ADMINISTRATOR GREEN:  (in progress) -- some of the work that we're doing both directly in his [Cardinal Sako's] constituency but throughout the region in Northern Iraq.  And so we showed the pictures, showed some of the biometrics work that we're doing, and it was great. It was a good opportunity for us to exchange ideas.  It was a chance to listen to him.

When I went to Erbil this July -- how many months ago?  July, he was not there. He was actually here, so it was actually my first opportunity to sit down and spend some time and exchange ideas.  So I thought it was very constructive.

QUESTION: Did he apologize for his comments?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: No, nor did I ask him to, not at all.  Instead, we simply had -- viewed it as an opportunity to talk directly about some of the work that we're doing.  He should ask tough questions.

QUESTION: That's great.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: I mean, if he wants to learn more about the work that we're doing, that's a good thing.  And we took the opportunity to show --

QUESTION: And was this news to him?  Had he heard this before?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Oh, I don't know.  It really wasn't a conversation like that so much as, this is what we're doing right now.  These are the recent MOUs. We just entered into an MOU with the Knights of Columbus. We entered into one with the Knights of Malta, Malteser International, a couple months ago now.  This is some of the work that we have done directly in the constituency, and I think he found it interesting. It was a very cordial conversation. Honestly, very cordial.

QUESTION: Were you surprised by his comments yesterday about how the U.S. is not helping them?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, first off, I disagree.  The U.S. is helping a tremendous amount, by any measure.  But more significantly, it is a reminder to develop an agency like the one that I am privileged to help lead, that it is not always enough to do a lot of work, to produce a lot of things, to work on things like rebuilding water systems, electricity, and helping to provide humanitarian assistance.  We have to make sure that people are aware of what we're doing and constantly talk about the work that we're doing. And so I viewed it as an opportunity to do that.

QUESTION: So do you think this came from ignorance of what you were doing?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Oh, it -- no, you'd have to ask him.  Again, I simply had a chance to sit down with him to talk about also, quite frankly, my visit when I was in his constituency, and the good work that we've done since then.  And it was constructive. We had a long, good conversation, smiled, shook hands, and it was good. And I truly enjoyed the conversation.

QUESTION: And as you described this work, did he indicate support for it, gratitude?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, I think he's supportive of all the work that we're doing.  I don't think there was ever a doubt about that. Again, I think the important point in today's discussion, not just with him, but with all the meetings I had been having throughout the day --

MR. McCLESKEY: Archbishop Gallagher, Turkson.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN:  -- is to be able to provide a progress report.  And that's something that we're committed to doing.  I mean, we had people on the ground who were doing that to -- in the region as well as in Erbil and Baghdad, but it was a chance, with the convenience of both of us being in Rome at the same time, to be able to talk more directly about some of the work that we're doing, and it was a chance for him to kick the tires and ask me questions, and a chance for me to listen to him, and it was all good.

QUESTION: Going forward, I mean, clearly, there was some kind of a -- I mean, we can -- we can attribute this to a communications breakdown, so is there something going forward that will --

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: We will --

QUESTION: -- make sure that your side is getting through to him?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, I don't have a side, but --

QUESTION: What you're doing there.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Sure.  Well, it -- so I first visited Erbil as Administrator just a few months ago.  We have mobilized a massive amount of resources since then. It is a reminder that it is not only important to execute and deliver results, it is to be able to constantly stay in touch and make people aware of what we're doing and involve them in guiding it.  And that's what we're doing.

QUESTION: Because that was the idea, wasn't it?  I mean, you want to work in concert with --

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Absolutely.

QUESTION: -- the leaders, the religious leaders on the ground, who, presumably, have the best idea of what the needs are and how to make the services meet the people and get to the people who have those needs?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, that --

QUESTION: So is it worrying to you that one of those religious leaders didn't even know what you were doing?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, again, all I can say is, it was a chance to talk about what we're doing.  But it's more than what you're describing in terms of the mission that's there. We look at Northern Iraq in particular, and the mosaic of communities that are there, what the Iraqis often refer to as the "component communities," as being "component" in the sense of being a crucial part of the whole.

