19 September 2001
Transcript: Bush, Indonesia's Megawati Discuss Terrorism
(Bush tells Taliban to hand over al Qaeda organizers) (2450)
As he prepared to begin a meeting with Indonesian President Megawati
Soekarnoputri September 19 to build a coalition against terrorism,
President Bush urged Afghanistan's Taliban leadership to hand over
organizers of the al Qaeda terrorist group.
"I would strongly urge the Taliban to turn over the al Qaeda
organizers who hide in their country," Bush said. "We're on the case."
"Anybody who harbors terrorists needs to fear the United States and
the rest of the free world," he warned, adding that anyone who
"encourages terrorism" will also be held accountable.
The President told reporters that the first objective of the campaign
against terrorism is to bring to justice the people who committed
"this particular set of atrocities."
According to Bush, the United States is gathering evidence on the
terrorist attacks, and "other crimes against freedom-loving people."
President Megawati told Bush that Indonesia is against "anything that
relates to violence, including acts of terrorism" and offered the
"deep condolences" of the government and people of Indonesia to the
American people.
"We share this moment of grief with you," said Megawati, the leader of
the world's largest Muslim nation.
Bush thanked Megawati for her strong statements of support for the
American people and her strong statement against terrorist activities.
"This is a war not against a specific individual, nor will it be a war
against solely one organization. It is a war against terrorist
activities," Bush said.
"I would strongly urge any nation in the world to reject terrorism,
expel terrorists," the President continued.
Bush cautioned that the struggle against terrorism would be "a
different kind of battle, series of battles; that they will be fought
visibly sometimes, and sometimes we'll never see what may be taking
place."
The U.S. government is doing all it can to "protect the homeland," he
said.
The President said that the United States fully understands "that some
nations will be comfortable supporting overt activities, some nations
will be comfortable supporting covert activities, some nations will
only be comfortable in providing information, others will be helpful
and only feel comfortable helping on financial matters."
The United States is focused on the challenge it faces, he continued,
and recognizes that the al Qaeda organization "exists in some 60-plus
countries, and we're beginning to work with other nations that are
receptive to the notion of fighting terrorism."
The United States says to them "help us round up these people; you can
play a constructive role," the President said.
Terrorism "knows no borders, it has no capital," Bush warned, "but it
does have a common ideology, and that is they hate freedom, and they
hate freedom-loving people. And they particularly hate America at this
moment."
But, the President added, "many leaders understand that what happened
in New York City and Washington, D.C. could have easily have happened
in their capital, as well."
Following is the White House transcript of the event:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
September 19, 2001
REMARKS BY
PRESIDENT BUSH AND PRESIDENT MEGAWATI OF INDONESIA
IN A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
The Oval Office
11:22 A.M. EDT
PRESIDENT BUSH: President Megawati was just telling me she had visited
Washington during President Kennedy's time. It is my honor to welcome
you back to Washington and to the Oval Office as President of your
great nation.
I look forward to having a very good discussion about our relations,
as well as what we're going to do as people who love freedom about
terrorism. And I want to thank you very much for your strong
statements of support for the American people, and your strong
statement against terrorist activities. It meant a lot to us. You
represent the nation with the most Muslim people in the world. I've
made it clear, Madam President, that the war against terrorism is not
a war against Muslims, nor is it a war against Arabs. It's a war
against evil people who conduct crimes against innocent people.
And so, welcome to Washington, D.C. I look forward to a long
discussion. I appreciate so very much your vision for your very
important country. Welcome.
PRESIDENT MEGAWATI: Thank you, Mr. President. I will speak in
Indonesian. I'm very honored to be your guest here today, even though
we are in a moment of grief. I would like to express on behalf of the
people and government of Indonesia our deep condolences to the
American people. And we share this moment of grief with you.
I also want to say thank you, because even though you're having a
different time, you're still able to meet me in this place, which I'm
quite familiar with. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
Q: Mr. President, do you have any reason to believe Iraq is connected
with the terrorist attack? And if so, what would your response be?
And could I ask your guest if she could respond to her Vice President
saying that the tragedy would cleanse the sins of the United States?
PRESIDENT BUSH: First, let me -- anybody who harbors terrorists needs
to fear the United States and the rest of the free world. Anybody who
houses a terrorist, encourages terrorism will be held accountable. And
we are gathering all evidence on this particular crime and other
crimes against freedom-loving people.
And I would strongly urge any nation in the world to reject terrorism,
expel terrorists. I would strongly urge the Taliban to turn over the
al Qaeda organizers who hide in their country. We're -- we're on the
case. We're gathering as much evidence as we possibly can to be able
to make our case to the world about all countries and their
willingness to harbor or not harbor terrorists.
Q: A specific message to Iraq?
PRESIDENT BUSH: The message to every country is, there will be a
campaign against terrorist activity, a worldwide campaign. And there
is an outpouring of support for such a campaign. Freedom-loving people
understand that terrorism knows no borders, that terrorists will
strike in order to bring fear, to try to change the behavior of
countries that love liberty. And we will not let them do that.
Now, this is a campaign in which nations will contribute in a variety
of ways. Some nations will be willing to join in a very overt way.
Other nations will be willing to join by sharing information -- and
information in a campaign such as this is going to be incredibly
important. It's very important for us to be able to find where these
people are.
There's going to need to be a campaign -- there needs to be a
financial component of the campaign, where we need to cooperate to
make sure we cut off funds, find these organizations that serve as
front groups for funding these terrorist cells.
And so my message to all nations is we look forward to full
cooperation.
Did you have a question for the President?
Q: Yes. Could you respond, please, to the Vice President of your
country who said that the tragedy will cleanse --
PRESIDENT MEGAWATI: After I heard and witnessed and saw what happened,
the tragic events in New York and Washington, I immediately issued a
statement which strongly condemned these attacks, which were very
inhumane. And afterwards I sent a letter to President Bush, expressing
my condolences. So this is the position of my government on this
issue. So it's very clear.
Q: Mr. President, since you've declared war against terrorism, there
are a number of countries who seem to be saying, not so fast. China,
in particular, said that any strike must be preceded by irrefutable
evidence. Others have raised concerns about civilian casualties. So
the first question is, are you now prepared to provide such
irrefutable evidence to countries, and what in your mind is the
biggest challenge that you face in trying to construct this coalition?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, we'll do what we need to do to
achieve the first objective of a long campaign. And the first
objective is to bring people to justice who we feel like committed
this particular set of atrocities, and to hold the organization
accountable and to hold those who harbor them accountable. That's the
first objective of a very long campaign.
David, I think that the real challenge for America and our allies in
this effort is to do a couple of things: One, condition the world,
starting with our own country, that this will be a different kind of
battle, series of battles; that they will be fought visibly sometimes,
and sometimes we'll never see what may be taking place; that the --
and that we fully understand that some nations will be comfortable
supporting overt activities, some nations will be comfortable
supporting covert activities, some nations will only be comfortable in
providing information, others will be helpful and only feel
comfortable helping on financial matters. I understand that. Thirdly,
as these various -- as the campaign evolves, some nations may take a
more active role than others.
The mind-set of war must change. It is a different type of battle.
It's a different type of battlefield. It's a different type of war.
And that, in itself, is going to be a real challenge for America and
those other nations who understand that, because sometimes -- look,
the mission is to root out terrorist activities. And there's a variety
of ways in which that can happen.
Clearly, one of our focuses is to get people out of their caves, smoke
them out, get them moving and get them -- is about as plainly as I can
put it. And we're focused on that. But we're also focused, and we
recognize that the al Qaeda organization exists in some 60-plus
countries, and we're beginning to work with other nations that are
receptive to the notion of fighting terrorism, and say, help us round
up these people; you can play a constructive role.
We fully understand that certain NGOs, nongovernmental organizations,
serve as fronts, as a funding mechanism for terrorist organizations.
We expect there to be activity on those fronts, as well.
So the challenge is to redefine the terms of the conflict, the
campaign, in a way that the leaders understand, and in a way that the
people of the world understand. There's a certain impatience with war
of the past. People demand a certain clarity of a specific
battlefield. But this is the first -- this is a new type of struggle.
It's really the first series of battles in the 21st century.
Again I repeat, terrorism knows no borders, it has no capital, but it
does have a common ideology, and that is they hate freedom, and they
hate freedom-loving people. And they particularly hate America at this
moment. But many leaders understand that what happened in New York
City and Washington, D.C. could have easily have happened in their
capital, as well.
It's a long answer to a short question.
Q: Can I follow on one point? Do you to your mind have irrefutable
evidence that links al Qaeda, and specifically Osama bin Laden to
these attacks?
PRESIDENT BUSH: When we take action, we will take action because we
believe -- because we know we'll be on the right. And I want to remind
people that there have been terrorist activities on America in the
past, as well. And there has been -- indictments have been handed
down.
This is a war not against a specific individual, nor will it be a war
against solely one organization. It is a war against terrorist
activities. Our nation must do everything we can to protect the
homeland, and we are. The Attorney General briefs on a daily basis, as
the Director of the FBI, talking about what we're doing to do the best
we can to protect the American people from any further activity.
But the best way to make sure that America is safe, the people of
Indonesia are safe, is to find terrorism at its roots and to root it
out, to get them out of their caves and get them moving, cut off their
finances, and hold them accountable.
Q: Mr. President, now that Chairman Arafat has said he was willing to
fight terrorism and he wants to join your coalition, are you willing
to talk to him?
And, President Megawati, a quick question is, are you able to offer
your government and your people's support for this coalition, or do
you have that support in your country?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Let me first -- I would hope that Chairman Arafat
backs up his strong statement with action. We take his words very
seriously that he is interested in doing everything he can to reduce
terrorism and violence in the Middle East. That was a very positive
statement he made. And I hope he stays focused on achieving the goal
he stated. And so to that end, our administration and our government
is continuing to talk to Chairman Arafat to encourage him to live up
to his words, and at the same time, working with the Israelis to
encourage them to seize the moment.
Progress is being made. Madam President, I said at the time, through
my tears I see opportunity. One of the opportunities I saw was the
ability not to put -- not only for freedom-loving nations to come
together to say resolutely we will fight terrorism, but I felt like
there would be -- this event may shake up the attitudes of the Middle
East where people would end up resolving to show the world that there
could be peace there as well.
And progress is being made. And I want to tell the American people,
the Secretary of State -- even though we're focused on what happened
in New York and Washington, D.C., we're also very much involved in the
Middle East. And Secretary Powell was on the phone yesterday with
leaders in the Middle East, urging them to seize this moment. And so
we have a sense of -- we now have a sense of optimism that something
positive may take place in the Middle East.
Your question to President.
Q: Are you able to offer the support of your country to this coalition
against terrorism?
PRESIDENT MEGAWATI: Indonesia has always been against violence.
Anything that relates to violence, including acts of terrorism, we
will definitely be against it.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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