1115.org

Press Briefing by Tony Snow (10/23/06):

Q: Is there a change in the administration “stay the course” policy? Bartlett this morning said that wasn’t ever the policy.

Snow: No, the policy — because the idea of “stay the course” is you’ve done one thing, you kick back and wait for it.¹ And this has always been a dynamic policy that is aimed at moving forward at all times on a number of fronts. And that would include the international diplomatic front.² After all, the Iraq compact is something we worked out with the Iraqis before visiting the Prime Minister in Baghdad earlier this year.

So what you have is not “stay the course,” but, in fact, a study in constant motion by the administration and by the Iraqi government³, and, frankly, also by the enemy, because there are constant shifts, and you constantly have to adjust to what the other side is doing.

I think you also see much more aggressive efforts on the part of the Iraqi government because the Prime Minister understands the importance — the vital importance of reconciliation⁴. The third reconciliation conference will be taking place next — is it next week, week after next — on the 4th. He is working on the reconciliation front. There has been considerable, and continues to be, action on the economic front. And obviously, we’re continuing to cooperate in security. That is not a “stay the course” policy⁵.
[...]
Q: Tony, it seems what you have is not “stay the course.” Has anybody told the President he should stop calling it “stay the course” then?

Snow: I don’t think he’s used that term in a while⁶.

Q: Oh, yes, he has, repeatedly.

Snow: When?

Q: Well, in August, because I wrote a story saying he didn’t use it and I was quite sternly corrected.

Snow: No, he stopped using it⁷.

Q: Why would he stop using it?

Snow: Because it left the wrong impression about what was going on. And it allowed critics to say, well, here’s an administration that’s just embarked upon a policy and not looking at what the situation is, when, in fact, it’s just the opposite⁸. The President is determined not to leave Iraq short of victory⁹, but he also understands that it’s important to capture the dynamism of the efforts that have been ongoing to try to make Iraq more secure, and therefore, enhance the clarification — or the greater precision.

Q: Is the President responsible for the fact people think it’s stay the course since he’s, in fact, described it that way himself?

Snow: No¹⁰.

Wow. Seems Orwell is beating Heller, for today anyway.

¹After all, it’s a comma, not a period.
² Diplomacy being an administration strong point.
³Which is why we said “stay the course” 153 times rather than “study in constant motion.”
⁴Which is why UPI is reporting that a coup is being planned against al-Maliki by members of the Iraqi army and U.S. intelligence.
⁵It’s impossible to stay the course when the train has come off the tracks.
⁶Depends on the definition of “a while.”
⁷And when he stopped using it, he called “no tagbacks.”
⁸This administration is famous for changing tactics and talking points in the face of criticism. They would never “stay the course.” Also, depends on the definition of opposite.
⁹Depends on the definition of winning.
¹⁰The librul media is responsible because they printed it. Had they not, only a handful of people (all residing in the White House) would have ever heard him.