[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 47 (Monday, November 24, 2003)]
[Pages 1652-1658]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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

November 20, 2003

    Prime Minister Blair. Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, can I 
extend the warmest possible welcome to the President of the United 
States and to the First Lady to Downing Street and say how delighted I 
am to see them both here.
    And as you would expect, I think, I would like to say some words 
about the latest terrorist outrage that has occurred today in Turkey. 
First of all, I would wish to express my deepest sympathy and 
condolences to the families of the victims. Some will be British; many 
will be Turkish citizens. I would like to express my condolences also to 
the Government and to the people of Turkey.
    Once again we're reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to 
innocent people everywhere and to our way of life. Once again we must 
affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, 
no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it 
wherever and whenever we can, and in defeating it utterly.
    It should not lessen, incidentally, in any way at all our commitment 
to Iraq. On the contrary, it shows how important it is to carry on until 
terrorism is defeated there as well, because it is in a free, 
democratic, and stable Iraq that not just the violence but the wretched 
and backward philosophy of these terrorists will be defeated and 
destroyed.
    Yesterday, as some of you will have heard, the President of the 
United States delivered a powerful, telling speech extolling the virtues 
of freedom, justice, democracy, and the rule of law, not just for some 
people but for all the peoples of our world. Today the fanatics of 
terror showed themselves to be callous, brutal murderers of the 
innocent, and the contrast could not be more stark.
    There may be some who think that Britain would gain from standing 
back from this struggle, even some who believe that we and the United 
States and our allies have somehow brought this upon ourselves. Let us 
be very clear: America did not attack Al Qaida on September the 11th; Al 
Qaida attacked America and, in doing so, attacked not just America but 
the way of life of all people who believe in tolerance and freedom, 
justice and peace.
    Say we issue for you, in the light of this latest outrage, a short 
summary on the casualties and cost of terrorism. It's quite interesting 
to see just how many countries have been affected, what the cost of 
terrorism is, how many thousands of people have died over this past 
period of time--many of the victims, incidentally, Muslim people, not 
least the civilians murdered in Iraq.
    So this is a time to show strength, determination, and complete 
resolve. This terrorism is the 21st century threat. It is a war that 
strikes at the heart of all that we hold dear, and there is only one 
response that is possible or rational: to meet their will to inflict 
terror with a greater will to defeat it; to confront their philosophy of 
hate with our own of tolerance and freedom; and to challenge their 
desire to frighten us, divide us, unnerve us, with an unshakable unity 
of purpose; to stand side by side with the United States of America and 
with our other allies in the world to rid our world of this evil once 
and for all.
    In the course of the discussions that President Bush and myself had 
yesterday and today, we also, of course, discussed many other issues, 
and let me just run through a few of those with you. There will be two 
communiques put out afterwards, one on Iraq, one on the other issues we 
discussed, and I can just simply list them for you.
    Obviously, we discussed the situation in relation to the WTO and 
world trade and the issues to do with steel, with which we're familiar. 
We agreed a special joint task force on the issue of HIV/AIDS in 
relation to global health, a preoccupation of both our Governments. We, 
of course, discussed the issues to do with weapons of mass destruction 
and the threat that it poses; the Middle East and the Middle East peace 
process. And since we have the successive G-8 chairmanships in the next 
couple of years, we also discussed how we might use those to make 
progress on all these issues, including some of the challenging and 
difficult issues to do with climate change, world trade, and poverty.
    So, once again, Mr. President, welcome here. It's a very, very great 
pleasure and

[[Page 1653]]

