[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 38 (Monday, September 24, 2001)]
[Pages 1337-1340]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Megawati Sukarnoputri of 
Indonesia and an Exchange With Reporters

September 19, 2001

    President Bush. President Megawati was just telling me she had 
visited Washington during President Kennedy's time. It is my honor to 
welcome you back to Washington and to the Oval Office as President of 
your great nation.
    I look forward to having a very good discussion about our relations, 
as well as what we're going to do, as people who love freedom, about 
terrorism. I want to thank you very much for your strong statements of 
support for the American people and your strong statement against 
terrorist activities. It meant a lot to us. You represent the nation 
with the most Muslim people in the world. I've made it clear, Madam 
President, that the war against terrorism is not a war against Muslims, 
nor is it a war against Arabs. It's a war against evil people who 
conduct crimes against innocent people.
    And so, welcome to Washington, DC. I look forward to a long 
discussion. I appreciate so very much your vision for your very 
important country. Welcome.
    President Megawati. Thank you, Mr. President. I will speak in 
Indonesian. I'm very honored to be your guest here today, even though we 
are in a moment of grief. I would like to express on behalf of the 
people and Government of Indonesia our deepest condolences to the 
American people. And we share this moment of grief with you.
    I also want to say thank you, because even though you're having a 
difficult time, you're still able to meet me in this place which I'm 
quite familiar with. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
    The President. Yes. Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press].

U.S. Response to Nations Harboring Terrorists

    Q. Mr. President, do you have any reason to believe Iraq is 
connected with the terrorist attack? And if so, what would your response 
be?
    And could I ask your guest if she could respond to her Vice 
President saying that the tragedy would cleanse the sins of the United 
States?
    President Bush. First, let me--anybody who harbors terrorists needs 
to fear the United States and the rest of the free world. Anybody who 
houses a terrorist, encourages terrorism will be held accountable. And 
we are gathering all evidence on this particular crime and other crimes 
against freedom-
loving people.
    And I would strongly urge any nation in the world to reject 
terrorism, expel terrorists. I would strongly urge the Taliban to turn 
over the Al Qaida organizers who hide in their country. We're--we're on 
the case. We're gathering as much evidence as we possibly can to be able 
to make our case to the world about all countries and their willingness 
to harbor or not harbor terrorists.
    Q. A specific message to Iraq?
    President Bush. The message to every country is, there will be a 
campaign against terrorist activity, a worldwide campaign. And

[[Page 1338]]

there is an outpouring of support for such a campaign. Freedom-loving 
people understand that terrorism knows no borders, that terrorists will 
strike in order to bring fear, to try to change the behavior of 
countries that love liberty. And we will not let them do that.
    Now, this is a campaign in which nations will contribute in a 
variety of ways. Some nations will be willing to join in a very overt 
way. Other nations will be willing to join by sharing information. And 
information, in a campaign such as this, is going to be incredibly 
important. It's very important for us to be able to find where these 
people are. There's going to need to be a campaign--there needs to be a 
financial component of the campaign, where we need to cooperate to make 
sure we cut off funds, find these organizations that serve as front 
groups for funding these terrorist cells.
    And so my message to all nations is we look forward to full 
cooperation.
    Did you have a question for the President?

Indonesia's Response

    Q. Yes. Could you respond, please, to the Vice President of your 
country who said that the tragedy will cleanse the Nation--the sins? 
Thank you.
    President Megawati. After I heard and witnessed and saw what 
happened, the tragic events in New York and Washington, I immediately 
issued a statement which strongly condemned these attacks, which were 
very inhumane. And afterwards I sent a letter to President Bush 
expressing my condolences. So this is the position of my Government on 
this issue. So it's very clear.

Defining the Terms of the Conflict

    Q. Mr. President, since you've declared war against terrorism, there 
are a number of countries who seem to be saying, not so fast. China, in 
particular, has said that any strike must be preceded by irrefutable 
evidence. Others have raised concerns about civilian casualties. So the 
first question is, are you now prepared to provide such irrefutable 
evidence to countries? And what, in your mind, is the biggest challenge 
that you face in trying to construct this coalition?
    President Bush. Well, first of all, we'll do what we need to do to 
achieve the first objective of a long campaign. And the first objective 
is to bring people to justice who we feel like committed this particular 
set of atrocities, and to hold the organization accountable and to hold 
those who harbor them accountable. That's the first objective of a very 
long campaign.
    David [David Gregory, NBC News], I think that the real challenge for 
America and our allies in this effort is to do a couple of things: One, 
condition the world, starting with our own country, that this will be a 
different kind of battle, a series of battles; that they will be fought 
visibly sometimes, and sometimes we'll never see what may be taking 
place; that the--and that we fully understand that some nations will be 
comfortable supporting overt activities, some nations will be 
comfortable supporting covert activities, some nations will only be 
comfortable in providing information, others will be helpful and only 
feel comfortable helping on financial matters. I understand that. 
Thirdly, that as these various--as the campaign evolves, some nations 
may take a more active role than others.
    The mind-set of war must change. It is a different type of battle. 
It's a different type of battlefield. It's a different type of war. And 
that, in itself, is going to be a real challenge for America and those 
other nations who understand that, because sometimes--look, the mission 
is to rout out terrorist activities. And there's a variety of ways in 
which that can happen.
    Clearly, one of our focuses is to get people out of their caves, 
smoke them out and get them moving and get them. That's about as plainly 
as I can put it. And we're focused on that. But we're also focused, and 
we recognize that the Al Qaida organization exists in some 60-plus 
countries, and we're beginning to work with other nations that are 
receptive to the notion of fighting terrorism, and say, ``Help us round 
up these people. You can play a constructive role.''
    We fully understand that certain NGOs, nongovernmental 
organizations, serve as fronts, as a funding mechanism for terrorist 
organizations. We expect there to be activity on those fronts, as well.

[[Page 1339]]

    So the challenge is to redefine the terms of the conflict, the 
campaign, in a way that the leaders understand, and in a way that the 
people of the world understand. There's a certain impatience with war of 
the past. People demand a certain clarity of a specific battlefield. But 
this is the first--this is a new type of struggle. It's really the first 
series of battles in the 21st century.
    Again I repeat, terrorism knows no borders. It has no capital, but 
it does have a common ideology, and that is they hate freedom, and they 
hate freedom-loving people. And they particularly hate America at this 
moment. But many leaders understand that what happened in New York City 
and Washington, DC, could have easily have happened in their capital, as 
well.
    It's a long answer to a short question.

U.S. Response to Terrorism

    Q. Can I follow on one point? Do you, to your mind, have irrefutable 
evidence that links Al Qaida and specifically Usama bin Laden to these 
attacks?
    President Bush. When we take action, we will take action because we 
believe--because we know we'll be on the right. And I want to remind 
people that there have been terrorist activities on America in the past, 
as well. And there has been--there have been indictments have been 
handed down. This is a war not against a specific individual, nor will 
it be a war against solely one organization. It is a war against 
terrorist activities. Our Nation must do everything we can to protect 
the homeland, and we are. The Attorney General briefs on a daily basis, 
as does the Director of the FBI, talking about what we're doing to do 
the best we can to protect the American people from any further 
activity.
    But the best way to make sure that America is safe, the people of 
Indonesia are safe is to find terrorism at its roots and to root it out, 
to get them out of their caves and get them moving, cut off their 
finances, and hold them accountable.

Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority

    Q. Mr. President, now that Chairman Arafat has said he was willing 
to fight terrorism and he wants to join your coalition, are you willing 
to talk to him?
    And for President Megawati, a quick question is, are you able to 
offer your Government and your people's support for this coalition, or 
do you have that support in your country?
    President Bush. Let me first--I would hope that Chairman Arafat 
backs up his strong statement with action. We take his words very 
seriously that he is interested in doing everything he can to reduce 
terrorism and violence in the Middle East. That was a very positive 
statement he made. And I hope he stays focused on achieving the goal he 
stated. And so to that end, our administration and our Government is 
continuing to talk to Chairman Arafat to encourage him to live up to his 
words, and at the same time working with the Israelis to encourage them 
to seize the moment. Progress is being made.
    Madam President, I said at the time, through my tears I see 
opportunity. One of the opportunities I saw was the ability not to put--
not only for freedom-loving nations to come together to say resolutely 
we will fight terrorism, but I felt like there would be--that this event 
may shake up the attitudes of the Middle East where people would end up 
resolving to show the world that there could be peace there as well. And 
progress is being made. And I want to tell the American people, the 
Secretary of State--even though we're focused on what happened in New 
York and Washington, DC, we're also very much involved in the Middle 
East, and Secretary Powell was on the phone yesterday with leaders in 
the Middle East, urging them to seize this moment. And so we have a 
sense of--we now have a sense of optimism that something positive may 
take place in the Middle East.
    Your question to the President?

Indonesia's Response

    Q. Are you able to offer the support of your country to this 
coalition against terrorism?
    President Megawati. Indonesia has always been against violence. 
Anything that relates to violence, including acts of terrorism, we will 
definitely be against it.
    President Bush. Thank you all.

[[Page 1340]]

Note: The President spoke at 11:22 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. A reporter referred to Vice President Hamzah Haz of Indonesia. 
President Megawati spoke in Indonesian, and her remarks were translated 
by an interpreter.