For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 10, 2003
Press Briefing with Ari Fleischer
12:20 P.M. EDT
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. The President began his day with
an intelligence briefing, then an FBI briefing; had a meeting of the
National Security Council. He's met today with the Secretary of
Defense, the Secretary of State. He's having lunch today with the Vice
President. He has also called two world leaders. He spoke with
President Kwasniewski of Poland, and Prime Minister Howard of
Australia. He thanked both nations for their contributions and the
bravery of the men and women of their Armed Forces in their effort to
help bring freedom and liberty to the people of Iraq.
Later this afternoon, the President will meet with the Presidents of
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, where he
will talk about the importance of the CAFTA, or the Central American
Trade Agreement. And he'll talk about the importance of strengthening
the already good bilateral relations between the United States and
each of these nations.
And also later today, the President will do a meeting, will have a
meeting with a group of business leaders who are here in the White
House. These employers represent 2 million Americans working for their
companies, and the President will talk about the jobs and growth plan
that he has pending on Capitol Hill to help create more growth in the
economy.
And that is it on the President's schedule. And I'm happy to take your questions. Helen.
Q Is the President contemplating any other regime changes in the Middle East? Because you hear -- I mean, there seems to be something in the atmosphere that he may not stop with Iraq.
MR. FLEISCHER: Let me remind you specifically in using the words
regime change that this was an act of Congress signed by the previous
administration that coined the word "regime change," and it's obviously
something that this administration supported.
As the President has made very clear, Iraq is unique. Iraq
presented a whole set of threats to the world that were unique in the
world. And there are other, of course, elements in the world that are
not complying with the efforts of -- what the United States and
others around the world would like to see in terms of peace and
security. But every region of the world presents a unique set of
challenges or difficulties for the United States and for partners in
peace, and each is dealt with separately.
And so Iraq is a unique set of circumstances, and that's how the President treats it.
Q So the answer is, no?
MR. FLEISCHER: It's exactly as I said -- Iraq is unique, and that's how the President treats it.
Q Kofi Annan is saying that there's a lot of looting in Baghdad
and it appears that no one is in charge. What's being done to impose
some sort of control and authority immediately in Baghdad and other
areas to control looting?
MR. FLEISCHER: One of the things that I think you have seen in
what's been a rolling effort in Iraq -- there were originally reports
of looting, and there was, indeed, looting in Basra and other cities in
the south. And as the security situation stabilized, the looting did,
indeed, decline.
Of course, our coalition forces are there for a military mission.
And they also are mindful about what is taking place on the ground.
These things need to be measured over time. Beyond that, I would refer
you to DOD officials who provide for security on the ground.
Q As areas come under coalition control, their mission
changes somewhat. The President says in his broadcast to the Iraqi
people, coalition forces will help maintain law and order. So they are
becoming the Iraqi police force.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, I think that you take a look at
security -- and we've always said that the forces will stay there to
help provide security for the Iraqi people. And we mean it. The
definition, again, part of our overall policy, is you should talk to
DOD officials about operational aspects.
But there are also signs -- and if you take a look in Western Iraq
-- this was briefed this morning out of Doha -- there is a town in
Western Iraq in which the mayor and the town council have already
started working very closely with coalition forces that moved through
their town and remain in their town. They're beginning their
self-governance once again. And I anticipate that you will see
different places inside Iraq, different reactions from the local
officials, the assumption of government infrastructure accelerating in
different places inside Iraq, depending on events on the ground. And
we will continue to work with the local Iraqi authorities to make that
happen.
Q Fair enough. But the President said, the coalition force
will maintain law and order. And in Baghdad, after the extraordinary
scenes yesterday of liberation, today you have a suicide bombing. Does
the mission of policing the streets of a city of 5 million people like
Baghdad make American troops more vulnerable to this kind of suicide
attack?
MR. FLEISCHER: Let me remind you, we are still in the middle of an
actual military mission. And suicide attacks took place in other
places along the battlefield. This is a tactic that some of our
enemies employ. And this remains a dangerous country, a dangerous
place, as I indicated yesterday, in many places. The assassination,
the very regrettable assassination of a sheik from Najaf -- which the
United States strongly condemns, and we express our sympathy to the
people of Najaf over this assassination -- is another reminder of how
dangerous the situation is inside Iraq.
