President Reiterates Path for Peace in Middle East
Remarks by the President and Prime Minister Blair in Photo Opportunity
Delta Lodge
Kananaskis Village
Kananaskis, Canada
THE PRESIDENT: I'm going to make a comment, the Prime Minister
will make one. We'll call in an orderly fashion, answer a couple of
questions, if you don't mind.
First, I'm -- it's great to be with my friend, the Prime Minister.
This is our second bilateral of the day, the first was in the gym. I
went down after a run and there was the Prime Minister working out --
an impressive regime, I might add. (Laughter.) So we had a good visit
there, and we'll have a good visit here. America has got no better
friend than the government of Great Britain. And I really appreciate
his advice and friendship, it's good to see him.
I am deeply concerned about some of the accounting practices that
take place in America. Today the revelations that Worldcom has
misaccounted $3.4 billion is outrageous. We will fully investigate and
hold people accountable for misleading not only shareholders, but
employees, as well. There is a need for a renewed corporate
responsibility in America. Those entrusted with shareholders' money
must -- must -- strive for the highest of high standards. The good
news is most corporate leaders in America are good, honest, open people
who care deeply about shareholders and employees. And our economy is
strong.
When we find egregious practices, such as the one revealed today,
we'll go after them. And need to.
Mr. Prime Minister.
THE PRIME MINISTER: Well, Mr. President, first of all, thank you
for your kind words. And I thought you looked in pretty good shape
yourself this morning.
And once again let me pay tribute to your leadership at this time,
particularly post September the 11th, but actually on all the range of
issues in the world today. Our relationship is strong, partly because
you and your colleagues are so easy and open and transparent to deal
with it, and I thank you for that.
And, obviously, we have discussed and will discuss all the key
issues that are to do with the summit, and the issues to do with the
Middle East and so forth. And I'm sure our discussions will be good
and fruitful, as they always are.
THE PRESIDENT: Finlay.
Q Mr. President, in your speech you made it very clear that the
current leadership in Palestinian is not acceptable. If the outcome of
the election in January were to result in the reelection of Yasser
Arafat, what would be the policy of your government?
THE PRESIDENT: I meant what I said, that there needs to be
change. If people are interested in peace, something else has got to
happen. We're mired in the situation now where there is terror on the
one hand and hopelessness on the other, and that's unacceptable.
And therefore I laid out a way forward for Palestinians, the
Israelis, the Arab world and all the rest of us worried about. And it
said basically the new institutions -- there needs to be a new
constitution, there needs to be elections, there needs to be balance of
power,there needs to be new security forces, there needs to be
transparency amongst financial institutions.
I also made it plenty clear that if there leadership compromised by
terror, we won't be on the path to peace. I've got confidence in the
Palestinian when they understand fully what we're saying, that they'll
make right decisions as to how we get down the road for peace. The
status quo is simply unacceptable, and it should be unacceptable to
them. They live in a -- you know, they've been pawns in the game of
peace, they have no hope, their economy is in shambles, they live in
squalor. They're leadership has let them down.
Q Mr. President, who will be the judge, though, in the
sufficiency of the reforms that you're calling for?
THE PRESIDENT: The free world, the people that are going to be
asked to put up money. Listen, I can assure you we won't be putting
money into a society which is not transparent and corrupt. And I
suspect other countries won't either.
Q Mr. Prime Minister, can I ask you, do you agree that there's
got to be change, and that means an end to Yasser Arafat? And can I
ask you also, Mr. President, whether you agree with the Europeans that
you're not as serious as Mr. Blair about helping Africa?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay.
THE PRIME MINISTER: First of all, let me just make it clear, as I
said to you yesterday, it's for the Palestinians to elect the people
that they choose to elect. But if we're going to make progress, we
need people that we can negotiate with, who are serious about
negotiating around the issues of security and political reform
necessary for the peace process to work.
So this is no question of us going in and saying to the
Palestinians, look, we're going to run your election. But it is a
question of us saying, if we want this peace process to work there are
certain clear preconditions. One, we've got to have leadership we can
negotiate with that is serious about peace and resists and totally
rejects terrorism.
Two, we've got to have a security infrastructure in Palestine that
has integrity. And, three, we've got to have political institutions
capable of giving rise to the viable Palestinian state that we believe
should be the outcome of this process.
So if in the end you want, as we want, an Israeli state that is
confident about its own security and a viable Palestinian state, those
are the preconditions. For Israel to be confident, it's got to have a
negotiating partner that is serious about tackling terrorism.
Now, that is, I think, the essence of it. So, you know, it's not a
question of saying we're going to tell people who they elect or not
elect -- that's for them. But it's for us to say the consequences of
electing people who aren't serious negotiating partners is that we
can't move this forward.
Q And that's Arafat you're talking about --
THE PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, as I said to you yesterday,
we've had a situation over the past few years -- and I've tried as hard
as anyone, I think I've had 30 different meetings with Chairman Arafat
over the past few years. But as I said to you yesterday, you've got a
situation where we have not been able to make progress and there has
been an attitude towards terrorism that is inconsistent with the notion
of Israel's security.
