For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 28, 2001
President, General Franks Discuss War Effort
Remarks by the President and General Tommy Franks in Press Availability with the Press Travel Pool
The Prairie Chapel Ranch
Crawford, Texas
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. As you can see, I've
invited a guest to come to the ranch. Tommy Franks is no
stranger to Texas. After all, he was raised in Midland,
Texas. And I'm looking forward to taking him over to the
house here in a minute to say hello to Laura. Both of them
went to Midland Lee High School, at about the same time.
But Tommy has just come back from the Afghan theater. He
gave me a full briefing on what he saw and what he heard. We
just got off of a teleconference with the national security team, to
discuss his trip and to discuss what's taking place in Afghanistan.
I want to thank you for coming, Tommy. I am real proud
of the military, and I'm proud of the commander. Tommy has
done everything we've asked. He is fulfilling the mission
with patience and discipline and success. He's a
down-to-earth, no-nonsense guy. Precisely the kind of man we
need to lead a complex mission such as this.
You know, a couple of months ago, a lot of people said that this
administration and our military really weren't sure what we were
doing. But I had confidence all along. And the reason why I
did -- confidence in the success of what we set out to do -- was
because I had a chance to be briefed by Tommy Franks on the strategy
and on the plan, and on how we were going to use our United States
military. And he hasn't let us down. The country
needs to be proud of the military, and one reason that I'm so pleased
to welcome Tommy, is to be able to say that out loud in Tommy's
presence.
So I'm going to have Tommy say a few words, and then we'll be glad
to answer a couple of questions.
GENERAL FRANKS: Thank you, Mr. President. As
the President said, my wife and I recently have had an opportunity to
be with a bunch of great young people -- soldiers and sailors, airmen,
Marines -- in the front-line states around Afghanistan and in
Afghanistan, and Kandahar and at Camp Rhino and up in
Kabul. We had a chance to meet with these young people who
are doing the work for the nation.
We also had a chance to attend the installation ceremony in
Afghanistan, where we saw Mr. Karzai and members of that team form an
interim government in Afghanistan, where for the first time in decades,
more than 26 million people will have an opportunity to have their way
represented in that government.
And the combination of seeing these great young people and seeing
this momentous event just filled me with a desire to be able to brief
the President on what's going on over there in the theater, on what our
people are doing, how they feel about what they're doing.
And so, Mr. President, thanks very much for having me out here in
Crawford.
THE PRESIDENT: You bet.
Scott.
Q Mr. President, what's your reaction to the
new bin Laden tape this week? And do you fear he's now
alluded the manhunt? Also, are you concerned that if
military tribunals require a unanimous verdict for the death penalty,
some terrorists could avoid execution?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me start with the first of your three
questions. Which was what? I've already forgotten.
Q What's your reaction to the bin Laden
tape. Are you afraid he's alluded the manhunt.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, the tape, yes. I didn't
watch it all. I saw snippets of it on TV. You
know, it's -- who knows when it was made. Secondly, he is not escaping
us. This is a guy who, three months ago, was in control of a
county. Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's
on the run.
Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is
more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is
we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to
justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the
run, if he's running at all.
So we don't know whether he's in a cave with the door shut, or a
cave with the door open -- we just don't know. There's all
kinds of reports and all kinds of speculation. But one thing
we know is that he's not in charge of Afghanistan
anymore. He's not in charge of the -- he's not the parasite
that invaded the host, the Taliban. We know that for
certain. And we also know that we're on the hunt, and he
knows that we're on the hunt. And I like our position better
than his.
In terms of whether or not the tribunals will be able to render the
justice necessary, that -- I spoke to the Secretary of Defense today
about the story in the newspaper. Evidently, somebody in our
government wanted to show off to his family, or her family, in between
Christmas and New Year's by leaking information in the press that he or
she thought would be helpful to the government. The truth of
the matter is the Secretary of Defense hadn't even seen the report that
was on the front page of America's newspapers.
