has been a message that has gone completely unheeded -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Major, interesting that you bring up the congressional angle. Are you seeing that there is kind of more congressional pressure coming on the White House and the Israelis may be lobbying a more friendly body on Capitol Hill than they might find in the White House right now?
GARRETT: Well, that's certainly of the interesting subtext of all this here. The Israeli government has very strong support on the Capitol Hill, both among Republicans and Democrats. And conservative Republicans have been privately and are increasingly more publicly critical of the Bush administration, sort of saying that the Bush doctrine against terror doesn't necessarily apply when it comes to the Palestinian Authority. Some Republicans of the conservative persuasion have been very critical of that, saying it undermines the president's moral clarity on the issue of international terrorism.
Also there are moves in Congress to put resolutions on the floor, both in the House and the Senate, supporting Israel. The White House is aware of that, but the White House says, look, there is really no significant deep disagreement between this government and the Israeli government. A disagreement in tactics and what's working on the ground for Israel may not work as well now or in the future. The Bush administration believes the government of Prime Minister Sharon disagrees and is going to continue for as long as it believes it needs to -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Major Garrett at the White House -- Major, thank you very much.
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