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Skriven 2005-06-27 23:33:30 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0506273) for Mon, 2005 Jun 27
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Press Briefing Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 27, 2005

Press Briefing Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Briefing Room

Press Briefing
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2:12 P.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everybody. Let me begin by giving you a
preview of tomorrow night's remarks.

Iraq is a top concern on the mind's of the American people. Tomorrow night,
they're going to have the opportunity to hear directly from the
Commander-in-Chief. The President recognizes one of his most important
responsibilities during a time of war is to keep the American people
informed about the situation. So tomorrow night the American people have
the opportunity to hear from their Commander-in-Chief about the nature of
the enemy we face in Iraq, the situation on the ground and the way forward
to victory.

In a time of testing like this, it's important to let our troops know that
the American people stand firmly with them as they seek to complete the
mission. So the President looks forward to going to Fort Bragg tomorrow
night to speak before the men and women who have been on the front lines in
the war on terrorism. This is a time of testing. It is a critical moment in
Iraq. The terrorists are seeking to shake our will and weaken our resolve.
They know that they cannot win unless we abandon the mission before it is
complete.

Tomorrow also marks the one-year anniversary since we transferred
sovereignty back to the rightful owners -- the Iraqi people. In that time
period we have made significant progress: elections have taken place; more
than 8 million Iraqis showed up at the polls and defied the terrorists and
elected a representative government to serve during the transition to
democracy. That transitional government selected the leaders to oversee
that transition period. And they have been working on drafting the
constitution. They have reached an agreement to have an inclusive process
that includes all communities in Iraq.

The international community has been standing strongly behind the Iraqi
people over this time period. Just last week there was a very successful
international conference where some 80 nations came together to show their
support for the Iraqi people.

There are difficulties and dangers that remain. There is going to be tough
fighting in the days and weeks ahead, as the President has talked about. He
will talk about the nature of the enemy, as I mentioned. The terrorists
have no regard for human life. They have no vision and no alternative but
chaos, destruction and violence. It is a determined and ruthless enemy that
has chosen to make Iraq a central front in the war on terrorism. They know
that their survival is at stake. Iraq -- a free and peaceful Iraq will be a
major blow to the ambitions of the terrorists.

And every step of the way, these terrorists have failed to stop the
progress on the political front. They have failed to stop the Iraqi people
from moving forward on holding elections and electing a representative
government. They have failed to stop the Iraqi people from signing up to
serve in the security forces. And they failed to stop the transfer of
sovereignty just one year ago, as well, on the time schedule that was
outlined.

Tomorrow, the President will also talk about the strategy for success. He
will talk in a very specific way about the way forward. There is a clear
path to victory. It is a two-track strategy: there is the military and
political track. On the military front, it's important to continue training
and equipping the Iraqi security forces so that they're able to defend
themselves, and then our troops can return home with the honor that they
deserve. And then there is the political track. The Iraqi people are
showing that they're determined to build a free and democratic and peaceful
future, and we must continue to do all we can to support them as they build
a lasting democracy.

So the President looks forward to speaking to the American people tomorrow
night. You will hear from him in much greater detail, but I wanted to give
you a little bit of a preview to begin with. And with that, I'll be glad to
go to your questions.

Q Scott, are there new details in the strategy for success? Is there a new
direction, or is the President basically summing up what he has said
before?

MR. McCLELLAN: As I said, this is a new speech. And the President will be
talking in a very specific way about the strategy for succeeding in Iraq.
And he will talk about the two-track strategy that we have in place. He
touched on it a little bit last week; he's touched on it in -- many times
over recent weeks. But this is going to be the President talking about it
in a very specific way, about where we are for succeeding and where we are
in implementing that strategy.

Q Well, I guess what I'm asking is, are people going to hear things they
haven't heard the President say before? Are there new details?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think many Americans have not heard much of what the
President has to say tomorrow night. And the American people are rightly
concerned about where we are in Iraq. That's a top priority for this
country; it's a top priority for the President of the United States. The
American people want to see our troops return home, but I think they
understand the importance of succeeding in Iraq. And the President will
talk about that in his remarks. I think we all want to see the troops come
home sooner than later, and the way to get our troops home is to complete
the mission.

