Josh Earnest Versus Ben Rhodes on ISIL in Syria and Iraq

    Josh Earnest appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe Friday in damage-control mode after President Obama's "we don't have a strategy yet" remark during his press conference on Thursday. Almost immediately after the president made the comment in response to a question by Chuck Todd, Earnest took to Twitter to quash the firestorm of criticism that ensued from friend and foe alike:

In his remarks today, POTUS was explicit - as he has been in the past - about the comprehensive strategy we'll use to confront ISIL threat.
— Josh Earnest (@PressSec) August 28, 2014

    Friday, Earnest acknowledged the president's words, but tried to provide additional context to clarify the White House message. CBS's Mark Knoeller tweeted this recap of Earnest's remarks:

On @Morning_Joe, Earnest acknowledges "no plans right now" for ISIL in Syria, but that Pres has "comprehensive plan" for ISIL in Iraq.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 29, 2014

     Rather than tamp down criticism, however, Earnest may have exacerbated the president's problem since his explanation contradicts a statement by Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes just a week ago. Rhodes appeared with Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz at a press briefing in Edgartown, Massachusetts during the president's vacation. In response to a question about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey's statement about how to defeat ISIL, Rhodes replied, "[W]e certainly agree that any strategy to deal with the ISIL organization has to deal with both sides of the border, Iraq and Syria." Here is the full exchange:

Q    On Islamic State, yesterday General Dempsey said that Islamic State can only be defeated if the fight is taken to them in Syria.  I wondered, is that -- does the President agree with that?  And if so, how does he intend to undertake it?  And would it mean a significant change in the mission against Islamic State? 

MR. RHODES:  Well, we certainly agree that any strategy to deal with the ISIL organization has to deal with both sides of the border, Iraq and Syria.  The strategy that we are already undertaking does address that in the sense that we are providing training and equipping and assistance to the Iraqi security forces and Kurdish security forces who are fighting them on the ground in Iraq.  We are also providing support and military assistance to the moderate Syrian opposition.  What we would like to see is those efforts squeeze the space where ISIL operates.  

But there are other elements to our strategy.  One is to enlist the support of partners in the region and the international community, because this poses a significant threat not just to the United States and to the Iraqi and Syrian people, but to the entire region.  And there are things that we can do with partners to mobilize communities in places like Iraq to work to expel ISIL.  

Then there’s the question of U.S. military action.  And the President has already authorized U.S. military action on the very specific missions of protecting our people and personnel and our facilities in Baghdad and Erbil.  He’s also authorized military action to deal with the humanitarian crisis on Mount Sinjar.  Again, as we look ahead and look forward, we are going to do what is necessary to protect Americans.  And so if we see plotting against Americans, we see a threat to the United States emanating from anywhere, we stand ready to take action against that threat.  

We’ve made very clear time and again that if you come after Americans, we’re going to come after you wherever you are.  And that’s what’s going to guide our planning in the days to come.

    Earnest has not yet responded to a request to square his remarks this morning with Rhodes's statement from last Friday.

Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

The Importance of Being Earnest

    Josh Earnest, White House Deputy Press Secretary, answering a reporter's question aboard Air Force One last Friday, inadvertently painted with a broader brush than he intended.  The reporter asked why Republican senators were linking Chuck Hagel's nomination for Defense Secretary with a bid to extract more details on the Benghazi fiasco from the Obama administration.  In an effort to cast doubt on the senators' motives, Earnest said the following in his reply:

But one thing I would add is Senator McCain gave an interview on Fox News yesterday explaining why he was delaying  -- why he supported the delay in this confirmation vote.  And I just want to read the exact quote from what he said, because I think it's pretty enlightening.  He begins saying, "To be honest with you, Neil" -- I didn’t go to journalism school, but I think if I were a journalism professor I would encourage journalists' ears to perk up when an interview -- when a person answering a question says, "to be honest with you."   

    In retrospect, Earnest might regret his momentary impersonation of a journalism professor.  Although his observation may indeed be accurate, McCain is not the only politician to have employed the euphemism in question. Just two days earlier, Earnest's own boss was speaking at a manufacturing plant in Asheville, North Carolina.  In the course of his speech, President Obama said the following:

    Josh Earnest, White House Deputy Press Secretary, answering a reporter's question aboard Air Force One today, inadvertently painted with a broader brush than he intended.  The reporter asked why Republican senators were linking Chuck Hagel's nomination for Defense Secretary with a bid to extract more details on the Benghazi fiasco from the Obama administration.  In an effort to cast doubt on the senators' motives, Earnest said the following in his reply:

But one thing I would add is Senator McCain gave an interview on Fox News yesterday explaining why he was delaying  -- why he supported the delay in this confirmation vote.  And I just want to read the exact quote from what he said, because I think it's pretty enlightening.  He begins saying, "To be honest with you, Neil" -- I didn’t go to journalism school, but I think if I were a journalism professor I would encourage journalists' ears to perk up when a

So we're seeing this trend of what we call insourcing, not just outsourcing.  And the reason is because America has got outstanding workers.  We're starting to produce more homegrown energy, which is driving down our energy costs.  And, obviously, we've still got the biggest market in the world.  And if we try to improve our infrastructure a little bit more, then we're going to be even that much more competitive. 

Now, I want to be honest with you...

     As it turns out, the phrase is heard coming from the White House more than the Deputy Press Secretary might like to admit.  A Google search of the White House website returns 729 results.  Doubtless some of these are duplicates, but from the look of things, First Lady Michelle Obama rarely gets through a speech without using the phrase, in one case even stringing two together.  The president and other members of his staff likewise make liberal use of it.  And then there's this individual:

I got to be honest with you, I don't know if he's seen any of the television coverage. 

To be honest with you, Dave, I have not had a chance to talk to him about that at all. 

To be honest with you, I don't know whether or not he caught any of the opening ceremonies. 

I don't know if they've -- to be honest with you, I don't know if they've seen those excerpts or not. 

To be honest with you, I have not talked to the President about his reaction to the hearing. 

I guess I hadn't really thought about it, to be honest with you. 

   That's right. Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, in one instance as recently as October.  It seems likely that in future, journalists' ears will indeed "perk up" when they hear this phrase.  And if the past is any guide, the source of the alleged verbal misdirection may very well be the president, his wife, or none other than Josh Earnest himself.


Note: This article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.