[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[June 26, 2002]
[Pages 1068-1071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and an Exchange With Reporters in 
Kananaskis
June 26, 2002

    President Bush. I'm going to make a comment; the Prime Minister will 
make one. We'll call in an orderly fashion, answer a couple of 
questions, if you don't mind.
    First, I'm--it's great to be with my friend the Prime Minister. This 
is our second bilateral of the day. The first was in the gym. I went 
down after a run, and there was the Prime Minister working out--an 
impressive regime, I might add. [Laughter] So we had a good visit there, 
and we'll have a good visit here. America has got no better friend than 
the Government of Great Britain. And I really appreciate his advice and 
friendship. It's good to see him.
    I am deeply concerned about some of the accounting practices that 
take place in America. Today the revelations that WorldCom has 
misaccounted $3.4 billion is outrageous. We will fully investigate and 
hold people accountable for misleading not only shareholders but 
employees as well.
    There is a need for a renewed corporate responsibility in America. 
Those entrusted with shareholders' money must--must--strive for the 
highest of high standards. The good news is, most corporate leaders in 
America are good, honest, open people who care deeply about shareholders 
and employees, and our economy is strong. But when we find egregious 
practices, such as the one revealed today, we'll go after them--and need 
to.
    Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Blair. Well, Mr. President, first of all, thank you 
for your kind words. And I thought you looked in pretty good shape 
yourself this morning.
    And once again let me pay tribute to your leadership at this time, 
particularly post-September the 11th, but actually on all the range of 
issues in the world today. Our relationship is strong, partly because 
you and your colleagues are so easy and open and transparent to deal 
with it, and I thank you for that.
    And obviously, we have discussed and will discuss all the key issues 
that are to do with the summit and the issues to do with the Middle East 
and so forth. And I'm sure our discussions will be good and fruitful, as 
they always are.
    President Bush. Finlay [Finlay Lewis, Copley News Service].

Middle East Peace Proposal/Palestinian Authority

    Q. Mr. President, in your speech you made it very clear that the 
current leadership in Palestine is not acceptable. If the outcome of the 
election in January were to result in the reelection of Yasser Arafat, 
what would be the policy of your Government?
    President Bush. I meant what I said, that there needs to be change. 
If people are interested in peace, something else has got to happen. 
We're mired in the situation now where there is terror on the one hand 
and hopelessness on the other, and that's unacceptable.
    And therefore I laid out a way forward for Palestinians, the 
Israelis, the Arab world, and all the rest of us worried about it. And 
it said basically the new institutions--there needs to be a new 
constitution; there needs to be elections; there needs to be balance of 
power; there needs to be new security forces; there needs to be 
transparency amongst financial institutions.
    I also made it plenty clear that if their leadership compromised by 
terror, we won't be on the path to peace. I've got confidence in the 
Palestinians, when they understand fully what we're saying, that they'll 
make right decisions as to how we get down the road for peace. The 
status

[[Page 1069]]

quo is simply unacceptable, and it should be unacceptable to them. They 
live in a--you know, they've been pawns in the game of peace. They have 
been--they have no hope. Their economy is in shambles. They live in 
squalor. Their leadership has let them down.
    Q. Mr. President, who will be the judge, though, in the sufficiency 
of the reforms that you're calling for?
    President Bush. The free world, the people that are going to be 
asked to put up money. Listen, I can assure you we won't be putting 
money into a society which is not transparent and corrupt, and I suspect 
other countries won't either.

Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian 
Authority

    Q. Mr. Prime Minister, can I ask you, do you agree that there's got 
to be change, and that means an end to Yasser Arafat?
    And can I ask you also, Mr. President, whether you agree with the 
Europeans that you're not as serious as Mr. Blair about helping Africa?
    President Bush. Okay.
    Prime Minister Blair. First of all, let me just make it clear, as I 
said to you yesterday, it's for the Palestinians to elect the people 
that they choose to elect. But if we're going to make progress, we need 
people that we can negotiate with who are serious about negotiating 
around the issues of security and political reform necessary for the 
peace process to work.
    So this is no question of us going in and saying to the 
Palestinians, ``Look, we're going to run your election.'' But it is a 
question of us saying, ``If we want this peace process to work, there 
are certain clear preconditions. One, we've got to have leadership we 
can negotiate with that is serious about peace and resists and totally 
rejects terrorism. Two, we've got to have a security infrastructure in 
Palestine that has integrity. And three, we've got to have political 
institutions capable of giving rise to the viable Palestinian state that 
we believe should be the outcome of this process. So if in the end you 
want, as we want, an Israeli state that is confident about its own 
security and a viable Palestinian state, those are the preconditions. 
For Israel to be confident, it's got to have a negotiating partner that 
is serious about tackling terrorism.''
    Now, that is, I think, the essence of it. So, you know, it's not a 
question of saying we're going to tell people who they elect or not 
elect; that's for them. But it's for us to say, the consequences of 
electing people who aren't serious negotiating partners is that we can't 
move this forward.
    Q. And that's Arafat you're talking about----
    Prime Minister Blair. Well, you know, as I said to you yesterday, 
we've had a situation over the past few years--and I've tried as hard as 
anyone. I think I've had 30 different meetings with Chairman Arafat over 
the past few years. But as I said to you yesterday, you've got a 
situation where we have not been able to make progress, and there has 
been an attitude towards terrorism that is inconsistent with the notion 
of Israel's security.

