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Skriven 2006-07-06 23:35:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0607062) for Thu, 2006 Jul 6
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Press Briefing by Tony Snow
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 6, 2006

Press Briefing by Tony Snow
James S. Brady Briefing Room

Press Briefing view


1:00 P.M. EDT

MR. SNOW: This is good. Good to see you all. I'll try to keep this brief,
because I do want to make it for the meeting with our Ambassador to Iraq in
a few minutes.

Obviously, the President is engaged in vigorous outreach to a number of
leaders on the issues of concern. And he had a good meeting with Prime
Minister Harper, as you got to see and we all got to sing "Happy Birthday,"
as well. So, questions. Wow. (Laughter.) This is going to be shorter than I
thought. (Laughter.)

Go ahead.

Q The Mexican elections, the Prime Minister mentioned them in his press
conference with President Bush. I wondered if you can give more details
about it.

MR. SNOW: He simply made the point that he supports the electoral process
in Mexico, which is transparent, and therefore, he is willing to work with
whomever emerges as the winner in the contest.

Q Has he received the news that they are ready to declare a winner?

MR. SNOW: Has it been officially declared? I thought it was to be --

Q Yes.

MR. SNOW: And who was the winner?

Q Calder¢n --

MR. SNOW: Well, both leaders had expressed a willingness, because you know
the numbers have been bouncing around. So what you've told me, and I'm
embarrassed to say, is news to me. I'm sure that there will be
congratulations expressed on both sides quite soon.

Right now, just to give you a sense of the President's schedule, he went
straight from the press briefing with the Prime Minister -- they're in a
working lunch. And as soon as that's over, he'll be meeting in the Oval
Office with Zal Khalilzad.

Q Why a news conference in Chicago tomorrow? What's that about?

MR. SNOW: Keeping you happy. (Laughter.)

Q He can do that here.

MR. SNOW: No, it's -- you know, the President actually -- the President,
you may recall, where was -- was it Laredo? Was it Laredo? I'm trying to
remember which of the stops where --

Q Laredo.

MR. SNOW: -- he did a press conference there. The President likes going
into a place -- and I think you're going to see a little bit more of this
-- likes to go in and spend a little bit of time there, talk to local
leaders, also build some events around a central theme -- in this case,
it's the economy and also the competitiveness initiative. And one of the
other things is to do a press availability, and this will be a press
availability, obviously, for local and national press.

Q Tony, I just want to clarify that. Local reporters and national --

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q Have you gotten a readout on what's happened between Solana and Larajani?

MR. SNOW: No. We'll try to provide whatever guidance -- probably later in
the day, we'll have an NSC readout. It may also -- I don't know if that's
going to fit neatly into the G8 briefing, but we'll try to figure out some
way. Frankly, with the press of events, some of those things are a little
slow in coming, and my apologies.

Q Tony, there are some reports suggesting that North Korea may be within
days of preparing to launch another long-range missile. What is the White
House understanding? There are all kinds of reports flying around.

MR. SNOW: Nobody really has -- I mean, look, even before the launches in
that less than 24-hour period, nobody knew precisely what was going to
happen. I mean, one of the problems in dealing with North Korea is you've
got a society that doesn't communicate with the rest of the world, and, as
the President pointed out in the press conference, simply decided to
launch, after specific requests from all the other parties in the six-party
talks, and after direct, diplomatic discussions with other parties. So we
don't know what's going to happen. What we hope is that there are no
further launches.

It's -- again, let me reiterate a point I made earlier, which is, if the
government of North Korea thinks that it's going to derive some sort of
benefit from doing this, it's wrong. And there is -- all parties involved
are agreed upon that point.

Q Just one quick follow-up. When the President was saying earlier that
stressing diplomacy will take some time --

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q -- was that a reference, in part, to Russia and China seeming to be
reluctant?

MR. SNOW: No, because, you know, what they're not reluctant -- they are not
reluctant about the central theme, which is to figure out how to make the
North Koreans stop. And I think -- I don't want to get too much behind the
scenes on the diplomacy, but I think you'll find out in time that some of
it's been mischaracterized, and I'm not going to go any further than that.
But here's -- the most important thing is, everybody shares the goal not
only of having a -- making sure that there is no nuclear proliferation,
they want a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula. They want the North Koreans to
abide by previous promises to set aside and shut down their nuclear
weapon-building program, and furthermore, to cease with missile launches.
That's the specific desire -- and to return to the six-party talks.

They return to the six-party talks, they behave, and they do it in a way
that's credible, then, all of a sudden, other options become available not
only to the leader, but also to the rest of the country.

