[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
[June 15, 2004]
[Pages 1046-1055]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan
June 15, 2004

    President Bush. Good day. Laura and I are 
pleased to welcome President Karzai back to the White House--really glad 
you're here.

    President Karzai. Thank you very much.

    President Bush. Thanks for the good visit, and I'm looking forward 
to having a good lunch with you and your delegation.

    President Karzai. Well, I'm looking forward to that.
    President Bush. President Karzai recently visited Fort Drum and 
thanked American troops on behalf of the Afghan people----
    President Karzai. Yes.
    President Bush. ----for their service and sacrifice. And Mr. 
President, that was a sign of a true friend. I want to thank you for 
doing that.
    President Karzai. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. I also appreciate your honor and your courage and 
your skill in

[[Page 1047]]

helping to build a new and democratic Afghanistan. You've been 
instrumental in lifting your country from the ashes of two decades of 
war and oppression. Under your leadership, Afghanistan's progress has 
been dramatic.
    Three years ago, the Taliban had granted Usama bin Laden and his terrorist Al Qaida organization a safe refuge. 
Today, the Taliban has been deposed; Al Qaida is in hiding; and 
coalition forces continue to hunt down the remnants and holdouts. 
Coalition forces, including many brave Afghans, have brought America, 
Afghanistan, and the free world its first victory in the war on terror. 
Afghanistan is no longer a terrorist factory sending thousands of 
killers into the world.
    Three years ago, 70 percent of Afghans were malnourished, and one in 
four Afghan children never saw their 5th birthday.
    President Karzai. Yes.
    President Bush. Today, clean water is being provided throughout the 
country; hospitals and clinics have been rehabilitated; and millions of 
children have been vaccinated against measles and polio.
    Three years ago, women were viciously oppressed and forbidden to 
work outside the home and even denied what little medical treatment was 
available. Today, women are going to school, and their rights are 
protected in Afghanistan's Constitution.
    President Karzai. Yes.
    President Bush. That document sets aside a certain number of seats 
for women in the National Assembly, and women will soon compete for 
those seats in open elections this September.
    Three years ago, the smallest displays of joy were outlawed. Women 
were beaten for wearing brightly colored shoes. Even the playing of 
music and the flying of kites were outlawed. Today, we witness the 
rebirth of a vibrant Afghan culture. Music fills the marketplaces, and 
people are free to come together to celebrate in open.
    Afghanistan's journey to democracy and peace deserves the support 
and respect of every nation, because free nations do not breed the 
ideology of terror. Last week, at the G-8 summit, President Karzai 
talked with world leaders about the challenges of building a secure and 
stable country.
    My Government reaffirms its ironclad commitment to help Afghanistan 
succeed and prosper. Security is essential for steady progress and 
growth. The forces of many nations are working hard with Afghans to find 
and defeat Taliban remnants and eliminate Al Qaida terrorists. We're 
helping to build the new Afghan national army and to train new Afghan 
police and border patrol. Together, we will maintain the peace, secure 
Afghanistan's borders, and deny terrorists any foothold in that country.
    I'm proud to call President Karzai a strong ally in the war on 
terror.
    The United States is also joining with Afghanistan to announce five 
new initiatives that will help the Afghan people achieve the peace, 
stability, and prosperity they deserve. First, the United States pledges 
its full support as Afghans continue to build the institutions of 
democracy. America will launch an ambitious training program for newly 
elected Afghan politicians and help newly elected Assembly members 
better serve those who elected them.
    Second, Afghanistan and America are working together to print 
millions of new textbooks and to build modern schools in every Afghan 
province. Girls as well as boys are going to school, and they are 
studying under a new curriculum that promotes religious and ethnic 
tolerance. We pledge to continue this progress through a new $4 million 
women's teacher training institute in Kabul. Graduates of this 
innovative program will return to their provinces and rural districts to 
train other teachers in the crusade against illiteracy.
    Education can be nurtured in other ways as well. Cultural exchange 
programs help to foster understanding and respect as well as accelerate 
progress. Last year, close to 100 Afghans studied here in various 
training programs. More want to come to learn

[[Page 1048]]

and to share their experiences, so our third initiative will expand 
these opportunities to include more than 250 qualified Afghans who will 
participate in Humphrey, Fulbright, Cochran, and other exchange 
programs.
    Fourth, to promote bilateral economic ties, the United States and 
Afghanistan announced our intent to pursue a bilateral trade and 
investment framework agreement. Years of war and tyranny have eroded 
Afghanistan's economy and infrastructure, yet a revival is underway. 
Afghans are busy starting their own businesses. Some 15,000 licenses 
have already been issued for foreign businesses and investors to explore 
economic opportunities in Afghanistan. Working with Japan, we have 
rebuilt the Kandahar-Kabul highway, a vital commercial and 
transportation link between Afghanistan's two largest cities. A 
bilateral trade agreement will add new fuel to the economic revival.
    And finally, we pledge to continue our efforts to create 
opportunities for women. The United States is dedicating $5 million to 
fund training programs and grants for small businesses. Under the 
Taliban, women were oppressed; their potential was ignored. Under 
President Karzai's leadership, that has changed dramatically. A number 
of innovative programs designed in collaboration with the Afghan 
Government are increasing the role of women in the private sector. The 
traditional funding we announce today--the additional funding we 
announce today will provide Afghan women with small-business grants and 
training in business management skills. As my wife, Laura, has said, no society can prosper when half of its 
population is not allowed to contribute to its progress.
    The road ahead for Afghanistan is still long and difficult. Yet, the 
Afghan people can know that their country will never be abandoned to 
terrorists and killers. The world and the United States stands with them 
as partners in their quest for peace and prosperity and stability and 
democracy.
    Welcome, President, glad you're here.
    President Karzai. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. President, 
it's a tremendous privilege and honor for us to be invited again by you 
and the First Lady to the White House. It was a great honor for me today 
to be speaking to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. I will cherish 
that memory of talking to the representatives of the American people.
    There, today I thanked America for the help that it gave us liberate 
ourselves and rebuild ourselves and prosper. That help has been the 
source of all growth in the past 2 years. Our economy in the year 2002 
grew by 30 percent, in the year 2003 by 25 percent or more. In the year 
2004, the growth is estimated to be 20 percent. And we are hoping, as 
some of the banks have predicted, that the Afghan economy will grow 'til 
2008 by 15 percent, and beyond that, for another 5 years, by 10 percent.
    Thank you very much. This could have not been possible without your 
help, without America's assistance.
    We are sending today 5 million children to school. Almost half of 
those children are girls. Our universities are open. Our universities 
are coming up in all--all over the country, in all the provinces of the 
country.
    We are building a national army, a vital institution for the defense 
of our country. You want us to stand on our own feet; you want us to 
defend our own sovereignty and provide security to our people; and 
you're helping us do that. The national army of Afghanistan is popular 
with the Afghan people. Wherever they go, people receive them with 
welcome. In Farah Province, where they went some months ago, school 
girls and boys gave them flowers. Thank you very much for that.
    We are also building our police forces. We have a constitution that 
we have today which is the most enlightened in that part of the world. 
And that constitution has been made possible because of the liberation 
that you helped us gain and because of the stability that the United 
States

