For Immediate Release
The White House - Office of the Press Secretary
February 9, 2005
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050209-11.html
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Q Well, thank you. The major deterrent now in lasting peace between Israel
and the Palestinians is Hamas, the terrorist organization that we know is
aided and abetted by Iran. Does the President have any specific plans to
counter Hamas to try to bring them in line? And does this U.S. general who
is aiding in the security situation there have the mandate to aid Israel?
And even been going after Hamas leaders, and even using U.S. special
forces --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, a couple of things. First of all, we commend very
strongly the historic summit that took place this week where President Abbas
and Prime Minister Sharon agreed to, really, a cessation of violence and
terrorism. It does not stop there, though. That's an important step on the
path to ending terrorism, and that means dismantling terrorist
infrastructure and cracking down on the terrorists. We have always made that
very clear.

So we commend the strong leadership shown by all the leaders that were at
the summit. In addition to the two I mentioned, President Mubarak and King
Abdullah provided very strong leadership at this summit. We are going to do
everything we can to support the parties in the region as they move forward
toward the President's two-state vision. The President has made it very
clear that it begins with cracking down on terrorism and building a unified
security structure to end violence. And all parties have responsibilities in
this regard. We have seen, with the election of President Abbas, someone who
has shown a commitment to addressing these security issues and ending
violence, and he has shown some strong leadership. So has Prime Minister
Sharon. We have a very unique opportunity before us.

General Ward will be there as the security coordinator to help with some of
the training and equipping of security forces, and he'll be there to help
facilitate and monitor some of the cooperation between Israelis and
Palestinians. Obviously, there are some that are going to remain intent on
trying to derail the advancement to the two-state vision the President
outlined. And those issues need to be addressed, and I think that you've
shown [sic] a commitment from the parties in the region to work together to
address these issues. And we have made very clear what our views are when it
comes to Hamas. You stated them in the beginning of your question.

Q But does General Ward have a mandate now to go further than just to
coordinate and advise?

MR. McCLELLAN: General Ward has the mandate that I think Secretary Rice
outlined and that I just described there, and that's what he will do. His
focus will be on the security side of things.
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