For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 16, 2004
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Cincinnati, Ohio
MR. McCLELLAN: Okay. Good morning. Let me do a quick run through
of the President's day. The President had his usual briefings before
he departed. Upon arrival, the Freedom Corps greeter is Alexandra
Amend, who, since 2001, has helped raise nearly $5,000 for the Red
Cross Disaster Relief Fund and the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund by
giving patriotic violin concerts on street corners in downtown
Cincinnati.
Following that, the President looks forward to making remarks at
the 105th Annual Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Cincinnati --
I'll come back to that in a minute. Then we go to Traverse City,
Michigan, where the Freedom Corps greeter is Sheila Blonshine, who for
the past 25 years has been involved with the Special Olympics and has
been the director of the Special Olympics Area Two since 1994. And
then the President will make remarks at a Michigan rally before
returning to Washington this evening.
Let me just mention that the -- we're going to have a fact sheet
for you on the announcement the President is making at the Veterans of
Foreign Wars convention, we're finalizing that right now, so we'll get
it to you when we get on the ground. But the President will be
announcing a new plan that will help us be in a better position to win
the war on terrorism. He'll be talking about the most comprehensive
restructuring of our military forces since the end of the Korean War.
This is a new initiative to realign and redeploy our forces to
strategic locations around the world. This recognizes that we are
transforming our military into a more flexible and rapidly deployable
force structure. It will help us strengthen our ability to confront
the new dangers that we face, namely, the dangers from global
terrorism, rogue nations and the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction; and will help us better protect the American people. We
will be redeploying some forces to these strategic locations. We will
also -- the President will also be announcing that over the next
decade, about 60,000 to 70,000 uniformed forces will be coming home,
along with about 100,000 families and civilian employees of our
military.
That's the broad structure of the remarks, but --
Q Over the next decade, you say?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, over the next decade. We've had extensive
consultations with our friends and allies. We will continue to do so
as we move forward on this realignment of our force structure.
Q Is Iraq affected in any way, the troop levels in Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, this is much broader than just what is going
on in Iraq. In terms of troop levels in Iraq, I expect the President
will continue to talk about the importance of completing our mission
and not sending the wrong message to the enemy in Iraq. And there is
some clear contrast there between the President's views and the views
of his opponent. So I expect he'll talk about that in his remarks.
Q But will any of these troops that are being redeployed be
sent to Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, this is something that's happening
over the next decade, so I think you should look at in the context of
it's not going to be one big event, where all of a sudden they
redeploy. It's going to happen over the course of the next decade, and
it'll happen in close consultation with our friends and allies.
But in terms of our troop levels in Iraq, that's determined -- the
President believes that it's best determined by our commanders on the
ground, who are in the best position to assess what our needs are going
forward. We have an important mission to complete in Iraq and
certainly we appreciate the service and sacrifice of our troops who are
in Iraq right now.
But this will -- this realignment, while we redeploy some forces,
it will also help ease the burden on our troops and their families
overall.
Q How does this affect the BRAC process, you know, domestic
base closings?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President has been supportive of
continuing to move forward on the base realignment and closure process,
and continues to move forward on the timetable that has been set out.
I mean, you can look at this as part of the overall transformation of
the military, that this President has undertaken. And Secretary
Rumsfeld has been very -- and our military leaders have been very
involved in those efforts.
Q So this is not designed to minimize the closing of domestic
bases, or to increase the troop strength at domestic bases?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that process is moving forward. And the
President wants to see that process continue to move forward. In terms
of what we're announcing today, like I said, this is about the force
structure, and our defense posture to -- our defense posture when it
comes to facing the new dangers and threats that we face in this day
and age, in the 21st century. It's also a recognition that it's
important to make use of 21st century military technologies, and
recognize that the Cold War is behind us, and we're moving from a time
period of large-scale armies to more flexible and agile forces that can
move quickly to confront these dangers that we face.
Q About how many troops coming out of Europe?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, the fact sheet is going to be coming out.
And this is -- today, I don't think -- and it will talk about some of
the different regions that will be impacted by this in the fact sheet.
I think Defense is going to be briefing some later today. We may be
setting up a conference call, as well. But I don't know that today
we're getting into all the actual numbers in the different areas,
because those are conversations that we'll continue to have with our
allies as we move forward. But it will give you some general outlines
of what it's going to look like.
Q No troops are -- this does not affect any troops in Iraq or
Afghanistan?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, I mean -- I'm sorry?
Q The recall of troops.
MR. McCLELLAN: The recall --
Q The redeployment.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it's going to affect the overall military
structure over the next decade, but in terms of Iraq, our military
commanders have said that they believe that they have the troop levels
they need right now. And that remains the same.
Q Would any of the troops to be redeployed in the short-term
relieve, say, Guard units in Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you might want to talk to the military about
some of those questions regarding Iraq, specifically. They've been
talking about that and talking about our Guard and Reserve units, as
well, and about making it -- bringing more certainty to that process,
in terms of looking at 12-month deployments.
Q It's obviously not an accident he's making this announcement
at the VFW. Is this an effort to puff-up his credentials versus
Kerry's on defense issues?
MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, there are clear differences on the
war on terrorism and our support for our military. And the President
will -- I expect in his remarks will also be thanking all our veterans
for their service and sacrifice in the defense of freedom. I expect
he'll be talking about our solid record of accomplishment when it comes
to fulfilling our commitment to our nation's veterans.
And he'll talk -- I expect he'll talk about the unprecedented
levels of funding this administration has provided to our nation's
veterans. It is more than double -- the increases in funding since
2001, when you take into account our fiscal year 2005 budget is more
than double what the previous eight years -- more than double the
funding increases in the previous eight years. We've also worked to
reduce the disability backlog and worked to reduce the waiting lines.
So the President has a solid record of accomplishment when it comes to
our nation's veterans. He also has a strong record of support for our
military. And there are some clear contrasts on those issues, too,
starting with what we've done to make sure that our military has the
resources and funding levels they need to win the war on terrorism and
our support for our troops in Iraq, as well.
Q Any reaction to the tactics that the Justice Department and
the FBI are using to keep track of would-be protesters in New York?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I saw the news reports this morning. I think
that the specifics regarding that are best addressed to the FBI. I'm
not sure that the article accurately reflects what they are doing, so I
think that you ought to talk specifically to the FBI. I mean, the
President expects that as we take steps to address potential violence
here in the homeland, that people's rights are respected. And that's
what the President believes. But in terms of specifics, you need to
direct those questions to the FBI.
Anything else? Thank you.
END 10:13 A.M. EDT
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