[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 39 (Monday, October 2, 2006)]
[Pages 1688-1695]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Reserve Officers Association

September 29, 2006

    Thanks, Captain Smith, for your kind introduction. Thank you all for 
being here, and thank you for the warm welcome. I am honored to stand 
with the men and women of the Reserve Officers Association. For more 
than 80 years, this organization has stood up for America and its 
citizen soldiers, and I appreciate your contribution to our country. 
We're safer because you stand ready to put on the uniform. I am grateful 
for your service, and I am proud to be your Commander in Chief.
    I want to speak to you today about the struggle between moderation 
and extremism that is unfolding across the broader Middle East. At this 
moment, terrorists and extremists are fighting to overthrow moderate 
governments in the region so they can take control of countries and use 
them as bases from which to attack America and from which to impose 
their hateful ideology. This is the challenge of our time. This is the 
call of a generation, to stand against the extremists and support 
moderate leaders across the broader Middle East, to help us all secure a 
future of peace.
    This week in Washington, I met with two courageous leaders who are 
working for peace, President Karzai of Afghanistan and President 
Musharraf of Pakistan. These leaders understand the stakes in the 
struggle, in the ideological struggle of the 21st century. They 
understand the stakes from a personal perspective as well, since the 
extremists have tried to assassinate them. They are courageous people. 
They have seen the destruction that terrorists have caused in their own 
country, and they know this, that the only way to stop them is to work 
together and to stay on the offense. By standing with brave leaders like 
these, we are defending civilization itself and we're building a more 
peaceful world for our children and grandchildren.
    I appreciate very much the Ambassador from Afghanistan, Ambassador 
Jawad, and Ambassador Durrani from Pakistan for joining us here today. 
Thank you all for coming. I appreciate members of my administration who 
have joined us. I appreciate people

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wearing the uniform who have joined us. I appreciate those from Walter 
Reed who have joined us, and from Bethesda. I thank you for your 
sacrifice.
    I also want to thank those from Walter Reed who are--and Bethesda 
who are giving you the help you need to recover from your wounds. It 
gives me great comfort to be able to tell the loved ones of those who 
wear our uniform that if you get hurt, you will receive first class, 
compassionate care from the United States military. And so for the 
healers who are here, thank you for doing your duty and providing these 
brave folks the help they need to recover.
    Earlier this month, our Nation marked the fifth anniversary of the 
September the 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks. We paused on that day to 
remember the innocent people who were killed that day. We paused to 
remember the rescue workers who rushed into burning towers to save 
lives. After 9/11, I stood in the well of the House of Representatives 
and declared that every nation, in every region, had a decision to make: 
Either you were with us, or you stood with the terrorists. Two nations, 
Afghanistan and Pakistan, made very different decisions with very 
different results.
    Five years ago, Afghanistan was ruled by the brutal Taliban regime. 
Under the Taliban and Al Qaida, Afghanistan was a land where women were 
imprisoned in their own homes, where men were beaten for missing prayer 
meetings, where girls couldn't even go to school. What a hopeless 
society that was, under the rule of these hateful men. Afghanistan was 
the home to terrorist training camps. Under Al Qaida and the Taliban, 
Afghanistan was a terrorist safe haven. It was a launching pad for the 
horrific attacks that killed innocent people in New York City on 
September the 11th, 2001.
    After 9/11, America gave the leaders of the Taliban a choice. We 
told them that they must turn over all of the leaders of Al Qaida hiding 
in their land. We told them they must close every terrorist training 
camp and hand over every terrorist to appropriate authorities. We told 
them they must give the United States full access to the terrorist 
training camps so they could make sure they were no longer operating. We 
told them these demands were not up for negotiation, and that if they 
did not comply immediately and hand over the terrorists, they would 
share in the same fate as the terrorists.
    I felt these were reasonable demands. The Taliban regime chose 
unwisely--so within weeks after the 9/11 attacks, our coalition launched 
Operation Enduring Freedom. By December 2001, the Taliban regime had 
been removed from power, hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaida fighters had 
been captured or killed, and the terrorist camps where the enemy had 
planned the 9/11 attacks were shut down. We did what we said we were 
going to do. We made our intentions clear. We gave the Taliban a chance 
to make the right decision. They made the wrong decision, and we 
liberated Afghanistan.
    The liberation of Afghanistan was a great achievement, and for those 
of you who served in that effort, thank you. I thank you on behalf of 
America, and the Afghan people thank you. But we knew it was only the 
beginning of our mission in Afghanistan. See, the liberation was only 
the start of an important mission to make this world a more peaceful 
place. We learned the lesson of the 1980s, when the United States had 
helped the Afghan people drive the Soviet Red army from Kabul and then 
decided our work was finished and left the Afghans to fend for 
themselves.
    The Taliban came to power and provided a sanctuary for bin Laden and 
Al Qaida, and we paid the price when the terrorists struck our Nation 
and killed nearly 3,000 people in our midst. So, after liberating 
Afghanistan, we began the difficult work of helping the Afghan people 
rebuild their country and establish a free nation on the rubble of the 
Taliban's tyranny.
    With the help of the United Nations and coalition countries, Afghan 
leaders chose an interim Government. They wrote and approved a 
democratic Constitution. They held elections to choose a new President, 
and they elected leaders to represent them in a new Parliament. In those 
parliamentary elections, more than 6 million Afghans defied terrorist 
threats and cast their ballots. They made it clear, they wanted to live 
in a free society. As I travel around the country, I tell people that 
I'm not surprised when people say, ``I

