[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[November 2, 2001]
[Pages 1337-1342]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and an Exchange With Reporters
November 2, 2001

    President Bush. I'm proud to welcome President Obasanjo back to the 
White House. We just had a very good visit.
    We discussed our mutual concern, our mutual desire, and that is to 
fight and win the war against terror. The President has been a steadfast 
friend of the United States Government and the United States people 
before and after September 11th; for that we're most grateful.
    He has got a huge Muslim population in his country, and I assure him 
and assure those Muslims who live in his country that our war that we 
now fight is against terror and evil. It's not against Muslims. We both 
understand that the Islamic faith teaches peace, respects human life, is 
nonviolent. And I want to thank the President's leadership in sending 
a--not only a message of tolerance and respect but also his vision, 
which I share, that our struggle is going to be long and difficult, but 
we will prevail. We will win. Good will overcome evil.
    Part of the reason why is we've got a strong coalition. And the 
President is a part of that coalition. So welcome, Mr. President. Thank 
you.
    President Obasanjo. Mr. President, thank you for receiving me once 
again at the White House. Of course, we have come this time to express 
solidarity, to express support, to express condolence for the terrorist 
attack on this country, on innocent people of all faiths and of all 
races on the 11th of September.
    We have no doubt in our own mind that terrorism must be fought and 
it must be fought to a standstill. And as you have rightly said, we must 
distinguish and we must lead people to understand that there's

[[Page 1338]]

a difference between fighting terrorism and it doesn't matter what mask 
the terrorist wears--and of course the love that we have for humanity 
and the love that we have for men and women of all faiths.
    I want to particularly commend your effort, Mr. President, for the 
way you have built up a coalition, because the tendency and the feeling 
we need to do something quickly--that you take time to build coalition. 
And as you rightly said, we are part of that coalition, and we will 
remain steadfastly part of that coalition.
    We, as I said, we are unique in a way, because we have the highest 
population of Muslims in Africa. We are also unique in the fact that 
almost 50 percent of our population are Muslims and almost 50 percent 
are Christians. That has advantage and also has disadvantage. It is up 
to us to let our people, the citizens of our country, know that whatever 
faith they belong to, they are not safe as long as we allow terrorism to 
take hold of the world. Whatever ideal they stand for, their ideal will 
amount to nothing if terrorism rules the world. Whatever ambitions or 
aspirations they have, their ambition and aspiration will come to naught 
if terrorism is allowed to take over a ruling of the world.
    And as I said to the President, if leaders who are brought into 
power through democratic means will abandon their responsibility to 
terrorists, then they might as well go home. The President, in that 
case, will have to go back to his ranch, and in that case, I will have 
to go back to my chicken farm. [Laughter] But we are not going to do 
that, because that would be height of irresponsibility. We have a duty. 
We have a commitment. And we believe that the duty and the commitment we 
have is the duty and commitment given to us by our people. And we should 
not shirk that responsibility.
    I believe that the coalition--and I know you are anxious to ask 
questions--I believe that the coalition has this challenge, the 
challenge to fight terrorism. It is also a challenge to make the world 
wholesome, more equitable, fairer, and safer for all of us to live in. I 
believe that the coalition should not relax until that objective is 
achieved. And I believe that we have a leader in President Bush to 
ensure that the world achieves that objective.
    President Bush. Very eloquent. Thank you.

President Obasanjo's Visit

    Q. Mr. President, President Bush, why did it take so long to have an 
African leader visit here, when African leaders had made such strong 
statements of sympathy and statement of condemnation of the terrorists? 
Why did it take so long?
    President Bush. One of the first phone calls I received was from 
President Obasanjo. His support has never been--has never wavered. 
There's no question about where we stood in the coalition. And I'm proud 
to have him by my side.
    Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

Operation Enduring Freedom

    Q. Sir, is it still your position that the bombing campaign would 
stop if the Taliban turned over bin Laden and his followers? Or has the 
war gone beyond that?
    President Bush. We still have the same objective, and that is for 
the Taliban to hand over Al Qaida, the leaders, to release those who are 
being detained, and to destroy any terrorist training camps. And they've 
been given ample time to meet those demands, and now they're paying a 
price for not having met the demands.
    Sonya [Sonya Ross, Associated Press]. Wait a minute, let me get the 
``prints'' out of the way. Thank you.

