[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 42 (Monday, October 21, 2002)]
[Pages 1754-1758]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Departure for Waterford, Michigan, and an Exchange With 
Reporters

October 14, 2002

Terrorist Attack in Indonesia

    The President. Last night I called Prime Minister Howard of 
Australia to express our country's deepest sympathies to the citizens of 
that good country who lost their lives, to the families who mourn and 
cry. I send the same sympathies and prayers to the family of the U.S. 
citizen--or citizens--as well as citizens from around the world. The 
murder which took place in Bali reminds us that this war against terror 
continues.
    I've constantly told the American people that the struggle against 
terror is going to be a long and difficult struggle, that we're dealing 
with coldblooded killers, that the enemy does not value innocent life 
like we do, and that we must continue to pursue the enemy before they 
hurt us again.
    I believe that the attacks on the French vessel in Yemen is 
connected with this type of terror, that they're related. I believe that 
the attack on our marines in Kuwait reflect the international nature of 
these cells, these killer cells. We've got to continue to work together. 
Those of us who love freedom must

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work together to do everything we can to disrupt, deny, and bring to 
justice these people who have no soul, no conscience, people who hate 
freedom.
    I told the Prime Minister and I told Prime Minister Blair--the Prime 
Minister of Australia--and I told Prime Minister Blair this morning that 
I'm absolutely determined to continue to lead the coalition. They 
recognize the need for us to continue to work together. And it's a sad 
day for a lot of people around the world, and--but it also is a day in 
which we've got to realize that we've got a long way to go to make the 
world more secure and more peaceful.
    I'll answer a couple of questions. Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated 
Press].
    Q. Sir, how does this emphasize the risk that we have in this 
country----
    The President. Yes----
    Q. ----and does this improve your ability to put together a 
coalition and a resolution in the U.N.?
    The President. Well, I think that the free world is--must recognize 
that no one is safe, that if you embrace freedom, you're not safe from 
terrorism. And clearly, the attacks in Bali--I think we have to assume 
it's Al Qaida. We're beginning to hear some reports that's more 
definitive than that, but I wait for our own analysis. But clearly it's 
a deliberate attack on citizens who love freedom, citizens from 
countries which embrace freedom. They're trying to intimidate us, and we 
won't be intimidated.
    I'm concerned about our homeland. Obviously, if I knew of a specific 
piece of intelligence that would indicate a moment or a place in which 
the enemy would attack, we'd do a lot about it. But that's why we're 
still working with our authorities, the different--taking the 
intelligence as we know it and responding.
    Here at home we're not immune from these kinds of attacks, and I'm 
concerned about it.
    Yes, Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

Al Qaida/Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, does this mean now that Al Qaida has reconstituted 
itself, and do you think--how does this play on your policy on Iraq?
    The President. Yes. Well, first, I--we're making great progress in 
the war against terror. But as I told our citizens, and have been 
repeatedly telling our citizens, this is a long war. And it's going to 
take a while to fully rout Al Qaida. We don't know whether bin Laden is 
alive or dead. You know, they keep floating supposed letters and--or 
radio broadcasts. We do know that Al Qaida is still dangerous. And while 
we've made good progress, there's a lot more work to do.
    As I've repeatedly said, our thoughts about Iraq relate to the war 
on terror and that dealing with--or getting Saddam Hussein to disarm is 
all part of making the world more peaceful. And it's all part of the war 
against terror.
    Yes, John [John Roberts, CBS News].

Usama bin Laden/Al Qaida

    Q. Mr. President, do you--on that point, on Usama bin Laden, do you 
have a response to the letter that was put out today, allegedly under 
his name, praising the killing of the American marine in Kuwait? And do 
you share the concerns of Senator Richard Shelby, who believes that this 
is, in fact, a new Al Qaida offensive?
    The President. Well, I--first, I don't know whether bin Laden is 
alive or dead. I--you know, I do know Al Qaida is extremely dangerous. I 
do know that there are still some of his top lieutenants roaming around 
and that we're doing everything we can to bring them to justice.
    John, I also know that the enemy still wants to hit us and that 
the--as I mentioned earlier, that I believe the attack on the French 
vessel was a terrorist attack. Obviously, the attack on our marines in 
Kuwait was a terrorist attack. The attack in Bali appears to be an Al-
Qaida-type terrorist--definitely a terrorist attack, whether it's Al-
Qaida-related or not--I would assume it is. And therefore, it does look 
like a pattern of attacks that the enemy, albeit on the run, is trying 
to once again frighten and kill freedom-loving people. And we've just 
got to understand, we are in a long struggle.
    And I am absolutely determined now, as I was a year ago, to continue 
to rout out these

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people, to find them, to use the best intelligence we can, and to bring 
them to justice. And we will continue to pursue.

