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Skriven 2006-10-19 23:31:38 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (061019a) for Thu, 2006 Oct 19
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Satellite Interview of the Vice President by WSBT-TV, South Bend, Indiana
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
October 19, 2006

Satellite Interview of the Vice President by WSBT-TV, South Bend, Indiana
2nd Congressional District -
Representative Chris Chocola



1:36 P.M. EDT

Q Well, Mr. Vice President, we recently just had a research firm conduct a
poll for us asking Indiana's Second District voters, these are voters
represented by current Republican Chris Chocola, asked them about the
upcoming November election, which issue was most important to them. The
issue most named was the war in Iraq. Do you agree with those voters? Is
the war in Iraq the most important issue in this upcoming election?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, it's certainly among the top two or three as I
travel the country. I've done about 114 campaigns now, and I talk about the
global war on terror, in particular, and Iraq, as well as the economy,
taxes, a number of other issues.

Q Now, as of right now, more than 70 American troops have died in Iraq this
month. That includes Marine Corporal Aaron Seal, a Marine from our viewing
area in Elkhart. We're on pace right now for the deadliest month in Iraq in
almost two years. With that being the case, what would you say to voters
who are questioning Bush administration policies in Iraq? Why should they
vote for Bush administration policies in this upcoming election?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's always difficult any time you take
casualties. And certainly, this has been a difficult time with respect to
the ongoing conflict in Baghdad. Part of that is a reflection of the fact
that we're doing more, that we're more actively and aggressively involved
in terms of working against the enemy in Iraq.

But you have to look at Iraq within the broader context of the global war
on terror and what we've been able to accomplish. 9/11 was a milestone for
us. It demonstrated that a handful of individuals could get into the United
States and kill 3,000 people that morning and do great damage. And we
decided then to go on offense, which we have done ever since, both with
respect to Afghanistan, Iraq, to those states that sponsor terror, were a
safe haven for terror. And I think it's been very successful.

We've taken down governments in Afghanistan and Iraq, liberated 50 million
people, stood up new democracies. They've had elections, written new
constitutions, and we've made significant progress. We've still got a lot
to do.

The other point that needs to be made, of course, is that we've now gone
over five years without another attack here in the United States, and
that's as a result, I think, of the fact that we have been aggressive in
taking the fight to the enemy overseas, and at the same time, put in place
important measures here at home to safeguard us and allow us to interrupt
and stop attacks against the American homeland.

Q Are you saying that you believe fighting in Iraq has prevented terrorist
attacks on American soil? And if so, why, since there has not been a direct
connection between al Qaeda and Iraq established?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, the fact of the matter is there are connections.
Mr. Zarqawi, who was the lead terrorist in Iraq for three years, fled there
after we went into Afghanistan. He was there before we ever went into Iraq.
The sectarian violence that we see now, in part, has been stimulated by the
fact of al Qaeda attacks intended to try to create conflict between Shia
and Sunni.

The other point that needs to be made here, of course, is that you cannot
do what many Democrats have recommended, which is simply pull out of Iraq
without having a significant impact upon what we're doing in all those
other regions out there. We've got hundreds of thousands of people who, in
effect, have signed on with the United States in the fight against terror.

You've got all those people who've enlisted in the armed forces in
Afghanistan and Iraq. You've got President Musharraf in Pakistan, where
there have been three attempts on his life. He risks his life every day
when he goes to work. He's there very actively engaged with the United
States in going after al Qaeda.

So it's a global problem. It's a worldwide problem. And Iraqi is very much
a part of it. Bin Laden himself has identified Iraq as the central front in
the global war on terror.

