    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [May 21, 2007]
    [Pages 602-606]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Secretary General Jakob Gijsbert
    ``Jaap'' de Hoop Scheffer of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in
    Crawford, Texas
    May 21, 2007

        President Bush. Thank you all for coming. Mr. Secretary General,
    thanks very much for joining us. Laura and I are
    really happy to have you here at our place in Crawford. And thank you
    very much for bringing Jeannine with you. We had a lovely dinner last night, and
    that's what you'd expect when friends get together.
        I appreciate your leadership. The Secretary General of NATO has been
    a strong advocate of fighting terror, spreading freedom, helping the
    oppressed, and modernizing this important alliance. I can't thank you
    enough for being steadfast and strong.
        We spent a lot of time talking about Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a
    vital mission for the United States; it's a vital mission for our allies
    in Europe because what happens in Afghanistan matters to the security of
    our countries. We appreciate the fact that in Afghanistan, you'll find
    NATO's largest deployment, thousands of miles from Europe. And success
    in that country is vital. I thank you for setting that important goal
    for the world to rally around. The NATO mission in Afghanistan includes
    more than 15,000 U.S. troops, 21,000 troops from 36 other nations,
    including all our allies. That wouldn't be happening without your
    leadership. Together with more than 100,000 Afghan security forces,
    we're working to support Afghanistan's elected Government.
        The Secretary General is also focused on ensuring that NATO
    commanders have the forces they need to defeat the extremists and
    murderers who are trying to stop the advance of that country. I pledged
    to the Secretary General, we'll work with our NATO allies to convince
    them that they must share more of the burden and must all share the
    risks in meeting our goal.
        We also appreciate the fact that Afghanistan requires more than
    military action. We support a long-term, comprehensive strategy to help
    strengthen Afghanistan's democratic institutions and help create the
    economic opportunity that will help this young democracy survive and
    thrive.
        The Secretary General is also determined to help transform NATO from
    a cold war institution into an alliance that can continue to be
    effective, and that means an alliance which will meet the security
    threats of the 21st century. And so we talked about the need to have
    more special operations forces and strategic airlift capabilities.
        I appreciate his leadership in recognizing that in order for NATO to
    be effective, it has to transform itself into an organization that
    actually meets the threats that free nations face. We talked about
    enlargement. We're looking forward to going to the 2008 NATO summit in
    Bucharest and to talk about enlargement. And we will--I pledged to the
    Secretary General that I'll work with nations that are interested in
    becoming a part of NATO over the next year to make sure they meet the
    requirements necessary for a country to be accepted into NATO.
        We talked about missile defense. NATO allies and other nations
    recognize the threat we face from ballistic missiles launched by a rogue
    state. I appreciate the fact that the Secretary General agrees that U.S.
    missile defense plans complement NATO efforts to keep all nations safe
    from attack. And of course, I will continue to reach out to Russia. I
    sent Secretary Gates to Russia recently to
    have a full and transparent conversation with President Putin and his Cabinet to make sure that the Russians
    understand that this missile shield is not directed at them but, in
    fact, directed

