Text 575, 517 rader
Skriven 2005-03-02 23:33:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (050302d) for Wed, 2005 Mar 2
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Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 2, 2005

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan



PRESS BRIEFING BY SCOTT McCLELLAN
Iran........................................1-2, 10, 14-16 Social
Security.................................2-8, 12-13 Syria/troops in
Lebanon........................9-10, 15-16 Supreme Court/Ten
Commandments..........................10 Iraqi judge
killed......................................12 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of
the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________ For Immediate
Release March 2, 2005 PRESS BRIEFING BY SCOTT McCLELLAN James S. Brady
Press Briefing Room 12:51 P.M. EST MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon. The
President looks forward, here shortly, to go over to the Capitol to pay
tribute to Jackie Robinson, who will be honored posthumously with the
Congressional Medal of Honor. Following that, the President looks forward
to welcoming the World Series champions, Boston Red Sox to the White House,
and congratulating them on their great victory. And then this afternoon,
the President has a meeting scheduled with some members of Congress to
continue talking about our efforts to strengthen Social Security and the
need to act this year to do so because of the problems facing Social
Security. You all heard testimony from Chairman Greenspan this morning
talking about the need to address this unfunded liability, and he talked
about the importance of acting sooner, rather than later, because the
choices only become -- as he put it -- more painful if we wait and do not
act. With that, I'll be glad to go to questions. Steve. Q Where do you
stand on the Iran question in the wake of Secretary Rice's visit to the
European Union? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, she had further discussions with her
European counterparts about how we can move forward together on a common
strategy to get Iran to abandon any ambitions for a nuclear weapon. We want
to do our part to support the European efforts. This is about strengthening
their diplomatic approach to resolving this matter. And so we've continued
to discuss this issue with our European friends. The President has been
looking at ways that we can help and do our part to make sure we're doing
everything we can to support those efforts. We want those efforts to
succeed. You understand why we've been skeptical about Iran's intentions,
because for some 20 years they have hid their activities from the
international community. But the European efforts are important efforts. We
want to see them succeed, and we want to do our part to help. Q Are you
negotiating elements of this common strategy, including the economic
incentives? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the issue here is really about Iran's
behavior and what Iran's intentions are. And the question is, what is Iran
going to do to come into full compliance with its international
obligations. The international community is sending a very clear, unified
message to Iran that it should give up any ambitions to develop a nuclear
weapon, that it should come into full compliance with its international
obligations, and that it should cooperate fully with the International
Atomic Energy Agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency has pointed
out that there has been some cooperation, but they have much more to do.
And we expect Iran to live up to its international obligations. And
Secretary Rice is now back here. She was having a lunch here, and a short
time ago, just a few minutes ago she stopped by the Oval Office. And so
we're continuing to look at these issues, and when there's more to say,
obviously we will at this point. Q She gave him an update on her
conversations? MR. McCLELLAN: She just went in there a few minutes ago, so
I expect that she will certainly talk with him about those discussions that
she had with her European counterparts. The President had very good
meetings last week with the European -- with each of the European leaders
who are involved in these efforts. Q Scott, a month ago, Chairman Greenspan
urged a go-slow approach on Social Security reform. Today he stressed the
urgency of it. What changed? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you're probably
talking about two different things here. What Chairman Greenspan was
referring to two months ago was talking about how we phase in the personal
accounts, and by acting now we will have more time to go about that
approach and phase it -- phase it in. The President has called for a plan
that phases in those personal accounts over time. So -- and today, what he
was talking about is that if you're going to make changes to Social
Security, you need to do them sooner rather than later, because if you
wait, the solutions -- this is his quote -- "the solutions are going to be
very painful." The fact is, that in 2008 -- and I think Chairman Greenspan
touched on this a little bit -- in 2008, the first baby boomers are going
to start retiring. You have a lessening amount of workers paying for a
growing number of retirees. And the current system cannot sustain that over
time. It's an unsustainable liability that is facing the system of more
than $10 trillion. By 2018, you're going to have shortfalls start to be
experienced and what is being paid out is going to exceed what's coming
into the system. And that's why we need to act now. There are serious
problems facing Social Security, and it only gets worse over time, and it
only -- and it starts costing $600 billion each year you wait to act.
