28 March 2003
U.S. Military Plan in Iraq on Track, White House Says
(Bush Sees no basis for skepticism) (710) By Wendy S. Ross Washington File White House Correspondent Washington -- The U.S. military plan for disarming Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and removing Saddam Hussein from power is working, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters March 28. President Bush "believes that the plan is on track, it is on progress, it is working," Fleischer said in response to skeptical questions from reporters asking whether the war is going as expected. "Saddam Hussein will be disarmed. And the president, as I made repeatedly clear on any number of occasions, is not going to sit in the White House as the play-by-play commentator on every battle and every day's mission," Fleischer said. Fleischer said that just as in the opening days of the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, "we are seeing a repeat of questions being raised about why is it taking so long and the president has always focused on that it will take as long as necessary and that's what his focus is," Fleischer said. He noted that Bush and senior administration officials had made many statements in the months preceding the Iraq fighting warning the American public of the possibility that the military campaign in Iraq could be long, lengthy and dangerous. A senior administration official told reporters on background early March 28 that there is "some level of frustration" by Bush with the press corps for accounts questioning the war plan. "[O]ne newspaper today on its front page reported that the Marines and the Army are 'bogged down,'" Fleischer said. "Now, I don't know anybody who would support that notion from a military point of view, that our troops are 'bogged down.' Yet, that is what one newspaper reported this morning." Asked about remarks reportedly made by the Army's senior ground commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General William S. Wallace of V Corps, to Washington Post and New York Times reporters , Fleischer said CENTCOM Brigadier General Vincent Brooks had been asked the very same question earlier in the day at his daily briefing at CENTCOM near Doha, Qatar. "[A]nd General Brooks talked about just what the president thinks, that we believe we're still consistent with our plan and how we designed it. There will always be things that occur on the battlefield, General Brooks said, that are not precisely as you calculated them. The strength of the plan is the ability to adapt to the realities of the circumstances while still focused on what it is we seek to do. And I think that's what we would approach it as, as well." Wallace is quoted as saying that "the enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against.' There are always complications in a war, Fleischer said. "There is weather, there are other factors that take place. But that doesn't change the fact that the plan anticipates flexibility and is built for flexibility." In other news, Fleischer said that President Bush expressed his thanks to the United Nations Security Council for unanimously voting to reauthorize its oil-for-food program. "This will be a way to help take care of the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, using Iraqi resources. The president is pleased with this outcome," Fleischer said. And Fleischer reported that Bush spoke by phone the morning of March 28 with Jose Maria Aznar, Spain's president of government, about the situation in Iraq. Later in the day Bush spoke about the progress being made in the Iraq war and the service and sacrifices of the coalition forces with leaders of several leading veterans service organizations in the East Room of the White House, before going to Camp David, where he and the first lady were to spend the weekend. Fleischer said Bush planned to stay in touch with his war cabinet by secure teleconference equipment. On Monday, March 31, Bush is scheduled to visit the Port of Philadelphia, where he is planning to make a speech on homeland security and on the need for Congress to approve his proposed $74.7 billion supplemental budget bill to cover costs of the Iraq war and additional homeland security expenses. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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