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    at other nations that could conceivably affect the peace of Europe. I
    appreciate the fact that the NATO-Russian Council is a integral part of
    the Secretary General's plans to make sure that Russia fully understands
    that--our intentions.
        And so, Mr. Secretary General, thanks for coming. It's been a good
    trip. We're glad you're here, and the podium is yours.
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. Thank you very much, sir, Mr.
    President.
        Let me start by--on behalf of Jeannine, thank you and Mrs. Laura
    Bush most warmly for the wonderful hospitality we have enjoyed and are
    enjoying on this beautiful ranch. It is really great of you to have us
    here. We had good conversations a moment ago, about which I'll make a
    few remarks, but I should start with the atmosphere and the ambiance at
    the Crawford Ranch. That's beautiful. Thank you ever so much for that,
    on behalf of the two of us.
        Mr. President, you mentioned already a number of subjects, and if we
    look at those from a NATO perspective, it is very clear that NATO's
    operations and missions are of primary importance. And among those
    operations, of course, Afghanistan. If we discuss Afghanistan--I should
    start by saying that we, the international community--NATO forces, U.S.
    forces--are there to help rebuild and develop that nation. That nation
    deserves to be developed and to be rebuilt.
        But we are there for other reason as well. Afghanistan is still one
    of the frontlines in our fight against terrorism. And my--it is my
    strong conviction that that frontline should not become a faultline. And
    that is why it's so important that all 26 NATO allies are committed to
    Afghanistan and that the whole international community, for the longer
    term, stays committed to that nation.
        And I know it's tough from time to time. And I know and you know
    that at any price, NATO forces and coalition forces will try to avoid
    civilian casualties. We'll do that, and we'll look very seriously into
    that, the military commanders, us, we as politicians, as leaders. But
    let me tell you one thing: We are not in the same moral category as our
    opponents, as the Taliban in Afghanistan. We don't behead people. We
    don't burn schools. We don't kill teachers. We don't plant roadside
    bombs. We don't send in suicide bombers. And if we talk about innocent
    Afghan civilians--yes, dramatically, the result of our military actions
    could be that civilians, innocent civilians, are killed, but look at the
    number of Afghan civilians killed by the Taliban and by our opposing
    forces. In brief, we are not in the same moral category there, and
    that's, I think, a very important mission.
        I do hope, and the President said it already, that NATO as a whole
    alliance will stay committed to Afghanistan. It is important for that
    operation to succeed. And if you visit the country, if you go there, you
    see a lot of reconstruction and development going on. On the other hand,
    we'll be tough--NATO, I said, will be tough where there's a need to be
    tough, our most important operation.
        The second remark--the President mentioned this already--we
    discussed missile defense, very important subjects giving
    vulnerabilities. We had the U.S. discussion on the so-called third site
    in Europe. I think it will be now up to NATO--and I'll try to lead NATO
    into that direction--but apart from the third site and the U.S. plans,
    there will be a NATO system which complements, which will be bolted in
    the U.S. system so that everybody and everything will be covered for the
    long-range threats, the medium-range threats, and the short-range
    threats,an important element, I think.
        We discussed, of course, Kosovo. While I think it's of great
    importance that NATO allies--but it's now in the Security Council and
    the U.S. Presidency this month--that there's full support for the
    Ahtisaari proposals. And I would like to see, as NATO Secretary
    General--we have 16,000 NATO

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    forces in Kosovo to create an element--an environment, I should say, of
    stability and security--that we see a Security Council resolution so
    that the Ahtisaari proposals can be brought into effect. So a resolution
    is important; the Ahtisaari proposals are good proposals.
        We discussed, of course, also next year's NATO summit prospects for
    NATO enlargement. The nations who--knocking on NATO's door need
    encouragement, but they also need to perform further reforms so that we
    can have a successful summit in the spring of next year.
        So, in brief, a great number of subjects we discussed in this
    informal atmosphere. Once again, thank you very much, Mr. President, for
    having us here. Thank you for the good conversations we had. You can
    rest assured that as Secretary General of NATO, I'll make the alliance
    work--in the sense that all 26 NATO allies will participate in NATO's
    operations and missions and will show the solidarity on which this
    alliance is built.
        Thank you so much.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir.
        We'll take two questions a side. In that there's only one questioner
    on the other side, it will be two questions and one question. Feller
    [Ben Feller, Associated Press].

    Military Operations in Afghanistan/Attorney General Alberto R.
    Gonzales

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. The Senate is considering a vote of no
    confidence in your Attorney General, and some Republican Senators have
    joined Democrats in calling for his resignation. Is it your intention to
    keep Alberto Gonzales as your Attorney General for the rest of your
    administration, regardless of what the Senate does?
        And, Mr. Secretary General--if I may--you mentioned the deaths of
    civilians in Afghanistan. Is it your concern that those deaths are
    eroding the ability of NATO forces to do their work?
        President Bush. Let me comment on that real quick. The Taliban likes
    to surround themselves with innocent civilians. That's their--part of
    their modus operandi. They don't mind using human shields because they
    devalue human life. That's why they're willing to kill innocent people
    to achieve political objectives.
        And obviously, to the extent that the United States is working with
    our NATO allies in combat, we care deeply about protecting innocent
    life. And to those who--Afghans who have lost innocent civilians, we
    grieve with you. To the Afghan families that have been affected by the
    Taliban using them as shields, we have great sympathy. We do not have
    sympathy, however, for the tactics of the Taliban.
        Now, you asked about Alberto Gonzales. He has got my confidence. He
    has done nothing wrong. There's been enormous amount of attention on
    him, that there's been no wrongdoing on his part. He has testified in
    front of Congress. And I frankly view what's taking place in Washington
    today as pure political theater. And it is the--this kind of political
    theater that has caused the American people to lose confidence in how
    Washington operates.
        I stand by Al Gonzales, and I would hope that people would be more
    sober in how they address these important issues. And they ought to get
    the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to
    be actors on the political theater stage.
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. Let me add that--I'll stress
    again, like the President did--of course, every innocent civilian
    fatality, death, is one too many. But in a conflict, it is from time to
    time unavoidable, dramatically, but unavoidable. NATO and ISAF forces
    still have the support of the large majority of the Afghan people.
        I had a long telephone conversation with President Karzai a few days
    ago on this subject. We'll avoid it. Our military commanders are doing
    everything they can. NATO, ISAF forces, and coalition forces are doing
    everything they can. But the

