In this morning’s White House gaggle, Scott McClellan went through the “wild speculation” talking point on Iran and tried to make the best of the latest proof about administration lies about WMD.
Transcript below …
QUESTION: Is the President alarmed at the climate of feeling that we’re going to attack Iran? And there seems to be more and more scare —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: The wild speculation he referred to the other day?
QUESTION: Pardon me?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: You mean the wild speculation he referred to the other day?
QUESTION: Yes.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: We’re pursuing a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue with Iran. And we talked — we spoke yesterday about the most recent announcement —
QUESTION: Not so wild, you know. It’s not wild speculation.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: You know what the thinking is?
QUESTION: Americans have a definite sense of — that something might happen.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Not coming from us. I think we’ve made very clear that we’re pursuing —
QUESTION: It came out of —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: — we’re pursuing a diplomatic course. I talked yesterday about the announcement by the regime. The announcement underscores the regime’s defiance of the international community and its united message calling on the regime to fully suspend its enrichment reprocessing activities. The enrichment activities by the regime fly in the face of the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA Board, and are a clear violation of the agreement the regime made with the Europeans. And we’ve made it very clear that we will take appropriate steps at the Security Council and continue to work with our friends and allies to address the threat the regime poses.
QUESTION: What are those “appropriate steps” that worry everybody?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, we’re pursuing a diplomatic course, and there are a number of options that are available to us —
QUESTION: You haven’t ruled out —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: — through the diplomatic process.
QUESTION: Like sanctions?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, that’s — I mean, that’s a possibility — that’s certainly one option that’s available.
QUESTION: Does the President think that the remarks from the Iranian President on television were in any way timed as a response to Mr. Bush’s own comments or on the eve of ElBaradei’s visit?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: I wouldn’t try to make an assessment of the timing of it. I mean, I think that they had been signaling that they were going to be moving in this direction previously.
QUESTION: Was the President aware that the Defense Intelligence Agency had found that there was no evidence of WMD in the trailers two days before the President said that there was evidence of that?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, the President made his — the President’s comments were based on the intelligence assessment of the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency that was publicly released on May 28, 2003.
QUESTION: But he wasn’t aware of the report that they had delivered —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, I think what you’ll — you’ll have to ask the international community what they looked at to put into that report. There’s a briefing that was done for reporters on May 28th, and the intelligence community said that they were highly confident about these labs, these mobile labs being used for producing biological weapons.
But let me — you’re going to the article in The Washington Post today, and, I mean, the article in the lead leaves readers with an impression that the President was saying something that had been debunked by the intelligence community. That is not true. That is irresponsible reporting. In fact, the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency had jointly assessed at the time that the labs were for producing biological weapons.
And so I looked at these stories, I think it’s — this story — it’s nothing more than rehashing an old issue that was resolved long ago. The independent commission that we appointed determined that the intelligence on the biological weapons was wrong, and — but in terms of the intelligence community, go look at the white paper, and then I’ve asked the intelligence community the basis for that. We’re not an — the White House is not an intelligence-gathering agency.
QUESTION: Well, according to the Post article, Scott, according to the time line laid out there, you didn’t have to wait for the independent commission, you had reports coming back that had been commissioned by the intelligence agencies almost immediately saying that’s this was not the case.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Hang on a second, Bill. Hang on. I think the — I think the CIA will tell you — and I spoke to them earlier today — that a finished product like this, a white paper like this, takes coordination, it takes debating, it takes vetting, and it’s not something that they will tell you turns on a dime. It’s a complex intelligence white paper and it’s —
QUESTION: But the conclusion seems to be at 180 degrees to what was announced.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Hang on, hang on. Bill, hang on. Let me finish. You can ask your question after that, I’m not leaving — one derived from highly classified information takes a substantial amount of time to coordinate and to run through a declassification process. And they will tell you this. And the intelligence comes in many different forms
— human intelligence, signals intelligence, open source — and it’s not a trickle, it’s a constant flood, is what they told me this morning. And weighing and assessing it is something that takes a lot of time and is a technology-intensive process. So you’re making an assumption that something is immediately taken and assessed by your comments.
QUESTION: Well, of course, that is what they would say. That is what they always say. My point is this: If intelligence that is at 180 degrees variance from what was officially put out by the United States government is coming in, you would think that somebody might take notice and say, we better look at this and get this to the White House right away.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, the article says that was incorporated into the Iraq Survey Group. Again, I can tell you what the President made his comments based on. And I think this is just, frankly, reckless reporting.
QUESTION: So the President was not aware of the fact —
QUESTION: — President was so definitive —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: And I think it’s reckless reporting for ABC to go this morning and say that The Washington Post says that the President knew at the time what he was saying was not true.
QUESTION: So was the President made aware of the fact —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: And are you all going to apologize?
QUESTION: Was the President made aware of the faxed field report?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Are you all going to apologize for that?
QUESTION: Was the President aware of the faxed field report?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Is that a correct statement?
QUESTION: Scott, was the President made aware of the field report that was faxed?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Jessica, I just told you, I’ve asked the intelligence community what they based this paper on. I can’t tell you what they based their paper on. You have to. We’re not an intelligence-gathering agency.