That's why it's important to act now when the choices -- you have more
choices available to you for addressing this problem. Q The battle lines on
both sides here are becoming increasingly sharp. Is the President concerned
about the depth of the political battle that this issue is igniting? MR.
McCLELLAN: The depth of it? The President believes he was elected to lead
and act and address problems. That's what the American people elected us to
do. This is one of the biggest problems facing the American people. It
affects every American. And that's why the President is really just now
stepping up our efforts to engage the American people in this national
discussion. We are going to be blanketing the country, senior White House
officials, Cabinet officials, talking with the American people and
educating them about what those problems are facing Social Security and the
need to act on a solution this year. The President has never been afraid to
take on the big priorities facing this country. He knows these are
difficult issues, but it was a difficult issue when he took on the
education reforms, it was a difficult issue when he took on Medicare
reform, it was a difficult issue when he advocated tax cuts to get out
economy growing again. And we were able to accomplish big things because
people put aside some of their partisan differences and said, let's get
things done. Q Scott, you talked about -- Q I give the floor to my
colleagues. Q You talk about acting right -- MR. McCLELLAN: Deb is waiting
patiently. Q Well, what, I have not been? MR. McCLELLAN: No. Q Just because
John gave her the imprimatur there? MR. McCLELLAN: You have not been. But
I'll get to you in a minute. Q Would the President view it as a defeat if
Social Security reform did not pass this year? And why does it have to pass
this year? MR. McCLELLAN: I think -- well, because for the reasons that I
stated, and for the reasons that Chairman Greenspan highlighted in his
testimony today. It's important that we act now because the problem only
gets worse with time. As I pointed out, it costs an additional $600 billion
each year that we wait to fix the problem. The President wants to make
Social Security permanently sound, and he wants to strengthen it for our
younger workers so that they can realize a greater rate of return on their
retirement savings. This approach will not change anything for those who
are now retired or those who were born before 1950. And one of the issues
that has been out there is that some are trying to engage today's seniors
in saying this is going to affect you. Well, it's not. It's not going to
have any changes for today's seniors. What this is about -- Q Would the
President view it as a defeat -- MR. McCLELLAN: Well, hang on -- what this
is about is strengthening it for our children and grandchildren while
making sure that our current retirees and near retirees continue to receive
the exact coverage that they've been promised. Q But, Scott, the people who
are saying, we've got to act now, get it passed this year, don't have to
face the voters next year. Those people, the actual lawmakers in this
country, on the Republican side, are saying, maybe not so fast. You had
Senator Frist, who is saying it may not even get done this year. He
couldn't say whether it would be weeks or months or even a year. You have
Tom DeLay on the House side saying, there are months worth of dialogue that
needs to happen. There is a certain amount of pessimism and concern among
Republicans about actually getting this done. So, how does the President
deal with that? MR. McCLELLAN: Leadership is about confronting the big
challenges that we face, and the American people will reward those who act
to address the big problems that this country faces. That's the message
that the President is sending. The American people expect us, when they --
when we see problems, to work together in a bipartisan way to solve those
problems. And that's what leadership is about. That's why the President is
going to lead. Q I assume he said that to Senator Frist and Tom DeLay, and
they are still making public comments that seem to convey a -- less of a
sense of urgency than the President is communicating. MR. McCLELLAN: I
don't think so. Senator Frist actually, yesterday, said that he was
encouraged by the progress that is being made to reach out to the American
people and engage them in this important national discussion, and -- Q The
President is saying it must get passed this year. Frist said, in terms of
whether it will be a week, a month, six months, or a year, it's just too
early to tell. It sounds to me like that's a little bit more equivocation
than the President would like to hear. MR. McCLELLAN: He said what we've
said. We're very early in the process right now. That's why I said we're
really just now beginning to step up our efforts. Q But he said he wants it
this year. He said he wants it this year, and he's not getting that level
of commitment yet, is he, from Republican leaders? MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, let
me finish what I'm trying to tell you, because -- Q All right, but let's be
responsive. MR. McCLELLAN: -- time and time again, the naysayers in
Washington have said that we cannot get it done. Time and time again, this
President has led, the Congress has acted, and we have gotten it done. We
saw that in the first term when we passed historic education reforms. We
saw it in the first term when we passed the first improvements and reforms
to Medicare in its history to give seniors prescription drug coverage. We
saw it in the first term when the President was able to pass tax cuts for
all the American people and to get the economy growing and creating jobs.
