Daily Press Briefing
John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
October 20, 2015
Index for Today's Briefing
SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
DEPARTMENT
CANADA
SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
SYRIA/RUSSIA/TURKEY/ISIL
IRAQ
GEORGIA
VENEZUELA
CANADA
KEYSTONE XL
MACEDONIA
PAKISTAN
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
DEPARTMENT/CYBERSECURITY
TRANSCRIPT:
.2:06 p.m. EDT
MR KIRBY: Good afternoon.
QUESTION: Good afternoon.
MR KIRBY: Okay, a couple of things at the top and then we'll get – we'll get right to it. I want to go ahead and formally announce the Secretary's travel this week. He'll travel to Europe and to the Middle East from the 21st of October – that's tomorrow – until the 25th. While traveling throughout the region, Secretary Kerry will also consult with key partners and allies on global issues to include, of course, the Middle East violence that we're seeing and security challenges, the ongoing crisis in Syria, combatting and continuing to campaign against ISIL, and of course, events in Ukraine.
On the Congo, the United States strongly condemns today's violence in the Republic of Congo and urges all parties to immediately exercise restraint. So far there are two confirmed deaths, reports of more, and dozens of injured. We strongly encourage opposing sides to come together in dialogue to defuse the situation and to seek true consensus on a way to move forward without further bloodshed. The violence broke out during opposition protests against a proposed 25th October constitutional referendum that would overcome immutable terms, term limits, and allow the incumbent, President Sassou, to stand for another term. As before, we believe peaceful, free, and transparent transfers of power respecting existing term limits are essential to democratic development and long-term stability. We call on President Sassou to postpose the referendum, to defuse the current situation, and allow for dialogue and discussion.
I also want to make a personnel announcement. We're pleased – the Secretary – excuse me – is pleased to announce the arrival of Ambassador Susan Coppedge, who will direct the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which leads our global engagement against human trafficking. Ambassador Coppedge is exactly the right person for this job and has been at the front lines serving as assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Georgia for more than 15 years, where she prosecuted more than 45 traffickers and assisted over 90 victims. She has also trained international and local law enforcement and worked with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. She – Ambassador Coppedge – embodies the Administration's commitment to fight human trafficking both at home and abroad, and we welcome her to the State Department team today.
On Canada, the United States congratulates Prime Minister-designate Trudeau and the Liberal Party on their victory in yesterday's national election. We look forward to working closely with Prime Minister-designate Trudeau and his government to further enhance our close cooperation. The United States and Canada have and – we certainly have every expectation – will remain the closest of friends and allies and partners. Together we will continue to work to advance shared prosperity and security and to cooperate across a range of global issues, including joint efforts to promote trade and global economic growth.
With that, we'll start.
QUESTION: Let's start with the trip. Can you be more specific? Europe and the Middle East is a bit vague. Sorry.
MR KIRBY: Yes. No, actually, I'm not really able to go into too much more detail right now, Matt. You've heard the Secretary talk over the last few days about meetings that he intends to have, and you can imagine, given the scope of foreign leaders he's going to meet with and wants to meet with and balancing schedules, that there's still some work to be done in terms of exact venues. So I think you can expect a stop or two in Europe. I think you can expect at least a stop in the Middle East somewhere. But exactly where and the times, we're still working that out.
QUESTION: Can you tell us who – if you can't tell us where or when?
MR KIRBY: Well, the Secretary spoke to this himself. I mean, he expects to be able to meet in the – on this trip with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He expects to meet with President Abbas. He expects to meet with Foreign Minister Lavrov. And he's also looking forward to a session with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, and Jordan as well. So there's a lot of work to be done, but the exact schedule we're still working out.
QUESTION: Have the Russians – the Secretary this morning said in public that he would – he said, "I will meet with." So have the Russians yet agreed to that five-way meeting that you just described of the foreign ministers?
MR KIRBY: We expect there will be a multilateral meeting on Syria. The exact, again, specifics of it and participants we're still working out. But the Secretary talked about this in the past. Right now I think it's looking more like Russia, United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, but again, we're going to continue to work on this.
QUESTION: On the Israeli-Palestinian part of this, yesterday in Madrid the Secretary said that what was needed for the Temple Mount was more clarity on what the actual status quo is. Would the Secretary, would the State Department, would the Administration, like to see the status quo actually written down and codified someplace in more specificity than it currently exists?