[[Page 1049]]

helped us have in Afghanistan. As a result of that, we have a 
constitution that sets us as an example of an Islamic democratic state. 
Thank you very much, Mr. President, for that.
    We are looking forward in this relationship to a stronger 
relationship, and I'm sure the United States will remain committed to 
Afghanistan.
    Afghanistan is, in the month of September, looking forward to 
elections--Presidential elections and elections of parliament and 
elections of the provincial assemblies and district assemblies. So far, 
we have registered 3.8 million voters, and out of the 3.8 million 
voters, Mr. President, 35.4 percent are, so far, women. And as the trend 
continues, as we move forward to the registration of more voters, the 
number of women registering will exceed, definitely, 40 percent. In 
certain parts of the country, in the central highlands, today I learned 
that the registration of women has exceeded that of men. They are more 
than 50 percent. This could have not been achieved in Afghanistan 
without your help and that of the international community.
    Afghanistan has problems too. Among the problems is the question of 
drugs. The Afghan Government is adamant, the Afghan people are adamant 
to fight this menace, to end it in Afghanistan, and we seek your help in 
that.
    Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's been nice visiting the 
United States again. One likes to stay here and not go, it's such a good 
country. [Laughter] Thanks very much.
    President Bush. Get home and get to work, will you?
    President Karzai. Thank you, yes. [Laughter]
    President Bush. We'll answer some questions, in the tradition of 
democratic societies. Are you ready?
    President Karzai. I'm ready.
    President Bush. We'll start with Hunt [Terence Hunt, Associated 
Press].
    President Karzai. I now know, Mr. President, what the free press 
means. We have it in Afghanistan.
    President Bush. That's good.
    Hunt.

Saddam Hussein/Usama bin Laden and Mullah Omar

    Q. Mr. President, Iraq's Prime Minister says the new government 
expects to take custody of Saddam Hussein and all other detainees when 
sovereignty is transferred in about 2 weeks, and your spokesman says 
that that's under consideration. Will you turn him over by that date, 
and what factors are you weighing in that decision?
    And President Karzai, who will try Usama bin Laden and Mullah Omar 
when they're caught?
    President Bush. We're working with the Iraqi government on a couple 
of issues. One is the appropriate time for the transfer of Saddam 
Hussein, and secondly, we're working to make sure there's appropriate 
security. I mean, one thing, obviously, is that we don't want and I know 
the Iraqi interim government doesn't want is there to be lax security 
and for Saddam Hussein to somehow not stand trial for the horrendous 
murders and torture that he inflicted upon the Iraqi people. So we're 
working with them.
    President Karzai. Usama and Mullah Omar have committed crimes 
against the Afghan people, against the people in the United States, and 
against the international community. They are international criminals. 
They are wanted by the international community. They are wanted by the 
world conscience. They have to be arrested and tried. And when they are 
arrested, we will consult the international community and find 
appropriate mechanism for their trial.
    President Bush. Caren [Caren Bohan, Reuters].

[[Page 1050]]

Muqtada Al Sadr

    Q. Mr. President, you've referred to Muqtada Al Sadr as a thug, and 
your administration has promised to bring him to justice. Is it 
appropriate for the new interim Iraqi government to now welcome him into 
the political fold?
    President Bush. The interim Iraqi government will deal with Al Sadr 
in the way they see fit. That's--they're sovereign. When we say we 
transfer full sovereignty, we mean we transfer full sovereignty, and 
they will deal with him appropriately.
    Let's see here. Do you want to run the table, or do you want to go 
eat lunch?
    President Karzai. Go ahead.
    President Bush. Run the table, okay.
    Holly [Holly Rosenkrantz, Bloomberg News].
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Hold on a second, I'll get you in a minute, please. 
A little patience in front of the President here.
    Holly.

