    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [September 26, 2006]
    [Pages 1700-1708]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan
    September 26, 2006

        President Bush. Thank you. Please be seated. It's my honor to
    welcome President Karzai back to the White House. Mr. President,
    Laura and I fondly remember your gracious
    hospitality when we met you in your capital. We had a chance today to
    reconfirm our strong commitment to work together for peace and freedom.
    And I'm proud of your leadership.
        You've got a tough job----
        President Karzai. Yes, sometimes it is.
        President Bush. ----and you're showing a lot of strength and
    character. And we're proud to call you ally and friend. I really am.
        We discussed how the Government is building institutions necessary
    for Afghans to have a secure future. We talked about how America and our
    international partners can continue to help.
        Our allies are working on initiatives to help the Afghan people in
    building a free

    [[Page 1701]]

    Afghanistan. And we discussed those initiatives. We discussed whether or
    not they could be effective, and we discussed how to make them
    effective. We discussed our cooperation in defeating those who kill
    innocent life to achieve objectives, political objectives.
        The Afghan people know firsthand the nature of the enemy that we
    face in the war on terror. After all, just yesterday, Taliban gunmen
    assassinated Safia Ama Jan--coldblooded kill--
    she got killed in cold blood. She was a leader who wanted to give young
    girls an education in Afghanistan. She was a person who served her
    Government. She was a person who cared deeply about the future of the
    country. And, Mr. President, Laura and I and the
    American people join you in mourning her loss.
        And her loss shows the nature of this enemy we face. They have no
    conscience. Their objective is to create fear and create enough violence
    so we withdraw and let them have their way. And that's unacceptable.
    It's unacceptable behavior for the free world and the civilized world to
    accept, Mr. President.
        I know that Taliban and Al Qaida remnants and others are trying to
    bring down your Government, because they know that as democratic
    institutions take root in your country, the terrorists will not be able
    to control your country or be able to use it to launch attacks on other
    nations. They see the threat of democratic progress.
        In recent months, the Taliban and other extremists have tried to
    regain control, mostly in the south of Afghanistan. And so we've
    adjusted tactics, and we're on the offense to meet the threat and to
    defeat the threat. Forces from dozens of nations, including every member
    of NATO, are supporting the democratic Government of Afghanistan. The
    American people are providing money to help send our troops to your
    country, Mr. President, and so are a lot of other nations around the
    world. This is a multinational effort to help you succeed.
        Your people have rejected extremism. Afghan forces are fighting
    bravely for the future of Afghanistan, and many of your forces have
    given their lives, and we send our deepest condolences to their families
    and their friends and their neighbors.
        The fighting in Afghanistan is part of a global struggle. Recently
    British forces killed a long-time terrorist affiliated with Al Qaida
    named Omar Farouq. Farouq was active in
    Bosnia and Southeast Asia. He was captured in Indonesia; he escaped from
    prison in Afghanistan; he was killed hiding in Iraq. Every victory in
    the war on terror enhances the security of free peoples everywhere.
        Mr. President, as I told you in the Oval Office, our country will
    stand with the free people of Afghanistan. I know there's some in your
    country who wonder or not--whether or not America has got the will to do
    the hard work necessary to help you succeed. We have got that will, and
    we're proud of you as a partner.
        President Karzai. Wonderful. Great.
        President Bush. We discussed our efforts to help the Government
    deliver a better life. President Karzai said this about his
    aspirations--he said he ``wants to make Afghanistan a great success and
    an enduring example of a prosperous and democratic society.''
        We're helping you build effective and accountable Government
    agencies. We discussed different agencies in your Government and how
    best to make them accountable to the people. We're going to help you
    build roads. We understand that it's important for people to have access
    to markets. I thought our general had a
    pretty interesting statement; he said, ``Where the road ends, the
    Taliban tries to begin.'' The President understands that.
        We're helping you with a national literacy program.
        President Karzai. Yes.

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        President Bush. We understand that a free society is one that counts
    upon a educated citizenry. The more educated a populace is, the more
    likely it is they'll be active participants in democratic forms of
    government. We're helping you build schools and medical centers.
        We talked about the illegal drug trade. The President gave me a very
    direct assessment of successes in eradicating poppies and failures in
    eradicating poppies. It was a realistic assessment of the conditions on
    the ground. And he talked about his strategy, particularly in dealing in
    Helmand Province. And, Mr. President, we will support you on this
    strategy. We understand what you understand, and that is, we've got to
    eradicate drug trade for the good of the people of Afghanistan.
        Tomorrow President Karzai and President Musharraf and I will have dinner. I'm looking forward to it.
    It's going to be an interesting discussion amongst three allies, three
    people who are concerned about the future of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    It will be a chance for us to work on how to secure the border, how we
    can continue to work together and share information so we can defeat
    extremists, how we can work together to build a future of peace and
    democracy in your region, Mr. President.
        I thank you for coming today. I'm looking forward to our discussion
    tomorrow evening. Welcome back to the White House. The podium is yours.
        President Karzai. Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's a great
    honor to be in your very beautiful country once again, especially during
    fall with all the lovely leaves around. And thank you very much for the
    great hospitality that you and the First Lady are always giving to your
    guests, especially to me. And thanks also for your visit to Afghanistan
    and for seeing us in our country, for seeing from close as to who we are
    and how we may get to a better future.
        I'm very grateful, Mr. President, to you and the American people for
    all that you have done for Afghanistan for the last 4\1/2\ years, from
    roads to education to democracy to parliament to good governance effort
    to health and to all other good things that are happening in
    Afghanistan.
        Mr. President, I was, the day before yesterday, in the Walter Reed
    Hospital. There I met wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. And there also I
    met a woman soldier with six boys, from 7 to 21, that she had left
    behind in America in order to build us a road in a mountainous part of
    the country in Afghanistan. There's nothing more that any nation can do
    for another country, to send a woman with children to Afghanistan to
    help. We are very grateful. I'm glad I came to know that story, and I'll
    be repeating it to the Afghan people once I go back to Afghanistan.
        We discussed today all matters that concern the two countries: the
    question of the reconstruction of Afghanistan, improvement for the
    reconstruction of Afghanistan, the equipping of the Afghan Army, the
    training of the Afghan Army, the police in Afghanistan, and all other
    aspects of reconstruction.
        We also discussed the region around us, discussed our relations with
    Pakistan and the question of the joint fight that we have together
    against terrorism. And I am glad, Mr. President, that you are, tomorrow,
    hosting a dinner for me and President Musharraf. And I'm sure we'll come
    out of that meeting with a lot more to talk about to our nations in a
    very positive way for a better future.
        Mr. President, we, the Afghan people, are grateful to you and the
    American people for all that you have done. I have things in mind to
    speak about, and you did that, so I'll stop short and let the questions
    come to us.
        President Bush. Thanks. We'll have two questions a side. We'll start
    with Jennifer Loven [Associated Press].

    [[Page 1703]]

    National Intelligence Estimate/Situation in Afghanistan

        Q. Thank you, sir. Even after hearing that one of the major
    conclusions of the National Intelligence Estimate in April was that the
    Iraq war has fueled terror growth around the world, why have you
    continued to say that the Iraq war has made this country safer?
        And to President Karzai, if I might, what do you think of President
    Musharraf's comments that you need to get to know your own country
    better when you're talking about where terror threats and the Taliban
    threat is coming from?
        President Bush. Do you want to start?
        President Karzai. Go ahead, please. [Laughter]
        President Bush. I, of course, read the key judgments on the NIE. I
    agree with their conclusion that because of our successes against the
    leadership of Al Qaida, the enemy is becoming more diffuse and
    independent. I'm not surprised the enemy is exploiting the situation in
    Iraq and using it as a propaganda tool to try to recruit more people to
    their murderous ways.
        Some people have guessed what's in the report and have concluded
    that going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree. I think it's
    naive. I think it's a mistake for people to believe that going on the
    offense against people that want to do harm to the American people makes
    us less safe. The terrorists fight us in Iraq for a reason: They want to
    try to stop a young democracy from developing, just like they're trying
    to fight this young democracy in Afghanistan. And they use it as a
    recruitment tool, because they understand the stakes. They understand
    what will happen to them when we defeat them in Iraq.
        You know, to suggest that if we weren't in Iraq, we would see a
    rosier scenario with fewer extremists joining the radical movement
    requires us to ignore 20 years of experience. We weren't in Iraq when we
    got attacked on September the 11th. We weren't in Iraq, and thousands of
    fighters were trained in terror camps inside your country, Mr.
    President. We weren't in Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade
    Center in 1993. We weren't in Iraq when they bombed the Cole. We weren't
    in Iraq when they blew up our Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. My
    judgment is, if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse,
    because they have ambitions. They kill in order to achieve their
    objectives.
        You know, in the past, Usama bin Laden
    used Somalia as an excuse for people to join his jihadist movement. In
    the past, they used the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was a
    convenient way to try to recruit people to their jihadist movement.
    They've used all kinds of excuses.
        This Government is going to do whatever it takes to protect this
    homeland. We're not going to let their excuses stop us from staying on
    the offense. The best way to protect America is defeat these killers
    overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. We're not going to
    let lies and propaganda by the enemy dictate how we win this war.
        Now, you know what's interesting about the NIE? It was a
    intelligence report done last April. As I understand, the conclusions--
    the evidence on the conclusions reached was stopped being gathered on
    February--at the end of February. And here we are, coming down the
    stretch in an election campaign, and it's on the front page of your
    newspapers. Isn't that interesting? Somebody has taken it upon
    themselves to leak classified information for political purposes.
        I talked to John Negroponte today,
    the DNI. You know, I think it's a bad habit for our Government to
    declassify every time there's a leak, because it means that it's going
    to be hard to get good product out of our analysts. Those of you who
    have been around here long enough know what I'm talking about. But once
    again, there's a leak out of our Government, coming right down the
    stretch in this campaign, to create