MR KIRBY: The Secretary certainly wasn't alluding to any desire to see more codification. What he was – oh, sorry.
QUESTION: Any codification? I mean --
MR KIRBY: No, the Secretary is not pushing for a written codification of the status quo. As I said last week, he believes the status quo is being maintained. He's grateful and welcomes the commitment of Israel and Jordan to that end. As he also said in Madrid yesterday, it's important that that maintenance continue and that all sides have a common view of what that is. And that's what he was referring to.
QUESTION: Well, right. But wouldn't a written – wouldn't something in writing allow all the sides involved here, all three – the Jordanians, the Israelis, and the Palestinians – to know and to be able to – to know what – to know exactly, precisely what the status quo is and – so that you can judge when – whether or not there has been some kind of breach of it?
MR KIRBY: No, again, we continue to believe that it's being maintained. The Secretary is not pushing for a written codification.
QUESTION: So what is he trying to – what is he going to try and do then?
MR KIRBY: Well, his purpose for the trip, and he talked about this this morning, is to try to find to ways to help cease the violence, to urge calm, and to try to facilitate ways in which we can move forward.
QUESTION: But he's been appealing for calm. So has everybody else for that matter. The UN secretary-general is in Jerusalem today doing the same – saying the same thing.
MR KIRBY: Right.
QUESTION: So when you say he wants to find ways to end the violence and restore whatever calm existed prior to this latest eruption of violence, what kind of ways are there to – what exactly is he thinking about?
MR KIRBY: Well, look, I'm not going to get ahead of specific agenda items and discussions that haven't happened yet. He believes it is important to go now because of the violence and the unrest and because of the implications to regional security because of it, and to have these discussions with the leaders to – not just to urge calm and for an end of violence, but to try to get at potential solutions for – to achieve those outcomes. What exactly that's going to look like, I mean, I don't know.
QUESTION: But a potential solution in the view of the Secretary and the view of the United States is not a written down rules of conduct for what happens on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif?
MR KIRBY: I think I've answered the question. He's not looking for – he's not looking --
QUESTION: So he's --
QUESTION: He's looking for getting to the basics of the status quo. He used the word "basics" in his speech this morning. What are the basics of the status quo in the view of the State Department?
MR KIRBY: The status quo has been in effect, it's being maintained --
QUESTION: But he wants to return to the basics, so he's implying there's something less basic, more complicated has developed.
MR KIRBY: I think – look, I think the Secretary is being clear. It's being maintained. We welcome the commitment to its maintenance. And all he wants to do is make sure that that maintenance continues.
QUESTION: Well, look, yesterday Mark said that it would be useful or helpful if Palestinian President Abbas were to make a call for de-escalating tensions and no violence, or words to that effect. Is there anything that the Secretary believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu can do to try to de-escalate tensions?
MR KIRBY: I think I'd go back to what I've said before and what the Secretary said himself numerous times on the trip we just returned from, which is that he wants to see all sides take appropriate action to reduce the violence, to restore calm, and to hopefully be able to be in a position where we can start to move forward on the two-state solution.
QUESTION: One more on this. There are – some Palestinians feel that visits to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif broader area are – by members of the prime minister's coalition are provocative acts. Would it be helpful if the prime minister sought to discourage members of his coalition from visits that are – whether they are provocative or not, are seen or taken as provocations?
MR KIRBY: No, I'm not going to legislate specific actions from this podium to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Again, the Secretary's been very clear about what we'd like to see happen. It's certainly driving his desire to make this trip and to have these discussions. And again, what we want to see is the violence to end, for calm to be restored, and for nobody to participate in actions or rhetoric that just inflame the tensions and encourage more violence.
QUESTION: John, on the issue of codification, isn't there something that goes back all the way to the British Mandate, as a matter of fact, on these issues and --
MR KIRBY: To the what?
QUESTION: Goes all the way back to British Mandate. You talked about something, a clarification or something akin to clarification, that is – actually was established by the British during the British Mandate. It goes all the way back, then it was given to Jordanian custodianship and so on throughout all the time between 1949 and 1967 and so on. Isn't there something written in this case on --
MR KIRBY: Said, I'm going to have to yield to you and your greater sense of the history here.
QUESTION: Okay, all right. Okay, fair enough.
MR KIRBY: I think I've answered the question in terms of written codification and where the Secretary's head is.
