For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 25, 2004
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado
8:54 A.M. MDT
MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning. The President had his usual
briefings a short time ago on board Air Force One. We've got three
events today. Mayor Giuliani and Mrs. Giuliani will be traveling with
us all day. They will be with us through Davenport, Iowa, the last
event of the day, and then we will go to La Crosse, where we will
overnight for tomorrow's event.
You have a little bit of a preview on the speech from Dan
yesterday. The President's first speech today will focus on the war on
terrorism. And the President will clearly lay out the choice for the
American people when it comes to how we conduct the war on terrorism.
There is a clear choice between the two candidates, it is a clear
choice between the President and Senator Kerry when it comes to the
direction each of them would pursue in how we conduct the war on
terrorism. So the President will walk through a handful of clear
differences on the critical issues in the war on terrorism.
Q Such as?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he'll talk about the importance of staying on the offensive and how Senator Kerry has a pre-9/11 mind set. The
direction -- the choice on the direction we move forward -- the
direction we move forward in the war on terrorism really comes down to,
do we have a defensive, reactive mind set, which is a pre-9/11 mind set
that seeks to manage these dangers and respond to attacks, or do we
fight a comprehensive war on terrorism; do we pursue a comprehensive
strategy to prevail in the war on terrorism. That's the real choice
the American people face.
And he'll talk about the differences about how we approach and
conduct that war on terrorism. He'll talk about staying -- how his
views, that we must stay on the offensive and take the fight to the
enemy, so that we fight them abroad and not here at home, and how
Senator Kerry has a very different approach. He'll talk about the
differences when it comes to Iraq. It's essential that we succeed in
Iraq. Success in Iraq will be a decisive blow in the war on
terrorism.
He'll talk about how it's important for America to lead the world
in the war on terrorism, and he'll talk about the importance of
spreading freedom and democracy to address the root causes of terror.
Senator Kerry ignores the root cause of terrorism, and has no plan for
addressing the root cause of terrorism that led to the attacks on
September 11th. This was something that was building for -- building
throughout the 1990s, and we ignored what was happening in the Middle
East.
So those are some of the areas that he'll touch on -- that he'll
touch on in his remarks.
Q Is this new, or is it repackaged?
MR. McCLELLAN: This is a new speech. And so I think you'll hear
some new language in the speech. This is part of the President
continuing to clarify the choices for the American people as we get
closer to election day. We're now eight days away, and this is the --
we can't achieve progress and all the other issues if we don't first
address our security. And this is the highest priority for this
nation.
Q Is it going to be similar to the one in -- was it New
Jersey?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's a different speech. It's different from that
speech.
Q But why didn't he --
MR. McCLELLAN: That really talked about our four commitments. It
will touch on some of those aspects, but this is really a different
structure to this speech.
Q Why do you think this late in the game voters are still open
to new information? I mean, traditionally, most people think that at
this point, people have sort of heard all the arguments, and if --
they're not that open to new information --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think there's a small number of undecided
voters, but there are still some voters who are making up their minds
with eight days to go in this election. And that's why the President
is going to continue to clearly articulate the differences on the big
priorities, like the war on terrorism and the economy and health care.
Q The Kerry --
MR. McCLELLAN: We're working to get out the vote among our
supporters, as well as reach out to those remaining undecided voters.
Q The Kerry campaign is hitting you on this story in the New
York Times today that a large cache of explosives have gone missing. Is there anything you could have done about that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Maybe the best way to do this is kind of walk you
through how we came to be informed about this. The Iraqi Interim
Government informed -- told the IAEA -- the International Atomic Energy
Agency on October 10th that there were approximately 350 tons of high
explosives missing from Al Qaqaa in Iraq. And they informed the IAEA
because these munitions were subject to IAEA monitoring, because they
were considered dual-use materials. And the International Atomic
Energy Agency informed the United States mission in Vienna on October
15th about these -- this cache of explosives that was missing because
of some looting that went on in Iraq toward the end of Operation Iraqi
Freedom, or during and toward the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Q When did the President find out?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I said, we were informed on October
15th. Condi Rice was informed days after that. This is all in the
last, what, 10 days now.
Q She was informed days after October 15th?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, and she informed the President. And the first
priority, from our standpoint, was to make sure that this wasn't a
nuclear proliferation risk, which it is not. These are conventional
high explosives that we are talking about. And the President wants to
make sure that we get to the bottom of this. Now, the Pentagon, upon
learning of this, directed the multinational forces and the Iraqi
survey group to look into this matter, and that's what they are
currently doing.
