[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 47 (Monday, November 25, 2002)]
[Pages 2056-2057]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Czech Television

November 18, 2002

NATO's Role in the 21st Century

    Q. Mr. President, this week in Prague, NATO will invite seven 
countries to join the Alliance. But there are other topics on the 
agenda, and the future of NATO is one of them. What do you see NATO will 
be doing in the 21st century? What is its role?
    The President. Well, I think--first of all, I'm excited about going 
to Prague, and I want to thank the citizens of that important city and 
the great country for their hard work in recovering from the floods and 
preparing Prague for our arrival.
    This is going to be a historic meeting because, as you said, we're 
expanding NATO. The most important alliance America has is NATO, and the 
expansion of NATO is something that I think is very important.
    The role of NATO is different as we go into the 21st century. NATO 
used to be a way to defend Europe from the Warsaw Pact. But the Warsaw 
Pact no longer exists. Russia is not an enemy. And we face new threats, 
and the new threats are global terror. And so one way to make sure NATO 
is relevant is to focus on the true threats to freedom, address those 
threats, and figure out ways that we can work together to accomplish 
what we want, which is a peaceful world, which means better 
intelligence-sharing, the capacity to cut off money, and a military 
operation that reflects the nature of the wars we'll be fighting. And 
that's going to be one of the most important discussions we face there 
in Prague.

Cooperation in the War on Terror

    Q. Well, there are really big gaps between the war-fighting 
capabilities of NATO--of the United States, on one hand, and the 
European countries, on the other hand. And Lord Robertson is saying that 
the Americans are not always willing to share the technology necessary 
for NATO. Are you ready to participate on organization of European 
forces?
    The President. Well, I think what has to happen is there first be a 
strategy that recognizes that the Czech Republic can provide a certain 
contribution or the French or the British--not the French but the 
Germans or the British can provide certain kind of capabilities--and 
that we dovetail each capability to an overall strategy. In which case, 
of course, America is willing to work with our friends and allies to 
make sure the NATO Alliance works properly.
    In other words, everybody can contribute something. But it all has 
got to be done within the strategy of the true threats we face in the 
21st century, which is global terrorism. That's the biggest threat to 
freedom right now.

[[Page 2057]]

NATO and Iraq

    Q. You will certainly talk about Iraq. Will the United States, if it 
decides to go to war with Iraq, seek the support of NATO as an alliance?
    The President. Well, first, I hope we don't have to go to war with 
Iraq. I mean, my first choice is not to commit our troops to regime 
change. I hope that Saddam Hussein does what he said he would do, and 
that is disarm. For the sake of peace, he must disarm. Most nations 
understand that--most nations in NATO understand that. They want Saddam 
to disarm. The U.N. Security Council has spoken and says he must disarm. 
So it's his choice to make.
    If he refuses to disarm, then we will lead a coalition of the 
willing and disarm him. And of course, I hope our NATO friends come with 
us. I think they will realize it's in the interest of peace and 
stability that that happen. But we're not close to that decision point 
yet because we're just beginning the process of allowing Saddam the 
chance to show the world whether or not he will disarm.
    And that's an important distinction the people of the Czech Republic 
must know. It's not up to me. It's up to him. He said he would disarm, 
and the inspectors are not the issue. The inspectors are simply a means 
to determine his willingness. And we'll see. He's had a bad history. 
He's had 11 years of lying and deceiving, and now it's time to bring him 
to account, one way or the other.

NATO-U.S. Shared Values

    Q. Some critics now see NATO as a toolbox, and the United States 
just goes and picks whatever it needs when it needs it. Do you agree?
    The President. No, of course not. I mean, I think we view this as an 
alliance of nations with whom we share common values, the common values 
of freedom and individual rights and democracy. This is an opportunity 
for us to combine our values with our deep desire to have a peaceful 
world. And we will work in concert with each other, not in opposition to 
each other. And by working in concert we can really address those 
threats.
    See, that's the interesting thing that people have got to know. 
There's threats to your freedom. If you embrace freedom and love freedom 
and willing to stand strong against global terrorism, you will be 
threatened. And we can't let that happen. It's just a different type of 
threat that we face, but it's a true threat.
    We face it here in America today. There's still an enemy that wants 
to hit us. There's still an enemy that wants to hit our friends. And the 
NATO Charter says, ``If you attack one, you attack us all.'' And that's 
a very important alliance, a very important statement of commonality to 
keep the peace.
    I think NATO is a good thing, and I look forward to working with our 
friends in NATO.
    Q. Mr. President, thank you very much for the interview.
    The President. Thank you. I'm so looking forward to going to Prague. 
It's going to be an exciting time for Laura and me to go. Thank you. 
Good job.

Note: The interview was videotaped at 1:20 p.m. in the Library at the 
White House. In his remarks, the President referred to President Saddam 
Hussein of Iraq. The interviewer referred to Secretary General Lord 
Robertson of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The transcript of 
this interview was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
November 19. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
this interview.