Secretary of State Colin Powell completely rejected on Thursday any suggestion that the Bush administration's confrontation with Iraq was engineered by Israel or American Jews.
Powell told a House Appropriations Subcommittee that the drive to compel Iraq to disarm stretches back over two administrations and 12 years of United Nations resolutions.
"It is driven by our own national interest," Powell said under questioning by the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Arizona, who said he wanted to clear up media suggestions that American supporters of Israel -- and Israel itself -- were driving U.S. strategy.
According to AP, Powell told the subcommittee the U.S policy "is not driven by any small cabal that is buried away somewhere," nor by a small group of individuals.
Among the U.S. goals are helping the U.N. to "do its job" and concern for the Iraqi people, Powell said.
On the Israeli Palestinian issue, Powell said on that the nomination of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian prime minister brought a "new dynamic" to attempts to end the conflict. "In the last week we have seen the emergence of a gentleman ... in the person of Abu Mazen, so we have a new dynamic in play and I hope that new dynamic of a prime minister with real authority will allow us to move forward," he said. (Albawaba.com)
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