[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[November 20, 2003]
[Pages 1580-1587]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom in London
November 20, 2003
Prime Minister Blair. Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, can I
extend the warmest possible welcome to the President of the United
States and to the First Lady to Downing Street and say how delighted I
am to see them both here.
And as you would expect, I think, I would like to say some words
about the latest terrorist outrage that has occurred today in Turkey.
First of all, I would wish to express my deepest sympathy and
condolences to the families of the victims. Some will be British; many
will be Turkish citizens. I would like to express my condolences also to
the Government and to the people of Turkey.
Once again we're reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to
innocent people everywhere and to our way of life. Once again we must
affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back,
no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it
wherever and whenever we can, and in defeating it utterly.
It should not lessen, incidentally, in any way at all our commitment
to Iraq. On the contrary, it shows how important it is to carry on until
terrorism is defeated there as well, because it is in a free,
democratic, and stable Iraq that not just the violence but the wretched
and backward philosophy
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of these terrorists will be defeated and destroyed.
Yesterday, as some of you will have heard, the President of the
United States delivered a powerful, telling speech extolling the virtues
of freedom, justice, democracy, and the rule of law, not just for some
people but for all the peoples of our world. Today the fanatics of
terror showed themselves to be callous, brutal murderers of the
innocent, and the contrast could not be more stark.
There may be some who think that Britain would gain from standing
back from this struggle, even some who believe that we and the United
States and our allies have somehow brought this upon ourselves. Let us
be very clear: America did not attack Al Qaida on September the 11th; Al
Qaida attacked America and, in doing so, attacked not just America but
the way of life of all people who believe in tolerance and freedom,
justice and peace.
Say we issue for you, in the light of this latest outrage, a short
summary on the casualties and cost of terrorism. It's quite interesting
to see just how many countries have been affected, what the cost of
terrorism is, how many thousands of people have died over this past
period of time--many of the victims, incidentally, Muslim people, not
least the civilians murdered in Iraq.
So this is a time to show strength, determination, and complete
resolve. This terrorism is the 21st century threat. It is a war that
strikes at the heart of all that we hold dear, and there is only one
response that is possible or rational: to meet their will to inflict
terror with a greater will to defeat it; to confront their philosophy of
hate with our own of tolerance and freedom; and to challenge their
desire to frighten us, divide us, unnerve us, with an unshakable unity
of purpose; to stand side by side with the United States of America and
with our other allies in the world to rid our world of this evil once
and for all.
In the course of the discussions that President Bush and myself had
yesterday and today, we also, of course, discussed many other issues,
and let me just run through a few of those with you. There will be two
communiques put out afterwards, one on Iraq, one on the other issues we
discussed, and I can just simply list them for you.
Obviously, we discussed the situation in relation to the WTO and
world trade and the issues to do with steel, with which we're familiar.
We agreed a special joint task force on the issue of HIV/AIDS in
relation to global health, a preoccupation of both our Governments. We,
of course, discussed the issues to do with weapons of mass destruction
and the threat that it poses; the Middle East and the Middle East peace
process. And since we have the successive G-8 chairmanships in the next
couple of years, we also discussed how we might use those to make
progress on all these issues, including some of the challenging and
difficult issues to do with climate change, world trade, and poverty.
So, once again, Mr. President, welcome here. It's a very, very great
pleasure and honor to have you here in our country, and we're delighted
to see you. Thank you for that magnificent speech yesterday. And it's my
pleasure to ask you to address this simple gathering.
President Bush. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. It's my honor to be
standing by the side of a friend. And Laura and I
were so honored to be invited by Her Majesty the Queen to come to the United Kingdom for this state visit. It's
been a fantastic experience for us.
I also want to express my deep sympathy for the loss of life in
Turkey. The nature of the terrorist enemy is evident once again. We see
their contempt--their utter contempt--for innocent life. They hate
freedom. They hate free nations. Today, once again, we saw their
ambitions of murder. The cruelty is part of their strategy. The
terrorists hope to intimidate. They
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hope to demoralize. They particularly want to intimidate and demoralize
free nations. They're not going to succeed.
