WRAP Pentagon briefing, WH briefing adds Senator Daschle

(15 Jan 2003) APTN Material Arlington, Virginia 1. Pan of news conference as Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld walks in 2. Wide shot of reporters 3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence: "Well, you know there is no perfect model for what we are trying to do. What we are trying to do is to support the diplomacy and the process of working. The State Department sent out three or four, five dozen cables asking for countries interested in cooperating and getting involved in the planning process, so that in the event that force has to be used that planning would have taken place. Same thing is true of NATO. We are proceeding to flow forces in an orderly way, we are doing some herding, we are doing some mobilizing and we are doing some deploying. We also recognise that the timing of the decision making is not in our hands, so that what we have to do is to try to do what we are doing in a way that gives the President and the world options to use force if in fact that becomes necessary while at the same time recognising that one cant pick a date certain or a time frame certain and therefore what you must do is also have backup plans so you don't overstress the force and that you and that you manage it in a way that is appropriate. And we are doing the best we can and so far so good." 4. Wide shot of briefing, cutaway of cameramen 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence: "In the case of Iraq, the task is to connect the dots before there is a smoking gun. If there is a smoking gun, and it involves weapons of mass destruction it is a lot people dead, not three thousand but multiples of that. And that is what the world is going through, the world is doing it at a time in a new century with a new set of facts, where the power, the lethality of these weapons is so vastly greater than conventional weapons and has historically been the case and what the world is doing, it is wrestling with a dilemma, the dilemma is that historically we've tended to not do things until attacked that has been generally the pattern." 6. Two shot of Rumsfeld standing with US Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pool Material Washington, DC 7. Pan view from White House spokesman to reporters 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ari Fleischer, White House spokesman: "The President made it clear in his discussions with members of the Security Council after the first resolution was passed that the President would commit to consulting with the Security Council and members of the Security Council on eventualities thereafter. The President will keep his word, there will be ongoing consultations and its impossible to go beyond that in guessing at what a specific result may or may not be." (Reporter question: Distinguish between consultations and a resolution?) A: "Well certainly that is exactly why I indicated I can't predict what specific actions might result as a result of those consultations." 9. Cutaway of reporters APTN Material Washington DC 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tom Daschle, Senate minority leader (Democrat-South Dakota): "There is a growing frustration, a growing frustration about the administration's unwillingness to include the Congress. About its unwillingness to work with the Congress. If you recall the Iraq Resolution last fall required the administration to come to the Congress within sixty days with a report, that report is now a month overdue. We don't yet know what the administration's official position is as a result of their unwillingness to share a report with us." STORYLINE: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...