So my answer to your question, Scott, is I know that the leaked
report is preliminary, that they're still in discussions about how best
to bring justice. But one thing is for certain, that
whatever the procedures are for the military tribunals, our system will
be more fair than the system of bin Laden and the
Taliban. That is for certain. The prisoners that
we capture will be given a heck of a lot better chance in court than
those citizens of ours who were in the World Trade Center or in the
Pentagon were given by Mr. bin Laden.
David. Good to see you.
Q Good to see you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Can you say with confidence now that Osama
bin Laden in no longer in a position to mastermind another terrorist
attack against the United States or our allies? And related
to that, you talked about 2002 being a year of war. What can
you say to prepare the American people for what that vision is, what
they need to be prepared for, as compared to what they've seen in
Afghanistan?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I hope 2002 is a year of
peace. But I am also realistic, and I know full well that
bin Laden and his cronies would like to harm America again, bin Laden
and his cronies would like to harm our allies. How do I know
that? I receive intelligence reports on a daily basis that
indicates that that's his desires. And therefore, the United
States must be vigilant, must make sure we continue to focus on our
homeland security measures, must disrupt, must use our
intelligence-gathering network to prevent the enemy from attacking.
And so, while I hope 2002 is a year of peace, I'm
realistic. As to whether or not bin Laden is in control of
some network, who knows? The thing we're certain about is
that he's on the run, that he's hiding in caves, if hiding at
all. And the other thing I'm certain about is we will bring
him to justice. I don't know whether it's going to be
tomorrow, but Tommy will tell you that I haven't said, Tommy, get him
tomorrow. I said, just get him. And we
will. We will bring him to justice.
We don't know, David, whether or not he's given any orders to any
of his soldiers, but we take nothing for granted. And so our
country still remains on alert, and we're actively looking for anybody
who would harm America.
The shoe bomber was a case in point, where the country has been on
alert. A stewardess on an American Airlines flight -- or a
flight attendant on an American Airlines flight was vigilant, saw
something amiss, and responded. It's an indication that the
culture of America has shifted to one of alertness. And I'm
grateful for the flight attendant's response, as I'm sure the
passengers on that airplane. But we've got to be aware that
there are still enemies to the country. And our government
is responding accordingly.
Q Mr. President, do you think that India and
Pakistan are sliding toward war?
THE PRESIDENT: One of the things that we discussed today
in the national security conference, and I discussed yesterday with
members of my national security team, was the India and Pakistan
issue. Colin Powell has spoke to both sides today, urging
restraint, urging calm. I was pleased to -- I'm pleased to
note that President Musharraf has announced the arrest of 50 extreme
terrorists -- extremists or terrorists. And I hope India
takes note of that, that the President is responding forcefully and
actively to bring those who would harm others to justice.
The war on terror is not just an American war on terrorists, it's a
civilized government war on terror that we're talking about
here. But my government and my administration is working
actively to bring some calm in the region, to hopefully convince both
sides to stop the escalation of force. And as I say, I'm
pleased that President Musharraf is responding to the Indian requests
to round up those who would do harm to others and incarcerate them,
which he did.
Q Are you making any calls yourself, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Not yet. I will if need
be. As a matter of fact, I have been making calls recently
to leaders in our own hemisphere. I spoke to the Presidents
of Mexico and Uruguay, Chile and Brazil about the Argentinean
situation. I made it clear to those governments that we want
to work with them, to work together to make sure that the Argentineans
understand that we will support a plan that sustains economic growth.
We're willing to offer technical assistance through the IMF; that our
government is aware of what's taking place and that we're fully engaged
in the issue.
Q Mr. President, some say that the events of
2001 have changed you, while others say that you're the same person you
always were --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q Who's right? Or is it fair to
say there's some truth in both arguments?