Great Britain, America, and other free nations are united today in
our grief and united in our determination to fight and defeat this evil
wherever it is found. Britain and America have shared the suffering
caused by terrorism before. On September the 11th, 2001, no country
except America lost more lives than Britain. Since that day, no ally has
accomplished more or sacrificed more in our common struggle to end
terror, and we are grateful.
Our shared work of democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq is essential to
the defeat of global terrorism. The spread of freedom and the hope it
brings is the surest way in the long term to combat despair and anger
and resentment that feeds terror. The advance of freedom and hope in the
greater Middle East will better the lives of millions of that region and
increase the security of our own people.
I've just come from a meeting with families of British servicemen
who were killed in Iraq. These brave men died for the security of this
country and in the cause of human freedom. Our nations honor their
sacrifice. I pray for the comfort of the families.
Our mission in Iraq is noble and it is necessary. No act of thugs or
killers will change our resolve or alter their fate. A free Iraq will be
free of them. We will finish the job we have begun.
Together, Great Britain and the United States met the defining
challenges of the last century. Together, we're meeting new challenges,
challenges that have come to our generation. In all that lies ahead in
the defense of freedom and the advance of democracy, our two nations
will continue to stand together.
I'm honored to be here, Mr. Prime Minister. I thank you for your
leadership and your friendship.
Prime Minister Blair. We'll take three questions from British
journalists, three questions from U.S. journalists. Andy, you start us
off.
Timetable for Iraq
Q. Andy Marr from the BBC. Could I ask both leaders about the agenda
on Iraq? You are both engaged in an unpredictable and dangerous war, as
we've seen today. And yet, you say you want to bring the troops home
starting from next year. Now, how is that possible when the security
situation is still so unresolved? You haven't got Saddam Hussein. Aren't
you stuck in Iraq, with your enemies holding the exit door?
President Bush. I said that we're going to bring our troops home
starting next year? What I've said is that we'll match the security
needs with the number of troops necessary to secure Iraq. And we're
relying upon our commanders on the ground to make those decisions.
Q. So you'll keep a certain number of troops in Iraq for a longer
time?
President Bush. We could have less troops in Iraq; we could have the
same number of troops in Iraq; we could have more troops in Iraq, what
is ever necessary to secure Iraq.
Prime Minister Blair. Let me make it absolutely clear for our
position as well. We stay until the job gets done. And what this latest
terrorist outrage shows us is that this is a war; its main battleground
is Iraq. We have got to make sure we defeat these terrorists, the former
Saddam people in Iraq, and we must do that because that is an essential
part of defeating this fanaticism and extremism that is killing innocent
people all over our world today.
And I can assure you of one thing, that when something like this
happens today, our response is not to flinch or give way or concede one
inch. We stand absolutely firm until this job is done--done in Iraq,
done elsewhere in the world.
President Bush. Andy, if I may have a followup to--it's kind of a
new thing, a followup to the answer. One thing that's happening that you
need to know that will
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help us make the necessary calculations for troop levels is that there's
a lot of Iraqis beginning to be trained to deal with the issue on the
ground. There's Iraqis being trained for an army. There's Iraqis being
trained for an intelligence service. There's Iraqis being trained for
additional police work. There are Iraqis being trained for asset
protection. There are Iraqis being trained for border guards. There's
over 130,000 Iraqis now who have been trained, who are working for their
own security. So part of the answer to your question is how fast the new
brigades of Iraqi army are stood up, how effective they are.
We believe that the Iraqi citizens want to be free. We know that
they're willing to work for their own freedom. And the more people
working for their own freedom, the more we can put that into our
calculations as to troop levels.
Thank you for letting me butt in there, again.
Tom.
Terrorist Attacks/Transition Plan for Iraq
Q. Tom Raum from the Associated Press. For both of you, Mr.
President, Mr. Prime Minister, do the attacks today, do you view them as
a direct attack on the alliance? And does the fact that these attacks
are coming sort of with an increasing intensity and randomness, does
that make it less likely that you'll be able to turn over sovereignty to
an Iraqi council by June?
President Bush. Well, first of all, in Iraq, we're working on two
tracks. We're working on a political track, and we believe that the
timetable that the Governing Council has set for itself is an accurate
timetable. And we'll work with the Governing Council to turn over
sovereignty.
