Press Briefing by Tony Snow
White House Conference Center Briefing Room
12:28 P.M. EST 12/5/06
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061205-1.html(video of press briefing at the site)
---snippets----
Q So when Bob Gates says that we're not winning the war in Iraq, you don't see a major difference with him on that?
MR. SNOW: Well, if you listen to what Bob Gates said -- he later was asked by Senator Inhofe, do you agree with General Pace that we're neither winning, nor losing? If you listen to what Bob said, what did he say? He said the goal is an Iraq that can sustain, govern and defend itself and be an ally in the war on terror. He said, this is a time for bipartisanship, as we had during the Cold War. This is a time for shared national commitment. He said that the only way we lose if that if we lose the will to continue and to complete the mission. He also noted that if we did not complete the mission, I believe he said that there would be -- what did he say -- regional cataclysm, I think, was the phrase he used; that was the danger. So he talked about very clear dangers, but also very clear promise.
What you saw is somebody who clearly shares the President's view on this and the President's goals, but is also going to go in and take a fresh look. He did not presume to have complete knowledge of the operational issues, said that one of the first things he would do upon becoming Secretary of Defense, should he be confirmed by the Senate, is to go out to the region and talk to people and go to Iraq.
So I look at that, and it seems to me that it's very consistent with the approach the President has been taking. --snip---
Q Does the President today believe that we are winning in Iraq? It's a very straightforward question.
MR. SNOW: I know, but I did not ask him the question today. The most recently asked, he said, "yes."
Q Okay, so that might change from day to day. So it may have changed --
MR. SNOW: No, I don't --
Q -- he may no longer believe that we're winning the war in Iraq. You don't know.
MR. SNOW: I have no reason to think it changed, but also, again, go back and take a look at the broader answer that Bob Gates gave and ask yourself, is this consistent or inconsistent with what the President has been saying? I think you're going to find it's very consistent. Q Why is it consistent if he said -- he said we're neither winning, nor losing. He didn't say we were winning.
MR. SNOW: Then he proceeded to talk about the very challenges the President has been discussing in terms of developing capability on the Iraqi side of an Iraq that can sustain, govern and defend itself.
So what you may have are two guys who are looking at different definitions. I don't know. I don't want to try to read their minds. But what I do think is important in taking a full look at what Bob Gates was doing is then to take a look at when he started drilling down. What did he talk about?
Precisely the same things that the President has been discussing for weeks and weeks and weeks. April.
Q Even though it was precisely the same thing, he said, we are not winning, and --
MR. SNOW: No, he said -- I believe the answer was, either "yes, sir," or "no, sir."
Q And then he went into the fact that "but we're not losing." But this administration has said we are winning. Leading up to the midterm elections, President Bush was asked pointedly at his press conference, are we winning? He said, yes, we're winning, and he went on to explain why. He explained why we're not winning. You from this podium said --
MR. SNOW: No, I don't believe -- what Bob Gates -- I don't believe that Bob Gates said that we were --
Q He supported his statement. And you from that --
MR. SNOW: But how did he support it? Did he support the statement by saying anything that was inconsistent with what the President has said? And I don't think he did.
Q But his statement is inconsistent with what the administration says. The President has said, we are winning. You from that podium said, we're winning --
MR. SNOW: Right.
Q -- but we haven't won.
MR. SNOW: Right.
Q He said -- he agreed that we are not winning. So how is that consistent --
MR. SNOW: And he also said we're not losing. Q But how is that consistent? The President never said, we're not losing. How is that consistent? MR. SNOW: Because -- okay, because they may have -- I don't know what the definitions are, April. That's why, I think, if you want guidance, you take a look at the broader. If you want to take a look at one question or two questions asked by senators and ignore the bulk of hours of public testimony, you are free to do so. But if you want to try to get a nuance to full understanding of where Bob Gates stands on these issues with regard to the President and his policies and the definition of what it is to win in Iraq and what it takes, then I think you're going to find that there is -- that he agrees and also that he is committed to the mission. That's what the bulk of today is about. That's what the bulk of --
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so Gates says we're losing, and bush say's we're winning therefore the two statements are consistent? yeah, they are consistent with the freaking white house spinning, lieing and misleading...
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