Q Now, you've mentioned Democrats talking about pulling out. There are some
Republicans now talking about a timetable, which I know you have been
opposed to. Fred Upton, a local congressman in Michigan, has even mentioned
a timetable for getting American troops out of Iraq. Could that not put
more responsibility on the Iraqi government if you set a time line for when
American troops would leave, and put pressure on the Iraqis to take control
of their country?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the Iraqis are already under considerable
pressure. This government has only been in office about five months, and
there's a great temptation for everybody to demand instant success. And
obviously, there's still an awful lot to do, and they've got a lot to do --
major responsibilities. But when you set a time line for the deployment of
U.S. forces, all you do is then create a situation in which the enemy can
wait until that deadline is passed, and wait for us to withdraw, and then
reassert themselves and go back to their conflict. It's important to
remember, Kirk, that in this battle against the global terrorist threat
that we, in fact, are up against an enemy whose sole strategy is to break
our will. They've never been able to beat us in a stand-up fight. They
can't.

But what they're betting on is that the American people don't have the
stomach for the fight. They look back at Beirut in 1983, or Mogadishu in
1993, when after several Americans were killed, we then withdrew our
forces. If we were to withdraw from Iraq now, or to set a timetable and
then withdraw, all we do is validate that strategy. We say to the
terrorists, you're correct, that the Americans won't stay, won't complete
the mission, and that's the strategy that they've pursued all along. We
can't allow them to succeed.

Q Before we let you go, I want to switch to the economy quickly. One of the
issues, the stock market has had a surge lately. Many experts have
attributed that to lower gas prices. We get emails from our viewers
concerned about the timing of the drop in gas prices closing in the
election. What would you tell a voter concerned that gas prices lowering
has something to do with it being an election year?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, we don't control gasoline prices.
There may be people out there who think we do, but we don't. Gasoline
prices have come down, and that's a good thing. They've come down primarily
in response to market forces, to the fact that inventories have been
building, and we've had considerable success with respect to production
around the world, and we're now in a situation where the balance between
supply and demand has moved in a direction that's led to a significant
reduction in the price of crude oil. And that, in turn, has led to a
reduction in the price of gasoline.

There's no great mystery about it. It's fact. The fact is, the economy is
in superb shape. We've got all-time record highs on the Dow Jones
Industrials again today. We've got 6.6 million new jobs added over the
course of the last three years. Inflation is down. Productivity is up. Home
ownership is at an all-time record high. Chris Chocola has been very much a
part of that, supported those policies. And the Democrats have voted
against the tax cuts that created the prosperity that we're now enjoying.

Q Some army generals in Iraq have come out publicly criticizing Donald
Rumsfeld's performance in Iraq, some urging him to be fired. Do you still
support Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld? And give us an assessment of
what you think of his performance in relation to Iraq?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I absolutely do support Secretary Rumsfeld. He's been a
superb Secretary of Defense. I know a little bit about the job. The fact is
that he's done a superb job for us under extraordinarily difficult
circumstances. And the President and both have great confidence in him.

Q Now, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Asia this week dealing
with the North Korea nuclear crisis. Given China's close relationship with
North Korea, how big of a key is it that China and the United States at
least find some common ground, considerable common ground to avoid a war in
light of the rhetoric the North Korean government is using right now?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: China is very important in this process in terms of
managing the North Korean threat. They have more extensive economic ties
and relationships with North Korea, more trade than anybody else. They've
got an 800-mile border with North Korea. And if we're going to get the
North Korea government to come around and understand they need to give up
their aspirations to acquire an inventory of nuclear weapons, China will be
key. And ever since North Korea announced that they had tested a nuclear
weapon, China has been I think more actively and aggressively engaged in
this process than ever before, so hopefully, we'll be successful.

The U.N. now voted last week a unanimous set of resolutions and very
important from the standpoint of moving forward on the North Korean
problem. I expect they will continue to cooperate, that is the Chinese
will. And I think the combined efforts of the Chinese, the Japanese, the
U.S., the South Koreans, and the Russians hopefully will be able to resolve
this diplomatically.

Q All right, the Vice President of the United States, we thank you for your
time.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Kirk.

END 1:46 P.M. EDT
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