It's their decision, and we agreed with their decision, based upon
the conditions on the ground. And some of those conditions were the fact
that there wasn't the sectarian violence that was predicted. Iraq
remained intact. There wasn't the mass of refugee flows that had been
predicted. There wasn't starvation that had been predicted. In other
words, the conditions on the ground were such that the Governing Council
felt like they could move forward in a constructive way, and we
supported that.
Secondly, these terrorist attacks are attacks on freedom, and they
attack when they can. And our job is to secure our homelands and chase
down these killers and bring them to justice. And we're making good
progress with Al Qaida. And if you were to view Al Qaida's organization
structure as kind of a board of directors and then there would be the
operating management, we are dismantling the operating management, one
person at a time. We're on an international manhunt.
That's why relations and cooperation between our intelligence
services are essential to secure the people of our respective countries.
And I will tell you, the Prime Minister's cooperation has just been
unbelievably good, as has the intelligence service of Great Britain, a
fine group of people, by the way, people who are dedicating their lives
to the security of the people of this great country. And the more we
share intelligence with other nations, the more likely it is that we'll
be able to rout out these terrorists.
That's why the phone call I had with Prime Minister Erdogan was an important phone call, when I assured him
we're willing to work with the Turkish Government, as are the Brits
willing to work with the Turkish Government, to share information and to
find these killers so they don't kill again.
I don't know the nature of the casualties today, but I do know the
nature of the casualties in the recent attack in Istanbul. More Muslims
died in that attack. These are Al Qaida killers killing Muslims, and
they need to be stopped, and we will stop them.
Prime Minister Blair. See, here's where we got to--we've got to see
what this struggle is about, because you can see it clearer
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and clearer day-by-day. This is a struggle between fanaticism and
extremism on the one hand and people who believe in freedom and in
tolerance on the other. And these attacks have been building for years.
They came to their height, okay, on September the 11th, but that
actually wasn't the first attack that Al Qaida was perpetrating against
America and other countries. And you look round the world today, and I
tell you, in virtually every place there is trouble and difficulty,
these terrorists and fanatics are making it worse, whether it's Kashmir,
whether it's Palestine, whether it's Chechnya, wherever it is. And
they're prepared to kill anyone. They're prepared to shed any amount of
bloodshed, because they know how important this battle is.
And here's why Iraq is important in this; because in the end, their
case, which is based on dividing people--the Arab world and the Western
world, the Muslim world and the Christian world and other religions--
their case is that we are in Iraq to suppress Muslims, steal their oil,
to spoil the country. Now, we know you know that all those things are
lies. They know, therefore, that if we manage to get Iraq on its feet as
a stable, prosperous, democratic country, the blow we strike is not just
one for the Iraqi people; it is the end of that propaganda. And that's
why they're fighting us.
And when you say, is this attack today directed at our alliance?
It's directed at anybody who stands in the way of this fanaticism. And
that's why our response has got to be to say to them, as clearly as we
possibly can, ``You are not going to defeat us because our will to
defend what we believe in is actually, in the end, stronger, better,
more determined than your will to inflict damage on innocent people.''
And that's what this whole thing is about. That's why when I hear
people talking about the alliance between our two countries, this is not
an alliance that's based on simply Britain and America and the ties that
go back in history and all the rest of it. This is a real living
alliance about the struggle going on today, in the early 21st century.
And if we don't win this struggle, it's not just Britain and America
that's going to suffer. People everywhere are going to suffer, and
that's why it's important.
If they think that when they go and kill people by these terrorist
attacks, they are going to somehow weaken us or make us think, ``Well,
let's shuffle to the back of the queue and hide away from this,'' they
are wrong. That is not the tradition of my country, and it's not the
tradition of the British people or the American people.
Adam [Adam Boulton, Sky News].
British Detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Q. What do you say to those people, both those who support what your
two Governments have done since September 11th and those who oppose it,
that in fact the treatment of the captives in Guantanamo Bay actually
belies all your talk of freedom, justice, and tolerance? And on a
specific point, in view of the comments from the Secretary of State and
from Charles Kennedy and Michael Howard, is there on the minority of
British nationals held captive an explicit offer from the United States
to repatriate them? And if that depends on a request from you, Prime
Minister, are you prepared to make it now?