And the President made a powerful and important point when he talked about
the fact that you have North Koreans, by some estimates, 2 million or more,
who have starved to death. And you've got a humanitarian crisis within that
country, a deeply closed society, and those people deserve better.

Q Tony, one week ago the President said in the East Room that a missile
launch, a test firing would be unacceptable.

MR. SNOW: It still is.

Q China is now, at least publicly, saying that they're not for harsh
sanctions against North Korea --

MR. SNOW: Well, again, Brett --

Q -- saying that they fear that the regime could crumble and that causes a
refugee problem for them.

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q Barring China's support, what are the tools that you could punish North
Korea --

MR. SNOW: Brett, there are many tools. And already you've seen the
Japanese, for instance, proceeding in their own way in saying, no port
access and no travel available. But I'm not going to lay out for your the
full options because -- neither am I go to start engaging in public
negotiations. The important point that the President made and others made
is that you act as a unit. And don't -- I would caution against drawing any
firm conclusions until this process is over. Some people are making points
publicly, but at the same point -- at the same time, there are discussions
going on, vigorous discussions in the region. Chris Hill, for all I know is
now in Beijing. He is certainly on his way. That's his first stop as he
visits the leaders in the other capitals. And all options are still alive,
and we're going to have to see which option the five parties in the
six-party talks believe are going to be effective in getting the North
Koreans to cease and desist and to return to the negotiating table.

So rather than trying to get into the jousting about what the Chinese may
be saying, or what a Russian official -- let's just wait and see what
happens. I think that's the most important thing. They're going to do as a
unit what they think is going to be most effective in achieving the desired
result.

Q If I could follow, if the first test firing was unacceptable, what's the
potential second test firing?

MR. SNOW: Well, look, we've had seven firings. They're all unacceptable,
each and every one of them. Let's deal with that if and when it happens. I
really -- it's one of these things. Remember -- poor Ivan, I was beating up
on him last week for asking me hypothetical questions.

Q -- three times, you said. (Laughter.)

MR. SNOW: Well, I told you I was never going to answer your question. As it
turned out, I never did. (Laughter.) But the fact is, let's see what
happens. And if it comes to that eventuality, we'll give you a response.

Q But following on Ed, intelligence is indicating that they have other
Taepodong-2s that potentially they could put up on the pad --

MR. SNOW: That is correct. Well, I don't know -- you may have more
intelligence than I. The reports that I've

-- the public reports that I've seen say that there may be an attempt to
get one launch ready. I don't know if that's true, or not. But again, the
smart thing, if the North Koreans really do -- if they really think they're
going to get any benefit out of it, they're just absolutely wrong. And I
think that they're receiving that word not only from the United States, but
from the Japanese and the Chinese. The Chinese have sent their top diplomat
to Pyongyang, as I mentioned this morning. People are making the message as
clear as possible to the regime. We're going to find out if the regime is
going to listen.

Q Tony --

MR. SNOW: Right now, keep it all on North Korea. If it's not on North Korea
--

Q Tony, who is helping North Korea to develop this missile technology? And
also, do you think the six-party talks are a failure? Because at least
China is a failure because China has failed in the six-party talks because
--

MR. SNOW: Okay, the idea the people engaged in diplomacy -- the failure
comes on the part of the government of North Korea. And if you want to talk
about a failed state, here's a state where its people are starving, where
its infrastructure is decrepit, where you've got a leader who is completely
isolated from the rest of the world, where, as Prime Minister Harper ably
put it, wants to be a threat, and is -- that is a failure. That's what a
failure is.

What you're going to have are people trying to speak reason to a government
and to say, you need to abide by your past promises. And if you do, good
things are going to happen. That's how diplomacy works, and it is not a
snap. When a diplomatic initiative is not met with the proper response, it
is not the failure of the people who behaved reasonably, it's the failure
of the people who behaved unreasonably. And I think it is clear to say that
the government of North Korea behaved unreasonably.

Q If I could follow, do you think the United Nations is doing enough to
correct this -- from North Korea? What is the international community doing
--

MR. SNOW: Again, they're talking. This is -- everybody -- it's like you
guys want to do diplomacy with an egg timer. As the President said, it
requires patience and persistence here. You've got a lot of people who have
a lot of ideas about how best to proceed. And it is worth going ahead and
trying to measure different alternatives and debate them out. That's what
they're doing in the United Nations, and that's what our diplomats are
doing in the region. And I can guarantee you, everybody has the same goal:
They don't want to see further launches; they don't want to see a nuclear
Korean Peninsula; and they're going to do everything they can to protect
it.

