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Coleman says Bush has done 'incredible job' on foreign policy
April 15, 2003

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., presses his point during a visit to the press area of the Capitol on Tuesday. (MPR Photo/Laura McCallum)

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP) Lumping Syria into a category of "destabilizing forces" in the Middle East, Sen. Norm Coleman said Tuesday that President Bush has properly demanded that the country stop harboring members of Saddam Hussein's regime or face sanctions.

"And that doesn't mean, by the way, that we go in there and invade militarily. I don't think that's on anybody's mind," the Republican freshman said. "But I think the international community understands that we're serious about dealing with terrorism."

He said the administration's saber rattling simply has put Syria on notice that if members of Saddam's regime are there, Syria should turn them over.

"I think you let them know there are consequences for being a rogue nation and for supporting terrorism. And in the end, I think they'll get the message. ... I don't think there's a grand plan to have the American armies roll across the Middle East," Coleman said.

Despite pressure from Washington, Syrian officials so far have denied that the country has weapons of mass destruction or that it is sheltering Iraqi leaders.

Coleman, however, strongly sided with the White House on the Syrian situation and other foreign policy issues during a swing through the Minnesota Capitol.

"All over the world, it's challenging out there," he said. "I'm not the expert on foreign policy. I have confidence in the president. I have confidence in Colin Powell. I have confidence in Donald Rumsfeld."

That extends to the administration's positions on North Korea and the Palestinian-Israeli situation.

It's crucial, for instance, that the administration has stood by its demand that North Korea accept multilateral discussions over its alleged nuclear weapons program, Coleman said in a wide-ranging interview with several reporters.

Negotiations in 1994 were just between North Korea and the United States. This time, Washington has insisted that Russia, China, Japan and South Korea also be involved.

Russia and China are allies of North Korea and their involvement could help pressure the country into concessions. Japan and South Korea are most at risk by a nuclear-armed North Korea and likely to pay for much of the aid that may be offered with a deal.

Until last weekend, North Korea had insisted on one-on-one talks with the United States, but the stance has softened.

"We tried that before - they lie," Coleman said. "They said in exchange for certain levels of support, they wouldn't develop a nuclear program. They lied. The way you deal with liars is you make you're not sitting around the table alone with them."

Meanwhile, Bush was trying to help broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

"I think what he's got to do now is put more focus, more attention on that issue and work with the international community," Coleman said.

He cited the two preconditions that Bush has outlined: An end to terrorism and the democratization of Palestinian authority.

"I think Yasser Arafat has to go," Coleman said. "And at the same time, Israel has to understand that what it is doing with settlements, there is going to have to be a stepping back."

U.S. officials have said Israel must stop building settlements on the West Bank and Gaza.

After 100 days in office, Coleman could think of no major foreign policy disagreements he had with the president, although he said he would like to see more focus on South America.

"And so I may urge the White House to put more effort into what are we doing in Colombia, what are we doing in Venezuela - we get a lot of our oil from Venezuela," Coleman said. "But foreign policy in the Constitution is the responsibility of the president and I think that's an area where we let him execute. And if we need to kind of urge some refocus on some other things, then we'll do that."

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