QUESTION: No, but was the field report faxed —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: The President made his comments based on this white paper that was publicly released by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is the arm of the — which is an arm of the Pentagon —
QUESTION: — President have access to material before it’s declassified, so the question is, was he aware of this report on May 27th?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: I just told you — you shouldn’t make any assumptions, but you should go and ask the intelligence community what was this based on. I can’t tell you what they based that on. They’re the intelligence-gathering agency.
QUESTION: You can tell us if the President had this information. Did he have this information?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Jessica, this — I just saw this report. I’ll come back with more information if there is. But this is reckless reporting. And for you all to go on the air this morning and make such a charge is irresponsible.
QUESTION: But the President spoke very definitively —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: And I hope that ABC would apologize for it and make a correction on the air.
QUESTION: “We found” — I’m quoting — “We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories.” That’s what he said. He didn’t say, “The evidence that’s coming in suggests.” He didn’t say that. He said it definitively.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: No, let me tell you — here is the briefing from the CIA conference call they did with reporters: “We are highly confident that the coalition forces in Iraq have discovered a mobile biological production plant.” That’s from the intelligence community. This was a joint paper — not just the CIA, but also the Defense Intelligence Agency. So it was their assessment at the time.
And you all should go back and look at the time period, as well, and see what was said at that time period. This is rehashing an old issue, that’s all it is. There were — stories covered it at this time. I mean, The Washington Post, on the very day that the President was asked a question — the President was responding to a question, first of all, when he was asked. The Washington Post, on that very day, was printing articles talking about this, and other papers, as well.
QUESTION: But, Scott, given the fact that these questions are still lingering out there, isn’t the President facing a credibility gap that has to deal with Iraq and other issues?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: No, no, they are — see, that’s what’s irresponsible about this lead in this article. That’s not the case. In fact, this issue was resolved long ago, because we appointed an independent commission to look at all these issues, and it was determined that this was wrong. In the Iraq Survey Group — David Kay led that — this was incorporated into it, according to the article — he’s quoted in the article. And his report didn’t come out until September, 2004. So put yourself in the context of the time period.
QUESTION: But the commission did not really — you did appoint the commission, but that has not put to rest, as you know, the questions in the United States and around the world about what the President knew and when he knew it —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Sure it has. No, the commission actually talked about it; the Senate Intelligence Committee report talked about it; the British Butler Report spoke about those issues, as well. There’s been — and I talked about this the other day. This was an issue that came up the other day in the briefing, and I talked about how some people were making accusations, that were not based on any evidence or facts, to suggest that intelligence was being manipulated or misused or politicized, and that is false. And I talked about that the other day.
QUESTION: But if those questions —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: In fact, go look at the independent commission that looked at this issue. A bipartisan independent commission looked at these issues, and what they pointed to was the intelligence was wrong.
QUESTION: But if those questions have been put to rest, why is the President, almost on a weekly basis, still giving speeches trying to explain his case for war three years later, if those questions have really been put to rest?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: I don’t think — no, we talked about — we’ve talked about the reason for going into Iraq. That’s not — what the President is saying is that it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, given that he was a destabilizing force in the region, given that he was a sworn enemy of the United States. This was a brutal dictator that was repressing his people. The world is better off with Saddam Hussein removed from power.
And I will take that argument on any day in this room, if people want to suggest that we are not better off with Saddam Hussein removed from power. The world is better off with him removed from power. Freedom is now advancing in the Middle East. We’re making important progress. And by expanding freedom in the Middle East we are changing the status quo. The status quo in the Middle East is changing, and the status quo in the Middle East led to terrorists flying planes into buildings. It became a troubled region and a breeding ground for terrorism. And we made the — the President made the determination after September 11th that we are not going to settle for the status quo.
QUESTION: That hasn’t stopped.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Of course, it hasn’t, Bill. That’s why we are waging a comprehensive war on terrorism and working to spread freedom and democracy to win this war on terrorism. This is an ideological struggle. And that’s what the President has talked about at length.
QUESTION: Would you clarify what’s wrong with the article
—
SCOTT McCLELLAN: I’ve got to go. I just said what — the lead. I just did, repeatedly, Jessica.
QUESTION: Which is that the President didn’t know the information that is contained in that —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: You — the lead — I just said that the lead suggested that what the President was saying was based on something that had been debunked. And that is not true. In fact, the President was saying something that was based on what the intelligence community, through the CIA
—
QUESTION: — contradictory information out there.
SCOTT McCLELLAN: — and I’m trying to go gather information from the CIA to find out what went into that paper. They’re going to have to say what went into that paper. That’s what the President’s statement was based on. And so, for ABC to go on there and suggest —
QUESTION: You’re not denying —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Hang on. Are you saying that the President went out there and said something that he knew was not true? That’s what you said on ABC News —
QUESTION: I didn’t say anything on ABC News —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: ABC News said that this morning. And is ABC News going to apologize for making that assertion?
QUESTION: My question is, are you denying that there was —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: You haven’t answered my question. Are you going to apologize for that?
QUESTION: — contradictory information —
SCOTT McCLELLAN: I just did, Jessica. I just answered that very question.
QUESTION: I have one. Can I have one?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: I’ll be back later.
