White House Gaggle

By Tony Snow
MR. SNOW: Okay, a couple of things. First, you probably heard
that at 8:15 a.m. eastern time, U.S. time, a bomb went off outside
Karachi. We don't have a whole lot of details. I think most of it is


on the wires already, but three dead, including a Shia cleric. This was
near a university. No claims of responsibility. And, as you know,
these things take a while to sort themselves out, so we have no comment;
we're still trying to figure out what the facts are and we're in
consultation.



Today on the plane, the President made some phone calls to foreign
leaders regarding the situation in the Middle East. He talked to King
Abdullah of Jordan -- I think your recorder just went off. Here's a
quick tape pause. (Laughter.) He called king Abdullah of Jordan, they
talked for, I don't know, 12 minutes or so. He also talked to --



Q I'm sorry, how long?



MR. SNOW: About 12 -- these are all approximate, because I didn't
look at my watch. But all the calls were between 10 and 12 minutes.
The second one was to Hosni Mubarak, and the third was to Prime Minister
Siniora of Lebanon. The topics were all the same. He thanked
especially King Abdullah and President Mubarak for their help in trying
to resolve the situation in the region.



Also expressed some -- he was pleased by a statement -- I don't
know if you've seen it -- that came out yesterday by the Saudis that,
among other things, pointed out that Hezbollah, acting independent of a
government, had behaved in a manner that I will paraphrase as
irresponsible. I would direct you to the Saudi statement because I'm
sure I don't have that exactly right -- as a matter of fact, we actually
did a print out of it. Let's see, "uncalculated adventures undertaken
by elements in Lebanon without recourse to legal authority and
consulting and coordinated with Arab nations."



In other words, what the Saudis were saying is that Hezbollah has
been acting in a manner that's completely independent of the state of
Lebanon. And we're looking forward to a foreign ministers meeting --
with Arab League Foreign Ministers tomorrow, and hope that their
comments will reflect the same concern about Hezbollah's acting
independently and thereby imperiling the democracy in Lebanon, which we
support.



The President also reiterated his support for the democracy in his
conversation with Prime Minister Siniora. They talked about ways to
move ahead not only within the Arab League, but also the President
encouraging his allies to speak out with everybody involved, including
the Syrians and once again made the point that Hezbollah has been
granted shelter in Syria, it is financed by Iran and both parties should
be held responsible for some of the activities that are going on there.



He also reiterated the statement yesterday, that he believes that
the Israelis have a right to protect themselves, and also that we think
it's important that in doing that they try to limit as much as possible
so-called collateral damage, not only to facilities but also to human
lives.



So that is basically it.



Q Now, Siniora is describing the President's comments as
promising to get Israeli to rein in its attacks. Did the President say
anything like that?



MR. SNOW: No. What the President -- or, the President reiterated
his position. Prime Minister Siniora at one point -- I think he's been
public about this -- has wanted a ceasefire. It is unlikely that either
or both parties are going to agree to that at this juncture, although we
certainly hope that we get to a ceasefire soon and we hope that all
parties work toward it.



But, again, as the President said, this began because Hezbollah crossed
into Israeli territory, kidnapped two soldiers and, furthermore, has
been engaged in a long series of rocket attacks on people in Northern
Israel, although we have been focusing on it -- that is, "we"
collectively, and especially the American press in the last couple of
days -- this has been going on for a long time, it just hasn't reported.
It's been a much keener and sustained interest in Israel.



The Israelis have decided to try to have targeted attacks against rocket
launch sites, many of which are deliberately placed in civilian
neighborhoods. And they regret the loss -- or they've expressed regret
for the loss of innocent life, but they also pointed out that military
necessity compels them to hit where the launchers are, but I will let
the Israelis speak for themselves on this.



Q Did the President discuss with these leaders a U.N. delegation
that's going into the region?



MR. SNOW: Yes. Well, we support the U.N. delegation. It really didn't
go much further than that. As you recall from Secretary Rice's comments
last night, she was actively engaged in helping put together the
initiative and she certainly supports it and encourages it.



But as far as any specific directions, look, we think the United Nations
is trying to helpful here, ad that's important, because the more
pressure was can bring to bear on Hezbollah -- and there's an important
point to note here: the attacks by Hezbollah, which, again, to
reiterate -- I'll use the Saudi phrase once again, "without recourse to
legal authority and consulting and coordinating with Arab nations" -- it
is clear that the Arab nations -- that Saudi Arabia, that the
Jordanians, that the Egyptians do not look upon Hezbollah as being a
legitimate government entity, as a matter of fact, they look upon it as
an active threat to the government of Lebanon.