U.S. Economy

    Q. Mr. President, there are signs that inflation may be on the 
horizon in the U.S. economy. How concerned are you about this? What are 
you--I mean, do you think this might slow down the recovery that you've 
been so happy about? Also, if I can ask you a followup on the security 
about Saddam Hussein. What guarantee----
    President Bush. How many questions? One question apiece. If we're 
going to stand out here in 100-degree temperature, let's just have one 
question.
    Q. Okay.
    President Bush. You can pass your question on to some other person, 
and I might call on them. I'm not so sure I'm going to be so 
international this press conference. [Laughter]
    The first question was about am I concerned about economic vitality? 
I'm pleased with--what?
    Q. ----inflation----
    President Bush. No, I thought you said am I worried that inflation 
is going to--what I'm pleased about is the fact that our economy is 
strong and is getting stronger. All indications are--is that the 
economic stimulus plan we put in place is working. There's strong 
growth. There is--there are new jobs being added. Consumer spending is 
up. Disposable--after-tax disposable income is high. In other words, the 
ingredients for continued economic growth are present, and I'm very 
pleased. I'm particularly pleased because it means that workers are able 
to do their duties to their families.
    And I am an optimistic person. I guess if you want to try to find 
something to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard 
you look, you know? I'm optimistic. I have seen what we have come 
through. We've been through a recession, a national emergency, corporate 
scandals, a war, and yet, our economy is incredibly strong, which speaks 
to the great vitality of the American entrepreneurial spirit and the 
vibrancy of the small-business sector. And the plans we put in place are 
working.
    There's more to do. We need an energy plan out of the United States 
Congress if we expect our economy to grow in the long term. We need tort 
reform. We need to make sure that the--we deal with the cost of health 
care in a rational way by not empowering the Federal Government, I might 
add, but by empowering consumers. And I've laid out such a plan to do 
so.
    I mean, there's other things we need to do. We need to make sure 
that we don't become economic isolationists. And--no, I'm optimistic 
about the future.
    Roberts [John Roberts, CBS News], I take it you had a question to 
ask.
    Q. If I could just pick up on that, sir, about pessimism. Your 
presumed Democratic challenger is spending this week and next harshly 
critical of your economic policies. And while things have looked good in 
the last few months, could the case not be made that over the longer 
term of your administration, that you're still operating at

[[Page 1051]]

an economic deficit? And what do you plan to do to avoid the fate of 
Bush 41, who didn't get credit for an improving economy in an election 
year?
    President Bush. Well, I think one thing the American people have 
seen is that I know how to lead. When I first came to office, the 
economy was headed into a recession, and we acted. We acted in a way 
that called upon the true strength of the American people, and that is, 
we encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish by letting people 
keep more of their own money. In other words, some might have said, 
``Well, let's strengthen the Federal Government.'' I made the decision 
to strengthen the pocketbooks of the people. And they had more money to 
spend, and our policy is working.
    And not only that, we stimulated growth in the small-business 
sector. See, I recognized most new jobs are created by small-business 
owners, and a significant part of the economic stimulus plan was aimed 
at small businesses so that they would have confidence to expand and 
grow, and they have.
    And we also have overcome corporate scandal, which we acted in a 
bipartisan fashion on to make it clear that we're not going to tolerate 
dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. In other words, we acted, and 
the economy is getting better.
    We've overcome a lot. We've overcome a lot through good policy, but 
we've overcome a lot because I have great faith in the American people, 
in the small-business owners and the entrepreneurs and the workers of 
the country. And we're getting--not only are we strong today, we're 
getting stronger. Our economy is the strongest of any major 
industrialized nation in the world, and there's more work to do, see.
    Go ahead, Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News]. No, you've asked your 
question. Terry. Hold on for a second. Terry. Thank you, though.

Transfer of Iraqi Prisoners/Saddam Hussein

    Q. Mr. President, back on the Iraqis being detained by U.S. forces. 
If the Iraqi government is truly going to be sovereign after June 30th, 
and if they are expressing the desire to take control over their own 
citizens----
    President Bush. Right.
    Q. ----and the coalition disappears, by what authority----
    President Bush. And what coalition disappears?
    Q. If the Coalition Provisional Authority, I'm sorry----
    President Bush. Okay.
    Q. ----the entity disappears----
    President Bush. Yes.
    Q. ----by what authority does the United States continue to hold the 
citizens of a sovereign country?
    President Bush. I fully agree that it's a sovereign country. That's 
why we're working with them to make sure that there is good security. 
Look, nobody wants Saddam Hussein to leave, and when there's a transfer 
of responsibility, we want to make sure that he is secure. He's a 
killer. He is a thug. He needs to be brought to trial. We want to make 
sure that the transfer to a sovereign government is done in a timely way 
and in a secure way. That's what we're discussing with the government.
    Yes, Stretch [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News]. And then you next.

