White House Press Corps.org: July 2006

Daily adventures with the

White House Press Corps

in their own words

Press Briefing by FEMA Director David Paulison (Topic: global warming & hurricanes)
— Monday, July 31, 2006 —

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Q And also can you explain the scientist -- who said he had studied the relationship between hurricane patterns, and he was looking to see if there was a link to global warming. Was he suggesting that there was no consensus that there's a link?

DIRECTOR PAULISON: Right, he was -- that's what he was saying. That's what I heard anyway, is that there was not a consensus that global warming has anything to do with the size of the hurricanes because we didn't know back years ago -- we may not have been able to predict the number of -- or even seen them. If a hurricane came up and went up through the Atlantic, we may not even have known there was a hurricane --

Q -- he was saying that that's doubling over the past decade is maybe due to just better reporting?

DIRECTOR PAULISON: It could -- that's what he was suggesting, yes. That was my understanding of it.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:03:00 PM

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Press Briefing 07/27/06 (Topic: Evangelical Christians)
— Thursday, July 27, 2006 —

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Q Okay. Second is, among the most ardent supporters of Israel in this country, and supporters of the current foreign policy in letting Israel do what Israel thinks it needs to do, are evangelical Christians, among the President's strongest supporters, as well. Many of the leaders of this community believe that what's going on right now is part of a biblical prophecy that includes Armageddon. I'm not trying to make light of this, this is --

MR. SNOW: Right.

Q Does the President or the White House have any thoughts on that?

MR. SNOW: The President views this as one of his challenges as President. He's not looking at this through a theological lens. He's looking at it through the lens of national interest, and also commitments to expanding democracy globally. And so that's his view.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:12:00 PM

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Press Briefing 07/26/06 (Topic: Iraqi Human Rights)

Q The stance of many human rights groups is that what's happening with women now is, in fact, worse than what was happening under the regime of Saddam Hussein.

MR. SNOW: Again, I redirect to them. I have a feeling -- the Prime Minister also made the point that Iraq has moved to a point of elections and not mass graves. We can argue this both ways, I suppose, but I think a situation where people are being dumped into mass graves by a regime that used murder as simply a way of clearing up what it saw as political difficulties is far different than one that tries to deal with its political difficulties by appealing to the needs and desires of the people.

Q Even if you can't control the people?

MR. SNOW: I don't think the purpose of a government is to control the people, it's to respond to their will.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 2:23:00 AM

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Press Briefing by National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley (Topic: Iraqi Civil War)
— Wednesday, July 26, 2006 —

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Q Steve, with the number of attacks rising, and with the death toll rising, and in particular with the audacious nature of a lot of these attacks in Baghdad of groups of Sunnis pulling Shiites out, killing them in the street, and vice versa, there's a wide array of political leaders in Iraq that say a low-grade civil war, marked by ethnic cleansing in mixed neighborhoods, in particular, has already begun. The Prime Minister today, when he ended the press conference, said, with God's help there won't be a civil war, which was not a particularly inspiring statement when you listen to the words of it. Does the administration think a civil war has begun? If not, how much -- what else has to happen before you would look at it and say, there is a civil war now raging inside of Iraq?

MR. HADLEY: The President has been clear on that; we do not think a civil war has begun. But I think the point is, is there a problem? Yes. Is the problem involving sectarian violence? Yes. Does it need to have to be addressed if Iraq's democracy is going to flourish and the situation get stable? Absolutely. Is there a strategy to do that? Yes. Prime Minister Maliki has outlined that today. Are we supporting that strategy? Yes. That's where our focus is. We'll let others deal with the semantics. Clearly, there's a problem; clearly, it needs to be solved; and clearly, there's a strategy to do that.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 3:00:00 AM

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Press Briefing 07/24/06 (topic: Iraq)
— Tuesday, July 25, 2006 —

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Q Obviously, in the last couple of weeks, there's been a U.N. report of a hundred people dying a day in Iraq, 6,000 in the last two months, the number of major attacks in Baghdad up 40 percent on a weekly basis. Does the administration think that Iraq is now in a civil war?

