Posted on 09/26/2003 10:01:31 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Editor's note: Each week, WorldNetDaily White House correspondent Les Kinsolving asks the tough questions no one else will ask. And each week, WorldNetDaily brings you the transcripts of those dialogues with the president and his spokesman. If you'd like to suggest a question for the White House, submit it to WorldNetDaily's exclusive interactive forum MR. PRESIDENT!
By Les Kinsolving
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Scott McClellan about Syria's alleged connection to a U.S. airman arrested at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for espionage.
WND: On June 24th of last year – this is a two-part question – the president said that Syria must choose the right side in the war on terror by closing terrorist camps and expelling terrorist organizations. And my question: Since Syria has done nothing of the kind, but has instead allegedly used an American Muslim chaplain and a Muslim airman as accused spies, why has the president failed to break off diplomatic relations with the terrorist government of Syria?
McCLELLAN: Well, we've made it very clear to the government in Syria that we have a number of concerns that they need to address. You just mentioned –
WND: But they haven't.
McCLELLAN: You just mentioned one of them. Also there are WMD programs. So there are a number of things that they need to address.
WND: Public affairs people at the chief of Army chaplain's office at the Pentagon, at West Point, and at SouthCOM have no idea who in the chaplains corps approved letting James Yee back into the U.S. Army after a four-year study of Islam in Damascus. And my question: Is the president, as commander in chief, concerned enough about this to find out who was responsible?
McCLELLAN: That's a matter that's being pursued by the Department of Defense and by the FBI, so –
WND: They're investigating to find out who let this guy back in, right?
McCLELLAN: This is a matter being pursued by them. I'm not going to prejudge anything at this point.
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