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    confusion in the minds of the American people, in my judgment, is why
    they leaked it.
        And so we're going to--I told the DNI
    to declassify this document. You can read it for yourself. We'll stop
    all the speculation, all the politics about somebody saying something
    about Iraq, somebody trying to confuse the American people about the
    nature of this enemy. And so John Negroponte, the DNI, is going to
    declassify the document as quickly as possible. He'll declassify the key
    judgments for you to read yourself. And he'll do so in such a way that
    we'll be able to protect sources and methods that our intelligence
    community uses. And then everybody can draw their own conclusions about
    what the report says.
        Thank you.
        Q. My question----
        President Bush. What was that question?
        Q. Why is that declassification not----
        President Bush. Because I want you to read the documents, so you
    don't speculate about what it says. You asked me a question based upon
    what you thought was in the document, or at least somebody told you was
    in the document. And so I think, Jennifer, you'll be able to ask a more
    profound question when you get to look at it yourself--[laughter]--as
    opposed to relying upon gossip and somebody who may or may not have seen
    the document trying to classify the war in Iraq one way or the other.
        I guess it's just Washington, isn't it, where, you know, we kind
    of--there's no such thing as classification anymore, hardly. But,
    anyway, you ought to take a look at it, and then you'll get to see.
        Why don't you ask somebody. Yes, you've got the two-part question.
        President Karzai. Ma'am, before I go to the remarks by my brother,
    President Musharraf, terrorism was hurting us way before Iraq or
    September 11th. The President mentioned some examples of it. These
    extremist forces were killing people in Afghanistan and around for
    years, closing schools, burning mosques, killing children, uprooting
    vineyards with vine trees, grapes hanging on them, forcing populations
    to poverty and misery.
        They came to America on September 11th, but they were attacking you
    before September 11th in other parts of the world. We are a witness in
    Afghanistan to what they are and how they can hurt. You are a witness in
    New York. Do you forget people jumping off the 80th floor or 70th floor
    when the planes hit them? Can you imagine what it will be for a man or a
    woman to jump off that high? Who did that? And where are they now? And
    how do we fight them; how do we get rid of them, other than going after
    them? Should we wait for them to come and kill us again? That's why we
    need more action around the world, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, to get
    them defeated: extremism, their allies, terrorists and the like.
        On the remarks of my brother, President Musharraf, Afghanistan is a
    country that is emerging out of so many years of war and destruction and
    occupation by terrorism and misery that they've brought to us. We lost
    almost two generations to the lack of education. And those who were
    educated before that are now older. We know our problems. We have
    difficulties. But Afghanistan also knows where the problem is--in
    extremism, in madrassas preaching hatred, preachers in the name of
    madrassas preaching hatred. That's what we should do together to stop.
        The United States, as our ally, is helping both countries. And I
    think it is very important that we have more dedication and more intense
    work with sincerity, all of us, to get rid of the problems that we have
    around the world.
        An Afghan press? You?