THE PRESIDENT: Talk to my
wife. (Laughter.) I don't know. I
don't spend a lot of time looking in the mirror. Except when
I comb my hair. And -- listen, I'll give you a hint. I
liked coming to the ranch before September the 11th; I like coming to
the ranch after September the 11th.
Q -- the war for a moment. Have
you had any contact with Ken Lay or other Enron officials in the last
six weeks --
THE PRESIDENT: No.
Q -- and do you think that there is
something the government should do to help Enron --
THE PRESIDENT: I have had no contact with Enron
officials in the last six weeks. Do I think the government
ought to help what now?
Q Help Enron or do something to help prevent
some of these employees from losing their life savings.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the life savings issue is
something we need to look into. I think it's very important
to understand what took place. The government will be
looking into this. I mean, the SEC will be looking into
matters, Congress appears to be looking into matters. There
will be a lot of government inquiry into Enron and what took place
there.
I'm deeply concerned about the citizens of Houston who worked for
Enron who lost life savings. It's very troubling to read the
stories about those who locked up Enron stock -- had their Enron stock
locked up in their 401K plans, and then saw their savings
dissipate. I think it's very important for us to fully
understand the why's of Enron. And there will be plenty of
investigations.
Q Sir, will you make recess appointments --
THE PRESIDENT: Thinking about it. I don't
know yet. I'm right now focused on the military operations
in Afghanistan and giving Tommy a tour of my ranch. But I,
at the appropriate time, will take a good, hard look at recess
appointments.
I'm disappointed that a lot of my appointments were stalled in the
United States Senate, weren't given a hearing. This Scalia
man got out of committee, but never given a vote on the floor of the
Senate. He's a good fellow, he ought to be
approved. But I'll take a good, hard look at all the options
available to me.
Q Mr. President, is there a timetable in
your mind for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan? Or
as long as bin Laden is still on the run, do you imagine them being
there indefinitely?
THE PRESIDENT: I imagine us being there for quite a long
period of time. But my timetable is going to be set by Tommy
Franks. Tommy is in charge of the military operations; he's
in charge of the military. I'll let Tommy speak for himself,
but I will tell you this -- we won't be making political decisions
about what to do with our military.
I gave Tommy a mission; it was a well-defined
mission. And Tommy is in charge of getting that mission
done, and when Tommy says, "Mission complete, Mr. President," that's
when we start moving troops out. But until he says that, I
am -- I will make the case to the American people that we're doing the
right thing.
Q What's your definition of the mission
being complete in Afghanistan, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: In Afghanistan? Well, Taliban
gone, the country secure, the country stable, that al Qaeda cells
rounded up, Taliban fighters brought to justice. The over
6,000 troops, prisoners being held -- prisoners of war being held by
our allies interrogated, finger-printing. I mean, there's a lot to
do. And the American people just must understand when I said
that we need to be patient, that I meant it. And we're going
to be there for a while. And I don't know the exact moment
when we leave, David, but it's not until this mission is complete.
The world must know that this administration will not blink in the
face of danger, and will not tire when it comes to completing the
missions that we said we would do. The world will learn that
when the United States is harmed, we will follow
through. The world will see that when we put a coalition
together that says, "join us," I mean it. And when I ask
others to participate, I mean it. And in order to lead the
coalition, we must show that we will complete the
mission. And part of that mission is, as Tommy will tell
you, is to make sure that Afghanistan is a stable country.
And he's got a lot to say on that if you want him to talk about
it. Okay, bring the man to the Mike.
Q General Franks, could you talk about how
you took evasive action when you were fired upon the other
day? There was a report yesterday that your helicopter was
fired upon.
Q You should get right to that, sir, after
you do the first question. (Laughter.)
GENERAL FRANKS: Let me take that -- let me take your
question first. As we look around, today we have more than 50 nations
involved in this coalition effort, and around Afghanistan, providing
support and so forth. We have 26 nations represented at our
headquarters down in Tampa, Florida. We have 16 nations represented on
the ground or in the air or at sea around Afghanistan.
