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Skriven 2007-06-18 23:31:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070618) for Mon, 2007 Jun 18
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Press Briefing by Tony Snow
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 18, 2007

Press Briefing by Tony Snow White House Conference Center Briefing Room

˙ /news/releases/2007/06/20070618.wm.v.html ˙˙Press Briefings
˙˙Audio


12:41 P.M. EDT

MR. SNOW: Good afternoon. One thing to add to this morning's gaggle -- the
President this morning had a 52-minute secure video teleconference with the
members of the presidential council in Iraq -- the Prime Minister, the
President and the two Vice Presidents. The President got a briefing on
ongoing activities among all the parties, in terms of pursuing political,
economic and security reforms. Also expressed his support for their working
together, especially considering what has gone on recently in Iraq, the
attacks in Samarra, and, at the same time, continued to issue -- to
reaffirm his support for moving forward vigorously on, again, as I
mentioned, political, economic and security fronts.

Q Is the United States concerned that in resuming aid to only half of the
Palestinians, that Syria and Iran will step in and fill that void?

MR. SNOW: I'll tell you what, rather than my trying to go through in great
detail, Secretary Rice is going to be having a press conference between
about 1:15 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., and she's going to be laying out the way
forward in the Middle East, and I'll defer the questions to her.

Q During the video teleconference did the President very directly express
his impatience about the lack of political movement?

MR. SNOW: No, what he did is he once again reaffirmed the importance of
political movement, but it's something that they've shared -- one of the
things that is happening is that this presidential council is becoming, as
they expressed, more effective and coherent as an organization, so that you
have not only much closer personal, but professional dealings between the
foreign members -- at one point calling themselves the gang of four.

So I think it's -- the President was impressed and reassured by the sense
of seriousness that he heard in the meeting.

Q Can you tell us anything specific about what that reassurance -- why he
felt reassured, and also address whether or not they're taking a vacation
and whether you know how long that vacation will be?

MR. SNOW: On the second, I don't believe so; and on the first, no, I can't
give you any specifics.

Q You don't believe they're taking a vacation now?

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure; I don't think so. Again, I'll refer it back to --

Q But, Tony, can you give us some sense of why he felt reassured, given
that we've heard reassurances before?

MR. SNOW: Well, again, it is clear that you've got an environment now where
the key leaders are working together on these issues. And, yes, we have
heard a lot of these things before, but without -- and I'm not in a
position to go into the details and what they were saying, but there are
reasons we think they're very serious in moving forward on the key items.

Q But, Tony, we've heard that before, many times.

MR. SNOW: I understand. I understand.

Q I mean, why is there any more reason now to believe that they're serious
about moving forward than there was the last time you said that? Or the
time before?

MR. SNOW: I understand. But, again, I think -- let me put it this way, that
you see that there are tangible efforts going on and I'm just not going to
go into any greater detail, I'm going to let the -- that is a sovereign
government and I will permit them to make the announcements about how
they're doing and where they're going.

Q You think there will be announcements on something about where they're
going?

MR. SNOW: No, I think, again, I'm just going to leave it at that.

Q Tony, do you agree with General Petraeus's assessment that it could take
about a decade to stabilize Iraq, to fully stabilize --

MR. SNOW: Well, what General Petraeus was pointing out -- this is pretty
much standard doctrine when it comes to counterinsurgency, is that
counterinsurgency is something that does take a great amount of time. He
says 10 years. That does not mean that you're going to have people on a
forward combat operation posture for 10 years, but it does mean that -- he
says that it's perfectly conceivable, and that tends to be kind of the
textbook sense of how long such operations take place.

On the other hand, what he also said is, if you take a look at what's going
on in the key areas of concern when we were talking about the Baghdad
security plan -- what were they? They were Anbar and they were Baghdad --
you see signs of progress there. Also it was predictable that there would
be attempts from al Qaeda to move about to Diyala and other places, and he
addressed that.

Q But how does a decade square with the notion of impatience, we've got to
get moving? A decade sounds like a lot longer than --

MR. SNOW: Well, because I think what you're doing is you are assuming that,
when you talk about a decade, you're talking about a decade in precisely
the same kind of posture we're in today. That's not what he was referring
to.

Q Tony, the DOJ has started an investigation of the -- or is considering an
investigation under the Foreign Practices Act of the billions of dollars
that were allegedly paid to Prince Bandar over a period from 1985 to the
present, going through a variety of God knows what projects in the Middle
East and elsewhere. Given the close relationship of Prince Bandar to the
Bush family, to the national security establishment here, and to the office
of the Vice President, is the White House prepared to let such an
investigation proceed and let the chips fall where they may?