Now, if you go back and look at the Duelfer report that recently
has come out, according to the Duelfer report, as of mid-September,
more than 243,000 tons of munitions have been destroyed since Operation
Iraqi Freedom. Coalition forces have cleared and reviewed a total of
10,033 caches of munitions; another nearly 163,000 tons of munitions
have been secured and are on line to be destroyed. That puts this all
-- that puts this all in context.
Q Prior to the 10th, and the notification by the interim
government, whose responsibility was it to keep track of these
munitions, the IAEA or the multinational force in Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you need to look at the time. I
think the Department of Defense can probably answer a lot of these
questions for you. But that's why I pointed out what we did to --
literally, there were munitions caches spread throughout Iraq at the
end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. That's why I pointed out the large
volume of munitions that have already been destroyed and the large
volume that are on-line to be destroyed. The sites now are the
responsibility of the Iraqi government to secure.
Q But after Iraqi Freedom, there were those caches all around,
wasn't the multinational force -- who was responsible for keeping track
--
MR. McCLELLAN: At the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom there were a
number of priorities. It was a priority to make sure that the oil
fields were secure, so that there wasn't massive destruction of the oil
fields, which we thought would occur. It was a priority to get the
reconstruction office up and running. It was a priority to secure the
various ministries, so that we could get those ministries working on
their priorities, whether it was --
Q So it was the multinational force's responsibility --
MR. McCLELLAN: There were a number of -- well, the coalition
forces, there were a number of priorities at the end of Operation Iraqi
Freedom. And munitions, as I said, were literally spread throughout
the country. And we have gone in and destroyed, as I pointed out, more
than 243,000 tons --
Q Was it the coalition's responsibility to take care of that --
Q This morning, in Senator Kerry's remarks, he calls this one of the greatest blunders in the Iraq mission and this presidency. How do you respond to that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Senator Kerry has a strategy of protest and
retreat for Iraq. It is essential that we succeed in Iraq, because
Iraq is critical to winning the war on terrorism. The President will
talk in his remarks today about how the terrorists understand how high
the stakes are in Iraq. They are doing everything they can to try to
disrupt the progress we are making toward free elections in Iraq. And
this is a critical difference in how the two candidates view the war on
terrorism. Senator Kerry has a strategy for retreat and defeat in
Iraq. The President has a strategy for success in Iraq. We are making
important progress. And as I pointed out, the first priority, when it
came to these munitions, was to make sure that there was not a nuclear
proliferation risk. There is not a nuclear proliferation risk. We're
talking about conventional explosives, when we talk about these -- and
that's why I pointed out the more than 243,000 munitions that have
already been destroyed, and nearly 163,000 munitions that are in the
process or are awaiting to be destroyed now. So this, as I said, this
was pointed out by the Iraqi Interim Government to the IAEA, and then
we were informed about it just in recent days.
Q Scott, did we just have enough troops in Iraq to guard and protect these kind of caches?
MR. McCLELLAN: See, that's -- now you just hit on what I just said
a second ago, that the sites now are really -- my understanding,
they're the responsibility of the Iraqi forces. And I disagree with
the way you stated your question, because one of the lessons we've
learned of history is that it's important to listen to the commanders
on the ground and our military leaders when it comes to troop levels.
And that's what this President has always done. And they've said that
we have the troop levels we need to complete the mission and succeed in
Iraq.
Q But you're saying this is the responsibility of the Iraqi
forces. But this was our responsibility until just recently, isn't
that right? Weren't these -- there is some U.S. culpability, as far as
--
MR. McCLELLAN: You're trying -- I think you're taking this out of
context of what was going on. This was reported missing after -- when
the interim government informed that these munitions went missing some
time after April 9th of 2003, remember, that was when we were still
involved in major military action at that point. And there were a
number of important priorities at that point. There were munitions,
munition caches spread throughout Iraq. There were -- there was a
concern that there would be massive refugees fleeing the country.
There is concern about the devastation that could occur to the oil
fields. There was concern about starvation that could happen for the
Iraqi people.
