[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 29 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[Pages 926-931]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Tony Blair of the 
United Kingdom

July 17, 2003

    President Bush. Good afternoon. It is, once again, a pleasure to 
welcome the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Cherie Blair to the White 
House. Mr. Prime Minister, fabulous speech. Congratulations.
    In his address to Congress this afternoon, Prime Minister Blair once 
again showed the qualities that have marked his entire career. Tony 
Blair is a leader of conviction, of passion, of moral clarity, and 
eloquence. He is a true friend of the American people. The United 
Kingdom has produced some of the world's most distinguished statesmen, 
and I'm proud to be standing with one of them today.
    The close partnership between the United States and Great Britain 
has been and remains essential to the peace and security of all nations. 
For more than 40 years of the cold war, we stood together to ensure that 
the conflicts of Europe did not once again destroy the peace of the 
world. The duties we accepted were demanding, as we found during the 
Berlin blockade and other crises. Yet British and American leaders held 
firm, and our cause prevailed.
    Now we are joined in another great and difficult mission. On 
September the 11th, 2001, America, Britain, and all free nations saw how 
the ideologies of hatred and terror in a distant part of the world could 
bring violence and grief to our own citizens. We resolved to fight these 
threats actively, wherever they gather, before they reach our shores. 
And we resolved to oppose these threats by promoting freedom and 
democracy in the Middle East, a region that has known so much bitterness 
and resentment.
    From the outset, the Prime Minister and I have understood that we 
are allies in this war, a war requiring great effort and patience and 
fortitude. The British and American peoples will hold firm once again, 
and we will prevail.
    The United States and Great Britain have conducted a steady 
offensive against terrorist networks and terror regimes. We're 
dismantling the Al Qaida network, leader by leader, and we're hunting 
down the terrorist killers, one by one.
    In Afghanistan, we removed the cruel and oppressive regime that had 
turned that country into a training camp for Al Qaida, and now we are 
helping the Afghan people to restore their nation and regain self-
government.
    In Iraq, the United States, Britain, and other nations confronted a 
violent regime that armed to threaten the peace, that cultivated ties to 
terror and defied the clear demands of the United Nations Security 
Council. Saddam Hussein produced and possessed chemical and biological 
weapons and was trying to reconstitute his nuclear weapons program. He 
used chemical weapons in acts of murder against his own people.
    The U.N. Security Council, acting on information it had acquired 
over many years, passed more than a dozen resolutions demanding that the 
dictator reveal and destroy all of his prohibited weapons. A final 
Security Council resolution promised serious consequences if he 
continued his defiance. The former dictator of Iraq chose his course of 
action, and for the sake of peace and security, we chose ours.
    The Prime Minister and I have no greater responsibility than to 
protect the lives and security of the people we serve. The regime of 
Saddam Hussein was a grave and growing threat. Given Saddam's history of 
violence and aggression, it would have been reckless to place our trust 
in his sanity or his restraint. As long as I hold this office, I will 
never risk the lives of American citizens by assuming the good will of 
dangerous enemies.
    Acting together, the United States, Great Britain, and our coalition 
partners enforced the demands of the world. We ended the threat from 
Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. We rid the Middle East of 
an aggressive, destabilizing regime. We liberated nearly 25 million 
people from decades of oppression, and we are now helping the Iraqi 
people to build a free nation.
    In Iraq, as elsewhere, freedom and self-government are hated and 
opposed by a radical and ruthless few. American, British, and other 
forces are facing remnants of a fallen regime and other extremists. 
Their attacks follow a pattern. They target progress and

[[Page 927]]