It was dangerous before this military mission. It remains
dangerous. We are still in the middle of the military mission. The
United States is committed to helping the people of Iraq with their
security. And DOD will be able to talk about that as they talk about
their regular day-to-day activities.
Q Would you bring us up to date on who is responsible for programming the television broadcasts which the Iraqis will receive?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President today has broadcast a message to
the people, directly, of Iraq. This is a way for President Bush and
Prime Minister Blair to speak directly to the people of Iraq about the
freedom and the liberation that is coming to them. And we will
continue to communicate directly with the people of Iraq. It is
important.
The Department of Defense is in charge of this program. The
Department of Defense has the facilities on the ground to transmit the
information that is being broadcast. And just as they have done with
Commando Solo, which is a series of radio broadcasts that have been
made for weeks to the Iraqi people, this was a Defense Department
operation then. It remains a war; it remains a Defense Department
operation.
Q Right. But who is deciding what the program content is to be?
MR. FLEISCHER: The Department of Defense.
Q Who in the Department of Defense?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's a question, I'm sure, that will come up when
they brief later this afternoon. It's a series of people on the ground
in Doha, as well as here in the United States.
Q For example, is Wilkinson part of this, even though he's not part of the DOD?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I don't brief the DOD details. That will be available to you by the DOD officials.
Q We're told that the three network news broadcasts are
supposed to be carried unedited on this service. Is that correct?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard that myself. I don't know if you're raising it to object or to support.
Q Just to confirm.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, that's a question the DOD -- they're in charge of the --
Q Especially the unedited part.
MR. FLEISCHER: I can talk to you about the President's involvement
in it, and the video that you know we released earlier today about it.
But the President is very pleased that DOD will be providing this
service to the Iraqi people. For decades, the Iraqi people have heard
nothing but totalitarian propaganda that was designed to prop up the
regime of Saddam Hussein. Their messages to the Iraqi people were far
from the truth. They were not to observations of people who were in a
position to have facts, to report facts, or to share those facts to the
Iraqi people. That will now change, and that is for the good of the
Iraqi people.
We also see a day coming -- it is not here yet because we're still
in the middle of a war -- but we see a day coming that we look
forward to, which is where the Iraqi people themselves will welcome in
their own journalists, where they, themselves, will set up an
independent media; where they, themselves, will avail themselves of the
rights that we think go with democracy around the world, as we have
here, which is the right of a free press to broadcast and to print.
That is an important part of Iraq's future. So we see that day coming.
Q Aren't you concerned that the Iraqi people may simply see this as propaganda from a different source?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one of the reasons that we feel so strongly
about the free press is because we want the free press to be there to
see it with their own eyes. As you know, the United States military
made the decision, with the support of the White House, to embed
countless journalists with our troops there, to see things with their
own eyes and to report the truth as they know it. And I think you'll
be in a good position, your reporters are on the ground in Baghdad, to
get their reactions after they see a message from the President.
I think if the scenes we're seeing on the streets carried through
free media cameras are any indication, the Iraqi people welcome a
message from President Bush.
Q Ari, on weapons of mass destruction, British Prime
Minister Blair said a couple days ago in Belfast that after the regime
fell that, we, the coalition, would be led to them -- his words.
Yesterday, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was offering a reward for Iraqis
to prevent the regime from either destroying documents or destroying
materials or shipping them out of the country. So what's the bigger
picture here? Are we in a position, is the United States in a
position where we have to rely on people on the ground to ultimately
get to the very weapons that we say Iraq has and that we've been after?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think there are two principal things that
involve the Iraqi people and the efforts to determine where their
weapons of mass destruction are. One is, the people who are involved
in it and want to do everything they possibly can to destroy all the
evidence of their involvement in it. Obviously, those people are the
problem. And then there are other people who may have knowledge about
it who want to provide that knowledge to the United States or to
coalition allies, so that evidence of weapons of mass destruction can
indeed be unearthed or found. And I think we'll see both on the ground
in Iraq.
I think it is something that will be found. We've always said that
we have information that they have weapons of mass destruction. The
precise location of where it is is information that the Iraqi people
can be helpful with.
