[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 12 (Monday, March 31, 2008)]
[Pages 437-443]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of
Australia
March 28, 2008
President Bush. Thank you all. Please be seated. [Applause] Thanks
for that rousing ovation. [Laughter]
Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. We're sure glad you're here. And,
Therese, thank you for joining us as well. Laura and I are thrilled to
welcome you here to the White House. And I appreciate the opportunity to
visit with a leader of one of America's closest allies and friends. And
one thing is for sure: That friendship will strengthen and endure under
the leadership of Kevin Rudd.
I have found him to be a straightforward fellow. And being from
Texas, that's the way I like it. He is thoughtful. He is strategic in
thought. And he is committed to the same values that I'm committed to:
rule of law;
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human rights; human decency. And we're sure proud you're here.
We spent a great deal of time talking about the economies. One thing
we spent time on is talking about the benefits of trade between our two
nations and the benefits of a world that trades freely and fairly. And
the Prime Minister was asking me about my views on Doha. I said it's
possible to achieve a Doha round. He too believes we should work to
achieve a Doha round. However, I informed him that it's--we're willing
to make serious concessions on the agricultural front, but we expect
other nations to open up their markets on manufacturing as well as
services. And to this end, Prime Minister Rudd--Kevin Rudd said that he
would be more than willing to help, and that's--very grateful.
On a bilateral front, not only is the free trade agreement working,
but next Monday, we'll be signing an open skies agreement that will
further our friendship and further our commercial ties. And I think it's
a great success of your administration and ours as well.
We talked about the environment and energy. Here's an interesting
moment for all of us to recognize that we can become less dependent, in
our case, on foreign oil and, at the same time, be good stewards of the
environment. We talked about the need to work collaboratively to achieve
an international agreement in which the United States is at the table
along with developing nations like China and India. In order for there
to be an effective international agreement, China and India must be
participants.
Now, we talked about the need to help developing nations improve
their environment. And one way that we can do so is to commit ourselves
to tariff-free trade and technologies that promote low-carbon energy.
And this is something we're spending a lot of money on in the United
States. And we'll continue to do so because I happen to believe
technologies will enable us to be good stewards of the environment and
change our energy habits, which we need to do here in the United States.
So I want to thank you very much for our discussions thus far on our
economic interests and our responsibilities. But we also talked about
freedom and the need to promote an ideology based on hope and decency,
and that's an ideology of liberty. And I want to thank very much the
Australian Government and the Australian people for their willingness to
help a young democracy such as Afghanistan. The Prime Minister and I
discussed how Bucharest can become a success. And I can't thank you
enough for going, and I appreciate very much your strong commitment to
helping the Karzai Government succeed and thrive. It's in our national
interests that we do so.
I also want to thank you very much for being a good, loyal ally on
Iraq. Obviously, the Prime Minister kept a campaign commitment, which I
appreciate. I always like to be in the presence of somebody who does
what he says he's going to do. You know, oftentimes, politicians go out
there, and they say one thing on the campaign trail, and they don't mean
it. Well, this is a guy who meant it. But he also acted like you'd
expect an ally to act, and that is, he consulted closely with his
friends. His military commanders consulted closely with our military
commanders. But the commitment of Afghanistan is not to leave Iraq
alone; it's to change mission.
And so he told me about an interesting story. He met with the Prime
Minister, Maliki. Prime Minister Maliki says to Kevin Rudd--or Kevin
Rudd says to Prime Minister Maliki, ``What can we do to help you?'' It
wasn't, ``What can we do to abandon you?'' He said, ``How can we help
you?'' And he said, ``How about training some farmers in dry-land
farming''--something we know something about in west Texas, by the way,
Mr. Prime Minister.
And I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you for stepping
forward to help Iraq develop a civil society and a strong economy that
will enable this young democracy to thrive and help yield peace.
People--I'm sure the press corps is going to say, well, aren't you mad
at the Prime Minister for fulfilling his campaign pledge? And the answer
is, no--just so you don't even need to ask the question now. [Laughter]
We talked about Iran and our joint commitment to continue to work
together to see to it that the Iranians do not develop the capacity to
develop a nuclear weapon. We talked about Burma, and I want to thank you
for your commitment to a free Burma. And
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finally, we talked about North Korea and the six-party talks and
Australia's support for those six-party talks.