success. They strike at Iraqi police officers who have been trained to 
enforce order. They sabotage Iraqi power grids that we're rebuilding. 
They are the enemies of the Iraqi people.
    Defeating these terrorists is an essential commitment on the war on 
terror. This is a duty we accept. This is a fight we will win. We are 
being tested in Iraq. Our enemies are looking for signs of hesitation. 
They're looking for weakness. They will find none. Instead, our forces 
in Iraq are finding these killers and bringing them to justice.
    And we will finish the task of helping Iraqis make the challenging 
transition to democracy. Iraq's governing council is now meeting 
regularly. Soon the council will nominate ministers and propose a 
budget. After decades of tyranny, the institutions of democracy will 
take time to create. America and Britain will help the Iraqi people as 
long as necessary. Prime Minister Blair and I have the same goal: The 
Government and the future of Iraq will be in the hands of the people of 
Iraq.
    The creation of a strong and stable Iraqi democracy is not easy, but 
it's an essential part on the war against terror. A free Iraq will be an 
example to the entire Middle East, and the advance of liberty in the 
Middle East will undermine the ideologies of terror and hatred. It will 
help strengthen the security of America and Britain and many other 
nations.
    By helping to build and secure a free Iraq, by accepting the risks 
and sacrifice, our men and women in uniform are protecting our own 
countries, and they're giving essential service in the war on terror. 
This is the work history has given us, and we will complete it.
    We're seeing movement toward reform and freedom in other parts of 
the Middle East. The leadership and courage of Prime Minister Abbas and 
Prime Minister Sharon are giving their peoples new hope for progress. 
Other nations can add to the momentum of peace by fighting terror in all 
its forms. A Palestinian state will be built upon hope and reform, not 
built upon violence.
    Terrorists are the chief enemies of Palestinian aspirations. The 
sooner terrorism is rooted out by all the governments in the region, the 
sooner the Palestinian flag will rise over a peaceful Palestinian state.
    The spread of liberty in Afghanistan and Iraq and across the Middle 
East will mark a hopeful turn in the history of our time. Great Britain 
and America will achieve this goal together. And one of the reasons I'm 
confident in our success is because the character and the leadership of 
Prime Minister Tony Blair.
    Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Blair. Thank you, Mr. President. And first of all, as 
I did a short time ago, I would like to pay tribute to your leadership 
in these difficult times, because ever since September the 11th, the 
task of leadership has been an arduous one, and I believe that you have 
fulfilled it with tremendous conviction, determination, and courage.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir.
    Prime Minister Blair. And I think it's as well that we understand 
how this has all come about. It came about because we realized that 
there was a new source of threat and insecurity in our world that we had 
to counter. And as I was saying in my speech to Congress, this threat is 
sometimes hard for people to understand, because it's of such a 
different nature than the threats we have faced before, but September 
the 11th taught us it was real.
    And when you lead countries, as we both do, and you see the 
potential for this threat of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction 
to come together, I really don't believe that any responsible leader 
could ignore the evidence that we see or the threat that we face. And 
that's why we've taken the action that we have, first in Afghanistan and 
now in Iraq.
    And in Afghanistan, we acted to remove the Taliban, and we still 
pursue the Al Qaida terrorist network there and in other parts of the 
world. But there is no doubt at all that but for that action, Al Qaida 
would have retained its central place of command and control which now 
is denied to it.
    And in respect to Iraq, we should not forget Resolution 1441 that 
was passed in the United Nations, in which the entire international 
community accepted the threat that Iraq constituted.

[[Page 928]]

    I think it's just worth pointing out, in these last few days, Iraq 
has had a governing council established, with the help of the United 
Nations representative Sergio de Mello, and in the last 2 weeks, the 
United Nations has spoken about the numbers of missing people and mass 
graves. And that number, just on the present count, is round about 
300,000 people.
    So let us be clear: We have been dealing with a situation in which 
the threat was very clear and the person, Saddam Hussein, wielding that 
threat, someone of total brutality and ruthlessness, with no compunction 
about killing his own people or those of another nation.
    And of course, it's difficult to reconstruct Iraq. It's going to be 
a hard task. We never expected otherwise. But as the President has said 
to you a moment or two ago, the benefit of that reconstruction will be 
felt far beyond the territory of Iraq. It is, as I said earlier today, 
an indispensable part of bringing about a new settlement in the whole of 
the Middle East.
    And I would also pay tribute to the President's leadership in the 
Middle East and in rekindling the prospect of the Middle East peace 
process. If I can remind people, I think many people were cynical as to 
whether this could ever be rekindled. Many people doubted whether the 
commitment was there, to fairness for Palestinian people as well as to 
the state of Israel. And yet the President has stated very clearly the 
goal of a two-state solution. And now we actually have the first steps, 
albeit tentative, towards achieving that.
    And when I met Prime Minister Sharon in London a few nights ago, I 
was more than ever convinced that if we could provide the right 
framework within which these tentative steps are made, then we do 
genuinely have the prospect of making progress there.
    And then, again, as I was saying earlier, the commitment that 
America has now given, that the President has given, in respect of 
Africa, in tackling some of the poorest parts of our world, is again a 
sign of hope. And all these things are changing our world. And however 
difficult the change may be, I genuinely believe it is change for the 
better.
    So I am honored once again to be here in the White House with you, 
Mr. President. As I said earlier, we are allies, and we are friends. And 
I believe that the work that we are embarked upon is difficult but is 
essential, and so far as we are concerned, we shall hold to it, ride the 
way through.
    President Bush. We'll take a couple of questions. Tom [Tom Raum, 
Associated Press].

