President-elect George W. Bush announced at a December 16 press conference that he was naming retired Army General Colin Powell to be the U.S. Secretary of State in the new Bush administration. Both men reaffirmed America’s commitment to finding peace in the Middle East, combating terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Responding to a question, Powell said that America’s continuing engagement in the search for peace in the Middle East would be based "on the principle that we must always ensure that Israel lives in freedom and in security and peace. But at the same time, we have to do everything we can to deal with the aspirations of the Palestinians and other nations in the region who have an interest in this." He also said, "America will continue to be a friend to all sides."

Noting that Iraq had not fulfilled the agreements it made at the end of the Gulf war in 1991, he said, "We will work with our allies to re-energize the (UN) sanctions regime."

Powell also said, "Saddam Hussein is sitting on a failed regime that is not going to be around in a few years’ time. The world is going to leave him behind and that regime behind as the world marches to new drummers, drummers of democracy and the free enterprise system."

The Secretary-designate also said that he would be monitoring the Mideast Peace talks taking place this week in Washington.

Following are the Mideast excerpts from the transcript:

PRESIDENT-ELECT BUSH: As president, I will set our priorities and we will stand by them. If we do not set our own agenda, it will be set by others — potential adversaries or the crises of the moment. Our administration will work with our allies in Europe and in the Far East and around the world to extend the peace. We will promote a fully democratic Western Hemisphere bound together by free trade. We will defend America’s interest in the Persian Gulf and advance peace in the Middle East, based, as any lasting peace must be, on a secure Israel. ...

GEN. POWELL: For those nations that are not yet on this path of democracy and freedom, for those nations who are poorly led, led by failed leaders pursuing failed policies that will give them failed results, we will stand strong. We will stand strong with our friends and allies against those nations that pursue weapons of mass destruction that practice terrorism. We will not be afraid of them, we will not be frightened by them. We will meet them, we will match them, we will contend with them. We will defend our interests from a position of strength. ...

BUSH: The secretary of state-designee and I will take a few questions. Yeah, Tom.

QUESTION: General Powell, Mideast peace has proved elusive for many years. There are some preliminary talks this weekend in Washington. Will you be monitoring these? And when you become secretary of state, when you’re confirmed, what do you see as the U.S. role ...

(inaudible)?

POWELL: I will certainly be monitoring them. But, you know, you can only have one president, one secretary of state and one foreign policy team at a time. And so although we’ll be monitoring them, it’s entirely in the hands of President Clinton, Dr. Albright and their team.

It is absolutely a given that under a Bush administration, America will remain very much engaged in the Middle East. I expect it to be a major priority of mine and of the department. It will be based on the principle that we must always ensure that Israel lives in freedom and in security and peace. But at the same time, we have to do everything we can to deal with the aspirations of the Palestinians and other nations in the region who have an interest in this.

And so I think America will continue to be a friend to all sides. America will continue to put forward ideas. America will remain engaged until we can find that solution to this most difficult problem. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be the parties in the region who will have to find that solution and come into agreement. They are going to have to live with each other. And hopefully in the near future we can find ways that they can accommodate their differences and find that elusive solution. It is elusive, but it is out there somewhere. And hopefully, if it doesn’t happen in the very near future and it becomes something for us to manage, you can be sure that we’ll be fully engaged in trying to find a solution to that problem.

Q: (Inaudible)

POWELL: We have a different situation now than we had in 1991 and 1992. At the end of the Gulf War, the Iraqi regime agreed to the conditions that brought an end to the conflict, that they would fully account for all the weapons of mass destruction and other evil technologies that they were working on. They have not yet fulfilled those agreements. And my judgment is that the sanctions in some form must be kept in place until they do so. We will work with our allies to re-energize the sanctions regime. And I will make the case in every opportunity I get that we’re not doing this to hurt the Iraqi people. We’re doing this to protect the peoples of the region, the children of the region, who would be the targets of these weapons of mass destruction if we didn’t contain them and get rid of them.

Saddam Hussein is sitting on a failed regime that is not going to be around in a few years’ time. The world is going to leave him behind and that regime behind as the world marches to new drummers, drummers of democracy and the free enterprise system. And I don’t know what it will take to bring him to his senses. But we are in the strong position. He is in the weak position. And I think it is possible to re-energize those sanctions and to continue to contain him and then confront him, should that become necessary again.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov).