http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061212-5.htmlPress Briefing by Tony Snow
White House Conference Center Briefing Room
12:40 P.M. EST
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The President has, as you know, been engaged in a series of conversations and consultations with people on Iraq policy. He is moving toward a decision on how to move forward and, in the process, has been pushing a lot of people on the diplomatic side, and also military, security, and economic side, to come back with answers to some very specific and practical questions. I know a lot of you have been curious about when he would be announcing or talking about the
way forward. That is not going to happen until the new year. We do not know when, so I can't give you a date, I can't give you a time, I can't give you a place, I can't give you a way in which it will happen. So all those questions are yet to be answered.
But the most important thing is that the President continues to be engaged in the business of talking about the
way forward. He's got some very -- he's assigned some tasks to people to work on and he's got some very clear, practical, tactical and other questions, so certainly the process and consultations will continue. And people are going to be working very hard between now and the time that the President has formulated the policy and is prepared to share his thoughts with the public and the world.
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MR. SNOW: Again, what you're trying to do under the guise of an opinion question is to ask me a policy option. Let me put it this way: The President believes that in putting together a
way forward he will be able to address a lot of the concerns that the American public has, the most important of which is, what is your plan for winning? The other thing is that there is an opportunity here, also, for Democrats and Republicans to work together; whatever the discontent may be with the President, the level of confidence in Congress is even lower. And what you have is a sense of crisis of confidence in government. And this is an opportunity for not only the legislative branch and executive branch to work together, but also --
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That is not the single factor that is influencing this. But again, there has not been a single development, it's not Baker-Hamilton-driven. It is simply driven by the fact that as the President moves toward a decision on this, he still has facts that he wants people to examine. He wants policies that he wants people to take a look at, and he has assigned tasks to try to make sure that things are feasible, that everything is lined up in the proper way, that it meets the conditions of being able to work with the Iraqis, that we've addressed all of the regional concerns, that he's tried to take care of every possible consideration and concern before announcing the
way forward.
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MR. SNOW: Well, I'm going to let the President announce what he's going to announce, rather than trying to get into characterizations. I think what you will have is a pretty comprehensive look at the
way forward. And you've got to keep in mind, the touchstone is not the Baker-Hamilton commission, it's the situation in Iraq and it's the situation in the region. That is the touchstone. The Baker-Hamilton commission certainly looked at it, and the President appreciates their efforts. But it's important for the President to go ahead and to continue to task people who work for him to continue asking tough questions and seeking answers that are satisfactory to him.
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MR. SNOW: There are a lot of things to take into account, as well as dealing with the Maliki government and coordinating with the Iraqis, and also dealing with the neighborhood. A lot of these things -- again, this is not simply -- although we concentrate mostly on the military dimension, there are many dimensions to a proper
way forward.
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He may have said that it may take some time for people to understand that he was right in viewing it in that way. That would not be unusual. As you know, the President often talks about the fact that last year he had -- he read three new biographies of George Washington, who had been dead at the time for more than 200 years. So the fact is that -- he certainly stands by his analysis of the situation, but also understands that the tactics that have been employed right now are not doing the job, and there needs to be a better
way forward.
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MR. SNOW: No. No, I don't think they're obligated to fall in line. I think they're obligated to play a constructive role, and we'll see what happens. Again, let's find out -- when the President announces the
way forward, let's just see how the political system responds. It could be a real moment of opportunity. And that is not to say that everybody has to come out marching behind, saying, yes, we'll do whatever you want to do. But, on the other hand, it doesn't rule out the fact that some people on the other side of the aisle, rather than saying he's for it, I'm against it, might say, sounds good, I agree. That also has happened from time to time.
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MR. SNOW: In response to -- urgency means that you want it done as quickly as possible, and you want it done right. That's what it means. It's an important issue. It is atop our list of concerns, and it is something where the President is determined to come up with a better
way forward and to get it to the American public in due course, but also, again, with the assurance that he's asked the right questions, he's gotten the right inputs, he's gotten the right advice, and he's ready to go.
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So when he looks at a better
way forward, you still have in place the policies and the individuals carrying it out, but he wants to make sure that he has gotten answered to his satisfaction all the questions and practical concerns. And I think that's the right way to proceed.
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But one of the things -- look, we're happy that come next Monday, the six-party talks are going to resume in Beijing. And that is a hopeful sign and we hope that the North Koreans now will abide by the September 19th accord as a
way forward for them.
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