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Ärende: Press Release (0611092) for Thu, 2006 Nov 9
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Press Briefing by Tony Snow
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 9, 2006

Press Briefing by Tony Snow
White House Conference Center Briefing Room

Press Briefing view


12:23 P.M. EST

MR. SNOW: All right, welcome. Bill Plante just passed on some sad news. We
note with sadness the passing of Ed Bradley, who died earlier today. Our
thoughts and prayers not only with Ed's family, but all of his colleagues
at CBS. Sad news, and with that, I'll go to questions.

Q Dan Bartlett said today there's a natural attrition after an election.
What do you expect in the way of other people leaving after Defense
Secretary Rumsfeld?

MR. SNOW: Terry, I don't know of anybody who has announced or shared plans
to go. I think Dan is making the obvious point: you've got six years, and
it's been amazing, because you've got a lot of people who have been here
six years, but I honestly don't know of anybody. I'm aware of no plans for
departures. Not aware of any plans for changes in personnel. Obviously, as
we do come aware of them or become aware of them, we'll let you know. But
don't know anything.

Q Tony, can you give us a readout on this morning's meeting with the
Republican leadership, the mood and what they focused on, and -- after
Tuesday night?

MR. SNOW: Well, I think the mood was, they all wished that they held both
houses. It was really pretty businesslike. I wasn't in the breakfast, but I
did have an opportunity to meet with the four leaders -- actually, I met
with -- who was in there -- I did not see Congressman Hastert, but I saw
Senators Frist and McConnell, and I saw Congressmen Boehner and Blunt. They
realize that they've got to roll up their sleeves and do some work.

On the other hand, the readout I got from the meeting is it was primarily
focused on the lame-duck session. We have got a Vietnam free trade
agreement that we want to get done, an Indian civil nuclear agreement
that's of great importance, obviously the budget matters, the outer
continental shelf, nominations of John Bolton, and also if possible Bob
Gates, and the Terrorist Surveillance Act.

So those are kind of the items they discussed, and the President also made
it clear that we do have opportunities now to work with Democrats on a lot
of these issues. The important piece of business -- and he reiterated this
in the Cabinet meeting a few minutes ago -- is let's work as aggressively
as we can with Democrats and Democratic leadership to try to get important
pieces of business done, but on the other hand, don't trim back on your
principles.

Q Tony, on the Secretary Rumsfeld resignation, can you talk about the
conversation the President had on November 1st, with various reporters. He
told one of them, he was asked, "So you're expecting Rumsfeld -- Secretary
Rumsfeld to stay on for the rest of your time here?" President Bush
replied, "Yes, I am." Was that an honest statement?

MR. SNOW: Well, let me put it this way: At that point, although there had
been conversations about how to proceed at the Pentagon, there had been no
job offer to Bob Gates, there was no clear sense that there would be a
resignation pending, and therefore, would you expect the President to say,
don't know, let me get back to you, trying to think that one through. The
fact is, at that point, that reflected his thinking. But on the other hand,
there were conversations going on.

You need to understand that at a time of war, and also on the political --
I mean, it was a very good question for which there was not a simple and
easy answer. And let me just continue, because the President made the
determination that he simply was not going to let anybody get the
impression that he was going to swap a decision for votes. And therefore,
at that point, he had not talked with Bob Gates, he had not had a letter of
resignation from Don Rumsfeld, had absolutely no confirmation about what
was going to happen in the future. That is the answer he gave.

And in so doing, what he did is he made it impossible for people to try to
turn that into a political football, and also the President simply is not
going to allow his operation, his decisions as Commander-in-Chief, to be
used in a political manner because it sends the wrong message, primarily to
soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marine, National Guards, and Reserves, because
they need to know that the Commander-in-Chief is doing his job, not on the
basis of polls, but on the basis of what is best in terms of national
security.

Q Yesterday he cited political concerns. He didn't want to inject that -- I
understand all --

MR. SNOW: That's what I just said.

Q But you mentioned the troops on the ground. I don't think he mentioned
the troops in the answer.

MR. SNOW: Well, he has mentioned it. And at least -- let me put it this
way, Greg, because the conversations he's had with us is, it's an important
signal to Capitol Hill, to the government of Iraq, to our military forces,
and also to the terrorists, that you can't jerk the President around on the
basis of politics, period.

Q Cut and dried answer -- I mean cut and dried question, Was it an honest
statement?

MR. SNOW: It was an honest statement.

