- Excerpt From A Press Briefing By Scott McClellan Office
of the Press Secretary November 6, 2003
-
- Q: Scott, there are 17 former POWs from the first Gulf
War who were tortured and filed suit against the regime of Saddam Hussein.
And a judge has ordered that they are entitled to substantial financial
damages. What is the administration's position on that? Is it the view
of this White House that that money would be better spent rebuilding Iraq
rather than going to these former POWs?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that I view it in those terms,
David. I think that the United States -- first of all, the United States
condemns in the strongest terms the brutal torture to which these Americans
were subjected. They bravely and heroically served our nation and made
sacrifices during the Gulf War in 1991, and there is simply no amount of
money that can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering
that they went through at the hands of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.
That's what our view is.
-
- Q: But, so -- but isn't it true that this White House
is standing in the way of them getting those awards, those financial awards,
because it views it that money better spent on rebuilding Iraq?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: Again, there's simply no amount of money
that can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering --
-
- Q: Why won't you spell out what your position is?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: I'm coming to your question. Believe me,
I am. Let me finish. Let me start over again, though. No amount of money
can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering that they
went through at the hands of a very brutal regime, at the hands of Saddam
Hussein. It was determined earlier this year by Congress and the administration
that those assets were no longer assets of Iraq, but they were resources
required for the urgent national security needs of rebuilding Iraq. But
again, there is simply no amount of compensation that could ever truly
compensate these brave men and women.
-
- Q: Just one more. Why would you stand in the way of at
least letting them get some of that money?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: I disagree with the way you characterize
it.
-
- Q: But if the law that Congress passed entitles them
to access frozen assets of the former regime, then why isn't that money,
per a judge's order, available to these victims?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I pointed out that that was
an issue that was addressed earlier this year. But make no mistake about
it, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the torture that these brave
individuals went through --
-
- Q: -- you don't think they should get money?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: -- at the hands of Saddam Hussein. There
is simply no amount of money that can truly compensate those men and women
who heroically served --
-
- Q: That's not the issue --
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: -- who heroically served our nation.
-
- Q: Are you opposed to them getting some of the money?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: And, again, I just said that that had
been addressed earlier this year.
-
- Q: No, but it hasn't been addressed. They're entitled
to the money under the law. The question is, is this administration blocking
their effort to access some of that money, and why?
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: I don't view it that way at all. I view
it the way that I stated it, that this issue was --
-
- Q: But you are opposed to them getting the money.
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: This issue was addressed earlier this
year, and we believe that there's simply no amount of money that could
truly compensate these brave men and women for what they went through and
for the suffering that they went through at the hands of Saddam Hussein
--
-
- Q: So, no money.
-
- MR. McCLELLAN: -- and that's my answer.
-
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031106-5.html
|