And now we've seen the result of the action that the President has taken.
So we -- Q Senator Frist is a naysayer at this point, your leader in the
Senate? MR. McCLELLAN: No. Q Well, he's -- MR. McCLELLAN: You seem to be,
though. Q I'm not anything. I'm just quoting to you what the leaders say.
They're the ones who matter here, not me. MR. McCLELLAN: And I think you
should talk to Senator Frist's office, because if you look at what he said,
he said he was encouraged by the progress that is being made, and he said
that he supported personal accounts. And leader DeLay is someone who is
committed to getting this done, as well. So I think you need to look at the
full context of their remarks. I think some of those remarks were taken
somewhat out of context and used very selectively in some of the reporting
that I saw. Q Scott, can you describe to what extent the President and the
administration have been involved with Chuck Hagel and the legislation that
he plans to drop on Monday that will include the PRAs, as well as
addressing solvency? MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that we've -- I don't know
what level of involvement we have, but I don't think it's been much. I
mean, I'm sure we've talked with him, as we have others at the staff level.
But I don't think we've had much involvement in that legislation. Q Is the
President comfortable with the legislative vehicle being introduced on
Monday? MR. McCLELLAN: The President welcomes people that are putting
forward ideas for solving this problem. He welcomes all ideas. He's made
that very clear. This is a time to talk about the problems and make sure
that we all have a common understanding of the problems facing Social
Security, first and foremost. Then we can work together to come up with a
bipartisan solution to get something done this year. And so he's going to
continue saying he welcomes all those who have ideas for making Social
Security permanently sound, and strengthening it for our younger workers. Q
You said we're at the beginning of this process. The President has been
talking about this for about two months now. And I'm just wondering, when
you say he and others are encouraged by the progress, what progress has
been made so far? What's next? And then, what's -- MR. McCLELLAN: I think,
first and foremost, more and more people are recognizing that there is a
serious problem facing Social Security. If you look at surveys, the
American people clearly understand that Social Security faces major
problems. Survey after survey has shown that they believe it's in crisis or
it faces major problems. And you heard Chairman Greenspan this morning --
remember, Chairman Greenspan was the one who chaired the commission back in
the '80s to fix Social Security. And the result was tax increases and
benefit cuts. And the end result is we're still back in the same problem.