Our troops, as General Abizaid was talking about over the weekend,
understand the importance of the mission that they are working to complete.
This is critical to winning the war on terrorism. A free Iraq will deal a
major blow to the terrorists and their ideology of hatred and oppression.

Q The question is, is there a new direction, though, or not?

MR. McCLELLAN: You're going to hear from the President tomorrow night. I
think we have a clear strategy for success. He's going to be talking in a
very specific way about what that strategy is. It's an opportunity for the
American people to hear about the strategy. We've all seen on the TV
screens the images of bloodshed and violence. They are disturbing. The
President is disturbed by those images. The terrorists have inflicted great
suffering. There have been tremendous sacrifices. But the cause for which
we are in Iraq is an important one, and there is great progress being made
on the ground.

The terrorists' only alternative is to spread violence and chaos and
destruction because they know that when a free Iraq takes hold, a
democratic Iraq, that it will be a major defeat for their ambitions. You've
heard terrorists talk publicly about the importance of trying to stop the
progress that is being made in Iraq.

Q Isn't the message really more patience? Isn't that really what the
President is going to be requesting, something he's --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think if you go back to September 11th -- remember,
on September 11th the threats of the 21st century were brought to our
shores. We saw in a very clear way the threats that we face on that day.

And the President said shortly after the attacks of September 11th that
this is a long struggle that we're going to be in, that this is a different
kind of war, one which we have never seen before. And we do face a
determined and ruthless enemy, an enemy that has no regard for innocent
human life. That's the nature of the enemy that we're up against. That's
the nature of the enemy that the President will be talking about in his
remarks tomorrow night.

And the President made it clear after September 11th that some will want us
to grow complacent and forget about, or put the attacks off as a distant
memory. But it does require patience and resolve to see this struggle
through to the end. We have no option but to defeat the terrorists, and the
terrorists will be defeated.

Q Heard anything from the Supreme Court since we last talked?

MR. McCLELLAN: As I mentioned earlier today, I know you all are going to
have a lot of questions in -- today, the days ahead, probably, but I don't
think it's my place to get into talking about any potential vacancies that
may or may not occur.

Q But you haven't heard anything, the President hasn't been alerted, hasn't
received a letter or anything?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as I indicated this morning to some of you all, I said
that I'm going to draw the line here because I'm not going to go down that
road. If there is a vacancy to announce, I would imagine that that would
come out of the Supreme Court first. And that's the appropriate place for
it to come out of, and I don't think you should read anything into that one
way or the other.

But if you ask me now and I say "no," and then you come back and ask me
later, and I don't answer, then you're going to start speculating about all
sorts of things. So I think it's -- I think it's best for me just to say,
you know, if there's anything else to announce, I'm sure it will come from
the Supreme Court.

Q When the President talks about high gasoline prices, he often cites the
demand for gasoline and crude oil from China. Is the President comfortable
that the company partly owned by his campaign media advisor is assisting
the Chinese in their attempt to purchase Unocal?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in terms of that matter, we are following those
reports closely. If a bid were to go through, like all foreign-based
transactions, there is a regulatory process that is in place that will be
followed to address any national security concerns. So in other words,
there are procedures in place, and if a bid goes through, then we would
expect the appropriate procedures to be followed.

Q But is he comfortable with this company that was so closely aligned with
his --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know about any such involvement.

Q Well, Public Strategies out of Austin, Texas is helping CNO buy Unocal.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think you have to look at what I just said. That's the --
that's the President's view when it comes to this matter.

Q But it's just that it's a really close tie to the White House, and would
the President be comfortable in using this company again for any further
media strategies that he may have to engage in, or is this just part of
free enterprise?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President would want to make sure that the procedures
that are in place are followed, and that's what we would expect if a bid
goes through.