You've got to keep in mind that the people with the greatest vested
interest in this are the people who live in the neighborhood. So they're
not going to pursue policies that they don't think are going to be
effective. And at this point, I know it's fun to try to sort of play the
chess game about who's going to say what, but very smart, determined,
dedicated and interested minds are trying to apply themselves to the
business of trying to get this resolved peacefully.

Q Will the President have anything new and pithy to say on Larry King
tonight in the prepared statement of sorts? And will he be returning to the
White House from Chicago, or going to Camp David?

MR. SNOW: You mean is he going to say, thank you, Larry, and pull out a
sheet and clear his throat and deliver a statement?

Q Well, the President, although perhaps not as well-spoken as you, is
capable of speaking --

MR. SNOW: Yes. No, he's not going to do a prepared statement. I mean, I
think this is keyed off the President's birthday, and obviously, Larry will
ask whatever he wants. But as somebody who had done interviews of this sort
and been in the business, look, the last thing any interviewer wants is for
somebody to come on and just recite stuff. And so you're going to have the
President and the First Lady --

Q I didn't mean that -- sometimes a question is a means to come up with, if
you will, a prepared answer. Even though it doesn't sound like one. I'm
just asking --

MR. SNOW: Well, far be it for me -- (laughter.) I don't know. I don't have
any clue.

Q What's he going to do, though?

MR. SNOW: Talk to the President. I think the President is going to this
because he wants to do an interview with Larry King -- he and the First
Lady are going to talk to Larry King. And so now what we're doing is
providing a wonderful commercial for Mr. King's broadcast.

We still have North Korea -- Connie, do you have a North Korea question?

Q I do. Tony, what is the timetable by which the President would like the
five nations to come to an agreement on sanctions? And is he concerned that
as this debate goes on, the disagreements embolden the North Koreans?

MR. SNOW: If the North Koreans want to be emboldened by deepening their
failure, that's their business. But I'm not sure that it makes sense to
describe what North Korea

-- I mean, I don't know what you mean by embolden. You mean the fact that
people are debating how to make them stop will make them bolder?

I'm sure that's something that one takes into account. On the other hand,
the North Koreans have to assess the other alternative, which is, if they
continue down this road, what does it mean? The Japanese have already
signaled some pretty clear intentions at least to take some preliminary
steps. I don't know what the Chinese are telling them. The Chinese now
have, as I said, dispatched the top diplomat to the region.

It's important, again, to say that while there are unilateral steps the
nations that have direct diplomatic ties with the North Koreans may take,
the most important thing is what the group together is going to do. There
is a certain sense of urgency in getting it done. There are no timetables
on this, and the last thing that anybody wants to do --

Q -- weeks, not months?

MR. SNOW: We're just talking as long as it takes. And the last thing
anybody wants is to let the North Koreans think -- and one of the
assumptions in your question is are we going to let them drive the bus? And
the answer is, no.

Q (inaudible) -- mentioned yesterday, any kind of sanctions against North
Korea will be regarded as an act of war. Therefore, North Korea will take
full-scale counter-measures against North Korea. What will be your comment
on that?

MR. SNOW: North Korea will take countermeasures against North Korea?

Q Against the -- I mean, United States, or any of the five?

MR. SNOW: I would characterize that as an act of rhetoric.

Q Yes, Tony. Two questions.

MR. SNOW: First, is that North Korea?

Q Yes, the first is North Korea.

MR. SNOW: Okay, we will divide the first and let the second die a crib
death. Go ahead. (Laughter.)

Q Before North Korea launched its missiles on July 4th, the President said
the U.S. would attempt to shoot down any missiles headed towards U.S.
territory, but it was civil -- but it was Cold War policy of launch on
warning that kept the uneasy peace between the Soviet Union and U.S. for 40
years. And my question, has the U.S. abandoned its launch on warning
policy?

MR. SNOW: I'm not going to get into the vagaries of --

Q -- if I could finish. Is it not a signal of weakness to our enemies, many
of them stateless terrorists, to suggest the U.S. will absorb a first
strike before retaliating with their own nuclear weapons?

MR. SNOW: That's one of the all time great preposterous questions.
(Laughter.)

Q Coming from the network. And I don't think it's preposterous.

MR. SNOW: Well, memo to boss is, send the weak stuff back. No, look, I do
think it's preposterous. And it's one of these things where this is
something that has not come into play, and I'm not going to -- the United
States reserves all options to defend itself. And I am going to go no
further than that.

