[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
[July 30, 2007]
[Pages 1028-1036]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom at Camp David, Maryland
July 30, 2007

    President Bush. Welcome. Thank you. It's good to have you here. So 
everybody is wondering whether or not the Prime Minister and I were able 
to find common ground, to get along, to have a meaningful discussion. 
And the answer is, absolutely. You know, he probably wasn't sure what to 
expect from me, and I kind of had a sense that--of the kind of person 
I'd be dealing with. I would describe Gordon Brown as a principled man 
who really wants to get something done. In other words, in my 
discussions with him last night, we spent about 2 hours over dinner 
and--just alone. We dismissed the rest of the delegations to the bowling 
alley, I think. [Laughter] And as Josh Bolten said, it's the Ryder Cup of bowling. I think the trophy 
was left for Great Britain, if I'm not mistaken.
    But we had a really casual and good discussion, and we'd be glad to 
share--I'll be glad to share some of the insights here and then--but the 
notion of America and Britain sharing values is very important--and that 
we have an obligation, it seems to me, to work for freedom and justice 
around the world. And I found a person who shares that vision and who 
understands the call. After all, we're writing the initial chapters of 
what I believe is a great ideological struggle between those of us who 
do believe in freedom and justice and human rights and human dignity and 
coldblooded killers who will kill innocent people to achieve their 
objectives.
    One of the great calling that we have here in the beginning of the 
21st century is to protect our own people. And so we spent a fair amount 
of time making sure that our systems are properly aligned so as we can 
share information to protect our citizens from this kind of brutal group 
of people who really would like to see us driven from parts of the world 
so they can impose their ideology. And I do congratulate the Prime 
Minister for his steady and quick response in the face of a significant 
threat to the homeland. You've proved your worthiness as a leader, and I 
thank you for that.
    We also recognize that if you're involved with an ideological 
struggle, then you defeat that one ideology with a more hopeful 
ideology, and that's why it's very important for us to defend and stand 
with these young democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq. I appreciate very 
much the British commitment in Afghanistan and Iraq. I appreciate the 
bravery of the soldiers. Obviously, I mourn the loss of any life. I 
think it's very important for us to make it clear to those who are in 
harm's way that these missions will be driven not by local politics but 
by conditions on the ground, because success in Afghanistan and Iraq 
will be an integral part of defeating an enemy and helping people 
realize the great blessings of liberty as the alternative to an ideology 
of darkness that spreads its murder to achieve its objectives.
    We talked about the tyranny of poverty, the tyranny of lack of 
education. And I appreciate the Prime Minister's strong commitment to 
press forward on working together dealing with disease, whether it be 
HIV/AIDS or malaria. He's got a strong commitment to helping people 
realize the

[[Page 1029]]

blessings of education. I thank you very much for that vision.
    He also understands what I know, that if we're really interested in 
eradicating poverty, it's important for us to be successful in the Doha 
round. Gordon Brown brought some interesting suggestions on the way 
forward. He is optimistic that we can conclude the Doha round, as am I. 
And I want to thank you for strategizing as to how to get that done in a 
way that is beneficial for all of us.
    We talked about the Holy Land. We talked about Darfur. We had a good 
discussion as to how to keep this world engaged in the atrocities--I've 
called it a genocide--taking place in Darfur, and I want to thank you 
for your leadership on that issue.
    And so we had a good, relaxed, meaningful discussion over dinner and 
then picked it up at breakfast. And I'm pleased you're here, and I'm 
pleased to report that this relationship will be a constructive and 
strategic relationship for the good of our peoples.
    Welcome.
    Prime Minister Brown. Thank you very much. Well, can I say, Mr. 
President, it's a great honor for me to come, within a few weeks of 
becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, here to Camp David, to 
have been invited by you to have the discussions that we've just 
concluded, and to be able to affirm and to celebrate the historic 
partnership of shared purpose between our two countries. And I believe 
it's a partnership that's founded on more than common interests and more 
than just a common history; it's a partnership founded and driven 
forward by our shared values--what Winston Churchill, who was the first 
British Prime Minister to visit Camp David, called the joint inheritance 
of liberty, a belief in opportunity for all, a belief in the dignity of 
every human being.
    And I've told President Bush that it's in Britain's national 
interest that with all our energies we work together to address all the 
great challenges that we face also together: nuclear proliferation, 
climate change, global poverty and prosperity, the Middle East peace 
process, which we've discussed, and most immediately, international 
terrorism. Terrorism is not a cause; it is a crime, and it is a crime 
against humanity. And there should be no safe haven and no hiding place 
for those who practice terrorist violence or preach terrorist extremism.
    Ladies and gentlemen, in Iraq, we have duties to discharge and 
responsibilities to keep in support of the democratically elected 
Government and in support of the explicit will of the international 
community, expressed most recently through U.N. Resolution 1723.
    Our aim, like the United States, is, step by step, to move control 
to the Iraqi authorities, to the Iraqi Government, and to its security 
forces as progress is made. And we've moved from combat to overwatch in 
three of the four Provinces for which we the British have security 
responsibility. We intend to move to overwatch in the fourth Province, 
and that decision will be made on the military advice of our commanders 
on the ground. Whatever happens, we will make a full statement to 
Parliament when it returns.
    Our aim, as is the aim of the United States Government, is 
threefold: security for the Iraqi people, political reconciliation, and 
that the Iraqis have a stake in the future. And I can say also that I 
have proposed to the Iraqi Government the offer of new finance that--for 
Basra and the surrounding areas where we have responsibility, that we 
invite the Iraqis to set up, with our support, a Basra economic 
development agency, so that there are jobs, businesses, the chance of 
prosperity, and economic hope.
    I strongly support President Bush's initiative, a bold initiative to 
make early progress in the Middle East peace process. Afghanistan is the 
frontline against terrorism, and as we have done twice in the last year, 
where there are more forces needed to