Relations With the Muslim World

    Q. Could you tell us a little bit more about what you discussed, in 
terms of reaching out to young people in Muslim countries and addressing 
the poverty and the despair that they feel, so that they do

[[Page 1339]]

not become foot soldiers for terrorist networks?
    And for President Obasanjo, could you tell us how you plan to deal 
with the military action in east central Nigeria last week, where some 
civilians were killed?
    President Bush. We did spend time talking about the totality of a 
war against terror not only requires strong military action, strong 
diplomatic action, strong financial action, but it also recognizes that 
we need to share a message that our respective governments respect 
tolerance, respect other points of view. We don't share the point of 
view that evil is religious. We don't appreciate the fact that somebody 
has tried to hijack a religion in order to justify terror activities.
    And we also recognize that economic prosperity throughout the world 
is more likely to make people appreciate rule of law, appreciate other 
people's points of view. That's one reason why I've been such a strong 
supporter of AGOA, which is the African Trade Act. That's why I believe 
we ought to start a new round at Qatar, a new round for world trade. I 
mean, I believe prosperity can best be enhanced by a world that trades 
in freedom. And I think that's a significant part of making sure people 
are able to rise out of poverty.
    But on the other hand, I don't accept the excuse that poverty 
promotes evil. That's like saying poor people are evil people. I 
disagree with that. Usama bin Laden is an 
evil man. His heart has been so corrupted that he's willing to take 
innocent life. And we are fighting evil, and we will continue to fight 
evil, and we will not stop until we defeat evil.
    Anyway, you've got a question for the President?

Military Action in Nigeria

    Q. On the actions in east central Nigeria by the Nigerian military, 
in which some civilians were killed?
    President Obasanjo. Maybe you don't know what happened. Let me just 
put you into exactly what happened. That is an area where there have 
been some clashes between two or three groups, the Tiv, the Jukun, and 
the Fulanis. And this has been going on for, oh, maybe 15, 10 years. At 
times it goes down; at times it goes up.
    And this time when it went up, the Governors of the two States where 
this happened, Taraba State and Benue State, separately invited to the 
military, through me, to take care of the--what I call the lawlessness 
of young men who put illegal roadblock on either side of the State 
boundary, and if you do not belong to their ethnic group, they take you 
and kill you.
    And then we sent soldiers there to clear the roadblock and keep this 
menace out of the way. And they did that. And the last roadblock, the 
last roadblock, in a place called Vaase, the soldiers were ambushed and 
taken, disarmed, and killed; and their bodies were dismembered, chopped 
up.
    And then I got in touch with the Governor, and I said, ``Do 
everything to apprehend those who committed this heinous crime, and hand 
them over to us.'' After 3 days, they called on me and said that, ``I 
have failed. I will ask you to send soldiers to help me in apprehending 
these people.'' And that's what we did.
    Q. Mr. President, thank you very much.
    President Bush. Good morning.
    Q. James Rosen, Fox News.
    President Bush. If that's the case, then I'll call on somebody else. 
[Laughter]

Presidential Records Act Executive Order

    Q. Now that you're a wartime President, sir, interest in your 
decisionmaking processes, and those that you involve your staff in, is 
going to be greater than even normal times. And yet, the Executive order 
that you signed yesterday makes it harder for journalists, scholars, 
historians to write anything about what decisions you're going to be 
making and have made, even sympathetically. And I wonder why you took 
that action?

[[Page 1340]]

    President Bush. We responded to a new law written by Congress that 
lays out a procedure that I think is fair for past Presidents. And it is 
a process that I think will enable historians to do their job and at the 
same time protect state secrets. That's why I did what I did.
    Q. [Inaudible]--be able to get their hands on documents for many 
years?
    President Bush. There are some documents that are privileged and 
protected. And this is just to make sure those documents remain 
protected and privileged. I don't see this as anything other than 
setting a set of procedures that I believe is fair and reasonable.
    Plante [Bill Plante, CBS News].

Terrorist Threat Alerts

    Q. Mr. President, the Director of Homeland Security, Governor 
Ridge, has just said that the state of alert which 
was introduced last Monday, the high state of alert, is now indefinite. 
A lot of Americans are rattled by what they see as a mixed message, 
being told to go about their business on the one hand and yet having to 
look for some unspecified threat on the other. What's your message?
    President Bush. Well, I wasn't rattled when I went out and threw out 
the ball at Yankee Stadium, right after I had instructed the Justice 
Department to inform 17,000 law enforcement agencies to be aware, to 
harden targets, to harden assets. Most Americans, Bill, understand that 
there is a new day here in America. They appreciate the efforts the 
Government is making, and they're going to fight terrorism by going 
about their daily lives.
    But what Governor Ridge is saying and what I've been saying all 
along is, we're in a new day here in America. We're fighting a two-front 
war, and I believe most Americans understand that now. And I appreciate 
the courage of most Americans, but we have a responsibility at the 
Government to protect the people. When we see something that we think is 
credible, we hear something that might be real, we're going to notify 
the respective authorities to help harden targets.

Nature of the Conflict

    Q. Mr. President, given these terror alerts--given that these terror 
alerts are indefinite, should the American people conclude that despite 
the bombing campaign, that Usama bin Laden and the Al Qaida network are 
no less potent or able to conduct a terror campaign than they were 
before the 9-11 attack?
    President Bush. Oh, no. As a matter of fact, I think that the 
American people ought to conclude that our enemy is fighting an army not 
only overseas but at home, that the enemy is being hunted down abroad 
and at home. We've detained over 1,000 people here in America. We're 
running down every single lead. We're hardening assets. We're on the 
hunt. We're going to chase them down.
    And the American people fully understand that we're in for a long 
struggle. And I appreciate the patience of the American people. We are 
making progress overseas in Afghanistan. We're slowly but surely 
tightening the net on the enemy. We're making it harder for the enemy to 
communicate. We're making it harder for the enemy to protect himself. 
We're making it harder for the enemy to hide. And we're going to get 
him--and them.
    There are some that say, ``Well, shouldn't this have happened 
yesterday?'' This is not an instant gratification war. This is a 
struggle for freedom and liberty. This is a struggle for the ability for 
America and America's children to live in peace. This is a struggle for 
the people of this good man's country to be able to live in peace.
    And that's why I can assure our allies, assure the American people, 
for so long as I'm the President, this will be my focus. And we're 
making very good progress.

