MR. SNOW: Hello, everybody. Let me go through a couple of preliminaries, then we'll go straight to questions. I think you know the President's schedule for today. Also you've got Monday through Wednesday, the week ahead. Let me tell you what's up for next Thursday and Friday. On Friday* [sic] there will be a briefing on No Child Left Behind and the education agenda at the Department of Education here in Washington. He will also visit a school campus in Washington, and make remarks on No Child Left Behind. That is the President. The President also will meet with the National Commander of the American Legion in the Oval Office. On Friday, there will be a tour of a Federal Express sorting facility in Washington, D.C., followed by a roundtable on job growth and the economy, and a photo opportunity with members of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force/Headquarters European Theater of Operations United States Army Veterans Association in the Oval Office, and there will be remarks at the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration in the East Room of the White House. This morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time -- actually between 9:02 a.m. and 9:16 a.m. Eastern time, the President spoke with Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq. The President reiterated his commitment to the Prime Minister and the democratically elected government of Iraq. The Prime Minister expressed his confidence in the President and his relationship with the United States. They discussed the security situation in Iraq, and also the efforts to bring greater security to the city of Baghdad. Also discussed the political process and the need for further progress in political reconciliation and development. The President commended the Prime Minister for the close coordination between him and our military and civilian leaders in Iraq and in the field. The call ended with the President presenting his best wishes to Prime Minister for the month of Ramadan. Also, the intelligence community has reviewed the tape and is confident that the voice on an al Qaeda tape is in fact that of Iraq leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajir. The audio tape and the posting on a jihadist website of a video allegedly showing Abu Hamza murdering a Turkish hostage in 2004 demonstrates the brutality and evil of Abu Hamza and his cadres. Abu Hamza's call for scientists to come to Iraq to create biological and dirty bombs for use against U.S. bases shows the grave danger these terrorists pose and continue to seek, and will willingly use heinous weapons. We're not going to buckle to pressure from evil men who use kidnapping and other terrorist tactics to free other evil men, like Omar Abdul Rahman. Abu Hamza's demand that Iraqis repent and submit themselves to the terrorists show that for people like him, there's no peaceful coexistence with those who do not subscribe to their vision of the world, a vision darkened by fear, murder, and hatred. And we stand by the Iraqi people who are rejecting this message of violence and hate in favor of peace and freedom. Men, like the tribal leader in al-Anbar, who this week called for al-Muhajir to turn himself in and who was working to rid Anbar of terrorists. Finally this -- President Bush will welcome Croatian Prime Minister Ivo -- and I -- forgive me if I pronounce it improperly, maybe one of you knows -- Sanader -- is that -- Sanader -- I got it right, thank you -- to the White House on October 17, 2006. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the President and the Prime Minister to strengthen further the partnership between the United States and Croatia. The President looks forward to discussing cooperation in the war on terror and stability in the southeast Europe -- in southeast Europe with the Prime Minister, as well as U.S. support for Croatia's NATO and European Union aspirations. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, I think so. It's not scheduled yet. No, it's not going to be today. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: If we do it -- rather than making a promise, I don't anticipate it being today or over the weekend. We'll try it to get to you as soon as we -- we actually have something. Yes, Jim. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I just want to ask you about the Woodward book, because he's asserting that the White House has not been honest with the American public, that -- and he's talking primarily about attacks on U.S. and allied troops, that the number has been increasing while the Defense Department has been keeping that a secret. He also says that as an insurgency has been growing, that there has been a Defense Department report saying, violence will begin to wane in 2007. Your reaction about this? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The Defense Department -- what he's saying is that classified documents, classified briefings remain classified. The President is aware of the reports that he gets. And there is a shifting situation, and sometimes the attacks go up and sometimes they've gone down, as you've also noted, that there have been fluctuations in casualties. If you take a look at recent events, what's happened? The terrorists have been shifting to civilian targets, but, look, let me put it this way: The President, as he said, worries everyday about what's going on in the war and how best to fight it. And the last thing he ever wants -- and many of you have dealt with him -- when he asks questions, it's not to sugar coat something. Instead, what he's trying to find out is exactly what the situation is. That means he is looking for the best data he can get. The idea that there's a cover up -- you've got correspondents there, there is news about this each and every day. It is absolutely no secret that people are targeting American troops as well as civilians over in Iraq, and that there's a determined enemy. That's what the President has been saying. And one final point and then I'll -- a couple of weeks ago, the President was being accused of trying to scare people. Now, all of a sudden, he's accused of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Neither one is true. What the President is trying to do is to serve effectively as Commander-in-Chief and get good readouts from people in the field. Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, that's gossip, and I will let the generals handle that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony -- two things, Tony. First, to get off Woodward for just a second, when the President yesterday said that there are some in Washington who feel that we should not go on the offensive in the war on terror, can he back that up and say who those people are, or when they said something like that? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: And I'm giving you a characterization. Does somebody say, I don't want to go on the offense? No. But if somebody says, I wish to strategically redeploy to Okinawa, I think that would be construed as not being on the offense. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: In the offense in Iraq. And as far as the war on terror, take a look at the vote yesterday. You had a vote on Hamdan legislation -- 160 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against a program that allows us to detain high-value targets, to question them, and to bring them to justice. That's a clear difference in the way you fight it. There have been votes on the terrorist surveillance program. There are very clear differences. So if -- the question is, if you don't want to do those things, if you don't want to listen to terrorists, if you don't want to detain them, if you don't want to question them, if you don't want to bring them to justice, then tell us what you do want to do. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'm telling you what the bill does. If you vote against it, that's what you're voting against. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, number one, it's not true. As a matter of fact, if you take a look at the Jerry Bremer interview on "Meet the Press" earlier this year, what was played back to him was a conversation he'd had with Tim Russert that was contemporaneous with a presentation by him and Bob Blackwill of their proposals for having more troops in it. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, a while back, was asked about this, and he said the following -- he said, "Just before he left, he sent a memorandum to me indicating that he thought there should be more troops. And it was within a matter of weeks before he departed. I said that, and sat down with General Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and said, 'This is a reasonable proposal from a reasonable person. Let's look at it.'" Jerry Bremer also said in the "Meet the Press" interview that that's, in fact, what Don Rumsfeld did toward the end of the interview. He was asked about it. He said, "He sent you a memo saying, 'I'll consider this.'" This is Tim Russert to Bremer. Bremer's answer, "He said he'd received it, and would consider it, and he did consider it." There is a chain of command, and the chain of command involves a lot of people, and the President will get differing advice. But the idea that somehow the President rejects or ignores advice is simply wrong. And the President -- and so what you have here are people making serious determinations. Donald Rumsfeld is the Secretary of Defense, and in the chain of command, he is the person who will make the recommendations. What you have not heard, I don't think, are the Generals involved in the theaters saying, I asked for something and I didn't get it. Tommy Franks' book is replete with discussions of that. And you can ask the Generals in the field, because the President has said it over and over again, if they ask for it, they'll get it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The reason for not going with the suggestion is that the Generals and the military commanders had suggested a different course of action. But on the other hand, if you take a look at the arc of troops during that year, guess what happened? More troops were added during the course of the year. As a matter of fact, by the time elections occurred in late 2004,** [sic] I think the troop number had risen from about 100,000 at the beginning of the year to about 160,000. The President has also made it clear that he continues to respond, as Commander-in-Chief, to developments on the ground and to requests from commanders. