Excerpts from a press briefing by White House press secretary Jay Carney in Washington on March 15:
Q And on Libya, given that the rebels seem to be finished or coming near being finished, does the U.S. have any regrets about not doing more sooner?
MR. CARNEY: Well, Tricia, I would say first of all that Secretary Clinton, as you know, met with the Libyan opposition in Paris, as well as our European and Arab partners, to discuss the best way to continue to raise pressure on the Qaddafi regime and ways of supporting the Libyan opposition. I can tell you that today, later this afternoon, the President will be meeting with his national security team to discuss the situation in Libya, and that we continue to be focused on ways to increase the pressure on Qaddafi, increasing our support for the Libyan people and working with the international community to stop the violence there.
And in terms of the speed of our response, I would simply say that it is -- we have acted with the utmost urgency. We have taken dramatic action, together with our international partners, to put pressure on Muammar Qaddafi and his regime. And obviously, as you know, the President has called on him to give up power.
We continue to review a variety of options that can be taken, that might be taken, together with our international partners, and we’ll continue to do that. But it, again, has been four weeks, if that, since this began, and the actions that the United States and the international -- its international partners have taken have been quite swift and unprecedented, in many ways, in terms of the nature and range of the actions. And again, we continue to look at other options.
Jill.
Q Jay, following up on exactly that question, though, there is the feeling that the tide may have turned, that the opposition is now fleeing, they are under attack, and that they can’t pull it together. There are others who are saying it’s too late for a no-fly zone. Does the administration share that view? I mean, is it over for the opposition?
MR. CARNEY: I don’t have a military assessment to make for you. I would say, again, that the Secretary of State met with the Libyan opposition yesterday. They discussed forms of assistance, including humanitarian assistance. She also has mentioned, I believe, and has said this, that we are exploring authorities to free up some of the seized regime assets, the 32 plus billion dollars that have been seized, to provide financial support to the opposition.
So this is another indication of the constant exploration of different options that we have to increase the pressure on the Qaddafi regime as we go forward….
Q Okay, one other thing. The six youth groups who are part of the Egyptian revolution snubbed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who wanted to meet with them, who invited them to meet with her. They said that they would not meet with her based on her negative position from the beginning of the revolution in Egypt and the position of the U.S. administration. Did they misunderstand our position?
MR. CARNEY: Jake, I’ll refer you to the State Department on that specifically. I believe --
Q They have no comment.
MR. CARNEY: Well, I would just say that we have said from the beginning of the situation in Egypt and the beginning even prior to that of the unrest in the region that this is not and should not be about the United States of America. We have operated under the principles that the President laid out in his speech in Cairo, and we believe that sticking to those principles was an important thing to do during the course of those historic days earlier this year during the events in Egypt. And we are working closely with our allies in Egypt and offering assistance where we can and advice where we can as they go through this transitional process that is really remarkable, given where they were just a few months ago.
As for the specific comments that those groups made, I don’t have -- I do not have a response…
Q On no-fly zone, what exactly is the U.S. -- the administration’s position before the Security Council?
MR. CARNEY: Our position, Chip, remains that we are evaluating a number of options, military options, including --
Q But a decision has to be made now.
MR. CARNEY: -- including a no-fly zone. We feel that it is important that any action like that that might be taken should be done in concert with our international partners. Through the United Nations would be our preferable vehicle for that, and therefore we would look to the U.N. as a forum for evaluating that option. I think I mentioned yesterday that today is the deadline for the no-fly zone option to -- preparations or plans to be submitted in Brussels at NATO. And I believe the NAC will review those tomorrow. So this process is moving forward.
But our position is that action like that should be considered and taken if decided upon in coordination with our international partners, because it’s very important in the way that we respond to a situation like we see in Libya, that it be international and not unilateral; that it include the support and participation, for example, of the Arab League and other organizations and countries in the region.
And that is our sort of focus as we proceed with these conversations.
Q Is the President satisfied to follow, not lead, on deciding whether to do it?
MR. CARNEY: I take issue with the characterization. We think it is precisely because the President believes that the best outcome in a situation like we see in Libya, as we have seen in different forms in other countries in the region, that the best outcome will come when the action taken by countries -- third-party countries outside of the country where the unrest is happening -- be done in consensus with international partners, precisely so that it is not viewed by those who oppose positive democratic reform as the dictate of the West or the United States.
Q But wouldn’t it be fair to say -- accurate to say the United States is still sitting on the fence on this? Isn’t it time to make a decision, yes or no?
MR. CARNEY: Well, Chip, you tell me if as an American citizen would you want your President not to consider all the implications and ramifications of taking military action.
Q Doesn’t there come a point to make a -- where you have to make a decision?
MR. CARNEY: And I would go back to what I said to Jill, that we have acted with great haste, and we have coordinated international -- led and coordinated an international response, the likes of which the world has never seen in such a short period of time. And we have -- we continue to consult with our international partners. We meet -- we have met with, as the Secretary of State did, with the Libyan opposition discussing new ways we can put pressure on Qaddafi.