Prime Minister Blair. First of all, let me just deal with the very
specific issue of the British nationals over in Guantanamo Bay. We are
in discussion about this. I've already said in the House of Commons it
will be resolved in one of two ways. Either they will be tried by the
military commission out there, or alternatively, they'll be brought back
here. Now, we're in discussion at the moment----
Q. How----
Prime Minister Blair. It will be resolved at some point or other.
It's not going to be resolved today, but it will be resolved at some
point soon.
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Let me just say this to you, however, about Guantanamo Bay. Indeed,
the people that are there--again, let's just remember, this arose out of
the battle in Afghanistan, that arose out of September the 11th and the
attack there. And the very fact that we are in discussion about making
sure there are fair procedures for trial--or alternatively, it's up to
us, as the President very fairly has said, these people come back here--
is an indication that we actually treat people differently. So even
though this arose out of this appalling, brutal attack on America on
September the 11th, nonetheless, we make sure that justice is done for
people.
President Bush. These are--justice is being done. These are illegal
noncombatants picked up off of a battlefield, and they are being treated
in a humane fashion. And we are sorting through them on a case-by-case
basis. There is a court procedure in place that will allow them to be
tried in fair fashion. As to the issue of the British citizens, we're
working with the British Government.
Randy [Randall Mikkelsen, Reuters].
Trade Policy/The Doha Round
Q. Mr. President and Mr. Blair, how accurate would it be to conclude
that the new China trade quotas, along with a weakening dollar and your
disagreement with the WTO on steel, altogether constitute a reelection
strategy of boosting U.S. exports at the expense of free trade
principles?
And Mr. Blair, I'd like to know how these policies are affecting
Europe and the U.K.
Prime Minister Blair. Mr. President, you should answer that one
first. [Laughter]
President Bush. My administration is committed to free trade--the
first administration in a long time to achieve trade promotion authority
from the Congress. And we're using that to promote free trade agreements
on a bilateral basis, on a hemispheric basis. And we're strongly
advocating a successful round for the--the Doha round of the WTO.
Secondly, free trade agreements require people honoring the
agreements. And there are market disruptions involved with certain
Chinese textiles; we're addressing those disruptions. And we look
forward to visiting with our Chinese counterparts on this particular
matter. And as I have been saying publicly, that free trade also
requires a level playing field for trade.
In terms of the steel issue, it's an issue that the Prime Minister
has brought up not once, not twice, but three times. It's on his mind.
It's also on my mind. And I'm reviewing the findings about the
restructuring of our steel industry, which is--the ITC ruling basically
said that the industry needs some breathing time to restructure. I'm
looking at the findings right now and will make a timely decision.
But I will reiterate, we believe strongly in free trade. We just
want to make sure that free trade is also trade in which all parties are
treated fairly.
Prime Minister Blair. Obviously, we've stated opposition. I know the
President is well aware of it, and as you just heard, the administration
will make its decision in the coming period of time.
The other thing I would draw your attention to is the joint belief
in the importance of the WTO doing well and getting the deadlock that
there was at Cancun resolved. That's immensely important.
And never forget, incidentally--I said this in the House of Commons
yesterday--whatever the disagreements on trade between Europe and
America--and ever since I've been Prime Minister there have been such
disagreements on particular issues--trade between Europe and America is
vast. In fact, I think it is right to say it has doubled since 1989. It
amounts to a huge amount of money and jobs both ways every single year.
So that's not to say we don't have to resolve these issues, and I hope
we can resolve them soon, but I
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don't think we should forget the bigger picture, either.
Nick.
London Demonstrations/War on Terror
Q. Nick Robinson, ITV News. What do you say to people who today
conclude that British people have died and been maimed as a result of
you appearing here today, shoulder-to-shoulder with a controversial
American President?
And Mr. President, if I could ask you, with thousands on the
street--with thousands marching on the streets today here in London, a
free nation, what is your conclusion as to why apparently so many free
citizens fear you and even hate you?
President Bush. I'd say freedom is beautiful. It's a fantastic thing
to come to a country where people are able to express their views.
Q. Why do they hate you, Mr. President? Why do they hate you in such
numbers?
President Bush. I don't know that they do. All I know is that it's--
that people in Baghdad, for example, weren't allowed to do this up until
recent history. They're not spending a lot of time in North Korea
protesting the current leadership. Freedom is a wonderful thing, and I
respect that. I fully understand people don't agree with war. But I hope
they agree with peace and freedom and liberty. I hope they care deeply
about the fact that when we find suffering and torture and mass graves,
we weep for the citizens that are being brutalized by tyrants.