honor to have you here in our country, and we're delighted to see you. 
Thank you for that magnificent speech yesterday. And it's my pleasure to 
ask you to address this simple gathering.
    President Bush. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. It's my honor to be 
standing by the side of a friend. And Laura and I were so honored to be 
invited by Her Majesty the Queen to come to the United Kingdom for this 
state visit. It's been a fantastic experience for us.
    I also want to express my deep sympathy for the loss of life in 
Turkey. The nature of the terrorist enemy is evident once again. We see 
their contempt--their utter contempt--for innocent life. They hate 
freedom. They hate free nations. Today, once again, we saw their 
ambitions of murder. The cruelty is part of their strategy. The 
terrorists hope to intimidate. They hope to demoralize. They 
particularly want to intimidate and demoralize free nations. They're not 
going to succeed.
    Great Britain, America, and other free nations are united today in 
our grief and united in our determination to fight and defeat this evil 
wherever it is found. Britain and America have shared the suffering 
caused by terrorism before. On September the 11th, 2001, no country 
except America lost more lives than Britain. Since that day, no ally has 
accomplished more or sacrificed more in our common struggle to end 
terror, and we are grateful.
    Our shared work of democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq is essential to 
the defeat of global terrorism. The spread of freedom and the hope it 
brings is the surest way in the long term to combat despair and anger 
and resentment that feeds terror. The advance of freedom and hope in the 
greater Middle East will better the lives of millions of that region and 
increase the security of our own people.
    I've just come from a meeting with families of British servicemen 
who were killed in Iraq. These brave men died for the security of this 
country and in the cause of human freedom. Our nations honor their 
sacrifice. I pray for the comfort of the families.
    Our mission in Iraq is noble and it is necessary. No act of thugs or 
killers will change our resolve or alter their fate. A free Iraq will be 
free of them. We will finish the job we have begun.
    Together, Great Britain and the United States met the defining 
challenges of the last century. Together, we're meeting new challenges, 
challenges that have come to our generation. In all that lies ahead in 
the defense of freedom and the advance of democracy, our two nations 
will continue to stand together.
    I'm honored to be here, Mr. Prime Minister. I thank you for your 
leadership and your friendship.
    Prime Minister Blair. We'll take three questions from British 
journalists, three questions from U.S. journalists. Andy, you start us 
off.

Timetable for Iraq

    Q. Andy Marr from the BBC. Could I ask both leaders about the agenda 
on Iraq? You are both engaged in an unpredictable and dangerous war, as 
we've seen today. And yet, you say you want to bring the troops home 
starting from next year. Now, how is that possible when the security 
situation is still so unresolved? You haven't got Saddam Hussein. Aren't 
you stuck in Iraq, with your enemies holding the exit door?
    President Bush. I said that we're going to bring our troops home 
starting next year? What I've said is that we'll match the security 
needs with the number of troops necessary to secure Iraq. And we're 
relying upon our commanders on the ground to make those decisions.
    Q. So you'll keep a certain number of troops in Iraq for a longer 
time?
    President Bush. We could have less troops in Iraq; we could have the 
same number of troops in Iraq; we could have more troops in Iraq, what 
is ever necessary to secure Iraq.
    Prime Minister Blair. Let me make it absolutely clear for our 
position as well. We stay until the job gets done. And what this latest 
terrorist outrage shows us is that this is a war; its main battleground 
is Iraq. We have got to make sure we defeat these terrorists, the former 
Saddam people in Iraq, and we must do that because that is an essential

[[Page 1654]]

part of defeating this fanaticism and extremism that is killing innocent 
people all over our world today.
    And I can assure you of one thing, that when something like this 
happens today, our response is not to flinch or give way or concede one 
inch. We stand absolutely firm until this job is done--done in Iraq, 
done elsewhere in the world.
    President Bush. Andy, if I may have a followup to--it's kind of a 
new thing, a followup to the answer. One thing that's happening that you 
need to know that will help us make the necessary calculations for troop 
levels is that there's a lot of Iraqis beginning to be trained to deal 
with the issue on the ground. There's Iraqis being trained for an army. 
There's Iraqis being trained for an intelligence service. There's Iraqis 
being trained for additional police work. There are Iraqis being trained 
for asset protection. There are Iraqis being trained for border guards. 
There's over 130,000 Iraqis now who have been trained, who are working 
for their own security. So part of the answer to your question is how 
fast the new brigades of Iraqi army are stood up, how effective they 
are.
    We believe that the Iraqi citizens want to be free. We know that 
they're willing to work for their own freedom. And the more people 
working for their own freedom, the more we can put that into our 
calculations as to troop levels.
    Thank you for letting me butt in there, again.
    Tom.

