[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[March 4, 2002]
[Pages 327-330]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following a Meeting With Educators and an Exchange With
Reporters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
March 4, 2002
The President. We had a really good discussion about education, the
importance of public education in America. The better our public schools
are, the better the quality of life for all our citizens. I also had a
chance to listen to Minnesota teachers, people who have dedicated their
lives to making our communities better by teaching children how to read
and write and add and subtract but also teaching children how to behave
and how to learn through example. I cannot thank the teachers enough.
I hope that, through my words and deeds, I'm able to convince people
to become a teacher, because it's such a noble profession, and it's such
an important profession for America and our future. I absolutely believe
there are--that this country can achieve anything we want. That includes
making sure every child can read and every child has got a hopeful
future because he or she has gotten a great public school education.
So I want to thank you all very much. I'm really looking forward to
speaking to your school. Thanks for the hospitality, and thank you all
very much for serving our country by being a--by being such good
teachers.
Let me answer a few questions, then, of course----
Al Qaida/Operation Anaconda
Q. Mr. President, will you need to increase the U.S. troop presence
in Afghanistan or delay an expansion of the war on
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terrorism beyond Afghanistan as a result of the Al Qaida resurgence----
The President. Well, first of all, we've always known Al Qaida
exists in Afghanistan. And from the beginning of this, I have cautioned
the American people that this is going to take a while, that it's going
to take a while to rout out Al Qaida wherever it tries to hide. The
American people understand that.
And as you well know, over the weekend we've started an operation
against a significant nest of Al Qaida fighters. These are people that,
if they were to escape, could conceivably harm the United States again.
And therefore, we're going to hunt them down wherever they try to hide.
And I am so proud of the men and women who wear our uniform. I
appreciate the efforts of our coalition to chase down Al Qaida, to bring
them to justice. I'm obviously saddened by the loss of life. All America
is saddened when one of our soldiers loses life.
On the other hand, I think most Americans and I hope these parents
and loved ones understand, the cause is important, and the cause is
just. I rely--obviously, rely upon the advice of our commanders on the
ground as to what is necessary to win. But we'll take whatever means is
necessary to protect our service men and women. And we'll win this
battle, and we'll keep battling Al Qaida wherever we find them.
In terms of the overall scope, the international scope, I have
always said that sometimes the American people will see us--see our
military in action, and sometimes they won't. But we will keep the
pressure on Al Qaida. Our country is still under threat, and so long as
our country is under threat, this great Nation will hunt down those who
want to harm innocent Americans.
Yes.
Q. Mr. President, how important is it for you to round up a lot of
Al Qaida leaders in this particular battle that's going on? And do you
have any indication at all whether Usama bin Laden might be in this
area?
The President. I haven't heard from him
since September--December the 11th. He's been awfully quiet. I don't
know why. But I know he's on the run, if he's running at all. And I know
there's no cave deep enough for Usama bin Laden. He hit a country that
he thought was weak and feeble, and instead, he found out he hit a
country that is determined to defend freedom. And that's exactly what
we're going to do. We will defend our freedoms.
And the first part of your question? Leaders----
Q. Do you expect to----
The President. We're after any Al Qaida person.
Q. Do you have any reason to believe that there's a lot of them in
this particular area?
The President. I believe there are some, and I'm not sure how many--
enough for us to put together a significant coalition of Afghan,
American, and other forces to rout them out. These are people that have
got one thing in mind: They're going to harm innocent Afghan citizens.
They want us to leave. They want us to be soft. They want us to let down
our guard. And we're not going to do that, so long as I'm the President
of the United States.
And we've been called into action. This Nation has been called to
defend history--history has called us to defend freedom, and we're going
to do that. And you should not be surprised that our troops will go into
action in Afghanistan again. I have said repeatedly, we are in a
dangerous phase of this war and--as we learned, much to our horror, the
last couple of days when we lost life. But nevertheless, it is worth it,
and it is necessary to bring these people to justice. If we do not,
America could remain more vulnerable. If we do not find them, then we
will have missed a great opportunity to make the world a safer place for
our children and grandchildren.
Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News].
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Q. Mr. President, you said that one of the calculations that Al
Qaida might have had is they thought Americans couldn't stomach the
casualties.
The President. Yes.
Q. Do you think the American people are ready for this?
The President. I think anytime somebody loses their life, the
American people will mourn and are sad, and I feel that way, too.
On the other hand, I am just as determined now as I was a week ago
or 3 months ago to fulfill this mission, and that is to make sure our
country is safe from further attack. These people have made it
absolutely clear--these people being Al Qaida--that they want to harm
America again. And we will do everything in our power to not let them do
so, and that means chasing them down from the mountains of Afghanistan
or in Yemen or in the Philippines, using our vast coalition to bring
these people to justice. These are killers; they're murderers. And I
am--my job is to protect America and support our military during this
historic time. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Situation in the Middle East
Q. Mr. President, the Mideast situation is--do you believe the
Mideast situation has escalated out of control? And do you think the
U.S. needs to do more to try to seize control?
The President. We are on the phone every single day, nearly--I say
nearly; we might have missed a day or two--to the leaders in the Middle
East, urging there to be a--less violence. I have said repeatedly that
Chairman Arafat must do everything he can to
convince those Palestinians who want to derail any possible peace to lay
down their arms.
And the situation is terrible, anytime you lose as many innocent
lives as has been lost in the Middle East. But that won't deter us from
working hard, working the issue. I'm meeting with Hosni Mubarak tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll talk the Middle East and
the process to try to get to the Tenet--and the Tenet plan, laid out by
George Tenet, which is the first step toward
bringing the violence down and making the area more secure, so that we
can eventually get into the Mitchell process, which then eventually will
lead to some kind of settlement.
I appreciate the fact that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has laid out a vision for some political
solution. But the first thing is, we've got to reduce the violence in
order to be able to get the discussion started. And so we're spending a
lot of time trying to get the people of that region to stop killing each
other.
Note: The President spoke at 2:50 p.m. in classroom E2000 at Eden
Prairie High School. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin Laden,
leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; Chairman Yasser Arafat of
the Palestinian Authority; President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt; and Crown
Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The President also referred to the
Tenet plan, the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire and security plan of June
13, 2001, negotiated by Director of Central Intelligence George J.
Tenet; and the Mitchell report, the Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-
Finding Committee, issued April 30, 2001.
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