QUESTION: Yeah, okay. All right. Fair enough. Just to follow up on Arshad's points, I mean, is there something that you would want the Israelis to do? For instance, today a sniper shot and killed a Palestinian in Gaza, which is way across – I mean, they're behind the fence. So they're using – you backtracked the other day from use of excessive force. But I would say – or would you call that excessive force, that shooting across the fence and so on, where people are not even threatening Israeli soldiers?
MR KIRBY: Yeah. Look, I can appreciate your desire to have me characterize every single act, and I won't do that. I can also appreciate the desire to have me dictate policy here from the podium on this, and I'm simply not going to do that. The – we've been exceedingly clear, and the Secretary has said numerous times what we want to see happen here. And I think I'm going to leave it at that.
QUESTION: Okay. There are a couple of elements, John. I mean, on the one hand, we have the Palestinian Authority that exercises no authority whatsoever in Jerusalem – the Israelis do. And on the other hand, you are not – you're saying that Israel has a right to defend itself, which is fair enough. But this is occupied territory. I mean, how do – what is the status of these people in Jerusalem? What is the status of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and how – who should protect them? I mean, there are calls for, let's say, the international community to provide some sort of protection for the Palestinian civilians.
MR KIRBY: Look, I can appreciate the concern about the violence going on right now. And we want to see that violence end; we want to see calm restored. I am not going to dictate from here individual policy solutions here. Getting at solutions, getting at ways in which people can live their lives, and the deliberate taking of innocent life isn't something that people are waking up and being worried about is really what the Secretary's after here. And it's why he believes making this trip this week is so important.
QUESTION: My last question on this: Is it your understanding or is it your analysis or conclusion that this violence that is being carried out by a young Palestinian is not directed – is it – it's your understanding that it is not directed by any of the political groups there, that it is spontaneous or lone wolf kind of attacks and efforts?
MR KIRBY: I don't – we're not – I'm not making any judgments about direction here. And I think each individual case will need – you need to examine each one in its own. What we're saying is the deliberate taking of innocent life is absolutely unacceptable. And it's that violence that we want to see end and the calm restored and an opportunity to finally begin to move forward on a two-state solution. But what's motivating each individual act is for the participants to know. What we're saying is, again, there's no excuse for the deliberate, intentional taking of innocent life, okay?
Yes.
QUESTION: On the visit of the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz --
QUESTION: Oh, wait, wait. Hold on. I got another one on this. So on Sunday, we were in Paris, right? Weren't we? Was it Sunday?
QUESTION: It was Sunday.
MR KIRBY: I think that was Madrid.
QUESTION: Madrid.
QUESTION: Correct.
QUESTION: When were we at UNESCO?
MR KIRBY: You might be right. It was Sunday lunch, and then we went to Madrid.
QUESTION: Breakfast in Milan, lunch in Paris, dinner in Madrid, right?
MR KIRBY: That was Sunday.
QUESTION: That was Sunday.
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Okay. The Secretary, when he made his remarks at the UNESCO luncheon, talked about the importance of the U.S. being re-elected to the executive board. He didn't, if I recall correctly, talk about the vote that the board is having today about this resolution that would declare the Western Wall a Muslim holy site.
MR KIRBY: Right.
QUESTION: One, why didn't he mention that in his speech? And two, regardless of whether he mentioned it or not, what is the U.S. position on that? I presume you are going to vote against.
MR KIRBY: We strongly oppose this resolution. First of all, to your answer, I don't know that it had been proffered by then. I don't know exactly when it was put forward. But I would just point you to the director-general's statement from this morning. So her first comments were this morning, which I think would lead one to believe it wasn't until very recently that this thing was put forward.
But in any event, we strongly oppose this resolution and any such use of international force such as UNESCO to inflame tension in the region and alter the status quo at the holy sites. And we welcome the director-general's statement deploring these proposals and underscoring the shared religious cultural value of Jerusalem's holy sites, and again calling for member-states to seek a constructive path forward.
QUESTION: Okay. And there are those two words again, "status quo." So why wouldn't it be smart or helpful for the status quo to actually be written down and codified?
MR KIRBY: Matt --
QUESTION: I mean, if you're saying – the suggestion has been that the Israelis – these visits by Israelis have somehow affected the status quo. Now, here is something that is Palestinian-backed that you say would alter the status quo. So, I mean, I think the problem is, is that this is a situation that appears, as the Secretary said, to demand clarity. And what we have now is no clarity, just a vague outline of what people think might be – the status quo is. And I just don't understand why it wouldn't be a good idea or why the U.S. doesn't think it would be a good idea – as a neutral party in this – for there to be some kind of a written document that everyone can refer back to when something happens.