Q Two questions. First, you've said in the past that, on the matter of Matt
Cooper and Judith Miller that the President supports the investigation.
What specific steps is the White House taking to support it? Has the
President called people into the Oval Office?

MR. McCLELLAN: What I said is the President wants to get to the bottom of
the investigation; no one wants to get to the bottom of it more than he
does. It is a very serious matter and the President has said that if
anybody has information, they ought to provide that information to the
prosecutor so that they can continue forward on their investigation.

Q Has he called specific people into the Oval Office to ask them if they --

MR. McCLELLAN: What we made a decision to do was to support the efforts of
the independent prosecutor to move forward on the investigation and that's
what we're doing. If there are any specific questions you have about
individuals, those are questions that are best directed to the special
prosecutor in this matter.

Q And the Ten Commandments decision by the Supreme Court, what's the White
House's reaction to these two decisions?

MR. McCLELLAN: As you point out, there were two cases. In one -- well, and
let me say that in both cases we filed briefs in support of displaying the
Ten Commandments. In the Texas case, it was regarding the Ten Commandments
monument on the grounds of the state capitol. And in the Kentucky case it
was relating to the courthouse there. And first of all, we respect the
Court's decision.

The Ten Commandments in the Texas case, the Ten Commandments monument was
on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol and it is part of a larger
display commemorating state history and culture. And the court agreed that
it is consistent with the First Amendment. Now the court took a different
view than we had on the Kentucky case. But, again, we respect the Court's
decision.

Q Is this the sort of case, the Kentucky case, that could be decided
differently in a future court -- that you were hoping would be decided
differently?

MR. McCLELLAN: Not even going to try to speculate about that.

Go ahead, Ed.

Q Scott, if so much progress has been made in Iraq, why is the public
support dropping so steadily?

MR. McCLELLAN: If so much progress has been made? I think we can go through
and talk about the progresses made. There has been --

Q The question is why --

MR. McCLELLAN: There has been significant progress made in just a year's
time. It takes time to build a democracy. Our own nation went through a lot
of struggles before we were able to build the kind of democracy that
thrives today.

Q But why is public support dropping so much?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we're a nation at war, and war is something that is
very tough. It is tough to see the images of violence on the screens of our
televisions. The terrorists, all they can do is try to -- as Secretary
Rumsfeld and General Abizaid talked about yesterday, all they can do is
seek to grab headlines by spreading their destruction and fear and violence
and attacking innocent civilians. They have no vision to offer, they have
no alternative to offer the Iraqi people. All they seek to do is spread an
ideology of hatred and oppression.

And so when you see those images on your TV screens, people are rightly
disturbed by those images. And that's why it's important, at a time like
this, when it is a critical moment in Iraq, it is important for the
President of the United States, as Commander-in-Chief, to talk to the
American people and to talk to them about the nature of the enemy that we
face, and to talk to them about the way forward to victory in Iraq. We are
succeeding and we will succeed, but it requires that we remain strong in
our resolve. This is when the terrorists are trying to test us and trying
to weaken that resolve.

Q Scott, just to follow up on what Terry was trying to ask -- you said the
President is going to get very specific. I understand he's not going to
shift strategy at all. But, in terms of specifics, is it going to be the
kind of thing where he's going to talk about how many battalions have been
trained in Iraq? Is that the kind of thing you think that Americans don't
know about? Or is it going to be, you know, presenting new initiatives and
new ideas, things we don't know about?

MR. McCLELLAN: Now, this is starting to get more into the speech, and
that's for the President --

Q I'm just trying to --

MR. McCLELLAN: I know, but that's for the President to do tomorrow night.
You're going to hear all this tomorrow night. He will talk about the
importance of training and equipping Iraqi security forces, and where we
are in terms of making progress to do that. There has been a lot of
important progress made. Iraqi forces are standing and fighting the
insurgents, and standing and fighting with coalition forces, they're doing
it on their own. The Iraqi people are also coming forward, providing more
intelligence to help defeat the terrorists and go after them where they
are.

