White House Gaggle

By Gregory Gorman
June 28, 2005

President’s Schedule

The President had his usual briefings this morning and attended a breakfast with bi-partisan Congressional Leadership. The president discussed five things during the breakfast: his speech tonight on Iraq, the impending energy legislation, highway legislation, CAFTA and the G8 Summit. This afternoon, the president will meet with Republican members of the House to discuss the Central American Free Trade Agreement before he departs the White House for Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. Before tonight’s speech, the president will meet with family members of 33 fallen soldiers. At 8:00 pm local time, the president will give a speech to approximately 600 to 700 troops at Ft. Bragg marking the one-year anniversary of the civilian handover in Iraq. Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced that President Bush will welcome Prime Minister Lee of Singapore to Washington on July 12th. This will be the first time that Prime Minister Lee visits the White House since becoming Prime Minister.

President’s Speech at Fort Bragg

The press wanted to know details on the speech that the president will give to the troops this evening at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. McClellan stated that the final details of the speech were still being finalized and that everyone should wait to hear from the president tonight. McClellan reiterated that the president will talk about his two track strategy for success in Iraq, one political strategy and one military strategy. McClellan stated, "I think the American people want to hear from their Commander in Chief . . . they will hear from [him] and have a better understanding of our strategy for success". McClellan went on to say that the stakes are high in Iraq and that "we are being tested by a difficult and deadly enemy".

Laying Out a New Strategy for Iraq

McClellan was asked repeatedly to answer questions about the content of the president’s speech and if the speech will deliver any new information on the president’s plan for the war. McClellan would only suggest that everyone should wait to hear from the president this evening. When pressed on the issue, McClellan stated that the president will be giving specific information for his strategy for success and that "the speech will put the president’s strategy into context of what he is trying to do in Iraq".

Iraqi Link to 9/11

When asked if the president is willing to admit that there is no specific Iraqi link to what happened on 9/11, McClellan responded that Iraq was a state sponsor of terrorism and that Iraq shared the ideology of those that participated in the 9/11 attacks.

Call for Benchmarks in Iraq

McClellan said that the president will talk during his speech about why he will not set timetables for exiting Iraq. The president believes that an exit strategy should be based on the ground conditions laid out by the Commanders. When asked if the president rejects outright the call for a formal structure of benchmarks, McClellan responded, "I don’t know if you can characterize it that way".