Clinton-Blair Transcript

February 6, 1998 / 2:27 PM EST / AP

QUESTION: Mr. President, just to go back to the controversy that's been surrounding you lately, there have been various reports that in some ways have come to be accepted as fact. And I just want to give you an opportunity.

One of them is that in sworn testimony to the lawyers for Paula Jones that you changed your version of your relationship with Gennifer Flowers. And I just wonder if you can tell us, I mean do you now...

CLINTON: (off-mike) let me just say this.

Again, even though the judge's order has been routinely violated by the other side in the case, the judge has issued strict orders in the case for every for for that covers everybody, including me, not to discuss it.

I can tell you this and I'm confident as this thing plays out it will become more apparent in the future if you go back I told the truth in my deposition with regard to that issue, and I also did in 1992 when I did the interview, which I think was rerun the other night the interview that Hillary and I did on 60 Minutes.

And you just have to know that and I think it will become apparent as this plays itself out that I did, in fact, do that. But I am not going to discuss that. The judge has given us strict orders not to discuss anything related to that case. The other side has violated it on a regular basis. I don't intend to that. I'm just not going to do it.

BLAIR: John.

QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President, is it possible for you to launch an attack if you don't have on board the French, the Russians, the Chinese?

BLAIR: I think, John, you have to distinguish very carefully between what, of course I accept varying degrees of enthusiasm or commitment for the military option with the complete unanimity there is in the world community that Saddam Hussein has to comply with the resolutions and that his capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction must be halted.

Now it is difficult for us to see and for me to see, quite frankly that, if you take that as the position, how diplomacy unless it is backed up at least by the threat of force is ever going to work and succeed.

But it would be wrong, I think, to think that either our for example, our French or our Russian colleagues, were not absolutely insistent that Saddam Hussein comply with these resolutions. And they are making diplomatic efforts in order to ensure that that happens. I wish those efforts well, provided they are fully consistent with the principles that have been set out.

It is just that we take the view, and I think experience teaches us that this is the only realistic view of Saddam Hussein, that unless you back up whatever diplomatic initiatives you are taking with saying quite clearly, well, if diplomacy doesn't work, the option of force is there, then those diplomatic initiatives are unlikely to succeed.

But it's important that we realize that it is in that area that andifference lies, not in the insistence of the world community that he must come into line with those UN resolutions.

CLINTON: Peter?

QUESTION: Mr. President, your spokesman this morning described to us in his words a very dangerous environment following these alleged leaks. What's your own assessment of the legal atmosphere? And we understand that your attorneys are planning to take some action about this. What action do they intend to take?

CLINTON: I think you should talk to them. I don't want to comment on what they are going to do. They are fully capable of speaking for themselves and for me in this case.

QUESTION: And your comments, sir, on the effect of the leaks?

CLINTON: I don't have anything to add to what has already been said about that.

BLAIR: Phil?

QUESTION: Could I ask the prime minister, you could have come here and simply talked about serious politics. But some people have been struck by the warmth of the personal statements of support that you've given to the president. Could I ask you I mean, have you ever considered that that might be a politically risky strategy, and could I ask the president, have you appreciated those comments from Mr. Blair?

BLAIR: You know, to be quit honest, Phil, I mean, I've said it because I believed it and because I think it is the right thing to do. And I've worked with President Clinton now for some nine months as British prime minister. I have found him throughout someone I could trust, someone I could rely upon, someone I am proud to call not just a colleague, but a friend.

And in the end, you either decide in politics you when you are asked about people, you are going to say how you actually feel, or you're going to make a whole series of calculations.

BLAIR: Peter.

QUESTION: In Iraq, you said the need was need to educate, Prime Minister. It isn't entirely clear what the objective of military action would be. Is it intended as a punishment for Saddam Hussein? Is it intended as a substitute for the work of the weapons inspectors to (off-mike) would it continue until Saddam said, 'Right, I'll let them in'?

And also, you announced the deployment of some aircraft. Is there any intention to deploy ground troops at all, British ground troops?

BLAIR: No. The deployment that we have made is the deployment that I have described of the aircraft.

And in respect to the objectives, well, the objective is very clear. That is to ensure either that the weapon inspectors can come in and finish their task, or that the capability that Saddam Hussein undoubtedly has and wants to develop for weapons of mass destruction is taken out. And it is absolutely essential that what we do is focus upon the best way possible that we can do that.

Now, obviously, as the president was saying a moment or two ago, it is not sensible or serious to star discussing the details of the military options available to us.

But the purpose of this the whole way through, the reason we are in this situation, is because he has been developing weapons of mass destruction. The only barrier to that has been the inspectors. If the inspectors are prevented from doing their work, then we have to make sure, by the military means of which we are capable, that insofar as possible that capacity ceases. And that's the objective.