So the Iraqi people continue to assume more and more responsibility not
only on the security front, but also on the political front. They are
taking charge and showing that they want a democratic and peaceful future.
And what we've got to do is continue to stand with them, along with the
rest of the international community, during this time.

Q I guess my question is, beyond discussing, perhaps in great detail,
what's already going on right now, is he going to offer new ideas, new
initiatives, either from the U.S. -- joint initiatives with the U.S. and
other countries -- in order to make what he says the goal -- is possible?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think I would describe it the way I did. You're
going to hear him talk about the strategy we have for succeeding in Iraq,
the strategy we have for victory, and where we are in terms of implementing
that strategy. And one part of that is the military component, and a part
of that is training and equipping the Iraqi security forces and continuing
to make sure that they are fully ready to assume responsibility for their
own defense.

There are different levels of readiness in the various security forces, and
that's something that you've heard our commanders talk about. The
commanders on the ground recognize the progress that's being made, and
understand the importance of continuing to move forward on training and
equipping those security forces.

Q Prime Minister Al Jaafari, in London a little while ago, said that two
years will be more than enough to establish security in his country. What
does the President think of that time frame, and is that a time line that
might send any dangerous signal as you have discussed --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't imagine that's what he was trying to set, some sort
of time line. But I haven't seen his comments, so it's hard for me to
comment directly on what he said without seeing the context of his
comments. I would say, though, that what we have said, and what our
commanders have said is that it's important that those decisions be based
on conditions on the ground. And so we will always look to our commanders
on the ground to make those kinds of decisions. And when the Iraqis are
ready to assume full responsibility for their own security, then our troops
will be able to return home.

Now, as we continue to stand up Iraqi security forces, we can work to stand
down some of our forces. But it will be based on conditions on the ground.

Go ahead, Les.

Q Scott, regarding what has been extensively reported by the Times of both
New York and Washington, as well as The Washington Post, does the President
agree with Senators Clinton and Schumer and Governor Pataki that it is
wrong for the federally unrecognized Shinnecock Indians of Long Island to
sue for 3,600 acres of South Hampton vicinity, plus billions of dollars in
back rent and interest in order to build a gambling casino? And I have a
follow-up.

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me take your question and look into it, see if there's
anything else to get to you on it.

Q All right. The President surely honors the federal battlefield and
cemeteries for all of those killed at Gettysburg, including a good number
of Texans. So does he believe that one and a half miles from this hallowed
ground, there should be allowed the erection of a gambling casino or not?

MR. McCLELLAN: Les, I haven't even looked into these issues. I will be glad
to take a look into them.

Q Extensively featuring --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think he's stated his views broadly when it comes to
gambling, and I'll leave it where he's left it. In terms of these are
individual matters related to states or localities, obviously, that's a
decision --

Q He's opposed, in other words.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- that's decisions for them to make. But the President has
made his views known when it comes to --

Q He's opposed, then, to --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- when it comes to gambling.

Q -- these gambling casinos, right?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if it's a state matter or a local matter, we don't
tend to insert ourselves into it. If it's a federal matter, I'll be glad to
take a look into it and see what else we can go you on it.

Q Thank you very much.

Q Chancellor Schr der had some comments about Iran on the way -- on the
flight over here that seem to acknowledge Iran's rights to develop nuclear
energy. And yet he said, when he was in the presence of the President, that
it was important that there be a crystal-clear message to Iran about that.
Are you comfortable that the Germans feel that Iran should not only not
have a nuclear weapons program, should not have anything that might morph
into a nuclear weapons program?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you heard from the two leaders. They did
discuss the importance of continuing to send a strong, tough message to the
regime in Iran. This isn't a question about the rights of the Iranian
people. The Iranian people are denied most of their rights. We're concerned
about the unelected few who run the country. This is a regime that has
raised a lot of concerns because of its past actions. It has a history of
concealing and hiding its nuclear activities from the international
community. It has a history of violating its international obligations, and
so that raises serious concerns.

