[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 38 (Monday, September 22, 2003)]
[Pages 1242-1245]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With King Abdullah II of Jordan at Camp 
David, Maryland

September 18, 2003

    President Bush. Thanks for coming. His Majesty and I will answer 
some questions after a couple of statements.
    First, I'm so pleased to welcome my friend King Abdullah and Queen 
Rania to Camp David. I want to thank them so very much for rearranging 
their schedules to get up here ahead of Hurricane Isabel. Laura and I 
look forward to spending some quality time with two really fine people.
    We're going to have some serious discussions today. Then we'll have 
a nice lunch, and then we'll batten down the hatches and spend a good 
evening with our friend. The King is a good friend, and I say with 
certainty he is a fine man. He's a reformer who's working to build a 
country that is tolerant and modern and prosperous. He cares deeply for 
the people of Jordan. I know firsthand. I have seen his passion for the 
people in that important country. He suffers when people suffer. He 
exults when people succeed. He's a leader who takes risk for peace. He's 
a peaceful man.
    King Abdullah and I last met more than 3 months ago in Aqaba, 
Jordan. He hosted a very important meeting. It was a moment of great 
hope for the people of the Middle East. At that meeting, Prime Minister 
Abbas--former Prime Minister Abbas strongly condemned terror. Prime 
Minister Sharon committed Israel to supporting the emergence of a viable 
Palestinian state. The King affirmed the commitment of his country to 
help forge a lasting peace.
    In the weeks that followed, there was good progress. Israel withdrew 
from Gaza City and Bethlehem and turned responsibility for security in--
there over to the Palestinian Authority. Hundreds of prisoners were 
released. Checkpoints were removed. Some unauthorized outposts were 
taken down.
    And on the Palestinian side, Prime Minister Abbas made a good-faith 
effort to meet the commitments made at Aqaba. Yet, at every turn, he was 
undercut by the old order. I remain committed, solidly committed, to the 
vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. Yet, 
that would only happen with new Palestinian leadership committed to 
fighting terror, not compromised by terror.
    I look forward to discussing with His Majesty how we can encourage 
Palestinian reform, how we can work together to fight off the terrorists 
who want to destroy the hopes of many, and how we can move forward to 
peace, peace in a region that needs peace.
    I appreciate the King's cooperation in the critical efforts to build 
a stable Iraq. The hearts of the American people go out to the people of 
Jordan for the ruthless attack on the Embassy in Baghdad. That attack 
just once again shows the nature of terror, indiscriminate killing of 
innocent people, all trying to intimidate and create fear.

[[Page 1243]]

    I look forward to hearing His Majesty discuss his efforts to 
continue to work for long-lasting jobs for the Jordanian people, how we 
can work together to expand trade, what we can do together to enhance 
our friendship that has endured across the generations. Today, as the 
United States works to bring--helps to work to bring peace and hope to 
the Middle East, we can rely on Jordan as a vital partner. And that's 
why Laura and I are so honored to welcome you, sir, to Camp David, and 
thank you for coming.
    King Abdullah. Thank you very much, Mr. President, for those very 
kind words of welcome. And I'm particularly delighted, myself and my 
wife, Rania, and our delegation, to really be able to visit with you 
again and discuss many of the issues that are facing both our countries.
    I'm also particularly honored by the strong, genuine dedication that 
you have shown in trying to make our part of the world a better place. 
It took a lot of courage to come to the Middle East, to meet in Sharm 
el-Sheikh with Arab leaders, and then again to come to Aqaba and give 
hopes to the Israelis and Palestinians to move forward. And as you 
rightly said, we did see progress.
    Unfortunately, there is a lull at the moment. But again, your 
dedication to really reach out to the overwhelming majority of Israelis 
and Palestinians that have been suffering for so many years and put your 
heart behind making their future far more hopeful. And this is what I 
believe this weekend is all about. The President has always been 
committed to solving the problems of the Middle East. And I've seen, 
from personal experience, his outward dedication to make a hope for 
Israelis and Palestinians--equally so, your dedication and your desire 
for Iraqis to have a new dawn. And we're extremely appreciative of the 
time that you are spending with us over the weekend to see what we can 
do together to face the challenges ahead of us.
    So a warm thanks from myself and my delegation for your dedication, 
your continued friendship, and really, your genuine desire to make life 
for all of us in the Middle East a much better place. Thank you very 
much.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thanks. Terry [Terry Hunt, 
Associated Press].