And it's an objective that I think is fully in line, as I say, with the original agreements under which Saddam Hussein undertook. I mean, remember, he agreed, he undertook to destroy any weapons of mass destruction capability, whether nuclear or chemical or biological. Now, he's in breach of that and we've got to make sure that he complies one way or another with it.

CLINTON: (off-mike) let me just say this.

BLAIR: John.

QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President, is it possible for you to launch an attack if you don't have on board the French, the Russians, the Chinese?

Now it is difficult for us to see and for me to see, quite frankly that, if you take that as the position, how diplomacy unless it is backed up at least by the treat of force is ever going to work and succeed.

But it's important that we realize that it is in that area that any difference lies, not in the insistence of the world community that he must come into line with those UN resolutions.

CLINTON: Peter?

CLINTON: I think you should talk to them. I don't want to comment on what they are going to do. They are fully capable of speaking for themselves and for me in this case.

QUESTION: And your comments, sir, on the effect of the leaks?

CLINTON: I don't have anything to add to what has already been said about that.

BLAIR: Phil?

And in the end, you either decide in politics you when you are asked about people, you are going to say how you actually feel, or you're going to make a whole series of calculations.

BLAIR: Peter.

QUESTION: In Iraq, you said the need was need to educate, Prime Minister. It isn't entirely clear what the objective of military action would be. Is it intended as a punishment for Saddam Hussein? Is it intended as a substitute for the work of the wapons inspectors to (off-mike) would it continue until Saddam said, 'Right, I'll let them in'?

And also, you announced the deployment of some aircraft. Is there any intention to deploy ground troops at all, British ground troops?

BLAIR: No. The deployment that we have made is the deployment that I have described of the aircraft.

Now, obviously, as the president was saying a moment or two ago, it is not sensible or serious to start discussing the details of the military options available to us.

CLINTON: (off-mike) let me just say this.

And you just have to know that and I think it will become apparent as this plays itself out that I did, in fact, do that. But I am not going to discuss that. The judge has given us strict orders not to discuss anything relate to that case. The other side has violated it on a regular basis. I don't intend to that. I'm just not going to do it.

BLAIR: John.

QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President, is it possible for you to launch an attack if you don't have on board the French, the Russians, the Chinese?

But it's important that we realize that it is in that area that any difference lies, not in the insistence of the world community that he must come into line with those UN resolutions.

CLINTON: Peter?

CLINTON: I think you should talk to them. I don't want to comment on what they are going to do. They are fully capable of speaking for themselves and for me in this case.

QUESTION: And your comments, sir, on the effect of the leaks?

CLINTON: I don't have anything to add to what has already been said about that.

BLAIR: Phil?

B>BLAIR: You know, to be quit honest, Phil, I mean, I've said it because I believed it and because I think it is the right thing to do. And I've worked with President Clinton now for some nine months as British prime minister. I have found him throughout someone I could trust, someone I could rely upon, someone I am proud to call not just a colleague, but a friend.

And in the end, you either decide in politics you when you are asked about people, you are going to say how you actually feel, or you're going to make a whole series of calculations.

BLAIR: You know, if you go to Britain today and you talk to the British people, and I do ask it just could be that sometimes you guys in the media are not in exactly the same place as a lot of public opinion in terms of the priorities people have.

But if you go out there and you talk to British people and you say, what do you want this new Labour government to do? They will talk to you about ensuring we don't have boom and bust, but that we have steadily rising living standards.

They'll talk about job security. They'll talk about the state of their schools, and they'll talk about the national health service. They'll talk about the welfare system and the crime in their streets. They'll talk about security in old age. They will talk about these things and they will care about these things, and they will expect us to deliver those responsibilities.

And of course it's a great privilege for us to occupy the positions that we do. But in the end, the judgment that the people make of us is a judgment based on what we said that we would do and whether we fulfilled the promises that we made. And that's certainly what we intend to do.

And I do think also that people understand and want political leadership that addresses these fundamental questions in a way that means something to them.

When I was at the Montgomery Blair High School yesterday with the president, and the president got up and addressed the young men and women and the teachers and staff and parents that where there, and started going through the education program that he was unveiling and had formed part of the State of the Union address and everything, and some of those things in terms of class sizes and new technology in the schools were very familiar to the British contingent here as things that we are trying to do in Britain.

I mean, the enthusiasm and the delight with which those things were greeted, because those people knew that in the end, that's what they elected their president to do. That's what they elected me to do.

And that those are the things that they want from us. And we've got to make sure, all the time, that we're focusing on that big picture. And you know, whatever other issues come along and distract us, in the end, the judgment of history upon us will be pretty poor if those weren't the things that when we got to bed at night we are thinking about. Those were't the things that we were worried about and concerned about throughout the entirety of our society. Because those are the things which really make a difference to their lives.

QUESTION: Mr. President...