We're going to have a good lunch too, and we'll continue our
discussions on a variety of subjects. He's a easy man to talk to. I
appreciate his visions. I particularly appreciate his consultations on
China. He's an expert on China. It's clear when you talk to him, he is
an expert on China. And all in all, we've had a good start to this
important trip.
And we want to welcome you again, Kevin, to the White House. And the
podium's yours.
Prime Minister Rudd. Thank you. Thanks very much, George. And it's a
pleasure to be here in Washington and--with my wife, Therese. And it's
great to be here at the White House. And thanks for your hospitality in
having us at Blair House. We really appreciate that.
Our alliance doesn't simply reflect our shared past. Our alliance
defines our common future as two of the world's great democracies. I was
thinking about this, this morning, about the number of Presidents and
Prime Ministers who have been party to this alliance, both Republican
and Democrat, and both in our country, Labor and Liberal. This alliance
has been supported by 12 American Presidents, Republican and Democrat.
It's been supported by 13 Australian Prime Ministers, Labor and Liberal.
And I'm the 14th.
And I'm confident that this alliance has a strong, robust future.
And the reason I'm confident of that is because it's rooted in shared
values. We actually take the ideal of democracy seriously. It's not a
casual thought; it's not a--it's just not a passing observation; it's
something which is part and parcel of who we are as peoples. So when you
have an alliance which is rooted in a common set of values, it tends to
mean that alliance is going to last for a bit.
And there's the things we've done together right from the Second
World War to the present, and there's been many of them. And we've been
in the field together, and there are many other areas in wider foreign
policy where we cooperate as well.
Turning to the future, the President indicated we discussed the
current challenges facing the global economy. And this is, for us in
Australia, a global challenge. Obviously, the United States, as the
world's largest economy, is fundamentally significant in the way in
which this thing plays out. But our response--and we discussed this at
some length--is looking at how we can get some better transparency out
there in financial markets on some of these particular products, which
are causing problems around the world. There's an upcoming meeting of
the International Monetary Fund, and we'll be working on our common
positions towards that end.
As the President has just indicated, we also spoke about the Doha
round. My own view is that if ever the global economy needs a
psychological injection of some confidence in the arm, it's now, and
that can be delivered by a positive outcome on Doha. Takes more than two
to tango. Takes a lot of people to tango when it comes to the Doha
round, combination of ourselves and the Cannes Group, the United States,
the Europeans, Brazil, India, others. But what we have agreed, again, as
strong, long-term supporters of free trade around the world, as one of
the best drivers of global economic growth, is to work very closely
together in the months ahead to try and get a good, positive outcome for
Doha, good for our economy, good for the American economy, good for the
global economy.
On foreign policy, the President and I also discussed, of course,
Iraq and Afghanistan. I thank him for his remarks in relation to Iraq.
And what he said is absolutely right in terms of my discussions with
Prime Minister Maliki in Baghdad only in December. We--I've confirmed
today to the President, as we'll be confirming to the Government of Iraq
in Baghdad, an assistance package of some $165 million, a large slice of
which will go to how we assist Iraqis train their people better in
agriculture and in the wider economy.
Prime Minister Maliki said, ``This is a big need for us. We are a
dry continent.'' We know a fair bit about dry-land farming, so we'll be
spending a lot of money training a lot of Iraqi farmers and agricultural
scientists in the year ahead.
On Afghanistan, I confirmed to the President that we're in
Afghanistan for the long
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haul. It's a tough fight, but we intend to be there with our friends and
partners and allies for the long haul. And I look forward to being with
the President in Bucharest soon, so we arrive at a common civil and
military strategy with our friends and partners in Europe and elsewhere.
On the other matters which were raised in our discussions, the
President has run through them neatly. I won't elaborate on them. But
I'll just conclude with this: It was reminding of me--for me when I saw
the guest book this morning at Blair House. And one of the first
entries, back in 1944, was a page dedicated to the visit by Labor Prime
Minister John Curtin to Blair House. FDR was President of the United
States at the time. It goes back to remind me how much this alliance has
been the product of common nurturing by Presidents and Prime Ministers
for a long time.