Q Well, but -- okay, but you're saying now that -- I mean,
it appears that we really are relying on people to lead us to them,
rather than knowing where these materials are. And if we don't have
that sort of cooperation, I mean, are we going to come up empty here?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think you have always heard, and you continue to
hear from officials, a measure of high confidence that, indeed, the
weapons of mass destruction will be found. What we have is a regime
that was a master at hiding it, that had set up a very large and
elaborate infrastructure for the sole purpose of hiding it. And as the
military conflict goes through its various phases and we turn the
corner from actual military conduct, military operations, to more of a
pursuit of where the weapons of mass destruction are, then I think
additional information will come in. And we don't rule out that it can
come in thanks to the help of the Iraqi people.
Q I'm just trying to nail this down. You either -- the bad
actors are going to flip and tell you about it, lead you to it, or
present it to you, or people who are essentially good actors are going
to tip you off once you're there and lead you to the materials; that
right now, the government, forces on the ground are not in a position
independently to get to where the major caches of --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, you can't rule out that the coalition forces
might find something along their travels on the ground.
Q But would it be serendipitous, or would it be because you know where it is?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, they're involved in military operations. And
Iraq has been hiding it. But what we have is intelligence about their
having it. Whether it was a specific location or not is often not the
case. But keep in mind the rescue of Jessica Lynch, for example, that
was developed as a result of information provided to us by an Iraqi
citizen. So we, of course, were on the lookout for our POWs; we had
our antennae up, doing everything we could to find them. We have means
to be able to do certain things. But there's a limit to these means;
the more there is help from the Iraqi people, the easier the effort.
Q I'm not asking for specifics, but I want to know
specifically if the United States knows where a cache of WMD is. Is
there a location that they could send troops to if the site was clean,
they could go to it and get it?
MR. FLEISCHER: What we have always said is that we know that they have it and they are expert at hiding it --
Q Do we know where any of it is?
MR. FLEISCHER: Ron, we've always said we know they have it, they
are expert at hiding it. I can't discuss all intelligence information.
And this is something that Secretary Powell talked about when he went
to the United Nations and talked about their abilities to hide. But
make no mistake, we maintain high confidence that they have it and it
will be found.
Q Do we know where any of it is?
MR. FLEISCHER: David.
Q Yesterday Secretary Rumsfeld said, Ari, that Syria was believed not
only to be shipping some goods into Iraq, which he had discussed
previously, but also helping the exodus of people from Iraq, presumably
leaders. I was wondering if you could tell us, first, if the White
House has any evidence that Iraqi leadership are escaping across the
Syrian border or attempting to; secondly, whether the President has
communicated in any way with Syria to make it clear what kind of
consequences there would be if there was such an effort?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, again, I don't have anything to add beyond what
the Secretary said yesterday about this. And Secretary Powell said
something similar about it, as well. The Secretary referred to the
scraps of information that we had yesterday, and I think he said what
the President wanted to say.
Q The President, himself, has got no plans to make any
communication to Syria about the seriousness of this?
MR. FLEISCHER: There's nothing that's been brought to my attention
directly in the communication area there, but I don't know.
Q Ari, do you think the fall of the regime has affected the domestic political environment? Is the President in a better position now on taxes, Medicare, the rest of his domestic agenda?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one is, a statue fell. We're still not
certain what the status of the regime is. We still are in the middle
of the war. And as events last night showed and as events just today
showed, we still have American forces who are being wounded or killed
in this war. So it is not over. The final events have not taken place.
So I'd still want to temper, and put this caution out there.
I think it's impossible to say what results the international
affairs and war will have on the domestic agenda. That's for members
of Congress to decide. What's important, from the President's point of
view, is that nobody forget the importance of taking action on the
domestic agenda because we still have Americans who are looking for
work, we still have an economy that is growing, but not growing as fast
as the President would like it to grow. And so separate and apart from
anything happening in Iraq, it's important for Congress to get moving
on the domestic agenda. And, indeed, they have in many cases.
As you know, the Care Act passed the Senate, providing for
charitable deductions for Americans who give to charity. Energy
legislation looks like it may get voted on in the House as soon as
today. The budget resolution still is in its final moments of
discussion up on Capitol Hill. So they are making progress on some
areas of the President's agenda. On other areas of the agenda,
Congress is exercising its free will. So we're pleased to see the
Congress is moving on the agenda. The President is not getting
everything he likes, but he certainly is defining the debate.
