19 September 2001
Bush to Lay out Case for Global Campaign Against Terrorism
(President to speak to joint session of Congress September 20) (820)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- President Bush plans to address a joint session of the
U.S. Congress the night of September 20, and will use the occasion to
inform the American people and people around the world about the
sustained nature of the campaign against terrorism, White House
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told reporters late
September 19.
"This is not a speech to announce military action," she said, but
rather an opportunity for him "to urge patience and reason," and
inform people that the struggle against international terrorism will
be a long one.
"This is a speech that will seek to start to broaden and deepen the
American people's understanding -- indeed, people around the world --
the understanding of what it is we face, and how we're going to have
to face it, because we're in this for the long haul".
Bush is going to use the speech "as an opportunity to talk about the
sustained nature of this campaign, that this cannot be a campaign that
is thought of like the Gulf War, where there was a capital with a
leadership that one understood fully in the way that we traditionally
understood leadership. ... [H]e will use it as an opportunity to urge
patience and reason and to demonstrate again that his resolve is going
to be over a long period of time, not in a single moment," Rice said
"This is not something that is going to be over in a matter of
months," she added.
"Rooting this cancer out of the tens of countries in which it is
operating has got to take place," she said.
Bush will also talk about the "extraordinary" support the United
States is getting from nations around the world, Rice said, noting
that terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon.
"I think everybody understood that this was not just an attack on
America, this was an attack on freedom," Rice said.
She pointed out that not just Americans but citizens of many countries
were among the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center.
Bush at a late afternoon meeting in the Oval Office September 19 with
congressional leaders informed them and the press pool covering that
event of his pending address.
In his question and answer with reporters, Bush also said that U.S.
officials are working to avert follow-on terrorist attacks.
He reiterated that the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism is not
directed at Islam, and praised cooperation with the United States by
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf.
Bush also suggested that the "horrible tragedy" of the terrorist
attacks on the United States could provide the United States with
"interesting" opportunities to help ease Israeli-Palestinian tensions,
"refashion" the relationship between India and Pakistan and "shake
terrorists loose" from their sponsoring countries.
Earlier in the day, in his continuing effort to build support for a
global campaign against terrorism, Bush held separate meetings at the
White House with Indonesia's President Sukarnoputri Megawati, Russia's
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer.
In the morning Bush spoke by phone with both South Korean President
Kim dae Jung and South African President Thabo Mbeki.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters at his daily
briefing September 19 that the United States is "very pleased" with
Pakistan's cooperation in fighting terrorism, following President
Pervez Musharraf's address to his nation.
"The President has noted the speech of President Musharraf today in
Pakistan," Fleischer said.
"The United States is very pleased with the cooperation of Pakistan
and President Musharraf's speech is an indication of the strong
relationship between the United States and Pakistan to counter
terrorism," he said.
Fleischer also discussed in some detail the conversations between Bush
and Indonesia's president, who leads world's largest Muslim population
and the world's third largest democracy.
Both Bush and Megawati, Fleischer said, agreed to increased
cooperation between their countries against international terrorism,
and "reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of religious
freedom and tolerance in relations within and among nations."
They both stressed "the importance of differentiating between the
religion of Islam and the acts of violent extremists, which is what
took place in New York and here at the Pentagon in Washington,
emphasizing that Islam is a religion of peace that neither teaches
hatred nor condones violence," Fleischer said.
Bush, noting that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the United
States, "assured President Megawati that the American people respect
Islam as one of the world's great religions and that the United States
would join hands with freedom-loving people around the world of all
religions to combat international terrorism," Fleischer said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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