Mr. President, you said that you had a warm regard for me because,
from a Texan point of view, you found me to be a reasonably straight
shooter. I therefore designate you as an honorary Queenslander.
[Laughter] In the great State of Australia, I come from the great State
of Queensland. It may surprise you that it's bigger than Texas.
[Laughter] But can I say quickly--[laughter].
President Bush. Can you recover nicely? Yes. [Laughter]
Prime Minister Rudd. Yes. The recovery point is this: Queenslanders
and Texans have a lot in common----
President Bush. Thank you, sir.
Prime Minister Rudd. ----and they get on well. And so from one
Queenslander, one Texan--one Australian to one American, I appreciate
the relationship that we're forming, part and parcel of the relationship
between two great democracies.
President Bush. Thank you.
Yes, a couple questions a side. John Yang [NBC News].
Situation in Iraq/Afghanistan/Upcoming NATO Summit
Q. Mr. President, thank you very much. I'd like to ask you about
Iraq. Thank you. Yesterday in Dayton, in your remarks, you said that the
Iraqi offensive against criminals and militants in Basra was a sign of
progress. But it's also triggered clashes with supporters of Muqtada Al
Sadr. And this morning, U.S. forces were again fighting the Mahdi army
in Sadr City. What does this say about progress in terms of
reconciliation in Iraq among the various factions? And what can the
United States do, what can you do, what can your administration do to
help Prime Minister Maliki make progress in that area?
And, Mr. Prime Minister, if I could ask you, when you're in
Bucharest next week at the NATO summit, what's going to be your message
to the European allies to try to bring them along, to have the same sort
of commitment you just stated here and a commitment to have military
operations with their forces in Afghanistan?
President Bush. Yes, John, any government that presumes to represent
the majority of people must confront criminal elements or people who
think they can live outside the law. And that's what's taking place in
Basra and in other parts of Iraq. I would say this is a defining moment
in the history of a free Iraq. There have been other defining moments up
to now, but this is a defining moment as well. The decision to move
troops--Iraqi troops into Basra talks about Prime Minister Maliki's
leadership.
You know, one of the early questions I had to the Prime Minister was
would he be willing to confront criminal elements, whether they be Shi'a
or Sunni? Would he, in representing people who want to live in peace, be
willing to use force necessary to bring to justice those who take
advantage of a vacuum or those who murder the innocent? And his answer
was, ``Yes, sir, I will.'' And I said, ``Well, you'll have our support
if that's the case, if you believe in evenhanded justice.'' And his
decision to move into Basra shows evenhanded justice, shows he's willing
to go after those who believe they're outside the law.
This is a test and a moment for the Iraqi Government, which strongly
has supported Prime Minister Maliki's actions. And it is an interesting
moment for the people of Iraq, because in order for this democracy to
survive, they must have confidence in their Government's ability to
protect them and to be evenhanded.
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And so--the other thing that's interesting about this, by the way,
this happens to be one of the Provinces where the Iraq's are in the
lead--Iraqis are in the lead. And that's what they are in this instance.
And the United States, of course, will provide them help if they ask for
it and if they need it. But they are in the lead. And this is a good
test for them. And, of course, routing out these folks who've burrowed
in society, who take advantage of the ability to be criminals or the
ability to intimidate citizens, is going to take a while. But it is a
necessary part of the development of a free society.
Prime Minister Rudd. In answer to your question on Afghanistan, the
message I would take to our friends and partners in Europe when we get
to Bucharest is, all of us have got to share the burden. And it's built
on an assumption that all of us share a common strategy. So the first
message, I think, for all of our friends and partners there in Bucharest
is, we need to sign up to a common script, both military and civil, in
terms of how we actually prosecute and succeed in this conflict. And I
believe we can. No point in being there unless you believe you can.
And then the second thing is, once you've signed up to a common
script, a common strategy, which has both civilian and military
dimensions to it in an integrated fashion, to then say to all of our
friends and partners, let's all step up to the plate to make this work--
and across the country of Afghanistan, not just in parts of it.
I'm optimistic that we're going to make some progress in Bucharest.
