Text 1527, 704 rader
Skriven 2005-10-06 23:33:38 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0510066) for Thu, 2005 Oct 6
===================================================
===========================================================================
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 6, 2005

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Press Briefing
"); //--> view


12:12 P.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. I want to begin with an update on
the Supreme Court confirmation process. Harriet Miers, the President's
nominee to the Supreme Court, has now met with 10 senators -- before today
met with 10 senators, as part of her courtesy visits. She has been meeting
with additional senators today. By the end of the day she will have met
with 14 members of the United States Senate. Today she's meeting with
senators Graham, Brownback, Kyl and Durbin.

I am also pleased to announce today that Senator Dan Coats will serve in an
informal capacity as advisor to the President's Supreme Court nominee
Harriet Miers, much as Fred Thompson -- Senator Fred Thompson did for Chief
Justice Roberts. Senator Coats will be working closely with the nominee and
serving as a public advocate for her. He will help advise her throughout
the process. Senator Coats' role will be to attend meetings with senators
on Harriet's courtesy visits. He is a well-respected senator,
well-respected on both sides of the aisle. He most recently served as
ambassador to Germany for the administration, for the President. The
President greatly appreciates his willingness to serve, and we're delighted
to have him as part our team working to confirm Harriet Miers to the
Supreme Court.

And with that, I will be glad to go to questions. Jessica.

Q Scott, the President said today in his speech that there were 10 al Qaeda
attacks that have been averted since 2001. Can you tell us what they were?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's right. Some of them are known publicly, like the
capture of Jose Padilla and Iman Faris . Jose Padilla, if you remember, was
involved in plots involving the possibility of a dirty bomb, and then Iman
Faris was someone who had been in contact with people like Khalid Shaikh
Muhammed and captured with plots looking at a -- blowing up or destroying a
New York bridge. And then there are other incidents that are still
classified.

Q You can't give us any more details?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, those are two public matters that would be in
reference -- what he was referencing in some of his remarks that you're
referring to. And then in terms of other ones, we'll continue to make
information available publicly, as we are able to do so.

Q Can you give us a sense of when they were, or how recently these were
averted?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I just mentioned two.

Q Those are the only public ones?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, those are two off the top of my head. I'll be glad to
see what additional information we can get you. Some of that information is
classified, though.

Q Why is this the first time we've heard about these eight others from the
President?

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I think he's talked -- I think he talked back in
June about some incidents that we had disrupted.

Q Has he enumerated an actual --

MR. McCLELLAN: And plots that we had disrupted. The President talked in his
remarks about how we have taken the offensive and gone after and disrupted
and dismantled much of al Qaeda's senior leadership, and we continue to do
so.

Q But why right now reveal --

MR. McCLELLAN: You said why just now, and I would refer you back to some of
his June remarks when he's talked about it.

Go ahead, Tom.

Q Scott, is there an interagency meeting at the White House today on Iran,
and if so, what's that all about?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, there's not a meeting today.

Q Are we moving -- in what direction are we moving in? Because we've got
Tony Blair complaining that maybe Iran was supplying explosives to
insurgents in Iraq, but then on the other hand, there look like there might
be suggestions in the State Department for having some kind of a U.S.
intrasection in Tehran. Are we moving one --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think you're referring to a newspaper article from today,
and then some of the reports -- British reports coming out about comments
made by Prime Minister Blair and others regarding Iran, or the possibility
of Iran supporting some of the insurgents. And my understanding is that the
British government is continuing to work to establish the facts when it
comes to whether or not there was Iranian government involvement.
Certainly, that would be unacceptable if there was. So that's something
that the British continue to look into. Obviously, it would be a concern to
us.

In terms of this newspaper article, we are not contemplating any change in
our policy that would broaden our diplomatic engagement with Iran. There
are known communication channels, if needed, to talk about issues of mutual
concern. If anything, our policy is only toughening when it comes to Iran.
We are more troubled by some of Iran's recent behavior and action than we
have been.

Q Scott, all this talk about a radical Islamic empire stretching from
Europe across to southeast Asia, even some Republicans are saying that it
has the appearance of the President trying to cover up bad policy in Iraq
by unduly alarming people.

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't heard any Republicans say that. Do you have one in
mind?

Q A couple in mind, yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, do you want to share them with me?

Q You can call them and ask them, but I'm just wondering what you think of
that?

MR. McCLELLAN: I -- you made a statement. I haven't heard any Republican
make such allegation. So I was just wondering where that came from.

Q Part of the eight. (Laughter.)

Q What's your response to the allegation that you're trying to cover up bad
policy in Iraq by unduly alarming people?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's an allegation by John Roberts.

