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 A Decision And A Debate - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 8/4/09 — Tuesday, August 04, 2009 —  Q A couple of questions -- one on North Korea and one on Iran. I'm trying to take North Korea from a slightly different angle. The President --MR. GIBBS: Good try. (Laughter.) Q Former President Clinton is there, a very high-ranking former U.S. official. Some analysts are saying that his mere presence there can be seen as a reward for bad behavior, and that's something that President Obama has made clear that he does not want to do in dealings with Pyongyang. What's your -- what's the administration view on that? MR. GIBBS: I'm not going to get deep into this issue at this point, like I said to Phil. I do think we have looked at -- as I said a few months ago, we're not equating -- we look at detainment and other issues separately. We always hope that the North Koreans would look at it the same way. That's how this administration has approached this. Q You want to keep those completely de-linked as issues. MR. GIBBS: That's what we talked about. Q And on Iran, President Ahmadinejad will be sworn in tomorrow. Some of the U.S. allies will be sending representatives to attend that ceremony. The administration is not. Does the U.S. absence in any way indicate that it is not, shall we say, does not recognize the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's reelection? MR. GIBBS: No, I -- let me get some larger guidance on our participation. Look, I think we have said throughout this that this was a decision and a debate that was ongoing in Iran by Iranians. That they were going to choose their leadership. The President has discussed our goals for reaching out in order to ensure that they don't develop a nuclear weapons program. Those continue to be our goals. Q But does the administration recognize Ahmadinejad as the legitimate President in Iran? MR. GIBBS: He's the elected leader. Ahmadinejad | Foreign Policy | Iran | North Korea | Obama Administration | President Clinton | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Ahmadinejad, Foreign Policy, Iran, North Korea, Obama Administration, President Clinton, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:34:00 PM  Strong Letter To Follow - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 5/26/09 — Wednesday, May 27, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Jake.Q If I could, just a quick question about North Korea. What is the administration's goal, other than some sort of piece of paper from the United Nations expressing disappointment with the nuclear bomb going off? What does the administration want to have happen concretely in terms of action? MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think that the Security Council is currently meeting. I think they're likely to discuss next steps as far as that goes. Let me, though, address the initial part of your question. I think the uniform and unified international criticism that we've seen since the reports of this testing demonstrate the outrage that countries around the world have for these actions. I think North Korea continues to deepen its isolation from the international community and continues, as we've said all along, to take steps in the wrong direction. Q I'm sorry, but you didn't actually answer my question. MR. GIBBS: Well, I just said that obviously I think the Security Council is involved in some of these discussions -- Q You don't want to tip your hand as to what you -- MR. GIBBS: I don't want to get in -- Q -- guys would like? MR. GIBBS: Yes. North Korea | Nuclear Arms | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | United Nations | White House Press Corps Labels: North Korea, Nuclear Arms, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, United Nations, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:55:00 PM Trying To Test Him - Prague Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/5/09 — Tuesday, April 07, 2009 —  Q I didn’t read this, but does it include whether different phases, different stages of the missile worked and others failed?MR. GIBBS: It says just, "Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan, the remaining stages, along with the payload itself, landed in the Pacific Ocean." Q So nothing got into space? MR. GIBBS: "No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan." Q But it got over Japan and into the Pacific. MR. GIBBS: Yes. Q Robert, the broader timing of this, though, even if you don’t think it was necessarily timed for the speech, the broader timing of it is it comes very early in your administration. Do you think the North Koreans are trying to test him? And trying to get his attention? MR. GIBBS: Well, I think that -- I’m trying to be careful -- I think that the North Koreans have disregarded their responsibilities and international resolutions for many, many years now, going back at least to the last two presidencies. So I don’t think this has anything to do with President Obama; I think it has to do with the disregard of the North Koreans, the steps backwards that they are continuing to take and that the President supports the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Q Will you have any more six-party talks now that this has happened, in good faith? MR. GIBBS: Let me get a better answer on that. North Korea | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: North Korea, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 11:48:00 AM The Gravest Security Danger - Prague Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/5/09  Q So the President has not