23 June 2003
U.S. Forces to Be in Iraq "As Long As Necessary and Not a Day Longer"
(White House Report, June 23: Iraq, Pakistan, Rice's travels) (490) White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, asked June 23 by reporters at the White House about U.S. military actions in Iraq over the weekend, said: "I can confirm for you that there were military operations against leadership target or targets, and this should be seen in keeping with the ongoing military effort in Iraq to bring justice to people who we believe are associated" with the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. "The president's instructions are that we will stay [in Iraq] for as long as necessary but not a day longer," Fleischer said. "We're still in the very early stages of the post-major combat era, and it's too soon for anybody to have any concrete knowledge about how long it will be beyond the president's guidance." "The criteria the president has established focus on security and stability in Iraq -- the beginning of Iraq's ability to self govern in a stable manner. Those are the core issues, and it will remain an open question as to how long that will take," Fleischer said. "But the president's instructions are clear. When he says to planners 'for as long as necessary and not a day longer,' he is saying to them -- your job is to do your job right, and you'll have the time that is necessary to do your job right, but when it's done, you'll come home." BUSH TO MEET WITH PAKISTAN'S PRESIDENT AT CAMP DAVID President Bush will hold discussions the morning of June 24 with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat in the Cacoctin Mountains of Maryland. "They're going to talk about ongoing cooperation in the war against terror. They will talk about bilateral issues involving trade and economics," Fleischer said, and "about growing efforts between Pakistan and India to reach mutual understanding and peaceful resolutions of their disputes." "The basis of our relationship with Pakistan has been strong. President Bush views President Musharraf as a strong leader who has aggressively been fighting terror," the Press Secretary told reporters. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR RICE TO TRAVEL TO BRITAIN AND MIDDLE EAST National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is traveling to the United Kingdom and the Middle East this week, Fleischer said. On June 26 she will meet in London with British officials "to discuss a wide variety of topics and give a speech at the International Institute of Strategic Studies on the trans-Atlantic alliance and our (U.S./British) common agenda," Fleischer said. While in the Middle East over the weekend, "she'll meet with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders where she'll work to build on the progress made during the president's meetings and the secretary's [Colin Powell] meetings from his recent trips to the region," Fleischer said. (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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