MR KIRBY: Well, I don't think it's for the United States to dictate to. And as I said earlier, the Secretary doesn't believe that written codification is necessary.
QUESTION: Russia-Syria?
QUESTION: Quickly on --
QUESTION: Go ahead.
QUESTION: Today, there was a statement by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon. He's calling for the expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and even the Golan Heights, which looked like an overreach, it seemed to me. You have any reaction or comment on that?
MR KIRBY: I haven't seen the defense minister's comments, Said, but our position on settlements is – has obviously not changed and is well known. We find them to be illegitimate.
Yes.
QUESTION: So the Pentagon has just confirmed that they've signed a de-confliction agreement, or at least they've agreed a memorandum – I'm not sure exactly the form of words – with Moscow on the flights in Syria. We'll go to them for the details of that, but does this – and in parallel to this – Secretary Kerry's been pushing his colleague Mr. Lavrov on the political side of things. Now that the military side of things is out of the way, is that – does that bring that a step closer or does that take the pressure off? Does this have any effect on the way things are being pursued from this office?
MR KIRBY: It's not going to change his focus on trying to move forward towards a political transition in Syria and to continue to have discussions with Foreign Minister Lavrov to that end. In fact, I just talked about some of the meetings we expect him to have on this upcoming trip for the remainder of this week.
If it's – and again, I'll let the Pentagon speak to the specifics of it, but obviously, if it's fully implemented and Russia abides by what they've agreed to, that will at least ensure the safety of coalition pilots. And that's really what this is designed to do. It's not a treaty of cooperation or anything like that. In fact, I think the Pentagon was crystal clear what it doesn't do. It doesn't connote cooperation or coordination or joint targeting. It simply is designed to keep coalition pilots safe in the air and to ensure safe and professional conduct by all.
QUESTION: That's how it's designed, but you can see Moscow may well perpetrate --
MR KIRBY: And if it's fully implemented, that's certainly helpful to that end.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR KIRBY: But is it going to eventually – is it the breakthrough in terms of getting to a political transition in Syria? No, it's not. And nothing's going to --
QUESTION: It could be a (inaudible) breakthrough if Moscow takes it as a de facto greenlight to continue on the military front as the way they're doing.
MR KIRBY: Well, I can't speak for how the Russians are going to take it in terms of what they think it frees them up to do. Nothing has changed about our position that there can't be a military solution to the civil war in Syria. And if you take a look at the targets they continue to hit and the support they're giving to the Syrian regime on the ground, it can only leave one to conclude that they are intent on propping up the Assad regime, which is only going to exacerbate the conflict, inflame sectarian the tensions, and lead to more extremism there and elsewhere in the region. So I don't – I mean, I don't think you're asking this, but let me just state unequivocally: The signing of this memorandum, while important to safe and professional airmanship, does nothing to assuage our concerns about Russian military activities in Syria.
QUESTION: And what would Secretary Kerry like to get out of Minister Lavrov when they see each other?
MR KIRBY: Well – I'm going to leave it to the two men to talk and then we'll have more to say after the meeting. I'm not going to get ahead on agenda items. I think it's obviously clear that they will be talking about Syria. I fully expect that they will talk about Ukraine as well. But in a broad sense, what we'd like to see is for military support to the Assad regime to stop. And if they want to have a role constructively against ISIL inside Syria, well, that's a discussion too that the Secretary would be willing to have. So far, their actions to date don't imply at all that they're serious about going after ISIL, because that's not really what they're hitting.
QUESTION: You would agree that – or you would say that the signing of this memorandum of understanding is an important step?
MR KIRBY: It's --
QUESTION: A necessary step?
MR KIRBY: To the – it's – to the degree that it can help ensure safe and professional airmanship and avoid mishaps in the air, I would say that's important, yes.
QUESTION: So a written document is a good thing to have --
MR KIRBY: Matt.
QUESTION: What?
MR KIRBY: Matt.
QUESTION: I'm sorry --
MR KIRBY: I – no, I certainly appreciate the round-robin effort to get at this. I've answered the question. I've answered the question.
QUESTION: I understand you have, but I – I understand that you've answered the question, but --
MR KIRBY: And to compare a memorandum of understanding for safe and professional airmanship over a certain chunk of sky – to compare that with the status quo on Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount I think is a little bit of a stretch.