I know the President has put in a lot of effort with a lot of European
leaders up until now. We've been talking to some ourselves. And I think
we should look forward to a good outcome because the people of
Afghanistan deserve a good outcome.
If I could ask Mark Kenny for his question.
Australia-U.S. Foreign Policy
Q. Mark Kenny from the Advertiser--Mr. President, both sides have
stressed that the alliance is in perfect working order and good nick.
But how can that be the case? How can the alliance remain unchanged
given that Australia has signaled new foreign policy with quite
different positions from yours on things like Iraq, climate change, and
potentially over China?
President Bush. I guess it depends if you're a half-glass empty guy
or a half-glass full guy. It sounds like to me our foreign policy
interests are aligned. You know, after all, we've committed to an
international agreement that will be effective when it comes to
greenhouse gases. The Prime Minister just defined his desire to help
this young democracy in Iraq succeed. That's what we're for.
So I don't see differences when it comes to foreign policy. As a
matter of fact, I see common agreement. And one reason why is, is
because we share the same values. And those values are more important
than the people who actually occupy the office, by the way. Those are
the values that allow 12 U.S. Presidents and 14 Australian Prime
Ministers to be united in common goals. And so I disagree with the
assessment of whatever expert laid that out.
Steven Lee [Steven Lee Myers, New York Times].
Situation in Iraq/Tibet/China
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. I wonder if you could talk a little bit
more about Iraq and how it's--you mentioned criminal elements that are
being fought against now. How concerned are you that the violence now
reflects, in fact, a deepening political and civil, even ethnic conflict
inside of Iraq? How much now are American forces being drawn into the
fighting in the last--just few hours even? And how is it going to affect
your decision looming on the way ahead?
And if I could ask you both, please, to talk a little bit about the
crackdown in Tibet and how you see that affecting relations with China.
Thank you.
President Bush. Any other subjects you want to wedge in there?
[Laughter] Okay. Repeat some of those things. You had about five
different things. I'm getting old, Steven. Look, wait a minute. Look,
yes, I talked about criminal elements. And one of those things that's
been well-known is that Basra has been a place where criminality has
thrived. It's a port; a lot of goods and services go through there. And
there was--from the beginning of liberation, there have been
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criminal elements that have had a pretty free hand in Basra. And it was
just a matter of time before the Government was going to have to deal
with it.
And I haven't spoke to the Prime Minister since he's made his
decision, but I suspect that he would say, look, the citizens down there
just got sick and tired of this kind of behavior. Most people want to
have normal lives. Most people don't like to be shaken down. Most
mothers want their children to go to school peacefully. And yet that
wasn't the case in Basra. And so I'm not exactly sure what triggered the
Prime Minister's response. I don't know if it was one phone call. I
don't know what--whether or not the local mayor called up and said,
``Help. We're sick and tired of dealing with these folks.'' But
nevertheless, he made the decision to move. And we'll help him.
But this was his decision. It was his military planning. It was his
causing the troops to go from point A to point B. And it's exactly what
a lot of folks here in America were wondering whether or not Iraq would
even be able to do in the first place. And it's happening. Now, they're
fighting some pretty tough characters, people who kill innocent people
to achieve objectives. And, yes, there's going to be violence, and
that's sad. But this situation needed to be dealt with, and it's now
being dealt with--just like we're dealing with the situation up in
Mosul.
I have said in my remarks, there's been substantial progress, and
there has been. But it's still a dangerous, fragile situation in Iraq.
And therefore, my decision will be based upon the recommendations of
Secretary Gates, the Joint Chiefs, as well as General Petraeus and
Ambassador Crocker, all aiming to make sure that we have enough of a
presence to make sure that we're successful in Iraq.
And the reason why it's successful--important to be successful in
Iraq, because, one, we want to help establish a democracy in the heart
of the Middle East, the most volatile region in the world. Two, we want
to send a clear message to Iran that they're not going to be able to
have their way with nations in the Middle East. Three, that we want to
make it clear that we can defeat Al Qaida. Al Qaida made a stand in
Iraq. They're the ones who said this is the place where the war will
take place. And a defeat of Al Qaida will be a major victory in this war
against extremists and radicals. Four, we want to show what's possible
to people. There are reformers all over the Middle East who want to know
whether or not the United States and friends will stand with these young
democracies.