And when it comes to considering military options, this President will always be mindful of what the mission, should it be engaged, what it entails, the risks that it poses to our men and women in uniform, and its likelihood of having the kind of impact that we set out for it to have. And that is his responsibility as Commander-in-Chief.
And I would suggest to you that that is what leadership is all about.
Yes, Mike.
Q Is he worried about, though, the bureaucracy of making this decision with our allies, that by the time a decision is made the conflict may be over? I mean, the rebels may have gone home.
MR. CARNEY: We are obviously aware of the situation in Libya and the events and the fighting that’s happening there. Again, I do not believe that the American people would want the U.S. President to act unilaterally in a way to engage militarily without taking careful consideration of what the consequences of that would be; what the goals of the action would be; and being, as we have said from the beginning, very mindful of the fact that the desired result here will be best achieved if we act in concert with our international partners. And that is the position he’s taken, and it’s the position he takes today….
Q Does the President believe implementing a no-fly zone is an act of war?
MR. CARNEY: Chuck, I don’t know about the terminology here, but he does believe it would be, in any situation, a serious action. It is a military action. And his concern -- again, I will go back to what I said -- is as he evaluates that option, which he has very clearly insisted be on the table for consideration and has driven the process to make sure that that option is evaluated and reviewed at NATO and now of course at the United Nations -- his preoccupation is, is this an option that can be effective? Is it the right option? What are the costs associated with it? What are the risks associated with it? And will it -- when I say the right option -- will it -- what confidence do we have that it will achieve the goals that we set if we were to implement it, because it is not a minor undertaking.
Q Well, I asked does he believe -- does the administration believe they need congressional approval?
MR. CARNEY: The issue here, I believe, is about deciding what is the best option to take in concert with our international partners.
Q And you do not believe you need --
MR. CARNEY: I have not heard any suggestion that there would be a --
Q There’s no suggestion that you need a congressional resolution --
MR. CARNEY: Not that I have heard…
Q Yes, thank you. On no-fly, a clarification. How does it work tomorrow when the North Atlantic Council considers this? Has the United States already decided how it feels, or does your representative have to call back to Washington and say, here are the options? And will any action by the -- or anything adopted by the NAC also require a green light from the Security Council?
MR. CARNEY: What I can tell you, as I mentioned, the President is having a meeting on Libya today in the White House with his national security team. In terms of how the process of communicating what happens in Brussels takes place, I’m not sure. This is not a, as far as I understand it, a decision moment where here’s the option, sir, take it. I think it’s -- they evaluate what’s presented before them and then have discussions, and we move forward accordingly.
So I don’t have a timeframe on when a decision will be made.
Q And real quick. Could it be a smaller no-fly zone? Does the President feel that he could do something other than cover the entire country?
MR. CARNEY: I don’t -- I would just refer you on sort of the logistical aspects of it to NATO.
Q And who would pay for it?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I haven’t seen an option that would spell that out. And it depends obviously --
Q You were asked in the non-broadcast briefing this morning about what might keep the President home from his foreign trip this weekend? Are there elements either in Japan or Libya that might --
MR. CARNEY: Ann, I’m not going to speculate on what could happen in the world we live in tomorrow or next week. The fact is the President is taking this trip because he is committed to growing the economy, to rebalancing our national security posture to take into account the world as it has changed. And he believes our relationships with Latin America are very important. So he will continue with the trip.
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And as you know -- you’ve covered the White House for a long time -- our communications are very sophisticated. He will travel with a great deal of staff. I daresay they’re a lot more sophisticated than they were back when you and I started covering this place. So he remains confident that he can fully execute his job while on the road.
Abby.
Q I wanted to go back to the question of the Libyan no-fly zone and the role of Congress. Senator Lugar yesterday suggested that not just that there must be a war declaration but that, as a courtesy, given the U.S. blood and treasure that might be at risk if a no-fly zone were implemented, that the President bring that decision to Congress so that they can have a chance to debate it and consult about it. To what extent is that something that is a part of the discussion of a no-fly zone? And does the President believe that Congress should have an opportunity to have that debate about whether we put soldiers and U.S. money on the line?
MR. CARNEY: I don’t have a response, Abby, specifically to the role of Congress in this instance. I think that we’re getting ahead of ourselves -- you’re asking what role would Congress have should the President decide that this option is one that the United States should pursue. So why don’t we wait and see as those steps are taken and that decision is made.
And I remind you that this is not the only option that is on the table. We’re reviewing options constantly, including the one that I mentioned the Secretary of State brought up yesterday with a Libyan opposition leader, which is how to -- exploring ways to take those seized assets or a portion of them to aid the opposition in Libya…
Q Thanks. After the Libya briefing the President is getting today, are we going to get any kind of a substantive readout, do you expect, on --
MR. CARNEY: I think I’ll just put a mic in the room, and then you guys can -- (laughter) --
Q Should we wait for anything, or not really?
MR. CARNEY: I don’t have anything for you. We obviously from here announced that the meeting is taking place, so we might have something to say about it. But I wouldn’t anticipate a substantial announcement out of it. If we -- if there is something to say then we’ll put out a statement.