MR. SNOW: As you know, the White House does not, in fact, get involved in
making those decisions. That's a Department of Justice decision. I don't
know anything about it. If it's true, they will proceed. I can neither
confirm it nor deny it because I don't know anything about it.

Q Tony, could you elaborate on the embrace of the word "commute" versus
"pardon" when it comes to Lewis "Scooter" Libby?

MR. SNOW: No.

Q Why not?

MR. SNOW: Because we're just not in a position to talk about that.

Q Well, let me ask you this. We understand -- it's been said that the
President's hand was somewhat forced when the judge said that Scooter Libby
would have to serve his sentence, and while a pardon would not be anything
to discuss, but "commute" is something that the White House is embracing
and looking at --

MR. SNOW: April, I'm just not going to talk about anything that's under
discussion or consideration. What we've said is the legal process has to
run its course.

Q Waxman's committee has put out an interim report on the issue of the RNC
emails showing, they say, that there was more use of those emails than the
White House suggested, indicating possibly widespread violation of the
Presidential Records Act. It's, like, 140,000 emails of Rove's, so the
White House Counsel's Office is aware that official business was being
conducted through this party (inaudible) system? Can you respond to all
that and what --

MR. SNOW: Look, I can't respond specifically to things that the committee
may have put out. But those email accounts were set up, A, on a model based
on the prior administration, which had done it the same way, in order to
try to avoid Hatch Act violations. And we'll just -- we'll leave it at
that. I mean, these were designed precisely to avoid Hatch Act violations
that prohibit the use of government assets for certain political
activities.

Q What have you all found in looking at these emails and emails related to
the U.S. attorneys --

MR. SNOW: I don't have any comment.

Q Tony, thank you; two questions. Channel 6 in --

MR. SNOW: I'll tell you what, let me back up -- a couple of things. Number
one, again, I'm still trying to -- Hutch, I'm not sure exactly what you're
trying to get at here. I want to make sure I give you a satisfactory
answer. What you're talking about is?

Q Well, you all are going back and saying, remember, how many you could
save that might be relevant to that inquiry.

MR. SNOW: Right.

Q I'm wondering where that stands. And are you prepared to give up whatever
you found at --

MR. SNOW: Well, number one, I'm not going to get into any conversations we
may be having with Senator Waxman's committee about what they may be
requesting. But, again, the way the system works, any email sent to or
received from White House emails are automatically archived. And the RNC
has had an email preservation policy for White House staffers, as well.
We've sort of been through this -- I'm not sure exactly what the start date
was -- we'll just have to see how Counsel's Office responds to
Representative Waxman's request.

Q We have been through this, but you were saying at the time there were,
like, 50 staffers -- Waxman is saying, no, it's more like 88, and there are
indications -- I mean, 140,000 emails is a lot of emails.

MR. SNOW: That is a whole lot of email.

Q And that's just Rove, that's not all the other folks.

MR. SNOW: That's a whole lot of email, absolutely right.

Q Have we cut off all funding to Gaza, and has all fuel been cut off?

MR. SNOW: What we have said is that we continue to try to work on providing
humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people, but we also have made it clear
that we will not be supplying directly to Hamas. I think when -- but,
Helen, what I would do is, again, for the specific questions, because
Secretary Rice is going to be addressing all these things in detail within
the next hour.

Q I know, but my specific question is are we going to starve these people,
the Palestinians --

MR. SNOW: Again, it has always been our policy to be providing humanitarian
aid directly to the Palestinian people, and it continues to be.

Q Tony, thank you; two questions. Channel 6 in Portland, Oregon, featured
Mayor Tom Potter of Portland as saying, "I am angered by this morning's
arrest by federal officers of approximately 150 Portland residents who were
working at a local produce company." And my question, how does the
President ever expect to bring under control the illegal immigration
problem when a mayor like Potter openly advocated overlooking existing
federal immigration law regarding these 150 lawbreakers?

MR. SNOW: Was he not talking about an arrest, Lester?

Q Yes.

MR. SNOW: Well, then I hardly see that the mayor was in a position to
circumvent the law.

Q Okay. Second, the New York Times quoted Republican Minority Whip Trent
Lott as saying, with regard to what caused the stopping of the immigration
bill, "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem."
And since you are the first talk radio host ever to be a White House press
secretary, can you tell us, have you or the President learned from
Republican Trent Lott how he has in mind to deal with us without attempting
censorship?

MR. SNOW: No, and I would refer it back to him. But on the other hand,
also, when you talk about a stalled bill, I think it's pretty clear that is
not a stalled bill.

Q On the Mideast peace process in general, does the President have any
regrets that early in his administration he didn't engage more fully in the
process and maybe that has backfired?

MR. SNOW: I think what the President did early on was make it clear that
we're not going to deal with terrorists. Yasser Arafat, as you know, was in
power. He had been the most frequent visitor to this White House in the
previous administration. And President Clinton I think had expressed
considerable exasperation about the lack of returns for it. What the
President had done was maintain a sense of moral clarity about who you're
going to deal with.

But this administration has always been engaged. This is the first
administration the have talked about a two-state solution. And we continue
to work through it. It is pretty clear, on the other hand, that there are
terrorists who, every time there is some inclination of progress, are going
to do what they can to try to get in the way of it. As we have said, the
Palestinian people are going to have to make choices about whom they
support, and we support the emergency government of President Abbas. And,
again, for much fuller detail on that, consult the Secretary of State quite
soon.

Q Do you think that the war in Iraq has helped push the peace process
forward in any way?

MR. SNOW: Don't know. I mean, what I don't think is -- quite often people
say, well, you can't -- you're not focusing on the Middle East because
you're focusing on Iraq. These are all related. As the President has
pointed out before, whenever pro-democracy movements seem to be making some
progress -- Lebanon, for instance -- there are actions that are designed to
derail it. This is part of -- this is part of the larger war on terror, and
we, in fact, remain fully engaged on all fronts.

Q But before the war, the President said that taking out Saddam Hussein
would help stabilize the Middle East. Do you think that's turned out to be
true?

MR. SNOW: Hard to say. I mean, what you saw, for instance, was very swift
change of behavior on the part of Libya. Certainly we continue to work
closely with our other allies in the region. But it is also clear that al
Qaeda is doing whatever it can to try to destabilize. And it is our
commitment not only to fight back against al Qaeda, but to strengthen the
forces of democracy. We continue to support the Siniora government, which
at the beginning of this administration was not in place. So I think it's
very difficult to come up with a sort of glib, one-line description of
what's going on in the region. But it is pretty clear that a lot of people
are putting their lives on the line for the cause of democracy in Iraq,
Lebanon, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And we support them.

Q Tony, on the question of the emails, one of the things that the committee
found was that a significant portion, I think close to half of the emails
had gone between email addresses with a .gov address. How, then, if you say
that this was set up to avoid Hatch Act violations, is that avoiding Hatch
Act violations if these emails --

MR. SNOW: Again, I will let the lawyers work that out. I'm not going to try
to pretend to be the legal --

Q Can the lawyers come talk to us about that?

MR. SNOW: Well, first, let's wait and see what Representative Waxman has to
offer. I'm sure at the appropriate point we will have a response.

Q Following on that, the Chairman says that Alberto Gonzales, then White
House Counsel, that there's evidence to suggest he was aware that Karl Rove
and others were using RNC-related email for government business.

MR. SNOW: Again, that's an allegation and we'll respond to it in due
course.

Q Is this being viewed as a serious concern in the White House now?

MR. SNOW: I have not had a conversation with Fred about it, so I don't
know. I mean, obviously -- let me put it this way, we've seen a number of
times right now where people have been putting together investigations to
see what sticks. They have had very little success so far. This is an
administration that is very careful about obeying the law. We take it
seriously. The White House legal Counsel's Office takes it seriously. And
we will look at whatever requests for information people on the Hill may
have to offer. We have also made it clear that we are willing to cooperate
on a number of fronts, but beyond that, I cannot and shall not go.

Q Two questions, if I may. On Iran, there is now this growing divestment
movement, at least 15 states. Does the administration now have any position
on --

MR. SNOW: That's a federalism issue. We'll let the states make whatever
decisions they need to make.

Q You have no thoughts on it at all?

MR. SNOW: No.

Q And on this Alan Johnston situation in Gaza, does the administration, by
any chance, have any insight into who is holding --

MR. SNOW: Well, if we have inside information we will not share it.

Q Tony, will the President advise Israel to refrain from military action in
Gaza?

MR. SNOW: The President will be meeting with Prime Minister Olmert
tomorrow. We'll give you a readout after they've had their conversation.

Q What does he hope to get out of that meeting?

MR. SNOW: This was a prescheduled meeting, but obviously it's an important
time to be talking about trying to move forward with the Middle East peace
process. This shows our continuing engagement of and support for the
Israeli government and also those who want to pursue a path toward a
two-state solution that's consistent with the Quartet principles.