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    President talked about Taliban tactics; we are in a different moral
    category. We'll be there; we'll try to, as quickly as possible, bring
    in, also finance, to see that these people can build up their lives
    again. And we'll do everything we can to avoid civilian casualties.
        But I think if you talk about and ask me about the hearts and minds
    in Afghanistan, we still have very much the hearts and minds of the
    Afghan people, because they do see that their nation, their own nation,
    has no future under Taliban rule. And I only have to refer to the kinds
    and type of Afghanistan we saw--you and I saw--under Taliban rule, a
    regime with the most gross human rights violations the world has seen.
        Thank you.
        President Bush. Do you want to call upon the one European person
    here?
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. I could call upon the one
    European person here. [Laughter] Mr.--[inaudible].
        President Bush. Thank you for coming. Brave of you.
        Q. Thank you very much.
        President Bush. It's the pioneering spirit that made America great.
    [Laughter]

    Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer's Visit to the Bush Ranch

        Q. I've just got one question. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer, how gezellig
    was it yesterday?
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. It was very gezellig. I'll try
    to translate ``gezellig'' in American.
        President Bush. [Inaudible]--that doesn't make it in my vocabulary.
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. Very friendly, cozy atmosphere.
    We had a very, very nice move around the ranch with Mrs. Bush and the
    President, my wife and I. We had a splendid dinner in the house here at
    the ranch. This morning, I can tell you that the President and I had a
    mountain bike ride together. We had our conversations. So you can speak
    about a very nice weekend, and we had good talks on top of this. So what
    can one wish more? It was very gezellig.
        President Bush. Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

    President's Decisionmaking/War on Terror

        Q. Mr. President, Jimmy Carter unleashed some fairly harsh criticism
    of you over the weekend. Were you surprised by this, and do you take
    much stock in what he said?
        President Bush. Steve, you know, I get criticized a lot from
    different quarters, and that's just part of what happens when you're
    President. And I will continue to make decisions that I think are
    necessary to protect the American people from harm. I will continue to
    make decisions based upon certain principles, one of which is my strong
    belief in the universality of freedom.
        We're at war with an enemy that is relentless and determined, and
    it's essential that the decisions I make protect the American people as
    best as we can. And it turns out, my Presidency is such that we talk
    about how--with strong allies--how to defend ourselves. I firmly believe
    that in order to protect America--we must go on the offense against
    radicals, extremists, murderers in order to protect not only ourselves
    but our allies.
        And I also realize that we're involved in an ideological struggle,
    that these murderers, these radicals, these extremists have got a point
    of view. If you want to find out what their point of view is about, look
    what happened in Afghanistan under the brutal relationship of the
    Taliban and Al Qaida. On the one hand, if you're a woman and spoke out
    or a woman and tried to advance, you were suppressed, in brutal fashion
    sometimes. And in the meantime, an enemy that hates America plotted and
    planned.
        And so look, I understand some people are--may not agree with the
    decisions I made. But what the American people need

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    to know, I'm making them based upon what's best for this country.
        And, anyway, thank you all for coming. It's--what was the word?
        Q. Gezellig.
        President Bush. Gezellig?
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. Gezellig.
        Q. [Inaudible]
        President Bush. Yes. You talk about some good gezellig. [Laughter].
        Thank you all.
        Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer. Thank you.

    Note: The President's news conference began at 11:22 a.m. at the Bush
    Ranch. In his remarks, he referred to Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer-van
    Oorschot, wife of Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer; and Secretary of
    Defense Robert M. Gates. Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer referred to
    former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, United Nations Special
    Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Future Status Process of Kosovo;
    and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.