U.S. Committed to "Successful End" in Iraq

White House: U.S. Committed to "Successful End" in Iraq

White House Report, August 27: Iraq, North Korea

The United States will commit the resources and time needed to ensure "a successful end" in Iraq, White House Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan told reporters August 27 at a briefing in Crawford, Texas.

Buchan reminded reporters that Bush on August 26 in a speech in St. Louis, Missouri had said victory in Iraq "will require substantial resources and time, and that we are committed to providing both of those and that we will not retreat; that this is an important...front in the war on terrorism, and that we are committed to seeing it through to a successful end."

Asked if there could be an immediate request for an infusion of money for administration costs in Iraq, separate from what the rebuilding may require in a separate supplemental request, Buchan said Bush has made clear that the troops and the people in Iraq responsible for the reconstruction "will have everything that it takes to get the job done."

With regard to the money, "when we have an accurate estimate, a responsible estimate," we will go to the Congress, Buchan said. "So expect that to come, but when the information is ready."

"This is a very important mission," she said, and if U.S. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, or the military commanders in the field "believe that they need more resources, we will work with Congress to ensure that they get them in a timely fashion and in the time table necessary."

Buchan added that "the president appreciates the sacrifices that are being made by the men and women in America's military, and by their families. And he believes that they are bravely serving a good cause and that it is a battle against terror that we cannot retreat from. And that while major combat operations have concluded, a battle still goes on."

WHITE HOUSE PLEASED MULTILATERAL DISCUSSIONS WITH NORTH KOREA HAVE BEGUN

"(W)e are pleased," that the six party meetings on North Korea began August 27 in Beijing, "and we welcome them," Buchan said.

The talks are scheduled to continue through August 29.

"We understand that all the parties delivered their opening statements of their positions. Besides the United States, the participants, as usual, are China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and North Korea. All of them began with their opening statements." U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly "reiterated that our top priority remains the complete, verifiable, and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program," Buchan said.

President Bush, she pointed out, "has long said that this is a multilateral issue."

Asked about the one-on-one discussion between North Korea and the United States that occurred on the sidelines of the multilateral meeting, Buchan said, "Well, what we've always indicated is that these will be multilateral discussions, and nothing precludes a conversation across the table between two parties. But that's always been what we've said on that. But there are not separate and individual bilateral discussions going on."