Posted on 12/21/2004 11:29:24 PM PST by JohnHuang2
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Scott McClellan about the Humvee armor controversy and the future of the Palestinian territory.
WND: Since both The Washington Times and The Maryville, Tennessee, Daily Times report that when Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Pitts rehearsed Army Specialist Thomas Wilson on what to ask Secretary Rumsfeld, the Pentagon had already up-armored 97 percent of the vehicles in Wilson's regimental combat team, and the last 20 of their 830 vehicles were in the up-armored pipeline, said General Speaks, in a Pentagon briefing last week –
McCLELLAN: And your question.
WND: So my first question: What is the president's reaction to the fact that all of this was ignored by the old big media, like The Washington Post, who published a Page 1 poll reporting a majority want Rumsfeld to go?
McCLELLAN: I think the president was asked about this very issue in the Oval Office, and he made his views very clear, that he could understand why the soldier was asking the question that he did. He said, if I were in that soldier's position, I would have asked the same question. The question came from the soldier. It was his decision to ask the question. And in terms of the increase of armoring Humvees, the military has worked to increase the number of armored Humvees that are being produced a month, from 35 to 450. Secretary Rumsfeld has talked about that, and the Pentagon has talked about it, as well.
It's important that we make sure our troops have everything they need. And when circumstances on the ground change, sometimes there's a need to change what equipment and armor they have, and we need to make sure it gets to them as quickly as possible. That's what the president expects.
WND: Yesterday, the presidents said there will never be peace until a true democratic state emerges in the Palestinian territory. And my question: How does he imagine that this can possibly take place when the lead candidate to run this Palestinian state is a Holocaust-denying, four-decade assistant to Arafat, who now demands of Israel the right of Arab return?
McCLELLAN: The president believes that we have a very unique opportunity before us in the Middle East, and I think that all parties recognize that this is an opportunity we need to seize. We have an opportunity to move forward on a Palestinian state and getting to a Palestinian state living side-by-side at peace with Israel. That's the president's two-state vision. All parties have responsibilities moving forward. We need to continue to work together to put in place a strategy so that the Palestinians can put in place institutions necessary for a democracy to emerge.
The president knows that when you have democracies living next to each other, that they're at peace with one another. And that's why it's important to move forward on this. And it's important to let the Palestinians choose who their leaders are. And in terms of the election next month, that will be a step, but it is not the completion of a democratic Palestinian state. There is much work to be done. And the president talked about how he appreciated Prime Minister Blair's efforts in that respect, as well.
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