[[Page 1030]]

back up the coalition and NATO effort, they have been provided by the 
United Kingdom.
    On Iran, we are in agreement that sanctions are working. And the 
next stage we are ready to move towards is to toughen the sanctions with 
a further U.N. resolution.
    Darfur is the greatest humanitarian disaster the world faces today, 
and I've agreed with the President that we step up our pressure to end 
the violence that has displaced 2 million people, made 4 million hungry 
and reliant on food aid, and murdered 200,000 people. We have agreed on 
expediting the U.N. resolution for a joint U.N.-African Union peace 
force. We're agreed on encouragement for early peace talks, a call to 
cease violence on the ground, an end to aerial bombing of civilians, and 
support for economic development if this happens and further sanctions 
if this does not happen.
    Across developing countries, 30,000 children die needlessly every 
day, and we support the President's pathbreaking initiatives on HIV/AIDS 
and on malaria. And we are agreed to support a new partnership that 
brings together public and private sectors, faith groups and civil 
society to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
    In a world trade agreement lies the difference between progress to a 
more open global trading economy and a retreat into protectionism. In 
recent days, I've been able to talk to Chancellor Merkel, President 
Barroso, Prime Minister Socrates, President Lula, President Mbeki, and 
Prime Minister Singh, as well as the Trade Negotiator, Pascal Lamy. And 
the President and I are one in seeking an early conclusion to a trade 
agreement. We agreed that contact between leaders will be stepped up so 
that we are ready to quickly finalize an agreement in the near future.
    We also agreed on the importance of the issue of climate change, 
which needs to be tackled in the context of sustainable development and 
in the context of energy security. We support the framework of meetings 
over the coming months to address this issue and move forward the agenda 
agreed at this year's G-8 in Germany.
    Mr. President, we have had full and frank discussions. We've had the 
capacity and the ability to meet yesterday evening for 2 hours to 
discuss, person to person, some of the great issues of our time. You 
were kind enough also to arrange talks this morning where we continued 
the discussion on the issues that I've just talked about, and I'm very 
grateful to you for your hospitality and for the chance for our two 
countries, with our great shared histories, to continue to work together 
on these great issues.
    I think we're agreed that all challenges can best be met when 
together the United Kingdom and the United States work in a partnership 
that I believe will strengthen in the years to come. And I thank you for 
both your invitation and for the chance to talk about these great 
issues. Thank you, Mr. President.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. Two questions a side. Ben [Ben 
Feller, Associated Press].