2004 Election

    Q. Mr. President, thank you. Just to follow up on John's question, 
in Afghanistan, things are improving, as you've mentioned. In Iraq, 
we're about to transfer sovereignty. And even domestically, the economy 
is booming. Why is it that you're having trouble pulling ahead of your 
opponent, John Kerry? I know you don't pay attention to the polls, but 
we are 4\1/2\ months from election day.
    President Bush. Yes.

[[Page 1052]]

    Q. What can you do to improve your political standing as the 
campaign moves forward?
    President Bush. You see, I think you answered your own question. We 
are 4\1/2\ months from election day. In other words, there's a long time 
before the election. I'm just going to do my job, Stretch. My job is to 
continue to lead. My job is to say to the American people, ``Follow me. 
The world is going to be better. The world will be more free. The world 
will be more peaceful. The world will be--America will be a stronger 
country because our economy will improve. America will be a better 
country because we're calling upon the compassion of our fellow citizens 
to help a neighbor in need.''

Iraqi Security

    Q. Mr. President, I want to follow up on this issue of Iraqi 
security because I'm detecting some reservation that you may have about 
the Iraqis' ability to really head up their own security after June the 
30th, because you seem to signal that there are concerns about their 
ability to even continue to detain Saddam Hussein. So what will happen 
between now and June 30th that would help you overcome that concern? And 
just related to that, there was a report from Baghdad yesterday 
indicating that after the deadly bombing, car bombing, that Iraqi 
police, as crowds gathered against the United States, just stood around 
and didn't do anything. Why is that happening?
    President Bush. Which question do you want me to answer?
    Q. Well, I think they're related; both----
    President Bush. No, they're not. [Laughter]
    Q. Please, I'll say, please.
    President Bush. Look, it's very hot out here. We've got a President 
from a--a respectful President here. Why don't you just ask one 
question, if you don't mind? I don't mean to be telling you how to do 
your business. All right, I'll answer both. [Laughter]
    First, I just want to make sure that as--when sovereignty is 
transferred, Saddam Hussein is--stays in 
jail. That's just a matter of discussion and understanding the 
procedures. That's all we're saying. I'm confident that when it's all 
said and done, he will stay in jail. I just want to be assured.
    Listen, we've got--we're over there for a reason. We're over there 
to make our country more secure, and one way to do so was to make sure 
Saddam Hussein was not in power. Secondly, 
we're there to help the Afghan--I mean, the Iraqi people. We want to 
make sure that he doesn't come back to power. And so therefore, it's a 
legitimate question to ask of the interim government, ``How are you 
going to make sure he stays in jail?'' And that's the question I'm 
asking. And when we get the right answer, which I'm confident we will, 
we will work with them to do so. Then we'll all be satisfied.
    Wendell [Wendell Goler, Fox News].
    Q. Mr. President----
    Q. How about the second part?
    President Bush. The second part was what? I forgot. It was so long 
ago that you asked it----
    Q. I know. I apologize. I was long-winded.
    President Bush. Oh, why did they stand back--look, the Iraqi people 
are going to have to figure out how to make sure their country is secure 
enough for a free government to emerge. And what you're watching is a 
government learning how to protect itself. The transfer of sovereignty 
to Iraq means not only will they have the freedom to make decisions on 
behalf of their people, but they will have to secure their own country. 
And you're watching this happen. You also heard the comments of Prime 
Minister Allawi, who made it very clear that 
these types of acts are terrorist acts against the Iraqi people.
    Wendell.