Terrorist Attacks/Transition Plan for Iraq

    Q. Tom Raum from the Associated Press. For both of you, Mr. 
President, Mr. Prime Minister, do the attacks today, do you view them as 
a direct attack on the alliance? And does the fact that these attacks 
are coming sort of with an increasing intensity and randomness, does 
that make it less likely that you'll be able to turn over sovereignty to 
an Iraqi council by June?
    President Bush. Well, first of all, in Iraq, we're working on two 
tracks. We're working on a political track, and we believe that the 
timetable that the Governing Council has set for itself is an accurate 
timetable. And we'll work with the Governing Council to turn over 
sovereignty.
    It's their decision, and we agreed with their decision, based upon 
the conditions on the ground. And some of those conditions were the fact 
that there wasn't the sectarian violence that was predicted. Iraq 
remained intact. There wasn't the mass of refugee flows that had been 
predicted. There wasn't starvation that had been predicted. In other 
words, the conditions on the ground were such that the Governing Council 
felt like they could move forward in a constructive way, and we 
supported that.
    Secondly, these terrorist attacks are attacks on freedom, and they 
attack when they can. And our job is to secure our homelands and chase 
down these killers and bring them to justice. And we're making good 
progress with Al Qaida. And if you were to view Al Qaida's organization 
structure as kind of a board of directors and then there would be the 
operating management, we are dismantling the operating management, one 
person at a time. We're on an international manhunt.
    That's why relations and cooperation between our intelligence 
services are essential to secure the people of our respective countries. 
And I will tell you, the Prime Minister's cooperation has just been 
unbelievably good, as has the intelligence service of Great Britain, a 
fine group of people, by the way, people who are dedicating their lives 
to the security of the people of this great country. And the more we 
share intelligence with other nations, the more likely it is that we'll 
be able to rout out these terrorists.
    That's why the phone call I had with Prime Minister Erdogan was an 
important phone call, when I assured him we're willing to work with the 
Turkish Government, as are the Brits willing to work with the Turkish 
Government, to share information and to find these killers so they don't 
kill again.
    I don't know the nature of the casualties today, but I do know the 
nature of the casualties in the recent attack in Istanbul. More Muslims 
died in that attack. These are Al Qaida killers killing Muslims, and 
they need to be stopped, and we will stop them.
    Prime Minister Blair. See, here's where we got to--we've got to see 
what this struggle is about, because you can see it clearer and

[[Page 1655]]

clearer day-by-day. This is a struggle between fanaticism and extremism 
on the one hand and people who believe in freedom and in tolerance on 
the other. And these attacks have been building for years. They came to 
their height, okay, on September the 11th, but that actually wasn't the 
first attack that Al Qaida was perpetrating against America and other 
countries. And you look round the world today, and I tell you, in 
virtually every place there is trouble and difficulty, these terrorists 
and fanatics are making it worse, whether it's Kasmir, whether it's 
Palestine, whether it's Chechnya, wherever it is. And they're prepared 
to kill anyone. They're prepared to shed any amount of bloodshed, 
because they know how important this battle is.
    And here's why Iraq is important in this; because in the end, their 
case, which is based on dividing people--the Arab world and the Western 
world, the Muslim world and the Christian world and other religions--
their case is that we are in Iraq to suppress Muslims, steal their oil, 
to spoil the country. Now, we know you know that all those things are 
lies. They know, therefore, that if we manage to get Iraq on its feet as 
a stable, prosperous, democratic country, the blow we strike is not just 
one for the Iraqi people; it is the end of that propaganda. And that's 
why they're fighting us.
    And when you say, is this attack today directed at our alliance? 
It's directed at anybody who stands in the way of this fanaticism. And 
that's why our response has got to be to say to them, as clearly as we 
possibly can, ``You are not going to defeat us because our will to 
defend what we believe in is actually, in the end, stronger, better, 
more determined than your will to inflict damage on innocent people.''
    And that's what this whole thing is about. That's why when I hear 
people talking about the alliance between our two countries, this is not 
an alliance that's based on simply Britain and America and the ties that 
go back in history and all the rest of it. This is a real living 
alliance about the struggle going on today, in the early 21st century. 
And if we don't win this struggle, it's not just Britain and America 
that's going to suffer. People everywhere are going to suffer, and 
that's why it's important.
    If they think that when they go and kill people by these terrorist 
attacks, they are going to somehow weaken us or make us think, ``Well, 
let's shuffle to the back of the queue and hide away from this,'' they 
are wrong. That is not the tradition of my country, and it's not the 
tradition of the British people or the American people.
    Adam [Adam Boulton, Sky News].

British Detainees at Guantanamo Bay

    Q. What do you say to those people, both those who support what your 
two Governments have done since September 11th and those who oppose it, 
that in fact the treatment of the captives in Guantanamo Bay actually 
belies all your talk of freedom, justice, and tolerance? And on a 
specific point, in view of the comments from the Secretary of State and 
from Charles Kennedy and Michael Howard, is there on the minority of 
British nationals held captive an explicit offer from the United States 
to repatriate them? And if that depends on a request from you, Prime 
Minister, are you prepared to make it now?
    Prime Minister Blair. First of all, let me just deal with the very 
specific issue of the British nationals over in Guantanamo Bay. We are 
in discussion about this. I've already said in the House of Commons it 
will be resolved in one of two ways. Either they will be tried by the 
military commission out there, or alternatively, they'll be brought back 
here. Now, we're in discussion at the moment----
    Q. How----
    Prime Minister Blair. It will be resolved at some point or other. 
It's not going to be resolved today, but it will be resolved at some 
point soon.
    Let me just say this to you, however, about Guantanamo Bay. Indeed, 
the people that are there--again, let's just remember, this arose out of 
the battle in Afghanistan, that arose out of September the 11th and the 
attack there. And the very fact that we are in discussion about making 
sure there are fair procedures for trial--or alternatively, it's up to 
us, as the President very fairly has said,