Q Pardon me?

MR. McCLELLAN: Are you saying it's an allegation by John Roberts?

Q It's not my allegation, no.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, go and look at what the President said in his remarks.
Today's speech is one in a series of speeches that the President continues
to make about the war on terrorism. It's important to understand the nature
of the enemy that we face. This is a determined and lethal enemy with a
clear strategy. The President outlined that strategy in his remarks. He
quoted some of the leaders of this radical ideology that they seek to
spread. And he laid out very clearly what their strategy is. I think you
can go and look at some of the propaganda and comments that terrorists have
made, and it clearly shows what their strategy and what their goals and
what their beliefs are.

Q Does he really think they could take over countries like Italy, Spain,
Austria, France?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is an enemy that is patient, it is determined, and it
is lethal. It is a enemy that is determined to spread a hateful ideology.
And what they first want to do is try to establish a safe haven. We took
away a safe haven from them when we went into Afghanistan and liberated the
people of Afghanistan. They want to establish a country that could be a
safe haven from which they could plan and plot their attacks and be able to
topple non-radical Muslim governments in the Middle East, and then carry
out attacks against the civilized world.

That's why the President made the decision after September 11th that we
were going to take the fight to the enemy, that the way to defeat this
enemy is to take the fight to them and to spread freedom and democracy to
defeat their hateful, murderous ideology.

Q But again, does he really believe that they could take over western
countries like Spain and France?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's what their strategy -- go back and look at what the
President said in his remarks, because he clearly spelled out what their
strategy is. I'm not sure that he characterized it the same way as you just
did.

Q Does he think that's realistic?

MR. McCLELLAN: Look at his remarks. They very much have a strategy --

Q He warned of a radical Islamic empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- much like the strategy of communism to dominate and
intimidate the world.

Q Scott, what were the three targets of the attacks inside the United
States that the President said were thwarted today?

MR. McCLELLAN: He cited a couple of specific examples of what he was
talking about in his remarks. In terms of other examples, some of that
information is still classified information, and if we can make more
information available publicly, we will.

Q But can you say whether it was infrastructure, or whether it was oil
refineries, or what type of target?

MR. McCLELLAN: I just cited two examples of what he's referring to in his
remarks that are publicly known, and if there's additional information
we'll be glad to get that to you.

Q Just one last thing on this. He said the United States and its partners
on the 10 plots that were thwarted. What were the other countries involved?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you're asking me to talk about some classified
information. Some of this information is publicly known. I cited two
examples. I think there's probably some additional information that is
already publicly known. We work very closely with partners around the world
to dismantle terrorist networks and disrupt plots from happening in the
first place. We stay in close contact with governments around the world
that are committed to waging and winning this global war on terrorism. And
some of that information -- we'll be glad to point out to you some more
information that is public.

Q Scott, more on the speech. First, on that issue, obviously, after the "16
words incident" sometime ago, we are more interested than usual in having
-- seeing the footnotes that go with the speech. So just as a matter of
maintaining credibility, it would be good if we could get at least outlines
of the brief --

MR. McCLELLAN: I just pointed out some that are public, David, as a matter
of record.

Q Of those -- you pointed out two.

MR. McCLELLAN: It's unfortunate that you make such a comparison, so --

Q Of the two that you pointed out, one was Padilla and the other was the
New York bridge. Were you considering those to be two of the three
incidents within the U.S. that he was referring to?

MR. McCLELLAN: Those were incidents within the United States.

Q Okay, so those count as two of the three. So there's only one left that
you have not described that he was referring to when he said, "breaking up
three incidents in the U.S."

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's very good deduction on your part.

Q Making sure we all understand what it is that we've got. So you've got
one incident that you're saying is remaining classified, you cannot
describe, within the U.S.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I didn't say that. I said, those are two examples right
off the top of my head of examples that it would be referring to in his
remarks.

Now, in terms of the rest of the information, some of that information, for
very important reasons, remains classified, because it goes to sources and
methods and things of that nature as we continue to wage this war on
terrorism. Now, we want to be able to provide you with as much as is
available publicly, or that we can make available publicly, and we'll work
to do that.

Q If you could just check later, just to make sure that within the three
that he described within the U.S., what you folks had in mind was that two
of them were Padilla and the bridge case.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I just indicated that those were two within the U.S.
*

Q Secondly, in references to Syria and Iran, you have talked before about
Syria and expressed a lot of concern about their support. But in the
Iranian case, if I understood the administration's position correctly, we
had not before heard the President himself describe Iran as an ally of
convenience with al Qaeda forces, many of whom are not, obviously, Shiite
forces.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, Iran has been a long-time state supporter of
terrorism.

Q Right. Ally of convenience would seem to match up with al Qaeda in this
case, unless I heard him wrong.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we know that they have a history of supporting
terrorism, and I'll go back and look at that specifically if you want
additional information.

Q Scott, the President had mentioned before about fanatics in history --
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot -- that "consume whole nations in war and genocide
before leaving the stage of history. Evil men obsessed with ambition and
unburdened conscience, must be taken very seriously. Stop them before their
crimes can multiply." Where -- what is the thinking of the administration
in terms of Osama bin Laden's capabilities or power to incite or inspire
others --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as he pointed out in the remarks, it is diminished.
The terrorists are wounded, but they are still capable of carrying out
attacks. And Osama bin Laden is someone that we have on the run. He is
someone that we will bring to justice. We have, as the President pointed
out in his remarks, dismantled much of his senior leadership. Many of his
senior leaders have been brought to justice. There are others that we
continue to pursue. And we are making some important progress. But this is
going to be a long and difficult struggle, and the President emphasized
that in his remarks today.

Q And in terms of the priorities in the war on terror, the hunt for Osama
bin Laden, where does that fall?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's a priority. We continue to pursue him, to bring him to
justice for the crimes he has committed against humanity.

Go ahead.

Q Scott, when you talk about Syria and Iran and that the U.S. is, if
anything, toughening our policy towards Iran particularly, what evidence
has there been that the toughening of policies to date has had any effect
on their alliance of convenience or support of terrorism? And what more
should or can be done? It doesn't look like anything is -- it looks as
though things are getting worse, now, four years after 9/11.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's why the President pointed out in his remarks
it's important to hold regimes like this accountable for their behavior and
for their actions. And that's --

Q Who's going to hold them accountable then?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- that's why we work very closely with the international
community to address these matters and address these concerns that we have.
We have the Europeans working very closely with us to move forward on
reaching an agreement with Iran to stop their pursuit of nuclear weapons.

You saw some of the comments made by the President of the regime in -- at
the United Nations, and it only increases the concerns of the international
community. There is growing concern when it comes to Iran's development of
nuclear weapons.

Q So there's a growing concern, but is there any evidence that that concern
has led to any diminishment of their activities that are troubling you more
today than they were four years ago?

MR. McCLELLAN: They continue to be a state sponsor of terrorism, they
continue to move in the wrong direction. They are out of step with the rest
of the Middle East. They need to stop their support of terrorism; they need
to change their behavior; they need to give their people greater freedom.
Our policy on Iran is very well-known.

Go ahead.

Q Scott, the Senate voted by a huge margin yesterday to put limits on
interrogation -- interrogation techniques. Is the President still going to
veto that measure, despite its passing 90 to --

MR. McCLELLAN: You're referencing a statement of administration policy that
was put out, which said his advisors would recommend a veto if it contained
language that restricted the President's ability to effectively carry out
the war on terrorism. Some of the language that you're referring to we
believe is unnecessary and duplicative. The House did not include such
language in its appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. So now
both chambers have acted on the appropriations bills; it will go to
conference. We have worked with members of the Senate to address some of
these issues and will continue to work with congressional leaders as they
move forward. This is part of the legislative process, and there is more to
go.

Q Okay, so really no change in that SAP then?

MR. McCLELLAN: Our concerns remain what we have stated previously. And
we'll work with members of the United States Congress to address those
issues as it moves forward.

Go ahead, Les. Hang on, there's one more second-row person. Peter.

Q I'm sorry, I'm coming back to Syria and Iran. I'm not quite clear what
we're going to be doing. Does the President's speech signal we're going to
be doing anything more, or further, beyond what the policy -- when you say
the policy is well known?

MR. McCLELLAN: There's a lot we're doing when it comes to talking with the
international community about their behavior and how they are moving in the
wrong direction. There are actions that we have taken already with both
countries. There are actions that we have available to us if need be. And
these are issues -- and the reason he brought it up in his speech was to
point out that these are countries in the broader Middle East region that
have long had ties to terrorism. And that needs to end. If they continue on
that road, they need to be held to account by the international community.

And there are steps that we have taken. There are concerns that we have
raised, and we will continue to raise those concerns, and we will continue
to work with the international community to address these concerns.

Q Are there additional options -- you say there are additional options
available to you to consider. What -- are there options at the moment being
considered?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I think, Peter, it's things that we've talked about at
length recently. There are issues and concerns we have when it comes to
Syria's involvement in the Middle East peace process -- or support for
groups like Hezbollah. There are concerns about the border region and Syria
allowing people to operate within their territory to carry out attacks on
the Iraqi people. We've expressed those concerns. We have raised those
concerns publicly.