Progress in Iraq

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Your own military commander suggests 
that in Iraq, the Iraqi forces are not nearly ready to take over 
security for their own country, and that U.S. troops will need to stay 
in the region for many months if not years. Are you prepared to pass on 
the fate of the war to the next President?
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, if I may, what do you see as the biggest 
mistakes in the management of the war, and what do you propose to do to 
correct them?
    President Bush. David Petraeus, the 
general on the ground, will be bringing his recommendations back to the 
Congress on or about September the 15th. And I think it's going to be 
very important for all of us to wait for him to report. And the reason 
it's important is, is that I believe that the

[[Page 1031]]

decisions on the way forward in Iraq must be made with a military 
recommendation as an integral part of it. And therefore, I don't want to 
prejudge what David is going to say.
    I have said this is going to take a long time, just like this 
ideological--in Iraq, just like the ideological struggle is going to 
take a long time. And so I look forward to David's report, and then we'll respond accordingly. There has been 
some notable progress, Anbar Province being such a place where there's 
bottom-up reconciliation, where people are rejecting this Al Qaida 
vision of the world and saying, there's a better way forward.
    There's still setbacks, obviously. We've got these suiciders that 
are trying to foment sectarian violence. But, Ben, I would ask you and 
the Congress to wait, to do what I'm doing, which is wait until 
David to come back and make his report. 
And I think you'll find it will be considered and based upon the 
evidence there on the ground.
    Prime Minister Brown. You asked about the difficulties we've faced, 
and a lot has happened over the last period of time. I think the 
difficulties include the--getting political reconciliation within Iraq 
itself, moving forward the reconstruction and the time it has taken to 
do so.
    But I think the one thing that I'm pleased about is that Iraq is now 
building up its own security forces, it's now building up its own 
military, and it's now building up its own police. So we've got to a 
situation where there are perhaps 300,000 people who are in the Iraqi 
security and policing forces.
    In Basra and in the four Provinces that we're dealing with, security 
forces have built up over the last few years now to around 30,000 
people. It's in that context where we can then achieve what we want to 
do, which is to pass security over to the Iraqi people themselves, to 
pass it over to the elected Iraqi Government, and of course, to local 
Provincial control.
    And one of the encouraging things that's happened over the last few 
months, indeed the last year and more, is that we've been able to pass 
the control of the three of the four Provinces for which we've got 
responsibility back to Iraqi hands. And of course, the issue in Basra, 
which is the largest Province, is the point at which we can do what we 
want to do, which is to have local people and local army and local 
police in charge of the security there.
    So that is the challenge that we face over this next period of time: 
that Iraq itself becomes more responsible for its own security; that we 
are able to pass control of the Province both to elected politicians and 
to the security services; and we're able to combine that with the people 
of Iraq themselves having a stake in the future.
    So yes, there have been problems, but, yes, also, when you look at 
the four Provinces for which we've got responsibility, we can see that 
we're able to move control back to the Iraqi people in three. And 
there's a chance of being able to do that in the fourth as a result of 
the buildup of the security forces.
    Nick [Nick Robinson, BBC News].
    President Bush. Gosh, still hanging around. [Laughter]
    Q. Good afternoon, Mr. President. [Laughter] It's very nice to be 
back.
    President Bush. Yes, it is.

United Kingdom-U.S. Relations on Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, you trusted Tony Blair not, in your phrase, to cut 
and run from Iraq. After your talks, do you believe you can trust Gordon 
Brown in the same way?
    And, Prime Minister, you talked of Afghanistan being the frontline 
in the struggle against terror, not Iraq. Do you believe that British 
troops in Iraq are part of the struggle against terrorism or, as many 
people now believe, making that harder, not easier, to win?
    Prime Minister Brown. Well, perhaps I should deal with it first and 
then pass on to you, President.

[[Page 1032]]

