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 What a Secretary of State Does - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 1/14/09 — Wednesday, January 14, 2009 —  Q Okay. On Gaza, I'm assuming that the President is not trying to wrap or push for a resolution before he leaves office, but, I mean, is he okay with this conflict continuing as he leaves office or is there any kind of sense within the White House that he'd like to wrap things up or at least achieve a resolution before -- MS. PERINO: This is not -- President Bush didn't want the situation to arise in the first place. But given where we are I think that he has exercised the appropriate authority that he can over what the United States can do. And the United States is not there pulling any triggers. But what we have done, the United States has done is tried to work with the Israelis to provide more aid for the humanitarian crisis that's occurring. And we'd like to see a durable cease-fire established as soon as possible, but we're not -- I know there's a lot of countdowns that are going on around here, but when it comes to protecting innocent people and caring about the people of the Palestinian Territories, especially those in Gaza, the President has no time limit on that. Q Dana, on that, the President has said numerous times that he's sprinting to the finish in these final days and weeks. On that point, then, when's the last time he was working the phones on this situation? MS. PERINO: President Bush every morning is working with his intel advisors, and obviously works with Steve Hadley every morning at 7:00 a.m., and Secretary Rice and he talk several times a day. And we keep you updated when appropriate on phone calls; we don't read all of them out to you. Q But when is the last time he had direct conversations with people brokering the Egyptian-French cease-fire -- MS. PERINO: The President isn't doing that; he has a Secretary of State who he has working on that and that's who should be -- that's absolutely appropriate, is to have his Secretary of State working on that. Condeleezza Rice | Dana Perino | Gaza | Israel | Middle East | President Bush |Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Condeleezza Rice, Dana Perino, Gaza, Israel, Middle East, President Bush, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:39:00 PM  WHPC Flashbacks - Tony Snow vs. Helen Thomas 7/18/2006 — Thursday, January 08, 2009 — MR. SNOW: Helen. Q The United States is not that helpless. It could have stopped the bombardment of Lebanon. We have that much control with the Israelis. MR. SNOW: I don't think so, Helen. Q We have gone for collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine. MR. SNOW: What's interesting, Helen -- Q And this is what's happening, and that's the perception of the United States. MR. SNOW: Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view, but I would encourage you -- Q Nobody is accepting your explanation. What is restraint, a call for restraint? MR. SNOW: Well, I'll tell you, what's interesting, Helen, is people have. The G8 was completely united on this. And as you know, when it comes to issues of -- Q And we stopped a cease-fire -- why? MR. SNOW: We didn't stop a cease-fire. I'll tell you what -- Q We vetoed -- MR. SNOW: We didn't even veto. Please get your facts right. What happened was that the G8 countries made a pretty clear determination that the guilty party here was Hezbollah. You cannot have a cease-fire when you've got the leader of Hezbollah going on his television saying that he perceives total war -- he's declaring total war. When they are firing rockets indiscriminately -- Q We had the United Nations -- MR. SNOW: Please let me finish. I know this is great entertainment, but I want to finish the answer. The point here is they're firing rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas. The Israelis are responding as they see fit. You will note the countries that disagree with the -- Q -- bombardment of a whole country -- MR. SNOW: -- that disagree with the government of Israel in terms of its general approach on Palestine, many of our European allies agree that Israel has the right to defend itself, that the government of Lebanon has the right to control all its territory, that Hezbollah is responsible and that those who support it also bear responsibility. There is no daylight between the United States and all the allies on this. They all agreed on it. This was not difficult -- Q At that point, why did we veto a cease-fire? MR. SNOW: We didn't veto a cease-fire. Q Yes, we did. MR. SNOW: No, we didn't. There was -- there was no cease-fire. I'm sorry -- Q Wasn't there a resolution? MR. SNOW: No. Q At the U.N.? MR. SNOW: No -- no. You know what you've -- I see what you -- what happened was that there was conversation about "a cease-fire" that was picked up by some of the microphones when some colorful language made its way into the airwaves yesterday. And the President was continuing a conversation he'd had earlier with Prime Minister Tony Blair about staging. Would we like a cease-fire? You bet, absolutely. We would love to see a cease-fire. But the way you stage is that you make sure that the people who started this fight -- Hezbollah -- take their responsibility -- Q There was no veto at the U.N.? MR. SNOW: No, there hasn't been a resolution