Assistance to Africa

    President Bush. As to Africa, all of us are doing as much as we 
possibly can. I don't think this is a competition. I'm proud of the 
Blair government's efforts for Africa, and I'm proud of my efforts for 
Africa. After all, I laid out what I call a Millennium Challenge Account 
in Monterrey, Mexico, that says if countries adopt the habits of 
democracy and freedom and private property and reform, there will be $5 
billion a year available. I laid out a new AIDS initiative that is the 
first of its kind, that says we're going to provide a lot of money, 
about half a billion dollars, to mother-to-child--to affect mother-to-
child transmission of HIV/AIDS. We're also significantly involved in the 
AIDS fund. I laid out another initiative on a $200 million

[[Page 1070]]

education fund. So I'm plenty pleased with the progress we're making.
    Stretch [David Gregory, NBC News]. We call him Stretch.

National Economy/Corporate Responsibility

    Q. Glad to have it back. [Laughter] Mr. President, if Yasser Arafat 
is compromised by terror and if the Palestinian Authority has trafficked 
with terrorists, under your doctrine are you prepared for the U.S. to 
step up its military role in eliminating him and those terror 
organizations which the administration believes that he props up?
    And totally unrelated to that, do you believe that there is a crisis 
in confidence among the American people vis-a-vis the economy, and 
particularly the stock market, in view of yet another failure of an 
American corporation?
    President Bush. Let me answer the second question first. The market 
isn't as strong as it should be for three reasons. One, corporate 
profits: There's no question some sectors of our economy are recovering 
from the slow-down. But they'll recover.
    Secondly, there are still some concerns as to whether or not the 
United States and our friends and allies will be able to prevent further 
terrorist attack. In other words, there's some concerns about the 
capacity of the enemy to hit us again. And I want to assure American 
investors and our friends that we're doing everything we possibly can--
the Government is on full alert, attempting to run down every hint and 
every lead.
    And thirdly, there are some concerns about the validity of the 
balance sheets of corporate America, and I can understand why. We've had 
too many cases of people abusing their responsibilities. And people just 
need to know that the SEC is on it; our Government is on it. After all, 
Arthur Andersen has been prosecuted. We will pursue, within the full--
within our laws, those who are irresponsible.
    Having said that, I do believe the economy is strong, and I know 
that most people that run businesses in America are aboveboard, honest, 
care deeply about their employees and their shareholders.
    First question?

Bush Doctrine

    Q. Under the Bush doctrine, any----
    President Bush. Under the Bush doctrine, I said we'd use all 
resources, all available resources, to fight off terror. And that 
includes working with our friends and allies to cut off money, to use 
diplomatic pressure, to convince--to convince those that think they can 
traffic in terror that they're going to face a mighty coalition. And 
sometimes we use military force, and sometimes we won't.
    In the case of the Middle East, obviously, the roadmap I've laid out 
is one that calls upon all our friends and allies to join and bind 
together against terror. It calls upon the Arab nations to step up and 
firmly reject terror. If you remember, in my speech, I said they need to 
get on their public airways and denounce terror; they need to work on 
Syria and Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from creating chaos in the Middle 
East. We all have responsibilities, and in this case the tool I'm using 
is diplomatic pressure, to work with our friends and allies to convince 
all parties they have a responsibility to bear.
    Q. Are you ruling out military action?
    President Bush. I'm never ruling out military. All options are 
available. But in this case, at the path I've laid out, is the path that 
ought to be clear to you by now. It's one that--the one that I spoke to 
clearly.
    Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Final 
question, British reporter.

War on Terrorism

    Q. I'm the only British reporter here. [Laughter]
    President Bush. [Inaudible]--British accent? [Laughter]
    Q. I speak English.

[[Page 1071]]

    President Bush. I may not understand you. [Laughter]
    Q. Can we just ask about the war on terror, because you know, anyone 
who has come up here knows what a fortress you've got here. What more 
have you got to agree with your G-8 partners here on----
    President Bush. On the war on terror?
    Q. On the war on terror.
    President Bush. I think it's just an up time to give an update. 
We've got to do everything we can to cut off their money, do everything 
we can to keep the pressure on countries which might not realize that 
we're still serious.
    We've had some great successes. One of the most recent successes, of 
course, is Gloria Arroyo in the 
Philippines. She's a part of our vast coalition. She early on said, we 
need to get after Abu--you know, the Abu Sayyaf* group. And she did it. 
And to her credit, it looks like the leader met his demise. And the 
Philippines are better off for that, and so is the world.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    *White House correction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    And so this is a chance for us to continually remind each other that 
we--our countries are still under threat, but we're making good 
progress. This is a different kind of war; I readily concede that. 
Sometimes people are going to see success, and sometimes they're not, 
but we're making success.
    Prime Minister Blair. And I think the important thing, too, is to 
emphasize to people that it's a continuing threat, that this threat is 
not over yet. We have to make sure that in every single battle we carry 
this fight on, and it will take a long time.
    But I think if you--if we're to look at Afghanistan today and think 
back 7, 8 months, I think we've come a very, very long way indeed. And 
I'm optimistic about it, because I think the coalition against terror is 
as strong today as it was all those months ago.
    President Bush. Let me just make sure you understand, Fournier [Ron 
Fournier, Associated Press], what I said. I can tell from the tone of 
your question that there was a little doubt in your mind--some doubt.
    No leader ever takes options off a table. But the path to peace that 
I believe is appropriate is the one I talked about in the Rose Garden 
the other day--just to make sure you understand.
    Q. Diplomacy.
    President Bush. Absolutely.

Note: The President spoke at 9:07 a.m. in the Delta Lodge at the 
Kananaskis Village resort. In his remarks, he referred to President 
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines; and Abu Sabaya, a leader of 
the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group who was killed June 21 by Philippine 
military forces. Prime Minister Blair referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat 
of the Palestinian Authority.