White House Press Corps.org: Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/19/06 (Topic: Iraq)

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Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/19/06 (Topic: Iraq)
— Thursday, October 19, 2006 —

Q Tony, could I come back to the -- answered Terry by saying, yes, you're convinced the war on terror is a winning issue for Republicans. Is Iraq, by itself?

MR. SNOW: Yes, because I think what's happened is, the idea of trying to take out Iraq, and say, we're going to leave there, but we're going to win the war on terror; we're going to strategically withdraw, but we're doing to win; we are against a terrorist surveillance program, but we're going to win; we are opposed to the detention act, the military commissions, but we're going to win.

Q You're still tying other things in there.

MR. SNOW: That's because, I hate to tell you, but Iraq is not a standalone issue. As bin Laden has said, it's the semper fi in the war on terror. And the idea, somehow, the you could separate them from what's going on is to take a naive look at a world in which people have satellite communications, and the rest of the world watches what happens. So if, in fact, people were to draw the conclusion that the United States is going to cut and run from Iraq, don't you think Iran or --(interruption in briefing) -- let me continue. I was in the midst, before we did the planes, trains and automobiles.

So the fact is, that what goes on on the ground, and how the United States deals with these challenges has impact throughout the world, and also throughout the terror networks. So lots of luck in trying to sort of pluck that out and treat it as an isolated issue. It's not, and it's not in the words of the people who are right at the heart of the issue.

Q If that's the case, Tony, how do you ever debate the war? We hear all this "put up a solid front." How do you debate the war at all if all opposition to any component, any aspect of the war --

MR. SNOW: I didn't say that.

Q That's the suggestion.

MR. SNOW: No, the suggestion was to treat the war in isolation from the war on terror. That's different.

Q But there are people who don't believe it is a part of the war on terror. You know what --

MR. SNOW: We'll be happy to engage in the debate. I think I've laid out a lot of the arguments.

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