Q I'm sorry, the question isn't on concerns. The concerns are laid out, as
you say.

MR. McCLELLAN: You're missing what we've been saying. I think you're
leaving out what we've been talking about recently when it comes to what
those concerns are. We have very publicly, from the President to the
Secretary, talked about what those concerns are. And certainly we have
options available to us, things like the Syrian Accountability Act. We have
options available to us to work with the international community to make
sure that these concerns are addressed and that they're held to account for
their behavior and their actions. And we will continue to do so. We have
become more -- as I said, even more troubled by some of Iran's behavior and
actions.

Q Any reason to think that we're going to avail ourselves to some of these
options in the Syrian Accountability Act --

MR. McCLELLAN: You're asking me to announce things. I'm not here to
announce things today. But I'm saying that these are priority areas and we
continue to work with the international community to address those. And
it's very well-known what we are doing and what we have done and what our
concerns are.

Q Scott, a two-part. The New York Times reports that the pill called
misoprostol, or Cytotec, is an ulcer drug that can induce an abortion for
less than two dollars. And my question: Does the President believe this
should be outlawed, or not?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not sure -- familiar with this ulcer drug.

Q A huge thing in The New York Times. You read The Times, don't you?

MR. McCLELLAN: From time to time. (Laughter.) I think that's -- I'll be
glad to take a look at it, Les, but that might be something you want to
direct to the health experts.

Q Well, I mean, I'd like to know what the President thinks.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that if you're asking about a drug that would
fall under the authority of the FDA, you need to direct those questions to
the Federal Drug Administration.

Q How does the President stand --

MR. McCLELLAN: The President wants to make sure that people -- that those
drugs are safe that people are getting.

Q How does the President stand on the issue of evolution versus intelligent
design?

MR. McCLELLAN: He stands where he stood before, that he believes that
students ought to be exposed to different theories.

Go ahead.

Q Scott, sticking with the topic of drugs, tomorrow's meeting on bird flu,
is one of the main reasons to talk about ways to protect or shield
manufacturers from liability?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one of the concerns that manufacturers have had is
certainly the issue of liability and lawsuits. That is why over the past
decade or so you've had more manufacturers leaving the market, the
"manufacturing a vaccine" market. And so that is certainly one concern. You
have a number of drug makers that have just simply left the business,
including because of their exposure to lawsuits. And the President's focus
is on making sure we're doing all we can to protect the American people.

Avian flu is a global threat that is a serious concern. It's something that
he has been focused on for some time now. We are moving forward on
developing a comprehensive plan to make sure that we are fully prepared to
address the threat that exists, and tomorrow the President will be sitting
down and meeting with a number of major manufacturers to talk about how we
can move forward and make sure that we're prepared to respond in the event
of an outbreak.

And one area where we need to ramp things up is the development of a
vaccine. And so tomorrow he'll be talking about this with some of the
manufacturers, about how do we meet the need and expand the stockpile of
vaccine available for the American people.

Q Does he have a remedy in mind on the liability question?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the meeting is going to take place tomorrow, and we're
going to be discussing that with them. And beyond that, you might want to
talk to the Department of Health and Human Services about some of the steps
that we're already taking to develop a vaccine to help prevent a spread --
the spread of the H5NI virus, and to expand our stockpile of antiviral
medications like Tamiflu.

Q These are domestic and foreign manufacturers?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q And about how many?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't have that for you today. I'll get it for you later.

Q Can you give us anything more on that briefing today on this?

MR. McCLELLAN: Mark, go ahead.

The briefing is taking place after this briefing. So I'll be around after
that, obviously.

Q One more question on the speech. In telling us yesterday that this was
going to be a significant speech, you said that the President was going to
speak in unprecedented detail. What parts of the speech did you have in
mind?

MR. McCLELLAN: About the first half of it. When he talked about the nature
of the enemy.

Q Right, but his points were things that we've heard him say many times
before: that the enemy is determined --

MR. McCLELLAN: He's never spoken in that much detail about the nature of
the enemy, like he did today. He has spoken about the nature of the enemy,
you're correct. But he spoke in very specific and detailed ways about the
nature of the enemy, their strategy and their ambitions and their goals and
their beliefs.

Maybe you missed the first half of the speech, but I would encourage you to
go back and look at it and I'll be glad for you to come up and show me
where he talked about all those things before.

Q That's a little gratuitous to suggest I wasn't listening, Scott, don't
you think?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm sorry about that, Mark.

Q I listened --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, then, it sure didn't seem like it, because I think
most people in this room recognize that it was much greater detail that he
talked about than ever before.

