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 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  R.I.P. Tony Snow 1955-2008 — Saturday, July 12, 2008 — President and Mrs. Bush Saddened by Death of Tony Snow Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend, Tony Snow. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Jill, and their children, Kendall, Robbie, and Kristi. The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character. Tony was one of our Nation's finest writers and commentators. He earned a loyal following with incisive radio and television broadcasts. He was a gifted speechwriter who served in my father's Administration. And I was thrilled when he agreed to return to the White House to serve as my Press Secretary. It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day. He brought wit, grace, and a great love of country to his work. His colleagues will cherish memories of his energetic personality and relentless good humor. All of us here at the White House will miss Tony, as will the millions of Americans he inspired with his brave struggle against cancer. One of the things that sustained Tony Snow was his faith - and Laura and I join people across our country in praying that this good man has now found comfort in the arms of his Creator. Labels: Tony Snow >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:29:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Tony Snow 9/12/07 (Tony Snow's Departure) — Wednesday, September 12, 2007 —  MR. SNOW: (Enters to applause.) Well, let me say, back at you. Let me start on an unusual note for a press briefing, just to give a lot of thanks to a lot of people, and I want to start with you.This job has been the most fun I have ever had, the most satisfying, fulfilling job. I'm sorry I have to leave it, but I have got to say it has been a real honor and a pleasure working with everybody in this room. And I'll miss it. You know, everybody talks about what a horrible job it is to brief the press -- I love these briefings and I'm really going to miss them. On the other hand, it's left in Dana's capable hands and the business of keeping the press informed will continue to be the object of the press office and life will continue, including for me. Let me begin by doing some thanks, though, for people in the White House. I want to start with Scott McClellan, because when I first came here we had a transition week and Scott could not have been more gracious and helpful -- and simply in learning the difference between a gaggle and a briefing, the first gaggle, as you may recall, an occasional little discomfort. I still remember Ann out in the hall saying, "I can't hear anything you're doing." (Laughter.) So there were some experiments that didn't quite work out the way we wanted, but Scott just could not have been classier or more helpful and I want to thank him. And thank everybody here in the press office: Dana Perino, Tony Fratto, Scott Stanzel, Gordon Johndroe, Emily Lawrimore, Josh Deckard, Carlton Carroll, Ryan Graham, Pete Seat, Stuart Siciliano, Rachel Williams, Lois Cassano -- who did my makeup on FOX News Sunday for many years, before I came here. I want to thank all the stenos, who I have beleaguered with neologisms, foreign words, obscure words and everything else and sent them scrambling to try to figure out what I was talking about. And finally, a special thanks to Ed Buckley, who as an assistant has -- anybody who has worked with Ed knows that he is just a delightful guy. One of the real pleasures of working at the White House is you have a lot of very bright, motivated young people who come in, they work hard -- they don't get paid a lot -- but I'll tell you what, they give real service to their country and it is an honor to work with every single one of them. Ed has -- it's just been a delight working with you, and I really appreciate everything you've done. And with that, let me also add one little -- Q Any regrets? (Laughter.) MR. SNOW: No, not really. The only regret is that I'm not able to stay longer. Labels: Press Briefing, Resignation, Tony Snow, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:40:00 PM
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