And it's interesting that over the past 10 days, the numbers I've
just described have grown rather than shrinking. I think the
view is that Afghanistan is a part of a global effort against
terrorism, that we'll stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to do
what the President has said. We will do away with the
Taliban, and that has been done. We now have a legitimate
interim government in Kabul.
We will destroy the al Qaeda terrorist network inside
Afghanistan. We will take care of the screening and the work
that needs to be done with all these detainees -- finger-printing, DNA
work, photography, screening, interrogation. We'll determine
which ones need to be brought out and need to be handled in some form
of legal process.
How long will that take? I think the President said it
immediately after the 11th of September, and I think many of us have
said it about every day since then: It will take as long as
it takes.
Interesting to me, the fact that these young people standing at
Kandahar Airport a few nights ago, in the middle of the night, watching
the USO show, showed me absolutely no desire to leave their mission at
all. And so, I think it's best for all of us to recognize that we will
not be hurried, we will not be pressed into doing something that does
not represent our national objectives. And we will take as
long as it takes.
And a very short answer to the business of the helicopter -- I have
been told since I took that helicopter ride that someone took a shot at
the helicopter. I didn't see it when it happened, and I
believe it may have happened, but then again, this is Afghanistan and
we have pockets of Taliban still in that country. And that's
one of the reasons that we're going to stay there until we have mopped
all that up.
Q Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. It's your big day, Scott,
two questions.
Q A one-part question this time, I promise.
THE PRESIDENT: Four questions, excuse
me. (Laughter.)
Q Would you prefer to see bin Laden captured
and questioned about the attacks and possible future attacks?
THE PRESIDENT: You know, dead or alive is fine with me.
Q Mr. President, you mentioned Argentina and
you talked about you support more technical assistance from the IMF for
them. Would you support more money for Argentina from the
IMF, or has the well kind of run dry there?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it depends upon what Argentina
decides to do. The key for Argentina is to get her fiscal house in
order, get monetary policy in order, and to develop a plan that will
show sustained economic vitality and economic growth. But
it's up to Argentina on how to develop the plan. As you
know, there's been an interim government in place, there will be
elections in a couple of months. And the point we've made to
the Argentinean government, as well as to our friends in the region, is
that we will be willing to help them develop the plan, if they ask for
technical advice. It will all be done through the IMF.
But the first order of business is for the Argentineans to develop
a plan to show us how they're going to get their house in
order. They've got a lot of work to do, but -- and all of us
that are concerned about Argentina are willing to work together to get
the job done. There was near unanimity on my phone calls to
the other leaders in the region that -- of the course of action that I
just laid out.
Q Have you decided that anybody should be
subjected to a military tribunal?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Americans shouldn't, as you
know. I mean, I excluded any Americans.
Q Of the prisoners, have you decided that
any one --
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, have I made any decisions
yet? Not at all, not yet, Dave. We're still -- I
still want to make sure that the -- I still want to see what the
Secretary of Defense recommends as to how to proceed. He has -- as I
said, he hasn't seen the now famous document that some American decided
to leak.
I don't know why people do that. I guess either to make
you feel good, and-or to make themselves feel good. But,
nevertheless, it was not very helpful. And as the Secretary
of Defense said, he hasn't even seen the document yet. But
they're working through, and we're working through, as you know, all
the other types of cases that have come forward. I mean, as
Tommy said, there's a lot of people to be questioned, and there's also
a lot of decisions to be made as to how to run these folks through our
system. And we're just not quite there yet. We've
got time.
Q What about Walker?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, same situation. We've
got time. And Walker is well-berthed on a U.S.
warship. It's a heck of a lot more comfortable on that ship
than he was in the basement of that prison. When he decided
-- when he was captured, Walker made a terrible decision, and our
system is such that he'll have proper justice. But he's
working with the enemy, and we'll see how the courts deal with that.