And finally, the Prime Minister and I have a solemn duty to protect
our people, and that's exactly what I intend to do as the President of
the United States, protect the people of my country.
Prime Minister Blair. To answer your first question and your other,
indeed, people have the right to protest and to demonstrate in our
countries, and I think that's part of our democracy. And all I say to
people is--and this is the importance, I think, of the speech the
President made yesterday--listen to our case as well. I mean, we listen.
That's what a democratic exchange should be about, but listen to the
case that we are making.
Because there is something truly bizarre about a situation where we
have driven the Taliban out of Government in Afghanistan, who used to
stop women going about the street as they wished, who used to prevent
girls going to school, who brutalized and terrorized their population,
there's something bizarre about having got rid of Saddam in Iraq from
the Government of Iraq, when we've already discovered just so far the
remains of 400,000 people in mass graves--there is something bizarre
about these situations happening and people saying that they disagree,
when the effect of us not doing this would be that the Taliban was still
in Afghanistan and Saddam was still in charge of Iraq. And I think
people have got to accept that that is the consequence of the position
therein.
Now, as for your first point, just let me say this. What has caused
the terrorist attack today in Turkey is not the President of the United
States, is not the alliance between America and Britain. What is
responsible for that terrorist attack is terrorism, are the terrorists.
And our response has got to be to unify in that situation, to put the
responsibility squarely on those who are killing and murdering innocent
people, and to say, ``We are going to defeat you, and we're not going to
back down or flinch at all from this struggle.'' For all the reasons
I've given you earlier, this is what this struggle is about.
And when you look--as you can see from the list of the people from
60 different nationalities who have died in terrorist attacks, thousands
of people from every religion, every part of the world, you aren't going
to stop these people by trying to compromise with them, by hesitating in
the face of this menace. It's defeat them or be defeated by them. That's
what we're going to do.
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Religion/Shared Values
Q. Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister. Mr. President, when
you talk about peace in the Middle East, you've often said that freedom
is granted by the Almighty. Some people who share your beliefs don't
believe that Muslims worship the same Almighty. I wondered about your
views on that.
And Mr. Prime Minister, as a man also of faith, I'd like to get your
reaction to that.
President Bush. I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to
every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's
gift to the world. It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe
we worship the same God.
Prime Minister Blair. And I believe that if people are given the
chance to have freedom, whatever part of the world they're in, whatever
religion they practice, whatever faith they have, if they're given the
chance to have freedom, they welcome it. And I think it is the most
appalling delusion that actually affects some people even within our own
societies that somehow, though we in our countries love freedom and
would defend freedom, somehow other people in other parts of the world
don't like it.
And the reason why they like freedom is because then, if you've got
freedom and democracy and the rule of law, you can raise your family,
you can earn a decent standard of living, you can go about your daily
business without fear of the secret police or terrorism. And in those
types of societies, the terrorists who thrive on hatred and fanaticism,
they get no breathing ground, they get no breathing space.
And the really important thing--and I just wanted to say this about
the President's speech yesterday, because I hope--people sometimes say
to me, ``Well, you've got a Republican President, a center-left
Government here in Britain, how can you two guys work together?'' On
this issue, I believe people from whatever side of the political
spectrum they're on can respond to the call, that in the end, the best
security we can have is not just through our armed forces and
intelligence services, magnificent though they are, but actually through
our values, through the spread of those values of freedom and justice
and tolerance throughout the world.
And the case the President made yesterday, I think, is a really
powerful call, not just to people in our own countries but to people
right throughout the world, that these are basic human values. They're
not the--in the ownership exclusively of America or Britain or the West
or any particular religion; they're human values. And actually, every
time you give people the chance to have those values, they opt for them.
Of course they do, because they're the values that sustain the human
spirit.
Note: The President's news conference began at 12:15 p.m. at the Foreign
and Commonwealth Offices, 10 Downing Street. In his remarks, the
President referred to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom; and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Prime Minister Blair
referred to former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. A reporter referred
to Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats party of the United
Kingdom; and Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative Party of the
United Kingdom.