Gold9472
06-28-2005, 12:52 PM
Interesting Q&A From Scott McLellan's Press Briefing
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050627-3.html
Question: Scott, could you talk a little bit more about the nature of the enemy? And what I'm specifically wondering about is, it seems that a significant percentage of the terrorists involved in the violence in Iraq are not Iraqis. And I'm wondering if you can say whether the non-Iraqi percentage is going up? And if that's a concern, if that's the case, is there anything more the United States can do to stop the flow of those people into Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's a good question. I think this is some of what you're going to hear more from the President tomorrow night. The President will talk about -- as General Abizaid pointed out in testimony last week to Congress -- the growing number of foreign terrorists that are coming into Iraq. That's why I said that the terrorists have chosen to make Iraq a central front in the war on terrorism. They recognize what is at stake here: their survival is at stake, because a free Iraq will help send a message to the rest of the Middle East and those people in the Middle East who seek greater freedom. It will be a powerful force for transforming a dangerous region in the world. And we've got to continue to work to train and equip Iraqi security forces so they can ultimately defeat the insurgency.
And we'll continue to take the fight to the enemy. That's why we're fighting them in Iraq, and we're not fighting them here at home. We're fighting them in Iraq so that we can defeat them abroad, so we don't have to fight them here at home. That's one of the lessons of September 11th, is that we must take the fight to the enemy, and that's exactly what this President has done and will continue to do. And we recognize how high the stakes are in Iraq, and we will succeed.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050627-3.html
Question: Scott, could you talk a little bit more about the nature of the enemy? And what I'm specifically wondering about is, it seems that a significant percentage of the terrorists involved in the violence in Iraq are not Iraqis. And I'm wondering if you can say whether the non-Iraqi percentage is going up? And if that's a concern, if that's the case, is there anything more the United States can do to stop the flow of those people into Iraq?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's a good question. I think this is some of what you're going to hear more from the President tomorrow night. The President will talk about -- as General Abizaid pointed out in testimony last week to Congress -- the growing number of foreign terrorists that are coming into Iraq. That's why I said that the terrorists have chosen to make Iraq a central front in the war on terrorism. They recognize what is at stake here: their survival is at stake, because a free Iraq will help send a message to the rest of the Middle East and those people in the Middle East who seek greater freedom. It will be a powerful force for transforming a dangerous region in the world. And we've got to continue to work to train and equip Iraqi security forces so they can ultimately defeat the insurgency.
And we'll continue to take the fight to the enemy. That's why we're fighting them in Iraq, and we're not fighting them here at home. We're fighting them in Iraq so that we can defeat them abroad, so we don't have to fight them here at home. That's one of the lessons of September 11th, is that we must take the fight to the enemy, and that's exactly what this President has done and will continue to do. And we recognize how high the stakes are in Iraq, and we will succeed.