QUESTION: This memorandum of understanding basically says that pilots should use common sense in avoiding hitting each other, correct?
MR KIRBY: I don't know what the exact text is. It's a Defense Department document.
QUESTION: Does it have a name, the memorandum of understanding?
MR KIRBY: You'd have to call the Defense Department. I don't know that there's a name for it.
QUESTION: So is it like Opens Skies? I mean, each – sort of you wing it, no pun intended?
MR KIRBY: Again, you're asking me questions I'm not qualified to answer. That's a Defense Department document. It's a Defense Department agreement, and I'd point you to them to speak to it.
QUESTION: A quick follow-up on Syria: Today, the Turkish Government said that they are fine with Assad staying on for six – for a period of six-month transition, and they said that they have basically reached agreement with you on this issue. Is that a fair statement by the Turks?
MR KIRBY: I would just tell you, Said, that nothing's changed about our view that Assad's lost legitimacy and that what we need is a transition to a government that is responsive to the needs of the Syrian people that does not include Bashar al-Assad. And as the Secretary has said repeatedly, whether he goes on day one, month one, or whatever it is, it's important that a government – an inclusive government, a participatory government – gets in place so that the needs of the Syrian people can be met and Syria can be whole and unified and pluralistic.
And how that happens – the modalities of it – that's what the Secretary's working on so hard. That's one of the reasons why we're going on this trip in particular; it's why he's had so many meetings in the past to try to work out what that transition would look like. And I don't – and I can tell you that those modalities have not been set yet.
QUESTION: So there is no draft plan?
MR KIRBY: Huh?
QUESTION: There is no draft plan at all? The Turkish officials said that you reached a transitional draft plan on this issue. So --
MR KIRBY: I'm not going to talk about diplomatic conversations. What I can tell you is the modalities of the political transition have not been established, and that's one of the reasons why, because he's continuing to work at this, that the Secretary is making this trip this week. There's a lot of work left to be done.
Yes.
QUESTION: Just a couple of questions on Iraq. The prime minister of the Kurdish region has been in Iran for the past few days. He has been seeking Iran's assistance to help resolve the political turmoil in the region. Some commentators in the region have called this possible because of the lack of an effective U.S. role there. There's a void the Iranians are filling. Do you agree with that?
MR KIRBY: A role – a lack of effective role in Iraq?
QUESTION: In the region. In the – specifically in the Kurdish region. The United States has not been playing an effective role to solve this domestic problem, and the Kurds are now feeling that they have to reach the Iranians to solve that problem.
MR KIRBY: Well, I won't – certainly, they have the right to speak to who they want to speak to. But I absolutely would completely disagree with any assumption, perception, or assertion that the United States is not playing an important, indeed leading, role in the coalition efforts against ISIL. And look at the ledger. Just look at what we've done.
QUESTION: I was talking about the political crisis that is in the region over the position of President Barzani.
MR KIRBY: I think we've talked about this many, many times. These are internal political decisions that need to be worked out. You – when we talked about this before, we were certainly invited to some of the early discussions, and we're grateful for the invitations and we went. But ultimately, these are decisions that local politicians have to make, and we respect that. And the support that we are giving to Iraq is through the government in Baghdad, and we'll continue to do that.
QUESTION: Okay, it's domestic, but one last question. You seem to be taking sides when it comes to practical steps in the region. For example, yesterday General Joe Dunford was in Kurdistan and he openly called Barzani "Mr. President," while domestically a lot of people believe that his mandate is over. Why would a high-ranking --
MR KIRBY: We've talked about this --
QUESTION: -- U.S. official call him president? I mean, do you see him as the legitimate leader of the region?
MR KIRBY: We have talked about this before, that while these --
QUESTION: Can you answer that again now? Do you see him as the legitimate --
MR KIRBY: Well, if you'd let me answer I'd be happy to. But you've got to stop interrupting. Okay?
QUESTION: Sure.
MR KIRBY: While these discussions are ongoing, he is still fulfilling that role and so we – he is considered to be the president while this is ongoing. But ultimately, these are decisions that Kurdish politicians have to work through, and I've said that before. Okay?
QUESTION: Change topic – Georgia?
MR KIRBY: Sure.
QUESTION: What is your reaction about the latest developments with relation to the major independent television station Rustavi2. After yesterday's court hearing, there is a growing consensus in Georgian society that the critical voice of Rustavi2 can be silenced already this week.