And so this is vital for our national interests. And I'm confident
we can succeed, unless we lose our nerve, unless we allow politics to
get in the way of making the necessary decisions, which I have vowed to
our military and our civilians in Iraq that that's not going to be the
case so long as I'm the President. And I'm--as I told you, this is a
defining moment, and it's a moment of--where the Government is acting.
And it's going to take a while for them to deal with these elements, but
they're after it. And that's what's positive.
Tibet--he wants to talk to you about Tibet. [Laughter]
Prime Minister Rudd. I'll say one or two things about Tibet, and
then we'll flick to an Australian. It's absolutely clear that there are
human rights abuses in Tibet. That's clear-cut. We need to be upfront
and absolutely straight about what's going on. We shouldn't shilly-
shally about it. We've made our positions clear on the public record,
the Australian Government has, about the need for restraint in the
handling of this. I think it would be appropriate for the Chinese
Government to engage the Dalai Lama or his representatives in a informal
set of discussions about future possibilities when it comes to internal
arrangements within Tibet.
We recognize China's sovereignty over Tibet. But it is difficult,
and it's complex. And it certainly will be matters which I'll be raising
when I visit China myself at the end of this visit abroad.
Q. [Inaudible]
President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, excuse me. Steven Lee is anxious
on my view on Tibet. He couldn't have said it better. And that's exactly
what I told Hu Jintao a couple of days ago, that it's in his country's
interest that he sit down again with representatives of the Dalai Lama--
he, not personally, but to have his representatives do so--and that we
urged restraint. And I appreciate the
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Prime Minister's view and advice on dealing with this issue.
Prime Minister Rudd. Paul Bongiorno.
Australia's Role in Iraq/War on Terror Strategy
Q. Paul Bongiorno with Ten News--Mr. President, as you noted,
Australia will begin withdrawing 500 combat troops from southern Iraq.
And I heard that you accept this decision, which did, as you say, play
out in our election. But how does it fit with your view, expressed quite
strongly again yesterday, that to withdraw troops at this time would be
to retreat?
And you've described our former Prime Minister as a man of steel.
I'm wondering how you'd describe Mr. Rudd.
President Bush. Fine lad; fine lad.
First of all, I didn't exactly say that. And by the way, we are
withdrawing troops. It's called return on success. And our intention is
to have pulled down five battalions by July. Troops are coming out--five
brigades, excuse me--troops are coming out because we're successful. And
so I would view the Australia decision as return on success--returning
home on success.
That's fundamentally different from saying, well, it's just too
hard; pull them all out. That sends a different signal. This is a signal
in which we're working collaboratively with the Iraqi Government. They
know our intentions, and they know we're not going to leave them.
In the very same speech, I talked about developing a long-term
strategic relationship with Iraq as well. And for those who didn't
listen to the full speech, I will remind you that it's in our interests
that we enter into such an arrangement. But a long-term strategic
arrangement does not commit any future President to any troop level, nor
does it talk about permanent bases. But it does talk about a joint
strategic relationship to make sure that the Iraqi people know and the
Iraqi Government knows that we're not going to leave them in the lurch.
And so we are taking troops out, just like the Australians are,
because we're being successful. And his question--Steven Lee's question
was, well, are you going to bring any further out? Not, are you going to
bring any out; are you going to bring any further troops out from that
which we committed to do earlier? And the answer is, it depends on what
our commanders say and the folks in Washington say, and it depends upon
conditions on the ground. His real question was, have the conditions
changed such that you believe your commander is going to make a
different recommendation than he might have two days ago? And I can't
answer that question. I can only tell you what I'm going to do after we
get back from NATO.
Thank you for coming. I've enjoyed it.
Q. [Inaudible]
President Bush. Yes. Heck, yes. [Laughter] Thanks for coming.
Prime Minister Rudd. Good. [Inaudible]
President Bush. Appreciate you coming.
Note: The President's news conference began at 11:37 a.m. in the East
Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Therese Rudd,
wife of Prime Minister Rudd; President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan;
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq; Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al
Sadr; Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National
Force--Iraq; Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama of Tibet; and President Hu
Jintao of China. A reporter referred to former Prime Minister John
Howard of Australia.