White House Gaggle

By Victoria Jones
The President had his usual briefings. He recorded his weekly radio address. The topic was health care. At 10.35 he meets with transportation fuel experts and researchers. At 11.25 he goes out to the South Lawn where there will be alternative fuel automobiles.

2002 War Authorization

Fratto was asked if the White House is going to push back against the effort by Senate Democrats to revoke the 2002 war authorization. He said he would not talk about hypothetical legislation. The
President’s focus is on having the resources and flexibility to carry out
operations on the ground. The Democrats seem to be fairly divided on what they
intend to do.

Asked how the President would respond if the authorization was revoked, Fratto said that was hypothetical, and it would depend on what it said, and what the legal implications were. Fratto was asked if the Counsel’s office is
looking at that contingency. He said he was not sure.

Asked if the President would prefer that the 2002 authorization would stand, Fratto said the authorization was operable. There had been no less than five UN Security Council resolutions since the war resolution. There have been resolutions in Iraq prior to that as well. The US is in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government. Asked when, Fratto said most recently since the end of December, when they sent their formal request that coalition forces stay in Iraq. That request came from the Prime Minster and went to the UN.

Fratto was asked what the President’s strategy is. He said it is to come to the best plan that they could put forward that would accomplish their mission and their goals on the ground in Iraq. In terms of communications with Congress, these have been extensive. They occur daily, in large groups, in phone conversations and in one on one conversations.

The President has reached out to Democrats to explain why he thinks this is the best option going forward to accomplish the mission. He asks people to understand that we do not live in a consequence free world. When a policy becomes the policy of the US, you need to explain what your responsibilities are, should those policies be put in place.

It was pointed out that the 2002 resolution talked about weapons of mass
destruction. Now that those have not been found, Fratto was asked if it was
reasonable for the Democrats to say that it was time for a revision. Fratto said ‘all means necessary’ were words he remembered that gave the President
authorization. Over the years, however, there has been authorization through the UN. Fratto said the 2002 authorization is still operable. The work being done in Iraq has met the standards of the international community, particularly the UN, through a series of UN Security Council Resolutions. Fratto was asked, regardless of whether the resolution exists, the Constitution gives him authority to go into Iraq. He said of course. The resolution is operable and relevant. It had no sunset date on it.

British Withdrawal Fratto was asked whether there was any contradiction in the President’s mind between the escalation of US troops and the British withdrawal. He said no, the British had a very specific mission. They have
seen sufficient progress that they can reduce the number of troops. There are also reports out of Britain that they plan to increase the number of troops they send to Afghanistan. These two conflicts are part of a broader war on terror. The British commitment to fighting the war on terror is strong and sustained.

Iran

Fratto was asked what the next step is regarding Iran’s continued nuclear enrichment and the IAEA report. He said that Secretary Rice is back in the US. She had meetings with her counterparts in Europe. She meets with the President this morning. A UN Security Council meeting is expected next week. Nic Burns will travel to London on Monday. There is interest in a second resolution. The reports show that Iran failed to answer the questions that the IAEA put to it and it is not in good standing. It was stated that Vice President Cheney had said that all options are on the table regarding Iran. Fratto was asked whether a military option as well as a diplomatic option is being considered. He said the focus is on a diplomatic solution; that is consuming energy in deliberations with the other interested parties. Asked whether there was a division in the administration, with Vice President Cheney leaning towards a military solution, and Secretary Rice leaning towards a diplomatic one, Fratto replied that the administration speaks with one voice.