Todd Stadler's blog

ari backpeddles

Pity poor President Bush. All he wants is a little war, and yet everybody he meets makes him jump through so many hoops.

But life isn't much easier for his press secretary, who has to try to explain all the jumping that Bush does.

As an example, take the following exchange taken from the only thing that makes me laugh anymore, a White House press briefing:

Q: Ari, the President was categorical a week ago, saying that no matter what the whip count, he wanted a vote. Now the Secretary of State raises the possibility that there may not be a vote. Is this thing going completely south?

MR. FLEISCHER: It's interesting. One question is, is it going north; another question is, is it south. It's ongoing. And I don't think it should surprise anybody that as it gets down to the very last stages of diplomacy, there are different ideas that can be discussed, there are different ends to reach, different routes to reach that end.

And that's what you're seeing. You're seeing that on the question of the substance of the resolution, on the deadline. But one thing is not in doubt, no matter what the end is through diplomacy. What is not in doubt, in President Bush's mind, is that Saddam Hussein will be disarmed.

Q: Jack Straw said this morning that the second resolution is less likely than at any time before. Why should we not think this is failing? And since when is it up — when is it likely that this President changes his mind? He hardly ever does. And, yet, he appears to have backed away from what he said at that press conference, about demanding a vote.

MR. FLEISCHER: The President has always said that the United States does not need a second resolution and we are going to work very hard with our friends and allies on this.

Q: That's not what I'm talking about.

MR. FLEISCHER: The President has always valued the counsel and the advice he gets from our foreign friends and leaders on this, particularly our European allies who are working on this issue with us, as well as allies from around the world. So the President will continue to work this and consult with our friends and allies about the best course to take to achieve the ultimate diplomatic outcome. If a diplomatic outcome cannot be achieved, there should never be any question and a doubt of anybody about the President's intent to disarm Saddam Hussein. I don't think there is any doubt.

Q: That wasn't my question. I want to know why he changed his mind. Apparently he is not going to insist on a vote under some circumstances.

MR. FLEISCHER: I think, again, what you're seeing is the President going the last mile on behalf of diplomacy. There is an end to that road. And the end is coming into sight. Until it is final and the road is traveled, this President is determined to pursue a variety of diplomatic options, and that ...

Q: You've evaded the question three different times. I want to know why the President — who categorically said that he would demand a vote no matter what the whip count, because he wanted to see how all of these other nations stood — is now apparently willing to back off and not have a vote?

MR. FLEISCHER: Because your premise is suggesting that in the conducting of diplomacy there can be no room for flexibility. And as the President travels the last bit of this road, he is going to work to consult with our allies and friends.

But the pit bulls in the press do not end their ceaseless yapping there. Oh no.

Q: One on Iraq, one on North Korea, Ari. On Iraq, when the Secretary of State said in public today that we have several options here, going for a vote or not, was he speaking for himself? Or was he basically speaking a position that the President, himself, has now taken on? This is just to understand whether the President has, in fact, reversed from last week.

MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think that I expressed it all from the point of view of both the President and the Secretary.

Q: He was speaking for the President; is that a fair assumption?

MR. FLEISCHER: Certainly what I just described is not inconsistent with anything either the President or the Secretary has said.

Q: Well, that's not true, because it is inconsistent with what the President said last week.

MR. FLEISCHER: No, as I indicated, in regard to Bill's question, as we pursue the diplomacy, there is flexibility.

Q: But there wasn't last week.

MR. FLEISCHER: David.

Geez people, what does it take to get a war started around here, anyway?