Q Tony, I know you're not given to getting on the couch about these things,
but I've been watching the President --

MR. SNOW: But I would expect it.

Q I'm just wondering what's the President's mood in the last 36 hours? He's
been given this -- what many people are interpreting as a rebuke. How is he
handling this? What are you seeing?

MR. SNOW: Look, he's handling it the way he handles all these things. I
mean, I was up watching election returns. The President is not a guy who's
-- I'm afraid he doesn't get on the couch, Jim. What he does is -- the
statement he's made many times is, "What it is is what it is." And what you
have to do is now figure out how you're going to proceed.

Q But what it is is a rebuke.

MR. SNOW: No. What it is is it's an election return, Jim. And elections --
the President understands, especially in six terms [sic] of presidency. The
message in the election return is you're going to have a Democratic House
and we'll see what happens in the Senate. But the other things is that as
President you figure out the best way to move forward with the things that
are important to you. And, I've mentioned many times, the President is
going to be absolutely aggressive on making sure that these last two years
are years in which we do accomplish a lot of the people's business.

Q Tony, isn't the message -- is the message the people have spoken? This
was largely a referendum on his policy in Iraq. We don't like the policy in
Iraq comes the message back from the voters. So he's having to absorb this
rejection.

MR. SNOW: Well, no. The President doesn't absorb a rejection. A couple of
things: In ten of the races, you had members of the House of
Representatives on the Republican side who have been tainted by scandal.
I'm not sure Iraq played a big role in those races. The voters said, you
know what, we expect you to come to Washington and do the people's
business. And when people lose sight of that, voters tend to remind them of
the priorities. That's 10 seats right there.

Q You're saying it's a lot closer than it looks --

MR. SNOW: No, I'm just telling you that there are a lot of different items
at play. If you take a look at the exit polls, it was interesting, because
Iraq ended up finishing third in the exits, in terms of people's stated
concerns. As a matter of fact -- the first one was corruption, and the way
in which people in Washington comported themselves. But no question that
Iraq is part of it. But the President also is firmly committed to winning
in Iraq, period. And you don't -- as he said many times, public opinion
polls cannot be used as a gauge as Commander-in-Chief, because at some
point, in future generations, if you allow that situation to become one in
which you have created an unprecedented launching pad for a terrorist
state, people are going to say, why didn't you act?

Now what's interesting, Jim, and this is going to be -- I think there's an
opportunity for some really good and important bipartisan work here,
because Democrats have been complaining about Iraq. Okay, now is the chance
for both parties to work together, working toward victory. And victory
would be an Iraq that can, in fact, stand up on its own as a prosperous
democracy and an ally in the war on terror.

And so I'm not -- see, one of the questions that never showed up was, do
you think we should leave short of victory. That's an interesting poll
question, never really asked. The President has already said, as a matter
of national security and in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, you have to
make sure that you finish the job.

Q Can I follow one more on that? Is there anything to be made of the fact
that a member of the Iraq Study Group is now the nominee to be the
Secretary of Defense?

MR. SNOW: No.

Q Any coordination there at all?

MR. SNOW: No, and I'm glad you asked it. No. That's an important thing to
note, because -- and I am told -- I was not party to the discussions --
that there was no conversation about conclusions or what the Iraq Study
Group was going to come up with, this in the conversations with Bob Gates.
The members of the Iraq Study Group --

Q He's never asked Bob Gates, so, what have you all been talking about?

MR. SNOW: I don't think so, and I'll tell you why. He's been very clear
about the importance that that -- those deliberations and that advice
remain confidential and independent. We've had this conversation before
with regard to Jim Baker.

The President, to repeat for the umpteenth time, wants to get fresh eyes on
the problem, whether it be with the Secretary of Defense or with outsiders
who come in, and the vast majority of outsiders who come in to talk about
Iraq are people who disagree with him. You want to find new angles and new
insights that enable you to prosecute not only the military side more
effectively and vigorously, but also deal with the economic and the
political realms.

So it would not be, actually, out of character. In fact it would be in
character for the President to respect the independence of the Iraq Study
Group, because the moment that gets drawn into question it compromises
whatever they may be wanting to do. We want to make sure that, again, fresh
eyes, fresh recommendations. It will be interesting to see what they come
up with.

Helen.

Q What is this -- these four principles that he'll never budge on?

MR. SNOW: Well, the President has made it pretty clear, for instance, that
he believes in tax cuts. And there are a number of others. But what I don't
want to be doing right now is sort of anticipating --

Q That's not a principle, per se. What are the principles that guide his --

MR. SNOW: Well, again, these things will become manifest in the fullness of
time, Helen. As we begin to debate certain issues, you will find that there
will be discussions of these things.