Travel by U.S. Citizens

    Q. With the alert that the State Department put out last week and 
now the decision to bring home American family--Embassy families, and 
urging travelers to come home from Indonesia, does this appear to be a 
time in which Americans worldwide ought to stay closer to home, if this 
is part of a new wave of terrorism?
    The President. I think that all depends where, and I think they 
ought to take guidance from the State Department. But clearly, the State 
Department is reacting to this attack and reacted to some intelligence 
before. As you know, we're constantly putting out alerts when we get 
some kind of data that indicates our people overseas are at risk.
    Yes.

Washington Area Sniper

    Q. What about concerns of the last--[inaudible]--sniper attack----
    The President. The sniper attacks--first of all, I'm just sick, sick 
to my stomach to think that there is a coldblooded killer at home taking 
innocent life. I weep for those who've lost their loved ones. I am--the 
idea of moms taking their kids to school and sheltering them from a 
potential sniper attack is not the America I know. And therefore, we're 
lending all the resources of the Federal Government, all that have been 
required, to do everything we can to assist the local law authorities to 
find this--whoever it is.
    Q. [Inaudible].
    The President. First of all, it is a form of terrorism, but in terms 
of the terrorism that we think of, we have no evidence one way or the 
other, obviously. But anytime anybody is randomly shooting, randomly 
killing, randomly taking life, it's coldblooded murder, and it's--it's a 
sick mind who obviously loves terrorizing society. And we're doing 
everything we can to capture whoever that might be and bring them to 
justice. And the Federal Government--I've been--I get briefed on it 
every morning. Bob Mueller, the head of the FBI, was in this morning and 
gave me a full briefing on what the FBI knew, how we're helping, what 
we're doing. But it's obviously a terrible, terrible situation.
    And I pray for the--I pray for the families who grieve and suffer. 
And I worry about a society where moms can't take their kids to school. 
And obviously, we're going to do everything we can to help the local 
authorities bring these people to justice.

U.N. Resolution on Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, on the U.N. resolution--could I have a second one, 
sir?
    The President. It's the new me. I'm answering all kinds of 
questions. [Laughter]
    Q. Are you prepared to meet the French halfway on their concerns on 
the trigger of the use of force? Specifically, are you willing to drop 
the language that specifies the use of any and all means to----
    The President. John, I think what's important is that, first of all, 
we are working with all parties to get a resolution done. I talked about 
it again--I talked to Tony Blair about that subject. What I'm interested 
in is making sure that Saddam Hussein is disarmed. He said he wouldn't 
have weapons of mass destruction. It is in our national interest that he 
not have weapons of mass destruction. And anything we do must make it 
very clear that Saddam must disarm, or there will be consequences. And 
how that language is worked out is up to the diplomats.
    But I am very firm in my desire to make sure that Saddam is 
disarmed. Hopefully, we can do this peacefully. The use of the military 
is my last choice, is my last desire. But doing nothing, allowing the 
status quo to go on, is unacceptable, particularly since we've got a new 
war on terror that we've--that was launched on September the 11th, 2001, 
particularly since oceans no longer protect America from people who hate 
us.
    And so we'll see how it plays out. But I'm anxious to work with the 
international community. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have gone to the United 
Nations.
    Q. Are you willing to be a little more oblique about that particular 
part of the language?
    The President. Well, we'll just see how it comes. What I'm not--what 
I want is a firm resolution that says, ``You disarm,'' and an inspection 
regime that is there not for the

[[Page 1757]]

sake of inspectors but is there to achieve the objective of disarming 
Mr. Saddam Hussein. It's his choice to make. And in order to make sure 
the resolution has got any kind of credence with Mr. Hussein, there has 
to be a consequence.
    Randy [Randall Mikkelsen, Reuters].