[[Page 1053]]

Reactions of Iraqis and Afghans to Coalition Presence

    Q. Mr. President, how do you explain why the success we've had in 
Afghanistan appears to be eluding us in Iraq? Is it possible that the 
Afghan people objected to the Taliban more strongly than the Iraqi 
people objected to the reign of Saddam Hussein?
    President Bush. No, that's not possible. The Iraqi people objected 
to the reign of Saddam Hussein, and you 
would, too, if you lived there, where you couldn't express yourself, 
where you got tortured, where there was mass graves.
    This is hard work, and it wasn't easy work in Afghanistan, by the 
way. I mean, it seems easy now that we're standing here, Wendell, after 
several years of working together with this great leader, but it was 
hard work. And out of kind of the desperate straits that the Afghan 
people found themselves is now a welcoming society beginning to grow. 
And the same thing is going to happen in Iraq.
    These aren't easy tasks. I mean, somehow there's this expectation, 
``Well, all this is supposed to have happened yesterday.'' That's just 
not the way it works when you go from a society that has--that was 
subjugated to a tyrant--by a tyrant to a free 
society. And the President will tell you, it's hard work. It may look 
easy in retrospect, but it's not easy. And that's why it's very 
important for us to speak clearly to the people of Afghanistan and in 
Iraq that the United States will help them, will stay and help them 
fulfill the mission, which is a free and peaceful Afghanistan, a free 
and peaceful Iraq, which are in our Nation's interests.
    First, it's in our interests that we defeat terrorists there than 
fight them here. That's our short-term security interests. Secondly, 
it's in our long-term interests that we work for free societies in parts 
of the world that are desperate for freedom. And the reason I keep 
saying that, Wendell, is because I know that a free society is a 
peaceful society. And America is interested in working with friends to 
promote the peace, and that's what we're doing. The short-term solution 
for our security problem is to find the terrorists and bring them to 
justice before they hurt Americans again, is to deny them training 
bases, is to deny them affiliates and allies in the war on terror. 
That's what we have done in Afghanistan and Iraq. The long-term solution 
is to promote free societies that are able to defeat the forces of 
pessimism, darkness, intolerance, and hatred.
    Okay, a couple more questions. Yes. Let me work my way through the 
TV readers.
    Q. On another issue, have you been----
    President Bush. Which one, you or Sanger [David Sanger, New York 
Times]?
    Q. Me. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Okay.

CIA Employee Identity Disclosure Investigation

    Q. On another issue, have you been called to answer questions 
regarding the CIA leak? And have you retained the attorney----
    President Bush. You need to call--you need to talk to the counsel 
over there.
    Yes, Elisabeth [Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times].

Religion and Politics

    Q. [Inaudible]--Ron Reagan's remarks at the former President's 
funeral----
    President Bush. I didn't hear them.
    Q. He said that politicians should not wear religious faith on their 
sleeve. And a lot of Republicans interpreted those remarks as being 
critical of you and your position on stem cell. I'd like to ask you 
about that.
    President Bush. Whether or not a politician should wear their--I've 
always said I think it's very important for someone not to try to take 
the speck out of somebody else's eye when they may have a log in their 
own. In other words, I'm very mindful

[[Page 1054]]

about saying, you know, ``Oh, vote for me. I'm more religious than my 
neighbor.'' And I think it's perfectly--I think it's important for 
people of religion to serve. I think it is very important for people who 
are serving to make sure there is a separation of church and state.
    Yes.

Status of Military Contractors Under Iraqi Interim Government

    Q. Mr. President, questions are being raised about the legal status 
of U.S. military contractors in Iraq. Your administration is asking for 
them to be granted immunity by the incoming Iraqi government. If they 
aren't going to operate under Iraqi law, will they operate under U.S. 
civilian law or under what legal jurisdiction?
    President Bush. I need to make sure I stay in touch with the lawyers 
on this subject. They are the ones who are raising the issue. We'll 
continue to work the issue.
    Q. So you haven't decided yet?
    President Bush. Right.
    Mike [Mike Allen, Washington Post].
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Yes. I'm getting distracted over here; there seems 
to be some noise.