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, wait a minute -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Permit me to explain the chain of command. A civilian -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: -- no, because what you have just created -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay, but what you've just created is a straw-man argument. And I think it's worth being honest. If you want to talk about people listening, you also have to talk about those who are tasked with making those recommendations. Now Jerry Bremer, precisely because of his position, was taken -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: He made such a recommendation. That's different. He made such a recommendation, and whether it was in or out of his lane, it was listened to. The fact is that the President does listen to recommendations. Let me give you a different example. Earlier this year, not so long ago, you people were asking me, "Is it true there are going to be down to under 100,000 troops before the end of the year?" I mean, politically, that would be great. If the President could say to the American people before election day, we're down under 100,000, that would be great. Instead, what the President and the commanders have said is, No, the battlefield requirements indicate that we're going to need 140,000 at least into the first quarter of next year. The President is not sitting around and -- sitting around trying to make political judgments about this. Not only is that irresponsible, it's not the way he operates. He doesn't sit around and try to take a look at the latest poll numbers to figure out what you do when American lives are at risk and when the operation needs to proceed. He considers all the recommendations laid before him. And as you might also know -- look, this is a war, and you are going to have a lot of really smart people will completely different opinions. And quite often, in a book like this, you're going to see people who are on the losing side of arguments being especially outspoken about their opinions and nobody will listen to them. As a matter of fact, the average Washington memoir ought to be subtitled, "if only they'd listened to me." And so you have a situation in which a lot of people are going back through that, which is fine, because these are smart people and they also want to win. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Not that -- I honestly don't know. I have never heard it. I'll go back and try to get guidance, because I've been here since May. I'll tell you, in that time, that has never -- he's used the word. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I know, and I'll try to find out. I don't know, I'm not prepared to answer the question. Martha. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, can we go back to -- it seems like you're saying that Bob Woodward's book is inaccurate, where the administration didn't seem to have any problem with his books in the past that painted a very good picture of the administration. Are you saying this because you're on the losing side of the argument now? Because you're being very defensive about what's in that book. And yet you're not saying the attacks are down. You're saying that's a classified report. ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think the American people get a pretty good sense. The American people have a sense -- look, every day there are casualty reports that are public record. When people die, those are public record. And some of the definitions of attacks -- I'll tell you what, I'll try to find out what I can do to provide, in terms of specificity. But it is no secret that especially in Baghdad you have people who are trying to make Baghdad the central front of the central front of the war on terror. And you will expect people to commit attacks. What does that mean? That means it's a war, and that in this particular time, people are trying to go on the offensive. It also means that our people are alert and trying to defend themselves. It also means that in adjustments, what happens is that we are trying to provide the best equipment, the best protection, the best medicine. So, again, perhaps I've been missing it, but all I've been hearing from you guys from the time I've been here is, isn't it true it's getting worse? The fact is, you've got a war, you have a conflict, people are going after our people. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But Tony, it's three-and-a-half years in, and you're losing approximately the same number of American forces every day. You've losing far more Iraqis. Is it not getting worse? Understanding that that is one metric. But are you seeing any metrics, are you seeing any factors that say, things are going fantastically, other than those elections? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Exactly. Exactly right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, yes, the insurgency isn't going to give up. The people who are trying to commit acts of terror, they're not going to give up. And the other question you have to ask yourself is, are we in it to win? And the answer is, yes. And do we think -- it is worth reminding everybody, Martha, that in the face of this kind of violence, 12 million people voted and risked their lives. As a matter of fact, what you saw in places like Ramadi, where voting levels going from the teens up into the 70s, that's remarkable. That's remarkable in an area that's known for its terror. So they know what the score is, they know what the stakes are, they know what the dangers are. And the people of Iraq -- and Prime Minister Maliki made the same point today -- are determined to get the freedom that they want and deserve. And we are going to go ahead and prosecute the battle. I think what everybody's arguing -- and it's understandable -- is, yes, it's tough. You've got bad guys and they're going to fight and we're going to fight back. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Just a couple more. Did -- Andy Card told ABC today that, in fact, he did recommend that Don Rumsfeld resign to the President, that they were looking at the entire Cabinet. Why wouldn't the President accept that recommendation? Can you confirm that that, in fact, happened? Can you give us any more detail about that? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I didn't ask the President about it today. I was trying to talk to Andy directly. And, as you know, he's out giving speeches on the West Coast and I missed him. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind. He was asked to take a look at everybody, including himself. And it's typical -- as a matter of fact, quite often in administrations at this point, people are asked to submit their resignations. The President is Commander-in-Chief. He picks. Now, what is said in the book -- and there have been people in the building who have talked to Andy today -- there are two characterizations that at least I can say on good authority are incorrect, which is, number one, that he was bitter about what was going on in Iraq; and two, that he left as a bitter man. Anybody who knows Andy Card knows that there's not a bitter bone in his body. I like that, alliteration. But the fact is, that that characterization is not true. I'll try to find out. Again, if he said it -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Mrs. Bush's office has said, not true. I received a communication from Susan Whitson, and she said, flatly not true. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I talked with Secretary Rice today, and her quote was, "this is ridiculous," and I told that to Woodward. In particular, there are allegations of conflicts between Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary Rice. The two of them have been having daily phone conversations throughout this administration. There's a daily phone conversation between the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor. And Condi has been either the National Security Advisor or the Secretary of State from day one. So she could not have been more clear. She also -- her view of this -- and, again, Rumsfeld is on foreign shores, so he's hard to reach. I have been trying to reach out and get first person testimony from these guys. But she says -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I didn't call him, because, you know, what, that's really not what the allegations were about, they were about Condi versus Don Rumsfeld. And she said, that's not the way Don Rumsfeld operates. He's not a guy who's going to be copping an attitude about chains of command. He's somebody who makes his point directly. And I think the press corps over at the Pentagon, as Martha will attest, understand that Don's a pretty direct fellow, so whatever disagreements are going to be had are going to be -- they are going to be made face-to-face, they're going to be honest, but they're also going to be respectful. So, again, I'll repeat, her characterization was, and I quote, "this is ridiculous," or "that is ridiculous," and I told Woodward. Helen. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, we'll see, I've been getting questions about why we're ignoring Afghanistan. What we've had is a meeting this week -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, I'll tell you why, because this week, just two days ago, we had a meeting that involved President Musharraf and President Karzai. And one of the things that was being discussed is how you proceed in Afghanistan. And he thought it was a good time to issue an update on not only what's going on but also the joint efforts of those two governments, which we expect to get closer and more -- using the term of art these days -- robust, in terms of fighting against the Taliban and cooperating in the war on terror. That's also an important theater. We've often been accused of trying to brush Afghanistan under the table. The other thing the President was trying to point out -- and I've said this many times from the podium -- is that with regard to Afghanistan, you have a government that is trying to expand its area of influence, and is quite naturally running into challenges from the Taliban, and the Taliban are getting routed. The other thing that happens is that when it comes to Afghanistan, you had the transfer of U.S. troops -- U.S. command to NATO command in some of those areas, and the NATO fighters have done an extraordinary job. For all the charges of the United States acting unilaterally, this is a case, once again, of cooperating with other countries, especially with regard to Afghanistan. I think it was -- so I think it's appropriate. You can't say, when the President mentions one thing, that somehow he's ignoring the other. Sometimes it's worth bringing -- recalling -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, NATO hasn't taken over Afghanistan. There are still -- as a matter of fact, American troop levels are still pretty much what they were. No, you don't brag. It's a war. It's a concerted enemy. And this is not a President who is given to boast about things like this. What he really wants to do is to try to make sure that we continue to move aggressively against the enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq. That's the one thing that does unite the two engagements. The other thing he's doing is everything in his power to support the democratically-elected governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. So this is -- there is a lot that unites them in terms of the way we approach the difficultly. But again, sometimes he's going to mention one more than the other and the approximate reason is, we've had the two heads of state most concerned with this issue in Washington. The President has had meetings with them over the last week, both at the United Nations General Assembly and at the White House, and it was worth giving an update. Mark. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, let's find out precisely what they stand for. That's been the key question. We know what they're against, we'd like to hear what they're for. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: He talks with Tony Blair on a weekly basis, and -- or an almost weekly basis, a very regular basis. And he doesn't expect Tony Blair ever to back down. Tony Blair has given assurances that he's going to be steadfast, but beyond that, I will not comment. Cheryl. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, the President said yesterday, referring to Democrats, "The party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut-and-run." Until yesterday, he had avoided that kind of language. Why are we seeing a ratcheting up of his rhetoric now? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Because you can hold a position without lacking patriotism. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I suppose so. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, it's hard to say, and it's an interesting report. I'll tell you what it accurately portrays, is the fact that Jack Abramoff was an exuberant practitioner of sleaze, to the point where it's very difficult within the report itself to figure out how many actual contacts there are. As you know, Ken, there are 485 alleged, but on the other hand -- and I'll just read you some of the language from the report -- "In many instances, there is little or no corroboration of the events described in the documents." Another instance is, "The documents are vague about who was lobbied and what was said. While the documents described in this report are authentic," in other words, people have receipts, "that does not mean the events actually transpired or that Abramoff and his associates did not exaggerate or misrepresent their actions." Elsewhere, "In numerous instances, the brevity and vagueness of the entries raised questions about the nature of the contact with the White House officials described in the billing records. Of 485 instances of lobbying described in the billing records and emails, 252 have no meaningful description to discern the subject matter of the lobbying. In addition, out of 159 alleged contacts with members of the Office of Legislative Affairs, 157 don't have any indication of who the person was." And so the Committee, I think, is rightly skeptical of Jack Abramoff, a guy who is in jail because he was ripping off clients. And as a matter of fact, some of the contacts seem to be -- I'll tell you what, if I were an Indian tribe that gave money to this guy, I'd be really mad, because apparently bumping into somebody at a sporting event, $250, having seen somebody at the Gridiron Dinner, $250. Having said that, we are going to look carefully at this. We just got the document this morning, we're taking a look at it. But it's interesting. I'm not -- the Committee does not even claim that what goes on "accurately describes." As a matter of fact, there's a great deal of bewilderment about what's true and what's false, and I think it's -- you know, we're going to take a look at it. We're going to take a serious look at it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: We're not going to issue a report. What we're going to do is to take a look at what's going on. As you know, what we've been doing is giving you the WAVES records, and now we've got something that's based on billing records that the House of Representatives is taking a look at. And we're going to go through it. We're going to take a look. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No. As a matter of fact, if you take a look at the report, it says that there were "more than 20 instances" where he recommended individuals for service in the administration. And apparently only one of those was taken -- what's the name? MS. PERINO: Juan Carlos Benitez. MR. SNOW: Juan Carlos Benitez, who had also been recommended by several members of Congress as well as outside groups. And Abramoff himself didn't make a recommendation. I don't know if this means that through somebody else he was trying to make a recommendation, but the fact is -- if he was telling people that he was getting results, they were getting ripped off. One further point, the report also indicates that -- for instance Indian tribes -- so we're taking a look at a six-month slice of this. Approximately 1 percent involved the White House, and the other 99 percent other areas. What it does say here is that the vast majority of this would have occurred on Capitol Hill. So the -- you know, look, we want to find out what the truth is. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: What I am not going to do is, at this point, characterize individuals in the administration. We're going to take a very close look at this, and we will respond appropriately. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: As I said, I'm not getting -- as I just told you, we got a report today; we're looking through it. We're going to take a look at it, and we will respond appropriately. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, but we are also taking a look at the allegations, and we're going to -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The policy is -- well, you know what the law is. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The law is that you do not try to negotiate for future employment. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, as I said, I am not -- having just gotten it today, we will give it a look. We will, in fact, give you a readout on it, but I'm not going to go rushing in. The second thing is to go back -- because I've also been looking back at Scott's old press briefings, and that had to do with records of people coming into the White House. And those visits were laid out. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, contacts was in the context of that -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: And, as you know, the term "contacts" at that point was in response to questions about WAVES records and White House entries. Now what's happened is that you've gotten a definition of "contact" that literally applies -- I think Abramoff sees somebody across the street and that qualifies as a contact. So the question is -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: But in person also includes bumping into somebody at the Gridiron. I mean, this -- Martha, this is an -- we're going to have some -- it's going to take us time to disaggregate this stuff, because even the Committee, when they're looking at it, they're skeptical of these so-called in-person things. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Again, we will provide the data on that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, we said, we would not -- we wouldn't say -- we would not go into fishing expeditions against individual members of the administration. What we're doing now is we're taking a look at a document that's been presented by the House Government Reform Committee. And, look, it's a responsible thing to do and we're going to do it. We take this stuff seriously. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: You will know what the results are. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q What I wanted to mention is members of Congress up on the Hill are very concerned about the report. They want answers. They do believe the White House can fill in the blanks. You say you will respond appropriately. Do you see a fashion that you could respond directly to the lawmakers and answer their concerns about this? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think when we started looking at some of the ways in which they talked about "ripping off mo fos" and other such species within the emails. I think at that point, there was some exultation over taking people's money. It is hard to look at a lot of these things without realizing that this stuff is wrong. It's wrong. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Lester, is this about this subject? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: If it's about sex and other stuff -- (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay, well, I'm going to stay on this subject because I want to have a certain coherence to what we're doing, and Victoria is champing at the bit. Go ahead, Victoria. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Yes. Coming back to the book. What Woodward says with regard to attacks is pretty startling. He says, every 15 minutes -- and he says that this is key information that's being kept from the American public. Can you confirm that, in fact, attacks are taking place every 15 minutes? Or can you tell us that, in fact, these are not taking place every 15 minutes? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: You're going to have to ask the publishers. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: My opinion doesn't matter. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, it doesn't. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well -- thank you. (Laughter.) Well, I'm glad. From now we'll be a little more forthcoming in that. The opinion is, it's a free society. And rather than a state of denial, it's a state of the obvious, which is that there have been a number of disagreements over the years about troop levels and very -- people with very strong opinions have disagreed with this, and that this -- but if you take a look at what the President has been saying in recent weeks, where he was accused of fear-mongering, he understands that you got a tough and committed enemy. And it's an enemy this country is not going to blanch from fighting, because we don't want them coming over here. We don't want them drawing the conclusion that bin Laden has said before that if they win there, it is a huge victory because it will say to the rest of the world that we are weak. All of those things are important. All of those things will continue to be a focus of administration opinion, and the President, again, is not looking through rose-colored glasses. He insists on getting the best intelligence he can from his people on the field. So if something like that were to come, in that kind of information, would it be surprising? No. Would it be shocking? No. Would it be something that would make us walk away? Absolutely not. It's one of the things that in times of war you're going to see these spikes. For instance, as you know, the generals have been saying for some time, they expected a spike in violence on the onset of Ramadan. And there has been some of that. There are things that they have seen before. They have learned about it. But ultimately, we are going to continue working with Iraqi forces to try to suppress violence so that people there can live free, and that we can also live free of the fear of terrorists drawing undue inspiration from what's going on there. John. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: People serve at the pleasure of the President. If tomorrow, the President decided that he didn't want Don Rumsfeld to serve as Secretary of Defense, Don Rumsfeld would no longer serve as Secretary of Defense. That's how it works in any administration. So I'm not going to answer a sort of chin-pulling question about what will happen between now and the day the next President takes office. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Les, Les, Les, Les, please, allow me not to be rude. I want to make sure that -- are these still questions on the topics of the day? Or are these on different topics. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, different topics, put your hands down. Okay, same topics, keep your hands up. We'll get to you. Olivier can't figure out what it is. (Laughter.) That's interesting. Commit, man. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The President often says that terrorists hate freedom. How does he square that away with the fact that next Monday, probably, he's going to sign a bill that does not provide to people he simply deems as enemy combatants the bedrock principle of habeas corpus? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay. Let me save that -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay. Do that, and then -- we'll let John answer the WSJ question. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Okay. You mentioned how the President expected everyone to uphold their high -- the highest ethical standards, and, as you know, there's an ethics -- a government ethics guideline everyone is subject to follow. I would just like to know if the White House is considering another round of ethics briefings like it did about a year ago? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, in a meeting with the President of Kazakhstan, did the President or anyone on the staff give to the President of Kazakhstan or anyone on his staff a list of specific issues regarding reforms, democracy, complaints, anything like that? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not aware that that -- that may have come up, but not in the course of our conversations. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: We called this morning and said, "Sanger has got one, give us one, too, please, please, please." So actually Bob I think had somebody in his office deliver, and we received in the late morning, I think, four copies of the book. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yeah, I talked to Henry about it. I mean -- Dr. Kissinger about it today, and I think he'll also be out publicly -- in fact, I know he'll be out publicly, including on your network today talking about this. The President has a lot of people in, and he listens to them. And Dr. Kissinger is one of them. And he is not going to characterize individual conversations, but what he did say to me -- and it was interesting, is that he gives the President his honest advice. And he also said that was does happen is -- he doesn't come in necessarily when he agrees but also when there are points of disagreement. And the President listens carefully and thoughtfully to his views. He's one of any number of people who come in and offer their views. I think it offers a nice counterpoint to the idea that the President is just plugging his ears, closing his eyes, and not taking a look at what's going on. As a matter of fact, he eagerly -- well, not eagerly. He wants to find out what the facts on the ground are, and he wants to hear smart people with differing points of view -- what they think about it, including those who may disagree. Dr. Kissinger says he agrees with the overall thrust of American policy. He thinks we're doing the right things. He said he also may have times when he disagrees on details. But the role is not an extraordinary one. It is not one where Dr. Kissinger stands alone and above others who have conversations with the President or others. Instead, it is part of a process of outreach that -- we've talked about scholars who have come in, we've talked about military experts. And he's one of many who, in fact, has made his views known. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No. No. Do we have a ping on one? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay. I'll try to get back to you later in the day. Typically what happens is, first, we'll try to find out what's in the video. Maybe you know. But, no, I don't know anything about it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Les. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think this is the -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: That's an extraordinarily vague question, Les. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, thank the network for their interest, but they've got to come up with a better question. Next. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Let me go on to Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution, says that the United States shall protect every state in this union against invasion. And my question: the President believes this word "invasion" includes application to the huge number of illegal aliens, doesn't he? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The President -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Thank you, Lester, I will raise the question and we will give it the consideration it deserves. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: On the President's schedule today: he spoke to the Senate Republican Conference a little bit ago, but you knew that; 11:05 a.m. local time, a briefing on energy in Hoover, Alabama. The participants include the Governor, the Mayor of Hoover, a Fleet Management Director at Hoover Public Safety Center, and Chairman and President of Central Alabama Clean Cities, Incorporated, and a Professor of Energy Corps at Auburn University. I'll supply the names if you need them. At 11:45 a.m., an interview with The Wall Street Journal; 12:05 p.m. the President will be making remarks, it will be pool coverage. And also at 1:20 p.m. remarks at Bob Riley for Governor Luncheon in Birmingham for expanded pool. We expect that event to raise $1.76 million for the Riley campaign, $750,000 for the Republican Governors Association. Approximately 2,100 attendees. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think it's separate. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: It looks like two-and-a-half. That's as I read it. I'll double check to make sure. Then a Deb Pryce for Congress, closed press event in New Albany, Ohio. Expected to raise $500,000 for the reelection campaign and Ohio Victory 2006, which is a state party get out of the vote effort. Approximately 300 attendees. Returning to the White House at 8:35 p.m. The President's remarks today -- he'll have some energy remarks, but also we'll have extensive comments on the war on terror, the tools that are needed to win it. He will address the National Intelligence Estimate, but will also talk more broadly about the administration's strategy for winning the war on terror and the political differences between the two parties in their own words and their own votes, as far as proceeding with the battle against terrorists. With that, I will take questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think that's in the large thing was the Riley -- the larger -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, that's the lunch. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: For instance, differences in votes on matters like the Hamdan legislation yesterday in the House of Representatives. He'll be citing some of the comments that members of the Democratic leadership have made in recent days about what they think is necessary for winning the war on terror, and so on. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, he will not. He will not be naming names. He will be reciting quotes, however. