[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 11 (Monday, March 18, 2002)]
[Pages 429-430]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina

March 15, 2002

President's Visit

    Q. Mr. President, it was a little noisy over there; could you give 
us your impression of what you----
    The President. I was very impressed. We've got the finest soldiers 
in the world. We've got a great training mission, and I'm glad those 
soldiers are on my side.
    Q. What kind of message should that display send to adversaries?
    The President. Well, what the adversaries need to know is we're 
going to do what is necessary to have a well-trained military to 
accomplish a major objective, an important objective, which is, defend 
freedom. And the adversaries need to know that we're going to be in this 
for a long time, that we're going to be steady, relentless, and we're 
going to win.

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Sir, what are you hearing from General Zinni? Is his mission 
making any headway?
    The President. Haven't heard from him yet, but I believe there's 
good progress in the Middle East. Obviously, the Israelis have moved 
back some of their troops. That's a positive development. And I have yet 
to hear from Zinni, but we will soon.
    Q. [Inaudible]--troop withdrawal from Ramallah?
    The President. Well, we're very pleased with it. As I said, that one 
of the things we've got to do is to work with both parties to establish 
the conditions for eventual peace. And I appreciate Prime Minister 
Sharon's decision. General Zinni is in the region now. We're hopeful 
that he'll have an impact on setting the conditions for peace, which 
begins with getting into the Tenet plan and then, eventually, the 
Mitchell plan. I thought that was a positive development yesterday.
    Q. How hopeful are you that he'll be able to succeed?
    The President. If I wasn't hopeful, I wouldn't have sent him.
    Mikey, Mikey, Mikey [Mike Allen, Washington Post].
    Q. Mr. President----

[[Page 430]]

    The President. Did that get any national play, that ``Mikey, Mikey, 
Mikey''?
    Q. With my family.

President's Visit

    Q. What about lunch, Mr. President? What do you think of it? Are you 
getting ready to dig in? What have you seen today? Are you pretty happy?
    The President. Well, first of all, I knew our troops were good 
because I've been reading reports about how good they are. I got to see 
firsthand--I'm going to see all day long, firsthand--the esprit de corps 
is very high here. These soldiers are proud to wear the uniform. Great 
command staff; they've got highly motivated officers; they are well-
trained. Every one of the troops, as I moved down the line, spoke a 
foreign language. To give you an example of how well-trained they are, 
the medics, these highly trained young men, can conduct--they can pull a 
tooth, or they can amputate a leg, if need be. I mean, these are 
fabulously trained soldiers. I'm real proud of their training.
    One of the things we've got the make sure that Congress understands 
is that we've got to spend the money necessary to keep them highly 
trained. They all know we're in for a long struggle. They're prepared to 
make the sacrifices to meet that struggle.
    I had the honor of meeting with the widows of two of the soldiers 
who died--and their dad and their mom of one of the guys--and to a 
person, they said, ``Mr. President, don't falter.'' These people just 
lost a loved one, and they are just as resolved about winning this war 
on terror as I am. And I was very impressed by their steadfast support 
for what we're doing and their understanding of the sacrifices necessary 
to defend freedom.
    Now I'm going to eat my lasagna. If it gets cold, you have to eat 
the lasagna. [Laughter]

Note: The exchange began at 12 noon while walking through the lunch 
line. In his remarks, the President referred to U.S. Special Envoy to 
the Middle East Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.); and Prime Minister 
Ariel Sharon of Israel. The Office of the Press Secretary also released 
a Spanish language transcript of this exchange. A tape was not available 
for verification of the content of this exchange.