White House Gaggle

By Scott McClellan
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Tampa, Florida)
_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 16, 2004

PRESS GAGGLE
BY
SCOTT McCLELLAN

Aboard Air Force One
En route Tampa, Florida

9:13 A.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: The President had his usual briefings before we
departed. Here shortly on board Air Force One, the President is going to
participate in a roundtable interview with some veterans service
organizations publications. Let me just tell you what publications those
are, so you have that.

It will include The American Legion Magazine, VFW Magazine, The
Military Officers Association of America Magazine, The Disabled American
Veterans Magazine, The -Paraplegia News, and The National Guard Magazine,
and The Voice, which is the retired enlisted association. Secretary
Principi is on board, as well, traveling with us today. He’ll be there, in
addition to the President.

Following that, we will land at MacDill Air Force Base. The last
time the President was at MacDill was during the first week of Operation
Iraqi Freedom and I gave you a little bit of a readout on his remarks
yesterday, so I’ll skip over that. He’ll make remarks to the military
personnel there, and remember that it will be fed, via satellite, to
military personnel who are in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as carried on
Armed Forces Radio and TV.

Just as a reminder, MacDill Air Force Base, it is home to the 6th Air
Mobility Wing and it is also home to the Central Command and the Special
Operations Command. There are about 6,500 military personnel located
there. And Central Command’s area of responsibility includes 27 nations in
the Middle East and South and Central Asia. And the coalition village is
also at Central Command, which houses liaisons from more than 60 nations
who are involved in the global war on terrorism.

Following the remarks to the military men and women there at MacDill
Air Force Base, the President will receive a briefing — or participate in
a briefing from Central Command and the Special Operations Command. We’ve
got pool coverage at the top of that. Then following that briefing, the
President will meet with some families of fallen soldiers. I think right
now we expect there will be 11 different families represented there, and it
includes fallen from Iraq as well as Afghanistan. I think there are at
least four families of fallen from Afghanistan that will be present for
that meeting.

And then we return back to the White House. That’s the President’s
schedule. I’ll just go straight to your questions.

Q Have you seen the poll that was commissioned by the former
governing authority, taken last month in Iraq, that shows overwhelming
number of Iraqis wish we would leave?

MR. MCCLELLAN: No, I haven’t seen the specific poll, but I think
we’ve — the President has previously said on a number of occasions that no
one wants to be occupied. We don’t want to be occupiers. That’s why we’re
moving forward on the President’s five point plan for transitioning to
self-government in Iraq. And we’re making good progress on the President’s
five point plan for success in Iraq. And I think he’s going to be talking
about some of that in his remarks. And he will be giving an update about
how we’re moving forward on that five point plan.

He’ll talk about how the Iraqis are assuming more and more
responsibility for their future as we move toward transferring sovereignty.
And I expect he’ll talk about how the coalition is working to equip and
train Iraqi security forces so that, ultimately, they’ll be in a position
to provide for their security in the future.

I think in his remarks he’ll touch on the challenges that remain, as
well, and talk about how every step we get closer to moving forward on the
transfer of sovereignty and moving forward on the election process, the
terrorists will become more desperate and seek to become more violent.
And, you know, we have a responsibility to help Iraqis as they move forward
on the transition to a democratically elected representative government.
So we’ll be there to help them address these security threats as we move
forward.

Q What’s the administration doing about Paul Johnson, the
American held hostage in Saudi Arabia?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think any time there is an American citizen
involved in a situation like this it’s a high priority for the
administration. We are in close contact with Saudi officials and working
closely with Saudi officials. We’re in close contact with Mr. Johnson’s
family, as well. The President is being briefed and kept informed of the
situation on a regular basis. And that’s where things stand.

Q Has he been in touch with his family, at all?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, but we are in close contact with the family.

Q Did you ask if the President was in touch?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, but we are — officials are in close contact with
his family.

Q There are several Americans who were killed — three, I
believe, from the Tampa area who were killed Monday morning in Iraq. I
believe they were contractors. Has the President ever met with any of the
civilian families, aside from the families of the fallen soldiers?

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me get you — I didn’t bring the — I can get you
a list of — or I can provide you more information on some of the fallen
that the President has met with. I know he’s met on — today’s visit with
family of fallen soldiers will probably mark about I think around the
eleventh or twelfth time he has visited with families of fallen from Iraq
and Afghanistan.

But, obviously, any time an American citizen loses their life in a
situation like Iraq, our thoughts and prayers are with their families. And
there are a number of Americans who are not in the military who are working
in Iraq to help the Iraqi people realize a brighter future, and we are
grateful for their sacrifices, as well.

Q Do you know whether the President has met in the past with any
of the civilian families?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don’t remember off the top of my head. I’ll
double-check it.

Q The President, the last few times he’s talked about Iraq, has
mentioned Zarqawi. Do you think he’ll mention him today, and his links to
terrorism and pre-war Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you’ll be there for his remarks. But,
certainly, we know that Zarqawi is someone who was in Iraq prior to the
decision to go in and remove the regime from power. And he remains in
Iraq. He is one of the enemies of freedom who are seeking to derail the
transition to a free and democratic Iraq. But like the other enemies of
freedom, he will not prevail.

You know, I think the Iraqi people recognize the importance of taking
decisive action against those who would seek to undermine a brighter future
for the Iraqi people. And that’s why you have strong comments from Prime
Minister Allawi, saying that those terrorists do not represent the Iraqi
people and that they are prepared to take decisive action to go after these
terrorists.

But the President will talk about in his remarks how, as we move each
step closer to self-government in Iraq, the terrorists will become more
desperate and seek to become more violent, because they recognize how high
the stakes are. The stakes are high in Iraq. And this will be a critical
blow to the terrorists, when we realize a free and democratic Iraq.

Q Will he discuss the issue of long deployments and the effect it
has on morale?

MR. MCCLELLAN: In his remarks?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think — well, part of his remarks is focused on
thanking our men and women in the military who are serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan. They are making tremendous sacrifices, as are their families,
in defense of freedom. And I think that our men and women in the military
recognize the importance of the job that they are undertaking and that they
have undertaken in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It is part of winning the
war on terrorism and advancing freedom in the world.

But I think he will talk about their service and sacrifice and thank
them for that service and sacrifice.

Q Scott, are there any members of Congress on board?

MR. McCLELLAN: No. I’ll try to double-check to see who might be
present at the event, though.

THE PRESS: Thank you.

END 9:23 A.M. EDT