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want to live in liberty.'' I believe liberty is universal. I believe 
deep within the soul of every man, woman, and child on the face of the 
Earth is the desire to live in freedom. And when we free people, we not 
only do our duty to ourselves, but we help the rise of decent human 
beings.
    As Afghans have braved the terrorists and claimed their freedom, 
we've helped them, and we will continue to help them. It's in our 
interests that we help this young democracy survive and grow strong. We 
helped them build security forces they need to defend their democratic 
gains. In the past 5 years, our coalition has trained and equipped more 
than 30,000 soldiers in the Afghan National Army--and at this moment, 
several thousand more are in training at a Kabul Military Training 
Center. These Afghan soldiers are on the frontlines with coalition 
troops. Some have suffered terrible wounds in battle; others have given 
their lives in the fight against the terrorists. Afghans in uniform are 
determined to protect their nation and fight our common enemies, and 
we're proud to fight alongside such brave allies.
    Our coalition has also trained about 46,000 members of the Afghan 
National Police. The training of the Afghan police has not gone as 
smoothly as that of the army. The police have faced problems with 
corruption and substandard leadership, and we've made our concerns known 
to our friends in the Afghan Government. When we see a problem, we 
adjust; we change. And so this year, President Karzai's Government 
announced a new team to lead the National Police. As the police become 
more capable and better led and more disciplined, they will gain 
legitimacy and they will earn the respect of the Afghan people.
    Listen, the Afghan people want to live in a peaceful world. It's 
important for the American citizens to understand, an Afghan mother 
wants the same thing for her child that our mothers' want for our 
children: the chance to grow up and realize dreams; the chance to live 
in peace. And it's important for the Afghan Government to provide the 
kind of security so the citizens have trust that their Government can 
enable the peace to evolve in that strife-ridden part of the world.
    The army and police are good fighters. At this moment, more than 
21,000 American troops and more than 20,000 personnel from 40 countries 
are deployed in Afghanistan. In the summer of 2003, NATO took over the 
International Security Assistance Force--it's called ISAF--in 
Afghanistan, NATO's first mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area. Other 
nations besides the United States understand the importance of helping 
this young democracy survive and thrive and grow.
    Since then, NATO has expanded ISAF from a small force that was 
operating only in Kabul into a robust force that has taken 
responsibility for security in nearly 60 percent of the country. And 
this week, NATO announced that it would take over security operations in 
all of Afghanistan in the coming weeks. Under the plan, the U.S. will 
transfer 12,000 of our troops that are now serving in the country to the 
NATO force, while the rest will remain under coalition command and 
continue antiterrorist operations across the country.
    We saw the effectiveness of NATO forces this summer when NATO took 
responsibility from the United States for security operations in 
southern Afghanistan. The Taliban saw the transfer of the region from 
the United States to NATO control as a window of opportunity. They saw 
it as an opportunity to test the will of nations other than the United 
States. See, they've been testing our will. And they understand it's 
strong, and they need to understand it will remain strong.
    So the Taliban massed an estimated 800 to 900 fighters near Kandahar 
to face the NATO force head on, and that was a mistake. Earlier this 
month, NATO launched Operation Medusa. Together with the Afghan National 
Army, troops from Canada and Denmark and the Netherlands and Britain and 
the United States, engaged the enemy--with operational support from 
Romanian and Portuguese and Estonian forces. According to NATO 
commanders, NATO forces killed hundreds of Taliban fighters. NATO's 
Supreme Allied Commander, General Jones, a United States marine, says 
this about the NATO operation in southern Afghanistan: ``The Taliban 
decided to make a test case of the region, and they paid a very heavy 
price for it. The operation sent a signal to the insurgents that NATO 
forces would not