[[Page 1341]]

    Q. Mr. President, were you surprised, even if you weren't looking 
for instant gratification, at the resilience of the Taliban regime under 
these attacks? And are you concerned, sir, about the future, about the 
disarray among the people who may take over Afghanistan if the Taliban 
should fall?
    President Bush. Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News], we've been at this 
part of the battle for a couple of weeks. And as I explained to the 
American people, this is going to be a long struggle. And I am very 
satisfied, and the American people should be satisfied, with the 
progress we're making on the ground.
    The Taliban's air defenses have been completely demolished. Their 
assets, whatever assets they had, have been demolished, and we're slowly 
but surely tightening the net to achieve our objective. This is a 
different kind of war. The country has been used to Desert Storm, or 
have been used to Kosovo, where we were able to have massive formations 
marching across the desert and/or simply an air campaign that eventually 
brought a country to its knees. This is a different type of struggle, 
and our strategy reflects that. And I believe the American people 
understand that and are very patient, as am I.
    I am mindful of the objective; the military is mindful of the 
objective in Afghanistan. But the objective goes beyond just 
Afghanistan. That's why we're working on the financial front to cut off 
money. That's why I have encouraged nations all around the world to 
apprehend those who are known terrorists, and over 280 have been 
arrested thus far.
    That's why this coalition is so important, that it remain strong, to 
raise the risk for those who would like to conduct terrorist activities. 
That's why we're standing in solidarity with the Philippines, for 
example, that's working hard to get rid of Abu Sayyaf.
    In other words, this is a global battle. There happens to be two 
known fronts, two visible fronts: one, Afghanistan; and the other, the 
United States of America. And we're making good progress on both fronts.

Microsoft Antitrust Case

    Q. Mr. President, could you tell us, sir, why the administration 
made the deal it did this morning in the Microsoft case and what you 
would say to the State attorneys general, who feel the concessions are 
so great they're walking away?
    President Bush. I think you need to talk to the Attorney 
General on that, if you don't mind.
    Kelly [Kelly Wallace, Cable News Network].

Governor Gray Davis of California

    Q. Mr. President, two quick, unrelated questions. Number one, have 
you made a decision, and have you ruled out stopping or lessening the 
military action during Ramadan? And number two, if you could just 
comment on how California Governor Davis handled that FBI alert 
yesterday, and if you think your administration wants to issue any 
guidelines for State and local authorities to handle this in the future?
    President Bush. Well, as a former Governor, I didn't particularly 
care when the Federal Government tried to tell me how to do my business. 
When I was the Governor of Texas, I was elected by the people of Texas, 
and I handled my State's business the way I thought was necessary. And I 
think any Governor should be able to conduct their business the way they 
see fit.
    I think what should be noticed is, is that we are constantly in 
touch with State and local authorities as to general and/or specific 
threats. Part of the homeland defense is active and strong 
communications, so that Governors and/or local authorities can harden 
targets, respond to uncorroborated evidence, and to protect their 
people.
    First part of the question? This is the old two question--two-part 
question. It's one of the old press tricks, Mr. President. You're 
allowed one question, and then they ask two. [Laughter]

[[Page 1342]]

Bombing During Ramadan

    Q. Have you made a decision--are you ruling out stopping or 
lessening the military action during Ramadan?
    President Bush. I'll let our military speak to that. My own personal 
attitude is, is that the enemy won't rest during Ramadan and neither 
will we. We're going to pursue this war until we achieve our objective. 
As to the specific times and dates, we'll let the military speak to 
that. They're in charge of this operation. This is not a political 
campaign; this is a war. And I respect the chain of command; I honor the 
chain of command. And I will tell you, our military is doing a very good 
job.

Anthrax

    Q. Sir, what would you say to Americans who are concerned they 
haven't heard a clear answer on how this anthrax got to this woman in 
New York, how it killed her, and who are afraid it could happen to them?
    President Bush. I would say to the American people that we're 
learning a lot about anthrax, and we're doing everything we can to find 
out all the facts. And when we get the facts, we'll share it with the 
American people.
    I will also say to the American people, I believe that the hard work 
of our public health officials has saved lives. I believe the fact that 
we've got people all around our country working hours upon hours have 
helped save life in America. And for that, the American people are 
grateful, and so am I.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:55 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, 
Muslim separatists operating in the southern Philippines. The Executive 
order of November 1 on further implementation of the Presidential 
Records Act is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.