THE PRESIDENT: As to Africa, all of us are doing as much as we
possibly can. I don't think this is a competition. I'm proud of the
Blair government's efforts for Africa and I'm proud of my efforts for
Africa. After all, I laid out what I call a Millennium Challenge
Account in Monterrey, Mexico that says if countries adopt the habits of
democracy and freedom and private property and reform, there will be $5
billion a year available. I laid out a new AIDS initiative that is the
first of its kind, that says we're going to provide a lot of money,
about half a billion dollars, to mother-to-child -- to affect
mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
We're also significantly involved in the AIDS fund. I laid out
another initiative on a $200 million education fund. So I'm plenty
pleased with the progress we're making.
Stretch. We call him Stretch.
Q Glad to have it back. (Laughter.) Mr. President, if Yasser
Arafat is compromised by terror, and if the Palestinian Authority has
trafficked with terrorists, under your doctrine are you prepared for
the U.S. to step up its military role in eliminating him and those
terror organizations which the administration believes that he props
up?
And totally unrelated to that, do you believe that there is a
crisis in confidence among the American people, vis a vis the economy,
and particularly the stock market in view of yet another failure of an
American corporation?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me answer the second question first. The
market isn't as strong as it should be for three reasons. One,
corporate profits. There's no question some sectors of our economy are
recovering from the slow-down, but they'll recover.
Secondly, there are still some concerns as to whether or not the
United States and our friends and allies will be able to prevent
further terrorist attack. In other words, there's some concerns about
the capacity of the enemy to hit us again. And I want to assure
American investors and our friends that we're doing everything we
possibly can -- the government is on full alert, attempting to run down
every hint and every lead.
And, thirdly, there are some concerns about the validity of the
balance sheets of corporate America -- and I can understand why. We've
had too many cases of people abusing their responsibilities. And
people just need to know that the SEC is on it, our government is on it
-- after all, Arthur Andersen has been prosecuted. We will pursue
within the full -- within our laws those who are irresponsible.
Having said that, I do believe the economy is strong and I know
that most people that run businesses in America are aboveboard, honest,
care deeply about their employees and their shareholders.
First question?
Q Under the Bush doctrine, any --
THE PRESIDENT: Under the Bush doctrine I said we'd use all
resources, all available resources to fight off terror. And that
includes working with our friends and allies to cut off money, to use
diplomatic pressure, to convince -- to convince those that think they
can traffick in terror that they're going to face a mighty coalition.
And sometimes we use military force and sometimes we won't.
In the case of the Middle East, obviously, the road map I've laid
out is one that calls upon all our friends and allies to join and bind
together against terror; it calls upon the Arab nations to step up and
firmly reject terror. If you remember in my speech, I said they need
to get on their public airways and denounce terror, they need to work
on Syria and Lebanon, to prevent Hezbollah from creating chaos in the
Middle East. We all have responsibilities and in this case the tool
I'm using is diplomatic pressure to work with our friends and allies to
convince all parties they have a responsibility to bear.
Q Are you ruling out military action?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm never ruling out military. All options are
available. But in this case, at the path I've laid out, is the path
that ought to be clear to you by now. It's one that -- the one that I
spoke to clearly.
MR. FLEISCHER: Final question, British reporter.
Q I'm the only British reporter here. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: -- British accent? (Laughter.)
Q I speak English.
THE PRESIDENT: I may not understand you. (Laughter.)
Q Can we just ask about the war on terror, because you know,
anyone who has come up here knows what a fortress you've got here.
What more have you got to agree with your G8 partners here on --
THE PRESIDENT: On the war on terror?
Q On the war on terror.
THE PRESIDENT: I think it's just an up time to give an update.
We've got to do everything we can to cut off their money, do everything
we can to keep the pressure on countries which might not realize that
we're still serious.
We've had some great successes. One of the most recent successes,
of course, is Gloria Arroyo in the Philippines. She's a part of our
vast coalition. She early on said we need to get after Abu -- you
know, the Abu Zubaydah group. And she did it. And to her credit, it
looks like the leader met his demise. And the Philippines are better
off for that and so is the world.
And so this is a chance for us to continually remind each other
that we -- our countries are still under threat, but we're making good
progress. This is a different kind of war, I readily concede that.
Sometimes people are going to see success and sometimes they're not.
But we're making success.
THE PRIME MINISTER: And I think the important thing, too, is to
emphasize to people that it's a continuing trend. I mean, this threat
is not over yet. We have to make sure that in every single battle we
carry this fight on, and it will take a long time.
But I think if you -- if we're to look at Afghanistan today and
think back seven, eight months, I think we've come a very, very long
way, indeed. And I'm optimistic about it, because I think the
coalition against terror is as strong today as it was all those months
ago.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me just make sure you understand, Fournier,
what I said. I can tell from the tone of your question that there was
a little doubt in your mind -- some doubt.
No leader ever takes options off a table. But the path to peace
that I believe is appropriate is the one I talked about in the Rose
Garden the other day -- just to make sure you understand.