For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 29, 2004
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
Andrews Air Force Base
11:28 P.M. EST
MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning. All right. Let me go through the
day. The President had his briefing this morning on the plane. When
we get back to D.C. this afternoon, the President looks forward to
meeting with the heads of government of the seven nations that are
acceding to NATO today.
And then he will make remarks on the South Lawn. I expect in his
remarks the President will talk about how these seven nations endured
bitter tyranny and showed great courage and determination to earn their
freedom. And this is an historic day of achievement for those seven
nations, as well as NATO. They will now be equal partners in this
alliance, going from 19 nations to 26 nations. And the Adriatic
Charter nations will also be represented, as well. And the President
will talk about how the door to NATO remains open to those seeking to
join NATO.
Q Does their membership take effect today?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.
Q It does.
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, they are joining today. It is official
today. Then this afternoon the President also has a meeting -- one of
his regular meetings scheduled with the Secretary of State. And that's
all I've got for today.
Q Where do things stand with Porter Goss's request to
declassify the Clarke testimony from 2002?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't know if there's any update beyond
what we've already told you all over the weekend. Obviously this is a
request by congressional leaders. Our role would be simply to review
the documents, along with other appropriate agencies, to determine what
could be declassified. This is a decision that some congressional
leaders have made.
Q But it's up to you to decide if it can be.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think ultimately it's up to the members of
Congress to decide what they would choose to release, regarding the
joint inquiry. It's their congressional report.
Q How long would a decision take?
MR. McCLELLAN: A decision take -- you'd have to ask members of
Congress. You mean, how long would a review take? I don't know that I
could put a timeline on it at this point. It will be reviewed, just
like any other documents would be reviewed at the request of members of
Congress.
Q This Clarke request goes beyond just congressional
testimony. He's also asking for all of his emails and all
correspondence to be released. Is that something that the White House
would have to review? Is there anything you'd give consideration to?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, those are decisions that would
be made in discussion with the September 11th Commission. Those are
issues that we would work to address with the commission, in order to
make sure that they can provide the American people with a full and
complete report.
Q Any reaction to the decision by the Afghan President to
postpone elections until September?
MR. McCLELLAN: That was a decision that they made based on the
fact that they felt they should hold both elections at the same time.
We are there to support them in their efforts as they move forward on
those elections. We'll continue working with leaders in Afghanistan to
help them move forward on those elections.
Q Any response to those who say that the problems with the
Afghan elections suggest that similar Iraqi elections might have
problems -- with registration, that kind of thing?
MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, I think they're at different stages
in their democratic development. Afghanistan is further along. I
think that a delay of a few months doesn't have an overall impact in
the direction -- overall impact to the direction Afghanistan is
moving. So we will continue working with them.
In terms of Iraq, we're continuing to move forward and make some
significant progress toward transferring sovereignty by the end of
June. There are ministries that are being turned over completely to
the Iraqi people. Ambassador Bremer has been working on other steps to
move forward on that -- on preparing us for the transfer of sovereignty
by the end of June. And obviously the United Nations, we believe, has
a vital role to play in helping Iraq conduct elections at an
appropriate time, and as soon as possible.
Q But still not a leading role?
MR. McCLELLAN: They have a vital role to play. I think the role
-- the leading role is going to be played by the Iraqi people, come
June 30th. They're already playing more and more of a leading role.
Q Scott, is there any effort underway to work out a deal with
the 9/11 Commission about public testimony for Dr. Rice?
MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, just to reiterate, Condi very much
looks forward to meeting with the commission again, and answering all
their questions. She has already previously met with them for some
four hours, and answered all the questions that they had. So she looks
forward to the opportunity to visit with them again. Right now we're
just in the preliminary discussion stages with the commission. I think
the next time the commission gets together is Tuesday. And we made the
request just Friday, and the commission has not met since that request
was made. So we need to have the commission have an opportunity to
meet and discuss it.