CLINTON: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Let's make this the last round.

CLINTON: OK. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Mr. President, Monica Lewinsky's life has been changed forever. Her family's life has been changed forever. I wonder how you feel about that and what if anything you'd like to say to Monica Lewinsky at this minute?

CLINTON: That's good. That's good, but at this minute I'm going to stick with my position of not commenting.

QUESTION: While relations with with between Britain and the United States appear to be splendid right now, there's a darkening cloud over relations with Italy. The prime minister, the president, the defense minister, has issued some very harsh statements about the accident the other day when a low-flying Marine plane severed a cable and the car fell. There's a lot of anger. Some people in Italy are even asking for the closing of the Aviano base. What do you have to say to them?

CLINTON: Well, first of all, what happened was horrible, and when I heard about it I was very shaken. And I I as you know, there were there was a period of a few hours there where it wasn't clear how many people had died and where there was another whole gondola suspended where many more people could have died, and thank God they were rescued.

And the whole thing has been an agony for the people of Italy and there were a large number substantial number of Germans killed.

And I'm sure for the pilot of the plane and the people in our military base in Aviano, where I have been on more than one occasion, I can tell you what I think should be done. I called Prime Minister Prodi, and I told him that I was heartsick about it, that I would make absolutely sure there was a no-holds-barred full investigation of what happened, that the Italians would be kept fully informed and be a part of it, and that we would work with them in every way possible to make sure that they knew that we tried to get to the bottom of it and to handle it in the appropriate way.

You know, in our military every year I say this to the American people all the time, but let me just say this it is an inherently dangerous business. Now, we don't know what the facts are here. Maybe somebody made a careless mistake. We don't know. I do not know what the facts are and I will not render judgment until I do.

But we lose about 200 people every year in military service in America on training exercise or otherwise on duty. And those planes fly very fast, and I don't know what the description of the mission was. I want to wait until I see exactly what the facts are.

But it is inherently more dangerous than I think we think from time to time. Now, I told the pime minister of Italy and I'll tell you I will do everything I can to find out exactly what happened and to take appropriate action and to satisfy the people of Italy that we have done the right thing.

I understand why they're hurt and heartbroken and angry and they are entitled to answers and we'll try to give them to him.

CLINTON: Now, go ahead, the gentleman in the back. I promised one more. Last question.

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you believe that air strikes alone are going to remove the threat of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons from Saddam Hussein? Is that a fair thing to expect from military action, should push come to shove in the Gulf?

CLINTON: Well, there have been many thoughtful public pieces, a lot of very thoughtful articles which have been written about the limits as well as the possibilities of any kind of military action.

I think the precise question should be, that I should have to ask and answer, is, could any military action, if all else fails, substantially reduce or delay Saddam Hussein's capacities to develop weapons of mass destruction and to deliver them on his neighbors? The answer to that, I am convinced, is yes.

I am convinced there is a yes answer there. But you have to understand that those are the criteria for me.

CLINTON: I've told you before, I don't believe we need to re-fight the Gulf War. It's history. It happened, that's the way it is. I don't believe we need to get into a direct war with Iraq over the leadership of the country. Do I think the country would be better served if it had a different leader? Of course, I do. That's not the issue.

The issue is that very sharp question if the inspection regime is dead, and therefore we cannot continue to make progress on getting the stuff out of there in the first place, and then keep in mind, there's two things about this regime. There's the progress in getting the stuff out of there in the first place, and then there is the monitoring system which enables people on a regular basis to go back to high probability sites to make sure nothing is happening to rebuild it.

So, if that is dead, is there an option which would permit us to reduce and/or delay his capacity to bring those weapons up, and to deliver them?

CLINTON: That is the I think the answer to that is yes. There is an option that would permit that.

QUESTION: Mr. President...

CLINTON: You want to ask one more question?

QUESTION: Mr. President, a follow-up to that, please.

CLINTON: Yes.

QUESTION: Prime Minister, as a man who understands the pressures of public life and also a friend and a religious man, I wonder what words of advice and support and comfort and sympathy you might have been able to offer personally to the president during these difficult times when he's under investigation.

BLAIR: That's what ithe British media is called a helpful question.

If I can I don't presume to give advice at all. All I think that is important which is what we've managed to do is discuss the issues that we've set up and listed for you.

And as I say, I think we'd be pretty much failing in our duty if we weren't to do that.

And I've actually noticed since since I've been here and I've talked to many people here that there is, of course, a huge concern at the moment over what is happening in Iraq, this huge interest in Britain in the new government and what we're trying to do in Northern Ireland. And I think the best thing is for us to concentrate upon those issues for the very reasons I've given for that's what we were elected to do, and that's what I intend to do. That's what President Clinton is doing. And I think he's quite right.

QUESTION: One more question?

CLINTON: Thank you.