    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [December 5, 2001]
    [Pages 1486-1488]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1486]]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Kjell Magne
    Bondevik of Norway and an Exchange With
    Reporters
    December 5, 2001

        President Bush. I'm going to make a statement; the Prime Minister
    will make a statement. We'll be glad to answer a couple of questions
    apiece.
        First, I want to welcome our friend to the White House. The Prime
    Minister has been a strong supporter in the war against terror, and for
    that, Mr. Prime Minister, we are very grateful.
        Early on in this war, Norway stood strong against terror. I don't
    know if many Americans understand, but one of the key parts of the war
    against terror is to cut off the financing to the terrorists. And
    Norway, thanks to the Prime Minister and his team, shut down Al
    Barakaat, which we did shortly thereafter. Thanks to the information we
    received from you, we made a major strike against cutting off funding
    for Al Qaida and the murderers.
        And Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for that. I'm so glad you're here.
    I look forward to a really good discussion about how we can combine
    together.
        I want to say a couple of other things. First, I, along with all the
    rest of America, grieve for the loss of life in Afghanistan. Three of
    our soldiers were killed by an inadvertent bomb, and our prayers and
    sympathies go to the families. And I want the families to know that they
    died for a noble and just cause, that the fight against terror is noble
    and it's just, and they defend freedom. And for that, we're grateful.
        On a more encouraging note, there has been great progress in Bonn.
    Our Government is pleased with the progress being made, that the interim
    government is being formed--to include women. It's a major change for
    that part of the world and a positive change. It's encouraging to show,
    Mr. Prime Minister, that not only making progress on the military front,
    we're making progress on the political front, as well. This interim
    government, as well, has pledged to fight terror, and for that, we're
    grateful.
        And finally, next Tuesday our Nation will play the national anthem
    at 8:34 a.m. eastern standard time. We will do so, and we're encouraging
    other nations to play their anthems and/or appropriate tunes at about
    the same time or an appropriate time, to send this clear signal to the
    terrorists. They want us to be silent. They want us to shirk from our
    duties. They want us to forget what took place on September the 11th. We
    will not do so. The United States will not do so, and our friends and
    allies will not do so. We won't forget what took place.
        And we will bring them to justice. We'll bring them to justice in
    Afghanistan, and we'll bring them to justice wherever they try to hide.
    Civilization is at stake. And the Prime Minister of Norway and the
    President of the United States stand united in protecting freedom and
    civilization.
        Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office.
        Prime Minister Bondevik. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I want
    to express my--how grateful I am that you received me here, so few weeks
    after I once more took office as Prime Minister of Norway. And I also
    want to express my condolences to the soldiers you lost in Afghanistan.
    And I want to express my sympathy and solidarity with the American
    people. We stand firmly by you in fighting terrorism. And as you are
    aware of, we have also contributed--we have offered contributions to the
    military operations in Afghanistan, and we will talk more about that.
    And I think it's also so important to discuss the more long-term fight
    against terrorism.
        I also will welcome the positive outcome of the meeting in Bonn,
    which I think we've paved the way for a political solution for
    Afghanistan, hopefully also for the

    [[Page 1487]]

    women in the country, and also for reconstruction assistance and
    humanitarian aid. For Norway also will play a key role as the chair of
    the Afghanistan Support Group, from the 1st of January next year.
        So I want to end up by saying that the United States is the most
    important ally for Norway.
        President Bush. Thank you.
        Prime Minister Bondevik. We share many common fundamental values.
    And now we will stand together, fighting terrorism for humanity.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir.
        Prime Minister Bondevik. Thank you.
        President Bush. We'll take a couple of questions.
        Q. Mr. President, has the PLO, sir----
        Q. Mr. President----
        President Bush. I'll go with Fournier [Ron Fournier, Associated
    Press], and then Bill [Bill Plante, CBS News].
        Q. Excuse me?
        President Bush. You're first.
        Q. Thank you, sir.
        President Bush. Unless it's a tough question, in which case you
    won't go at all. [Laughter]
        Q. Oh, then let's go to Mr. Plante, then. [Laughter] No. [Laughter]
        President Bush. Go ahead.

    Palestine Liberation Organization

        Q. Has the PLO been harboring terrorists? If so, should they be
    treated like the Taliban?
        President Bush. The PLO, Ron, needs to stand up and rout out those
    killers, those murderers who are preventing us from getting a peace
    process in place. My Nation is committed to peace in the Middle East.
    Norway is committed to peace in the Middle East. But there are obviously
    folks who want to use the weapon of terror to derail peace. And Mr.
    Arafat must show leadership and bring those to
    justice who would use murder as a weapon to derail peace and to destroy
    innocent life. He must show leadership. Now is his time. And other
    nations around the world that are interested in peace must encourage Mr.
    Arafat, must insist that Mr. Arafat use everything in his power to
    prevent further terrorist attacks in Israel.
        Q. And if not?
        Q. Mr. President, may I? From Norwegian Broadcasting.
        President Bush. Please, yes.

