President Bush Troubled with Israeli Helicopter Gunship Attacks
Remarks by the President and Ugandan President Museveni in Photo Opportunity
The Oval Office
3:20 P.M. EDT
PRESIDENT BUSH: It's my honor to welcome President Museveni back
to the White House. Mr. President, you have shown extraordinary
leadership on a lot of issues, but the one issue that's really captured
the imagination and the hearts of the American people is your
extraordinary leadership on HIV/AIDS in your country. You've shown the
world what is possible, and I want to congratulate you for that
leadership.
I also want to thank you for your steadfast support on the war
against terror. And I'm glad you're here.
Before we begin our discussions I do want to say something on the
Middle East. I am troubled by the recent Israeli helicopter gunship
attacks. I regret the loss of innocent life. I'm concerned that the
attacks will make it more difficult for the Palestinian leadership to
fight off terrorist attacks. I also don't believe the attacks help the
Israeli security. I've been in touch with all parties in the region.
I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace. And I
believe with responsible leadership by all parties, we can bring peace
to the region. And I emphasize, all parties must behave responsibly to
achieve that objective.
So, Mr. President, I'm glad you're here. Welcome. I'd like for
you to make a few comments, please, sir.
PRESIDENT MUSEVENI: Thank you, sir. I'm very glad that I'm here.
First of all, I congratulate President Bush for his leadership in
fighting terrorism. Terrorism is a very irresponsible way for
expressing one's dissatisfaction. It uses indiscriminate violence. It
doesn't discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. That's why
we oppose terrorism.
We fought with guns for the freedom of our countries. I fought for
many years, but I've never used terrorist means. Freedom fighting is
not the same thing as terrorism. If you must use violence, you should
assure that violence is directed at the combatant, not at the
non-combatant.
Secondly, I salute President Bush for his decision a few years ago
to open American markets to African value-added products. You hear so
much of poverty in Africa, but, in fact, Africa is a very rich
continent. The only problem is that we must simply move the value to
the outside. We export only raw materials, we don't export value-added
products. So I'm very glad that President Bush opened the American
market for our goods.
I'm also glad that he set up the Millennium Challenge Account.
That money should be used to aid trade. I don't believe in aid as an
end in itself. I believe in trade. Trade is one that can lead to
mutual benefits for all countries in the world. Therefore, aid should
be ahead of trade, should aid in order to trade.
And, finally, I thank him for the money set up for the AIDS fund,
the $15 billion. So I really am glad I'm here. We shall discuss more
in our private discussion.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for coming.