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Press Briefing by Tony Snow 11/1/06 (Topic: Iraq)
— Wednesday, November 01, 2006 — Q There is a report in today's New York Times that Central Command had drawn up an analysis showing that the U.S. and Iraq is one step closer to chaos -- the situation in Iraq is one step closer to chaos. This was drawn up before the President said in his last press conference, "We are absolutely winning." Was the President aware of this report saying Iraq is closer to chaos before he told the nation we're winning? MR. SNOW: I don't think he was, but you know, what you're probably not aware of is that these are done regularly, and that was a snapshot taken at the height of the Ramadan violence. If you got the same report last week, you would have found out that national sectarian incidents from the 21st to the 27th dropped 23 percent; casualties nationwide dropped 23 percent; incidents of sectarian violence in Baghdad dropped 23 percent; sectarian killings in Baghdad dropped 41 percent. You had a snapshot at a single point when it was violent. What the President understands is that in a war on terror where we have not lost a single combat engagement, he's made the point, the only way we'll lose is if we give up, if we walk out before the job's done. He's got confidence in the troops. He's also got confidence in the fact that the Iraqi people, out of their own self-interest, know that they have to tamp down sectarian violence, and they got to go after al Qaeda, which is busy trying to foment the sectarian violence because they understand that if you get a failed state in Iraq, they have a launch pad. Q But just to be clear; what the commanders on the ground tell the President, "in the large picture, we are stepping closer to chaos," he believes that can also be a picture of winning? MR. SNOW: Yes, because -- you know what the President understands -- do you understand, Jessica -- Q "Closer to chaos" is the same as winning? MR. SNOW: No, because what you have just done is you've attached your interpretation to a single chart. It doesn't say devolving into chaos. And furthermore, I've just told you, since then, you've had a pretty dramatic reversal. Does this mean that now that you've had national sectarian incidents, casualty from sectarian violence, incidents of sectarian violence in Baghdad all down 23 percent, and the deaths and casualties down 41 percent, that you do a victory lap? No. It's a war, Jessica, and sometimes things get worse, and what you do is you adjust to make sure that you win. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 8:57 PM
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