    Military Tribunals

        Q. A lot of people in Europe and also in Norway, sir, are very
    worried about the military tribunals that you're proposing. Many people
    are saying that when you want to save democracy, then this might be part
    of the way undermining democracy, itself.
        President Bush. Well, I appreciate that question, and I want the
    people of the world to understand that our great Nation will never forgo
    the values that have made us unique; that we believe in democracy and
    rule of law and the Constitution.
        But we're under attack. Every morning I wake up and read the threat
    assessments. The evil ones still intend to harm America. And if it's in
    our national security interests, to bring people to justice, I will use
    a military tribunal. And I may give you one example of why I would use
    one. We haven't used one yet; it's simply an option. If we capture an Al
    Qaida representative--if we capture a murderer, and in order to convict
    that murderer it would require us giving means of how we knew he was
    guilty that would jeopardize the security of the United States, he'll be
    tried in a military tribunal.
        In other words, this is an ongoing conflict. There are still real
    threats. And I, in order to get a conviction of a murderer, will not
    jeopardize the people of the United States. I will not show our secrets.
    I will not tip our hand. I will not let the world at large, particularly
    our enemy, understand how we put a case together if it's going to
    jeopardize and compromise national security secrets of the United States
    of America.

    [[Page 1488]]

        My job is to protect the United States people from further attack.
    And that's exactly what I'm going to do and, at the same time, bring Al
    Qaida to justice.

    Future Action Against Terrorists

        Q. Mr. President, you said yesterday that you might use U.S. troops
    elsewhere. Where, and under what circumstances?
        President Bush. Bill, I am going to work with our friends and allies
    to rout terror wherever it exists. But one of the things I will not do
    is signal to the enemy where we might strike next. I will not tip our
    hand in any way, shape, or form.
        But I will tell you this: Those who want to commit terror against
    the United States or our friends and allies must beware that they will
    be hunted down. And those nations which harbor a terrorist or feed a
    terrorist or hide a terrorist or clothe a terrorist better be aware of
    the United States and our friends, because they will be brought to
    justice. Now is a time for the free world to stand up and defend the
    freedoms that these evil ones hate.

    Norway's Role in the Middle East

        Q. Mr. President, what kind of role do you see for Norway in the
    Middle East?
        President Bush. Well, that's going to be up to the Prime Minister.
    And we haven't had this discussion yet. I do know he's committed to
    peace, and for that I am most grateful. I look forward to getting his
    advice and counsel.
        I think he would share with me the same sentiment, that it's going
    to be very difficult to have any kind of peace in the Middle East so
    long as terror runs loose, so long as there are people--individuals who
    feel like they can kill and murder to prevent us from getting to any
    kind of peace process. There is a plan in place, called the Mitchell
    process. But evidently, there are terrorists who can't stand the thought
    of peace, and they must be brought to justice.
        Prime Minister Bondevik. Yes, let me add, I fully agree with the
    President. And I will also inform him now, during our talk, that I today
    had a telephone conversation with Chairman Arafat and with Prime
    Minister Sharon before I came here. So I have fresh messages to the
    President from them. And I urged Arafat to do his utmost to stop the
    terror, to arrest the people behind the terror. It's time for him now to
    show leadership. I also urged Prime Minister Sharon to avoid further
    escalation of violence, because I am afraid that this will bring us into
    a terrible situation which can end up in a war.
        Now they have stopped the bombing of Palestinian targets for the
    last 26 hours. I hope that this ceasefire will continue and that there
    will be a possibility after some time to again establish contacts
    between the parties in the Middle East, because the alternative is so
    bad, to all of us.

    September 11 Commemoration

        President Bush. Let me make one correction, if you don't mind. The
    anthem will be played at 8:46 a.m., here on the White House grounds. And
    we're asking other nations to play their anthems or respective tunes. I
    wanted to correct the time, so that as we prepare this reminder about
    the evil and as we stand fast against terror, that we've got the correct
    time that we're going to do so.
        Thank you all for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:25 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the
    Palestinian Authority. The President also referred to the Report of the
    Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, chaired by former Senator George
    J. Mitchell, issued April 30. Prime Minister Bondevik referred to Prime
    Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of these remarks. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.