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back down. The operation also sent a clear message to the Afghan people, 
that NATO is standing with you.''
    I appreciate the courage of the NATO forces. I appreciate the 
governments of our allies in NATO understanding the importance of 
helping the Afghan people achieve their dream, and that is a stable 
country. The people from NATO must understand that they're helping a 
young democracy defend itself and protect its people. And in so doing, 
they're helping to lay the foundation of peace in the ideological 
struggle of the 21st century.
    The NATO deployment has begun to bring security and reconstruction 
to a region that had previously had little and has allowed the United 
States and Afghan forces to stay on the offense. And so we launched 
another major offensive in the east called Operation Mountain Fury. The 
operation is ongoing. It's aimed at clearing out enemy safe havens in 
five Afghan provinces, including three provinces bordering Pakistan. The 
operation is being led by about 4,000 Afghan forces and supported by 
about 3,000 of our finest. And Afghan and coalition forces clear out the 
enemy--then we will follow up with reconstruction assistance--so we can 
improve the quality of life for local Afghans and help extend the 
authority of the central Government to distant areas of the country.
    See, the enemy understands what we're doing, and they don't like it. 
That's why they're reacting the way they're reacting. They understand 
that the arrival of Afghan and coalition forces in the region means that 
the Government is beginning to win the hearts of the people. In many of 
these regions, the Taliban and Al Qaida fighters and drug traffickers 
and criminal elements have had--enjoyed free reign. There hasn't been 
any countervailing force to their presence. And you can imagine how that 
makes innocent people feel, you know, when you've got these killers in 
your midst. It creates an atmosphere of fear. As a matter of fact, 
people like Al Qaida, whose ideology is hateful, have got one major tool 
at their disposal: They kill innocent life to create fear. And what a 
contrast it is to the United States of America and coalition partners 
and decent Afghans who believe in hope.
    These haters of humanity know that when the Government in Kabul can 
reach out and improve the lives of local Afghans in distant parts of the 
country, the population will gain confidence in Afghanistan's democracy. 
That's part of the struggle, this ideological struggle we're engaged in. 
And so they are going to try to do everything they can to stop the 
progress. And they'll fight Afghan and coalition forces, and that's what 
you're seeing today.
    But they do more than just fight our forces--they destroy schools, 
and they destroy clinics. They do everything in their power to 
intimidate local folks. The enemies of a free Afghanistan are brutal, 
and they're determined, and we're not going to let them succeed. NATO 
and coalition and Afghan forces will continue to fight the enemy. We 
will stay on the offense, and we're going to help this Government of 
President Karzai bring a better life to his people.
    In order to bring a better life to the Afghan people, our coalition 
and NATO forces have deployed 23 Provincial Reconstruction Teams across 
Afghanistan. These teams are important because we're talking about a 
country that has been torn apart because of war over the years. The 
teams are led by Sweden and Norway and Germany and Hungary and Italy and 
Spain and Lithuania and Canada and Britain and the Netherlands and the 
United States. And these teams are bringing security and reconstruction 
assistance to distant regions of the country. And to link the distant 
regions to the capital, we've got a strategy--it's called building 
roads. This is a country that is in dire need for transportation. And 
since the liberation of Afghanistan, we've provided more than $4.5 
billion for reconstruction throughout the country. We're helping with 
electricity and irrigation and water and sanitation and other 
necessities.
    Our coalition is working with President Karzai to strengthen the 
institutions of Afghans--Afghanistan's young democracy. We understand 
that the institutions must be strengthened and reformed for democracy to 
survive. And one of the areas most in need of reform is the nation's 
legal system. Recently President Karzai took important steps