at the VN -- U.N., whatever it is. (Laughter.) There hasn't been -- I was in Germany too long. There's been no resolution at the U.N. Q Why aren't we proposing a truce, no matter who is to blame? At least stop the killing. MR. SNOW: Because it wouldn't stop the killing. What it would do is it would say to the killers, you win. Q Might save lives. MR. SNOW: No, I don't think so. And I'm glad you raised this. You do not want to engage in a cease-fire that has a practical -- when you say to the Israelis, you guys just stop firing, when you have Hezbollah saying, we're going to wage total war, because Hezbollah would read that as vindication of its tactics, and the idea that if you get the right sort of videos on television, and you get the right things going on, you can allow them to behave with impunity. Even though they are weakening the sovereign government of Lebanon, they are acting independently; even though they have -- Q And bombarding Lebanon -- MR. SNOW: Even though they have received -- Q -- wipes out infrastructure. MR. SNOW: All right, this is hectoring now. Go ahead. Bush Administration | Helen | Hezbollah | Israel | Lebanon | Middle East | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Bush Administration, Helen, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Press Briefing, Tony Snow, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:19:00 PM Two to Tango - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 1/7/09 — Wednesday, January 07, 2009 —  Q A follow-up to the Mideast question. Is there anything more that the U.S. can do to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza? MS. PERINO: What we are looking -- the United States is deeply concerned about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And that's one of the reasons that Secretary Rice has been working around the clock, and especially last night, literally around the clock, to work with the Israelis and also her counterparts around the world. We need urgently to conclude some sort of a cease-fire agreement that will be lasting, that would endure, and that would make sure that we can identify the three things that we wanted to do yesterday, that I mentioned yesterday, which is stop the rocket attacks, stop the smuggling, and also figure out a way to reopen that border in a way that's consistent with the 2005 access agreement. Q Do you have a timeline at all in mind? MS. PERINO: Look, she worked around the clock. We're working to do it as fast as we possibly can, but there's a lot of other actors here, as well. The easiest thing to stop the situation would be for Hamas to stop sending rockets into Israel. I think there were 35 that were sent from Gaza into Israel yesterday, and if that was to halt, I think a cease-fire would be something that would be achieved much more quickly than if they don't. Q -- stop the bombarding of the innocent Palestinians. The U.S. has not called for anything and the President gave the green light for this slaughter. MS. PERINO: First and foremost, the Israelis did not ask the United States' permission. I do not believe that the -- Q They didn't ask permission, but they got the backing. MS. PERINO: I do not believe the that Israelis are targeting innocent civilians. But we do know that innocent civilians have been caught up in this fighting, and that's why we are concerned about it. And they have halted -- Q They're not caught up, they're being bombarded. MS. PERINO: I think they are caught up in it. And I -- it's a terrible situation. You have one -- I think over a million people living in a very small area. The best thing that they could do for themselves is to have their leaders make a decision to renounce terror and violence, and at least, at the very least, to stop sending the rockets right now so that a cease-fire could be put in place that could be lasting. Q How about the U.S. vetoing any attempt for a cease-fire? MS. PERINO: What we are seeking is a cease-fire that would actually last. I think the worst thing that we could have is to have this vicious cycle continue. Q Why? Stop the killing. MS. PERINO: Well, would you say the same, that Hamas should stop the killing of innocent Israelis? Q Of course. MS. PERINO: Okay. Well, it's going to take two to tango here. And we need Hamas to make a decision -- Q But you won't even to talk to Hamas. MS. PERINO: Well, as you know, the Egyptians have been and we've been working with them, and Secretary Rice is talking with all of her counterparts. We do have, right now, a lull in the fighting, a halt to the fighting, so that more humanitarian aid can get to the people -- because it's not just the United States that's concerned about the humanitarian situation. Clearly the Arab world is -- but so are the Israelis. And that's why they're allowing humanitarian aid to get there. I think one of the things that they've been concerned about is that Hamas has been known to commandeer this aid and send it directly to their forces and not to the people who actually need it. Q They're the elected government there. MS. PERINO: They are neglecting to govern there. Q They are elected, but the Israelis continue to occupy all the checkpoints. MS. PERINO: But they -- they can be elected to govern, but they are neglecting to do so. And that is why the Gazans have been held hostage for the past year and a half, ever