Exerpts: August 13 Press Briefing

Question: Yes. Mr. Talibani, one of the Kurdish opposition leaders that was in town this week, said in an interview today that the Kurdish factions have offered to the United States for US forces to land or be based in Kurdish territory should the US attack Iraq. Can you confirm that? What do you think of these public comments? And I have a follow-up.

Mr. Reeker: I can't particularly confirm that. I wasn't in those meetings, nor have I found anybody that had that specific reference made, but I saw the public comments on television a short while ago. Obviously it is a hypothetical discussion because, as you know, the President has himself made clear, Secretary Powell and other senior officials have reiterated, the President has taken no decision on any military action vis-à-vis Iraq. You know our views on that. It is quite clear. The Secretary reiterated that, and those were views we shared with the Iraqi opposition groups that were here over the past few days, including in the meeting the Secretary dropped by on Friday, other meetings they've had with other departments here in Washington.

So that's something in terms of our focus, as the Secretary said, working with these groups to see, measure the effectiveness of the opposition elements, how they interact with each other, and the focus of course being on the future of Iraq, having a representative form of government to reflect, as Secretary Powell said, the best of 21st century values in the 21st century world, and not the criminal values of the current regime in Baghdad.

Question: Do you see -- this is -- it sounds as if this the first time that these groups have made such public offerings to the United States. Do you see this as a -- that the US could increase its cooperation with the Kurdish groups? And in addition to that, Mr. Talibani also said that the Kurdish groups have asked the US for protective gear for assurances -- and assurances that should Saddam Hussein go into Kurdish territory that they would want to be protected by the US. And I know that you've spoken about the no-fly zones, but in addition to that, has the United States given the Kurdish groups any assurances that if Saddam Hussein were to go into Kurdish territory that they would be protected?

Mr. Reeker: With respect to the security issue, certainly free Iraqis like those in the north run risks. I mean, the record of Saddam Hussein's regime in oppressing and murdering its own people is all too clear, whether we think back to the terror of Halabja or various incursions into other areas, the suppression of people seeking freedom in the south. So we're very conscious of the nature of Saddam Hussein's regime and the risks that those who oppose it run. That's why we have in place Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, the no-fly zones, and it's why we have made clear that should Saddam move against the Kurds we would respond.

Yes, Elaine.

Question: Can I change a little bit to the Israeli-Palestinian --

Question: One last one on the Iraqis?

Mr. Reeker: Yes, Ben.

Question: There was another group that was here that was based in Tehran, one of the six groups, and the leader of that group (inaudible) said today in Tehran that he opposed any US invasion of Iraq. Do you feel that -- that those comments in any way undermine the assurances that you got when the representatives were here with the other six?

Mr. Reeker: Ben, I just can't add anything more to making very clear what our policy is about Iraq, the discussions we've had with Iraqi opposition groups, and the fact that the President has taken no decisions, has kept all his options on the table. When we have anything more to say about it to respond to your various hypothetical statements and commentary that abounds, then I'll be happy to try to share it with you. But there's just nothing more I can add now.

Question: And do you all have anything to say about the three Palestinians who are facing imminent expulsion?

Mr. Reeker: I think that is something that the Israeli court, I believe, the supreme court, as I understand it, at least when I last checked, had issued a temporary injunction against a cabinet decision in terms of expulsions.

We have said before that we expect that Israel's actions in its campaign against terror will be based on information related to an individual's culpability, not to personal or family relationships. And we have also said that we feel that taking punitive actions against innocent people will not solve Israel's security problems. If relatives of those who committed terrorist acts are involved in these activities, then they should be dealt with through normal legal procedures, and we have made those views known to the Israeli Government for some time.

Question: On that same or a similar subject, I wondered if you could elaborate a little bit on what the Secretary said outside this morning where he was talking about his conversations with Mr. Tenet, and he said that he discussed security plans with him but he hoped it would soon be able to operationalize it.

Now, we've all drawn our own conclusions about what he meant by "it" but I wondered if you could give us any --

Mr. Reeker: I bet that kept you just busy all morning.

Question: You'd be amazed. I wonder if you could just give us any information on exactly what these security plans look like as far as the United States is concerned right now.

Mr. Reeker: I don't think I can elaborate on what the Secretary said to you. I'm not about to start trying to parse or go into detail of his discussions with the Director of Central Intelligence. As the Secretary said, he did talk to Mr. Tenet, who discussed the fact that he had good meetings on Saturday with the Palestinian delegation. That is certainly contrary to some of the written reports that we have seen, but the Secretary, as he stressed to all of you, noted that these were very positive meetings. Mr. Tenet is in touch with the Palestinians and had a productive meeting.

We continue to discuss with a number of regional leaders efforts to restore active security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. That's absolutely vital and we do hope that significant progress can be made in the days ahead.

The other area of reform that we're working on as part of the President's strategy, we look forward to another meeting of the International Task Force on Reform later this month. I think I mentioned that yesterday. It is a step that can assist the Palestinians in their efforts to achieve civil reform. That will take place in Paris the 22nd and 23rd of this month. This International Task Force on Reform, you will recall, includes the Quartet -- that is, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- and several major donor countries, plus organizations like the IMF, the World Bank, the donor countries like Japan and Norway, which focuses on developing key benchmarks for -- and performance standards to assist Palestinian civil reform efforts. And so you'll remember that in June, I think the last meeting of that Task Force, they created working groups in seven major areas to study issues, make recommendations. And at this meeting later this month the working groups will report, and we hope that those reports will significantly advance the efforts that Palestinians are making to reform civil institutions.

Question: And that will be Liz Cheney again?

Mr. Reeker: I expect that Deputy Assistant Secretary Cheney would head our delegation to that meeting.

Question: Phil, does the Secretary think the time and the conditions are ripe for putting in a new security force?

Mr. Reeker: It is something that's being looked at, Barry, in terms of security efforts -- how we can continue discussions to move ahead and restore active security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. I can't parse any further the Secretary's words to you saying that there was a productive meeting that was held. The Secretary, as you know, met with the Palestinian delegation last Thursday. Director Tenet met with them on Saturday. Obviously security was a discussion of that, but we hope that significant progress can be made in the days ahead.