Q Well, what I'm asking is, is there an effort or a willingness
to compromise on this, or is the White House adamant and dug-in that
there can be no public sworn testimony by Dr. Rice?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, our position remains the same, in terms of the
principle, and why we believe it's important to uphold that principle.
That remains the same. So we are continuing to have discussions with
the commission -- they're just in the preliminary stages right now --
about a second meeting between Dr. Rice and the commission.
Q In Iraq, the -- Ambassador Bremer signed an order closing a
newspaper that was viewed as a mouthpiece for a very critical cleric.
How does closing newspapers square with the assertion that democracy is
taking root?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think it's that simple. I think there are
some different circumstances here, and I think you need to address
those questions to the CPA. I'm not familiar with the specifics of the
action, but I think that the CPA can probably address those questions.
Q CPA did not respond to requests over the weekend, nor did the
Pentagon.
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sure that -- they're very available, and I'm
sure they will be glad to --
Q No, they were simply not in town.
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sure they'll be glad to discuss it with you.
Again, I'm not familiar with the circumstances, but I'm not sure they
are quite the way they were described in the previous question.
Q Can I follow up on Mark's question? Is there a way to uphold
the principle and make an exception in this case to meet the commission
halfway on what they want?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think I stated -- Dr. Rice stated our
position again last night on 60 Minutes, and that's where it stands.
Beyond that, you're asking me to speculate about the possibility of
doing something different than that. And our position remains where it
is.
Q But Dr. Rice was interviewed Sunday morning. Has there been
any discussion with the commission in the interim that might lead to a
compromise?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not sure how much -- I mean you obviously heard
from the chairman and vice-chairman yesterday on some of the shows, and
that they very much welcome the opportunity to have her come back and
visit with them. So we appreciate that. But I'm not sure what kind of
discussions occurred yesterday afternoon. But again, those discussions
are still in the preliminary stages.
Q Scott, does the President now remember that September 12th
discussion with Richard Clarke, the pull-aside where Clarke says --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, look --
Q Initially you said he didn't remember it.
MR. McCLELLAN: There were some media reports that failed to report
everything that we said last week. We pointed out what was recalled,
and what the record showed, but at the same time, we made it very clear
from the beginning that regardless, of course the President was asking
people to explore all possibilities of who might have been responsible
for the attacks of September 11th. It was important to have an open
mind in the immediate aftermath and to explore all possibilities of who
might be responsible.
We said that from the very beginning, yet some media outlets
refused to report that part of what we said last week. So the idea
that all of a sudden there was a change, we simply said what we said:
Regardless of whether or not there was a meeting, let's get to the
heart of the matter. And the heart of the matter is that of course in
the immediate aftermath of a terrible and tragic attack like that --
like what happened on September 11th, you want to explore all
possibilities.
Q But didn't Rice say last evening that there was -- that the
President did ask Clarke to pursue whether or not Iraq had a role in
9/11?
MR. McCLELLAN: She was saying that the President thought it was
important to explore all possibilities.
Q But didn't you say that the President didn't recollect that
meeting?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think she was saying that that -- she was
talking about whether or not that meeting happened, she was just
saying, look, we'll accept the premise, if that's what you want. We've
said that from the beginning, regardless of whether or not that
occurred, it was important to explore all possibilities. And some
media outlets refused to report that. And I've said that from the very
beginning.
Q Some did report it. But regardless, there seemed to be a
change in tone in what Dr. Rice said last night. So just to be clear,
it's not that anyone's recollection has now changed about that
meeting. She's not saying that some sorts of records or some
questioning of the President --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm not aware of anything different there. But
I am -- she did say the same thing that we have said from the
beginning: of course the President was asking people to explore all
possibilities.
Q Is there any reaction to the news that Israel's top
prosecutor wants to indict Sharon?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's an internal matter for Israel.
Anything else? All right. Enjoy the rest of the flight.
END 11:38 A.M. EST
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