So -- and obviously there is an effort to go and secure these
sites. The Department of Defense can talk to you about -- because they
did go in and look at this site and look to see whether or not there
were weapons of mass destruction there. So you need to talk to
Department of Defense, because I think that would clarify that for you
and set that record straight.
Q You said Condi Rice told the President days after October 15th. Do you know when exactly he found out about --
MR. McCLELLAN: No. It was in one of his briefings, morning
briefings.
Q After --
MR. McCLELLAN: This is really in the last 10 days, Deb.
Q Go through the tick-tock one more time. Allawi tells the
IAEA about it October 10th and then --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the Iraqi government told the International
Atomic Energy Agency on October 10th that these munitions or these high
explosives were missing, because of looting that occurred sometime
after April 9th, 2003. And these were subject to -- some of these were
subject to agency monitoring, and that's why they informed the IAEA.
Q But, Scott --
Q Who told the White House? I mean, did somebody tell the
U.S. embassy in Baghdad and they told the White House?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, no. The IAEA informed the U.S. mission in
Vienna first. And then -- and then, as I said, Condi was informed days
after that and she informed the President.
Q Are U.S. troops under any kind of higher alert because
there's enough munitions for like 50 car bombs? Is there, like, any
kind of alert going on for them? Are they on any kind of higher
standard?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think you need to look at what we have done in
terms of destroying munitions. As I point out, we've destroyed more
than 243,000 munitions, we've secured another nearly 163,000 that will
be destroyed.
Q I'm sorry -- these are going to be used against them --
MR. McCLELLAN: And then, so if you look at all those explosives
there -- and now the DOD -- now that we've been informed about this,
the Pentagon directed multinational forces and the Iraq Survey Group to
look into this matter and do a comprehensive assessment of what
happened to these munitions. So that's what's happening right now.
Q On the tick-tock, do you know if the missing munitions, if
they were looted before or after the handover June 30th? Was this --
happened when the coalition was in control or when the Allawi
government --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, no. First of all, I said that they reported
that it went missing sometime after April 9th, 2003. Remember, early
on -- during and at the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, there was some
looting. Some of it was organized that was going on in the country.
There were munitions caches spread throughout the country. And so --
but these are all issues that are being looked into by the
multinational forces and the Iraq Survey Group.
Q But you don't know yet exactly what --
MR. McCLELLAN: You might want to direct that question to the
Pentagon. My understanding is that it went missing sometime after
April 9th, 2003. So it's looking more back to that period, that period
of time.
Q Can you also talk about Romano Prodi, Romano Prodi's comments about Kerry's plan for Iraq and he's been endorsing the Kerry plan.
MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen his comments. I'll be glad to look
at them. But I haven't seen the comments yet.
Q Scott, one last one on the tick-tock --
MR. McCLELLAN: The President will talk about the differences when
it comes to our plans for Iraq today in his remarks.
Q One last one on the tick-tock. These notices from Iraq to IAEA to U.S. to Condi to President happened over days as opposed to
hours. Was there just no sense of urgency that what they had
discovered here was really an important --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, just -- no, I think that this has all happened
in a -- just the last few days. We're talking about the last 10 days.
Q As opposed to hours. Right. But does that mean folks
believed that this was not an urgent, serious matter?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, because the Pentagon became informed -- you can
check with the Pentagon when they were informed about it and the
coalition forces. Absolutely not.
Q This was an urgent matter, as far as U.S. government was
concerned?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's something that's being looked into now. So I
don't know how you can characterize it as not. I mean, it's something
that the Pentagon, upon being informed about it, immediately directed
the multinational forces and Iraq Survey Group to look into this
matter, and that's what they're doing.
Q Is there any greater risk to U.S. troops because of these
munitions?
MR. McCLELLAN: When there are munitions missing, it's -- and we
learn about it, it's always a priority. And as I pointed out, that's
why we've already destroyed more than 243,000 munitions and have
another nearly 363,000 on line to be destroyed.
But, I mean, we don't know -- I mean, you're assuming things right
now. We don't know what happened to these high explosives. That's
what's being looked into. So you -- I would urge you not to
speculate. We're looking into it to find out exactly what happened to
them. And you're --
Q It could be their -- this is what they're using for --
they've been using for these bombs for a year now.
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, that's all that's -- that's what's being
looked into. You might want to direct questions like these to the
coalition forces and to the Pentagon, who is looking into it. I would
not speculate about those matters.
All right, thanks.
END 9:13 P.M. MDT
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