    In Iraq, you're dealing with Sunni-Shi'a violence, you're dealing 
with the involvement of Iran, but you're certainly dealing with a large 
number of Al Qaida terrorists. And I think I described Afghanistan as 
the first line in the battle against the Taliban, and of course, the 
Taliban in Afghanistan is what we are dealing with in the Provinces for 
which we've got responsibility, and doing so with some success.
    There is no doubt, therefore, that Al Qaida is operating in Iraq. 
There is no doubt that we've had to take very strong measures against 
them, and there is no doubt that the Iraqi security forces have got to 
be strong enough to be able to withstand not just the violence that has 
been between the Sunni and the Shi'a population and the Sunni insurgency 
but also Al Qaida itself.
    So one of the tests that the military commanders will have on the 
ground, in the Province for which we've got direct responsibility now 
and before we move from combat to overwatch, is whether we are strong 
enough and they are strong enough to enable them to stand up against 
that threat.
    President Bush. There's no doubt in my mind that Gordon Brown 
understands that failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the security of 
our own countries; that failure in Iraq would embolden extremist 
movements throughout the Middle East; that failure in Iraq would 
basically say to people sitting on the fence around the region that Al 
Qaida is powerful enough to drive great countries like Great Britain and 
America out of Iraq before the mission is done. He understands that 
violence could spill out across the region, that a country like Iran 
would become emboldened.
    So there's no doubt in my mind, he understands the stakes of the 
struggle. And there's no doubt in my mind that he will keep me abreast 
of his military commanders' recommendations based upon conditions on the 
ground. As he accurately noted, the Brits have been involved in four of 
the Provinces; transfer has taken place in three of the four. Why? 
Because progress was made. This is a results-oriented world, and the 
results are--were such that Great Britain was able to transfer 
responsibility. That's what we want to do. We want to be able to be in a 
position where we can achieve results on the ground so that we can be in 
a different posture.
    The problem was, last fall, we weren't going to be able to transfer 
because conditions on the ground were getting out of control. And so I 
made the decision to send more troops in, understanding the consequences 
of failure if we did not do so. In other words, I said, I think if we 
don't send troops, it's more likely we'll fail. And the consequences of 
failure would be disaster for Great Britain and the United States, 
something this Prime Minister understands.
    The idea of somehow achieving results, and therefore, this is a 
change of attitude, just simply doesn't--I just don't agree with that. I 
find him to be resolved and firm and understanding about the stakes in 
this series of initial struggles in this war against extremists and 
radicals. And the challenge for Gordon and me is to write a chapter, the 
first chapter in this struggle that will lead to success, and that's 
exactly what we're determined to do.
    Rutenberg [Jim Rutenberg, New York Times], today's your birthday? 
How old are you?
    Q. Thirty-eight.
    Prime Minister Brown. My goodness.
    President Bush. Here you are--amazing country, Gordon. The guy is 
under 40 years old, asking me and you questions. It's a beautiful sight. 
[Laughter]
    Q. Forty is the new 30, Mr. President.
    President Bush. It's a beautiful sight. [Laughter]
    Prime Minister Brown. Six in my cabinet are under 40.
    President Bush. Are they? [Laughter]
    Prime Minister Brown. Yes.
    Q. Or 40 is the new 20.

[[Page 1033]]

    President Bush. You must be feeling damn old then?
    Prime Minister Brown. Absolutely. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Yes, Jim.

War on Terror

    Q. Mr. President, the Prime Minister has referred to terrorism as, 
quote, ``a crime,'' and he's referred to it in part as a law enforcement 
issue. So for you, I'm wondering, does that underscore any sort of 
philosophical difference when your 2004 campaign took issue with 
somewhat similar descriptions from John Kerry?
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, I've heard a lot about how your approach to 
the United States will be the same as that of your predecessor, but how 
will it differ?
    President Bush. Yes. Look, people who kill innocent men, women, and 
children to achieve political objectives are evil; that's what I think. 
I don't think there's any need to negotiate with them. I don't think 
there's any need to hope that they'll change. They are coldblooded 
killers, and we better be clear eyed when we're dealing with them.
    And this Prime Minister, right in the beginning of his office, got a 
taste of what it means to be in a world with these people that would 
come and attempt to kill innocent civilians of his country. And he 
handled it well.
    But we're dealing with a variety of methodologies to deal with them: 
One is intelligence; one is law enforcement; and one is military. We got 
to use all assets at disposal to find them and bring them to justice 
before they hurt our people again.
    In the long run, the way to defeat these people is through a 
competing ideology, see. And what's interesting about this struggle--and 
this is what I was paying very careful attention to when Gordon was 
speaking--is, does he understand it's an ideological struggle? And he 
does.
    As he said to me, ``It's akin to the cold war.'' And it is; except 
the difference this time is, we have an enemy using asymmetrical warfare 
to try to affect our vision, to try to shake our will. They'll kill 
innocent women and children so it gets on the TV screens, so that we say 
it's not worth it; let's just back off. The death they cause is--makes 
it--maybe we just ought to let them have their way. And that's the great 
danger facing the world in which we live, and he gets it.
    Now, he can answer his own--your question. What's the second half? I 
talked too long for----
    Q. How would your approach differ from that of your predecessor? And 
while we're on the subject, also----
    President Bush. Wait a minute--[laughter]--it doesn't work that way.
    Q. It's his birthday.
    President Bush. Yes, Mr. Birthday Boy is taking latitude here. 
[Laughter]

