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Skriven 2006-11-21 23:31:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0611215) for Tue, 2006 Nov 21
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Press Gaggle by Tony Snow and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley
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For Immediate Release
November 21, 2006

Press Gaggle by Tony Snow and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley
Aboard Air Force One
En route Andrews Air Force Base



6:58 P.M. EST

MR. SNOW: Let me begin. The press office is just about to release a
statement, we'll give it to you guys first and then you can get it on the
ground.

A joint statement by the President of the United States and the Prime
Minister of the Republic of Iraq: "We are pleased to announce that we will
meet in Amman, Jordan, on November 29th and 30th to continue our
consultation on building security and stability in Iraq. We will focus our
discussions on current developments in Iraq, progress made to date in the
deliberations of the high level joint committee on transferring security
and responsibility, and the role of the region in supporting Iraq. We would
like to express our gratitude to His Majesty King Abdullah II of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who has graciously offered to host our
consultations. We look forward to meeting with His Majesty in Amman. We
reiterate our commitment to building the foundations of a peaceful,
democratic, secure and unified Iraq and to strengthening the partnership
between our two nations." End of statement.

I am joined by the National Security Advisor, who will be happy to discuss
this, and also answer any questions you may have on the President's trip to
Singapore, Vietnam or Indonesia.

Q So that's being released even as we speak?

MR. SNOW: We figure we'll let you guys call it in, then we'll release it.

MR. HADLEY: If you guys want to go file your stories, I can come back
later.

Q No, no, we might as well go ahead.

MR. HADLEY: Okay. The purpose of the meeting really is fairly self-evident.
You may remember that the President and the Prime Minister established a
joint commission to look at how to accelerate the transition of security
responsibility to Iraqi security forces. He asked them to look at ways we
could do that, ways we could strengthen Iraqi security forces and give
Iraqis and the Iraqi government and the Prime Minister more control over
those forces. That commission will then have an opportunity to respond and
report to the two Presidents [sic] on the progress they've been making in
that regard.

It will also be an opportunity for the President -- I said "the two
Presidents," I mean, of course, the President and the Prime Minister -- it
will also be an opportunity for the President and the Prime Minister to
review the situation in Iraq more generally and talk about the way ahead in
order to do things, accomplish -- move towards our objectives in a more
effective and expeditious way.

Q Why not in the United States, or why a third country? And how long?

MR. HADLEY: The President is going to be in the region anyway; this will
come at the end of his trip to Riga, for the NATO summit. It seemed,
therefore, a good opportunity to do it. Coming to Jordan makes a lot of
sense. Jordan has been very helpful and supportive of the unity government
in Iraq, so that made it a particularly good venue. It was a venue,
obviously, the President could reach easily, since he was in the region,
and a venue that the Prime Minister could reach easily since it's next
door.

Q So he's going to the NATO summit and not coming back. And what is it, one
day, an overnight, what?

MR. HADLEY: He'll probably get there late afternoon, into the evening, do
some business in the evening, do some business in the morning of the next
day and then come home. So he'll go from Riga to Amman and then back to
Washington, overnighting in Amman and then back to Washington.

Q How long has this been in the works?

MR. HADLEY: The idea came up probably maybe a week ago -- though, it's
maybe a little longer than a week ago. But, obviously, things accelerated
as you do on these things in the last couple days.

Q Let me ask one thing. What do you think about the warmth of relations
between Syria and Iraq, and Iraq and Iran?

MR. HADLEY: Well, we have said that it is important for those two countries
to be supportive of the Iraqi government. There have been ongoing relations
between, obviously, Iraq and Syria, and Iraq and Iran. There have been
visits between the leaders, between -- the Prime Minister has gone to both
countries. And we think it is important that Iraq be speaking directly to
these countries and making it clear to them that they need to play a
positive role in seeking security, stability and democracy in Iraq.

So we think that -- and we are supportive of Iraqi government officials as
they deliver that message, and that is the message they've been delivering,
as you know, both privately and publicly.

Q Steve, will the internal reviews that the NSC and Defense and others have
been making be completed before this meeting?

MR. HADLEY: No, there's obviously been good progress going on those
reviews. The President will have an opportunity to review that progress
here in the next several days. But this is a process that's going to go on
for a while. There are many voices the President will want to listen to. He
will want to obviously talk with the congressional leadership. He'll want
to hear what the Baker-Hamilton commission has to say. He'll want to hear
what Prime Minister Maliki wants to say, who's obviously been developing
his own ideas on the way forward.

So this is a process that will allow the President to draw from a variety
of sources to try and make up his mind about how the best way is to proceed
in Iraq.

Q In the absence of those internal and external recommendations, will it be
likely that the President and Prime Minister can reach anything in the
nature of a decision?

MR. HADLEY: We'll have to see. Remember, the focus is on the report of this
joint commission that the two of them chartered three or four weeks ago.
And the question will be whether that work has progressed enough so that
there will be something to announce. But we're not looking for a big, bold
announcement. This is an opportunity for the President and Prime Minister
Maliki to get together, to get a report from this commission they have
adopted. This is obviously an important time for both Iraqis and Americans
in

developing a way ahead. And since the President was going to be in the
region, we thought it was a good opportunity for the two of them to get
together and talk face to face.

As you know, they talk frequently on the phone; we've used the SVTS. But
there is really no substitute for the two men getting together, sitting
across a table and talking face to face and we thought it was an
opportunity we should take advantage of.

Q Thanks a lot.

END 7:04 P.M. EST
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