PRESS BRIEFING BY ARI FLEISCHER
Q: Does the President think that it was right for Putin to gas his own people, and do we know what kind of gas was used?
MR. FLEISCHER: We still do not have any information yet about the exact nature of the gas that was used. Embassy Moscow is working to ascertain that information. As for the President and his thinking about all of this, the President feels very strongly that responsibility for this rests with the terrorists who took these people hostage and put them in harm's way in the first place. That's where the President believes the fault lies.
Q He thinks then, therefore, it was okay to use gas -- I mean at any cost?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the President abhors the loss of all life in this instance. And the President makes no mistake about who is to blame for this -- the people who put people in harm's way, or the terrorists who took the lives --
Q: I'm not asking who's to blame. Does he think it was right to use gas, or does he think there were any possible alternatives?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President understands that in this circumstance --you had terrorists who had proven that they were going to kill, who had already killed, who were deadly serious about killing more, who had 700 hostages, who had the theater booby-trapped and were prepared to take mass quantities of life. The President views this entire matter as a tragic one, but it's a tragedy that was brought on as a result of the terrorists who put people in the way.
Q: The answer is yes?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm addressing it as the President approaches it.
Q: May I follow up on that? A couple questions on that. When America was struck on the 11th, the first call I think we got from a foreign leader was President Putin. Why hasn't President Bush called President Putin immediately after a significant terrorist event in his country?
MR. FLEISCHER: He did, Ron. President Bush called President Putin immediately upon the taking of the hostages and offered America's support, and said that we'll stand with you during this period. So he indeed did.
Q: Okay, sorry about that. Did the President or have any of his people asked the Russian government what type of gas was used in the siege that has affected three or four Americans?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's what I indicated earlier; that's being worked through Embassy Moscow.
Q: And again, have you gotten any further reading on what the U.S. reaction is to the fact that the Russians won't tell us what type of gas was used that may have hurt or killed Americans?
MR. FLEISCHER: We're continuing to work that through, through the State Department and through embassy officials.
Q: You don't find it surprising or frustrating that Russia just doesn't say, here's the answer? Why are they dragging their feet?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard it be characterized by the President, so I would hesitate to do so myself.
Q: This morning you told us that the United States was consulted by Russian security services in advance of the raid. About what? What was the nature of those consultations?
MR. FLEISCHER: I looked into the question that I got earlier, and to the best that I've been able to determine, there have been -- there was no advance notice to the Americans about the raid, no advance discussions to Americans about the nature of the raid, what it would entail, the type -- the gas. Obviously we still don't know what the gas was, so there was no -- nothing that I've been able to discern that would lead anybody to that conclusion.
Q: But there were advance consultations about the situation?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, there were. There was discussions as soon as the hostages were taken, which I think you expect any time there is any type of incident around the world, there's a tendency to information-share about anything that could be helpful. But nothing at all that I've been able to glean along the lines that I was asked this morning.
Q: And then do you know what extent -- what the extent of U.S. programs involving this kind of weapon, this kind of gas that was used in --
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know specifically, Terry. What I can tell you is that the Department of Defense does have a variety of programs involving non-lethal systems, in a host of areas. I think many of these have been public before. I know there has been interesting stories in the press, for example, about foams, non-lethal foams that can be used to immobilize people, weapons that shoot nets to trap people, things of that nature that can be used in different types of military situations.
Q: And gasses?
MR. FLEISCHER: You'd have to talk to the Department of Defense about any of the specific, individual programs that they have. I'm not familiar with each and every one of them....
Q: Ari, Putin said, in dealing with the Chechens, that this was a part of the global war on terrorism. And earlier today you were asked whether or not the administration agreed with that position. You said, to the extent that al Qaeda is in Chechnya and the rest of the world. Considering that Russia has given assistance to our war on terrorism, would the White House, would the administration consider offering intelligence or personnel or training regarding going after al Qaeda, say in Chechnya?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, we already do provide the information sharing. That is a two-way street, and very productively so. It's one of the interesting things about the end of the Cold War, and the growing relationship between the United States and Russia. We do share information with Russia in our mutual effort to fight terrorism. In addition, I'd remind you that in support of putting an end to terrorist activities in and around Chechnya, the United States is providing military training and equipment programs for Georgia, particularly in the Pankisi Gorge, a neighbor of Russia that's involved -- the hostilities have been coming from areas that are particularly centered around the Pankisi Gorge.
Q: Considering what the President has said about the use of poison gas recently, are there some circumstances in which it is okay to use it?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, I think that it's important to find out first what exactly was the gas that Russia used. And it's impossible to characterize it beyond that unless we know....
Q: One more on Chechnya, if I may. I understand your answer that the President believes that the main responsibility for the violence rests with the Chechen terrorists. Does the President believe that the Russian armed forces bear any responsibility for driving the Chechnens to terrorism, given the tactic that Russian armed forces has used since 1994 in Chechnya?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President's position toward the conflict, itself, in Chechnya has been loud and clear, and that is, the best solution and the ultimate solution to the dispute in Chechnya is a political one. And the President has made that point repeatedly, publicly and privately with Russian officials.
Q: I understand that, but the question is, there is a history to this thing. Chechen terrorism didn't begin, didn't, sort of spring full grown from someone's brow. Does the Russian armed forces, does the Russian government bear any responsibility for driving some number of Chechens into terrorist actions out of desperation, given the kind of tactics that the Russians have used?
MR. FLEISCHER: Ken, I can tell you something as powerfully, as unequivocally as I possibly can from the President of the United States: There is no excuse for terrorism in any part of the world by anybody for any reason, no matter how worthy they believe their political goals. No matter how much any individual or group thinks that their political goals are more important than anybody else's -- there is no excuse to engage in terrorism innocent civilians and taking people hostage as the means of trying to achieve their political goals.
Q: And in the President's view there's no connection between the tactics that the Russian armed forces have used --
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, your question supposes that the Russians are to blame for the terrorists taking Russian citizens hostage. And the President does not share that. The President knows that the people responsible, the people who shoulder the burden and the blame are the terrorists. And there is no excuse -- around the world, in any region -- for people resorting to terror against innocent civilians to achieve their civilian goals.
Q: Does that include the past, Ari?
Q: Ari, does the administration take comfort in the strong words that President Putin said about now really waging a war on terrorism? And as part of that, I mean, does it ease their opposition to what we're trying to do with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: Larry, I don't know that I can say that the President takes comfort in hearing these strong words. I think, frankly, the President's first reaction is sorrow that other nations around the world are being victimized by terrorists, whether it's President Megawati in Indonesia and the people of Indonesia and the people of Australia, or whether it's the Russians now and President Putin. I don't think the President welcomes the fact that other nations are facing up to some of the same issues that we faced up to after September 11th, because they are now victims of people who are killers and murderers.
I think the President does recognize that the world does see how global this terrorist threat can be, how important it is for us to work together with our allies and friends on a common approach to terrorism.
That's one of the positive outcomes of the APEC summit that the President just left in Mexico, where the nations of the Pacific are talking about how to work together to protect against terrorist threats. It's one of the reasons there was an initiative there to -- just like in Canada, at the recent G-8 summit -- to bind our nations together, where United States Customs officials will go to ports abroad to work collaboratively with our friends in those ports to prevent terrorists from using foreign soil to reach American soil.
So in some ways, the world is joining as one in the fight against terrorism. But no matter what has caused a nation to step up to its fight of terrorism, the President expresses sorrow that innocent lives are taken as the world steps up.
Q: And do you see it as having any kind of implications for the situation with Iraq and Russian cooperation?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard anybody make that case, so I can't say it.
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