Q Also, why does he think this mandate from the voters doesn't mean to pull
out?

MR. SNOW: Because I don't think that's a majority opinion. But furthermore
--

Q You don't think so.

MR. SNOW: -- you know what, Helen, what he sees is, he was hired to be
Commander-in-Chief, and it's his job to tend to national security. And he's
willing -- and he's willing to take whatever political hits come if it
means doing -- if he has to choose between doing his job properly and being
popular, he's going to do the job properly to save American lives not only
now, but for future generations, and also to make the Middle East a safer
region and a more secure region, and one that is going to be more reliable,
especially in terms of the ongoing battle and the conversation there about
what is the proper way to proceed -- democracy or terror. And as you know
--

Q Is every Iraqi a terrorist?

MR. SNOW: No, absolutely not. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of
Iraqis are people who want to breathe free.

Q Who brought the terrorists in, so called, and why wouldn't the Iraqis
protect themselves against terrorists?

MR. SNOW: Well, Iraqis -- there are a number of things going on, Helen, and
some people are terrorists, and you also have sectarian factions within
Iraq. But one thing is clear, al Qaeda had made it its known desire to try
to foment friction between factions within Iraq, and Prime Minister Maliki
is doing his very best to work on creating peace and shared interest,
economic and otherwise, in the political system and economic system,
between all different groups in Iraq. That is the challenge of democracy,
and it's one we're going to meet.

Ann.

Q Are there other decisions in government the President has put off until
the -- after the elections so they wouldn't be considered political?

MR. SNOW: No.

Q And why isn't it less than straightforward to say a week before the
election that Secretary Rumsfeld would stay through the remainder of the
administration when the President knew that wasn't the case?

MR. SNOW: Well, he didn't know it was the case because he didn't have a
suitable -- what he considered a suitable replacement and hadn't had the
final conversations with Don Rumsfeld. You find yourself -- if you create
an answer that leaves you in limbo, I'm not sure that you serve your
national interest very well.

Q Are there other decisions that he's --

MR. SNOW: No. No.

Q The President said in the Rose Garden that he's open to any and all
suggestions and ideas on Iraq. Does this mean that he's now willing to
consider a change of strategy as well as tactics?

MR. SNOW: No. I mean, again, the strategy is clear. Any and all ideas that
are going to lead us toward that independent, free-standing Iraq. In other
words, if the idea is an Iraq run by al Qaeda, sorry. That's off the table,
not interested. If you want an Iraq riven by violence with outsiders coming
in, that's off the table. What the President is interested in is a free,
democratic, and stable Iraq that is able to be an ally in the war on
terror.

That's unchangeable. Ways to get there -- open for all suggestions.

Q But this is a wartime President who has lost his congressional majority.
Now what message does he take from the voters on Iraq? He must take
something.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, you guys have this as an election about one issue. I
would encourage you to go back and look at the various campaigns. I mean,
you have every -- you have a wide variety of issues that came into play.
You know -- a statement by Senator Allen ended up being a key issue in that
particular campaign as well as a campaign commercial. You had various
things that people said on the stump.

In a lot of cases the determinative issue was not Iraq. But nevertheless I
don't want to give the impression that we don't understand that there is
not only concern about Iraq but a desire to get out of there as quickly as
possible. We agree, but it has to be under circumstances that are going to
leave America better off and the world better off.

And I think -- I think you're going to find the Democrats and the
Republicans do agree on that. And it's going to be interesting because now
Democrats are stakeholders in this. They have said -- and I think it's
right, proper, and welcome -- that they want to work constructively with
this White House on a wide range of issues. This is one of them, and that's
why the President said he's open for any suggestions about how to get this
done more effectively.

Q Tony, I know the President is trying to focus on bipartisanship now, and
he was asked about Nancy Pelosi's comments yesterday, and he said it wasn't
his first rodeo. But is he at all disappointed in the tone and tenure of
some of these campaigns, taking a look back at how negative they were? He
himself said, you know, Democrats, the party of FDR and Harry Truman have
become "the party of cut and run." I mean is there -- does he feel like he
bears some responsibility as head of his party?

