[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[November 18, 2002]
[Pages 2104-2106]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Interview With Russia's NTV
November 18, 2002

Chechnya

    Q. Mr. President, did the October hostage crisis in Moscow change 
the U.S. position on Chechnya?
    The President. No, our position on Chechnya is, we hope this can get 
solved peacefully, that this is an issue within Russia, and that I will 
continue to work with Vladimir Putin as best 
as I can to encourage him for there to be a peaceful resolution with the 
Chechnyan issue, the larger issue.

[[Page 2105]]

    On the other hand, I recognize that anytime terrorists come to take 
life, a leader must step forward. And the fact that 800 citizens could 
have been killed by terrorists put my friend Vladimir Putin in a very difficult situation. And he handled it as 
best he could. He did what he had to do to save life. And people--I 
heard somebody the other day blame Russia. No, the people to blame are 
the terrorists. They need to be held account. I believe you can do both. 
I believe you can hold terrorists to account, killers to account, and at 
the same time solve difficult situations in a peaceful way.

Former President Aslan Maskhadov of Chechnya

    Q. Mr. President, you say the leader has to come forward. So 
President Putin said that the leader of the Chechen group that took 
hostages, he was linked with former President Maskhadov of Chechnya, and 
that actually Maskhadov was aware of it. And therefore, President Putin 
said Maskhadov is an international terrorist.
    The President. Well, I haven't had a chance to talk to Vladimir 
Putin about these connections. But I am aware 
of the fact that there are killers moving around the world interested in 
holding people hostage, Governments hostage, and that we must work 
together to bring people to justice. It's one of the reasons why I'm 
working very closely with the Georgians, and I'm pleased to see Vladimir 
Putin is working with Mr. Shevardnadze 
to come up with a common strategy to route out the killers, the Al 
Qaida-type killers, which may be hiding in the Pankisi Gorge with one 
thing in mind, to bring instability to Russia. And so we're working 
together as best as we possibly can to bring people to justice.
    Q. But in the West people very often, in the United States in 
particular, say that one of the partners is Mr. Maskhadov in that 
political solution. After the October crisis, is that still an issue?
    The President. Well, I haven't had a chance to talk to 
Vladimir and see the facts that he's talking 
about. He obviously knows--you know, has got some information that we 
can talk about in St. Petersburg, and I look forward to discussing it 
with him.

Pankisi Gorge Terrorists/Russia-U.S. Cooperation in the War on Terror

    Q. Well, Mr. President, you mentioned Georgia. President Putin 
immediately after the October crisis said that from now on, Russia is 
going to hit every terrorist target wherever it is; that means even 
abroad. Is that all right?
    The President. Well, it depends on what you mean by ``hit every 
target''--depending abroad. I mean, you know, I think what he's saying 
is, we're going to redouble our efforts to work together to bring people 
to justice. And that's what we're doing in Georgia. I have told Mr. 
Shevardnadze that if--you know, it's 
very important for him to be collaborative and to be prepared to bring 
people to justice if there are killers hiding in the Pankisi Gorge with 
the intent upon bringing--wreaking havoc in Russia or anywhere else, for 
that matter. They must be brought to justice. And slowly but surely, 
we're finding these people around the world.
    This is a different kind of war, see; that's what's unique. In the 
old days, we would fight armies that had tanks and airplanes and ships. 
These people are the kind of people that hide in caves and send people 
to their suicidal deaths. And so it requires a different kind of effort. 
It requires sharing of intelligence, cutting off money, having specially 
trained troops to go into dark caves or the dark corners of the world 
and bring these people to justice. You speak in the language of the old 
war. This is a war that requires a precise understanding of where these 
people hide, and the willingness to discuss intelligence like we've 
never discussed before to hunt them down.
    And that's what we're doing with Russia. I mean, our intelligence 
sharing is much better than it ever has been before. And

[[Page 2106]]

it's going to be good for both our peoples. And I keep reminding the 
American people that Russia is our friend and we're working in 
collaboration to hunt down those who would kind of hide in the shadowy 
corners and bring them to justice.

Russian Interests in Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, one question on Iraq----
    The President. Sure.
    Q. ----which is now very sort of hot issue. If push comes to shove 
and a military solution is necessary, and if the current regime, Saddam 
Hussein's regime, is going to be toppled, are Russian economic interests 
going to be considered?
    The President. Well, first, I hope that all the ifs don't happen. I 
mean, I hope that Mr. Saddam Hussein disarms, 
like he said he would do. But the problem is, he said he would do it for 
11 years, and he hasn't done anything for 11 years. I mean, in the name 
of peace he should disarm. And so we're working with Russia and other 
members of the United Nations Security Council to send a clear message 
to Mr. Saddam Hussein that we expect you to disarm.
    If he doesn't disarm, then we'll disarm 
him in the name of peace. And of course, we'll be interested in all 
interests. We have no desire to run the show, to run the country. We 
will work to encourage the development of new leadership, should this 
happen, that will recognize the rights of all citizens that live in this 
country, that will keep the territorial integrity of Iraq intact. And we 
understand Russia has got interests there, as do other countries. And of 
course, those interests will be honored.
    Q. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
    The President. I'm glad you're here.

Note: The interview was taped at 1:25 p.m. in the Library at the White 
House. In his remarks, the President referred to President Vladimir 
Putin of Russia; President Eduard Shevardnadze of the Republic of 
Georgia; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The transcript of this 
interview was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on November 
21. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
interview.