Indonesian Cooperation on Terrorism

    Q. Mr. President, are you satisfied with the cooperation you've 
gotten from Indonesia up until now in fighting terrorism?
    The President. I will speak to Ms. Megawati soon. She is in Bali 
right now, and she is obviously grieving for her citizens that lost 
their lives. And I'm going to make it clear to her that we need to work 
together to find those who murdered all those innocent people and bring 
them to justice. And I hope I hear the resolve of a leader that 
recognizes that anytime terrorists take hold in the country, it's going 
to weaken the country, itself. And there has to be a firm and deliberate 
desire to find out--find the killers before they kill somebody else.
    See, these are the kinds of people that, if they go unchallenged and 
don't feel like there's going to be any consequences, they will continue 
to kill. These are nothing but coldblooded killers. They do not value 
life the way we value life in the civilized world. They take no care for 
innocent life. They just blow up in the name of a religion which does 
not preach this kind of hatred or violence.
    And the war we fight is a different kind of war. There will be times 
in which people settle in and say, ``Well, gosh, there's nothing going 
on in the war,'' and then something like this happens, and it's a 
reminder about how dangerous the world can be if these Al Qaida are free 
to roam.
    And so we're chasing them, and we're denying them sanctuary. We've 
made great progress in the war against terror. We've hauled in and/or 
killed a bunch of their leaders. There are still more out there. There 
are--the training camps that they have been using have been disrupted. 
We're doing a better job of cutting off their money. We've got them on 
the run, and we intend to keep them on the run. They are still lethal, 
and they are still dangerous.

Legislative Agenda

    Q. Congress is about to go out, sir. What's the bare minimum you 
expect----
    The President. When Congress goes out? Well, they--there's a lot of 
talk about job creation, and there should be. So what they ought to do 
is pass some bills that will help with jobs, like the terrorism 
insurance bill. There has been a lot of talking here in Washington on 
issues such as terrorism insurance, which clearly will help create the 
job base, expand the job base. And yet, with a couple of days to go, 
it's hard to tell whether or not they're going to get a bill to my desk.
    The energy bill will be good for jobs. There ought to be an energy 
bill on my desk. And so I think--I think before they go home, I hope 
they recognize they can make a difference in job creation. They've also 
got to make sure they don't overspend. They need to make sure we have 
fiscal discipline. On the way out of town, if they have to do a CR, it 
ought to be a clean CR, and then if they feel like they need to come 
back, they can come back and deal with the appropriations process.
    I'd also like to get the defense appropriations bill--it passed the 
House; it looks like it's going to pass the Senate soon, which is a very 
good sign. But you know, in 4 days time, no telling what's going to 
happen up here. Let's hope they get some constructive things done in 
terms of jobs.
    Listen, thank you all.

Al Qaida/President Saddam Hussein of Iraq

    Q. Sir, could we ask you one more question, sir? Senator Graham last 
week said that the number one threat to this Nation still remains Al 
Qaida and questioned the wisdom about going after Saddam Hussein while 
Al Qaida remains the number one threat. Based on what's happened for the 
last week in terms of Yemen, Kuwait, and Bali, does it suggest that that 
argument does hold some water?
    The President. I think they're both equally important, and they're 
both dangerous. And as I said in my speech in Cincinnati, we will fight, 
if need be, the war on terror on two fronts. We've got plenty of 
capacity to do so. And I also mentioned the fact that

[[Page 1758]]

there is a connection between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein. The war on 
terror--Iraq is a part on the war on terror. And he must disarm.
    And so I--I respect the opinion of a lot of people, and I respect 
his opinion. But if we don't deal with Saddam Hussein and disarm him--
hopefully, it will be done peacefully--he becomes more and more 
dangerous. And someday we don't want to step back and say, ``Where was 
the United States Government? How come we didn't act?'' And we've got 
plenty of capacity to fight the war against Al Qaida, which is going to 
take a while. We just learned a lesson this weekend: It's going to take 
a while to succeed. And at the same time, the United Nations hopefully 
will pass--will show their strong desire to disarm Saddam, and we can 
get after it, get him disarmed before he hurts America. And I'm 
absolutely confident we can achieve both objectives, John.
    Listen, thank you all.
    Q. Does this constitute a press conference?
    The President. Absolutely. The difference between this news 
conference and the one in the East Room is, you didn't get to put makeup 
on. [Laughter]
    Q. You didn't----
    The President. Of course I didn't. But--that was an unnecessary 
cheap shot. I apologize. It's a Columbus Day cheap shot. [Laughter] See 
you all.

Note: The President spoke at 1:45 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister John Howard of 
Australia; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; Usama bin 
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and President 
Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia.