[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 37 (Monday, September 15, 2003)]
[Pages 1196-1197]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Anniversary of September 11 and an Exchange With 
Reporters

September 11, 2003

    The President. This morning, we had a chance to go to a church 
service to remember the victims and pray for their families, the victims 
of 9/11/2001. Today--this afternoon, Laura and I are here to thank the 
brave souls who got wounded in the war on terror, people who were 
willing to sacrifice in order to make sure that attacks such as 
September the 11th don't happen again.
    I want to thank the staff of Walter Reed, the docs and the nurses 
and the caregivers, the people who look after the families, for enabling 
me to say to our fellow citizens that when somebody gets hurt, somebody 
who wears our uniform gets injured, they get the absolute best care as 
quickly as possible. I was able to pin the Purple Heart on a number of 
people upstairs. I was able to hug their parents and thank them. I'm 
just so grateful that our country has got people who are willing to 
serve in a cause greater than themselves.
    I'll answer a couple of questions, and then I've got to go.

Usama bin Laden Tape

    Q. Sir, does this new bin Laden tape concern you at all?
    The President. First of all, they're analyzing it. Secondly, his 
tape reminds us that the war on terror goes on. As well, his rhetoric is 
trying to intimidate and, you know, create fear. And he's not going to 
intimidate America. We are at war because of what he and his fellow 
killers decided to do 2 years ago today. And we will stay at war until 
we have achieved our objective, the dismantlement of terrorist 
organizations.
    And it just reminds us of the duty we have got to do. And I say 
``we,'' my administration and all who serve our country, our duty is to 
protect our fellow citizens from people like bin Laden.

War on Terror

    Q. Mr. President, people are reminded of what happened 2 years ago--
think about

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what's happened in the past 2 years. What can you say to them to make 
them feel like this won't happen again, that there won't be another----
    The President. Yes. Well, I can just tell them--people that, first 
of all, we have--we're slowly but surely dismantling Al Qaida. We are 
not only destroying terrorist training camps, cutting off their money; 
we're either killing or capturing a lot of their leadership.
    And as I told the American people right after September the 11th, 
2001, this would be a different kind of war, and this would be a long 
war. And we're fighting this war on a lot of fronts, the major front of 
which is now in Iraq. And we're making steady progress toward achieving 
our objective, and we will continue to make progress. You can't 
negotiate with these people. You can't try to talk sense to these 
people. The only way to deal with them is to find them and bring them to 
justice, and that's what the United States--and a lot of other countries 
working with the United States--will continue to do.

U.N. Resolution on Iraq

    Q. Sir, are we any closer to getting a U.N. resolution?
    The President. Colin is going to be overseas starting tomorrow and 
over the weekend, and we'll see when he comes back. But the key thing 
for the United Nations resolution is that it will hopefully encourage 
other nations to participate. And I think other nations have an 
obligation to participate. A free Iraq will be in their Nation's 
benefit. It will make the world more peaceful and more secure. And a 
free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will make it more easy for us 
to not only secure America and other free nations but will make it 
easier for there to be peace in the long run.
    And therefore, I would hope that nations would participate, and to 
the extent that some nations need an additional United Nations 
resolution, this could be helpful in encouraging international 
participation. But Colin is sitting down with other foreign ministers 
from the Perm 5 as well as Kofi Annan, starting tomorrow.
    Okay, well, thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 4:30 p.m. at the Walter Reed Army Medical 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization; Secretary of State Colin L. Powell; and 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United Nations. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.