Al Qaida-Saddam Hussein Relationship

    Q. The Vice President, who I see standing over there, said yesterday 
that Saddam Hussein has long-established ties to Al Qaida. As you know, 
this is disputed within the U.S. intelligence community. Mr. President, 
would you add any qualifiers to that flat statement? And what do you 
think is the best evidence of it?
    President Bush. Zarqawi. Zarqawi is 
the best evidence of connection to Al Qaida affiliates and Al Qaida. 
He's the person who's still killing. He's the person--and remember the 
e-mail exchange between Al Qaida leadership and he, himself, about how 
to disrupt the progress toward freedom.
    Saddam Hussein also had ties to terrorist organizations as well. In 
other words, he was affiliated with terrorism--Abu Nidal, the paying of 
families of suiciders to go kill innocent people. I mean, he was no 
doubt a destabilizing force. And we did the absolute right thing in 
removing him from power, and the world is better off with him not in 
power.
    I look forward to the debate, for people saying, ``Oh, gosh, the 
world would be better off if Saddam Hussein were still in power.'' I 
think we'd have trouble finding takers, particularly those in Iraq as 
well. They're now living in a free society. And I repeat, it's hard work 
to go from Saddam Hussein to a free society, but we'll get there. And 
we'll get there because people want to be free. That's why we'll get 
there. People long to live in freedom. And the United States--and I will 
continue to make it clear that we will not abandon those who are 
building free societies, whether it be in Afghanistan or whether it be 
in Iraq.
    Richard [Richard Benedetto, USA Today].

Movement Toward Democracy in Afghanistan

    Q. Mr. President, there have been some reports that the Afghan 
Government has been cooperating with warlords, former warlords in 
Afghanistan, and I wondered if you talked about that with President 
Karzai today----
    President Bush. Yes, I did.
    Q. ----and how you feel about it?
    President Bush. I did, and he can answer the question, what he told 
me.
    President Karzai. Yes. See, Afghanistan is emerging from years of 
oppression to a free, democratic society. And in democracy, you are 
supposed to be talking to each other. You are supposed to be preparing 
the country for a better future by negotiating and by understanding each 
other. And as the Afghan President, it's my job to take that nation, the 
Afghan people, into a better future, through stability

[[Page 1055]]

and peace, to a higher degree of democracy, to the elections. It's my 
job to do that peacefully. It's my job to keep stability and peace in 
Afghanistan. And I will talk to anybody that comes to talk to me about 
stability and peace and about movement towards democracy.
    No deals have been made. No coalitions have been made, and no 
coalition will be made. And they did not ask for it. First of all, we 
don't call them warlords. Some of those people are respected leaders of 
the Afghan resistance. Some of them are former Presidents, and we 
respect them in Afghanistan. Yes, there are bad people in the country as 
well with whom we're not making a deal, with whom we are not talking. 
This country is moving forward. It's a society now emerging with a 
strong civil society sense in institutions, and that's what we are doing 
there.
    President Bush. Mr. President, thank you very much.
    President Karzai. Thanks very much.
    President Bush. Lunch awaits us.
    President Karzai. Lunch awaits us, indeed. Thank you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 11:27 a.m. in the Rose 
Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin 
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; former President 
Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Muqtada Al Sadr, Iraqi Shiite cleric whose 
militia engaged in an uprising in Iraq which began in early April; Prime 
Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi interim government; senior Al Qaida 
associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; and Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, who 
was found dead in Baghdad, Iraq, on August 19, 2002. President Karzai 
referred to Mullah Omar, head of the deposed Taliban regime in 
Afghanistan.