since Hamas decided to take over Gaza in the coup in 2007. And the humanitarian situation there was not great before this. Q And the U.S. broke off all relations once they won an election. MS. PERINO: No, we didn't talk to -- well, we didn't break off relations then, we have never had a relationship with Hamas. Q All aid, all aid. MS. PERINO: That is not true. The United States does provide aid through the United Nations for the people of Gaza, a lot of it. Dana Perino | Gaza | Hamas | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:10:00 PM Hamas as a Humanitarian Organization - White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 1/2/09 — Friday, January 02, 2009 —  MR. JOHNDROE: Jeremy. Q A couple questions. One, is there any progress to report, incremental or otherwise, of reaching a cease-fire at this stage? MR. JOHNDROE: Well, we're not seeing Hamas stop its rocket attacks. And that's something that we're going to need to see them do. And I know that we've been engaged in a lot of diplomacy. I know that Foreign Minister Livni is traveling in Europe right now, and they've signaled that this is not an operation that they're going to stop right now because they have to protect their people. Israel has a right to defend itself from these rocket attacks. And so we'll see. We want a cease-fire as soon as possible, but we want one that is durable and lasting and won't be broken right away again by Hamas, one -- a cease-fire that Hamas respects. Q Secondly, has the U.S. fielded any requests from Israel for additional arms or munitions? MR. JOHNDROE: None that I'm aware of. Q Gordon, recently Foreign Minister Livni told the French Foreign Minister Kouchner that there is no humanitarian crisis. Is that a characterization that the administration agrees with? MR. JOHNDROE: Well, we want to make sure that there isn't a humanitarian crisis. Israel has allowed -- I think yesterday's count was 93; before that there were dozens of truckloads of humanitarian supplies that entered into Gaza. We want to make sure that flow continues. And we want to make sure that that, the food and medical supplies, reach the people of Gaza. The Israelis are reporting that Hamas hoards the humanitarian supplies and doesn't allow them to reach the people of Gaza, to create the idea of a humanitarian crisis. I can't speak to the exact situation on the ground. I can't speak to their allegation. I can't speak to Hamas's allegation that humanitarian supplies are not flowing in fast enough. We've seen humanitarian supplies flow into Gaza. We want to see them continue to flow into Gaza. Q But, Gordon, on that point, the official evidence coming from Gaza would indicate that there is already a crisis in terms of hospital treatment, doctors, civilian casualties. So how can you say there is not a humanitarian crisis? MR. JOHNDROE: No, I -- Gaza has been under the rule of Hamas now for 18 months or so. And Hamas has done nothing particularly good for its own people. That is why the United States has pledged nearly $200 million over the last year and a half for humanitarian assistance in to the people of the Palestinian Territories. The United States is the largest donor through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, as well as the ICRC. We are very concerned about the people of Gaza. We are concerned about the humanitarian situation on the ground there now. I also know that Israel is permitting humanitarian shipments to go into Gaza. I also know that Israel alleges that Hamas is hoarding the humanitarian shipments, the food and medical supplies, to make the humanitarian situation worse and to blame the Israelis. I cannot speak to the specific facts on the ground. There is obviously a problem with the ability of the citizens of Gaza to be able to access everything as quickly and easily as they want, whether it's medical supplies or food. And we want to make sure that they do have access to it. Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:23:00 PM HamasIranSyria Solutions - Western White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 12/31/08 — Wednesday, December 31, 2008 —  Q Have you seen any ramped up activities from Iran towards Israel? President Ahmadinejad today said the Arab world was not doing enough related to the Gaza strikes. MR. JOHNDROE: Have I seen any ramped up activity from Iran towards Israel. I've seen no change in their position in their desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, which they have stated a couple of times before. So I haven't seen anything new on that front. I think Hamas is pretty well-supplied by Iran, and to a certain extent, Syria. I mean, these two countries, Iran and Syria, supply Hamas and Hezbollah. I mean, they're basically their proxies in the region and in other parts of the world. And so I don't think Iran or Syria -- neither Iran nor Syria have been playing a helpful role, they are not playing a constructive role in this current crisis, which is pretty typical for their actions with regards to Hamas and Hezbollah. They continue to supply them. Q When you say "supply," what are you talking about -- supply them with what? MR. JOHNDROE: Weapons. Weapons. So we'd like to see -- there are some Arab states that are stepping forward and saying, we want peace in the Middle East. You have Egypt playing a positive