Q Care for a show of hands on that? (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. (Laughter.)

Q Scott, the President said in his speech that the war will take more
sacrifice, time and resolve. Does he think the American people will
continue to support him?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's why it's important to continue to update the American
people about the war on terrorism and the progress that we're making and
the nature of the enemy that we face and the stakes involved, and our
strategy for success, our strategy for winning the war on terrorism. The
President is confident that we will succeed in this global struggle against
a hateful and murderous ideology. And he will continue to talk to the
American people about this highest of priorities.

Q Scott, North Korea is reported to have mandated joint security assurances
by U.S. and Japan first, before they give up their nuclear program. What is
your comment?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there is an agreement that was reached by all parties
to the six-party talks, and we're focused on moving forward on that
agreement. It clearly spells out what needs to be done; there is a
sequencing within that agreement and we expect everybody to abide by that
agreement.

Q Scott, you said there is sequencing in that agreement?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. The principles.

Q The principles. There are principles. Are the principles written in a
sequence: we do this, they do that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, they have to take these steps before they can realize
some of these benefits. And that's the --

Q You're sure that's in the agreement?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- props and the principles that clearly spells out what
needs to be done, and it's based on a sequence. I'm sorry, before they can
realize some of the benefits, like the possibility of having a nuclear
reactor.

Q The U.S. has said there's a sequence, but my recollection from reading
the text is that there are a series of steps, but they're not correlated --

MR. McCLELLAN: The first thing they need to do is promptly act to dismantle
their nuclear programs and verify that those programs have been dismantled.
And that they need to abide by their international obligations. And then
they can start to realize more of the benefits of being part of the
international community.

Q Are you saying that's the U.S. position, or are you saying that's in the
agreement?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll go back and pull for you what we said at the time,
because we specifically pointed that out at the time.

Go ahead, Peter.

Q Have you ever heard the President say that God told him to invade
Afghanistan and Iraq and --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, and I've been in many meetings with him and never heard
such a thing.

Q Are you aware of the -- there's a BBC broadcast tonight that's quoting
the Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as saying that they
were in a meeting with the President in June of '03, and there are some
very detailed quotes here, saying that the President said to them, "God
told me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan,' and I
did," and then "God told me, 'George go and end the tyranny in the Iraq'"
and so forth and so on?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's absurd. He's never made such comments.

Q Were you in the meeting when that took place?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been in meetings with him with President Abbas; I
didn't travel on that trip, if you're talking about to Jordan. But I've
been in many meetings with the President with world leaders where he's
talked about this.

Q So you don't know about the June '03 meeting?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I checked into that report and I stand by what I just
said.

Q Can you recall him ever making a longer speech than this 40-minute
speech?

MR. McCLELLAN: He's made some lengthy speeches before.

Q No, I know, but have you ever heard one longer?

MR. McCLELLAN: I didn't say it was going to be his longest speech; I said
that it would be unprecedented in detail about the nature of the enemy we
face. And I think if you go back and look at the first half of the speech,
you'll recognize that that's the case.

Q Scott, any reaction to the reports last night of the espionage --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry Mark felt offended by it. Sometimes the questions
are gratuitous, too. Go ahead.

Q I was asking for a specific reference that you thought in particular --

MR. McCLELLAN: The whole first part of the speech.

Go ahead.

Q That's not exactly specific.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll give you a copy of it.

Q Reports last night of possible espionage activity in the White House. Any
response to that, any --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, any response to?

Q The ABC report last night, any response to it, in terms of further
investigation?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, it's an ongoing investigation and when there's an
ongoing investigation like this we refer comments to the proper
authorities, and the proper authorities would be the Department of Justice.
We will continue to cooperate fully.

Q Any concern, though, that the security system was so loose that this sort
of thing could happen right in the West Wing?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's asking me to comment about an ongoing investigation.
I think it's important to let the facts come out. So you can refer
questions like that to the Department of Justice.

Q I have a purely administrative question here, can I stipulate that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely.

Q Has any member of the President's staff informed him that in recent days
they have become a subject of the CIA leak investigation?

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, that's an ongoing investigation, too, and the
President directed that we cooperate fully with that investigation. As part
of cooperating fully, that means not commenting on it from here. And I'm
not -- I'm not aware of any --

Q It's an administrative question, too, because --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- I'm not aware of any new developments.

Q I'm sure the President would be interested to know if anybody has become
--

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware of any new developments.

Thank you all.

END 12:42 P.M. EDT

* The Padilla case is an example of a plot to attack inside the United
States that was disrupted. The Faris case is an example of stopping
al-Qaida efforts to case targets inside the United States.
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051006-6.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)