[[Page 1692]]

to strengthen the rule of law when he appointed a new Attorney General 
and judges to serve on Afghanistan's Supreme Court. Our coalition is 
helping his Government institutionalize these changes. Italy, for 
example, is helping to train Afghan judges and prosecutors and public 
defenders and court administrators so all Afghans can receive equal 
justice under the law.
    And from the beginning, our actions in Afghanistan have had a clear 
purpose--in other words, our goals are clear for people to understand--
and that is to rid the country of the Taliban and the terrorists and 
build a lasting free society that will be an ally in the war on terror. 
And from the beginning, the American people have heard the critics say 
we're failing, but the reasons keep changing. In the first days of 
Operation Enduring Freedom, the critics warned that we were headed 
toward a quagmire. And then when the Taliban fell and operations began 
in Iraq, the critics held up the multinational coalition in Afghanistan 
as a model and said it showed that everything we were doing in Iraq was 
wrong. And now some of the critics who praised the multinational 
coalition we built in Afghanistan claim the country is in danger of 
failing because we don't have enough American troops there.
    Look, in order to win war, in order to win the ideological struggle 
of the 21st century, it is important for this country to have a clear 
strategy and change tactics to meet the conditions on the ground, not 
try to constantly respond to the critics who change their positions. And 
so I listen to the advice of those who matter in Afghanistan, and that 
is President Karzai and our commanders. We will continue to help 
Afghanistan's Government defeat our common enemies.
    I've constantly told the American people, we must defeat the enemy 
overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. I will continue to 
remind the American people that is--you deal with threats before they 
materialize. In this war that we're in, it is too late to respond to a 
threat after the--after we've been attacked. I'm not going to forget the 
lessons of September the 11th, 2001, and I know you won't either. We 
must take threats seriously now in order to protect the American people.
    So we're going to help the people of Afghanistan, and we're going to 
help them build a free nation. We're going to help them be a successful 
part of defeating an ideology of hate with an ideology of hope. And 
think what that will mean for reformers and moderate people in a region 
that has been full of turmoil. Imagine the effect it will have when they 
see a thriving democracy in their midst.
    No, this ideological struggle of the 21st century will require tough 
military action, good intelligence. It will require the United States to 
give our folks on the frontline of terror the tools necessary to protect 
us, including listening to phone calls from Al Qaida coming into the 
country--so we know what they're getting ready to attack--or questioning 
people we capture on the battlefield. That's what it's going to include.
    But it also means helping the millions who want to live in liberty 
to do so. In the long term, we will help our children and grandchildren 
live in a peaceful world by encouraging the spread of liberty.
    Five years ago, another country that faced a choice was Pakistan. At 
the time of 9/11, Pakistan was only one of three nations that recognized 
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Al Qaida had a large presence in 
Pakistan. There was a strong radical Islamic movement in that country. 
Some of the 9/11 hijackers were housed and trained in Pakistan. 
Pakistan's future was in doubt, and President Musharraf understood that 
he had to make a fundamental choice for his people. He could turn a 
blind eye and leave the people hostage to the extremists, or he could 
join the free world in fighting the extremists and the terrorists. 
President Musharraf made the choice to fight for freedom, and the United 
States of America is grateful for his leadership.
    Within 2 days of the September the 11th attacks, the Pakistani 
Government committed itself to stop Al Qaida operatives at its border, 
to share intelligence on terrorist activities and movements, and to 
break off all ties with the Taliban government, if it refused to hand 
over bin Laden and the Al Qaida. President Musharraf's decision to fight 
the terrorists was made at great personal risk. They have tried to kill 
him as a

