    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [November 17, 2003]
    [Pages 1566-1568]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With Members of the Governing Council of
    Iraq and Members of the Baghdad Advisory Council and an Exchange With
    Reporters
    November 17, 2003

        The President. It's been my honor to host one of the most
    extraordinary meetings I've had as the President of the United States.
    I'm seated here with five courageous, brave Iraqi women who believe in
    the people of Iraq, believe in the future of Iraq, who love their
    freedoms, who look forward to working to see that their nation is a free
    and peaceful country.
        The stories of these five courageous leaders is a story of human
    tragedy on the one hand and human hope on the other. And I am so honored
    that they're here. Two members of the Governing Council are with us.
    I'll ask each member to say a couple of words, and then I'll be glad to
    answer a couple of questions.
        Would you like to start? The leader of the delegation. And by the
    way, there is an extensive group of Iraqi women in the room next door
    that I will go talk to here in a minute with these--along with these
    other five leaders here.
        Raja Habib al-Khuzai. I lead the
    delegation of the 17 women, Iraqi women, and we represent Iraq. And all
    of us are different ethnic and religious groups, but we are from Iraq.
    And we are all Iraqis, and Iraq is just one nation. And we are looking
    forward to see the new, democratic Iraq, and everyone will live in
    peace. We don't like wars anymore, and we suffered a lot.
        Songul Chapouk. Yes. I'm also from the
    Governing Council. I'm also leading these women. And I am from the
    Turkoman community, and it's a pleasure for me to be in America. And I
    work for my people. I'd like to see Iraq have a new Government, and I'd
    like to see my people--more security. And I'd like to say that my people
    in Iraq, all of them, Kurdish, Turkoman, Arab, they're all working
    together. And the Sunni Triangle, there is no Sunni Triangle; they're
    all Iraqi.
        We all like Iraq. We all like America, and we don't want them let--
    we don't want them to leave us. We need them because

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    we have open borders and we don't have army and we don't have trained
    policemen, so we need them at this time. And we ask them to not leave
    us, please, at this time, because this is a very, very difficult
    condition for us. Our children like you, our children want you to stay,
    and all Iraqi people like your forces.
        Thank you very much.
        The President. I assured these five women that America wasn't
    leaving. When they hear me say, ``We're staying,'' that means we're
    staying. And that's precisely what the terrorists want to do, is to try
    to drive us out of Iraq before these leaders and other leaders are able
    to put their Government together and live in peace. And we will
    succeed--we will succeed.
        Let me answer a couple of questions. Hunt [Terence Hunt, Associated
    Press].

    Iraqi Transition/U.S. Cooperation

        Q. Sir, I'd like to pick up there on what you just said about
    ``America isn't leaving'' and what this woman said about they want us to
    stay. Is it fair to think of this provisional Government that's going to
    be established as any part of an exit strategy? Or----
        The President. No. The politics will go forward. The political
    process is moving on. The Iraqi people are plenty capable of governing
    themselves. We're in the process now of working with the Governing
    Council to put in place the necessary laws so that people feel
    comfortable about the evolution of the Government. The Governing Council
    itself is going to be making these decisions, and it's full of capable
    people.
        On the other hand, we will continue to work with the Iraqi people to
    secure its country. We fully recognize that Iraq has become a new front
    on the war on terror and that there are disgruntled Ba'athists as well
    as Fedayeen fighters and mujahideen types and Al Qaida types that want
    to test the will of the civilized world there. And we will work with
    Iraqis to bring people to justice. We talked about the high price the
    Iraqi citizens are paying. There's a lot of brave and courageous Iraqi
    soldiers and police who are chasing down these terrorists, and they're
    paying a price for it.
        And the reason I bring that up is, the Iraqi people want to be free.
    And we will continue to work with them to develop a free society. And a
    free Iraq is not only in the interests of these five courageous women; a
    free Iraq is in our interests. A free Iraq in a part of the world that
    is troublesome and dangerous will set such a good example. We're talking
    about an historic opportunity to change parts of the world, and Iraq
    will be the leader of that change.
        It's important for American citizens to know that what is taking
    place in Iraq will be in the long-term security interests for their
    children and their grandchildren. And I want to thank these five
    pioneers for freedom who are sitting here with me today.
        Last question, Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

    Al Qaida and Terrorist Attacks

        Q. Al Qaida appears to be taking responsibility for bombings in
    Istanbul, Riyadh, Baghdad. Are we seeing a reconstitution of Al Qaida?
        The President. We're seeing the nature of Al Qaida. They'll kill
    innocent people anywhere, anytime. That's just the way they are. They
    have no regard for human life. They claim they're religious people, but
    they're not. Religious people do not murder innocent citizens. Religious
    people don't just indiscriminately bomb.
        The bombing in Istanbul, I was told today, may have taken more
    Muslim lives than any other religion. They just kill, and they're trying
    to create fear and chaos.
        I had a good talk with Prime Minister Erdogan, who assured me that, one, he understood his
    responsibilities to protect people from all religions within his country
    and, two, that he would chase these killers down and bring them to
    justice. There's only one way to deal with Al Qaida: find

    [[Page 1568]]

    them and bring them to justice. And that's exactly what the United
    States and a lot of other nations, including a free Iraq, will do. We do
    this in the name of humanity. We do this in the name of freedom, and we
    do it in the name of peace.
        Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:57 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    Erdogan of Turkey.