role; Jordan; Saudi Arabia is very concerned. And then you have countries on the other end -- Iran and Syria -- who seem to want to continue to foment violence. And we'll see. Laurent. Q Have you seen supplies increasing to Hamas during the current crisis? MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not going to get into any specifics on supplies from Iran and Syria that we've seen over the last few days, but there is no doubt that Iran and Syria are the ones who have assisted Hamas with their weapons acquisition, and that's a problem. Q Hamas today said that they were prepared to study proposals for a cease-fire. Basically, the United States and Israel are not taking that seriously or -- MR. JOHNDROE: I don't know what Hamas needs to study. I mean, I'm not sure -- I don't get what Hamas needs to study. Hamas needs to stop firing rockets into Israel. It's very clear. Ahmadinejad | Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Iran | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | Syria | White House Press Corps Labels: Ahmadinejad, Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, Syria, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:31:00 PM Israeli Response to Hamas Rockets - Western White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 12/29/08 — Monday, December 29, 2008 —  MR. JOHNDROE: Deb. Q What does Israel hope to achieve by this? I mean, what's the end game? MR. JOHNDROE: Israel is responding to a barrage of rocket and mortar attacks that increased substantially last week, following Hamas's refusal to renew the ceasefire. Israel has made clear that they do not want to retake Gaza, that they simply want the people of southern Israel to be able to live in peace, free from this barrage of rocket attacks. And that's what we expect. We also want to see, as I've said, the ceasefire restored in a sustainable and durable fashion, so that we can get back on the road map, work towards the goals of the Annapolis process, which, again, is two states living side by side in peace. Q -- I mean, is just going to rekindle radicalism, isn't it? MR. JOHNDROE: You know, it's hard for me to speak to specific casualty numbers. We have urged the Israelis to avoid civilian casualties. But they are working on decreasing the number of Israeli citizens that are vulnerable. And we know -- I believe someone died this morning, a couple of people a couple of days ago. The Israelis are working to reduce the threat against their own people. So they're going to continue, it appears at this time, to deal with this Hamas terrorist threat. But ultimately, we want a sustainable and durable ceasefire. [...] MR. JOHNDROE: John. Q Israel is amassing tanks and troops along that border. Is the President urging them not to launch a ground invasion? Is he urging restraint already now, in his diplomatic efforts? MR. JOHNDROE: The discussions that we've had with the Israelis are ones that everyone needs to recognize that the ultimate goal here is to get to a ceasefire. I can't speak to any potential ground operation. I think that any ground operation, according to the Israelis, would be part and parcel of the overall operation, given their statements saying that they don't want to retake Gaza, that they simply want to protect their people. So we'll just have to see how this unfolds. Obviously, as I've said, we don't want them -- we want civilian casualties to be avoided. But it's is unfortunate as Hamas, as we've seen in the past, tends to base its people and some of its rockets in civilian areas. So we'll see. Go ahead. Q Is it fair to say that the U.S. would prefer not to see a ground operation, but defends Israel's right to do that? What exactly is the U.S. position? MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not going to speculate on a ground operation. Let's just take this one day at a time, all right. Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:17:00 PM Iraq Withdrawal Time Horizon - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 7/21/08 — Monday, July 21, 2008 —  MS. PERINO: Matt.Q Dana, the term "time horizon" has to imply the setting of date, or dates, of some sort in this agreement. How can you say that this is not a change of administration policy when the President had adamantly -- adamantly -- objected to the idea of time lines, time frames, deadline, anything related to time? MS. PERINO: I just think that it's important that you make the distinction, Matt, that for many years, over -- since, I think it was '05, '06, and '07 -- many members of Congress suggested that we pull troops out in 90 days from X date, or, in six months from today we'll have no more combat troops there. Those were arbitrary dates that tied the hands of the commanders, that did not give any consideration to conditions on the ground. The whole reason we are able to have this conversation today with the Iraqis is because conditions on the ground have changed radically, and for the better. And we are willing to talk with them about an aspirational time horizon when we would be able to have them take more security control of their country, as well as see them continue to make gains in their political reconciliation, which we increasingly saw even over the weekend, as the Sunnis agreed to come back and rejoin the government. On the economic side, they just passed a supplemental