And U.N. Resolution 1559 made it pretty clear that foreign powers ought
to stay out of Lebanon and let the democracy itself take root. And so
the United Nations is going there to work with strengthening the
provisions of 1559. Prime Minister Siniora also wants help, and we
support his aim, in making sure that his government acquires effective
control over all Lebanese territory, including the southern regions
where, in many places Hezbollah holds sway. And the President certainly
offered his support for that goal. And, again, it's consistent with
1559.



Q Following up on something that came up last night with the Condi
briefing -- is the President -- is the White House working with the G8
on a draft resolution to address this issue? Because she talked about
how important it was to speak with one voice.



MR. SNOW: There were some draft resolutions underway before everybody
headed over here. But I think it's safe to say that with the pace of
events -- and I did speak to some of the people involved in negotiations
-- they're going to have to redraft them. It is certainly going to be a
topic of much concern and so I expect them to talk about it a lot. I
don't want to make any promises about draft resolutions, but it is
important for everybody to speak one voice.



And I think the one area of common agreement is that Hezbollah cannot
act independently of the government of Lebanon. What it has done is
deliberately place in peril the people of Lebanon, as well as the
government. And the President has also made it absolutely clear that we
want that government to survive and thrive and we are going to do what
we can to help them do that.



Q So there will be one kind of resolution or another, it's just that
they have to be reworked?



MR. SNOW: I can't -- look, I don't have a crystal ball. We'll just
have to see what happens.



Q Okay. There may be resolutions.



MR. SNOW: Well, you don't call it "resolution." I think you have a
statement or whatever. But, again, no promises on that; we'll just have
to see what happens when the leaders get together.



Q The President didn't make any promises or anything to the Lebanese
Prime Minister? Did he give him any idea of what he might try to do
with Israel, as far as making them hold back a little bit on attacks?



MR. SNOW: The President is not going to make military decisions for
Israel. What he said is that -- look, there have been ongoing
conversations. As a matter of fact, today Secretary Rice -- let me pull
out my list. I mentioned the three heads of state the President has
talked with. Secretary Rice has talked to David Walsh, [sic] she's
talked to Kofi Annan, the Qatari foreign minister, she talked to Mahmoud
Abbas, she talked to Siniora, and she is working on trying to get --
well, I won't tell you who she's working on getting through to.



Q Who's David Walsh?



MR. SNOW: He's our -- Welch, I'm sorry. Welch. Sorry, can't read my
own writing. David Welch.



Q Who is he?



MR. SNOW: He's our Assistant Secretary of State. He is traveling with
Eliot Abrams through the region.



Q So the President has not -- you know, Condi last night was talking
about Israel should exercise restraint. The President has not called
any Israeli officials to make that point?



MR. SNOW: He has not spoken with Israeli officials. However, Secretary
Rice and National Security Advisor Hadley have had a number of
conversations.



Q Those conversations with the Israelis escalated over the last 24-48
hours or are we talking kind of over this 17-day --



MR. SNOW: Well, of course we've been talking through the 17-day period.
But you must understand that what Hezbollah did -- look, there were
active negotiations between the Israelis and other partners on the
kidnapping. Hezbollah steps in, what, five days ago, six -- whatever.
I mean, that is when you get a real escalation point. And the moment
that happened, obviously, it became a matter of greater concern because
it was pretty obvious that what Hezbollah is trying to do is to
destabilize the situation. It has an interest in renewed violence at a
time when Arab nations have been speaking out more and more about the
importance of a two state solution; they agree with us on that.



And what is heartening to note is that a number of Arab nations are, in
fact, saying to Hezbollah, sorry, you're on your own. And, in addition,
they've been talking with the government of Syria because it is pretty
clear that Syria has considerable influence over what goes on there.



Q Does the President have any plans to talk any Israeli leaders? Or
at this point, no?



MR. SNOW: At this point -- look, I think -- the Israeli leaders have
been consulted, and they've been consulted by the Secretary of State and
the National Security Advisor. And they'll continue their conversations
and there is no -- I don't want to say there's no need, I'd just say the
President has not expressed any plans to speak with the Prime Minister,
but should it become necessary, he will.



Q Who is the President riding with here, do we know?



MR. SNOW: I think it's one of the Secret Service agents.



Q Okay, no --



MR. SNOW: I don't believe so. No Lance Armstrong.



Q Civil society members? (Laughter.)



Q Putin? (Laughter.)



MR. SNOW: No, no injured members of the Tour de France, none of that.
(Laughter.)



Q Is it true that Putin wouldn't him bike on the grounds because they
thought he might run into somebody.



MR. SNOW: Oh, you've got to be kidding me. (Laughter.) The President
is a guy who likes to go on trails. He's on a trail. There aren't a
whole lot of trails on the compound.