Reform of the Palestinian Authority

    Q. Mr. President, you have refused to talk with Yasser Arafat. And 
Israel says that it's going to remove him. Yet, he is picking ministers 
for the new Prime Minister and is in virtual control of the Government. 
How are you going to deal with the Arafat situation in terms of Middle 
East peace? And is it possible to continue to go around him?
    President Bush. Mr. Arafat has failed as a leader. And as I 
mentioned, Prime Minister Abbas was undermined at all turns by the old 
order--that meant Mr. Arafat. And the people of the Palestinian 
territory must understand if they want peace, they must have leadership 
who is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror. I 
believed Prime Minister Abbas when he told me at Sharm el-Sheikh, then 
at Aqaba, then in the Oval Office, he would do everything in his power 
to fight terror, that he would work to consolidate the security forces 
so that he could fight terror. And his efforts were undermined, and 
that's why we're now stalled. I'm still committed to peace, because I 
believe the vast majority of people want peace. I'm committed to the 
roadmap.
    But I'll remind those who focus on the roadmap that the first thing 
the roadmap said was that there must be security in order for peace to 
advance, that there must be a collective effort to fight off terror. Mr. 
Arafat has failed in that efforts. And hopefully, at some point in time, 
a leadership of the Palestinian Authority will emerge which will then 
commit itself 100 percent to fighting off terror. And then we'll be able 
to consolidate the power necessary to fight off terror.
    And when that happens, the world will come together to provide the 
conditions for hope. The world will come together to help an economy 
grow so that the Palestinian people can have a hopeful future. The first 
thing that must happen is an absolute condemnation and defeat of those 
forces who will kill innocent people in order to stop a peace process 
from going forward.
    Your Majesty, do you want to call on somebody?

Terrorism and the Roadmap for Peace

    Q. Your Majesty, the roadmap provides a monitoring system to ensure 
that Israelis and

[[Page 1244]]

Palestinians are fulfilling their obligations, and the U.S. has its own 
envoy in the region to monitor the process. What about enforcing 
stricter monitoring mechanism involving the Quartet and the 
international community?
    King Abdullah. Well, I think these are some of the issues that we 
can discuss. I think it's more important now to see how we can move the 
process back on track. I'm sure monitoring and other issues out there 
can be discussed at a later date. We're talking now about the principle 
of getting the movement forward again and Israelis and Palestinians 
engaging positively in the right direction.
    President Bush. Let me remind--I gave a speech on June 24, 2002, 
which laid out a vision for how to achieve peace. And I said, 
``Everybody has got responsibilities.'' His Majesty has assumed his 
responsibility. He's a leader. He has stood up and said, ``Look, we will 
work for a peaceful solution.'' Other leaders in the region must do the 
same. We must cut off money to terrorist organizations. We must work 
together. Israel has got responsibilities.
    But let me remind you that it is very difficult to stay on a road to 
peace when there are terrorists bombing and killing people. And that's 
what must be stopped. In order for there to be a peace, we must stop 
terror, and it requires a collective effort. All people are responsible.
    And the speech I gave on June 24th still stands as--at least the 
U.S. view--of how to achieve what we want, which is peace and a 
Palestinian state. I think a Palestinian state is one of the most 
hopeful things for a--for the Palestinian people and for the Israelis, 
for that matter.
    But first things first, defeat those who want to stop this from 
happening. And make no mistake about it, the terrorists who are bombing 
and killing aren't interested in a peaceful Palestinian state. They 
don't share our mutual vision, a peaceful vision and a hopeful vision.
    Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

European Support in Iraq

    Q. Thank you. Do you think you can count on Europeans to provide 
financial contributions for Iraq? And what happens if they don't?
    President Bush. Do I think that we can count on the Europeans to 
provide? Yes, I think we're getting help, and I would remind you that 
there is a--two multinational divisions led by--one led by Britain, one 
led by Poland--full of other European countries. And I--that's help. In 
terms of reconstruction, A, we're getting help, and--because Colin 
Powell will continue to ask for help.

    One of the things I must do and will continue to do is make the case 
that a peaceful and secure Iraq is not only in the interests of the 
neighborhood--certainly in Jordan's interest that there be a nation that 
is peaceful and prosperous--but it's in Europe's interest as well, and 
the Americans' interest. You see, freedom in Iraq will change the nature 
of the neighborhood in a positive way. A free Iraq will mean this good 
man will have a partner in peace, somebody with whom he can work--to not 
only establish good trade but to work for additional peace. And it's in 
Europe's interest that that happen.

    And so we will continue to make the case that reconstruction aid is 
necessary. And we'll also remind our European friends that we're making 
good progress there, that businesses are beginning to flourish; 
hospitals are open; pregnant women are receiving medicines; young 
children are getting vaccinated. I mean, there's case after case after 
case where life is improving for the average Iraqi citizen. And we would 
hope that they would participate in this momentum that is taking place 
on a daily basis.

    It is--and I can't--we'll see. I will have a much better feel for 
attitude after next week. As you know, I'll be at the United Nations 
General Assembly. We'll be giving an address there Tuesday morning, and 
then we'll be meeting with a variety of world leaders. His Majesty and 
I, he will be giving me a report on what he knows. He's got pretty good 
antennae. He's well plugged-in, and he knows what's going on in the 
world, and he also is--he has got good friends in Europe and he will--
part of our discussions will center on how best to broaden the coalition 
of participants.

    Yes.

[[Page 1245]]

U.N. Resolution on Iraq/Hurricane Isabel

    Q. Do you expect you'll have a U.N. resolution by the time you get 
to New York?
    President Bush. Probably not. We're still working it. The question 
was, will we have a U.N. resolution by the time I get to New York? No, I 
don't think so, but it could be. We'll continue to work it, though. And 
the whole purpose, of course, is to make sure that the nations feel--if 
they need a U.N. resolution, they'll have one, in order to justify 
participation.
    And the other thing, of course, is that the U.N. resolution must 
promote an orderly transfer of sovereignty to what will be a freely 
elected government based upon a constitution. So in other words, we must 
have--the constitution must be written, and there will be free 
elections, and then sovereignty will occur once the Iraqi people are 
able to express their opinions. And so we'll be working on that as well.
    Listen, thank you all for coming. We appreciate you all as well 
adjusting your schedules. I know this was supposed to take place at a 
different time, but we wanted to get this over with, so that you didn't 
have to float down the hill, if you know what I mean.
    And by the way, we're very well prepared for Hurricane Isabel. I met 
this morning by SVTS--that's video conferencing--with Tom Ridge and John 
Gordon of the NSC staff, fully briefed on the path of the storm. I'm 
assured that the Homeland Security Department is in close contact with 
the States' emergency preparedness offices. We've got prepositioned 
equipment in place. Proper warnings have gone out, and the 
communications systems are up and running, so that when the storm hits, 
the response for the citizens will be an effective response. And we'll--
of course, I'll be monitoring the situation. I'll be in close contact 
with the emergency management people.
    All right, get going before it starts raining. Thank you all very 
much.

Note: The President's news conference began at 10 a.m. In his remarks, 
he referred to former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and 
Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority; and Prime Minister 
Ariel Sharon of Israel. A reporter referred to Prime-Minister-designate 
Ahmed Korei of the Palestinian Authority.