for their budget. They're increasingly bringing in more revenues and they're paying for much -- almost all of their reconstruction costs. So we're making gains. Let me also mention that I do think that they've made a tremendous effort in the region, in the neighborhood, to improve the diplomatic relations with their neighbors. And you're seeing that through the Kuwaitis, who have now said that they will send an ambassador for the first time in many years; the United Arab Emirates, who agreed to forgive their debt, which was a good step forward; Jordan has said that they would consider opening up their embassy there, amongst others. So all of these tracks have been moving forward. We are not setting an arbitrary date for withdrawal that is a date that is plucked out of thin air. We are going to do this based on conditions. Conditions have improved dramatically, and we want to get it on a trajectory that makes sure that that can continue. Q You're not setting an arbitrary date -- MS. PERINO: That's right. Q -- but dates will be set, nonetheless. MS. PERINO: As I just said, there will be an aspirational time horizon where there might be -- for example, something that says, we believe that by X date the Iraqis should be able to take care -- take over security control of Y province. That could be the type of dates we're talking about. Q But, so then what really is the -- it sounds like a semantical difference. I mean, most Americans are going to look at that -- MS. PERINO: I don't think -- well, if you're making policy and you're the Commander-in-Chief, there's a huge difference between saying that you're going to bring troops home based on -- let me go on -- I don't remember whose legislation it was that would have brought our troops home in 90 days after the passing of the supplemental -- maybe in 2007. But I know that we've gone through several of these fights, and in every -- every time we've been able the beat it back because we think that the best decision-makers on the ground are commanders on the ground, not people in Washington, D.C. plucking dates out of thin air. And we are able to have this conversation with the Iraqis now because of the success we are seeing in Iraq -- that is based on the surge, which was a extremely courageous decision, one of the most unpopular decisions possibly in presidential history, but one that has worked nonetheless. Dana Perino | Iraq | Middle East | President Bush | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps | White House Press Secretary Labels: Dana Perino, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:37:00 PM Air Force One Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 4/21/08 (Hamas "Peace" Deal) — Monday, April 21, 2008 —  MS. PERINO: Any other topics?Q Israel, and Hamas's reported willingness to engage in a peace deal. Do you have any reaction on that? MS. PERINO: Well, I think that -- you're referring to what President Carter said about what he was told? I think that what you have to do is look at -- it's possible that that was whispered in his ear in a private meeting. We did not support the private meeting, a meeting with a terrorist organization. And I think you have to look at the public comments of Hamas, and beyond that, look at the behavior, and just look at what happened over the weekend in terms of the very sophisticated attacks around the border crossings, and the people -- innocent people, who were killed right there. So I take it with a -- we take it with a grain of salt. And we have to look at public comments, and we also have to look at actions. And actions speak louder than words. Air Force One | Dana Perino | Hamas | Israel | Jimmy Carter | Middle East | Press Gaggle | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Dana Perino, Hamas, Israel, Jimmy Carter, Middle East, Press Gaggle, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:09:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 4/14/08 (Jimmy Carter meeting with Hamas Terrorist Organization) — Monday, April 14, 2008 —  MS. PERINO: Matt.Q Yes, what does the President think of Jimmy Carter's planned meeting with Hamas during his Middle East trip? And is there any concern at the White House that Israel has so far declined to provide any kind of assistance to the Secret Service agents who are guarding Carter? MS. PERINO: I hadn't heard about the second part regarding Secret Service agents. The President believes that if President Carter wants to go, that he is doing so in his own private capacity as a private citizen. He is not representing the United States in those meetings, and the President is not a supporter of having conversations with Hamas. And we have made that known. Q Does he see -- does the President see this in any way undermining his own efforts to isolate Hamas? MS. PERINO: I think Hamas has done a good enough job of isolating itself. We don't think that it's helpful, no. Dana Perino | Hamas | Israel | Jimmy Carter | Middle East | Press Briefing | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Hamas, Israel, Jimmy Carter, Middle East, Press Briefing, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 11:49:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 4/7/08 (General Petraeus Iraq Testimony) — Monday, April 07, 2008 — Q You acted like the President wouldn't know what Petraeus and Crocker