Transcript: Wolfowitz Says U.S. Would Seek to Liberate, Not Occupy, Iraq
(Deputy defense secretary addresses Iraqi-Americans in Michigan)
usinfo.state.gov
Reaching out to the Iraqi-American community in Dearborn, Michigan February 23, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz made the case for replacing the current Iraqi regime with one that embraces democratic norms.
Wolfowitz, a former U.S. ambassador to the Muslim country of Indonesia, began his presentation in Arabic and peppered his remarks with references to the Koran. He outlined five guiding principles under which he said the United States would undertake military action against Iraq.
The first principle, he said, is that "the United States seeks to liberate Iraq, not to occupy Iraq."
Next, he said, Iraq must be "disarmed of all weapons of mass terror, weapons production capabilities and the means to deliver such weapons." Wolfowitz called this "a complex and dangerous task for which detailed planning is already under way."
Third, he said, "we must eliminate Iraq's terrorist infrastructure."
Next, Iraq must be preserved "as a unified state with its territorial integrity intact," Wolfowitz said.
And last, with U.S. coalition partners "we must help the Iraqi people begin the process of economic and political reconstruction," he said. |