    War on Terror/Progress in Afghanistan

        Q. ----from Voice of America. Mr. President, what is your strategy--
    your new strategy to fight against terrorism and also

    [[Page 1705]]

    to deal with narcotics in Afghanistan? Thank you.
        President Karzai. All right. This was to me or to President Bush?
    Okay. Ma'am, there is no new strategy on the fight against terrorism. We
    are continuing the strategy that we have. We are implementing the
    strategy. We are moving further in that strategy. We are getting more of
    them. We are trying to clean the country of these elements and the
    region of these elements by doing more reconstruction, by doing more
    search for the terrorist elements hiding around there. So the fight
    against terrorism will continue the way we started it.
        Q. Mr. President, sorry, do you think it's working now the way it's
    going?
        President Karzai. It is absolutely working. We come across
    difficulties as we are moving forward, and that's bound to happen. And
    we get over those difficulties, we resolve them, and we go to the next
    stage of this fight against terrorism for all the allies.
        At one stage 4 years ago, we had a war against them to dislodge them
    from Afghanistan, to remove them from being the Government of
    Afghanistan. And then there were major operations against them to arrest
    or to chase them out. And then we began to rebuild the country, to have
    roads, to have schools, to have health clinics, to have education, to
    have all other things that people need all over the world. And now we
    are at a stage of bringing more stability and trying to get rid of them
    forever. The desire is to do that sooner, but a desire is not always
    what you get. So it will take time, and we must have the patience to
    have the time spent on getting rid of them for good.
        On narcotics, it is a problem. It is an embarrassment to
    Afghanistan. And I told President Bush earlier in my conversation with
    him that we feel very much embarrassed for having narcotics growing in
    our country. But again, it has come to Afghanistan because of years of
    our desperation and lack of hope for tomorrow. I know Afghan families,
    ma'am, who destroyed their pomegranate orchards or vineyards to replace
    them with poppies because they did not know if they were going to have
    their children the next day, if they were going to be in their own
    country the next day, if they were going to be having their home
    standing the next day. It has become a reality because of jobs and years
    of misery.
        We have worked on the problem. In some areas of the country, we have
    succeeded; in other areas of the country, we have failed because of the
    circumstances and because of our own failures. We have discussed that,
    and we will continue to be very steadfast. It is Afghanistan's problem,
    so Afghanistan is responsible for it, and Afghanistan should act on it
    with the help of our friends in the United States and the rest of the
    world.
        President Bush. Caren [Caren Bohan, Reuters].

    Former President William J. Clinton/War on Terror

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Former President Clinton says that your
    administration had no meetings on bin Laden for 9 months after he left
    office. Is that factually accurate, and how do you respond to his
    charges?
        President Bush. You know, look, Caren, I've watched all this finger-
    pointing and naming of names and all that stuff. Our objective is to
    secure the country. And we've had investigations; we had the 9/11
    Commission; we had the look back this; we've had the look back that. The
    American people need to know that we spend all our time doing everything
    that we can to protect them. So I'm not going to comment on other
    comments.
        But I will comment on this--that we're on the offense against an
    enemy who wants to do us harm. And we must have the tools necessary to
    protect our country. On the one hand, if Al Qaida or Al Qaida affiliates
    are calling somebody in the country,

    [[Page 1706]]

    we need to know why. And so Congress needs to pass that piece of
    legislation. If somebody has got information about a potential attack,
    we need to be able to ask that person some questions. And so Congress
    has got to pass that piece of legislation.
        You can't protect America unless we give those people on the
    frontlines of protecting this country the tools necessary to do so
    within the Constitution. And that's where the debate is here in the
    United States. There are some decent people who don't believe--evidently
    don't believe we're at war and therefore shouldn't give the
    administration what is necessary to protect us.
        And that goes back to Jennifer's question, you know. Does being on
    the offense mean we create terrorists? My judgment is, the only way to
    defend the country is to stay on the offense. It is preposterous to
    think if we were to withdraw and hope for the best, things would turn
    out fine against this enemy. That was my point about, before we were in
    Iraq, there were thousands being trained in Afghanistan to strike
    America and other places. The only way to protect this country is to
    stay on the offense, is to deal with threats before they fully
    materialize and, in the long term, help democracy succeed, like
    Afghanistan and Iraq and Lebanon and a Palestinian state.
        But there's a difference of opinion. It will come clear during this
    campaign, where people will say, ``Get out, leave before the job is
    done.'' And those are good, decent, patriotic people who believe that
    way; I just happen to believe they're absolutely wrong. So I'm going to
    continue to work to protect this country. And we'll let history judge--
    all the different finger-pointing and all that business. I don't have
    enough time to finger-point. I've got to stay--I've got to do my job,
    which comes home every day in the Oval Office, and that is to protect
    the American people from further attack.
        Now, there are some who say, ``Well, maybe it's not going to
    happen.'' Well, they don't see what I see. All I ask is that they look
    at that terror plot that, along with the Brits, we helped stop--people
    who were going to get on an airplane and blow up innocent lives in order
    to achieve political objectives. They're out there; they're mean; and
    they need to be brought to justice.

