[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[October 3, 2003]
[Pages 1235-1238]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Meeting With Former New York City Police 
Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik and an 
Exchange With Reporters
October 3, 2003

    The President. Thank you all for coming. I'll make a couple of 
statements. I'm going to ask Bernie Kerik to make a statement, and I'll 
answer two questions before I go to Milwaukee.
    First, I want to welcome Bernie Kerik to the South Lawn and to the 
Oval Office. We just had a fascinating discussion about what he did in 
Iraq, what he saw in Iraq. He can speak for himself. But let me 
characterize it this way, that he went to help the Iraqis organize a 
police force. He showed up at times of chaos and confusion. Because of 
his leadership, his knowledge, and his experience, he was able to stand 
up a police force in Baghdad in a very quick period of time. I think he 
told me he opened up 37 different precinct stations----
    Mr. Kerik. Thirty-five.
    The President. ----35 different precinct stations. They activated 
and trained 35,000

[[Page 1236]]

Iraqi police force. And that's important because the ultimate solution 
to the security issues in Iraq is for the Iraqi citizens to manage their 
own affairs.
    Bernie went there and made a big difference. And for that our Nation 
is very grateful. We appreciate it a lot.
    Mr. Kerik. Thank you.
    The President. We're going to start training police officers in 
Jordan soon. As well, tomorrow, 750 new Iraqi army soldiers will 
graduate from training. Part of our strategy is to enable the Iraqis to 
protect themselves. Mr. Kerik can speak to this, but in a very short 
period of time, we're making great progress. Iraq is becoming more 
secure, and that is good. It is good for our overall mission because a 
free and peaceful Iraq will mean that America is more secure.
    I'll make one other comment, then Bernie will say a few words.
    Mr. David Kay reported to the Nation. I want 
to thank him for his good work. He is a thoughtful man. He and his team 
have worked under very difficult circumstances. They have done a lot of 
work in 3 months, and he reported on an interim basis.
    The report states that Saddam Hussein's 
regime had a clandestine network of biological laboratories, a live 
strain of deadly agent botulinum, sophisticated concealment efforts, and 
advanced design work on prohibited longer range missiles. The report 
summarized the regime's efforts in this way, and I quote from the 
report: ``Iraq's WMD programs spanned more than two decades, involved 
thousands of people, billions of dollars, and was elaborately shielded 
by security and deception operations that continued even beyond the end 
of Operation Iraqi Freedom.''
    That is what the report said. Specifically, Dr. Kay's team discovered what the report calls, and I quote, 
``dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of 
equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the 
inspections that began in late 2002.''
    In addition to these extensive concealment efforts, Dr. Kay found systematic destruction of evidence of these 
illegal activities. This interim progress report is not final. Extensive 
work remains to be done on his biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons 
programs. But these findings already make clear that Saddam 
Hussein actively deceived the international 
community, that Saddam Hussein was in clear violation of United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1441, and that Saddam Hussein was a danger 
to the world.
    The Commissioner will say a few words.
    Mr. Kerik. Thank you. I just--first, I want to take this opportunity 
to thank the President for giving me the honor and allowing me to go to 
Iraq--to go to Iraq and help the Iraqi people, give the Iraq people back 
their country.
    And we did so--and we did so quite quickly, and that continues on a 
daily basis. Four months ago--4\1/2\ months ago, when I arrived in Iraq, 
there were no police--very few, if any. There were no police stations. 
There were no cars. There was no electricity. They didn't have 
telephones, communications, radios. They basically had nothing. They had 
no equipment. They had no weapons, except for those they had ordered 
kept on the side. In the last 4 months, we brought back more than 40,000 
police, 450 cars in Baghdad, stood up 35 police stations in Baghdad.
    And I know I constantly hear as I come back--I listen to the press, 
and I listen to some of the public, some of the criticism. And they talk 
about, ``It's taking too long.'' Well, try to stand up 35 police 
stations in New York City. It would take you about 11 years, depending 
on who is in the city council. It takes a while. You only have 24 hours 
in a day. But they have made tremendous progress. The police are 
working; they're working in conjunction with the military. They are 
arresting the Fedayeen Saddam and the Ba'athists.
    And I read some of the articles about this, about Dr. Kay's report 
today. In my

[[Page 1237]]

opinion, there was one weapon of mass destruction in Iraq, and it was 
Saddam Hussein. I visited the mass graves. I watched the videos of the 
Mukhabarat, the intelligence services, interrogate, torture, abuse, and 
execute people day after day. I watched them tie grenades to the necks 
of people or stuff grenades in the pockets of people as they interviewed 
them and then detonate those grenades and watch the people disappear. I 
watched a video of Saddam sitting in an office and allowing two Doberman 
Pinschers to eat alive a general, a military general because he did not 
trust his loyalty. There was one weapon of mass destruction. He's no 
longer in power, and I think that's what counts today.
    I understand, probably more than anyone, what a threat Iraq was and 
the people that threatened Iraq was. I was beneath the towers on 
September 11th when they fell. And I--again, I just--I want to thank the 
President for the honor in allowing me to go there, because I lost 23 
people. I wear this memorial band for the 23 I lost. They were defending 
the freedom of our country. I got to go on their behalf to Iraq, to 
bring freedom to Iraq and take one less threat away from us in this 
country. So, Mr. President, thank you.
    The President. Good job, Bernie.
    Mr. Kerik. Thank you, sir.
    The President. I'll answer a couple of questions.

Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction

    Q. Mr. President, are you still confident that you'll--that weapons 
of mass destruction will be found in Iraq? And how long do you think 
that that search will go on? Is that an open-ended search until 
something is found?
    The President. That's a question you need to ask David Kay. He'll be interviewing with the press today--his 
opinion. I can only report to what his interim report says.
    Q. Well----
    The President. Let me--let me finish, please.
    Q. Yes.
    The President. His interim report said that Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction program spanned more than two decades. That's what he said. 
See, he's over there under difficult circumstances and reports back. 
He says that the WMD program involved thousands of 
people, billions of dollars, and was elaborately shielded by security 
and deception operations that continued even beyond the end of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom. In other words, he's saying Saddam Hussein was a threat, a serious danger.

Decision on War in Iraq

    Q. There's a poll out in which a lot of people today are wondering 
whether the war was really worth the cost.
    The President. Yes.
    Q. How do you respond to that, sir?
    The President. Yes, I don't make decisions based upon polls. I make 
decisions based upon what I think is important for the security of the 
American people. And I'm not going to forget the lessons of 9/11, 
September 2001. I'm not going to forget what Mr. Kerik described, the 
bombing that killed innocent life. This administration will deal with 
gathering dangers where we find them. The interim report of Mr. Kay showed that Saddam defied 1441 and was a danger. We 
gave him ample time to deal with his weapons of mass destruction. He 
refused. So he's no longer in power, and the world is better off for it.
    I can't think of any people who think that the world would be a safe 
place with Saddam Hussein in power. Sometimes 
the American people like the decisions I make; sometimes they don't. But 
they need to know I'll make tough decisions based upon what I think is 
right, given the intelligence that I know, in order to do my job, which 
is secure this country and to bring peace.
    Thank you all.

[[Page 1238]]

    Q. But isn't the issue that you overstated the threat in the view of 
critics----
    The President. Bernie, you're a good man.

Note: The President spoke at 8:44 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to David Kay, CIA Special Advisor for 
Strategy Regarding Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs; and 
former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.