United Kingdom-U.S. Relations/War on Terror

    Q. Do you have the same philosophy as the President in terms of 
terrorism? So it's a two-pronged.
    Prime Minister Brown. Absolutely.
    President Bush. What do you expect the answer to be----
    Prime Minister Brown. Absolutely.
    President Bush. ----Rutenberg? Come on, man.
    Prime Minister Brown. And let me just stress that we're in a 
generation-long battle against terrorism, against Al Qaida-inspired 
terrorism, and this is a battle for which we can give no quarter. It's a 
battle that's got to be fought in military, diplomatic, intelligence, 
security, policing, and ideological terms. And we have to face groups of 
terrorists operating in Britain. And other countries around the world 
have seen--perhaps, in 17 countries--terrorist attacks over the last few 
years. When we in Britain have faced 15 of our own since September of 
2001 and, of course, when America itself faced in September 2001 and 
showed such bravery, resilience, and courage in standing up against 
terrorism, then we know we are

[[Page 1034]]

in a common struggle. And we know we have to work together, and we know 
we've got to use all means to deal with it.
    So we are at one in fighting the battle against terrorism. And that 
struggle is one that we will fight with determination and with 
resilience, and--right across the world.
    You asked about the new Government in the United Kingdom. What I 
would say is this: Every generation faces new challenges, and the 
challenges that we face in 2007 are not the same as the challenges that 
we faced as a Government when Tony Blair started in 1997. Then the 
challenges in Britain were about stability, about employment, about 
public services. Then the challenges around the world were not seen at 
that point as the challenges against international terrorism.
    Today, in 2007, we see the challenges are radically different from 
what they were 10 years ago. We have the climate change challenge we've 
just been discussing, which wasn't one that was seen in exactly the same 
way a few years ago. And that will lead to the work that we've got to do 
together--and involving China and India in particular--to deal with the 
energy issues and including issues of energy security that we face.
    We have the challenge of security and terrorism. We have the 
challenge that we now know in Africa, Darfur, a challenge that we've got 
to meet immediately to make sure that famine does not afflict millions 
of people in that part of Africa. And of course, we have the challenge 
that we can see now, where there are opportunities as well as 
difficulties, in the Middle East peace process. And that, of course, is 
a challenge that Secretary of State Rice is--and I'm glad she is here 
today and has joined our discussions--is going on only today to the 
Middle East to take up.
    So the challenges are different. We will deal with them by being a 
government of opportunity and security for all. But the challenges, of 
course, are new as we face the next decade. And these are challenges 
that we will face and, I believe, America will face with exactly the 
same resilience, courage, and professionalism.
    Adam [Adam Boulton, Sky News].

United Kingdom-U.S. Relations

    Q. Thank you. A question from Sky News. Mr. Brown's new formulation 
for what we used to call the special relationship is Britain's single 
most important bilateral relationship. I wonder if I could ask him what 
precisely that means, whether it works the other way for the United 
States, in terms of their bilateral relationships. And also, Mr. 
President, what you think has actually changed with the arrival of 
Gordon Brown instead of Tony Blair?
    President Bush. Besides toothpaste? [Laughter] Do you want to--I'll 
start. Look, I think any time you share values the way we share values, 
it makes it easy to have strategic conversations; it makes it easy to be 
able to have common ground on which to deal with these problems. You 
just listed off a lot of problems. I happen to view them as great 
opportunities to begin to put conditions in place so that the world 
looks fundamentally different 50 years from now.
    But I would say that the relationship between Great Britain and 
America is our most important bilateral relationship, for a lot of 
reasons: trade. Great Britain has been attacked; we've been attacked, 
which caused us to lash up our intelligence services like never before. 
We have common interests throughout the world.
    But it's an important relationship primarily because we think the 
same. We believe in freedom and justice as fundamentals of life. There's 
no doubt in my mind that freedom is universal, that freedom is a gift to 
each man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth, and that with 
freedom comes peace. And there's no doubt in my mind, those of us who 
live under the free societies have an obligation to work together to 
promote it.