It didn't fix the system permanently. The President wants to fix the system
permanently. And when you say two months, the President really went to the
nation just 30 days ago in his State of the Union address and clearly
outlined the problems facing Social Security and talked about some ideas
for solving it. So we're very much in the early stages of this legislative
process and this education process. And the President looks forward to
continuing traveling all across this country engaging the American people,
as do administration officials. We're going to engage people all across
this country to involve the American people in this important priority,
because all of us are affected by Social Security. And the President wants
to make sure that we strengthen it and that it's there for our younger
workers. Many people my age and younger don't think it's going to be there
for them. Go ahead. Q The President, at the beginning of his term, made a
strategic decision to reform Social Security first, and then next year to
tackle tax reform. Now, if we don't get Social Security reform this year,
does that complicate or derail tax reform? MR. McCLELLAN: You can ask me
that question at that point in time. The President -- Q What's the reason
that the President -- is that a reason that the President said, I want to
do Social Security first? MR. McCLELLAN: The President is optimistic and
confident that we're going to get it done this year because the American
people are involved in the process. The American people expect us to solve
problems. Q But if -- let's say it didn't happen, it doesn't get done this
year. What is the ramifications for taxes? MR. McCLELLAN: I don't play
"if," but as far as tax reform, we have the bipartisan advisory panel,
headed by former Senators Mack and Breaux, who are moving forward. They've
already had a meeting. They're working on this issue. They're going to come
back with some recommendations to the Treasury Secretary. The tax code is a
complicated mess, as the President has often talked about. It needs to be
updated and reformed and made simpler and fairer. And we need to make sure
that it's a tax code that encourages job creation and economic growth. And
so that's a high priority for this President. We're moving forward on that
priority, as well. But we are further along right now in the national
discussion on Social Security, and that's where our immediate focus is
right now. Q The reason I ask is, Senator Mack told me he was glad that he
didn't have to deal with Social Security, because if Social Security wasn't
reformed this year, then the tax panel would have to consider it and it
would complicate things unimaginably. MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen exactly
what he said, but these are both high priorities, and these are both
important priorities for the American people. And the President is -- we
are early in the second term. This President was not reelected to, in his
view, just sit and hold the office. He was reelected to get things done,
both at home and abroad, and he is going to continue tackling the big
priorities that we face and continue solving problems. He believes it's
important for us to focus on the big issues of the day and not pass those
on to future generations. Go ahead, John. Q Scott, a couple questions on
the Middle East, starting with Syria/Lebanon. The President, obviously, is
of the view that Syria should pull its troops, intelligence officials --
pull its influence out of Lebanon immediately. MR. McCLELLAN: Military
forces, intelligence services. Q President Assad yesterday was quoted in
Time Magazine as saying, within a few months. That deadline appears to be
unacceptable to the United States. As you answer, is it the view of the
administration that if that happened tomorrow, if Syria got religion, in
your view, and just pulled everybody out, can Lebanon handle that? Can the
interim government of Lebanon, then, handle its internal security, or would
it need help? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, it's the international
community that is saying to Syria, you need to comply with United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1559. You need to withdraw from Lebanon. And
we've seen words; what we want to see is action that moves in that
direction. Syria needs to quit interfering in Lebanon. The Lebanese people
are standing up in the streets of Lebanon and saying, we want to reclaim
our sovereignty and independence free from outside interference. And the
first step is for Syria to get out of the country. They will also be having
parliamentary elections coming up. We want to make sure that those
elections are free and fair. That's why it's also important for Syria to
remove the military forces and remove the intelligence services. And we
want to do what we can to support those elections. And I think Secretary
Rice has spoken about election monitors. But as we move forward on these
efforts, as the Lebanese people move forward to build a truly democratic
future, I think the international community is prepared to do what it can
to help. And we certainly want to do what we can to help. But we don't want
to get ahead of that process right now. It is where it is right now, and
right now, we are continuing to say to Syria, you need to change your
behavior and get out of Lebanon. Q But it's possible, if you get to that
point, help could include some sort of security assistance -- MR.
McCLELLAN: I'm not prepared -- Q -- Israel, for example, has raised
concerns that if Syria came rushing out of there, the Hezbollah -- MR.
McCLELLAN: I think that's getting ahead of ourselves at this point. Q On
the issue of Iran, you said Secretary Rice is here to brief the President,
and had her lunch with others here at the White House. The administration,
by all accounts, appears poised to embrace the European approach that there
can be, should be some incentives in these negotiations with Iran. What is
the administration's view on, if you embrace these incentives, financial
and otherwise, what about the sticks, if you have the carrots? How detailed
is the administration insisting that the Europeans must be? In the past,
there have been hangups over, say, a deadline for referral to the Security
Council. Does the administration want the Europeans to put it out there
that if there's not progress in these talks, that those countries will
suspend economic relations? What are you looking for, specifically? MR.
