The White House Briefing Room
December 16, 1998
PRESS BRIEFING BY JOE LOCKHART
1:25 P.M. EST
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release December 16, 1998
PRESS BRIEFING BY
JOE LOCKHART
The Briefing Room
1:25 P.M. EST
MR. LOCKHART: Good afternoon. Welcome back, for those of you who
traveled to the Middle East with us.
Q How's everything with you today?
MR. LOCKHART: Everything is just fine. Did you get enough sleep, Sam?
Which plane were you on?
Q I'm fine, ready to do whatever work needs to be done.
Q He was quiet until we almost got off the plane. (Laughter.)
MR. LOCKHART: Good, glad to hear it.
Q Are we going to bomb Iraq, air strikes?
MR. LOCKHART: As I've told some of you who have talked to me today,
clearly, the report from Chairman Butler and UNSCOM raises a serious concern
about Iraq's willingness and ability to comply with the commitments they made in
mid-November. The President met this morning with his national security team to
review the situation, but beyond that I'm not going to get into the details of
any decision-making or any options that may or may not be available to the
President.
Q Is he meeting again with the national security team today?
MR. LOCKHART: Not that I'm aware of.
Q You're not going to get into details, but surely we have the
President's words from three weeks ago when he warned Saddam that if he didn't
comply the military option might be used without warning.
MR. LOCKHART: Well, again, I'm not going to get into the details of the
decision-making, nor speculate on any of the options.
Q But can we go with that understanding that a military strike
could begin without warning?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into the decision-making process or
what decisions -- or what options may or may
not be available.
Q But he did make a decision, obviously, if they're
not meeting again.
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into the details of
the President's decision-making.
Q Do you feel you have sufficient force out in the
region to handle any problem you might want to take care of?
MR. LOCKHART: Again, that strikes me as a question
that goes to options, and I'm not going to discuss that.
Q Would the White House think it was appropriate for
the House to go delay the debate or the vote if military action
was imminent?
MR. LOCKHART: That's clearly an issue that the House
needs to make.
Q Would that go into the calculations here at all?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into calculations
or things that go into decisions.
Q Was there any contact with Hyde on that?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not aware of any.
Q So you're saying you're not ruling out that it
might go --
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not ruling it out. What I'm saying
is I'm not going to get into what goes into a decision or what
options are available. That doesn't mean that I'm ruling it in
or ruling it out. I'm saying that I'm not going to get into what
goes into a decision.
Q Has the President called the leadership on the
Hill and consulted them about Iraq?
MR. LOCKHART: The President and his national security
team have had consultations in light of this report from Chairman
Butler with the leadership of the Hill.
Q The President personally or just the team? Has
the President had a conversation?
MR. LOCKHART: It's a combination. The President has
spoken to some members, the team has talked to some members.
Q Who did the President personally speak to?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into the details of
who he spoke to.
Q How long have they been speaking with the
congressional leadership on this particular situation?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, the report was made available to
the Security Counsel yesterday. So there has been a series of
consultations since we've had this report available to us.
Q Which leadership in the House do you deal with at
this point, the old ones or the new ones?
MR. LOCKHART: Both.
Q Joe, what do you say to those -- and there will be
those critics who will argue that the timing of this is just too
cute given the pending impeachment proceedings in the House --
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into timing or what
goes into decisions.
Q Joe, has the President spoken with Blair or any
other foreign leaders on this?
MR. LOCKHART: The President has been consulting with
both congressional leaders and with allies. I'm not going to get
into a list of those allies, but he has spoken to allies and to
congressional leaders.
Q Is it still the President's view that Saddam
Hussein must comply with the appropriate U.N. resolutions?
MR. LOCKHART: That view has not changed. And let's
remember some of the history here. We, in mid-November, were in
a situation where, faced with a credible military threat, Saddam
Hussein backed down and agreed to fully comply. Chairman Butler
of UNSCOM set about immediately to test that contention that he
was willing now, after non-compliance, to come into compliance
with what UNSCOM needs to be effective.
Chairman Butler consulted widely with members of the
Security Counsel on how he was going to do that. There was a
series of test inspections which, again, tested this question.
Those ended Sunday. And we now have available to the Security
Council a report that raises serious concerns about Iraq's
intentions and about UNSCOM's ability to do their job.