Responsibility for the War on Terror/Coalition in Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, others in your administration have said your words 
on Iraq and Africa did not belong in your State of the Union Address. 
Will you take personal responsibility for those words? And the both of 
you, how is it that two major world leaders such as yourselves have had 
such a hard time persuading other major powers to help stabilize Iraq?
    President Bush. First, I take responsibility for putting our troops 
into action. And I made that decision because Saddam Hussein was a 
threat to our security and a threat to the security of other nations.
    I take responsibility for making the decision, the tough decision, 
to put together a coalition to remove Saddam Hussein, because the 
intelligence, not only our intelligence but the intelligence of this 
great country, made a clear and compelling case that Saddam Hussein was 
a threat to security and peace.
    I say that because he possessed chemical weapons and biological 
weapons. I strongly believe he was trying to reconstitute his nuclear 
weapons program. And I will remind the skeptics that in 1991, it became 
clear that Saddam Hussein was much closer to developing a nuclear weapon 
than anybody ever imagined. He was a threat. I take responsibility for 
dealing with that threat.
    We are in a war against terror, and we will continue to fight that 
war against terror. We're after Al Qaida, as the Prime Minister 
accurately noted, and we're dismantling Al Qaida. The removal of Saddam 
Hussein is an integral part of winning the war against terror. A free 
Iraq will make it much less likely that we'll find violence in that 
immediate neighborhood. A free Iraq will make it more likely we'll get a 
Middle Eastern

[[Page 929]]

peace. A free Iraq will have incredible influence on the states that 
could potentially unleash terrorist activities on us. And yes, I take 
responsibility for making the decisions I made.
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Hold on for a second, please.
    Prime Minister Blair. Sorry. First of all, before I answer the 
question you put to me about other countries helping us, let me just say 
this on the issue to do with Africa and uranium. The British 
intelligence that we had we believe is genuine. We stand by that 
intelligence. And one interesting fact I think people don't generally 
know, in case people should think that the whole idea of a link between 
Iraq and Niger was some invention, in the 1980s we know for sure that 
Iraq purchased round about 270 tons of uranium from Niger. So I think we 
should just factor that into our thinking there.
    As for other countries, actually, other countries are coming in. We 
have with us now round about nine other countries who will be 
contributing or are contributing literally thousands of troops. I think 
I'm right in saying the Poles in their sector have somewhere in the 
region of 20 different countries offering support. And I have no doubt 
at all we will have international support in this. Indeed, to be fair, 
even to those countries that opposed the action, I think they recognize 
the huge importance of reconstructing Iraq.
    And it's an interesting thing, I was at a European meeting just a 
couple of weeks ago, where, as you know, there were big differences 
between people over the issue of Iraq. And yet, I was struck by the 
absolutely unanimous view that whatever people felt about the conflict, 
it was obviously good that Saddam was out, and most people now recognize 
that the important thing is that we all work together to reconstruct 
Iraq for the better so that it is a free and stable country.
    Adam [Adam Boulton, Sky News].

Guantanamo Bay Detainees/Andrew Gilligan

    Q. I wonder if I could ask you both about one aspect of Iraq and 
freedom and justice which, as you know, is causing a great deal of 
concern in Britain and the British Parliament, that is, what happens now 
in Guantanamo Bay to the people detained there, particularly whether 
there's any chance that the President will return the British citizens 
to face British justice, as John Walker Lindh faced regular American 
justice?
    And just on a quick point, could the Prime Minister react to the 
decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee tonight that the BBC reporter 
Andrew Gilligan is a ``unsatisfactory witness''?
    President Bush. You probably ought to comment on that one. 
[Laughter]
    Prime Minister Blair. Can I just say to you on the first point, 
obviously, this is an issue that we will discuss when we begin our talks 
tonight, and we will put out a statement on that tomorrow for you.
    President Bush. We will work with the Blair Government on this 
issue. And we're about to--after we finish answering your questions, 
we're going to go upstairs and discuss the issue.
    Q. Do you have concerns they're not getting justice, the people 
detained there?
    President Bush. No, the only thing I know for certain is that these 
are bad people, and we look forward to working closely with the Blair 
Government to deal with the issue.
    Prime Minister Blair. On your other point, Adam, the issue here is 
very, very simple. The whole debate for weeks revolved around a claim 
that either I or a member of my staff had effectively inserted 
intelligence into the dossier we put before the British people against 
the wishes of the intelligence services. Now, that is a serious charge. 
It never was true. Everybody now knows that that charge is untrue. And 
all we are saying is, those who made that charge should simply accept 
that it is untrue. It's as simple as that.
    President Bush. Patsy [Patricia Wilson], Reuters.

Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction

    Q. In his speech to Congress, the Prime Minister opened the door to 
the possibility that you may be proved wrong about the threat from 
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
    President Bush. Yes.

[[Page 930]]

    Q. Do you agree, and does it matter whether or not you find these 
weapons?
    President Bush. Well, you might ask the Prime Minister that. We 
won't be proven wrong----
    Prime Minister Blair. No.
    President Bush. I believe that we will find the truth. And the truth 
is, he was developing a program for weapons of mass destruction.
    Now, you say, why didn't it happen all of a sudden? Well, there was 
a lot of chaos in the country, one; two, Saddam Hussein has spent over a 
decade hiding weapons and hiding materials; three, we're getting--we're 
just beginning to get some cooperation from some of the high-level 
officials in that administration or that regime.
    But we will bring the weapons, and of course we will bring the 
information forward on the weapons when they find them. And that will 
end up--end all this speculation. I understand there has been a lot of 
speculation over in Great Britain--we've got a little bit of it here--
about whether or not the--whether or not the actions were based upon 
valid information. We can debate that all day long until the truth shows 
up, and that's what's going to happen.
    And we based our decisions on good, sound intelligence. And the--our 
people are going to find out the truth, and the truth will say that this 
intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind.
    Prime Minister Blair. And--yes, if I can just correct you on one 
thing. I certainly did not say that I would be proved wrong. On the 
contrary, I said with every fiber of instinct and conviction, I believe 
that we are right. And let me just say this one other thing to you, 
because sometimes, again, in the debate in the past few weeks, it's as 
if, prior to the early part of this year, the issue of Saddam Hussein 
and weapons of mass destruction were some sort of unknown quantity, and 
on the basis of some speculative intelligence, we go off and take 
action.
    The history of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction is a 
12-year history and is a history of him using the weapons, developing 
the weapons, and concealing the weapons and not complying with the 
United Nations inspectors who were trying to shut down his programs. And 
I simply say, which is why I totally agree with the President, it's 
important we wait for the Iraq survey group to complete their work. 
Because the proposition that actually he was not developing such weapons 
and such programs rests on this rather extraordinary proposition that, 
having for years obstructed the United Nations inspectors and concealed 
his programs, having finally effectively got rid of them in December 
'98, he then took all the problems and sanctions and action upon 
himself, voluntarily destroyed them, but just didn't tell anyone. I 
don't think that's very likely as a proposition. I really don't.
    Right, Nick.

Guantanamo Bay Detainees

    Q. Nick Robinson, ITV News. Mr. President, do you realize that many 
people hearing you say that we know these are ``bad people'' in 
Guantanamo Bay will merely fuel their doubts that the United States 
regards them as innocent until proven guilty and due a fair, free, and 
open trial?
    President Bush. Well, yes--let me just say these were illegal 
combatants. They were picked up off the battlefield aiding and abetting 
the Taliban. I'm not trying to try them in front of your cameras or in 
your newspaper.
    But we will talk with the Prime Minister about this issue. He's 
asked. Prior to his arrival, he said, ``I want to talk about this in a 
serious way. Can we work with you?'' And the answer is, absolutely. I 
understand the issue. And we will. We'll have a very good discussion 
about it, right after he finishes answering this aspect of your 
question.
    Prime Minister Blair. I just think you should realize--I mean, of 
course, as I said a moment or two ago, we will discuss this together, 
and we'll put out a statement for you tomorrow. But I think, again, it's 
important just to realize the context in which all this arises, without 
saying anything about any specific case at all. And the context was a 
situation in which the Al Qaida and the Taliban were operating together 
in Afghanistan against American and British forces. So, as I say, we 
will discuss this issue. We will come back to it. You will have a 
statement tomorrow.

[[Page 931]]

    But I want to say just in concluding, once again, that the 
conviction that this threat of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction 
is the security threat our world faces has never left me. It's with me 
now, and I believe it to be the threat that we have to take on and 
defeat. I really do.
    President Bush. Good job. Thank you. I appreciate your coming. 
[Inaudible]
    Thank you all.

Note: The President's news conference began at 5:29 p.m. in the Cross 
Hall at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Cherie Blair, 
wife of Prime Minister Blair; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; 
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority; 
and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. Prime Minister Blair referred 
to Sergio Vieira de Mello, U.N. Special Representative for Iraq. A 
reporter referred to John Walker Lindh, convicted American Taliban 
fighter.