[[Page 1693]]

result of his decision, because they know he has chosen to side with the 
forces of peace and moderation and that he stands in the way of their 
hateful vision for his country.
    President Musharraf's courageous choice to join the struggle against 
extremism has saved American lives. His Government has helped capture or 
kill many senior terrorist leaders. For example, Pakistani forces helped 
capture Abu Zubaydah, a man we believe to be a trusted associate of 
Usama bin Laden. Pakistani forces helped capture another individual 
believed to be one of the key plotters of the 9/11 attacks, Ramzi bin 
al-Shibh. Pakistani forces helped capture the man our intelligence 
community believes masterminded the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh 
Mohammed.
    Once captured, these men were taken into custody of the Central 
Intelligence Agency. The questioning of these and other suspected 
terrorists provided information that helped us protect the American 
people. They helped us break up a cell of Southeast Asian terrorist 
operatives that had been groomed for attacks inside the United States. 
They helped us disrupt an Al Qaida operation to develop anthrax for 
terrorist attacks. They helped us stop a planned strike on a U.S. Marine 
camp in Djibouti and to prevent a planned attack on the U.S. consulate 
in Karachi and to foil a plot to hijack passenger planes and to fly them 
into Heathrow Airport and London's Canary Wharf.
    Were it not for the information gained from the terrorists captured 
with the help of Pakistan, our intelligence community believes that Al 
Qaida and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack 
against the American homeland. Our close cooperation with the Government 
of Pakistan has saved American lives, and America is grateful to have a 
strong and steadfast ally in the war against these terrorists.
    President Musharraf understands that the terrorists hide in remote 
regions and travel back and forth across the border between Afghanistan 
and Pakistan. And so we're helping his Government establish stronger 
control over these border areas. We are helping him to equip the 
nation's paramilitary Frontier Corps that is policing the border 
regions. The United States is funding the construction of more than 100 
border outposts, which will provide Pakistani forces with better access 
to remote areas of the country's western border. We're providing high-
tech equipment to help Pakistani forces better locate terrorists 
attempting to cross the border. We are funding an air wing with 
helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to give Pakistan better security and 
surveillance capabilities.
    And as we work with President Musharraf to bring security to his own 
country, we're also supporting him as he takes steps to build a modern 
and moderate nation that will hold free and fair elections next year. In 
an address to his fellow citizens earlier this year, President Musharraf 
declared this: ``We have to eliminate extremism in our society. It will 
eat us up from within. So it is my appeal to all of you to shun 
extremism. Adopt the path of moderation. We will eliminate this 
extremism in our society, and then Pakistan will be considered a 
moderate, developed country.'' President Musharraf has a clear vision 
for his country as a nation growing in freedom and prosperity and peace. 
And as he stands against the terrorists and for the free future of his 
country, the United States of America will stand with him.
    In both Pakistan and Afghanistan, America has strong allies who are 
committed to routing out the terrorists in their midst. And with their 
help, we've killed or captured hundreds of Al Qaida leaders and 
operatives, and we put the others on the run. Usama bin Laden and other 
terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: No matter 
how long it takes, we will find you, and we're going to bring you to 
justice.
    On Wednesday night, I had dinner with Presidents Musharraf and 
Karzai at the White House. We had a long--and we had a frank 
conversation about the challenges we face in defeating the extremists 
and the terrorists in their countries and providing the people of these 
two nations an alternative to the dark ideology of the enemy. We 
discussed the best ways to improve intelligence sharing so that we can 
target and eliminate the leaders of Al Qaida and the Taliban.
    We resolved to strengthen the institutions of civil society in both 
countries. We agreed on the need to support tribal leaders on both sides 
of the border. By helping these local leaders build schools and roads 
and health

[[Page 1694]]