[[Page 1035]]

    And the man I listened to shares that same sense of morality and 
that same sense of obligation, not to free others, but to create the 
conditions so others can realize the blessings of freedom. We can't 
impose freedom, but we can eliminate roadblocks to freedom and to allow 
free societies to develop. And it's really hard work, you know? There's 
a lot of cynics saying, ``How dare they; how dare they impose U.S. or 
Great British values.'' And what I found was a man who understands that 
these aren't Great British and U.S. values; these are universal values.
    And so what was your question? [Laughter]

United Kingdom-U.S. Relations

    Q. What's changed?
    President Bush. Oh, what's changed? He's a Scotsman, kind of a--he's 
not the dour Scotsman that you described him, or the awkward Scotsman. 
He's actually the humorous Scotsman, the guy that--we actually were able 
to relax and to share some thoughts. I was very interested in his family 
life. He's a man who has suffered unspeakable tragedy, and instead of 
that weakening his soul, strengthened his soul.
    I was impressed, and I am confident that we'll be able to keep our 
relationship strong, healthy, vibrant, and that there will be constant 
communications as we deal with these problems. As I said, he's a 
problem-solver. And that's what we need as partners. I mean, we've got a 
lot of problems we're dealing with, and we can reach solutions. He's a 
glass-half-full man, not a glass-half-empty guy, you know? Some of these 
world leaders say, ``Oh, the problems are so significant; let us 
retreat; let us not take them on; they're too tough.'' That's not Gordon 
Brown. His attitude is, I see a problem; let's work together to solve 
it. And for that, I'm grateful.
    Prime Minister Brown. What President Bush has said is both very 
compassionate and reflects the conversation we had about a whole series 
of issues that we can deal with together.
    I think your understanding, if I may say so, of Scotland was 
enhanced by the fact that you went to Scotland, you told me, at the age 
of 14, and had to sit through very long Presbyterian Church services--
[laughter]--in which you didn't understand a word of what the minister 
was actually saying. [Laughter] So I think you came to a better 
understanding of the Scottish contribution to the United Kingdom from 
that.
    Adam, you asked about the single most important bilateral 
relationship for Britain, and I think President Bush has answered that, 
that that is the view of the United States as well. Call it the special 
relationship; call it, as Churchill did, the joint inheritance; call it 
when we meet as a form of homecoming, as President Reagan did--then you 
see the strength of this relationship, as I've said, is not just built 
on the shared problems that we have to deal with together or on the 
shared history that is built, as President Bush has just said, on shared 
values. And these are values that he rightly says are universal. They're 
the belief in the dignity of the individual, the freedom and liberty 
that we can bring to the world, and a belief that everyone--everyone--
should have the chance of opportunity.
    And I do see this relationship strengthening in the years to come, 
because it is the values that we believe in that I think will have the 
most impact as we try to solve the problems that we face right across 
the world. And in a sense, the battle that we are facing with 
international terrorism is a battle between our values, which stress the 
dignity of every individual, and those who would maim and murder, 
irrespective of faith, indifferent to human life, often simply for 
propaganda effect, and of course, with devastating effects, both on the 
communities that they claim to represent and the whole world.
    So I want to stress the values that we hold in common, not in an 
abstract way,

[[Page 1036]]

but in a very positive and concrete way, because I think the more we 
debate these issues about how the world would be organized to face 
international terrorism, the more we come back to the values that unite 
decent, hard-working people right across the world, whatever their 
faith, whatever their country, whatever their continent.
    And it's been a privilege to be able to have these discussions with 
the President about how we can deal with all these challenges by 
applying not just our values, but applying the strength that comes from 
the strong relationship that exists between our two countries.
    President Bush. Good job. Thank you.
    Prime Minister Brown. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Glad you all are here. You'd better cover up your 
bald head. Getting hot out here. [Laughter]

Note: The President's news conference began at 11:46 a.m. In his 
remarks, he referred to Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, 
Multi-National Force--Iraq. Prime Minister Brown referred to Chancellor 
Angela Merkel of Germany; President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso of the 
European Commission; Prime Minister Jose Socrates of Portugal; President 
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil; President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki of 
South Africa; Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India; Director-General 
Pascal Lamy of the World Trade Organization; and former Prime Minister 
Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.