[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[September 28, 2001]
[Pages 1173-1175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Prior to Discussions With King Abdullah II of Jordan and an Exchange With Reporters
September 28, 2001

    President Bush. Your Majesty, welcome back.
    King Abdullah. Thank you.
    President Bush. It's great to see you. I look forward to our 
discussions. Jordan is a strong, strong friend of America. And right 
after September 11th, one of the early messages I received was from His 
Majesty, expressing the condolences of the Jordanian people, as well as 
his own personal condolences.
    I'm so pleased with our cooperative--the cooperation we have in 
fighting terror. I have assured His Majesty that our war is against 
evil, not against Islam. There are thousands of Muslims who proudly call 
themselves Americans, and they know what I know, that the Muslim faith 
is based upon

[[Page 1174]]

peace and love and compassion--the exact opposite of the teachings of 
the Al Qaida organization, which is based upon evil and hate and 
destruction.
    And finally, Your Majesty, as a welcoming gift, it is my honor to 
present you with a pen. This is no ordinary pen, since it's the pen I 
used to sign the Free Trade Agreement with Jordan this morning. At long 
last, we have together accomplished one of your main objectives in terms 
of economic cooperation, which is the Free Trade Agreement. I'm proud of 
the actions of our leadership in the House and the Senate, from both 
political parties, that recognize the importance of trade with Jordan. 
And so, Your Majesty, it's now officially the law, and here's the pen 
that signed it.
    King Abdullah. Thank you very much, sir. Very grateful.
    President Bush. Welcome back to the Oval Office.
    King Abdullah. Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to thank 
you for seeing us today. Obviously, I wish our meeting was under better 
circumstances, but obviously we're here to give our full, unequivocal 
support to you and to the people of America. And we will stand by you in 
these very difficult times. And we're proud of our friendship. We're 
proud of the relations we've had with your country over many, many 
years, as far back as his late Majesty, King Hussein.
    And it's in difficult times like this that true friends must stand 
with each other, and we'll be by your side, and we'll be there to 
support you. And I'm here to see what we can do to help.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir.
    We'll take a few questions.
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. You're after the retirement lady. [Laughter]
    Q. I'm now the retirement lady. I feel very old. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Well, once you leave the White House, we view it as 
retirement. But go ahead. [Laughter]

Saudi Arabia

    Q. What's your reaction to the Saudis' announcement that we can--
that the U.S. can use airbases? And also, do you feel the military 
deployment is adequate? Do you feel comfortable with where it is?
    President Bush. Well, first, we will not be discussing any of the--
our military plans. It is very important for the American people to know 
that any public discussion of military or intelligence matters could 
jeopardize any mission that we may be thinking about.
    Secondly, that I am most pleased with the cooperation we're getting 
in the Middle East. Clearly, the cooperation with our friend the 
Jordanians is strong and powerful, and we're united--but the Saudis as 
well. Not only are they helping stabilize Pakistan, which is a very 
important part of our diplomatic efforts; they are also cooperating with 
us in terms of any military planning we might be doing. And I'm really 
pleased.
    I had very good discussions--I know the King has as well--with our 
Saudi Arabian friends.
    Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press].

Russian Experience in Afghanistan

    Q. Mr. President, thank you. Have you had any chance to study the 
long and difficult conflict that the Russians had in Afghanistan? And if 
so, what, if anything, did you learn that might be helpful in the 
conflict you have coming ahead?
    President Bush. Well, one of the things we will do is enforce the 
doctrine, part of the doctrine that says, if you harbor a terrorist, 
you're just as guilty as a terrorist. And in my speech to the Nation, I 
laid out the conditions that we expect the current Government of 
Afghanistan to follow.

[[Page 1175]]

    I am fully aware of the difficulties the Russians had in 
Afghanistan. Our intelligence people and our State Department people are 
also fully aware. It is very hard to fight a conventional war--a 
guerrilla war with conventional forces. And we understand that. That's 
why I have explained to the American people that the new war on terror 
is going to be a different war. It will be fought on a variety of 
fronts. It will be fought on a financial front. It will require the best 
of intelligence and the sharing of intelligence. There may or may not be 
a conventional component to it.
    I said loud and clear, sometimes people will be able to see what we 
do on the television screens. Other times the American people won't be 
able to see what we're doing. But make no mistake about it; we're in hot 
pursuit. We're going to enforce the doctrine. We're going to be diligent 
and patient and determined to bring people to justice and to rout out 
terrorist activity around the world.
    And so there have been lessons learned in the past, and our 
Government is very aware of those lessons.
    Jim [Jim Angle, FOX News].

Afghanistan/Middle Eastern Response

    Q. Mr. President, if I may, for Your Highness, how difficult is it 
for Middle Eastern nations to unite against someone who claims to be 
speaking and acting on behalf of Islam?
    And Mr. President, what's your reaction to word today that the 
Taliban says it has now located Usama bin Laden and has delivered an 
invitation to him to leave the country?
    President Bush. First of all--I'll answer first, and then Your 
Majesty. First, there is no negotiations with the Taliban. They heard 
what I said. And now they can act. And it's not just Mr. bin Laden that we expect to see and brought to justice; 
it's everybody associated with his organization that's in Afghanistan. 
And not only those directly associated with Mr. bin Laden, any terrorist 
that is housed and fed in Afghanistan needs to be handed over. And 
finally, we expect there to be complete destruction of terrorist camps. 
That's what I told them; that's what I mean. And we expect them--we 
expect them to not only hear what I say but to do something about it.
    And I want to tell His Majesty what I said the other day, and then 
he can respond to your question. The Al Qaida people don't represent 
Islam, as far as America is concerned. They represent evil. They're evil 
people. And that's not the Muslim faith that I know and understand, nor 
is it the Muslim faith of millions of Americans who are proud and devout 
Muslims.
    King Abdullah. Well, sir, as the President so well put it, what 
these people stand for is completely against all the principles that 
Arab Muslims believe in. And so, on those principles alone, I think it 
will be very, very easy for people to stand together. As the President 
said, this is a fight against evil, and the majority of Arabs and 
Muslims will band together with our colleagues all over the world to be 
able to put an end to this horrible scourge of international terrorism. 
And you'll see a united front.

Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization.