    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [July 10, 2003]
    [Pages 854-857]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With President Festus Gontebanye
    Mogae of Botswana and an Exchange
    With Reporters in Gaborone, Botswana
    July 10, 2003

        President Mogae. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, honorable
    Ministers, you are probably wondering what we have been talking between
    the President and I. And I was just thanking him for, first of all,
    visiting us, but above all, for the generous assistance we have been
    receiving.
        As you know, we are the country in southern Africa that is most
    seriously affected by HIV/AIDS, and we are receiving generous assistance
    from the United States Government, who are helping us with the testing
    and counseling centers and in which we are spending about $8 million
    U.S. a year, which is about 40 million pula in our own currency.
        They have also responded to a request for human resources
    assistance, and they have restored the Peace Corps program. We are
    collaborating with our own private sector, the foundations in the United
    States--the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Merck Corporation
    Foundation--for providing us with antiretrovirals and also with
    assistance for mounting of our prevention campaign. That program is
    going very well.
        I mention that--it is the most important--but also we are very
    grateful for AGOA, on behalf of ourselves, on behalf of Africa as a
    whole, because most African countries have benefited by AGOA. I was
    telling the President that in my view, AGOA is perhaps the most
    significant thing that United States has done for sub-Saharan Africa in
    recent decades.

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        As some of us--some of you will know, initially Namibia and us--and
    Botswana were left out of AGOA I, as a result of the level of our--
    [inaudible]--and we have since been included under AGOA II. And so the
    only issue is that the dispensation, that concession should be
    maintained, therefore, as long as AGOA remains, because like the
    President, we believe in trade. Of course, we believe in aid too--
    [laughter]--so both aid and trade and cooperation.
        So that's what we have been talking about--of course, other things.
    But of course, there are a whole range of issues on which we consulted,
    reaching across the region, performance of our economy but the region of
    the south--of southern Africa and then sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.
        President Bush. Mr. President, thanks. Listen, we're so honored that
    you invited us here. We're thrilled to be here. You have been a very
    strong leader. First, I want to commend you for your leadership. I
    appreciate your commitment to democracy and freedom, to rule of law and
    transparency. I want to congratulate you for serving your country so
    very well.
        We did talk a lot of issues. We talked about the regional issues. We
    talked about the war on terror. We've got a great friend in the war on
    terror. We both understand that we must work together to share
    intelligence, to cut off money, to forever deny terrorists a chance to
    plot and plan and hurt those of us who love freedom.
        I talked--spent some time on the HIV/AIDS issue. Botswana, as a
    result of the President's leadership, has really been on the forefront
    of dealing with this serious problem by, first and foremost, admitting
    that there is a problem and then by working to put a strategy in place
    to prevent and treat and to provide help for those who suffer.
        And Mr. President, the United States of America stands squarely with
    you----
        President Mogae. Thank you.
        President Bush. ----with you and your Health Minister and your administration to help put together a strategy
    that will save lives.

        We talked about the shortage of food in parts of Africa. We had a
    wide-ranging discussion. And President Mogae is a strong, visionary
    leader who I'm proud to call friend.

        So thank you, Mr. President, for your hospitality.

        We'll be glad to answer a couple of questions. If you'd like to call
    on somebody from your press corps first----

        President Mogae. Does anyone want to ask----

        President Bush. That's not the way we do it in--[laughter].

    Zimbabwe

        Q. To the U.S. President, yesterday when you met President Mbeki of
    South Africa, the MDC leader in Zimbabwe was not very excited about
    that. He feels you were misled. What are your views on that? Did you
    have any plans for Zimbabwe, and did you shelve them because of what you
    heard yesterday or are you still going to go ahead with them?

        President Bush. Well, thank you very much. I made it very clear
    publicly, the position of this administration, and that is that we
    expect there to be democracy in Zimbabwe in order for the people of that
    country to advance. We did speak about Zimbabwe here. I explained why
    the Secretary of State and myself have been very outspoken on the
    subject. And we had a frank discussion with President Mbeki on Zimbabwe as well.

        It is--it's a shame that that economy has gotten so weak and soft--
    it's a shame for Botswana; it's a shame for southern Africa--and that
    the weakness in the economy is directly attributable to bad governance.
    And therefore, we will continue to speak out for democracy in Zimbabwe.

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        Ryan of Bloomberg [Ryan Donmoyer, Bloomberg News]. There he is. Hi,
    Ryan. How are you?

    Agricultural Subsidies

        Q. Mr. President, in Evian you and the Europeans talked about maybe
    reducing agricultural subsidies. Is this something that has come up in
    your meeting today? And what assurances can you give to your African
    counterparts that this is something that the U.S. is serious about?
        President Bush. Yes, that's a very good question. Absolutely, the
    subject of agricultural subsidies came up here today; it came up
    yesterday. I suspect--and it came up in Senegal. It will come up in
    every country we come to, because African leaders are worried that
    subsidies, agricultural subsidies, are undermining their capacity to
    become self-sufficient in food. That's part of the problem.
        The other part of the problem is the lack of technological
    development in agriculture. And we talked about the need for genetically
    modified crops throughout the continent of Africa.
        I told them the reality of the situation, that we have proposed a
    very strong reduction in agricultural subsidies. However, in order to
    make that come to be, there needs to be reciprocation from Europe and
    Japan in order to make the policy effective. We're committed to a world
    that trades in freedom, and we will work toward that through the Doha
    Round of the World Trade Organization.

    African Growth and Opportunity Act

        Q. To President Festus Mogae----
        President Mogae. Yes, yes. Okay.
        President Bush. This is a bad precedent, where the same person gets
    to ask two questions. [Laughter]
        Q. There was a sentiment that Your Honor was going to ask the U.S.
    President if AGOA, the lifespan of AGOA, could be extended. Was that
    done today?
        President Mogae. You bet. [Laughter]
        President Bush. In plain English.
        President Mogae. Yes.
        Q. And for how long?
        President Bush. Well, I've asked Congress to extend AGOA to '08,
    2008. And the President, of course, said, ``Well, fine, if that
    extension takes place, make sure we're a part of it.'' And he made his
    case very explicitly. Everybody in the delegation heard him clearly. And
    my response was, ``We will work closely with you to see if that can't
    happen.''
        Tamara [Tamara Lipper], Newsweek.

    Iraq/HIV/AIDS Initiative

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to try for two questions as
    well.
        President Bush. No, no, please don't do that. It may be the last
    question you get if you try. [Laughter] Go ahead.
        Q. On this trip you've highlighted a lot of different success
    stories in Africa, the countries that have been successful in fighting
    AIDS or on trade. What do you hope Americans who are watching you take
    from your trip here?
        And then secondly, on Iraq, given the sort of day-to-day challenges
    facing American soldiers there, how important--or is it increasingly
    important to find Saddam Hussein, and any updates on a hunt for him to
    really convince people he might be gone for good?
        President Bush. Well, let me start with Iraq. Having talked to Jerry
    Bremer, the man in charge of
    the civilian operations there, he believes that the vast majority of
    Iraqi citizens are thrilled that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. Secondly, there's no question
    we've got a security issue in Iraq, and we're just going to have to deal
    with person by person. We're going to have to remain tough.
        Now, part of the issue that we've got to make clear is that any
    terrorist acts on infrastructure by former Ba'athists, for example,
    really are attacks on the Iraqi people. And therefore, the more involved
    the Iraqi citizens become in securing their own

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    infrastructure and the more involved Iraqi citizens are in the
    transitional government, the more likely it is the average citizen will
    understand that once again the apologists for Saddam Hussein are bringing misery on their country.
        The world will see eventually as freedom spreads that--what Saddam
    Hussein did to the mentality of the Iraqi
    people. I mean, we've discovered torture chambers where people,
    citizens, were tortured just based upon their beliefs. We've discovered
    mass graves, graves for not only men and women but graves for children.
    We discovered a prison for children--all aimed at--for Saddam Hussein to
    intimidate the people of Iraq. And slowly but surely, the people of Iraq
    are learning the responsibility that comes with being a free society.
        We haven't been there long, I mean, relatively speaking. We've been
    there for 90 to 100 days--I don't have the exact number. But I will tell
    you, it's going to take more than 90 to 100 days for people to recognize
    the great joys of freedom and the responsibilities that come with
    freedom. We're making steady progress. A free Iraq will mean a peaceful
    world. And it's very important for us to stay the course, and we will
    stay the course.
        The first question was about what I want Americans to know. The
    first thing I wanted the leadership in Africa to know is the American
    people care deeply about the pandemic that sweeps across this continent,
    the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, that we're not only a powerful nation, we're
    also a compassionate nation.
        You know, I laid out a very strong initiative on helping countries
    in the continent of Africa deal with AIDS. It's a--to me, it's an
    expression of the great, good heart of the American people. It doesn't
    matter what political party or what the ideology of the American
    citizen, the average citizen cares deeply about the fact that people are
    dying in record numbers because of HIV/AIDS. We cry for the orphan. We
    care for the mom who is alone. We are concerned about the plight and,
    therefore, will respond as generously as we can.
        That's really the story that I want the people of Africa to hear.
    And I want the people of America to know that I'm willing to take that
    story to this continent and talk about the goodness of our country. And
    I believe we'll be successful, when it's all said and done, of making
    our intentions well-known.
        Listen, thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at approximately 11:43 a.m. at the Gaborone
    International Convention Centre. In his remarks, he referred to Minister
    of Health Joy Phumaphi of Botswana; President Thabo Mbeki of South
    Africa; L. Paul Bremer III, Presidential Envoy to Iraq; and former
    President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of these remarks.