http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050627-3.htmlQ Scott, if so much progress has been made in Iraq, why is the public support dropping so steadily?
MR. McCLELLAN: If so much progress has been made? I think we can go through and talk about the progresses made. There has been --
Q The question is why --
MR. McCLELLAN: There has been significant progress made in just a year's time. It takes time to build a democracy. Our own nation went through a lot of struggles before we were able to build the kind of democracy that thrives today.
Q But why is public support dropping so much?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we're a nation at war, and war is something that is very tough. It is tough to see the images of violence on the screens of our televisions. The terrorists, all they can do is try to -- as Secretary Rumsfeld and General Abizaid talked about yesterday, all they can do is seek to grab headlines by spreading their destruction and fear and violence and attacking innocent civilians. They have no vision to offer, they have no alternative to offer the Iraqi people. All they seek to do is spread an ideology of hatred and oppression.
And so when you see those images on your TV screens, people are rightly disturbed by those images. And that's why it's important, at a time like this, when it is a critical moment in Iraq, it is important for the President of the United States, as Commander-in-Chief, to talk to the American people and to talk to them about the nature of the enemy that we face, and to talk to them about the way forward to victory in Iraq. We are succeeding and we will succeed, but it requires that we remain strong in our resolve. This is when the terrorists are trying to test us and trying to weaken that resolve.
Q Scott, just to follow up on what Terry was trying to ask -- you said the President is going to get very specific. I understand he's not going to shift strategy at all. But, in terms of specifics, is it going to be the kind of thing where he's going to talk about how many battalions have been trained in Iraq? Is that the kind of thing you think that Americans don't know about? Or is it going to be, you know, presenting new initiatives and new ideas, things we don't know about?
MR. McCLELLAN: Now, this is starting to get more into the speech, and that's for the President --
Q I'm just trying to --
MR. McCLELLAN: I know, but that's for the President to do tomorrow night. You're going to hear all this tomorrow night. He will talk about the importance of training and equipping Iraqi security forces, and where we are in terms of making progress to do that. There has been a lot of important progress made. Iraqi forces are standing and fighting the insurgents, and standing and fighting with coalition forces, they're doing it on their own. The Iraqi people are also coming forward, providing more intelligence to help defeat the terrorists and go after them where they are.
So the Iraqi people continue to assume more and more responsibility not only on the security front, but also on the political front. They are taking charge and showing that they want a democratic and peaceful future. And what we've got to do is continue to stand with them, along with the rest of the international community, during this time.
Q I guess my question is, beyond discussing, perhaps in great detail, what's already going on right now, is he going to offer new ideas, new initiatives, either from the U.S. -- joint initiatives with the U.S. and other countries -- in order to make what he says the goal -- is possible?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think I would describe it the way I did. You're going to hear him talk about the strategy we have for succeeding in Iraq, the strategy we have for victory, and where we are in terms of implementing that strategy. And one part of that is the military component, and a part of that is training and equipping the Iraqi security forces and continuing to make sure that they are fully ready to assume responsibility for their own defense.
There are different levels of readiness in the various security forces, and that's something that you've heard our commanders talk about. The commanders on the ground recognize the progress that's being made, and understand the importance of continuing to move forward on training and equipping those security forces.
Q Prime Minister Al Jaafari, in London a little while ago, said that two years will be more than enough to establish security in his country. What does the President think of that time frame, and is that a time line that might send any dangerous signal as you have discussed --
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't imagine that's what he was trying to set, some sort of time line. But I haven't seen his comments, so it's hard for me to comment directly on what he said without seeing the context of his comments. I would say, though, that what we have said, and what our commanders have said is that it's important that those decisions be based on conditions on the ground. And so we will always look to our commanders on the ground to make those kinds of decisions. And when the Iraqis are ready to assume full responsibility for their own security, then our troops will be able to return home.
Now, as we continue to stand up Iraqi security forces, we can work to stand down some of our forces. But it will be based on conditions on the ground.
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