The work that we do -- we're a development agency.  But helping to reinforce the basic infrastructure that communities need to be able to see their geographic community is a place where they can live, work, raise a family, and have a future.  That requires all parts of all the development spectrum. We have to be able to show young people that there is an economic future in the region. And so all of that is really what we're doing.  And it's a day-to-day work that we do. It's the kind of work that we embrace as a development agency. And we'll keep doing it.

QUESTION: It seemed like behind his comments, was just an overall opposition to American policy in the region.  He blames the U.S. for pretty much everything that's gone on in Iraq for the last --

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: I haven't had that kind of conversation so I can't really comment on it.  I mean, literally, we talked about today.

MR. McCLESKEY: And I'm going to need to get him back into the meeting we just pulled him out of.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Yeah.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: And then we -- today, we let him go --

QUESTION: But just one last thing: in all of your Vatican meetings today, not just Sako, did you -- was there something that surprised you?  Did you learn something that you didn't know before?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Oh, I would say that I became even more familiar with the range of partners that we are working with and can be working with.  But I -- none of it surprised me. But certainly, it was constructive. Any -- a key part of what I do and what the agency does -- development is a conversation.  It's -- you know, maybe some agencies and maybe at other times, development was doing a big contracting thing, "Here, do this for me." I reject that.

I have been in development for 30 years on and off.  I look at it as a dialogue. It is, every single day, making sure that we understand what needs are, inviting and involving communities, in prioritizing.  We don't have all the money in the world. We'll never have enough money to meet everyone's needs. And no one believes that we do. So how is it that we prioritize?  How is it that we make the right investments that can continue to build?

So we're partnering with a network of organizations, and that's been key.  We have rapidly, exponentially broadened that network in just a matter of months since the time that I have been here.  Our work with Caritas Iraq, Knights of Columbus, as a former member of the Knights of Columbus, Malteser International, Samaritan's Purse, Yazda working with the Yazidis.  There's a whole wide range.

Expanding that network is vitally important.  This cannot be about just one agency or one agreement or one contract or one-off.  I think part of what happens in a day like today is that we all get new ideas about work that we can do, but also how to expand that network.  How do we tap into and take advantage of every organization's capacities and experience? And that's key.

So none of it's a surprise to me.  But all of it's an education to me.  But I would say the same thing to you when I visit South Sudan or when I visited Northern Ghana just last week, and I met new NGOs who are partners of USAID.  I didn't know them before because they were new, young organizations based in Tamale. But that's great. We learn more from each other. We build the network; we mobilize the work.  It's all constructive.

QUESTION: I'm just asking, why did you feel it was necessary to come here?  I mean, why did you have to talk to Gallagher and Turkson about what the U.S. is doing?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Well, I was coming to Europe anyway, and I was coming to World Food Day and the Rome-based organizations, which is something that the Administrator does.  And I wish I could tell you I arranged for the Senate and everyone in --

I'm afraid that's not quite true.  So in terms of all of --

QUESTION: I'd be mad at you if you had (inaudible).

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: You know, in terms of all of the meetings that I had, some were happenstance in the sense that, wow, this is great, we're all in the area together.  But the trip's been planned for a while. So this is --

QUESTION: So was the meeting with Sako planned?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Oh, no.  About a week ago.

MR. McCLESKEY: It's about a week ago.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Yeah.

QUESTION: So it was before he gave his interview.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Yeah.

MR. McCLESKEY: It was planned.  It was on our schedule when we landed yesterday.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Absolutely.  Yeah, absolutely.  No, it's not a --

QUESTION: A response?

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: No, no, absolutely not.

QUESTION: Okay, very good.

ADMINISTRATOR GREEN: Now, we -- I've learned in my trip planning that everything happens in concentration when you get closer.  But I've been on the docket -- I'm going to Prague tomorrow. I'm speaking at Charles University. That's a favor to the ambassador who is an old Wisconsin buddy, and it's been on the docket for weeks and weeks and weeks.  And so we said, okay, let's build backwards. Oh, it's World Food Day. While we're -- so it's a lot of things that came together. But no, the meeting with Cardinal was planned quite certainly before this.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Great.