Q So why are you saying that the timing is not of
President Clinton's making?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm saying the timing is of Chairman
Butler and UNSCOM and the timing is of the agreements that were
made in mid-November, when Saddam Hussein agreed to fully comply
with the United Nations and UNSCOM.
Q Does the U.S. feel that it can act unilaterally,
the U.S. doesn't have to have the U.U. okay?
MR. LOCKHART: I think, as we've said in the past, the
U.S. reserves the right to act unilaterally to protect the
interests of the United States.
Q Joe, would you describe this as a crisis?
MR. LOCKHART: Pardon?
Q Would you describe this as a crisis? Very
serious?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not in the headline-writing
business.
Q Joe, is there a feeling that Saddam Hussein is
doing this again to test the President's might in a time of
weakness?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm also not going to be in the
speculation business today.
Q Joe, what would the President like the nation and
the world to know about how the impeachment challenge that he
faces affects his deliberations on this matter?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, again, I'm not going to speculate
on the decision-making process here. I will say that the
President of the United States makes national security decisions
based on the best interests of the United States of America.
Q Joe, let me ask you, will you attack --
Q So the impeachment challenge has no effect on --
MR. LOCKHART: Let me repeat. I'm not going to get
into the decision-making process, but I will repeat that the
President of the United States makes national security decisions
based on the recommendations of his national security advisors
and on the best interests of the people of the United States.
Q -- your view, will an attack on Iraq put an end to
the inspections?
MR. LOCKHART: Pardon?
Q Would an attack put an end to UNSCOM inspections?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to speculate.
Q Joe, was it a mistake, a month ago, for the
President to hesitate in ordering the air strike?
MR. LOCKHART: No, I don't think so. I think at that
time we received a commitment which we said we'd test, that we
wouldn't trust, but we'd try to verify. And Chairman Butler's
report raises serious concerns.
Q But you say you're not going to get into questions
of delay, that's up to the Hill if the Hill should decide to
delay its proceedings. This Congress expires at noon on the 3rd
day of January. Would you expect, though, that this Congress
ought to or would complete its proceedings in the House before it
expires?
MR. LOCKHART: I have no reason to speculate or
expect anything other than what they tell you they're
going to do.
Q May I just ask, because there are some suspicious
people there who believe somehow that the bombing of Iraq will
not be a one-time incident, that there would need to be a
sustained and continuous effort if Saddam did not comply, that
this effort might run over a number of days. Chairman Hyde has
already said, as long as the bombs are falling, he doesn't think
that Congress ought to proceed. That would have the effect of
running out the clock. I mean, I'm just asking you to respond to
what some people are saying up there.
MR. LOCKHART: Well, again, I'm not going to speculate
based on the views or musings of those who have other
responsibilities.
Q Can you tell us when the President learned about
the content of the U.N. report, the conclusions of it, and also
the decision by the U.N. inspectors to withdraw? Give us a sense
of when he learned.
MR. LOCKHART: I don't know precisely, but I know that
there was some work done on the flight back from the Middle East.
But I don't know precisely the timing of how information was
transmitted to him.
Q Joe, in light of these developments, will the
President now suspend his efforts to persuade members of Congress
not to impeach him?
MR. LOCKHART: I think, as you know, the President has
a couple of meetings today on that subject. The President is
meeting with Representative Houghton, of New York, and will meet
sometime later today with Representative Shays.
Q Did the White House at any point advise Chairman
Butler to get those inspectors out of Iraq?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, I think Chairman Butler certainly
makes his own decision based on his people. I think the White
House -- not the White House but the U.N. representative made it
clear about the concerns we had about this report.
Q How much of a factor is the start of Ramadan this
weekend, if any?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, you're asking me to talk about
factors that may or may not go into presidential decision-making
and I've already told you I'm not going to do that.
................
Q The President met this morning with his National
Security Council -- can you tell us who was there? And second,
is he intending to meet with them again today?
MR. LOCKHART: He met this morning with his National
Security Advisor Sandy Berger; the Secretary of State, Madeleine
Albright; the Secretary of Defense, William Cohen; General
Shelton, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; John Podesta, the
Chief of Staff here; and Leon Feurth, who is the National
Security Advisor to the Vice President. I don't -- sorry? I'm
sorry, and George Tenet, the Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency. I don't have any information about a further meeting
today.