    International Support for the War on Terror/Afghanistan-Pakistan
    Relations

        Q. Thank you, sir. Mr. President, are you convinced, like President
    Bush, that the deal General Musharraf signed with the tribal leaders in
    Waziristan actually meant to fight the Taliban? And why are you
    convinced that Usama bin Laden is not in Afghanistan?
        If I may, Mr. President, do you agree with the analysis from the
    counter chief European--counterterrorism chief European spokesman who
    said today that the international support for terrorism has receded? Do
    you agree with that? And do you see the tension between two important
    allies of yours, Pakistan and Afghanistan, undermining your effort to
    get Usama bin Laden? Thank you.
        President Bush. It's a four-part question. First of all, I didn't--
    what was this person a spokesman for?
        Q. Counterterrorism chief in Europe.
        President Bush. Some obscure spokesman?
        Q. No, actually, he has a name.
        President Bush. Okay, he's a got a name.
    [Laughter] Well, no, I don't agree with the spokesman for the obscure
    organization that said that the international commitment to fighting
    terror is declining. It's quite the contrary, starting with the evidence
    that NATO has committed troops in Afghanistan. These are troops who are
    on the ground who are serving incredibly bravely to protect this
    country.
        Secondly, when the Brits, along with our help, intercepted the plot
    to attack us, everybody started saying, ``They're still there.'' They
    began to realize that their hopes that

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    the terrorist threats were going away weren't true. Since September the
    11th, it's important for the American people to remember, there have
    been a lot of attacks on a lot of nations by these jihadists. And some
    of them are Al Qaida and some of them are Al Qaida inspired. The NIE
    talked about how this group of folks are becoming more dispersed. That's
    what I've been saying as well. After all, look inside of Great Britain.
    These are people inspired by, perhaps trained by Al Qaida, but
    nevertheless plotted and planned attacks and conducted attacks in the
    summer of 2005, and then plotted attacks in the summer of 2006. See,
    they're dangerous, and the world knows that.
        And so from my perspective, intelligence sharing is good,
    cooperation on the financial fronts is good, and that more and more
    nations are committing troops to the fight, in Afghanistan in
    particular.
        Now, the other question----
        Q. The tension between two allies--does this undermine the efforts
    of getting bin Laden?
        President Bush. No. No, it doesn't. It's in President Karzai's
    interest to see bin Laden brought to
    justice. It is in President Musharraf's
    interest to see bin Laden brought to justice. Our interests coincide. It
    will be interesting for me to watch the body language of these two
    leaders to determine how tense things are.
        President Karzai. I'll be good. [Laughter]
        President Bush. Yes. From my discussions with President Karzai and
    President Musharraf, there is an
    understanding that by working together, it is more likely that all of us
    can achieve a common objective, which are stable societies that are
    hopeful societies, that prevent extremists from stopping progress and
    denying people a hopeful world.
        I know that's what President Karzai thinks, and I know that's how
    President Musharraf thinks. And so--I'm
    kind of teasing about the body language for the dinner tomorrow night,
    but it's going to be a good dinner, and it's an important dinner.
        So to answer your question, no. What you perceive as tension is
    stopping us from bringing high-value targets to justice, quite the
    contrary, we're working as hard as ever in doing that.
        President Karzai. On the question of Waziristan, ma'am, President
    Musharraf, when he was in Kabul, explained what they had done there. My
    initial impression was that this was a deal signed by the Taliban, and
    then later I learned that they actually signed with the tribal chiefs.
    It will have a different meaning if it is that signed with the tribal
    chiefs--that for us, for the United States, for the allies against
    terror.
        The most important element here is item number one in this
    agreement, that the terrorists will not be allowed to cross over into
    Afghanistan to attack the coalition against terror, that is, the
    international community and Afghanistan together. We will have to wait
    and see if that is going to be implemented exactly the way it is signed.
    So from our side, it's a wait-and-see attitude. But generally, we will
    back any move, any deal that will deny terrorism sanctuary in North
    Waziristan or in the tribal territories of Pakistan.
        President Bush. Mr. President, thank you.
        President Karzai. Thank you, sir.
        President Bush. Well done.

    Note: The President's news conference began at 11:37 a.m. in the East
    Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to senior Al Qaida
    associate Omar al-Farouq, who was killed in Iraq on September 26; Lt.
    Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, USA, commander, Combined Forces Command--
    Afghanistan; President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; Usama bin Laden,
    leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and Gijs de Vries,
    counterterrorism coordinator, European Union.

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