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: If you have been reading the papers, you will know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Uh-oh, says Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Last night -- let me take on last night's meeting in several ways. First, contrary to some of the early reports, there were handshakes in advance. You had the two presidents in the Roosevelt Room together before going into the Oval, warm handshakes extended all around, some preliminary chatting and joking before they went out to the Rose Garden, and then off they went to dinner. The President said, and he may reiterate it later, but the President said, you may recall, in the East Room, that he would take a look at the body language of the two men. And what you had were both of them having a very candid exchange about their concerns with regard to policies on the two countries, but also the President was happy because there were constructive efforts made, which I'm really not going to go into detail about, but constructive efforts agreed upon to work together to fight the war on terror and also to address causes not nearly -- I hate to use the term root causes, but I will -- trying to develop civil society, roads, schools infrastructure, economic development, and address some of the causes that have lead to the grievances that terrorists do exploit when they're trying to recruit members, and especially the Taliban. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think -- let me put it this way: The two have agreed to be in regular contact. I'm not going to disclose what they've said, but I will also not contradict the Foreign Minister. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Actually, I'm not sure we agree with Adam Nagourney's analysis on that, that it set things off track. What the NIE does is it focuses attention on the nature of the terrorists, and it does repeat what the President has been saying for the last few weeks about the nature of the threat. So I don't think it's certain it's off track. What he will do is call attention to portions of the NIE that maybe have not received as much attention as he thinks they deserve. But talking about the unpopularity of not only the politics but the methods and the potential governance of terrorists in the Muslim world, and also the stakes of the victory for democracy in Iraq, and what that would mean to the terror movement. And also what -- remind people of what bin Laden has said about its importance to him. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, because he just started it a month ago. The idea that the Director of National Intelligence for political reasons is going to rush into completion something that requires significant deliberation is -- let me say, it would be highly unusual. And I think members of the intelligence committees understand that you want good intelligence done the proper way, with proper vetting and proper collaboration, rather than trying to do a rush job. And the Director made it known to intelligence committees a month ago that they were beginning the report. They know what the time line is, they also know how long it takes to assemble these things. This is -- you don't pull an all-nighter. It's not like a college term paper that you slap together. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: And, no, they don't have one on the shelf. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes. Look, these guys do intelligence every day. They have plenty of material to work from, but what you also try to do is you look at disparate analyses and data from a wide variety of intelligence sources. And it takes time for people to work through and look at what they're doing. So whether you have a head start, it doesn't mean that you have a -- the material at hand for doing a comprehensive report. And once again, the idea of trying to do intelligence assessments for political deadlines is not what intelligence analysts signed up to do. Their job is to try to put together objective reports for consumers, which would include members of Congress, and to do so in such a way as to reflect the best judgment and information available. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Kazakhstan meeting tomorrow -- the issue of democracy and some of the United States government's concerns about efforts -- problems there, how much of the agenda will that take up? And will the President mention, for example, these two groups -- the two American groups there? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure it's that tricky. The President has got his own instincts on this, and I honestly can't -- that's kind of an impressionistic question. I'm not sure I have the metric to be able to answer it sensibly. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Good morning. Welcome. A couple of opening notes. The President, today, or this evening, will be making brief remarks on the way to dinner. I know a lot of you are interested in what's going to be happening. But on the way to dinner with Presidents Musharraf and Karzai, he'll make some comments on the way. We'll also give you a readout afterward. I'll try to figure out who is going to do that. But just for your planning purposes, I think the initial statement is about 7:20 p.m. or so. As far as the National Intelligence Estimate, just a couple of -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: What does it say on the schedule? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Thank you. Okay, 7:50 p.m. Thank you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: We thought we'd read out the dinner afterward, yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Lewis Lapham is not doing the readout. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: What? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: We'll get to you on that. We'll try to figure it out. But we'll get it done. On the National Intelligence Estimate, I know there will be a lot of questions; just a couple of opening thoughts. What it does is it raises a very important and simple question, which is, do we intend to go on the offense in the war on terror? The NIE mirrors statements that the President has made about the nature of the threat that we face. It also, I think, vindicates many of the steps that have been taken and that were outlined on the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, which we made available to you about a month ago. Also, there's controversy about releasing the entire National Intelligence Estimate. Let me tell you why we're not gong to do that. First, the full text includes detailed information, collected by human agents, technical means, and also in cooperation with foreign governments. And to reveal that information would place at risk the lives of our agents, and also humint agents -- as well as compromising our ability to work with foreign governments, or for that matter, to employ the means that we use. We don't want them to understand our sources and methods. It also would compromise the independence of people doing intelligence analysis. What you want are intelligence analysts who are going to be able to give you free and full -- their free and full views of what the situation is. If they think that their work is constantly going to be released to the public, they're going to pull their punches. And that's the last thing you want to have happen. As for what was released, Jane Harmon said that it accurately reflected what was in the National Intelligence Estimate. And as you know, Jane has been a critic in other areas. But at least, I think that ought to serve to note that we did not cherry-pick -- or actually, the Director of National Intelligence did not cherry-pick conclusions. But, instead, you've got an accurate reflection of what is within the text of the NIE itself. In short, we're not going to release the documents because we don't want to place people's lives at risk. We don't want to place sources and methods at risk. We don't want to compromise our ability to work with foreign governments who have been essential in helping prosecute and continue to prosecute the war on terror. And we want to make sure that the President receives the best and most honest analysis he can from intelligence sources. So with that as my prelude, let's go to questions. Brett. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: They're just flat wrong. What happened is, about a month ago Director Negroponte informed the committees that he was, in fact, going to do an exhaustive review on Iraq. That's a month ago. These reviews take about a year to do, so the idea that it is in "draft" form -- they're just beginning to do their work on it. And Intelligence Committee members if they don't know it, should. But there is not a waiting Iraq document that reflects a national intelligence estimate that's sitting around gathering dust, waiting until after the election. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: You don't brief somebody on a document that's just in the very early stages of composition. That's what it is. Jennifer. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Please. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Why does the President continue to say that we're winning the war on terror and we are more safe, when the overall picture painted by these key judgments is actually quite bleak and points to several areas where that is not a conclusion you could reach by reading it? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: But operational -- okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Let me just finish and go through here. You also said that -- you're talking about things the administration has done and, yet, the intelligence estimate is taking this into account and coming up with this conclusion that the factors fueling this growth of the movement, they report, outweigh the vulnerability of the movement and will do so for some time. That's not "we're safer." ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, it doesn't draw judgments like that. You've read the National Intelligence Estimate. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I know, but -- look for "we're not winning." Please show me -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The President says we're winning -- but she said it says -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I understand that. I'm explaining -- and I've explained why -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay, let's go back to what you said. For instance, one of the things that you mentioned is that it's degraded the leadership. Here's what it says: "The loss of key leaders, particularly bin Laden, Zawahiri, and Zarqawi, in rapid succession probably would cause the group to fracture." We know that at least one if not two of those are still alive. But it says, "The loss of these leaders would exacerbate strains and disagreements. We assess that the resulting splinter groups, at least for a time, pose a less serious threat to U.S. interests than does al Qaeda." When it comes to degradation -- when you talk about degrading the leadership of al Qaeda, you have degraded the operational capability. Once again, you don't have training camps. You do not have the ability to train and to carry off operations like you do before. You don't have the freedom of communication they had before. You do not have the freedom of motion they had before. So the degradation is a degradation of capability. It says that al Qaeda remains the most dangerous or the most threatening, I think, of the terror groups. Absolutely. But what you're talking about here -- and this is an important distinction to make -- between jihadis and those who are capable, operationally capable of devastating strikes on the United States and other governments, you simply do not have the kind of concentrated operational capability that you had before. And that does come through here. Now, what is going on? They're looking for excuses. As a matter of fact, Ayman al Zawahiri today is going to issue yet another tape that is -- at least we are told -- that is going to try to get people whomped up, in this case, I think about the Pope, about Darfur -- because, apparently, we're trying to save people in Darfur -- and the Danish cartoons. So the fact is, there are a number of ways of recruiting and incitement. And incitement is something that typically would happen. Every time there's an American victory, they will go and say, ah-ha, they have killed Zarqawi, join the movement. Just because somebody says they joined the movement does not necessarily mean that they are prepared to strap on a vest and blow somebody up. So that's the distinction to make. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, but -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I believe what it says. You've gotten it about right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, it says -- let's run through it, because these are all good questions. First, it says -- let's see -- what you're talking about -- I'm sorry. Where are we here? Rephrase the one that you're going after here. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: All right, here we go. Yes, the -- okay, that's -- thank you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Right. Which is precisely why the President has said -- if you look back at what the President has been saying, he says it's numerous and more dispersed. We're not disagreeing with that. I'm not trying to pick a fight with it. What I'm trying to tell you is, there's a difference between an al Qaeda that has training camps, that has the operational ability. What this is talking about is the ability to get people to say, I'm a jihadist, and be angry, to identify themselves as part of a movement. It's not the same -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: That's right. But we're also fighting the war on terrorism. See, I think what -- it is typical in a time like this for people to try to go ahead and gain adherence. The question is, are they going to win? And the more important factor is -- and this is the key -- that the Iraq conflict has become the center of it all for these guys. If we -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: You can follow up; I'm going to finish the answer and then you can hit back. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves and be perceived to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight. The fact is, they see Iraq, it's described here, as a cause célèbre. And so what is going on right now is that there is a propaganda effort to get people whomped up. And if there is a perception that we're losing in Iraq, that's going to get more people to identify themselves as jihadists. The question, again, the operational question -- and it's not answered in here because I'm not sure it's answerable -- is, are there more cells that are operationally capable of killing us? Or do you have more people who say, we hate the United States? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, we are looking at Iraq, and that's -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: That's right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: And who are they killing? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, but you're mixing apples and oranges here, so let me go through it. When you're talking about Iraq -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, and that's why, in fact, we're trying to fight it, and we are fighting it, and we're going to win it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I don't think you just fell off the turnip truck. You understand that, as a matter of fact, what happens is that there are a number of jihadists, united by an ideology that they do want to kill us. I mean, that's not a surprise. As a matter of fact, it is typical for an embattled organization to do this. Look, let me ask you a simple question: Do you think bin Laden is better off today than he was six years ago? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay. All right. Do you think Zawahiri is better off than he was six years ago? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Let's ask you the question. Let me go to something else, the strategy overall. You talk about aggressive stances, you talk about going after these guys. What's happened with doing that is they've dispersed and they're harder to find. So what, if any, is a new approach to that? How do you adapt to that kind of approach? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay, well, then we'll walk through it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, dispersing, spreading and growing, you still have to ask yourself, do you have the operational capability, or are these people -- who, in fact, are going to be -- there are a couple of other conclusions in here -- I know I'm jumping around, let me back up -- conclusions in here that also bear upon your question. For instance, let's look at the underlying grievances -- "entrenched grievances such as corruption and justice and fear of Western domination, slow pace of real sustained economic, social, and political reforms, and also pervasive anti-U.S. sentiment among Muslims." What it also concludes is that the possibility of democracy is going to have a significant discouraging effect. That is one thing. Secondly, when you take a look at what we've been doing in terms of discouraging, you not only have battlefield operations, you have military operations, you have intelligence operations. But, also, there are a number of ongoing efforts to try to create conditions where you do address underlying causes, where you do address the kind of discontent that has been simmering in the region for a very long time. Let me remind you, it did not begin with the Iraq war. It, in fact, had grown in enormous strength before the Iraq war. It would not have gone away with or without the Iraq war. The fact is, we have a problem that we are trying to deal with on many fronts. And we could walk through all the steps. You know, I can go back through the conclusions here. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Can I do one, lessons learned, maybe, from Iraq? You're fighting an insurgency in Iraq, correct? I mean, what is your strategy for fighting an insurgency, and what lessons did you learn from that? Maybe every time you strike one insurgent, you get 10 more. Whatever those lessons are that you've learned there, how are you applying those to -- if you call it a global insurgency -- ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, let me refocus for a second here, because when this story broke, it seemed to me that the question here was whether or not the NIE, at least according to the part that was leaked, suggested that the war in Iraq, as a part of the general war on terror, was creating more terrorists, not fewer. And it seemed as though the administration's first response had to do with how the information came out, or that it was a small part. Is there -- do you have an issue with that statement? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The report does not say that Iraq is -- it says that Iraq jihad is a contributing factor to trying to recruit people to jihad. It doesn't say that Iraq has made terrorism worse. And that is the shorthand that was employed in a number of cases. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Real simple, number one -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, here it is. No, I'd be happy to read the sentence, I'll do it for everybody, because there are two parts to it -- and only the first half was leaked. "The Iraq conflict has become a cause célèbre for jihadists breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement," correct? "Supporters." That's right. People say they -- this is what we're talking about, we're talking about supporters of a global jihadist movement. What it doesn't say is we now have tens of thousands more people armed and ready to hit the United States. It doesn't say that. It says that they're "creating an atmosphere where people are identifying themselves as jihadists." Now, here's the second part: "Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves and be perceived to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight." The critical judgment here is Iraq has become for them the battleground. If they lose, they lose their bragging rights. They lose their ability to recruit, and that is why at this point -- the President has made the point over and over. He has not tried to say there are fewer. He has not tried to say that they haven't been winning propaganda victories. What he has said is we've got a different kind of enemy, and we have kept America safe, and we will continue to do it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But it seems to me that what is being suggested here --and maybe we're -- the question is, how do we define "jihad," and is it the same thing? Is their "jihad" our "war in Iraq"? And maybe we're just having a problem with terms. But it seems to me that what is being suggested here is that what is going on in Iraq, that conflict is creating more jihadists, terrorists -- I'm not sure what term you want to use here. ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, it's -- no, I -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: They're also not people -- they are not people -- well, a lot of them are. But the other -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, there's no definition in here. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: A jihadist is somebody who says -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, but what's interesting is -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: A jihadist is somebody who says that they believe -- that they believe that these kind of actions, that terror, in fact, will provide a road to glory. So they believe it. They buy the ideology. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, they may even want to harm us. The question is operationally, do they have the capability, and are they going to move forward to do so? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But Tony, let me follow here, because I guess my question is, is there anything in the NIE that is causing the President to rethink strategy about how to fight the war on terror, or the war in Iraq? And if this was done, stop -- the intelligence was gathered no later than February, it was written in April, we don't know about it until now -- is there anything in the last half a year where he's looked at this information that he had in February and said, you know what, we should do business a little differently? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, if you're predisposed to be critical of the war in Iraq, you just ask yourself the question, where do you proceed? What is your strategy for victory? That's a question. If you're predisposed to be against the war, do you want to fight it? Do you want to win it? That's a separate political judgment. The fact is, the President has been saying over and over, you have committed terrorists that hate us and want to kill us. We're not going to let them. It's pretty simple trying to lay these things out. And we will use every means at our disposal to fight them. These are people who, again, before September 11th -- let's take fuller look at the picture here. Again, when we did nothing, what did they do? They gained strength, they gained boldness, they drew the conclusion -- here's bin Laden: "We experienced the Americans through our brothers who went to combat against them in Somalia." They understood our previous responses as weakness. One of the things that they suddenly realized afterward was that the American response was one that they had not anticipated. But Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in a communication with bin Laden, said he hadn't anticipated it and, therefore, they had to waive off attacks. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But do you think there are a bunch of people out there -- the critics of the administration -- who aren't committed to winning the war on terror? Can you draw a distinction between wanting to re-tool your strategy to win the war on terror, look at something like the NIE and think maybe we need to change the way we do business in Iraq? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, the NIE -- the NIE is not designed to draw judgments about success or failure. It's an intelligence document. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I think it's a snapshot. Look, a success story is when you have democracy successful in Iraq. A success story is when we complete the job. That's the success story. That's the end state that we all ought to reach. And I think we're perfectly open to hearing what others may have to say. But also part of the -- but let me say a few things that have occurred, which is, as a result of American engagement in the war on terror we do have more allies in this war than we used to have, operationally within the region. You've got the Pakistanis. Obviously, you've got Afghanistan and Iraq, the Saudis cooperating in ways -- the UAE, which had been one of the two nations to recognize the Taliban. The engagement in the war on terror I think has made it clear as other people look at these terrorists that they mean business. And, therefore, others are standing up and saying, okay, yes, this is real; this going to affect us, as well. And they're fighting. Helen. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Not really surprised. I mean, nobody wants to have an occupying army. It's understanding that when you have an army on your soil, that you want them out. But on the other hand, the Iraqi government has made it clear, and you've heard statements by Prime Minister Maliki, and now President Talabani, as recently as last week, saying, don't leave until the job is done. We understand the sentiments of the Iraqi people and we'd love to be out of there as soon as possible, but you have to have the end state -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Of course, they count -- and one of the reasons why their elected officials want us to stay is that they don't want them subjected to tyranny. They want the ability to win the battle of terror on Iraqi soil. So the President does understand it. It's also interesting, Helen -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Let me just finish the -- I'm sorry, what? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, no, we didn't declare Iraq the central front, bin Laden did. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Bin Laden declared it the central front in the war on terror. But we're quibbling here. They want us out. Yes, of course. The Europeans wanted us out after World War II. We ended -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The reason we're staying is that we have made a commitment to providing a government -- a democracy -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: To the people of Iraq and to their government, a government than can sustain itself, defend itself, and govern itself. And we are continuing -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Please, please, we're getting into the heckle zone here. The point is that the government has asked us and you have now had a Shia prime minister and a Kurdish President saying, stay, finish the job. The other interesting thing is if you look in the region, there are only two countries that want us to leave immediately. And you know what they are? They're Syria and Iran. They're the key supporters of terror. They understand that our departure is good for them, and success for us in the region is bad for them. And we're simply not going to back off our commitment. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, let's turn to tonight's dinner. Afghanistan is in danger, analysts say, of reverting to its pre-9/11 state. Does the President believe that General Musharraf is doing everything in his power to prevent that from happening? And to what extent will this be the topic of tonight's dinner? What is the President trying to achieve by the dinner? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The President, and also President Karzai, have a different take on it. What has been happening in Afghanistan is that the government of Afghanistan has slowly and continuously -- and I've said this before -- been expanding its sphere of influence. For a long time, it basically had control of the area directly around Kabul. And what has happened now -- for instance, they're in the southern provinces and in areas within those provinces, over which they've never had effective control before. And what has happened is that the Taliban is fighting back and suffering devastating defeats at the hand of NATO forces. Two related things have been taking place: the expansion of effective control; and the transfer, in some areas, from U.S. to NATO control. The Taliban has been testing it; it has been losing. President Karzai has made it clear that he and his people are still committed -- "still" -- are committed to victory. And, furthermore, we are continuing to work on training Afghan troops and provide them with the equipment they need so that they can go ahead and continue to wage the war successfully. The ultimate aim, in both places, is not that we win the wars, but that we allow the countries to have the capability to go ahead and build peace and stability on their own. President Musharraf also made it clear, for instance, in a much discussed agreement with tribal leaders in Waziristan and some of the other areas. That was interpreted at first as being a pact with the Taliban. It is anything but. It was a pact against the Taliban, to go after the Taliban. And it was working with tribal leaders to get their help and assurance in trying to make sure, A, that the Taliban was not going to be able to recruit; that, B -- in fact, to de-Talibanize the areas. Furthermore, there was also an agreement that they would prevent cross-border incursions, which has been a sore spot with the Afghans. And I think you're going to have conversations between the two heads of state and the President, all acknowledging one thing, which is, both states need to be able to be secure. And President Musharraf has certainly given his assent to that and, obviously, President Karzai is interested in making sure, especially in those border areas, that they get secured. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know how you define "everything in his power." How would I define it? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: He is making serious efforts. The President is satisfied with the efforts he's made, and supports them. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But even though Musharraf and Karzai met earlier this month in Kabul and pledged unity, they have continued throwing barbs at each other for weeks now. What can the President -- what can President Bush do to bridge these differences in a very brief dinner gathering? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know. I don't know, I'll find out. Rather than faking it, I'll just find out. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: The President is always candid when he speaks to other heads of state. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Fred, do we know who is -- MR. JONES: The Vice President, the Secretary of State. Each head of state will have a representative with them, as well. MR. SNOW: Okay, so we'll have the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State. Will the National Security Advisor be -- MR. JONES: I don't know. MR. SNOW: Okay, and security advisors for both. We'll get you a full list. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Is this on Musharraf? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Let me -- I don't -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: And furthermore -- actually, thank you, because he expanded upon it. It is not merely -- it's not merely a military operation, but also, and maybe even more importantly, an economic development operation, as well. So what they're trying to do is to build infrastructure and prosperity in the region, as well. This is not simply strictly saying to tribal leaders, okay, you guys go after the Taliban. It's, look, we've got to work together, we know that you've got problems, we're going to try to work on building prosperity, and at the same time, you've got to work with us to build security. There has been a lot of confusion about it, and the President wanted to find out exactly what President Musharraf had offered. And he laid it out. I'll have to go back to my notes, but it was a three-part plan. And it -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know that that's the case. I really don't. I mean, I just -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know, "absolutely." The President -- what President Musharraf said is, this is a construct that we think is going to work. And we are going to try to use that to have success in the war on terror and also helping out with problems of poverty within the region. And if it works, it becomes a great template, and if it doesn't, then you've got to go back and figure out how to make it work. So I think what the President is convinced is that President Musharraf is making a creative and very good-faith effort to try to address the problem of terrorism and the spread of terrorism in a way that, like our own strategy, addresses it on a number of fronts and not simply on a single front. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q President Musharraf, since he's been in the United States -- particularly at the United Nations, and then subsequently here at the White House -- has made some statements that seem strange to many individuals, in the case of talking about his publisher and book and Comedy Central. He had some remarks to the NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying that their criticisms of Pakistan not doing enough should be equated by the fact that more Pakistanis have died than their soldiers and they should get over it, that kind of thing. The point I'm trying to get at here is, you're an expert in the area of public relations and statements and things of that kind, do you sometimes wince at the way Musharraf deals in public, in terms of making these kind of statements, given that he is probably now one of the strongest potential allies of the United States war on terrorism? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: We'll put together a to-do list. We'll even try to find out the flowers. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: That's what I thought. Thank you. Thank God for Knoller. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, the President would not have released the NIE if the findings damaged the war effort. There is the concern that when you are taking on national intelligence estimates and taking key judgments and making them public, the key concern is that you're going to cause analysts to pull their punches. And you worry about whether foreign governments are going to look at you and say, can we trust you? That is why there was special care given to making sure that no sources or methods or foreign cooperation was compromised. The President would not have authorized the release of the document if he thought it would compromise the efforts. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: You know, I think the enemy is going to make more of what they see in terms of successes in impeding their activities than anything else. Far be it for me to climb into the head of a jihadian and draw a conclusion. What they -- you know what they may be seeing? They maybe see democracy in action and people disagreeing without slitting each other's throats. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Can I just go back to your argument? Just so I'm clear. There is another way to say it, that the Americans should take comfort because while there may be more seeds of terrorist ideology across the globe, they're not in full bloom, full operational bloom -- ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: But let me -- I was about to answer that part. You don't sit back and take comfort. What you do is you say, we've got an enemy, we've got to beat them. And that gets back to what I said. You've got to decide whether you're going to go on the offense or not. Now would the world be a better place if Saddam Hussein were still in power? Would the world be a safer place if Saddam were still in power? Those are the kinds of questions you need to ask. And, furthermore, in the present world, which has been laid out now, once again, and you can take a look at the President's speeches, going back to the 31st of August, you can take a look at the counterterrorism document, you can take a look at this. And what you now have is a picture of a dispersed yet determined global terror network that means business. But on the other hand, it also gives you a picture -- not a full picture, because we don't want them to know everything we're doing -- but the many and various ways we're going after them, and that you have an administration where all hands are on deck. Now, again, in the interest of democracy, if somebody has got a better way to do this, if they've got suggestions, that's great, let's hear them. But this is the debate that is worth having and get into tough questions about whether we're safe or not. And we're going to continue discussing these, I have absolutely no doubt. And you know what? We should, because Americans need, to the best of their ability, to get a sense of whether they ought to be scared or not. And the other thing they ought to know is whether they ought to have confidence that a government is going on the offensive at being as aggressive and as resourceful as possible in going after it. Keep in mind, again, before September 11th, we went through a long period where we put our feet up and said, wow, the Cold War is over. And we didn't realize what was looming. And the threat grew and become far more capable, and now it has taken us more than five years -- roughly five years to rebuild a lot of our intelligence. It has taken us -- we are continuing to try to develop our own means and methods of dealing not only with a new kind of threat, but a constantly changing threat, and to make sure that we've got our eyes open. And one more point to make -- and I want to reiterate again -- which is that what you have here is also a challenge to the international community. And we've been working very closely with a lot of people, with a lot of allies to try to fight this because you find out that in the region and in Europe and elsewhere, they understand the nature of the threat. And they're even fighting it, too. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: That's okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, what it says is there are contributing factors to the jihadi movement. It does not try to render a judgment about what's -- if there is a single factor creating more. As you go back and take a look at the four parts, you have a number of things that are fueling the growth in the jihadi movement. You know what? It's perfectly possible that the war in Iraq is creating more people who say that they want to be jihadis. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Perfectly possible. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: It does not mean that they have the operational capability, because we have been, in fact, on a very aggressive and continued campaign that has succeeded. And the President laid that out. A number of terror plots have been intercepted and interceded. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But you're making a distinction that the report doesn't make. I mean, the report says, using the word "jihadist," it says, "We judge that most jihadist groups -- both well known and newly formed -- will use improvised explosive devices and suicide attack." It says, "CBRN capabilities will continue to be sought by jihadist groups." They're saying jihadists, not terrorists. If Iraq is creating more jihadists, doesn't that according to the logic of the report mean that it's creating more terrorists? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: And, furthermore, if we had not engaged in this battle, it's not as if they all would have become computer programmers in Silicon Valley. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I'm not arguing with your other point, which is simply that there's more terrorists but they're less effective. What I'm saying is that this report seems to be very clearly stating that Iraq is creating more jihadists, which it equates in this report with terrorists. And, furthermore, there's another phrase that specifically mentions terrorists that says, "We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives." Those are more terrorists. ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Thank you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: My thinking is that I wanted to be able to help the President. And at the same time, as I was telling Nedra the other day, these are not going to be speeches where I go out and start railing against Democrats. What I'm going to do is talk about the President's record and what he's done. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think there may be a couple closed, but most of them are open, yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Only when so prompted. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No. The RNC will be responsible for every jot and tittle. Read more Comment (0), Email this.