>>
white house press secretary
.
robert
, good to see you. good morning.
>>
good morning, matt. how are you?
>>
i'm fine. thanks very much. you said at the
white house
monday the president will not use those infamous words "
mission accomplished
" when he talks to the
american people
tonight. how specifically will he describe the current mission in
iraq
with the troops remaining there? how will he describe it to the
american people
?
>>
well, look, i think the president will talk about three different themes. that is ending our
combat mission
in
iraq
, strengthening our security internationally, and outlining some steps that we have to take to rebuild our nation here at home. what you'll hear the president discuss is that today marks the beginning of a transformation. our
combat mission
ends and our role in
iraq
is to assist and help the
iraqis
make the decisions they're going to make. they're in charge of their future. they will write their history from this point on. that is iraqi responsibility with the help of an ally in the
united states of america
.
>>
we have seen an increase in insurgent attacks in
iraq
over the last several weeks and some of those attacks are targeting the very forces we needed to grow before we could come to this, what you call a transition, the
iraqi police
. how comfortable or how worried is the president about the level of violence in
iraq
today?
>>
well, look, i think there's no doubt, matt, that those that are in
iraq
to foment violence will continue to do so that will not change today. what is important to understand is what
general odierno
told the president in the
situation room
a few weeks ago, and that is the level of violence is among the lowest that we've seen throughout our 7 1/2 years in
iraq
. the
iraqi security forces
for some time have been in the lead of providing security and the future of
iraq
will now be written by the
iraqis
.
>>
i know you don't like hypothetical questions,
robert
. nobody does. but if the level of violence increases to the point where it threatens the population of
iraq
on a daily basis and threatens the functioning of its government, would the president consider sending combat troops back into
iraq
?
>>
well, look, we have some forces there to continue to assist in counterterrorism but understand, matt, that hypothetical, as i said, was actually gone over with the president in the
situation room
and general
ray odierno
, our commander there, did not foresee or believe that would be necessary in
iraq
, that
iraqi security forces
were capable of dealing with the violence and providing security for the
iraqis
.
>>
you also mentioned at the
white house
the president would call
president bush
in advance of his speech. has the call taken place?
>>
i believe the call will take place a little bit late they are morning, likely when the president is on
air force
one flying to thank our troops at ft. bliss right outside of
el paso
, texas. i think probably both commanders in chief share certainly one thing in common and that is thanking the men and women in uniform for the tremendous sacrifice they made over the past 7 1/2 years, the thousands that aren't coming back from
iraq
, the tens of thousands that have been wounded but those that keep us safe and secure.
>>
let me read you something. in january of
2007
when
president bush
announced the surge in
iraq
, then
senator barack obama
had this to say. quote, i am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in
iraq
are going to solve the
sectarian violence
there. in fact, i think it will do the reverse. so when
president obama
speaks to former
president bush
today, will he change his mind on that? will he give
president bush
credit for making that decision on the surge and admit that it contributed to the situation of more stability on the ground today?
>>
matt, what is certainly not up for question is that
president obama
, then candidate obama, said that adding those 20,000 troops into
iraq
would, indeed, improve the security situation, and it did. what was necessary for this moment to happen was a diplomatic surge, a change in the sunni awakening. rather than fighting with
al qaeda
they fought against
al qaeda
. i think a number of things, most importantly our men and women in uniform, brought us to this point.
>>
right.
>>
i think there's no doubt the surge improved the security situation. but as this president said many times, the
war in iraq
was not going to be fought or won primarily or just militarily, that we had to see some political accommodation and we had to see
sectarian violence
reduced because sunni, shia and kurds decided to live together and chart
iraq
's future together, not fighting each other.
>>
robert gibbs
at the
white house
.
robert
, thank you so much. i appreciate it.
>>
matt, thanks for having me.
>>
robert gibbs
, thank you very
“ ”