The Political Chase

Today’s White House Press Briefing

Certainly some of the questions and issues raised regarding Rumsfeld’s Iraq options memo are the statements George Bush made the day Rumsfeld submitted the memo. Rummy’s memo certainly did not parallel Bush’s strong campaign rhetoric. Spanning multiple locations, the President said,

“We’ve got a plan for victory, but if you listen to the debate about Iraq from the Democrats, I don’t hear there plan for victory…Oh, they’ve got some ideas. Some of them say get out right now, some of them say get out at a fixed date even though the job hasn’t been done…Harsh criticism is not a plan for victory. Second guessing is not a strategy…We have a plan for victory, and part of that plan is to make sure Republicans control the House and the Senate”. (Source: Countdown with Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Media: video, December 6, 2006)

David Gregory of NBC News, questioned Tony Snow about the contradictions in today’s White House Press briefing. Unbelievable.

[David Gregory] I have a question about the Rumsfeld memo. At the time when he was saying to the President, in this memo, that things aren’t working in Iraq, the President was saying two things publicly: One, that we’re winning in Iraq, absolutely; and he was also lashing Democrats, saying that criticism was not a plan for Iraq, and that we — the administration — have a plan for victory in Iraq. So why wasn’t the President leveling with the American people?

MR. SNOW: Actually, at the time that this came –

[David Gregory] Why wasn’t he saying publicly what top members of this administration who were running the war were saying privately?

MR. SNOW: Well, there are a couple of things. First, at that very time, he was actually saying, things are not getting well enough fast enough. That was a formulation he was using at the time. If you take a look at the Rumsfeld memo that was printed in The New York Times, what you end up having is what the President I think has made it clear that he wants, which are people thinking creatively and exhaustively about ways of getting better results in Iraq.

And this is not — other than at the very beginning, he says, clearly U.S. forces — it’s not working well enough or fast enough, what they’re doing. That is a phrase that the President had adopted and had been using. And I don’t know whether it comes from Secretary Rumsfeld or from the President. And then you have a list of options.

So I don’t think you’ve got a case where the President was saying one thing and advisors were saying another. What the President was saying is that you’ve got a sovereign government with the government of Prime Minister Maliki that is pursuing what it needs to pursue, but obviously needs to be doing so more effectively and more rapidly. And that would include security. It would include reconciliation. It would include economic measures. It would include things like the hydrocarbon law. So certainly we weren’t trying to wrap it up into a neat little bundle, because it’s a very complex situation.

Q But doesn’t it strike you that at the same time that you and others in this administration were accusing the likes of John Murtha of cutting and running by suggesting redeployment of forces to the periphery of Iraq or to nearby Kuwait, that the Secretary of Defense is suggesting similar options?

MR. SNOW: What Mr. Murtha had suggested was — he was never quite that specific, and I think I’d let him speak for himself, but I believe when he came on “Meet the Press,” he was talking about redeploying to Okinawa. What you have in here is a description of possibly having forces –

[David Gregory] But that’s not the — he talked about redeploying to Kuwait. You say you don’t want to talk more, but you’re not talking accurately.

MR. SNOW: No, here’s what he says, is, “You can withdraw forces from vulnerable positions — cities, patrolling, et cetera — and move forces to a quick reaction force status operating from within Iraq and Kuwait.” Now, it is one of many options that are described here. What it means is the administration is trying to take a look at every suggestion, as I think would be incumbent.

[David Gregory] Wait a second. You’re not really answering the question. You’re trying to parse what Murtha’s position was.

MR. SNOW: No, I’m not –

[David Gregory] Wait a second, let me just finish.

MR. SNOW: Okay.

[David Gregory] Isn’t it striking that this administration was accusing the likes of John Murtha and other Democrats who suggested course correction, including phased withdrawal, of cutting and running –

MR. SNOW: No, let me –

[David Gregory] — at the same time that the Defense Secretary was suggesting just the same option?

MR. SNOW: No.

[David Gregory] You don’t see hypocrisy there?

MR. SNOW: No, because you’re talking about apples and oranges. If you take a look at –

[David Gregory] Really?

MR. SNOW: Yes, really — because there is no suggestion in here that things be done without regard to developments on the ground. What the President has already said is, what you try to do is, obviously, we want U.S. forces to be withdrawing based on what is going on, on the ground in Iraq. And there is still a significant difference.

Now, I think what’s interesting is that we have now gone from an election season, where there was some criticism of the White House, to one in which Democrats are going to have responsibility in the House and Senate. And as they take a serious look at the business of going ahead and building up a government of Iraq, so that you have a democracy, so that the United States has the kind of victory that the President has discussed — which is an Iraq that can defend, sustain and govern itself, and can be an ally in the war on terror — I think you’re going to see people working more constructively. And a lot of the kind of rhetoric that got heated up during a political campaign, including those who had been saying some pretty tough stuff about the President. I think that’s going to give way to what we hope will be constructive efforts to get the job done.

[David Gregory] So this White House is playing it straight with the American people?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Add ice, stir, and make your own jokes.