Q Joe, did his national security team give the
President a specific recommendation?
MR. LOCKHART: I'm not going to get into the details of
what goes into the President's decision, nor the options he may
or may not have.
Q Joe, is there any concern that all this reporting
in advance of any air strike is giving Saddam Hussein advance
warning?
MR. LOCKHART: Good try, Wolf. (Laughter.) It was, it
was good. (Laughter.)
Q It was actually -- never mind. (Laughter.)
..............
Q Do you think Saddam Hussein is not taking
seriously the United States because of this, what's been going on
here?
MR. LOCKHART: I will pass on the second one. I think,
first off, they see too much of it, this drama, as you call it.
But I think, if you travel around the world with the President,
like we do as a group, you can see that the country -- that the
world still looks to the President of the United States for
leadership. The United States remains the indispensable nation.
Just this weekend, it was the President who participated in a
historic step from the Palestinian Authority. It was the
President who sought and worked hard to get these parties back on
the track of peace.
You see it around the world, whether it's Bosnia,
whether it's Northern Ireland, whether it's in Africa. The
President of the United States plays a unique role. The world
looks to his leadership and the world knows that they can count
on his leadership.
Q -- President is more effective in person? Does
that mean that there's a chance that he'll be going to the well
of the House to talk tomorrow, the way that some people have
suggested -- people like Lanny Davis?
MR. LOCKHART: I don't -- Lanny often gives good
advice, but I haven't heard any discussion of the President going
to the well of the House.
Q Joe, with the confluence of Iraq and the
impeachment, can you tell us what the mood of the President is?
He's got two huge things hanging over his head. How's he
handling this?
MR. LOCKHART: The President, as he said to you all
yesterday -- although it seems like two weeks ago, yesterday --
he does his job by focusing on his job. And he goes to work
every day and believes that it's in the best interests of our
country and the American people to focus his full attentions on
the job at hand. And that's what he does.
Q Joe, may I try this question? The President is a
religious man. Does he have any second thoughts, any doubts,
about the possibility of conducting air strikes during Hanukkah,
Ramadan and Christmas? It's a very serious --
MR. LOCKHART: I think my previous 10 answers on that
about not speculating covers that one.
.................
Q Joe, experts such as Scott Ritter and others have
said this Butler report could have come at any time. Are you
saying it's an absolutely total coincidence that it's all coming
to a head on the day of the impeachment --
MR. LOCKHART: I'm saying if you look at what Chairman
Butler said and you look back to November 15th, you'll see that
he, in the aftermath of the agreements that he reached on
November 15th, and in consultation with the Security Council
members, he started a series of inspections that were designed to
both explore the Iraqis' ability to reconstitute their weapons of
mass destruction and also to test their compliance. Mr. Butler
went about setting up a series of tests which he consulted on
widely beforehand, which started last week and ended on Sunday.
He then reported back to the United Nations Security Council last
night. This was an operation based on the best
thinking of Mr. Butler and UNSCOM and based on the starting date
of when Saddam Hussein and Iraq agreed to come back into
compliance with the United Nations.
Q But you don't have to deal with decision-making in
any way to tell us if the President feels limited or hampered in
any way in his ability to deal with Iraq by the pending
impeachment vote in Congress. And what effect, if any, it's had
on his ability to deal --
MR. LOCKHART: You were asking me a question that goes
to decision-making, and I've told you I'm not going to get into
that area.
..................
Q Joe, what is the President going to be doing
tomorrow? Where will he be? Is he going to listen to any of the
debate?
MR. LOCKHART: What's he doing tomorrow? Let me see if
I've got something on that. The President will hold budget
meetings with his economic team tomorrow. Thursday evening he
and the First Lady will host the Special Olympics Dinner at the
South Lawn Pavilion with an all-star musical cast. Be there if
you can.
Q No delay because of events?
MR. LOCKHART: It says it right here, Sam. There's no
asterisk or anything.
Q I'm asking if there are events on the Hill or Iraq
that would delay that.
MR. LOCKHART: You're testing my patience. (Laughter.)
Q Thank you, Joe.
Q That's what we pay you for, Joe, is to test your
patience.
MR. LOCKHART: Not nearly enough. (Laughter.)
END 2:05 P.M. EST
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