For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 15, 2002
President Talks to Reporters in North Carolina
Remarks by the President to the Travel Pool While Walking Through the Lunch Line
Ft. Bragg, North Carolina
Q MR. President it was a little noisy over
there, could you give us
your impression of what you --
THE PRESIDENT: I was very impressed. We've
got the finest soldiers in the world. We've got a great
training mission, and I'm glad those soldiers are on my side.
Q What kind of message should that display
send to adversaries?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, what the adversaries need to know
is we're going
to do what is necessary to have a well-trained military to
accomplish a major objective, an important objective, which is defend
freedom. And the adversaries need to know that we're going
to be in this for a long time, that we're going to be steady,
relentless, and we're going to win.
Q Sir, what are you hearing from General
Zinni? Is his mission making any headway?
THE PRESIDENT: Haven't heard from him yet, but I believe
there's good
progress in the Middle East. Obviously, the Israelis
have moved back some
of their troops. That's a positive
development. And I have yet to hear from Zinni, but we will
soon.
Q -- troop withdrawal from Ramallah?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're very pleased with
it. As I said, that one
of the things we've got to do is to work with both parties to
establish the conditions for eventual peace. And I
appreciate Prime Minister Sharon's decision. General Zinni
is in the region now. We're hopeful that
he'll have an impact on setting the conditions for peace, which
begins with getting into the Tenet plan, and then, eventually, the
Mitchell plan.
I thought that was a positive development yesterday.
Q How hopeful are you that he'll be able to
succeed?
THE PRESIDENT: If I wasn't hopeful I wouldn't have sent
him.
Mikey, Mikey, Mikey --
MIKE ALLEN: Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: Did that get any national play, that
"Mikey, Mikey, Mikey"?
MIKE ALLEN: With my family.
Q What about lunch, Mr.
President? What do you think of it? Are you
getting ready to dig in? What have you seen
today? Are you pretty happy?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I knew our troops
were good because I've been reading reports about how good they
are. I got to see firsthand -- I'm going to see all day long
firsthand -- the esprit d'corps is very high here. These
soldiers are proud to wear the uniform. Great command staff;
they've got highly motivated officers, they are
well-trained. Every one of the troops as I moved down the
line spoke a foreign language. To give you an example of how
well-trained they are, the
medics, these highly-trained young men, can conduct -- they can
pull a tooth, or they can amputate a leg, if need be. I
mean, these are fabulously trained soldiers. I'm real proud
of their training.
One of the things we've got the make sure that Congress understands
is
that we've got to spend the money necessary to keep them
highly-trained. They all know we're in for a long
struggle. They're prepared to make the sacrifices to meet
that struggle.
I had the honor of meeting with the widows of two of the soldiers
who died -- and their dad and their mom of one of the guys -- and to a
person, they said, Mr. President, don't falter. These people
just lost a loved one, and they are just as resolved about winning this
war on terror as I am. And I was very impressed by their
steadfast support for what we're doing and their understanding of the
sacrifices necessary to defend freedom.
Now I'm going to eat my lasagna. If it gets cold you
have to eat the lasagna. (Laughter.)