McCLELLAN: You bring up an important point. First of all, the issue here is
Iran's behavior and Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon. And that's where
our focus is. All of us have a common purpose. That was stated very clearly
in Europe by all the leaders involved in this effort. And that common
purpose is to make sure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. And we
believe, ultimately, that that means the permanent end to its enrichment
and reprocessing activities. That's the way it can show confidence that it
is not developing a nuclear weapon under the guise of a civilian nuclear
program. And we are continuing to discuss our common strategy for getting
to that shared objective. We are looking at how best we can help the
Europeans achieve that end result. And that end result ultimately depends
on what Iran decides to do. They know what they need to do, and that is to
fully comply with their international obligations. Q But if you help them,
to use your term, the Europeans, that's what they want, which is for the
President to embrace some incentives to Iran. The administration is
insisting that the Europeans also -- that they stiffen the stick part of
whatever would be put on the table. What is it that you need them to do?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, look, obviously, we're looking at things, we're
considering some of the ideas that were discussed. The President was very
much listening to some of the ideas that the Europeans discussed. He also
expressed some views. We're all working together in common purpose, and
we're all working together to make sure we have a common strategy to
achieve that end result, and those are the things that we're looking at.
Obviously, we'll have more to say at some point, and then we can talk about
those matters at that point. Go ahead, Goyal. Q I have two questions. One,
some people who used to work in the White House, they criticized the
President in one way or another, in television or in the books. Now Ari
Fleischer, who used to stand where you are now for more than four years,
Taking Heat, he wrote a book, and he refused to criticize the President in
his book. And in my question -- MR. McCLELLAN: Did he criticize me?
(Laughter.) Q No, he refused to criticize the President. Q Why not? MR.
McCLELLAN: Hey, no questions for you. (Laughter.) Q In my -- during my --
during my questions he answered in 2001 and '02, he said that the President
is my hero. Now, what I am asking you, if you have seen the book, or the
President, and why refused to say anything about the President -- MR.
McCLELLAN: I do have my autographed copy. I'm looking forward to reading
it. I've only skimmed through it at this point, but I'm looking forward to
reading it. Q Second question, Osama bin Laden is still sending messages in
the Middle East and calling on his terrorist movement to go beyond Middle
East to attack Americans or people who are supporting the United States.
Where he is now? I mean, where he is sending all these messages from? MR.
McCLELLAN: Osama bin Laden? We continue to pursue him and other members of
the al Qaeda network to bring them to justice for the crimes that they have
committed against humanity and for the attacks that they are responsible
for against the American people. They will be brought to justice. We have
made great progress in dismantling the al Qaeda network, but the war on
terrorism continues. We have brought to justice in one way or another many
of the al Qaeda leadership. And we continue to pursue others. Ultimately,
we need to work to spread freedom and democracy to defeat the ideology that
leads to terrorism. Q Again on the Supreme Court. Does the President wish
to weigh on the Supreme Court's deliberations regarding the display of the
Ten Commandments on federal land? And if the justices rule against them,
does that mean the commandments would have to be taken down from the
Supreme Court and other areas? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, to the
latter part of your question, we always respect the decisions of the
Supreme Court. They are the ultimate authority when it comes to those legal
issues. So we respect the decisions they make. In terms of the Ten
Commandments, the courts have ruled in a number of instances, some
circumstances they have said that it's okay to display the Ten
Commandments, and other circumstances they have said it is not. The
administration did file an amicus brief in this case to say that we support
the display of the Ten Commandments in this instance for the reasons that
the Justice Department has cited. This is part of a larger historical
display, and we support it. Q -- about Iraqi judge who was killed. Did you
issue a statement about that? MR. McCLELLAN: First time I've been asked
about it. Well actually, I think I talked about it to a few reporters last
night. We strongly condemn the assassination, and condemn all acts of
violence against the Iraqi people. The judges and officials who are
involved in the special tribunal are not going to be deterred from holding
accountable the regime leaders who are responsible for grave atrocities
against the Iraqi people. They will be brought to justice by the Iraqi
people through their special tribunal. That tribunal is moving forward to
bring people to justice, and we support their efforts. But it is an Iraqi
process. And it will be a process that is solved by the Iraqi people to
hold these people to account for the crimes they committed. Q I have a
couple of questions on Social Security. First, the meeting today with the
Republican congressional members this afternoon seems to have been called
with some urgency. Is this an attempt to inject them with some backbone on
the issue? And second -- MR. McCLELLAN: I disagree with the use of the
word, urgency. These are part of the ongoing meetings that we're having
with members of Congress. We're continuing to reach out to the American
people. We're also continuing to reach out to members of Congress. The
President is having meetings -- the President is having individual
discussions with members, and members of the White House staff are having
discussions with members of Congress about how we can move forward and get
this solved this year. Q What's the message the President wants to deliver
to them today? MR. McCLELLAN: I think he'll continue to talk about the
problems that we face and why we need to act this year, and also listen to
their ideas for how we go about getting it done this year. I think many of
these members will have some ideas about how we can accomplish this goal. Q
Do you have any detail on this blitz that Secretary Snow talked about where
members of the administration, as well as the President will be going out
around the country? MR. McCLELLAN: Sure, in fact I referenced that at the
beginning. That's why I said we're really just now stepping up our efforts
to engage the American people in this important national discussion. This
is an issue that affects all Americans. And it is -- Social Security is
facing serious problems. That's why we need to act this year. They're going
to continue talking about what those problems are. There's some demographic
facts that we cannot ignore. Some people may choose to ignore this problem
and say it's not really a problem, or we can wait, but they don't
understand the fact that this is a problem that will be much worse if we
wait. They -- for whatever reasons, they are trying to slow this process
down or push it off to future years. The President believes we've got to
solve this problem now, because it only gets worse over time, and that we
should put aside any partisanship, and that we should focus on how we can
come together on a solution. More and more people are now starting to talk
about possible solutions. That's a positive sign, that's an encouraging
sign, and the President welcomes that. But we've also got to continue to
reach out to the American people, all of us, to talk about the problems. Q
Secretary Snow said something like 60 stops in 50 days or something that.
Do you have any detail -- MR. McCLELLAN: That's right. I mean, I think it's
-- it will be around that over the next 60 days. But this will include, as
I said, senior White House officials. It will include Cabinet secretaries,
and certainly, the President is going to continue to be out there. He gets
back out later this week to hold conversations on Social Security and to
highlight the problems that it faces. Go ahead, Bill. Q Scott, following up
on John's question about Iran, what would be the next step that we should
look for from the President in terms of a statement or a signal that the
U.S. is going to change its posture within the EU-3 negotiations with Iran?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't think -- I mean, in terms of us changing
anything, I mean, we all have a shared goal. So this is just looking at how
we can support the diplomatic efforts of our European friends. That's the
way you should look at it. Our goal remains the same, and it's a goal that
is clearly shared by the international community. And so the focus is on
Iran and how we get Iran to come into full compliance and abandon its
nuclear weapons ambitions. In terms of -- in terms of the strategy, that's
what we've been discussing, because we have a common purpose. Now we want
to make sure we have a common strategy for getting to that end objective,
and when we're ready to talk about it more, then we can do so at that time.
But I'm not going to get into talking about how that might be or when that
might happen. Q -- the U.S. has done most of its talking with Iran through
the IAEA? Yesterday, the agency issued another criticism of Iran. It's the
same criticism that they issued a year ago, that Iran has not been allowing
inspections, that they're building facilities that are suspected. The
President said that the U.S. backs the EU-3, that they speak for us, but
the United States is not involved directly with Iran in the talks. We're
doing it through proxy. At what point, and what would it take, for the U.S.