clinics, we will help them build a better life for their communities and 
strengthen their hand against--the fight against the extremists. It was 
clear from our conversation that our three nations share the same goals: 
We will defeat the Taliban; we will defeat Al Qaida; and the only way to 
do it is by working together.
    Our meeting took place at a time when there is a debate raging in 
Washington about how best to fight the war on terror. Recently parts of 
a classified document called the National Intelligence Estimate was 
leaked to the press. As I said yesterday in Alabama, it's an indication 
that we're getting close to an election. [Laughter] The NIE is a 
document that analyzes the threat we face from terrorists and 
extremists. And its unauthorized disclosure has set off a heated debate 
here in the United States, particularly in Washington.
    Some have selectively quoted from this document to make the case 
that by fighting the terrorists--by fighting them in Iraq, we are making 
our people less secure here at home. This argument buys into the enemy's 
propaganda that the terrorists attack us because we're provoking them. I 
want to remind the American citizens that we were not in Iraq on 
September the 11th, 2001.
    And this argument was powerfully answered this week by Prime 
Minister Tony Blair. Here is what he said. He said, ``I believe 
passionately that we will not win until we shake ourselves free of the 
wretched capitulation to the propaganda of the enemy that somehow we are 
the ones responsible.'' He went on to say, ``This terrorism is not our 
fault. We didn't cause it, and it is not the consequence of foreign 
policy.'' He's right. You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism. 
If that ever becomes the mindset of the policymakers in Washington, it 
means we'll go back to the old days of waiting to be attacked and then 
respond. Our most important duty is to protect the American people from 
a future attack, and the way to do so is to stay on the offense against 
the terrorists.
    Iraq is not the reason the terrorists are at war against us. They 
are at war against us because they hate everything America stands for--
and we stand for freedom. We stand for people to worship freely. One of 
the great things about America is, you're equally American if you're a 
Jew, a Muslim, a Christian, an agnostic, or an atheist. What a powerful 
statement to the world about the compassion of the American people--that 
you're free to choose the religion you want in our country. They can't 
stand the thought that people can go into the public square in America 
and express their differences with government. They can't stand the 
thought that the people get to decide the future of our country by 
voting. Freedom bothers them because their ideology is the opposite of 
liberty; it is the opposite of freedom. And they don't like it because 
we know they know we stand in their way of their ambitions in the Middle 
East, their ambitions to spread their hateful ideology as a caliphate 
from Spain to Indonesia.
    We'll defeat the terrorists in Iraq. We'll deny them the safe haven 
to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan. We're going to make it 
harder for them to recruit a new generation of terrorists. And we're 
going to help the Iraqis build a free society, a hopeful country that 
sends a powerful message across the broader Middle East and serves with 
those of us who believe in moderation and hope as an ally in the war 
against these extremists.
    We can have confidence in the outcome of the war on terror because 
our Nation is determined. We've done this kind of hard work before, and 
we have succeeded. And we can be confident because we've got incredible 
men and women who wear our Nation's uniform. I am constantly amazed at 
the incredible courage that our fellow citizens who wear the uniform 
show on a regular basis.
    I think of two Navy SEALs named Matthew Axelson and Danny Dietz. In 
June of 2005, they were part of a SEAL team operating deep in the 
mountains of Afghanistan on a mission to kill or capture a Taliban 
leader. They were discovered, and they were soon surrounded in a 
mountain ravine by 30 to 40 Taliban fighters. During the firefight that 
ensued, Axelson urged an injured teammate to escape, and he provided 
cover before suffering a mortal wound. Fighting nearby, his partner, 
Dietz, was also mortally wounded, but he stood his ground and kept 
firing until finally--he finally died.

[[Page 1695]]

    Because of the courage of Petty Officers Axelson and Dietz, their 
wounded teammate made it out alive. For their heroism, these two petty 
officers were awarded the Navy Cross. But I want you to hear what Petty 
Officer Dietz's wife said about her husband and his comrades in arms. 
She said, ``Danny and his brothers went toward evil and ran forward and 
gave their last breath.''
    We live in freedom because of the courage of men like Matthew and 
Danny, and we will honor their sacrifice by completing the mission. From 
Afghanistan and Iraq to Africa and Southeast Asia, we are engaged in a 
struggle against violent extremists--a struggle which will help 
determine the destiny of the civilized world. We've borne these 
responsibilities before, and we have seen our faith in freedom 
vindicated by history. In this young century, a new generation of 
Americans is being called to defend liberty--and once again the cause of 
liberty and peace will prevail.
    Thank you for coming. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 9:36 a.m. at the Wardman Park Marriott 
Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Capt. Michael P. Smith, USN 
(Ret.), national president, Reserve Officers Association; Usama bin 
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; Attorney General 
Abdul Jabbar Sabbit of Afghanistan; and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the 
United Kingdom.