MR KIRBY: The critical voice of – I'm sorry?
QUESTION: Critical voice of this television station can be silenced already this week.
MR KIRBY: Yeah. Look, we've talked about this before. I think Mark talked about this as well. I mean, we're watching this closely. Our position on media freedoms is – remains the same and we – again, we're watching this closely.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Thank you. Venezuela?
MR KIRBY: Sure.
QUESTION: The Venezuelan Government refuse any involvement of the OAS – the Organization for American States – in the coming parliamentary elections. Are you surprised about that? And my second one is the Venezuela Government urged for a legal process against a Venezuelan business man, Lorenzo Hernandez, because – Lorenzo Mendoza, sorry – because he said something like – he spoke about the need of adjustment package from the IMF for Venezuela.
MR KIRBY: And your first question again was?
QUESTION: Is that Venezuela refuse any involvement of OAS – the Organization of American States – on the coming elections, the parliamentary elections.
MR KIRBY: Okay.
QUESTION: So are you surprised?
MR KIRBY: Well, you're going to have to let me take the questions for you because I haven't seen either of those reports, and I'd hate to speculate from up here absent much context on this.
QUESTION: Because I think the U.S. called for the OAS participation in the Venezuelan elections.
MR KIRBY: Right. But I haven't seen these reports that you're talking about. So rather than confirm them from here with a reaction that's just off the cuff, please allow me to take the question and we'll get back to you.
QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.
QUESTION: John?
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: On Canada, do you have any concern – the Prime Minister-designate Trudeau has been a little bit cautious about the TPP. Do you have any concern that it would affect the process moving forward?
MR KIRBY: I would just tell you that the Secretary remains confident that the TPP is a good thing, not just for our economy but for the shared prosperity of all the participants, and as I said before, looks forward to seeing the agreement put in force. The approach that Canada takes is for the Canadian people to determine, but it's not going to change regardless. Nothing's going to change about our commitment to it.
Yeah.
QUESTION: John?
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Macedonia?
QUESTION: Actually, I have a Canada-related question.
MR KIRBY: Okay. It looks like we have a consensus to stay on Canada for a bit.
QUESTION: I can't --
MR KIRBY: But I can't believe that you have a Canada question.
QUESTION: Well, it's an international – kind of what he said but on the – on issues of security. Are you concerned the new government may not be as supportive of security issues like the mission in Afghanistan and the extension of – and the fight against ISIL?
MR KIRBY: Well, I would just say – I would say first of all we're very grateful for Canada's close partnership and friendship. And we have stood shoulder to shoulder with Canadian armed forces for more than the last decade particularly, and fights in Iraq and Afghanistan. But obviously, going forward these are all decisions that the Canadian people have to make and the – and Canadian legislators have to make, and their new prime minister. And we respect that process. That's the way democracy works. We are grateful and proud of our close friendship and alliance, quite frankly, with Canada. And as I said at the outset, we have every expectation that that close friendship and partnership will continue.
QUESTION: John, I wanted just to follow up on the Secretary's comments this morning about Keystone, and your counterpart at the White House spoke to it as well. I don't want to ask about the timing or the substance, but I – if you could just remind us about the process. The Secretary makes a recommendation, makes a decision and a recommendation and then he sends that to the White House and – can you just talk us through what happens?
MR KIRBY: The Secretary will – he's talked about this. I mean, he'll --
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR KIRBY: Yeah, no, he'll make a decision. And obviously, the President, as he does on all such major issues, will certainly have the opportunity to make a judgment as well. But as the Secretary said this morning, he's still working through that process.
QUESTION: But there aren't any other steps. So there's no sort of inter-agency review after this; we're sort of nearing the end. It's the Secretary's going to make a decision, he's going to send it to the White House – it's that simple?
MR KIRBY: Yes.
QUESTION: Okay. That's all I needed. Thanks.
QUESTION: I believe you're supposed to pronounce it "process" when talking about things Canadian. (Laughter.)
MR KIRBY: I --
QUESTION: But we won't know that decision when he hands it over, right?
MR KIRBY: -- appreciate that.
QUESTION: That's not something you'll make public? It will only be made public once the President makes a decision.
MR KIRBY: At some point, clearly, the decision will be made public. It will be made public at the appropriate time. I'm not at liberty to explain exactly when that's going to be.
