Excerpts from the Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer, November 19, 2002 (Full transcript)

     NATO Summit Trip

QUESTION: Moving on to the summit, what do you hope to see on Iraq out of this summit, Ari?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one, the President hopes to see out of the summit an expansion of NATO. That's the purpose of the summit, in that sense. This really is an historical summit. The fact that expansion, which of course will get announced Thursday, could include a number of new nations, it's a very exciting time and a very exciting moment for NATO.

The President will likely discuss Iraq with NATO leaders and we'll see what, if anything, comes out of the summit vis-à-vis Iraq, see what those conversations lead to.

QUESTION: There's talk of a formal statement of some sort, admittedly general. Is there going to be that statement, or is that in some doubt?

MR. FLEISCHER: There very well could be.

QUESTION: But you're not going to handicap it?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, I mean, you go into these summits, there's always lots of paper that gets talked about, and I think usually there is paper -- usually there's lots of paper and we will, of course, distribute all that paper. So I think --

QUESTION: People often get married and they get so cautious all of a sudden; what is this? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Ari, you said the President is going to talk to world leaders about Iraq. What does he hope to accomplish from that? What is he looking for from world leaders?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, this is something that the United Nations has already voted on and discussed and these nations, some of them are on the Security Council, of course they all belong to the United Nations. And so the President, as he leads and builds a coalition, he always wants to make certain that the world has a chance to discuss the threat that Saddam Hussein presents.

QUESTION: Will he be discussing current issues, the exchange of fire in the no-fly zones, that sort of thing?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know at what level of detail they're going to talk about it. Again, the purpose of the summit is to focus on expansion and transformation within NATO. And that is the purpose of the summit. And from my experience at these summits now, I can tell you that the purpose of the summit does dominate the summit, that is most of their time.

Now, I think it's likely there will be conversations about Iraq, and I'll do my best to give you a read as events warrant.

QUESTION: How will he address -- you were talking about the transformation of NATO -- the fact that many of these seven incoming countries, let's be honest, if there was a need for military action, couldn't exactly hold up their end. How do you nudge people along in that way and say, this has to change to be worth our while?

MR. FLEISCHER: One of the interesting facts about NATO transformation and NATO enlargement is many of the individual countries have particular strengths, niche abilities to perform combat-ready missions. And each of these individual nations, therefore, contributes in a concrete and discernable way to NATO's overall success. And you will continue to see that developed as NATO expands.

QUESTION: Is North Korea going to come up in any of the discussions at NATO or during Russia?

MR. FLEISCHER: Again, you never rule anything out as far as coming up. The agenda for NATO is, as I earlier indicated, about enlargement. And of course South Korea and Japan are not NATO members; Russia is not a NATO member. Those are the nations that we need most immediately focus with, but you can never rule it out.

QUESTION: In terms of dealing with weapons of mass destruction, that being one of the new drives for NATO, is it likely to come up?

MR. FLEISCHER: It's not an agenda item, but you never know what comes up any time such a large number of leaders gather. And particularly during the evening sessions, it's designed for some informality where the President can talk more freely, in a tug-on-a-sleeve basis with leaders.

QUESTION: And will he be speaking to some of the NATO allies, especially the new ones, about that here?

MR. FLEISCHER: Again, as I indicated earlier, we'll see what those individual conversations are. I would suspect the topic will come up.

QUESTION: Ari, even though there's no formal bilat between Bush and Schroeder, is the President going to try to make some time, at least to have a one-on-one conversation with him at the summit?

MR. FLEISCHER: It would not surprise me. There are many leaders here who the President, as I just indicated, has the ability to chat with informally. So you never know at these large gatherings.

QUESTION: Any particular message he'd convey in a session like that?

MR. FLEISCHER: It just depends on who he's talking to. For example, the Italian President, many different leaders --

QUESTION: -- Schroeder?

MR. FLEISCHER: It could be any number of issues.

QUESTION: Yes. Can you look ahead to the speech tomorrow, what is his message there? Will we get to see excerpts or anything in advance?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know about excerpts because I think the timing is going to work out very well for your deadlines, in terms of --

QUESTION: -- the overnight cycle.

MR. FLEISCHER: I can do this for the overnights now. The speech will welcome the enlargement of NATO. It will signify the advancement for liberty and freedom that NATO's enlargement represents. And it will also be a very appropriate follow-up to the President's speech in Warsaw last year, about the importance of a Europe free, at peace, and at whole.

QUESTION: I didn't hear --

MR. FLEISCHER: A follow-up to the President's remarks in Warsaw last year about a Europe that's a whole, at peace and is free. This is a real historical marker in Prague. The fact that NATO is expanding, nations that once may have fought us are now joining with us. People in these nations who were once oppressed, they now see their freedom, as best expressed by an alliance with the west and with NATO, is a very powerful curtain raiser under a peaceful 21st century.

That stands in contrast to a divided Europe in the 20th century. A Europe in the 21st century now is at peace and is whole, in contrast to a Europe that so many people grew up with in the 20th century that was sharply divided down the middle between those who sought peace and those who engaged in totalitarianism and communism. And it's a stirring tribute to people's desire to be free.

QUESTION: But what's his message? I mean, other than, this is historic? I mean, does he pledge the United States to do something?