After reading
RobertInWisconsin diary on today's events in Beirut, I thought I would go and read the
transcript of today's Whitehouse Press Briefing. It demonstrated that Scottie had zero understanding of what was happening in Beirut.
Q Scott, how does the President square his calls again today for Syria to get out of Lebanon, with the enormous outpouring of support for Syria on the streets of Lebanon today and calls for the international community to stay out of the internal affairs of Lebanon?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, we are glad to see people peacefully express their views in the town square, as they have done for days now. We hope the Lebanese people will be able to express their view at the ballot box, through free elections, without outside interference and outside intimidation.
Syria's continued presence in Lebanon undermines the aspirations of the Lebanese people to live in freedom. I also noticed today that the flag that was being waved was the Lebanese flag.
Not a clue!
Q Right, but it's another side of the story, it would seem, that there is one segment of the Lebanese population who wants Syria to get out, another segment of the population that wants them to stay in; and that the call is for people like the President, for Germany, France, Saudi Arabia to stay out of the process, that it's not their place to be involved in.
MR. McCLELLAN: We want the Lebanese people to be able to determine their own future without any outside interference or outside influence. Syria is a destabilizing force in the region right now because of their actions and their continued support for terrorism and their continued presence in Lebanon. We have seen in the past few weeks large numbers of Lebanese people going out into the town square in Beirut and talking about -- or speaking out in support of freedom. That came on the heels of the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri. And we continue, as the President did earlier today, to join the international community, calling on Syria to comply with Security Council Resolution 1559. It was very clear. It said, the complete and immediate withdrawal of all Syrian forces -- that means military forces and intelligence service personnel.
And our objective is to make sure that the upcoming parliamentary elections in May are free and fair and credible. For those elections to be free and fair and credible, Syria needs to get out.
Still nothing!
...........
Q Scott, are you saying that if the people we saw today marching in the streets of Beirut saying that they want -- the pro-Syrian demonstrators, saying that they, perhaps, would like them to --
MR. McCLELLAN: They were waving the Lebanese flag, I might point out.
Big Deal! The man is an idiot
Q The question is, if those people determine their future, and that determination is that they want to remain connected to Syria and they want to reject what the President is saying, you'll be okay with that?
MR. McCLELLAN: They'll be able to express their views at the ballot box, we hope, come May, when they have the parliamentary elections. We look forward to those parliamentary elections taking place without Syria, or anyone, interfering or trying to influence those elections. We want the will of the Lebanese people to be respected. That's what we've made very clear over the previous few weeks.
How much does this man get paid?
What does the Whitehouse get for the $40 billion spent on intelligence each year?