MR. SNOW: No. The President understands politics. Perhaps you've noticed
that this occurs during election cycles. But you know what, the partisan
temperature has gotten too hot here in Washington over a period of time,
and we do have an opportunity to return to a prior period where you still
had big, vigorous disagreements, but at the end of the day, you could still
acknowledge that the people with whom you're disagreeing are respectable,
likeable, good people.

And part of democracy is fighting through and trying to get the best way to
solve problems. And I think maybe changing the tone -- look, the parties
are going to disagree. That's why they belong to different parties. But on
the other hand, if you can restore a sense of mutual respect, that's a good
thing. And I think it's overdue.

Jim.

Q Tony, do you have -- this week there's been some back and forth about
what the President said when and what happened -- is there any more detail
you could offer in terms of the chronology of the Rumsfeld decision? I
think the general message yesterday was there have been discussions for a
couple of months with the Secretary, and then in the final weeks it started
bearing down closer to the idea of a resignation. Gates appears at some
point. Could we get some more specificity? Perhaps that would clear up some
of the debate.

MR. SNOW: No.

No. I mean I just -- I've given you about all I know, and you've got a lot
that falls within the realm of internal deliberations. I was --

Q That's all you know?

MR. SNOW: I don't know a whole lot more.

Q Can you clarify what is known then?

MR. SNOW: I think it's been said. You pretty much summarized it, which is
the President and the Defense Secretary meet regularly, and they talk about
how best to proceed in Iraq. And I'll go back to the comments that the
President made yesterday, because it was summarizing an observation the
Defense Secretary made. And I think this gives you, the sense, again, of
the readout that I've gotten of the meetings.

Look, these are meetings where there are two people in the room -- the
President and the Defense Secretary. So, he said, "I have been talking with
Don Rumsfeld over a period of time about fresh perspective. He likes to
call it fresh eyes. He, himself, understands that Iraq is not working well
enough fast enough." And I'm told that that is a Rumsfeld formulation. So
you engage in conversations about how to do this.

Let me say this: Don Rumsfeld is one of the most extraordinary Defense
Secretaries in American history. He not only worked on the tough business
of transformation within the Pentagon, he did so during a time of war, and
did so with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was in that office for six
years, which may be six of the most trying years that any Defense Secretary
has ever faced. And he did an exemplary job, and the President respects him
and thanks him for the service.

But there also came the conclusion that after six years, sometimes you can
get so drawn in to the daily activities of what's going on that you do need
to bring in somebody with a fresh perspective and a way of looking at it
that allows you to turn the issue at an angle that may not have been seen
before and that's why, again, we constantly invite new people in.

But the two of them had come to the conclusion -- again, this was a joint
agreement, this was not -- well, it was a joint agreement. And it did, in
fact, represent things that probably began as musings and became firmer as
the regular consultations proceeded.

Q Last night, some of the networks showed some of the previous statements
-- reminded us of previous statements the President made about the
Secretary that were very firm, he's sticking through, we're hearing this
from anyone we talk to --

MR. SNOW: Yes, look, he thinks --

Q What changed? What clicked, what changed? How did he get to this point
from what seemed to be a very different point a couple months ago?

MR. SNOW: Well, again, I think the President has great confidence in Don
Rumsfeld, but also, again, it's Don Rumsfeld and the President talking
about the need for fresh eyes. If you want me to give you interior
deliberations, A, we don't do that, and, B, even if we did, I don't have
the insights you want.

Q But even just -- we don't have to get into that, but just in terms of
what changed, something changed.

MR. SNOW: Like I said, I don't know.

Q Well, when the President said he expected him to stay through the end to
Terry and to Steve --

MR. SNOW: Well, again, this is a time when you do -- even though you've
been talking about these things, you've not had talk of a resignation, and
furthermore, you had not had the conversation with Bob Gates.

Q There was enough going on that he didn't expect him to be there at the
end.

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure, look, I don't know. I just don't know, I can't help
you.

Q What other statements did he make during the campaign that we should
consider to be inoperative at this point because he didn't want to inject
them in the middle of a campaign?

MR. SNOW: None.

Q None? They're all going to stay, they're all going to stand? They all
stand up?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q Because, I mean --

MR. SNOW: Let me ask you, Peter, again -- the answer is, I think what
you're saying is, even though the President had made no decisions and even
though there had been no conversation with Bob Gates, he should have said,
I don't know, get back to me.

Q He wasn't asked if he made a decision. He was asked if he wanted him to
stay until the end, and he said yes, which in fact he didn't, because he
wanted to find a replacement.

MR. SNOW: No, you don't -- no, you don't know.