Q Ari, the images we saw in Baghdad yesterday
are being interpreted by the Arab media -- much of the Arab media --
very differently. How are the messages by President Bush and Tony
Blair addressing that? And secondly, how dangerous is this power
vacuum in Iraq -- as we see the Shiite leader being killed, and we
see what's happening in Northern Iraq right now, in Kirkuk, how
dangerous is that? And does that speed up or raise the urgency of
putting together some kind of an interim government?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, whatever the situation on the ground is in
Iraq today, it is better than it was yesterday, and it will be better
tomorrow. And that's because freedom is coming to the Iraqi people.
And it is inevitable in a military conflict that there is going to be
some areas of danger that remain. Even after most of the military
fighting may have ebbed, it still remains dangerous.
As for the way some of the messages have been received in Arab
countries, you know, it's very interesting to note -- because Al
Jazeera was, indeed, broadcast live to many Arab nations, and many
people who have satellite dishes, at least, were able to watch for
themselves what took place in Iraq. And again, the President's view is
that the celebrations in the streets of Baghdad are the sights of
freedom. And freedom is a message that should be welcomed everywhere.
Q Ari, there's a lot of concern around the world, the
administration has been so eager to find weapons of mass destruction
that we might be so eager as to plant it. Is there any plans to allow
U.N. inspectors back into the country in order to increase --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one, that entire notion is nothing but
nonsense. It's stuff of conspiracy theories and I don't deal in that.
As you know, the United States -- we have many press in the region,
and they're there for a reason. We want to free press to see what we
see, to know what we know. And that's one of the reasons that they are
embedded there.
Q How about the U.N. inspectors?
MR. FLEISCHER: We have never ruled out the possibility of U.N.
inspectors playing some type of role in the future in Iraq. But right
now it remains exactly what you see, a military mission in the heat of
battle in many places.
Q Who called the meeting of free Iraqis inside and outside Iraq in Nasiriyah?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, it's been something that we've always talked
about. As you know, there were meetings even before the war began in
Northern Iraq with free Iraqis. It remains part of how we prepare the
groundwork for what ultimately will become the IIA or the Interim Iraqi
Authority. So this is something that is done with the coalition, with
free Iraqis and the people outside Iraq and inside Iraq as it's coming
together.
Q Can you say who exactly called it there? We hear reports
that Mr. Chalabi, himself, originally organized this meeting.
MR. FLEISCHER: I can't confirm that. I don't know that that's the
case. I know that there are several people -- several leading Iraqis,
two of whom, for example, are inside Iraq, who are part of the
leadership council that was set up as part of the independent Iraq.
And Mr. Chalabi is one of those people, indeed.
Q Can you explain why the Vice President specifically said
that it was going to take place on Saturday when the White House came
out later and said that there wasn't a particular date.
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, for the exact reason I gave yesterday. I think
his staff addressed that immediately after the speech.
Q But they didn't actually give an explanation for why he
was able to say the specific date in the morning, and then in the
afternoon we were told that there actually hadn't ever been a specific
date.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think his staff did address that, and I think
that was reflected in many of the stories that I saw.
Q Can you tell us who it is that is nominating, if that is
the correct term, the people who will be part of this meeting -- this
leadership meeting, when it is likely to occur, and what the agenda is?
What is the first step in trying to get people together to look at
future leadership in Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: This meeting is going to be an opportunity for
Iraqis from both inside and outside the country to discuss the vision
of the Iraqi people for a post-Saddam Iraq. The meeting will be hosted
by the coalition and it's purpose will be for Iraqis to express their
views freely and start a process that can lead to the establishment of
an interim authority.
So this is the beginning, this is the beginning of something very
welcome. It's the beginning of the Iraqi people working with liberty
on their own future. And that's what this meeting represents. It's a
welcome thing to happen. We still don't have a date for it. So as soon
as we have something to report, it will be reported. The date is still
being worked on.
Q Do you have some sense of how many people will attend?
And who is it that is nominating -- again, if that is the correct
term -- the people to come to this? The President, as you know, in
Belfast suggested even that the U.N. might be nominating some people.
Who is actually putting forth names to attend?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think it's fair to say that the Secretary
General of the United Nations will be invited to send a representative
to this meeting. He would be most welcome. I said yesterday that the
invitations will be coming from General Franks. That's the case.
Q Do you know -- I mean, are the names coming from the
State Department, from the Pentagon, from the White House, from the
British government, from the CIA? How is this process moving forward?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's a collaboration of different people.