MR. SNOW: No. I don't want to get -- you're talking about in and around Baghdad. I know the Prime Minister has a piece today where he talks about turning Muthana province over, and there are several other provinces that are going to be under Iraqi control they think relatively soon. You have -- I think there's an attempt, and it's very alluring to politicians here to try to make the situation sound like civil war everywhere. No, there are parts of Iraq where life is proceeding with a fair degree of normalcy, where people are enjoying greater economic opportunity and they're enjoying the fruits of democracy. You've got a problem in Baghdad, and that is -- it's absolutely critical to address that.

Q Yes, but it's not the politicians here who are calling it a civil war, it's politicians in Iraq. Iraqi politicians are saying --

MR. SNOW: Well, I'm not going to get into the labeling game. I think the most important -- because I don't know where you go with that, except you get a headline: "Administration says civil war." And it deflects from the real purpose here, which is to figure out how to create civil peace, and that is really the prime objective of everybody in the United States, every American who is working in and on the issue of Iraq.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 1:24:00 AM

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Background Briefing by a Senior Administration Official on Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's Visit
— Saturday, July 22, 2006 —

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Q There was an emphasis when Bush was in Baghdad that the future of Iraq was in the hands of the Iraqis. Do you all worry that Maliki's visit here will again fuel the perception that the United States is holding the reins on this whole thing?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm not concerned about that because I think that there's plenty of room for that to be true, while it also to be true that we are heavily invested in the success of Iraq. And so we have enormous interests in how it's progressing and in supporting its government and supporting the Prime Minister in his efforts to be successful.

So I think that the two messages of partnership and commitment on the part of the United States for leaders who are doing the right things, who are making the right choices is compatible with -- ultimately it's up to Iraqis to make the situation in Iraq work. And I think that's more true than ever given the increasing sectarian challenges.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 5:20:00 AM

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Press Briefing 07/20/06 (Topic: White House Staff Diversity)
— Friday, July 21, 2006 —

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Q If he's proud of the diversity in his Cabinet, could you expect him to improve diversity amongst the White House staff?

MR. SNOW: What the President does is he looks for the best available people.

Q And they're all white?

MR. SNOW: I don't know, why don't you tell me? (Laughter.) You can come aboard and do personnel. You want to?

Q I'm asking you a question.

MR. SNOW: I know you are, but it's an argumentative question that also applied to other previous administrations. Would we like more blacks and Hispanics on? Yes, sure.

Q Any Asians?

MR. SNOW: Asians, too, yes, thank you.

Q Tony --

MR. SNOW: Let me leave no one behind. Every -- just every group, raise your hand. We want you.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 2:00:00 AM

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Press Briefing 07/19/06 (Topic: Middle East)
— Thursday, July 20, 2006 —

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Q Tony, a question, but a short prelude. Obviously, at least according to what the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. is saying, Israel's goals are far -- more far-reaching than the U.S. goals in ending the violence. He said last night on CNN that the intent of Israel is to destroy the Hezbollah (inaudible) and its ability to wage warfare.

My question is why send Condi Rice in when, obviously, at this point, she can only be talking to one side in the conflict? Has the President considered perhaps sending Bush 41 and Clinton, who have a pretty good track record after the tsunamis?

MR. SNOW: What?

Q Well --

MR. SNOW: I mean, we've just said that Condi Rice is not going to go until the conditions are right. So we'll wait until she goes, the conditions are right.

Q I said her talks now would be pretty much one-sided --

MR. SNOW: Yes --

Q Wait a minute. You said yourself, correctly, that both Bush 41 and Clinton had talks with Hafez al-Assad --

MR. SNOW: Which were blazingly pointless.

Q But it's a --

MR. SNOW: No. No, the start is to place -- no, wrong. I mean, it may sound good that you dispatch somebody who then can be dealt with in bad faith by a government that does not intend to deliver. I think whatever you may think of it, the United States' position is clear, and you don't dispatch delegations on missions that already are contrary to the stated position of this government. And I guarantee you President Bush 41, and I doubt President Clinton, would agree to such a thing.

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Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 1:19:00 AM

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