Posted on 02/02/2002 4:53:58 AM PST by sarcasm
NEW YORK -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday that the United States and its allies must battle global poverty as part of the war against terrorism, saying that those seduced by terrorists must be shown "there is a better way."
"We have to go after poverty," Powell said. "We have to go after despair. We have to go after hopelessness."
He spoke to a session of the World Economic Forum, which has brought 2,500 corporate, religious, and political leaders to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.
There were few demonstrations on the streets surrounding the hotel, but the forum's Web site crashed yesterday morning, and three groups of cyberactivists claimed responsibility. They called themselves Electronic Civil Disobedience, Electronic Disturbance Theater and the Federation of Random Action.
Charles McLean, a forum spokesman, said technicians were struggling yesterday to restore the site, which carries the forum's press releases and other information at www.weforum.org.
McLean said organizers were still trying late last night to determine what brought the site down.
Questions of poverty, terrorism and security dominated the second day of the gathering, moved to New York from its customary Alpine home in Davos, Switzerland, to show solidarity with the city after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Discussions were impassioned, but participants did not always see eye to eye.
Powell said that the war on terrorism should focus on countries that produce weapons of mass destruction, arguing that they might provide them to terrorists. "We can't just stop at a single terrorist organization; we have to go through the whole system."
While Powell emphasized the need for a long-term military commitment, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president of the Philippines, said she believed that the military fight was nearly over and that it should be replaced by a battle against "the handmaiden of terrorism, poverty."
"The rest (of the military campaign) will be mopping up," Arroyo said. "The coalition should stay on and fight against poverty."
About 4,000 police officers were stationed near the hotel to ward off a repeat of violent protests at financial summits in Seattle and Genoa.
But police spent more time trying to stay dry in the cold drizzle than they did arresting protesters. After arresting eight Thursday, police had made no arrests related to the forum by yesterday afternoon.
"It's all hype," one police officer patrolling the area around the hotel said. "Nothing's going to happen."
But protest leaders said they expect thousands to march in a festive noontime parade today, starting at the southern tip of Central Park and moving past the Waldorf.
Powell, speaking at a panel on building a coalition for a stable world, said the United States is just beginning its campaign against terrorism and will "make sure we root it out, wherever it exists."
But America will also help countries solve problems that make them hotbeds for terrorism, Powell added. He cited Afghanistan, where he said the United States will continue humanitarian efforts to rebuild the shattered country.
In afternoon sessions, other leaders sparred over questions of national security and civil rights raised by the response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We are in a conflict that is different than just about any conflict we have been in," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hatch also voiced his support for U.S. plans to convene military tribunals to try accused terrorists.
But Irene Khan, secretary-general of Amnesty International, sharply disagreed on the tribunals.
"There is no need to create a political shadow system to deal with these threats," she said. Treating those accused of terrorist crimes differently from other citizens, she said, sends the message to repressive regimes that it is permissible to deny civil rights.
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who with Powell, was one of the top two U.S. officials at the five-day conference, said that helping countries overcome their troubles isn't always easy.
"Over the last 50 years, hundreds of billions have been spent in the name of economic development, with so many of the countries that have been major recipients still not showing strong evidence of positive change," he said.
O'Neill added that research is needed "to understand where our efforts have given great results and, maybe more importantly, where there are no results or regression."
Later, Homeland security director Tom Ridge said America and its allies have learned much about how terrorists operate but must learn "to think in terms of unthinkable events."
"We will always have to be prepared, we will always have to be in the business of looking for threats and vulnerabilities," Ridge said.
Several participants said the United States and other wealthy countries need to stop showing indifference to the frustrations of developing nations.
People in poor nations "do not feel that this sort of international order is really helping them," said Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League. "We know that two-thirds of the world's population are poor and hungry, two-thirds are really angry, and we don't have to ask why."
More than 2,700 participants from 106 countries are attending the meeting, including 30 heads of state, 100 Cabinet ministers and 74 ambassadors. Participants include King Abdullah II of Jordan; Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations; Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates; and Bono, the lead singer for the rock group U2.
I'll say this, I don't agree with Powell at all. Regardless if Bush is President or not.
Will the REAL conservatives please stand up??
It's too early for Powell to resign yet. He is just now starting to "make his bones" as a "independent moderate thinker". He needs another year and several more incidents,and THEN he can resign and hit the book and talk show circuit. Just in time to be drafted as Buh-Bette!'s VP running mate in 2004.
BTW,my prediction since BEFORE the 2000 elections would be that Powell would resign in 2003 over "policy differences" with Bush,mostly having to do with the US not providing enough AIDS vachinne and food to Africa. This would turn into a public disagreement and Powell would then resign as a "man of honor and principle" (gag,puke!)
If he and Buh-Bette! run on the same ticket,they win. It's as simple as that.
Powell cannot open his mouth without inserting his foot in it. This is an insult to decent poor people everywhere.
And that's giving him more credit than he deserves.
BTW,if it wasn't for AA,Powell would have never even been promoted to Major,never mind General.
Either he is really stupid or he is really stupid.
He was a straight "D" student at CUNY. YOU figure it out.
What are you talking about?...JFK
HEY!!..not so loud!
OK, Powell is the moderate....but....I'm sorry...Who's the good cop and who's the bad cop again?
When Powell stopped Swartskoff(SP?) from going to Baghdad was he the good cop, the bad cop, or the moderate?
"There is no need to create a political shadow system to deal with these threats," she said. Treating those accused of terrorist crimes differently from other citizens, she said, sends the message to repressive regimes that it is permissible to deny civil rights
If you have to, read that last bit a couple of times and think about it.
The stupidity is mind-boggling.
Irene Khan. This is the best Amnesty International can do? How utterly pathetic.
The Senate held hearings in 1951 on MacArthur and Korea and Postdam, I really suggest you look for the transcripts and spend some time objectively reading them. I'm no fan of MacArthur the person, but Truman was wrong and his action was close to treason.
It's not poverty, it's the education to get your own butt out of poverty. When will they ever learn? Nothing fancy either, just the 3 r's so they can read magazines and mail order catalogs.
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