Q Can I come back?

MR. SNOW: I hope so. We'll see.

Q Do current military obligations in any way limit or restrict potential
U.S. responses to North Korea?

MR. SNOW: Not that I'm aware of, but that's probably better posed to the
Pentagon, which would have -- it's not a question that I can give you an
informed answer to.

Q Doesn't the White House operate under some parameters of what can be
done, given --

MR. SNOW: I'm sure they do, but again, I'm not sitting around in the
war-planning sessions should their be any such things, and I'm not aware of
any. So everybody, relax, stand down. So I mean, I honestly don't know how
to answer your question. I really do think that's one -- the President, as
Commander-in-Chief, as you know, delegates considerable authority to his
commanders. And, yes, there are rules and parameters. I just can't help you
on it. I mean if you want a quick answer to it, give Eric Ruff a ring over
at the Pentagon, and he may be able to give you something more precise. I
just don't want to mislead you.

Q Tony, can you expand on the President's statement today that Kim Jong-il
is going to be less of a threat, the more he is isolated? Some experts say
that with a leader as unstable as he is, if he's backed to a wall, he could
do just about anything.

MR. SNOW: Well, this gets into the tea leaf reading about is he sane or is
he not, and I'm afraid I can't answer it. There is also this -- you've
heard, Brett -- a lot of people think, well the theory -- and the Wall
Street Journal has this as an editorial -- is that in the past, by behaving
badly, he has received certain benefits and emoluments. The only thing I
can say, again, is that if that's what he thinks, he's miscalculated in
this case. But it is notoriously difficult to read his mind, and therefore,
I really don't want to try to engage in scenario building based on that.

Obviously, anybody -- let me put it this way -- I think the President made
the point is that you plan for the worst and hope for the best. So when
you're thinking through scenarios, you think through every possible
scenario, how you coordinate and respond. But for me to start running
through those, I don't think is appropriate right here.

Q Somebody must be advising him from outside, or helping him to go to pick
a fight with the international community in this time of --

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure that's the case. I mean, I'm really not sure, Goyal.
And the other thing is -- one of the other dangers here is that North Korea
-- again, North Korea, with these launches, is trying to provoke. It's
trying to get people to panic. It's trying to get people to respond. It's
trying to get people to say that the government is a threat, and by golly,
what we need to do is to appease them. And that is simply not the way the
international community has responded.

One of the results of extended diplomacy on the part of this administration
has been to bring together people who, in the past, were afraid -- or I
shouldn't say afraid -- who were more reluctant to challenge -- what are
you guys doing -- who are a bit reluctant to go ahead and push the North
Koreans. And I think what you now see is concerted pressure from everybody
in the neighborhood to do so.

Q Can I ask a domestic question --

MR. SNOW: Well, first, I promised -- Kevin, you got one?

Q Yeah, a North Korea question. I just want to make sure I'm clear.
Essentially, it doesn't matter how many tests or missiles they send up, the
American stance is going to be the same diplomatically in that we're going
to keep trying to encourage them to go to the six-party talks --

MR. SNOW: No, I think. No, no. No, I don't want you to get the sense that
it doesn't matter how many missiles they send off. Each one matters. The
other thing is, it does take time to assess what's going on. The President
talked a little bit, as I mentioned, in the past couple of days -- you take
a look at the telemetry. What can you conclude based on what seems to have
been a designed flight path. And when you have something that's up for 42
seconds, in the case of the Taepodong-2, it takes time to figure that out.

You may recall the Taepodong-1 launch back in 1998, we didn't even know it
was a three-stager for some time. It is a fairly complex business to try to
do the research. And I guarantee you, the Russians are doing the same
thing, and the Chinese are doing the same, and the Japanese, and the South
Koreans. Everybody is trying right now to take a look at the data, and it
takes longer to assemble than we might like, but it's going to take time.

Each and every launch is unacceptable. And, again, you do not take them
lightly. And I think what's become clear is that the North Koreans, at
least so far, have been perfectly happy to defy all of their neighbors in
doing this. And I think that it's probably going to add to the resolve for
getting this done right and getting it done quickly.

Q One other question, Tony?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q Hamas has threatened to murder that 19-year-old Israeli corporal that
they captured. In the even that they do and Israel retaliates by hanging
one or more Hamas leaders, the President will not condemn Israel, will he,
since murdering of nine confederate POWs by General Custer in 1864 was
stopped by Colonel Mosbey's hanging eight of Custer's command? There is a
precedent for stopping the murder of prisoners of war in the United States.
If Israel follows that same thing, they will not be condemned by the
President, will they?

