White House Gaggle

By Trent Duffy
August 22, 2005

Office of the Press Secretary

(Salt Lake City, Utah)

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Salt Lake City, Utah

9:41 A.M. MDT

MR. DUFFY: All right. The President had his regular briefings on

board here. And we’re en route to the VFW, where he will make remarks
to the national convention. This is his third address to the VFW Annual
National Convention. The first was in Milwaukee in 2001, the second was
in Cincinnati, last year, 2004. You all know about the VFW and their
mission.

Senator Hatch is on board with us. Other notables in the audience
will include Secretary Nicholson of the Veterans Affairs Department,
Congressman Jim Matheson, and Congressman Chris Cannon. The governor
will be there, John Huntsman of Utah, and also Governor Kempthorne of
Idaho will be in, as well.

Q Who is that, who is going to be there?

MR. DUFFY: Chris Cannon, from Utah. I’ll give you a quick sort of
summary of his remarks. The President will, obviously, talk about why
we must continue the fight in the war on terrorism, and he’ll also start
out with a tribute to the great gains that the current veterans have
made for freedom and securing our country in past conflicts. He’ll talk
about why we must remember the troops who left America’s shores but did
not live to make the journey home, and how we can never forget their
courage and their sacrifice.

He’ll talk about how the older generation of veterans, as I said,
helped to secure the country, and we have a new generation of men and
women serving overseas right now, and why it’s important to be
supportive of our current troops in the war on terrorism, and that we
have a three-front strategy in the war on terror, which is, again, first
to protect the homeland through activities like boosting homeland
security spending, shoring up our borders, and giving law enforcement
the tools to protect us from terrorism like the Patriot Act; secondly,
to take the fight to the terrorists overseas, so that they do not attack
us here at home; and thirdly, to spread hope and freedom across the
Middle East and across the world so that peaceful nations do not attack
each other.

He will discuss about how freedom is spreading in the Middle East
and Palestine and in — excuse me, the Palestinian territories. And he
will discuss the current Gaza withdrawal disengagement plan that the
U.S. supports. So look for that.

That’s a quick summary of his remarks. And then he leaves and we
overnight in Idaho. That’s what I have on his schedule.

Q Will he talk about the Iraqi constitution efforts at all?

MR. DUFFY: Yes. He’ll talk about how we’re hopeful that the
Iraqis will continue to make process on their constitution. We’ve seen
the news reports, and the President is monitoring the developments there
closely. He’s been briefed on them this morning by his national
security team. Dr. Crouch is on board, who provided the briefing. So,
obviously, he speaks at approximately — I think it’s 9:00 p.m. Baghdad
time. So we’re monitoring the events very closely, and very hopeful
that they will have a constitution.

Q Who was –

MR. DUFFY: Dr. J.D. Crouch is his Deputy National Security
Advisor.

Q Why are you hopeful that they will have a constitution?
Because last I checked, there was still a lot of disagreements.

MR. DUFFY: Well, we’re hopeful. They’re still working. The
Kurds, the Sunnis, the Shia are all there. They’re gathered and they
are working hard. The United States embassy is involved and is
assisting, at their request. And that’s where things stand. We’re
hopeful, and they’re still at the table.

Q Is the White House concerned about the protests that are
planned in Salt Lake City today?

MR. DUFFY: The President addressed that directly. He can
understand that people don’t share his view that we must win the war on
terror, and we cannot retreat and cut and run from terrorists, but he
just has a different view. He believes it would be a fundamental
mistake right now for us to cut and run in the face of terrorism,
because if we’ve learned anything, especially from the 9/11 Commission
Report, it is that to continue to retreat after the Cole, after Beirut
and Somalia is to only empower terrorists and to give them more
recruiting tools as they try to identify ways to harm Americans.

So he believes that people have a fundamental right to express
their views. That’s one of the reasons we’re fighting this war on
terrorism, to protect our fundamental rights. But at the same time, he
disagrees strongly.

Q Cindy Sheehan’s group is airing commercials in Utah, again
asking the President to meet with her. And there’s going to be protests
planned. Is the President — does he know about these protests, about
these commercials at all, and does he have any response?

MR. DUFFY: No. I don’t have any — there are people along the
side of the road wherever the President goes, supporters and others. So
the President is certainly aware. But, again, he believes that
Americans, obviously, have a right to express their views. That’s part
of being American. That’s one of the things we’re fighting for.

Anything further? Thanks.

END 9:47 A.M. MDT