Q Sir, were you upset that that Secret
Service agent was kept off that plane? Because you have been
saying this --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I was. I talked to the
man this morning. I told him how proud I was that he was by
my side. He's here on the ranch, and he's guarding
me. And, of course, I was. We'll let the facts --
they're going to get the facts out. There's an inquiry going
on as to specifically what took place. But if he was treated
that way because of his ethnicity, that will make me madder than heck.
Q There are increasing news reports that bin
Laden escaped to Pakistan --
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yeah? Well, sorry to
interrupt your question, but if you'd asked me the question yesterday,
you would have said there's increasing news reports that he's dead, and
the day before, that he's hiding in a cave. In other words,
there's increasing speculation about bin Laden. But what one
shouldn't speculate on is if he's alive, he's on the
run. And you don't need to worry about whether or not we're
going to get him, because we are. And it's just a matter of
time.
I mean, I've read reports where he died his hair
red. That's not going to stop us from finding him.
Q But what assurances have you gotten from
President Musharraf that if that is the case, that he'll find him and
turn him --
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate
that. President Musharraf has been very
helpful. Tommy has visited with him, I visited with him, the
Secretary of Defense has visited with him. And he said he
will help in all matters. And we believe he'll help with Mr.
bin Laden, too, if, in fact, he happens to be in
Pakistan. Who knows where he is. But one thing is
for certain; he's on the losing side of a rout. And the
other thing for certain is we're not going to stop until we get him and
all those murderers that are associated with him.
And who knows how many we've gotten to date, because we're
gathering evidence. We don't know whether some of those
people are in those caves. And Tommy did a fine job of shutting them
down. They may still be locked up in there. And
as you know, we're sending troops up in that region to take a look at
some of the caves to find out what's in there. And we're
going to have to dig some of them out.
But as time will go on, we will know more and more about how
successful we've been. The point is, is that we are going to
be there for a while. I'm patient. The commander
on the ground is executing the plan, and the American people are in
strong support of what's taking place.
Listen, thank you all for being here today. It's great
to see you. Welcome back to Prairie Chapel Ranch, and maybe we'll get
you back out here before the New Year's. If not, happy New
Year. Thank you.
Q What are you doing for New Year's?
THE PRESIDENT: Probably going to bed
early. (Laughter.)_
Q What are you doing with your days here?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm up -- I was up this morning at
5:00 a.m., spent a little quality time with the First
Lady. And I just finished my book, Theodore Rex, by Edmund
Morris, which is a fabulous book on Teddy Roosevelt. I
recommend people reading it. I am going to -- I would have
gotten up and run three or four miles this morning, which I'll probably
do that this afternoon. I'm going to take Tommy around to
show him parts of the ranch. But if Tommy weren't here, I'd be working
down there, a little chain-saw work, clearing some brush, burning some
brush.
We're making great progress in one of our -- one of the bottom
areas that was heretofore relatively inaccessible. One of
these days I'll take you down there. It's a beautiful
place. It's a bodark grove -- bodark tree is a native tree,
real hard wood that grows these giant green, kind of apple-looking
things. But I'll spend time doing that.
And then this afternoon -- it gets dark here about 5:30 p.m., and
so I'll probably watch a little University of Texas football tonight.
Q What about the tree you planted
yesterday?
THE PRESIDENT: Tree plant, very good. My
senior staff gave me a beautiful oak, 10-inch oak. And we
planted her right outside the house. I haven't written my
thank-you note yet, so I'll give them a verbal -- thanks for the
tree. It is a beauty. And we planted about -- I
think we planted so far about 35 trees, live oaks and cedar elms
here. And it's going to be a beautiful sight for when these
trees -- when they take off.
Did a little fishing yesterday, by the way. Not very
successful. The water is cold, the fish are at the
bottom. They're not biting very much. But just the fact
that I was able to fish was a nice treat.