And this is not new. Keep in mind, there have been previous meetings
set up with free Iraqis that took place several weeks ago. As you
know, there was a White House envoy who was sent to the meetings in
Northern Iraq. He will also be present at these meetings now, when
they take place in Southern Iraq. There's been a long-time group of
people from outside of Iraq who have been involved in seeking Iraq's
freedom. I anticipate that many of these same people who have been
involved and worked before will be involved and will work again, as
well as people on the ground inside Iraq.
Q One last thing for you. Some people on Capitol Hill say there
is a real mess there with the budget, with the supplemental, with all of
the various issues that need to be resolved, including the tax cut.
How much is the President involved in trying to get especially
Republican leaders from the two houses together?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President, as you know, has been --
he met this week with the congressional leaders. He talks with them on
the phone. And this is a difficult process for the Congress, and the
Congress is narrowly divided as it is. But we will continue to work
with Congress to work through all the issues involving the budget.
It's always a farrago -- when you work with the Congress. And we will
continue to work with them to try to resolve the issues of the budget
resolution. They're very close to an agreement. We'll see if it
happens.
Q Is the President involved today in trying to knock heads or twist arms?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think I said this last week, you can always be
assured the President has meetings or phone calls that we don't
announce or report each one. But, yes, the President is involved in
trying to be helpful.
Q On that issue, Ari, a group in the Senate of moderate Republicans
are still holding out for a tax cut that's a little higher than $350
billion. Is that number large enough to accommodate what the President
wants to do?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, clearly, the President's proposal was for $726
billion. Given the facts and the economy, the President believes that
the best package to create the most economic growth is a package that
is as close to that number -- if it's not that exact number -- as
is possible. That's what the President is seeking. Obviously, there
is a process underway on Capitol Hill where the House and the Senate
have to weigh what they can accomplish individually and then together
in a conference. The conference is still meeting. They have not filed
the conference papers. They continue to try to work through for a
successful resolution of the budget resolution. And that's where we
are, and that's what the President is helping on.
Q Is it better to defer the decision if the direction
appears to be in -- if the compromise appears to be heading in the
direction of $350 billion? If the Republican senators don't give,
would you prefer that the decision is deferred until after the
congressional recess?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, clearly -- the House of Representatives
passed a budget resolution that had some $726 billion worth of tax
relief in it. The Senate has a provision of $350 billion. The process
always works that the House and Senate conferees get together to try to
see if there is a compromise that can be achieved. We're working with
them in that goal and the talks are continuing.
Q Your answer to the question of why DOD is doing these broadcasts
dealt entirely with the practical means of transmitting -- that doesn't
really answer the question of why DOD is controlling the content. Can
you address that, why DOD and not a civilian agency is doing it?
MR. FLEISCHER: For the same reason that DOD has successfully been
doing it in a very able fashion for weeks, involving getting radio
messages transmitted into Iraq -- because we were in the middle of
war. And DOD is very good in the middle of war not only of fighting and
winning a war, but in providing information for people who have a
thirst for information. The Iraqi people want to get these radio
broadcasts. They want to know the facts. They want to know the truth.
And DOD is in excellent position to provide it, and we're pleased they
are.
Q How long will these broadcasts go on? How long do you envision them continuing?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know that I've heard any type of timetable
that is put on it. I think they will go, and I think over time you will
see an increased number of Iraqi people who hear about them and are
able to watch them. And that will be a good situation to see develop.
But the end-goal is for everything militarily to leave Iraq, and for
Iraq to be run entirely by the Iraqi people with a free Iraqi press.
Make no mistake, that is the goal. And that is something that I think
you will see happen.
Q You said in the morning that some of these broadcasts will
be transmitted over what used to be Iraqi state TV. Is there some plan
at some point to turn those transmission facilities over to a new
interim government?
MR. FLEISCHER: That will be something that the reconstruction folks
on the ground will work on. Clearly, there is a desire to turn as much
over as fast as possible so that the Iraqi people can run their own
affairs. And literally, the way it works is, it will be transmitted on
the same channel that people were used to tuning in on Iraqi TV.
That's the way the technology works. It will be broadcast from
American and coalition facilities involving DOD equipment. So there's
either airplane or transmitters on the ground. And it will be
transmitted in such way that if an Iraqi citizen was used to tuning in
channel 3, for example, they'd be able to again tune on channel 3, and
there it would be.
