THE PRESIDENT:
Well, we've had a substantial
discussion with my
friend, the Chancellor of Germany,
Gerhard Schroeder. I appreciate him
coming over to say hello again. We
spent a great deal of time talking about our mutual desire
to rid the war of terror. And I'm so pleased with Germany's
cooperation. They've provided troops in Afghanistan, troops
that
have performed really well, according to our military,
and I want to congratulate you for that.
I also thanked the Chancellor
for hosting the Bonn convention, and who's made a
substantial stride toward an Afghanistan that will be able to
survive after we have ridded it of the Taliban. I
appreciate so very much the Chancellor's willingness to help
Afghanistan help herself, in terms of training a police force.
I told him we're in the process of
setting up a plan to help Afghanistan develop her own
military. So we're linked up well in our mutual desires to
leave the world more peaceful.
So, Mr. Chancellor, I'm so
honored you're here. I want to welcome you.
THE CHANCELLOR:
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I can only absolutely
confirm what his Excellency, the
President, has just said regarding our discussions,
particularly focusing, obviously, on the fight against
terrorism; but also about the fight
that has happened in Afghanistan and that the support that has been
rendered by us, too.
We, as you all know, are very
committed to the participation in the
peace corps in Afghanistan, under the umbrella
of the United Nations.
Obviously, and as the President has just pointed out, we are
very interested in
committing ourselves to training police forces, law
enforcement forces within Afghanistan, because we find it crucially
important that such intra-Afghanistan proper homegrown police forces
can be built up in the process. And in the more
long-term, obviously, a military structure will be needed here, too.
I, obviously,
wouldn't like to forget the fact that I have
congratulated the President on the
economic performance that the country
has obviously been able to show.
We do see some positive signs here;
things are being fueled again,
which obviously is not just positive and good for the U.S. American
economy, but also for the global economy, too.
I'm very pleased, indeed, that
obviously there are now some hopeful
signs here because, obviously, as soon as the
economy runs smoothly again here that is going to
be good for the global economy and, therefore, good for Europe and
certainly for Germany, too.