The concern is that the unelected few are trying to develop nuclear weapons
under the cover of a civilian program. That's why we believe it's so
important that there be an objective guarantee in place to make sure that
they are not developing nuclear weapons. That means a permanent end to
uranium enrichment and reprocessing-related activity. That would be the
kind of guarantee needed to build confidence with the international
community that their intentions are not to develop nuclear weapons.

In terms of the Iranian people, we continue to stand with the Iranian
people who seek greater freedom.

Go ahead, John.

Q Scott, could you talk a little bit more about the nature of the enemy?
And what I'm specifically wondering about is, it seems that a significant
percentage of the terrorists involved in the violence in Iraq are not
Iraqis. And I'm wondering if you can say whether the non-Iraqi percentage
is going up? And if that's a concern, if that's the case, is there anything
more the United States can do to stop the flow of those people into Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's a good question. I think this is some of what you're
going to hear more from the President tomorrow night. The President will
talk about -- as General Abizaid pointed out in testimony last week to
Congress -- the growing number of foreign terrorists that are coming into
Iraq. That's why I said that the terrorists have chosen to make Iraq a
central front in the war on terrorism. They recognize what is at stake
here: their survival is at stake, because a free Iraq will help send a
message to the rest of the Middle East and those people in the Middle East
who seek greater freedom. It will be a powerful force for transforming a
dangerous region in the world. And we've got to continue to work to train
and equip Iraqi security forces so they can ultimately defeat the
insurgency.

And we'll continue to take the fight to the enemy. That's why we're
fighting them in Iraq, and we're not fighting them here at home. We're
fighting them in Iraq so that we can defeat them abroad, so we don't have
to fight them here at home. That's one of the lessons of September 11th, is
that we must take the fight to the enemy, and that's exactly what this
President has done and will continue to do. And we recognize how high the
stakes are in Iraq, and we will succeed.

Q Thank you. I have one question, but part of a Supreme Court question.

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay.

Q According to published reports, Mexican President Vicente Fox has failed
to reform Mexico. Does President Bush believe any new Mexican President can
stop the immigration problem between these two countries?

MR. McCLELLAN: We've worked closely with President Fox. The President has
known him for quite some time, going back to his days in Texas as governor.
And we will continue working closely with President Fox for the duration of
his term in office.

In terms of elections in any particular country, we don't insert -- we
don't insert ourselves into those internal political matters. That's for
the people of Mexico to decide. And in terms of immigration, I think the
President has spelled out what our proposals are for moving forward on
strengthening our borders, as well as moving forward on a temporary worker
program to implement a more humane and compassionate immigration system,
and to address an important economic need.

Q Thank you. The Supreme Court -- I know you have answered a lot of the
questions. But the decision banning the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky
courthouse while allowing them in front of the Texas capitol seems
contradictory. Do such decisions intensify the President's desire to
appoint more conservatives to the high Court?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, and again, there is no vacancy that I'm aware of at
this point. So we're not going to get into speculating about any potential
vacancy. We have a process in place, and we've been preparing for any
potential vacancy, if one should occur. But I'm not aware of any such
vacancy that's been announced at this point, so I don't want to get into
speculating about it.

In terms of the Ten Commandments decision, I think I addressed that when
Jessica asked the question earlier. And we supported the display of the
commandments in both of these cases for reasons that we stated in the
briefs.

Anything else?

Q I've got a quick one. There was a report today that the administration is
supporting plutonium production. Is this correct, and is that true?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, let me give you an update on that. I'm glad you brought
that up. First of all, this is a matter under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Energy, and the plutonium that we're talking is not -- is
non-weapons-grade plutonium. The Department of Energy is responsible for
producing significant heat and electricity power systems that would require
no maintenance in places like deep space. And plutonium-238, which we're
talking about, is the substance that makes that feasible. Such power
systems are used in support of deep space exploration missions and certain
national security applications. But, again, we're not talking about any
weapons-grade plutonium.

And I think the Department of Energy can probably talk to you more about
why we need to produce it.

Q Speaking of that, how's the Mars project coming along? (Laughter.)

Q Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you all.

END 2:38 P.M. EDT

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