Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ Again, I think the program is suspended pending a review of all the facts that went into this terrible accident, and the program has been a successful program. Fighting the war on drugs is an important mission of the United States government, and it has received bipartisan support. And this is why this program exists under a public statute that authorizes the agencies involved here -- DOD, CIA, State, DEA -- to fight the war on drugs. ”

“ Should this be viewed as a kind of tipping point in the relationship between the United States and China? Is it intended to send that message? MR. FLEISCHER: This decision is an annual one; it has been faced by previous decisions ever since, I believe, 1982. And so I think you can view this as an annual occurrence that took place last year, it will take place next year. It's part of an ongoing obligation of the United States government to help Taiwan secure its defensive needs. ”

“ The President believes that our nation needs to develop more energy resources domestically in order to avoid worsening the current energy crisis. And toward that end, an energy proposal that will be shortly submitted from the Vice President's task force will include a provision calling for opening up a small portion of ANWR for energy development. ”

“ Q It's not unique, you know, to come in with an agenda. MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think it's a sign of success, how the President has been able to carry forward his agenda. And it is -- it is different, how much progress has been made in the Congress at this early stage. Typically, tax bills don't even move in the House of Representatives until later in the year. ”

“ It's typical in the case of accidents, particularly of this nature involving airplanes flying over remote regions, where it takes a little bit of time until all the facts can be thoroughly investigated and reviewed to make certain that all information is 100 percent checked out. ”

“ What I said is, that in an election where people said he didn't have a mandate, one of the successes has been that the President is clearly setting the agenda, where the policy that he ran on are the policies being submitted to the Congress. Q Every President has that mandate. ”

“ In a program that is meant to fight the war on drugs, innocent lives have been lost. Q And the procedures that were not followed, were not followed by Peru, it was Peru that did not follow the procedures. ”

“ Q Well, if this has been done -- excuse the word -- "cutely" in the past, because of the one China policy and the sensitivity of this issue, and the President said in the campaign he wanted to be more candid about this, he just wanted to put out his commitment to Taiwan more candidly. And there are a number of senior officials in the administration who have signed letters saying that the administration -- that U.S. administrations, period, Republican or Democrat, should just make clear that the United States would defend Taiwan if it were attacked. ”

“ Lives have been lost. And the United States government is going to continue through all its agencies to work with the Peruvian government to understand how it could have happened. And after that, the government will be in a position to review the program and make any determinations about the future of the program. Q As far as we've been able to determine, did the crew of the U.S. surveillance plane follow all procedures? MR. FLEISCHER: According to the information that we've received so far, that is yes. But again, the facts continue to be gathered. ”

“ It's an approach based on realism. Q Ari, based on his briefings, does the President believe what happened with this plane being shot down in Peru was an isolated incident, a miscommunication in this case, or is there a fundamental communication and respect issue, if you will, of the Peruvians following the advice from the U.S. people? MR. FLEISCHER: Given the duration of this program, which was authorized by statute in 1994, and given the fact that this is the first such instance in which this has happened, obviously, this is an isolated incident. ”

“ But I would hesitate to get into any broader policy implications as a result of this. Q Ari, you have said the only flights that have stopped are the ones in Peru, right? All other flights, as far as you know, are still on? MR. FLEISCHER: The United States still has ongoing missions to fight the war against drugs. ”

“ It's always been the United States policy, that continues to be the United States policy. Q What's the timing of the announcement, and does it conflict with the Lebanon President? MR. FLEISCHER: The timing? The Taiwanese delegation will be received by the Department of Defense tomorrow, and they will receive the decision at that time. Q Have surveillance flights over China resumed, Ari? ”