Q He was looking for a replacement, by his own account, at that point, and
he could have answered the question, I don't do hypotheticals, which he
says all the time. He could have said, I have great confidence in Don
Rumsfeld, and every Cabinet Secretary serves at my pleasure.

MR. SNOW: Okay, well, we'll invite you to the next pre-brief.

Q -- this is not a very straightforward answer.

MR. SNOW: You know what? Thank you for the editorial.

Q Had he prepared for this question?

MR. SNOW: I don't know. I mean --

Q I'm saying, was his answer one that he had thought about in advance, and
--

MR. SNOW: You mean, for the one in the wire?

Q At the wire --

MR. SNOW: I don't think so, no.

Q Thank you. I have two questions, please. What will the President do with
a new Congress, particularly with new Speaker, to get immigration reform?

MR. SNOW: I think the President believes in comprehensive immigration
reform. He talked about it in the last Congress. They took a very important
first step in working on border security not once but twice within the last
year, and the President understands first and foremost that there are a lot
of people who are concerned about having secure borders. We're going to
have them.

But furthermore, the President also understands in the long run you want a
system that's going to be more capable of finding out who is coming into
the country, who's here illegally and who is not, who is taking jobs from
American workers, which employers are improperly hiring workers, and also
people who've been here for an extended period of time -- you're going to
have to figure out how you -- the disposition of 11 to 12 million different
cases.

All of those are unfinished business. They do not serve in lieu of or in
competition with the need for border security, but in fact, in the long
run, help supplement the cause of border security by giving us a firmer
sense of who is here and what they are doing. And he looks forward to
working with Republicans and Democrats on the issue.

Q What does the President plan to do, if anything, to ease the Mexican
elect presidential position to the border fence between Mexico and the
U.S.?

MR. SNOW: Well, they are meeting in just a few minutes. I'll be in there,
and I'll give you a readout tomorrow.

Q Tony, to what extent is the Counsel's office or other advisors to the
President preparing for the investigations that the Democrats are already
discussing on any number of issues?

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure. You're going to have to ask Democrats what they
intend to investigate. Then we'll tell you what -- no, I mean we don't have
a war room set up where we're dialing the 800 numbers of law firms.

Q Tony, two quick questions. One, as far as this U.S.-India civil nuclear
agreement is concerned, it was very important on the President's agenda in
the last -- previous Congress, and how you think he will proceed now with
this --

MR. SNOW: I just said, it's a priority for the lame-duck session.

Q Some of the resolutions passed in the previous Congress in the House,
Indian government doesn't agree with them, so they want the new session to
make some changes before they can --

MR. SNOW: I'm not going to get into that. The United States, I think we've
been working closely with the Indian government, and I think the Indian
government understands this is important for both countries, and we're
working it through in the lame duck session.

Q Second, quickly. As far as death penalty for Saddam Hussein was
concerned, Iran was praising. And the President of Iran also said this is a
welcome --

MR. SNOW: Our view on the Saddam verdict is it represented a triumph in the
sense that you have an independent judiciary that is applying the law
firmly and fairly, and that you now have a rule of law in Iraq, rather than
a rule of terror, and that it's important -- one of the impressive things
is that the judges are publishing all of the evidence they used and making
it clear to everybody how they arrived at that decision so that everybody
in Iraq will have complete transparency -- something that we don't always
have -- into the deliberations that led to the sentencing of Saddam
Hussein.

Les.

Q Tony, two questions. Does the President believe that voter fraud on
Election Day might be reduced by requiring each voter to produce a Social
Security card, which could be quickly checked?

MR. SNOW: Les, that is not in our lane. That is a state responsibility, and
the President believes in federalism.

Q Okay, all over the Internet is a photograph of U.S. college student Saad
Seadi. He's wearing a plastic dynamite belt, a Palestinian Arab head dress
and a toy machine gun, as he's standing right next to President Amy
Gutmann, of the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania, and she is
smiling.

And my question, surely, the President, who earned two Ivy League degrees,
is appalled by this behavior by President Guttman, and believes it's worse
than anything done by Harvard's fired President Summers, doesn't he?

MR. SNOW: Les, sometimes you ask questions that are just unworthy of
answering because a President does not engage in --

Q He went to two Ivy League colleges.

MR. SNOW: I'm aware of that.

Terry?

Q Thank you.

MR. SNOW: Thank you.

Q She poses with this terrorist.

MR. SNOW: She posed with a student dressed as a terrorist.

END 12:47 P.M. EST
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