Q Do you have any even approximate time frame as to how long
it might take for an interim Iraqi regime or government to be up and
running with its own --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I would not hazard a guess.
Q Ari, prior to the war, many of the opponents said that the danger of
going to war would be that the attitudes toward the United States
around the world would seriously deteriorate. Now that we've gone to
war and the war is winding down, does the White House feel as though
attitudes towards the United States from countries other than those who
were on our side has changed or has deteriorated like many predicted?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think that different nations will feel
differently. And I think some nations that were irrevocably opposed to
the use of force to disarm the Iraqi regime will continue to be
irrevocably opposed to it. We disagree with those nations. The
President disagreed with that prior to taking action. And in the wake
of the action that's been taken, he disagrees even stronger.
Other nations, of course, I think want to wait and see what the
results were. But I'm not going to speak for all nations. The
President did this because he thought it was the right thing to do. And
it's fair to say he did it with a rather large coalition of political
supporters from around the world.
Q Do you feel as though you've had deterioration?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I can't say that. I haven't seen that, no.
Q Yes, Ari. What is the latest information about the search
for Saddam Hussein? And would the U.S. government be willing to put a
reward on information that would lead to his whereabouts or his capture?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have no new information to report on that. And I have not heard any discussion about the latter.
Q Second question. The North Korea government continues
to make statements and refusing any other intervention but a vis-a-vis
dialogue with the United States. I know that President Bush will be
meeting soon with the President of South Korea. What is going on in the
diplomatic front between Washington and Pyongyang?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think what's going on, it not only involves
Washington and Pyongyang, but it involves other capitals and Pyongyang.
The United States has been working closely with China and with Russia
and with Japan, as well as South Korea, of course, about the
seriousness of North Korea's actions, with withdrawal from the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as North Korea's threatening
efforts to develop nuclear weapons. And that's something that has
caused concern not only in America's capital, but in these capitals.
And we continue to work with these nations about it. As you know,
there is some discussions at the United Nations Security Council about
taking up measures to discuss what North Korea has done. Those
discussions continue. We continue to think they are important.
Q Are, back to the tax cut. How could the President claim victory on half a package of his $726 billion proposed?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, number one, let's wait and see what the final
outcome is. The President wants to make certain that what is done
provides as much economic growth as is possible. It's interesting, if
you go back to the beginning of the debate, many Democrats were saying
they would not support anything in excess of about $100 billion as a
temporary one-year tax cut. Obviously, whatever the outcome is, it's
going to be significantly more than many of the Democrats supported.
So there's a process underway. We'll see if the process results in a
good position somewhere in between what was originally set out and what
is finally accomplished. You can also accomplish things by working
together with various parties on the Hill.
Q The CEO meeting later this afternoon, what's the purpose of that, and why is it going to make any difference?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President has continued to meet with a
group of constituents to talk about the importance of the growth
package. These constituents, then, help to spread the message. They
can go back to Capitol Hill and talk to different people about the
importance of passing the package. It's part of how the President
communicates. And he likes to hear, also, from people who employ
millions of Americans about what, in their judgment, will lead to their
being able to hire more, to employ more. It's, at the end of the day,
what this is all about.
Q Can we go on to Turkey?
I know we talked about it a bit earlier. What is the status, as you
understand it, now of an agreement with Turkey as to what they can and
cannot do in Northern Iraq? And in a general sense, do we want the
Kurdish rebels, the Kurdish peshmerga to take territory from the
regime? Or do we want them to just stay where they are?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, obviously, we are working in a, for the most
part, in a very coordinated fashion with free Iraqis, the Kurds in the
north. Now, as you have seen, we have Special Forces working with
them. We talk to Turkey -- Secretary Powell has spoken with his
counterpart in Turkey today -- and Turkey understands that we
understand their concerns and Kirkuk, which is the city that is
involved here, will be under American control.
Q We told the Turks that they can send military observers
into Kirkuk to assure them that, indeed, we will be in control. But at
the same time, you have Kurdish forces fighting, capturing territory,
which alarms the Turks. Which direction do we want this to go?
MR. FLEISCHER: We have talked with both parties, and we'll continue
to talk with both parties and we will make certain what we hope will
happen will, indeed, take place on the ground. And we will work to
make that take place on the ground.
