Interview by Judy Hydock of USA Radio Network

(2:30 p.m. EST)

MS. HYDOCK:  My first question is about Secretary of State Colin Powell.  How is his condition considering his surgery this morning, or have you heard how he's doing?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Yes, I have.  As you indicated, he underwent surgery for removal of the prostate.  It was localized prostate cancer.  The surgery took about two hours.  According to his doctor, he did extremely well and no complications, and a full recovery is expected.

MS. HYDOCK:  Is there any indication about how long the recovery may take?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  No.  Several days, probably.  But knowing him, he'll be doing paperwork tomorrow morning.

MS. HYDOCK:  And what about you?  Does this kind of leave you at the helm while he is recouping at home?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, from the earliest days of this Administration, Secretary Powell had signed a delegation of authority to me, which means that I act with the same authority as the Secretary of State whether he's here or not.  So there's no practical difference for me other than I want my friend to be back on his feet as quickly as possible.

MS. HYDOCK:  And we wish blessings on his health and recovery as well.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Thank you, thank you. 

MS. HYDOCK:  Let's turn now to the news that broke over the weekend.  Little did I know when I set up this interview last week that such breaking news would occur.  But certainly it must feel good to have at least one of the U.S.’ most wanted in our pocket, basically.  What does this do for diplomatic relations?  How does this make you feel?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, first of all, I think it's how the Iraqi people feel that's really important; and from what I understand, the great majority of them feel pretty good this morning.

But I think we have to realize that a man who's been at the helm of his country in a brutal way for 35 years has been a factor of life in the Middle East for all that time.  I think adjusting to this new circumstance will take a little time in the region.

But I think it is a time for the United States to be able to move forward with our coalition partners and consolidate further international support for the recovery of Iraq.

MS. HYDOCK:  I know that President Bush is calling Iraq the new front in the war on terror.  Does this perhaps change things now as far as that goes, I mean, since it's perhaps more going to be a rebuilding or a continuing rebuilding effort?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, it will certainly be that.  But I can remind our listeners, and I have to remind myself, that immediately in the wake of the deaths of Uday and Qusay, Saddam Hussein's two sons, violence actually spiked for a bit.  And our military commanders are indicating that there may be a little spiking in the violence from these dead-enders in the immediate wake of the capture of Saddam Hussein.  But I think in the longer run this will allow us more time to concentrate on the recovery of a nation.

MS. HYDOCK:  You did mention that attacks and violence could increase.  We’ve had these two car bombings just north of Baghdad and in Baghdad today at the police station, but it seems more and more, though, that the terrorists are beginning to focus on Iraqi civilians.  Why do you think that is?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, we would say they're focusing on softer targets than the coalition troops.  Also they want to separate out those who would support the international community in the rebuilding of Iraq, those who would support the coalition forces, from the rest of the Iraqi citizenry.  They're trying to put fear in their hearts and fear into their minds so that we don't get the assistance of Iraqis to rapidly regenerate the country.

MS. HYDOCK:  Is there some thought, perhaps, in the Administration that with Saddam Hussein being in custody that the insurgents perhaps will lose some of their cohesiveness, that their organization may be a little bit disrupted?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, it's too early to tell how much of a directive role, if any, Saddam Hussein was carrying on with.  It appears to me, as I understand, that he was spending the majority of his time trying to hide and running, so I don't know how much time he could have left for exerting command and control over terrorists.

No, I think, in the short term, we think that the violence will continue and, as I say, the dead-enders will continue to use violence to their end.  But I think those who are seated in the middle in Iraq, those who couldn't make up their mind because of fear of a residual Saddam Hussein, will opt to come with the coalition and with Iraqis who are seeking a better future.  And that's a very good thing.

MS. HYDOCK:  Some questions that the President faced this morning in his press conference were, I would say, very prickly in nature, one of them concerning the possible death penalty for Hussein.  How does the United States handle this diplomatically -- a trial, a possible death sentence -- when this kind of situation arises?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, first of all, the President indicated that while no final decisions had been made that we were going to work with the Iraqis themselves to determine the best way forward.  Last week the Iraqi Governing Council indicated they wanted to have a tribunal.  It's something that we had worked with them on and does allow for foreign observers.  And I also note that the interim president of the Iraqi Governing Council said today that should it be warranted and should Saddam Hussein be found guilty, that in Iraq there could be a death penalty.  But we've got to sort of wind our way through all these difficulties, and then we'll make a final decision on what sort of jurisprudence to follow.

MS. HYDOCK:  So it's really too soon to say what influence the U.S. may have as far as a final decision -- a 50/50 influence, a 70, 80, that kind of thing?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Oh, I don't know.  I'm not a gambler.  I don't know what percentage to put on it.  I think -- we're the largest member of the coalition; we have considerable authority.  But, after all, this is in the main an Iraqi problem, and following that it's a Kuwaiti problem and others who have charges against Saddam Hussein, and we ourselves haven't been happy with his behavior.  So I think there are any number of countries and any number of people who would like to get their hands on this guy.

MS. HYDOCK:  Let's turn now a little bit to the first front in the war on terror, which is the Afghanistan situation.  I know that the Loya Jirga met over the weekend.  What are the hopes from that meeting?  What is the U.S. hoping that comes out of that besides a new constitution?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Well, first of all, that is what we hope, that a new constitution will be found or be developed and voted upon by the Loya Jirga.  I'll note that of the 502 delegates, 89 of them are women.  This is a good thing.  The fact that it's being held at all is another good thing.  We've had about a day and a half of discussions.  This Loya Jirga could go ten days to two weeks, depending on how difficult the issues are.  And the issues that will be most hotly debated I think will be the role of women in the government and the role of religion in the nation.

MS. HYDOCK:  Well, the reason I brought that up, for one thing, was that with the capture of Saddam Hussein I know that there are people here in the States hoping that Usama bin Laden is next and that some of the leaders of the Taliban who are still missing are next.  Are we putting our hopes on too high of a chance that that could happen anytime soon?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  I don't know about anytime soon, but you can certainly put me down on the list of people who hope that Usama bin Laden and ranking Taliban such as Mullah Omar will be captured or killed in the near future.  We just come to work, just as our soldiers do every day, and strap on our packs.  Those who are responsible for looking for Usama bin Laden do just that.  Those who are responsible for looking and hopefully finding Mullah Omar do just that.  Sooner or later, they'll be found out.

MS. HYDOCK:  Very good, sir.  Our time is almost up so I'll just go ahead and try to wrap it up.  But I will give you an opportunity to bring up a subject that you maybe would like to discuss further or a subject I haven't broached yet.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  No, no, I'm responding to you, and anywhere you want to go, I'll try to follow. 

MS. HYDOCK:  Actually, I think that's all I had. 

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  We're straight, Ms. Hydock.  Thanks so much.

MS. HYDOCK:  I appreciate it.  Thank you, sir.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE:  Not at all.  Bye-bye.