U.S. President George W. Bush will continue his "aggressive" foreign policy and will not hesitate to act alone, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview published Tuesday. "The president is not going to trim his sails or pull back," The Financial Times quoted Powell as saying in an interview on Monday. "It's a continuation of his principles, his policies, his beliefs." Although the United States' policies would also be in the interest of friends and alliances and "multilateral in nature," the country would act alone where necessary, he said. Powell said U.S. foreign policy had been "aggressive in terms of going after challenges, issues," and that Bush was "going to keep moving in this direction." The secretary of state said Bush would convey to European leaders that he was "anxious to reach out" to them, and he said the United States could get over its disagreements with France, Germany and Russia, The Financial Times reported. Powell said the prospect of a transition in the Palestinian leadership raised by Yasser Arafat's illness was a chance to move the Middle East peace process ahead. "We are ready to seize this opportunity aggressively," Powell said, describing the peace process as "one of the biggest overhangs in our foreign policy, the way it is perceived." Traveling to Mexico on Monday, Powell told reporters that he was "impressed by the manner in which Palestinian leaders back in the territories have been discussing among themselves how to move forward." He said he was also encouraged by the relative peacefulness in the region recently. "I hope that sense of quiet calm can be maintained. That gives us something to work with," he said. U.S. officials are in touch with all the parties concerning a stalled Middle East peace settlement, he noted. "The president has made it clear and I have made it clear to them that we are ready to engage as soon as it is appropriate to engage," he told reporters.