QUESTION: There's – the Secretary's not going to make an announcement about what he's recommending, is what Justin's asking.
MR KIRBY: I don't have the modalities of exactly how it's going to be made public, but clearly we have a responsibility to do so and we'll do it in the appropriate time and way.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Macedonia?
MR KIRBY: Sure.
QUESTION: If I may. Do you have anything on the political crisis in Macedonia? Specifically, the U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess Baily, encouraged to support the public prosecutors' word and praised the progress made in moving the country forward. Could you please elaborate on the U.S. policy regarding how to deepen the political – the solution to solve the political crisis in Macedonia? Thank you.
MR KIRBY: Here's what I'd say about that: We encourage Macedonia's leader to build on the progress that they've already made in implementing the July 15 political agreement, which represents the best way forward out of the crisis and onto a path to credible elections in April of next year, 2016. The parties have now missed a key deadline to agree on serious issues related to government formation, whistleblower protection, and privacy protections. Macedonia's leaders took an important step last month in establishing a special prosecutor who must now be given the resources and the staff that she has determined she needs to fulfil her mandate. The political parties should not seek to influence or constrain that work. We hope that as working groups continue their talks, all sides will put the interests of the country first, reaffirming their commitment to Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration.
Okay? Yeah.
QUESTION: On Pakistan. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is coming to the town today. What Secretary – is Secretary planning to meet him, and what the issues would be if he meets?
MR KIRBY: He – first of all, we welcome him to the United States, obviously. And we believe the meeting will be an opportunity to advance the goal of deepening our bilateral partnership. The Secretary is expecting to meet with the prime minister tomorrow. And I'm sure we'll have a readout of that when it's over.
Yeah. Okay.
QUESTION: Wait. I got – wait, I just want to go back to – and don't worry, it's easy. (Laughter.) I think it's easy. To go – I got to go back to Israel for a second.
MR KIRBY: No, look --
QUESTION: Don't look so suspicious.
MR KIRBY: -- I don't believe in easy or hard questions. They're all --
QUESTION: I think – there were a couple of reports this morning citing Palestinian officials as saying that the Secretary would like to see unarmed Palestinian observers or police or something up on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. Can you knock that down?
MR KIRBY: Yeah. There's no truth to that.
QUESTION: All right.
MR KIRBY: Thank you.
QUESTION: Can I have one? I asked Mark yesterday – he made a claim yesterday about the State Department having had four billion cyber-attacks on it and having foiled close to 100 percent. He said he would get me the percentage. Did you get that answer?
MR KIRBY: No. I didn't. As I'm – as I've been led to believe, it's greater than 99 percent of them have been thwarted. I don't have --
QUESTION: But Arshad pointed out yesterday 99 percent of 4 billion – that leaves 2 million.
MR KIRBY: Yeah. I don't have --
QUESTION: It leaves 4 million. But he thought it was 99.5, which would be 2 million.
MR KIRBY: You guys are better at math than I am. I don't have an exact figure for you.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: How many attacks?
QUESTION: Four billion attacks.
QUESTION: That's what he said.
QUESTION: Not millions, billion?
QUESTION: But they're not attacks, really, I mean they're --
QUESTION: B, like baby.
QUESTION: -- they're probes, they're --
MR KIRBY: Yeah. They're not all attacks in the sense that we all think --
QUESTION: So if you (inaudible) --
QUESTION: What was the timeframe?
QUESTION: Four billion since – yeah, since when?
QUESTION: Four billion over what? Sorry. Look at that face. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: I'm sorry I asked --
MR KIRBY: Thank you, Arshad.
QUESTION: -- but I wanted the answer.
QUESTION: Four billion --
MR KIRBY: Okay. Successfully defeating almost 100 percent – I don't know exact percentage – of the four billion attempted intrusions --
QUESTION: Million?
QUESTION: Four billion?
QUESTION: Attempted --
MR KIRBY: Oh, I'll do it again. Everybody just stop. Take a breath, take a breath. Now if you be quiet, then you could hear the enunciation. Defeating nearly 100 percent of the 4 billion, with a B, attempted intrusions that we experience each year --
QUESTION: Is that right?
MR KIRBY: -- each year.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) thousand troops --
MR KIRBY: Now since when, I don't know.
QUESTION: Carl Sagan, yes.
MR KIRBY: All right. Thanks, everybody. It's been a little slice of heaven today.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:46 p.m.)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
