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 7/11 OR BUST - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 12/7/09 — Tuesday, December 08, 2009 —  Q Robert, on troops, I want to talk about the U.S. forces. Admiral Mullen a short time ago was making public comments and said that July 2011 is not a deadline. Do you agree with that statement? MR. GIBBS: I think Secretary Gates said that yesterday and then followed that by saying, what that is, is the date by which -- the date on which a transition will begin of our forces handing security responsibility over to the Afghans. Understand, July 2011 comes from the Pentagon and Admiral Mullen. So I think the Pentagon gave to, as part of the process that concludes, gave to the security team a series of ideas that included July 2011 as the transition date. And I'll tell you this -- I talked to the President as recently as this morning on this -- as the Commander-in-Chief, he's clear about what July 2011 means. That is the point in which we will transition handing the security responsibility for Afghanistan to the Afghans, understanding that, as the President said a little under a week ago in West Point, the trajectory with which that withdrawal will happen will be based on, appropriately, conditions on the ground, as has happened in Iraq. Q Then why, if it's clear, did General Jones yesterday say that this is a ramp and the troops start coming off -- MR. GIBBS: That's exactly what I just said. Q Right, but then General Petraeus was asked that and he said it's not a ramp. And he said -- MR. GIBBS: I think it may be a difference in -- no, no, no, I think -- I think, having been in these meetings, I think maybe the word "ramp" has tripped people up, because we talked about the deployment off- or on-ramps, which, again, I -- the ramp I think that General Jones was discussing -- I talked to General Petraeus about this on Air Force One both to and from the West Point speech. I think the ramp that he's referring to, that we're all referring to is, from that July 2011 date that the President has made clear that there will be a transition, there is a ramp at that point where, based on the conditions on the round, will decide the pacing for the thinning of American forces. But, again, Ed, the President has been crystal clear on this. That date of transition in July 2011. [...] MR. GIBBS: Yes, sir. Q Thank you. On July 2011 -- first of all, I understand it was a date picked by the Pentagon, but, still, doesn’t -- I think the reason people seem to be struggling with it and why so many people were talking about it on the shows yesterday is it just feels so arbitrary. I mean, what if June 2011 turns out to be a better time, or August turns out to be a better time? Will the President say, doggone it, I said July 2011 and that's it, we're not changing that date. Q Without getting into your arbitrary hypothetical, again, I'd point you to -- this wasn't arbitrarily picked by the Pentagon. This was a decision based on what the strategy that the President had settled on and what had to happen between now and whatever date in order to ramp up the training of the army and the police that comprised the national security force of Afghanistan, at a point in which they're capable of taking over that responsibility. The Pentagon determined that that date was July 2011. Q Which could change if they do better than we think. MR. GIBBS: Well, that would be a nice problem to have. Understand that what happened -- Q But it could change. MR. GIBBS: No, it could happen earlier, sure -- Q But it won't happen later. MR. GIBBS: It won't happen later. The President is quite clear on this. Understand what happened between the meeting by which this date was originally discussed, what happened in the process moving forward was the ramp up of troops actually happened faster than the original chart that the Pentagon had. So what that means is our forces, under the President's mission, will in fact get there faster, therefore be there longer in order to help accomplish the goals necessary for that thinning to take place. That date starts in July of 2011. Q What if the Pentagon comes to him and says, we're not going to be ready July 2011, is he going to say, too bad, that's the date I set. MR. GIBBS: Well, we are going to have assessments throughout this process that will measure us attaining the goals leading up to that point. The President, though, Chip, has been clear: The transition point begins on July 2011 because the Pentagon says that's the point in which the mission will be able to do that. Q That's what they say now. But if they change what they say is the point, then the President would change with them? MR. GIBBS: Well, you're discussing what is being discussed now and I'm telling you the President is clear on July 2011. [...] Q Okay. Picking up on what Admiral Mullen said today, he referenced when he was talking to the Marines at Camp Lejeune about July 2011, he said "There is no exit strategy associated with that." That's a direct quote. Is that accurate, and does that -- MR. GIBBS: I'd have to look through -- Q That's exactly what he said. MR. GIBBS: I don't know what the context of the surrounding -- Q He said -- MR. GIBBS: I understand, I'm sure that's -- I'm sure he said more than that at Camp Lejeune. It's a nice flight to get there. I'm sure he had more than six words to -- Q No, I know. He said, I know you Marines are interested in the 2011 July deadline, and I want to tell you, there is no deadline, which is what Ed asked about. Right after that, the very next phrase: "There is no exit strategy associated with that." That's a direct quote. MR. GIBBS: I don't know what he meant. I can simply -- I can simply, again, reiterate what I did at many points last week and in discussions with the President this week: July 2011 is the transition date, the date -- Q The date when forces begin to come out. MR. GIBBS: -- the date by which our forces will be thinned and responsibility for Afghan security will be the responsibility of the Afghans. Now, again -- Q Can you define "thinned"? What does that mean? MR. GIBBS: Well, again, what I've said and what the President has said -- Q (Inaudible.) MR. GIBBS: Yes, that we will begin, based on conditions on the ground, to make decisions about the pacing for that. Q Not whether it begins. MR. GIBBS: I think there have -- not whether it begins. That has been determined. Look, there were erroneous reports the day of the speech that somehow the President was going to say everybody involved would be out of Afghanistan in three years. That wasn't true then and it's not true now. The President doesn't envision, like is happening -- similar to what's happening in Iraq, where there's a drawdown based on what General Odierno says are conditions on the ground. The same will take place in Afghanistan. There's not going to be some drop off of a cliff. But, again -- and I think, quite frankly, look exactly at what was said yesterday by Secretary Gates. That's the date in which the transition will begin. I can't be any clearer than that; the President can't; I doubt Secretary Gates could. [...] Q What happens to the 2011 July date if President Karzai's government simply proves unable to address corruption and they're just unable to train a significant number of soldiers in time? MR. GIBBS: Well, suffice to say we won’t figure that out in June of 2011, that and I think the President addressed a series of steps that would be taken at both that level and underneath the national government level as to how to address the delivery of basic services without corruption. There will be a month-by-month assessment on -- on our training. This isn't going to be a surprise. But what's important is we create an incentive with the government to take the actions that are ultimately necessary to improve their own security situation. The President believed that was important. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff thought providing those incentives were important. The Pentagon came up with that as a day -- as a date, and the policy and the strategy fit all of that. Q Do you think the Afghans want to do it? MR. GIBBS: I do. They've said that. The proof is in the pudding. And we'll hold them to that, and take whatever steps are necessary to meet those goals if they're unable or unwilling to do so. 7/11 | Afghanistan | Military | Obama Administration | Pakistan | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: 7/11, Afghanistan, Military, Obama Administration, Pakistan, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 1:39:00 PM
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