to get involved directly? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think the President
addressed that issue on a couple of occasions just last week when we were
in Europe. He addressed it very clearly and very head-on. This is about
Iran changing its behavior. It's not about the United States. It's about
Iran abiding by its international obligations. Iran knows what it needs to
do. Iran is the one that needs to change its behavior. I think there's also
a broader recognition in the international community that Iran's behavior
is not just out of step on this issue, but out of step on a number of
issues. Iran continues to support terrorism, Iran continues to be involved
in human rights abuses that are unacceptable, and Iran continues, the Iran
leaders continue to ignore the will of the Iranian people to have a greater
say over their future. And so there are many concerns we have when it comes
to Iran. This is one that we're working through our European friends to
resolve. We're supporting their efforts. We're also working through the
International Atomic Energy Agency. We are one of 35 members on the board
of the International Atomic Energy Agency. And the International -- the
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency has spoken to
some continued concerns about Iran's failure to come into full compliance,
failure to be fully transparent. We want it -- Iran needs to come clean,
Iran needs to fully comply with its international obligations, and Iran
needs to be fully transparent with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Go ahead. Q Scott, how did the President interpret the signal from Syria
that it may remove its troops over a period of time? Is that an encouraging
sign at all, that Syria is heeding demand -- MR. McCLELLAN: As I said, we
need to see by their action, not by their words, that they are going to
change their behavior, and that they are going to withdraw from Lebanon. We
also need to see action on other fronts, as well. Syria is a country that
is out of step with the rest of the way the Middle East is moving. The
Middle East is moving on democratic reforms in many areas, and that is a
very positive sign. Syria continues to be out of step with those efforts.
Syria continues to support terrorism. Syria continues to allow its
territory to be used by terrorists. Syria -- we have firm evidence now that
Palestinian Islamic Jihad was -- out of Damascus -- was involved in
planning the attack in Tel Aviv. It is unacceptable that terrorists are
allowed to operate out of Syrian territory. Syria is a country that is very
controlled, and the Syrian government needs to act against those terrorists
and shut them down or get them out of their country. Syria also needs to
act against the regime elements in Iraq that are -- I mean, the regime
elements in Syria, operating on their territory, that are planning attacks
on the Iraqi people. And Syria needs to get its forces and its intelligence
services out of Lebanon, so that the Lebanese people can move forward on a
future that is based on sovereignty and independence, free from outside
interference. Iran -- I mentioned some of the concerns a minute ago about
Iran. We continue to have concerns, even growing concerns, that Iran is
trying to influence the shape of the new government in Iraq. The new
government should be formed by the Iraqi people, by their chosen leaders;
that is our view. Iran knows what they need to do. They need to not be
involved in influencing in any way the internal politics going on in Iraq.
The Iraqi people want their future to be determined by them, not by
outsiders. Q Scott, in terms of the pressure we're putting on Syria, why
now, or why not earlier? We've known for more than two years that Syria has
been supporting various Palestinian terrorist organizations. We've known
for more than two years that Syria has been used as a transit point for
terrorists and others into Iraq. We've known for more -- since the '70s
they've had troops in Lebanon. What has changed? Is it because they could
now play a very distinct spoiler role in the greater Palestinian-Israeli
peace process that we're hoping to get -- will continue to move forward?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's not a "why now." We have previously expressed our
concerns. We have previously acted under the Syrian Accountability Act to
get Syria to recognize that it needs to change its behavior. Syria is
playing a destabilizing role in the region. And as I said, they are out of
step with other efforts in the region to move forward on democratic
reforms. While the Iraqi people are moving forward on moving democratic
institutions and building a peaceful society, Syria is allowing their
territory to be used by regime elements. While the Lebanese people are
seeking to build a democratic future, Syria is frustrating those efforts by
their continued presence in the country. While the international community
is working to support the aspirations of the Palestinian people in real and
practical ways, Syria is frustrating those efforts. And they know what they
need to do. Syria needs to change its behavior and they need to stop
supporting terrorism and they need to get on a different path. Q "Why now"
might have been an inappropriate way to put it -- MR. McCLELLAN: Well, let
me point out that there was an atrocious attack on former Prime Minister
Hariri just recently in Lebanon and -- Q I meant there is a ratcheting up
the pressure at this time -- MR. McCLELLAN: We've worked closely with our
French counterparts on this issue for quite some time. Back in September,
there was a Security Council resolution -- another Security Council
resolution passed at the United Nations that said all foreign occupation of
Lebanon must end. And that was one of the steps that called for it, and
also called for supporting free and fair elections in the country, and
sovereignty and independence for the Lebanese people. And Syria needs to
abide and comply with those resolutions. So, thank you. END 1:26 P.M. EST
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