MR. SNOW: I amend my characterization of your earlier question. (Laughter.)

Q You are evading the question. You are evading the question, and you know
it.

MR. SNOW: Why didn't you just -- you decided upon specific means of
retaliation, Lester. (Laughter.)

Connie?

Q On the New York ruling on same-sex marriage, does the President have a
reaction to that?

MR. SNOW: Not that I'm aware of. And I have not heard any conversation
about it, so we'll get back to you later on it. I mean, the President's
position on marriage has been consistent and clear.

Q And this one, I don't know if anyone could answer this, but it seems
outrageous -- I mean, I'm sorry Ken Lay died, sorry for his family, but I
don't understand why the creditors can't somehow sue the estate, just
because he died. There's nothing the White House can do to help those poor
people out?

MR. SNOW: As I said yesterday also, when it comes to legal matters, the
White House, we give duly constituted legal authorities who do their work,
and we will allow the court system to process in whatever way, to probate
the estate as it sees fit. I am not going to just --

Q The slate is wiped clean because he died.

MR. SNOW: Well, I can't help you with that.

Q Would you be kind enough to amplify, if you know more travel plans, could
you say that the President, after the Chicago trip is going to go out and
see more of the country?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q How often will he try and do this?

MR. SNOW: It really won't -- I mean, you know how it works. We tend to give
week-ahead views, and I'm not going to go too far ahead on the schedule.
But you will notice it. I mean, it's not going to be like every week
there's going to be such an event. But you're going to see some times where
the President goes out, spends a bit of time in a place, talks with the
leaders, drills into the issues, listens to what they have to say, builds
trips generally around one topic -- in this case, job growth and job
development and economic development. And in this case also, since tomorrow
is a so-called 'jobs day' -- that is, the economic data being released --
it provides a time that is appropriate for doing it.

Q And if I may quickly follow up, when you talk about your desire to get
questions from local press, does that mean format-wise, there will actually
be questions that the President will deliberately say -- call on local
press?

MR. SNOW: Yes. I think we're going to mix it up.

Q I want to ask a question that I asked yesterday. How is civil rights the
cornerstone of this administration?

MR. SNOW: The President has always talked about civil rights as a
cornerstone in a number of ways. It is clear that in this nation, there
have been people who have been left behind, that there was long history of
discrimination in this nation that has been a stain, that American people
have to work together to figure out not merely how to blot the stain, but
how to heal the wounds. And the President has tried to reach out with
faith-based initiatives. He's tried to do it by talking about not only No
Child Left Behind, but also initiatives to allow people the choice to go to
the best available schools.

And I think the way you try to deal with civil rights is to try to create
an atmosphere in which people can lay aside old prejudices and also try to
remove that debris, because that is debris that stands between us and a
better future. And you do that in a number of ways. You do that by building
a stronger economy that can offer jobs to more. You do it by trying to make
sure that everybody has an opportunity to be educated and trained in such a
way as to take full advantage of it. You try to do that by doing family
initiatives, because in many poor neighborhoods in this country there is
one feature that stands out, and that is single-parent households where
people toil heroically, but there is a difference -- and to try to rebuild
families safe and whole.

It's important, when you talk about crime, that somebody can walk the
streets without having to worry about random acts of violence and shooting.
In other words, civil rights is an extension of common sense, which is, in
common sense, what you want to do is to build a society where young men and
women have the opportunity to grow up in safe neighborhoods, attend good
schools, be embraced by parents who love them and whose love they can count
upon, and to do it in a way to know that they are not going to be
victimized because of their race, because of their skin color, and because
of their background.

Civil rights is built around a whole series of programs, and they extend
those same benefits to everybody. But for those who have never had them
before, it is the hope that that is going to help transform their lives. If
you talk about -- there are job training programs. There are reconstruction
programs. There are business grant programs. There are attempts to do
targeted grants. We're going to be seeing some of this, as well. And that's
how you build civil rights.

In many ways, the infrastructure that says bigotry is illegal has been
constructed. But now comes the business of removing the barriers that still
remain in the way, so the American Dream can be accessible to all.

Q Did Hurricane Katrina divert the laying of that cornerstone of civil
rights?

MR. SNOW: No, I think what Hurricane Katrina did was to expose some ways --
to wake everybody up to the difficulty, not only of dealing with natural
disasters, but their aftermath.

Got to go, guys. Thank you very much.

END 1:30 P.M. EDT
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