Q But you have this situation where these peshmerga are
streaming into a city like Kirkuk. Are they under U.S. control? Can
you really say that?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't think you should judge the end of the story
by the results at the beginning of the story. Let's see how events
develop on the ground.
Q Ari, part of the reason for the war was WMD.
Now, well into the war, WMD has not been found. The American public is
going to the television every morning, listening to the radio every
morning, trying to find out if, indeed, WMD was found. Does the
administration feel there's some awkwardness right now with these
statements of they're professionals at hiding, and we know it's there?
I mean, is there some sort of awkwardness about the fact that this has
not been found as of yet?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. We know Saddam Hussein is there, but we haven't
found him yet, either. The fact of the matter is we are still in a
war, and not everything about the war is yet known. But make no
mistake -- as I said earlier -- we have high confidence that they
have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and
it is about. And we have high confidence it will be found.
Q Thank you, two questions based on the President's
statements. Going back to Kurdistan, because the President talks about
a unified, solid nation, at this point would you now consider accepting
a unified -- an independent Kurdistan if Turkey is protected from
them?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. From the beginning the mission has been clear,
and that is to protect the territorial integrity of Iraq.
Q And then on the statement, our military forces will leave,
but that doesn't say all forces will leave. Does that preclude U.S.
bases in the future in Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I was asked that yesterday, and I have nothing different or new to say about that yesterday.
Q Ari, does the United States have any interest in arresting Mohammed Al-Dori, or any other Iraqi official in the United States?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I still don't have anything further than this
morning. He is, of course, the ambassador of Iraq to the United
Nations. And unless there is cause provided for why a diplomat would
be arrested, he is a diplomat.
Q Still?
MR. FLEISCHER: He remains a diplomat to the United Nations. That's correct.
Q On behalf of?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, literally, legally, the way it works, he is Iraq's representative to the United Nations.
Q Is he free to leave the United States if he wishes?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have any information on that. It's probably
something you need to talk to State Department about.
Q There have been reports that Mr. Chalabi has been talking
to Israelis who were previously -- or to Jewish people who were
previously in Iraq, may now be in Israel, about them returning, and
also supporting a pro-Israeli stance. Where is the administration on
that?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, number one, I would imagine that there are
many Iraqis who are talking to many people who are no longer in Iraq
and talking to them about the future of Iraq. It is important for
people who care about the future of Iraq to reach out and get in touch
with many of the people -- the people in Dearborn, Michigan, who were
dancing in the streets. One of the things that you see, when it comes
to successful nations that emerge from tyranny, is the willingness of
people who left those countries to escape the tyranny to want to
return, to contribute to the future of that country. It's a measure of
success.
So I imagine there will be a number of conversations about the
future of Iraq. And the President's goal is for an Iraq to emerge that
respects its neighbors, that lives in peace with its neighbors,
including -- all its neighbors, including Israel.
Q Ari, last week the White House put out a statement calling
for the release of dissidents who were arrested in Cuba. A lot of those
people have now been tried, convicted and sentenced, in some cases to
20 to 25 years. What's the White House doing about it now to try to
secure their releases?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President condemns in the strongest terms the
Cuban government's actions in terms of the repression of these brave
citizens. The President continues to view the Castro regime as an
abuser of human rights. And that's why the President spoke out.
Q Will the President use the meeting today with the Central
American leaders to try to push them to take a harder stance against
Castro's Cuba?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'll let you know if anything like that comes up,
but the focus of the meeting is going to be on trade.
Q Ari, I'm interested more in the process that led to this decision to have the military manage this broadcast program. Did the President personally sign off on this?
MR. FLEISCHER: This is a continuation of something that you're very
familiar with and have seen, and is typical of military operations.
And that's why I referred for weeks about Commando Solo, which is a
military operation that involves the flying of aircraft that beam radio
messages to the people of Iraq, so that people of Iraq can find out
what the truth is. The only thing different today is that instead of
being radio that's transmitted, it's television pictures that are
transmitted by the same DOD that the President is proud that they
played the role that they played not only in fighting and winning a
war, but in providing information to the Iraqi people. I don't know if
this rose to the President's level or not, but I can tell you this, the
President is proud of it.