yet been told whether this was in fact a satellite launch, or a missile test, or something in between?MR. GIBBS: I won't get into that during this briefing. I will say this: The President has -- the launch today was not a surprise by any means. The President has been involved in several meetings about this situation over the course of the past three to four weeks. So this was something that had long been planned for. And had at any moment we determined that this launched posed a threat to the United States of America, we would have taken whatever steps were necessary to ensure the safety and security of the American people. Q At any time were America's defenses placed on alert? MR. GIBBS: I think it is safe to say that defenses were monitoring the situation. Q Has the President reached out yet to -- directly to any allies -- Japan or South Korea? MR. GIBBS: The President hasn't spoken yet with Aso or with Lee. Not yet. Q So just to back up, he was woken up? MR. GIBBS: Yes. Q Who woke him up? MR. GIBBS: I did. Q What was his first reaction? MR. GIBBS: Again, it wasn't completely unexpected. He asked me for a rundown of the situation. Obviously at that point there wasn't a ton of detail, and not long after we went back and gave him more up-to-date information about what to -- what defense came back with. Q Did he stay up then to -- get on the phone from that point on? MR. GIBBS: He was up at that point, yes. Q Obviously this makes a big impact on the speech, it ties into the speech, but it overshadows it in some ways. What is he going to say -- MR. GIBBS: I don't think -- I don't think it overshadows it, because I don't think -- I think it makes even more urgent, as the President said, the agenda and the policies that he'll lay out today: The spread of this technology, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and the threat of -- the threat that those weapons pose are the most -- are the gravest security danger our country faces. And I think what the President will outline today is a robust agenda to deal with the problems and the security threats that they pose. North Korea | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: North Korea, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:35:00 AM Press Conference by the President 10/17/07 (Iran and Russia) — Wednesday, October 17, 2007 —  Q Good morning, Mr. President, thank you. I don't know if you saw the picture on the front page of one of the papers this morning of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Vladimir Putin. THE PRESIDENT: I did. Q It looked like they were getting along pretty well. And they are among -- THE PRESIDENT: Surprised they weren't kind of fighting each other on the front page of the paper? No, man, come on. Q It looked like they were enjoying each other's company. And I'm wondering, since they were leaders of five Caspian Sea region nations that have now declared each country will not be used as a base to attack the other, A, what do you make of their growing relationship? B, does it complicate what the United States can do in the region? And C, would you characterize that arrangement as some sort of Caspian Sea Truman Doctrine or something like that? THE PRESIDENT: You know, I -- I think it's hard to judge how their conversations went from a picture. Generally leaders don't like to be photographed scowling at each other or making bad gestures at each other. So I'm not surprised that there was a nice picture of them walking along. I try to make sure that when I'm with foreign leaders, there's a pretty picture of the two of us walking down the colonnades, or something like that, to send a good message. Q Are you saying it's not so warm? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don't know yet. What I'm about to tell you is, is that I'm looking forward to getting President Putin's readout from the meeting. I think one of the -- the thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbor the same concerns that I do. And I say "continues" because when we were in Australia, he reconfirmed to me that it is -- he recognized it's not in the world's interest for Iran to have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon. And they have been very supportive in the United Nations. And we're working with them on a potential third resolution. So that's where my concerns -- I don't worry about the pictures. I understand why they meet. I am -- will continue to work with Russia, as well as other nations, to keep a focused effort on sending Iran a message that you will remain isolated if you continue your nuclear weapons ambitions. Q But this declaration doesn't speak to that, Mr. President. This declaration doesn't suggest isolation for Iran. Just the opposite, that Russia and Iran are going to do business. THE PRESIDENT: Well, we'll find out, see. You're trying to get me to interpret the meeting based upon a news story or a picture. I'd rather spend some time with Vladimir Putin finding out exactly what went on. Thank you. Q Let's stay with the nuclear -- here. When North Korea tested a nuclear device, you said that any proliferation would be a grave threat to the U.S., and North Korea would be responsible for the consequences. Are you denying that North Korea has any role in the suspected nuclear -- THE PRESIDENT: See, you're trying to pull a Gregory. Q Yes, I am. Ahmadinejad | Iran | North Korea | Nuclear Arms | President Bush Labels: Ahmadinejad, Iran, North Korea, Nuclear Arms, President Bush, Presidential Press Conference, Putin, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:10:00 PM
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