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| Boucher Clarifies Admin’s Position on Hamas to ’journalists’ |
| 2004-04-20 |
| Excerpt from Daily Press Briefing QUESTION: You are, presumably, relying on Hamas to play if not a constructive role, if and when the Israelis withdraw from Gaza, at least to not play a destructive role during that period when the Palestinians -- or if they, in fact, do regain control. How does this help your cause of getting, you know, a sustainable, reliable -- MR. BOUCHER: I think it’s a wrong presumption that you’re making. The United States has and continues -- has considered and continues to consider Hamas a terrorist organization. We continue to believe that the way to make this progress possible, the way to make the Gaza withdrawal a success for all the parties, is for the Palestinian Authority to take authority, to take authority in Gaza, but also take authority now in ending terrorism. And if the activities of terrorists and terrorist groups are brought to an end, that is the best thing we can do to try to start -- to try to get more progress and to make the withdrawal from Gaza successful. QUESTION: Well, why then are you gravely concerned? I don’t get it then. Why are you gravely concerned for peace and stability if killing Hamas leaders is not really a problem in terms of the withdrawal from Gaza? -snip- QUESTION: I don’t understand your answer to Arshad’s question about the -- hoping that Hamas, once the withdrawal takes place, the action which you say is so welcome, finally action not words, that you’re not hoping that they would play a constructive rather than destructive role. So your saying that you consider them now and have always considered them to be terrorists doesn’t seem to be -- I mean, you used to consider the PLO a terrorist organization. You used to consider a lot of groups terrorist organizations which you no longer do. MR. BOUCHER: We especially consider groups that are actively blowing up people to be terrorist organizations. Hamas, unfortunately, qualifies as such. QUESTION: Yeah, but -- MR. BOUCHER: We’re not counting on Hamas to do something in terms of the Gaza withdrawal. We’re looking for people to put Hamas out of business. That has been true and will be true, and we, I think, can make clear, have made clear, that the Gaza pullout is going to go more smoothly and be more successful if Hamas is not around at all. QUESTION: Yeah, but, Richard, though -- QUESTION: Well -- |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #5 I'm watching Rummy right now deal with the press corps. These guys ask a question and then follow up with responses that make them look soooo dense. It's fun to watch. Like a fencing match. Actually, more like a Bruce Lee flick - where Rummy enters a room full of goons and knocks them down, smashes their heads and leaves them flat, one by one. |
| Posted by: B 2004-04-20 1:46:30 PM |
| #4 "Do you expect me to talk, you infidel bastards?" "No, Mr. Rantissi, we expect you to DIE..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-04-20 10:48:09 AM |
| #3 "Yeah, but -- " That statement pretty much defines the press corps. As always, they convey the professionalism of parents who go bezerk at their children's soccer games when the ump makes any call, no matter how slight or fair, against their own team. |
| Posted by: B 2004-04-20 9:42:16 AM |
| #2 Journalism sounds more like a disease than a profession. |
| Posted by: dorf 2004-04-20 9:36:24 AM |
| #1 I keep having to remind myself: these are the dorks who in college, majored in Journalism. On the evolutionary ladder, that's one rung up from the zoned-out, screwed-up misfits who majored in Film. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-04-20 9:27:27 AM |