Q It's also beyond what's been going on. It's a new
generation, if you will, of the effort. How do you, as sort of one of
the information managers for the administration, think that the
military's expertise on what is often described as the Arab street, the
psyche of that part of the world, compare with departments like the
State Department, information agencies and other entities that have
more expertise in that?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, I think if you take a look at the
expertise of DOD in providing radio messages to the Iraqi people, it's
quite good and it's quite accurate. And DOD, I want to remind you, is
playing host to all the embedded reporters as a sign of DOD's
commitment to a free press.
And so I think it's entirely appropriate, from the President's point
of view, for DOD to be involved in this. It remains a dangerous
country, where DOD assets are needed to field these missions. And I
think it's best judged by observing the content of what is shown to the
Iraqi people. Certainly when the Department of Defense transmits to the
Iraqi people a message of the President of the United States that you
yourselves have seen with your own eyes, what's wrong with letting DOD
transmit that for the Iraqi people, to see with their own eyes. Let
them be the judges of that content.
You, too, will be the judges of that content. You have people on
the ground in Iraq. It is now known that this is going to be
transmitted. We want your people -- we want journalists to watch
what is being transmitted from this. And you will be free to cover it
as you would covering any broadcast.
Q Just one more, real quickly. Do you see it evolving to any other agencies, civilian agencies?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think this is part of a classic wartime procedure. That's what your watching.
Q I mean, after the war and before a transition government
takes over, do you see another agency taking this over from the
military?
MR. FLEISCHER: I couldn't make any guesses. I don't rule out that
there could be multiple sources to get information to the Iraqi people,
including American press, if American press decide, when safety allows,
to transmit their own messages into the Iraqi people. Hopefully, it's a
free country, and as much communication can be had as possible.
Q Ari, two things. How many people have been killed in this war?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's a question you need to address to DOD.
Q You have no -- the government has no estimate on civilian, military, both sides?
MR. FLEISCHER: It's an operational question. As you're familiar with, that needs to be addressed to DOD.
Q Last month, Rachael Corrie, an American student living in
Gaza, was bulldozed to death trying to defend a Palestinian home.
Also, Israel said it was a mistake, but an eyewitness says it was a
deliberate act. Also last week, Brian Avery, another American, was
shot in the face by the Israeli army. A number of members of Congress
have introduced House concurrent resolution 111, calling on the
administration to investigate Rachel Corrie's death. And I was
wondering whether the President will launch such an investigation?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President already was in touch through high
officials with the State Department about this matter. I think the
President spoke directly with Prime Minister Sharon about it, too, and
expressed our concerns about this. And they are being looked into.
Q Ari, other oppressive regimes and leaders exist both
in the Middle East and elsewhere around the globe. Should these leaders
be taking special note of what happened to Saddam Hussein?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think what's important is, wherever people
are oppressed, the governments involved with repression of people --
not because the United States would take any action or not take action
-- but the governments involved in the repression should stop it
because it is not the way mankind should be treated.
And the President takes it very seriously when he talks about
liberty and he talks about freedom. And governments that prop
themselves up off the tyranny of their dictatorships are increasingly
becoming few. The tide of democracy has been sweeping for decades.
Now, that's not because of anything the United States necessarily does,
it's because of something that people, themselves, seek wherever they
are. And that's a lesson to be learned from this, wherever despots
reign.
Q Ari, I have a follow-up on Ron's question. In the past week,
as you know, the Army and the Marines in Iraq both reported that their
equipment on the ground had detected, perhaps, nerve agents, and that
samples were being flown elsewhere for confirmation. Can you say
whether the President's been briefed on the results of those tests and
when we might learn whether, in fact, their equipment on the ground was
correct?
MR. FLEISCHER: One, I just make it a policy not to discuss what the
President is informed of in his classified briefings. DOD has been
very open in providing its information about what they find and what
they don't find. There have been a number of reports that indicated
there was a finding, which DOD steered reporters away from. There are
others that are ongoing and are being evaluated. But that's for DOD to
report.
Q But I was told inside the White House that the concern was
about absolute accuracy. So are you saying that the DOD will always be
responding to the test results and announcing them as they have them?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm saying that anything operational will come from
DOD. If there's anything the President would say, he would say it if
he chooses to do so. But at this stage, it's a DOD matter.
Q Thank you.
MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you.
END 1:03 P.M. EDT
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