Q Does Hamas' action in Gaza --

Q How do you pursue a two-state solution when you've got three states?

MR. SNOW: Well, they'll talk about it.

Q Does Hamas' action in Gaza make it easier to move this process forward in
the eyes of the U.S.?

MR. SNOW: Again, I don't want to characterize. What I would do, for all of
these questions, is direct them to the Secretary of State, who will be
speaking soon.

Q You said, essentially, that the President created a moral line in terms
of meeting with Arafat -- dealing with Arafat. But none other than Shimon
Peres has said you have to deal directly with your enemies. So does the
President believe that we -- that the United States should have any direct
contact with people who may be less than morally like Hamas?

MR. SNOW: I think what the President is doing right now is showing support
for our friends. And there are many people in Gaza who I think today are
right now the victims of wholesale abuse of their human rights. And we
support their efforts -- the people who want democracy, who want freedom,
who want stability, who want the ability to build full lives, those are the
folks that we're supporting and continue to support.

Q One could argue that they have democracy, that Hamas was elected a little
bit over a year ago; they're a democratically elected government, and yet
this administration and its allies have sought to undermine them. I wonder
how you square the notion of democracy in the Middle East and undermining a
government when you don't like who is elected.

MR. SNOW: Well, they have actually pursued a constitutional solution right
now. I don't think that what you would call -- correct me if I'm wrong, but
I don't think you've seen a vigorous exercise in democracy in Gaza in
recent days. I think you've seen just the opposite. What this
administration has said is that we will not deal with a terrorist
organization, but we have also invited those in Hamas to go ahead and abide
by the Quartet principles.

Q But is the administration for democracy in the Middle East, regardless of
who gets elected? Or if it doesn't like the results will it go against --

MR. SNOW: We've been through the debating points on this many times. We are
for democracy in the Middle East. We are also against going in, routing out
and slaughtering people you disagree with.

Q Tony, have things eroded so much there that there is a concern that the
President's current efforts will make a difference, realistically?

MR. SNOW: You got to keep -- yes, of course the President -- we believe
that if you support your friends and also -- keep in mind, the United
States, Israel, President Abbas are not the only players. There are also
regional players who are keenly interested in what's going on. And they see
that there are some attempts from the outside to destabilize the region,
and what they want is stability, and they want the assurance that we can,
in fact, move forward. The President is working with leaders throughout the
region, and will continue to do so.

Q So, understanding what you're saying, things are not so far gone that the
President can't make a difference?

MR. SNOW: Well, look, ultimately, what has to -- this is about creating the
ability for the Palestinian people to achieve their destiny as a free
people. This is not simply the President waltzing in; the President doesn't
have a magic wand. But what we are trying to do is to give strength and
support to people who are defending human rights and promoting the cause of
democracy.

Paula.

Q Tomorrow the Senate Finance is taking up an energy tax cut package, and
they're proposing to pay for it by eliminating several tax breaks for oil
and gas companies. Does the White House have a position on that approach?

MR. SNOW: When we get a statement of administration policy I'll let you
know what we may have to say about particular provisions.

Q I guess the reason I'm asking is the President, in the past, has said
that oil and gas companies are making plenty of profits, and do not need a
tax break. So I just wondered if --

MR. SNOW: Again, let's see what we get in the markup, and we'll give you
some response as we see appropriate.

Q In regard to Gaza, how can what's happened be interpreted as anything
other than a serious setback to the President's agenda for democracy in the
Middle East?

MR. SNOW: I think it's a serious setback for the Palestinian people. But on
the other hand, what you've also seen is President Abbas stepping forward,
putting together an emergency government, naming a new Prime Minister, and
taking affirmative steps. And we are certainly going to support him on
that.

You've got to keep in mind terrorists, in fact -- terrorists are going to
do what they can to disrupt the cause of democracy. We've now seen it in
Gaza. We saw it before in Lebanon. We certainly see it in Iraq. We see it
in Afghanistan. That is less a repudiation of the President than a
revelation of the kind of people we're dealing with and why it's important
to assemble international coalitions that are willing to stand up to them
and provide support for the people who are putting their lives on the line
to support democracy.

Q But the administration had encouraged the elections, and now what you've
got is an emergency government forming. How is this --

MR. SNOW: Well, you have an emergency government because a government that
elected itself on a non-corruption pledge now seems to be having moved in a
different direction.

Thank you.

END 1:01 P.M. EDT
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