    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [September 12, 2002]
    [Page 1577]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1577]]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in New York City
    September 12, 2002

        President Bush. Mr. President, it's great to see you again. Thank
    you for your leadership.
        Our Government believes you're doing a really fine job of setting a
    vision for the Afghan people and leading towards that vision, that you
    love freedom and that you are working hard to make your country more
    secure. And we appreciate your leadership. We also appreciate your
    understanding that jobs are important for your country. And today I had
    the honor of informing President Karzai that the United States, along
    with Saudi Arabia and Japan, will be providing $180 million for road
    improvement projects in Afghanistan. We'll help develop a modern
    infrastructure so that the Afghan entrepreneur will be able to move
    product from one city to the next and so that people will be able to
    find work; people will be able to put food on the table.
        Our commitment to a stable and free and peaceful Afghanistan is a
    long-term commitment, Mr. President, and we're confident in your
    leadership. And I want to thank you again. It's good to see you again.
        President Hamid Karzai. Thank you. Good to see you.
        Well, Mr. President, I'm very happy to be meeting with you again,
    after the meeting in January. We are, as before, very, very grateful for
    the help the United States of America gave to Afghanistan to liberate
    itself from the scourge, from the occupation of terrorism that murdered
    and killed and destroyed our country for so many years, that brought
    about the disaster in New York and your own country. The Afghan people
    continue to share that pain with you. And I came here earlier than the
    General Assembly to participate, to mourn that date. And we've had a
    commemoration of that in Kabul as well, yesterday.
        The Afghan people know the help that you have given to us, and the
    Afghan people will know the announcement that you've just made. They'll
    be very happy. Mr. President, I assure you that you will find the Afghan
    people as your very best partners in the fight against terrorism. And as
    your very best partners wherever you bring justice in this part of the
    world, we'll be with you.
        The Afghan people, as you rightly say, would like to have some bread
    on their table, and they would also like to, in some time, to make that
    bread themselves, to earn it themselves. So the help that you are giving
    us to have our highways, to have other infrastructure correct in the
    country is a step in the right direction towards self-reliance in
    Afghanistan. And I must thank you very much once again.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:13 p.m. at the U.S. Mission at the
    United Nations Headquarters. The Office of the Press Secretary also
    released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.