Q When he met with the democracy advocates, was there anything -- he
said he would convey some messages to President Putin. Was there any
one, in particular, or several that you could --



MR. SNOW: No, I don't think so. If he didn't feel compelled to share
with you, I don't think I will, either. But it was --



Q Oh, go ahead.



MR. SNOW: Yes, just between you and me. (Laughter.) It was an
interesting meeting because most of these civil society representatives
are fairly young. They represent everything from the World Wildlife
Fund to lawyers to, you know, people working on human rights and so on.
Obviously, they agreed to --



(Interruption to gaggle -- loud dog-barking)



Q Looks like they found something.



MR. SNOW: I don't think so. They found out you're here.



Q They're hungry.



MR. SNOW: It's too bad we smeared meat sauce on the carpet of your bus.
(Laughter.)



Q For the transcript, there are dogs barking.



Q Does the White House perceive that any of these civil society
people incurred any risk by meeting with the President?



MR. SNOW: I don't know. But they decided to meet with the President.
I would rather not judge it. But the President believes it's important
in building a democracy to have vigorous civil institutions that allow
the people to express themselves. Democracy becomes strong when people
feel free to express their views and also to pursue causes that are
important to them. And a government also experiences the rough and
tumble of the kind of exchange that we often see in American democracy.



Q Are we going to get any kind of readout of the dinner tonight?



MR. SNOW: I honestly -- I doubt it, because I think the dinner is going
to be largely a personal affair. I really don't expect there to be any
substantive discussions. I think the President and Mrs. Bush and
President and Mrs. Putin I think are going to have a friendly dinner.
And it really is all going to be about just talking and getting caught
up.



Q And tomorrow, is the President having a news conference with Putin?
Or what do you know about the plans for that?



MR. SNOW: Yes, we're probably going to have a news conference with a
three and three at the back end.



Q Three -- with who? Between the President and Putin, or just the
President?



MR. SNOW: The President and Putin. And the good thing is --



Q That's Monday?



MR. SNOW: No, that's tomorrow. That's tomorrow.



Q Any progress on WTO? Where's that?



MR. SNOW: Nothing to announce on WTO. They continue to work through
it. I spoke with Ambassador Schwab and she said they're still grinding
through the issues. She's on the ground here.



Hang on a second, I'm going to try to get some updates for you. Stop
the tape.



(Pause in gaggle.)



MR. SNOW: All right, just a couple of extra notes. Secretary Rice,
since I last had contact with her office, has spoken with the Emir of
Qatar and also I think even as we speak, or about as we speak is going
to be speaking with Prime Minister Olmert.



Let me re-emphasize something that's important about what's going on.
What Hezbollah has done is force people to make choices. And quite
often in protracted situations like this you have forcing event, and in
many ways this is a forcing event. And what you're beginning to see is
the Arab nations coming to the realization that independent actors and
terrorist organizations like Hezbollah are an act of threat to
everybody, because they can -- a small number of people can work to
destabilize not only a nation, but to aim at destabilizing a region.
And that has been a focus of a lot of the talks.



In any event, again, Secretary Rice has spoken with the Emir of Qatar
and also with -- I think is going to speaking with Ehud Olmert.



An additional point, too, you know, when you're thinking about choices.
Again, the Iranians and Syrians also have a choice to make, which is
whether they continue provoking and supporting terrorist organizations
within the region. The President intends to work with allies, including
France -- remember, France was instrumental in helping write U.N.
Resolution 1559, which led to the removal of Syrian forces from Lebanon,
the official Syrian government presence. And the French were very
helpful on that. And I think we look forward to their help on dealing
with Hezbollah, too.



All right, anything else?



Q Anything else out there?



MR. SNOW: You know, again, we'll see what happens on trade.



Q Sounds like you're close?



MR. SNOW: No, I wouldn't say that. I think there's a lot of work to be
done, and I wouldn't --



Q Okay. You're not trying to give us a hint?



MR. SNOW: No, definitely not trying to give you a hint?



Q You're talking about the Russian deal, not Doha?



MR. SNOW: Also, Doha -- look, Doha has enough lengthy and technical
issues that they're not going to be resolved -- I'll tell you right now,
the President is not going to sit around and talk about amber boxes with
his colleagues. (Laughter.) That is why you hire trade ministers. And
if and when there is resolution on the Doha round, it will be with the
people who deal in those minutiae. The President has given marching
orders to Susan Schwab and she knows what they are and she has been
carrying them out faithfully and well.



That's about it. Not much new out of Iraq -- I asked specifically, and
not much new out of there today to report. And we'll let your domestic
correspondents handle the rest.



Q Thank you.



END 6:07 P.M. (L)