[[Page 1656]]

these people come back here--is an indication that we actually treat 
people differently. So even though this arose out of this appalling, 
brutal attack on America on September the 11th, nonetheless, we make 
sure that justice is done for people.
    President Bush. These are--justice is being done. These are illegal 
noncombatants picked up off of a battlefield, and they are being treated 
in a humane fashion. And we are sorting through them on a case-by-case 
basis. There is a court procedure in place that will allow them to be 
tried in fair fashion. As to the issue of the British citizens, we're 
working with the British Government.
    Randy [Randall Mikkelsen, Reuters].

Trade Policy/The Doha Round

    Q. Mr. President and Mr. Blair, how accurate would it be to conclude 
that the new China trade quotas, along with a weakening dollar and your 
disagreement with the WTO on steel, altogether constitute a reelection 
strategy of boosting U.S. exports at the expense of free trade 
principles?
    And Mr. Blair, I'd like to know how these policies are affecting 
Europe and the U.K.
    Prime Minister Blair. Mr. President, you should answer that one 
first. [Laughter]
    President Bush. My administration is committed to free trade--the 
first administration in a long time to achieve trade promotion authority 
from the Congress. And we're using that to promote free trade agreements 
on a bilateral basis, on a hemispheric basis. And we're strongly 
advocating a successful round for the--the Doha round of the WTO.
    Secondly, free trade agreements require people honoring the 
agreements. And there are market disruptions involved with certain 
Chinese textiles; we're addressing those disruptions. And we look 
forward to visiting with our Chinese counterparts on this particular 
matter. And as I have been saying publicly, that free trade also 
requires a level playing field for trade.
    In terms of the steel issue, it's an issue that the Prime Minister 
has brought up not once, not twice, but three times. It's on his mind. 
It's also on my mind. And I'm reviewing the findings about the 
restructuring of our steel industry, which is--the ITC ruling basically 
said that the industry needs some breathing time to restructure. I'm 
looking at the findings right now and will make a timely decision.
    But I will reiterate, we believe strongly in free trade. We just 
want to make sure that free trade is also trade in which all parties are 
treated fairly.
    Prime Minister Blair. Obviously, we've stated opposition. I know the 
President is well aware of it, and as you just heard, the administration 
will make its decision in the coming period of time.
    The other thing I would draw your attention to is the joint belief 
in the importance of the WTO doing well and getting the deadlock that 
there was at Cancun resolved. That's immensely important.
    And never forget, incidentally--I said this in the House of Commons 
yesterday--whatever the disagreements on trade between Europe and 
America--and ever since I've been Prime Minister there have been such 
disagreements on particular issues--trade between Europe and America is 
vast. In fact, I think it is right to say it has doubled since 1989. It 
amounts to a huge amount of money and jobs both ways every single year. 
So that's not to say we don't have to resolve these issues, and I hope 
we can resolve them soon, but I don't think we should forget the bigger 
picture, either.
    Nick.

London Demonstrations/War on Terror

    Q. Nick Robinson, ITV News. What do you say to people who today 
conclude that British people have died and been maimed as a result of 
you appearing here today, shoulder-to-shoulder with a controversial 
American President?
    And Mr. President, if I could ask you, with thousands on the 
street--with thousands marching on the streets today here in London, a 
free nation, what is your conclusion as to why apparently so many free 
citizens fear you and even hate you?
    President Bush. I'd say freedom is beautiful. It's a fantastic thing 
to come to a country where people are able to express their views.
    Q. Why do they hate you, Mr. President? Why do they hate you in such 
numbers?

