    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [September 17, 2008]
    [Pages 1207-1208]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Multi-National Force--Iraq Former
    Commander General David H. Petraeus
    September 17, 2008

        The President. The United States is fortunate to have great men and
    women who volunteer to serve in a time of danger. I have been incredibly
    impressed by the sacrifice of our troops who have been put in harm's
    way, and I've been incredibly impressed by the level of leadership for
    those troops.
        General David Petraeus was asked to do a very difficult job, and he
    did it with distinction and honor. He was a part of the planning for the
    surge. He implemented the surge, along with a lot of other brave people,
    and the United States and the world is better off because of it.
        And now the general has agreed to be commander of CENTCOM, which
    oversees the very important part of the world, the Middle East. And I
    want to thank you for taking on that assignment, General.
        Recently we saw how important it is, with the attack on our Embassy
    in Yemen. There were some security forces that lost their lives there,
    and we send our condolences to their families. This attack is areminder
    that we are at war with extremists who will murder innocent people to
    achieve their ideological objectives. One objectives of these extremists
    is they kill, is to try to cause the United States to lose our nerve and
    to withdraw from regions of the world. And our message is, is that we
    want to help governments survive the extremists. We want people to live
    normal lives. We want mothers to be able to raise their sons and
    daughters in a peaceful environment so they can realize the hopes and
    dreams of a better world.
        And I want to thank our diplomats who stand in harm's way. I thank
    our military who stands in harm's way. And I want to thank General
    Petraeus and his family for being so dedicated to our great country.
        General.
        General Petraeus. Thanks, Mr. President. Great to be home, sir. And
    it was a great privilege to serve there with our young men and women.
        The President. God bless you. Thank you.

    [[Page 1208]]

    Note: The President spoke at 11:53 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.