are going to testify. Do you mean he's going to be surprised tomorrow -- MR. FRATTO: No, I hope I didn't leave -- Q -- when they say the surge is working and all? MR. FRATTO: No, I hope I didn't leave that impression. I think he has a good sense of what the thinking of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker is. Obviously they speak on a fairly regular basis and the President is briefed by General Petraeus. And he's also briefed by lots of -- Q But he's the President, isn't he calling the policy? I mean, we don't have President Petraeus, do we? We have President -- MR. FRATTO: No, we don't. We have commander Petraeus, who is running the operations on the ground in Iraq and he's closest to the military operations. He knows the capabilities of his forces, the coalition forces, and what the Iraqi security forces can do, and has a good sense of what's needed to complete his mission. And it's a mission that he designed. So we want to look forward to his testimony and hear how he thinks it's going and what the requirements are to complete that mission for the remainder of the year. Q What is the mission? MR. FRATTO: Well, it's pretty clear, says to bring -- is to bring -- Q Are you asking -- to continue the occupation of Iraq? MR. FRATTO: -- security in Iraq, sufficient security, so that the political leadership can continue to make gains. And they've made some very impressive gains, whether it's with the budget and reconstruction funding and the Baathist legislation and provincial elections. These are all very, very important elements of political reconciliation in Iraq. We'd like to see more. We want to see more action on oil revenue law. And so there's more to be done. We're going to keep a very close eye on implementation of the laws that have been passed. But I think it's clear General Petraeus's mission was to reduce violence in Baghdad and in Iraq, more broadly, and I think it's hard to deny -- it would be hard for anybody to deny that he hasn't been successful in that mission. Now, we know that it's a -- the reduction of violence is fragile and it's reversible, but we like the trend and we like what the Iraqi political leadership has shown about their ability to take action. Q And paying off 90,000 Iraqis not to fight? MR. FRATTO: Kathleen. General Petraeus | Helen | Iraq | Middle East | President Bush | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: General Petraeus, Helen, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:55:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 3/10/08 (Cheney's Trip to the Middle East) — Monday, March 10, 2008 — Q Has the President given the Vice President any specific benchmarks he's looking for from his trip to the Middle East? The President outlined a little bit, but you had made it clear earlier this morning that he wanted things to hurry up in the Middle East peace process. MS. PERINO: No, I wouldn't say that the President has to give the Vice President any benchmarks. The Vice President understands fully what we're trying to achieve there, and the President is grateful that he's agreed to go. He has an ambitious trip, starting this Sunday. He'll travel to several different countries, and he has many different topics that he will cover. One of the most important is certainly trying to help the Israelis and the Palestinians as they continue to talk with one another to get to a point where they could define what a state would look like. And in addition to that, he'll travel to Saudi Arabia; I'm sure that energy issues will come up there. He'll be talking about Iraq and the progress of the surge and the importance of making sure that the security gains that we've had do not reverse themselves. So he's got a wide range of topics that he'll cover on his trip. Q But not anything specific, like, let's have the settlement issue resolved by this date, for instance. MS. PERINO: If there is, I'm not aware of it and I don't -- they have private conversations. Q Will he repeat the request to the Saudis to ask OPEC to raise oil production, a request which was made by the President and turned down by our friends, the Saudis? MS. PERINO: I'll refer you to the Vice President's office for exactly what he will bring up. But certainly the position of the United States and the President is that we believe that more supplies should be out there on the market. And the President does want OPEC to take into consideration that its biggest customer, the United States, that our economy is weakened, and part of the reason is because of higher oil prices; we think that more supply would help. And I don't anticipate that the Vice President would have any other message than that one. Q So he will, obviously, then, have that message. MS. PERINO: I'm not -- I can't tell you exactly what the Vice President is going to say and I'm not going to -- I'll let him have his meetings and then they can read them for you while you guys are on the road. Dana Perino | Dick Cheney | Middle East | Press Briefing | Vice President | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Dick Cheney, Middle East, Press Briefing, Vice President, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:48:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 10/18/07 (Turkey, Iraq and the PKK) — Thursday, October 18, 2007 — MS. PERINO: Well, what we have said is that -- the President said yesterday what we want to see is for Turkey to not send additional troops into that region. The President said yesterday there's a small contingent there that have been there for a few years. That's been a longstanding presence. What you have now is the Americans and the Iraqis working together with the Turks to work together against the PKK, a terrorist organization, which we would like to see eradicated in the region as well. What was very positive was that Prime Minister Maliki send his Vice President, Hashimi, to Turkey yesterday in order to work with them. That's where you see -- that's what a good neighbor does. In the world of international politics, you want neighbors to be talking with one another and working together to solve problems. So I think that that is an encouraging sign, and we have asked Turkey to refrain from doing anything more. Q Can I follow on that? MS. PERINO: You want to follow? Okay. Q Turkey's justice minister says the President is basically being hypocritical by opposing Turkish military action in northern Iraq. He says the same justification the U.S. used to go after al Qaeda in Afghanistan is the justification that Turkey would use to go after the PKK in northern Iraq. MS. PERINO: I haven't seen the justice minister's comments. What I can say is that we have Ambassador Crocker, our ambassador in Iraq, and our ambassador into Turkey, as well as General Petraeus working closely with the Turks to help solve the problem. And also you have the Iraqis participating, as well. We think that's the way to help solve this issue. I understand that he's making a point about terrorists attacking their country, that this is something that the Iraqis and the Americans have said that they would help the Turks help eradicate, and to end the PKK terrorist influence in that region. And so we'll continue to try to work it that way. We don't think that a larger-scale incursion is necessary to help solve the problem. Q I think the point he's making is two-fold; one is a point of rights, and the other is that the efforts by the U.S. and Iraq have not solved the problem yet, and so Turkey -- MS. PERINO: Well, I think that we saw yesterday the Iraqis saying that they are going to work with the Turks, and they will redouble their efforts to help them. And I think that's the appropriate way to help solve this. Dana Perino | Iraq | Middle East | PKK | Press Briefing | Turkey | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Iraq, Middle East, PKK, Press Briefing, Turkey, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:22:00 PM Air Force One Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 10/15/07 (Armenian Genocide Resolution) — Monday, October 15, 2007 — MR. FRATTO: I don't have -- I don't know anything about plans for a phone call. But there should be no question of the President's views on this issue and the damage that this resolution can do to our U.S. foreign policy interests. This isn't just a view that's expressed by the administration; this is a view that's been expressed by at least, I believe eight former Secretaries of State on a bipartisan basis, a number of former Defense Secretaries, by our Turkish allies, by independent experts, that this is an important time for U.S.-Turkish relations, and we would strongly encourage the Speaker not to bring this to a vote, and should it come to a vote, we will strongly encourage members not to support it. This is not the best way to deal with this issue. It is, admittedly, a tragic historical event, which has been well documented, but there are better ways to deal with this issue than -- the most important outcome that I think everyone would like to see are improved Turkish and Armenian relations. And so we encourage the Turks and Armenian authorities to resolve this issue between themselves, and not for the U.S. House of Representatives to insert itself and make this -- make the prospects for resolving the issue more difficult. We should be trying to make it less difficult. Air Force One | Armenia | Genocide | Iraq | Middle East Labels: Air Force One, Armenia, Genocide, Iraq, Middle East, Press Gaggle, Resolutions, Tony Fratto, Turkey, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:41:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 10/9/07 (Nuclear Arms in the Middle East) — Tuesday, October 09, 2007 — Q -- White House has a driving interest in keeping nuclear arms out of Iran. I'd like to ask you, does any country in the Middle East have nuclear arms? MS. PERINO: Oh, I would leave it to those countries to announce whether they do or not. I think that there's public information about that, Helen. Q No, no, no, I want to know if the White House knows that there -- what do you mean? They're not going to announce it. MS. PERINO: I'm not prepared to say anything beyond what has been publicly stated -- Q You don't know whether any other country in the Middle East has nuclear arms? MS. PERINO: Helen, I will let those countries speak for themselves. Q Or do you refuse to say? MS. PERINO: I'll just refuse to say it. Dana Perino | Helen | Iran | Middle East | Nuclear Arms | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Helen, Iran, Middle East, Nuclear Arms, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:46:00 PM
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