[[Page 1657]]

    President Bush. I don't know that they do. All I know is that it's--
that people in Baghdad, for example, weren't allowed to do this up until 
recent history. They're not spending a lot of time in North Korea 
protesting the current leadership. Freedom is a wonderful thing, and I 
respect that. I fully understand people don't agree with war. But I hope 
they agree with peace and freedom and liberty. I hope they care deeply 
about the fact that when we find suffering and torture and mass graves, 
we weep for the citizens that are being brutalized by tyrants.
    And finally, the Prime Minister and I have a solemn duty to protect 
our people, and that's exactly what I intend to do as the President of 
the United States, protect the people of my country.
    Prime Minister Blair. To answer your first question and your other, 
indeed, people have the right to protest and to demonstrate in our 
countries, and I think that's part of our democracy. And all I say to 
people is--and this is the importance, I think, of the speech the 
President made yesterday--listen to our case as well. I mean, we listen. 
That's what a democratic exchange should be about, but listen to the 
case that we are making.
    Because there is something truly bizarre about a situation where we 
have driven the Taliban out of Government in Afghanistan, who used to 
stop women going about the street as they wished, who used to prevent 
girls going to school, who brutalized and terrorized their population, 
there's something bizarre about having got rid of Saddam in Iraq from 
the Government of Iraq, when we've already discovered just so far the 
remains of 400,000 people in mass graves--there is something bizarre 
about these situations happening and people saying that they disagree, 
when the effect of us not doing this would be that the Taliban was still 
in Afghanistan and Saddam was still in charge of Iraq. And I think 
people have got to accept that that is the consequence of the position 
therein.
    Now, as for your first point, just let me say this. What has caused 
the terrorist attack today in Turkey is not the President of the United 
States, is not the alliance between America and Britain. What is 
responsible for that terrorist attack is terrorism, are the terrorists. 
And our response has got to be to unify in that situation, to put the 
responsibility squarely on those who are killing and murdering innocent 
people, and to say, ``We are going to defeat you, and we're not going to 
back down or flinch at all from this struggle.'' For all the reasons 
I've given you earlier, this is what this struggle is about.
    And when you look--as you can see from the list of the people from 
60 different nationalities who have died in terrorist attacks, thousands 
of people from every religion, every part of the world, you aren't going 
to stop these people by trying to compromise with them, by hesitating in 
the face of this menace. It's defeat them or be defeated by them. That's 
what we're going to do.

Religion/Shared Values

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister. Mr. President, when 
you talk about peace in the Middle East, you've often said that freedom 
is granted by the Almighty. Some people who share your beliefs don't 
believe that Muslims worship the same Almighty. I wondered about your 
views on that.
    And Mr. Prime Minister, as a man also of faith, I'd like to get your 
reaction to that.
    President Bush. I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to 
every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's 
gift to the world. It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe 
we worship the same God.
    Prime Minister Blair. And I believe that if people are given the 
chance to have freedom, whatever part of the world they're in, whatever 
religion they practice, whatever faith they have, if they're given the 
chance to have freedom, they welcome it. And I think it is the most 
appalling delusion that actually affects some people even within our own 
societies that somehow, though we in our countries love freedom and 
would defend freedom, somehow other people in other parts of the world 
don't like it.
    And the reason why they like freedom is because then, if you've got 
freedom and democracy and the rule of law, you can raise your family, 
you can earn a decent standard of living, you can go about your daily 
business without fear of the secret police or terrorism. And in those 
types of societies, the terrorists

[[Page 1658]]

who thrive on hatred and fanaticism, they get no breathing ground, they 
get no breathing space.
    And the really important thing--and I just wanted to say this about 
the President's speech yesterday, because I hope--people sometimes say 
to me, ``Well, you've got a Republican President, a center-left 
Government here in Britain, how can you two guys work together?'' On 
this issue, I believe people from whatever side of the political 
spectrum they're on can respond to the call, that in the end, the best 
security we can have is not just through our armed forces and 
intelligence services, magnificent though they are, but actually through 
our values, through the spread of those values of freedom and justice 
and tolerance throughout the world.
    And the case the President made yesterday, I think, is a really 
powerful call, not just to people in our own countries but to people 
right throughout the world, that these are basic human values. They're 
not the--in the ownership exclusively of America or Britain or the West 
or any particular religion; they're human values. And actually, every 
time you give people the chance to have those values, they opt for them. 
Of course they do, because they're the values that sustain the human 
spirit.

Note: The President's news conference began at 12:15 p.m. at the Foreign 
and Commonwealth Offices, 10 Downing Street. In his remarks, the 
President referred to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom; former 
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip 
Erdogan of Turkey. A reporter referred to Charles Kennedy, leader of the 
Liberal Democrats party of the United Kingdom; and Michael Howard, 
leader of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom.