20 October 2001
Transcript: President Bush and Japan's Koizumi Meet in Shanghai
(Leaders affirm determination to cooperate against terrorism) (1720)
The United States "has no stronger friend in the fight against terror
than the Prime Minister of Japan," President Bush said following
bilateral talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi October 20 in
Shanghai.
Bush, who traveled to China for the annual meeting of Pacific Rim
leaders, has held a series of bilateral discussions with key partners
to discuss joint efforts against international terrorism.
The president told reporters he was pleased "with not only the
commitment, but the collective contribution" from around the world in
the fight against terrorism. Bush acknowledged that countries will
cooperate in different ways -- with contributions ranging from
military activities to intelligence gathering, but stressed that the
coalition "is broad and deep and strong and committed."
The anti-terror coalition "is making great progress," Bush said. "Not
only are we doing well militarily, but we're sharing intelligence all
across the globe, in ways that people could never envision up to now."
Asked about the deaths of two U.S. military personnel in a helicopter
crash, Bush expressed his condolences to the families, and said it was
important for the American people to understand that the soldiers
"will not have died in vain."
"This is a just cause. It's an important cause," Bush said. "We must
succeed -- and we will succeed."
The president was also asked to comment on his meeting earlier in the
day with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, who has expressed
concerns about the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.
The Malaysian leader "is concerned about the death of innocent people
in Afghanistan, and I assured him I am, too," Bush said. "Our beef is
not with the Afghan people. Our beef is with a government that houses
and feeds and tries to hide terrorists."
Bush said he had assured Mahathir Mohammed that U.S. officials
directing the military campaign are being extremely careful in order
to achieve their military objective with a minimum of civilian
casualties.
Following is a transcript of the Bush-Koizumi press availability:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Shanghai, People's Republic of China)
For Immediate Release
October 20, 2001
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH AND PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI OF JAPAN
The Portman Ritz-Carlton
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
PRESIDENT BUSH: It's an honor to be with our -- with my friend. And we
have no stronger friend in the fight against terror than the Prime
Minister of Japan. I have been impressed by his resolve and his
determination.
I'm also very impressed by his resolve and determination to make
economic reforms within Japan. He's got a very good strategy, an
economic strategy, and I support it. And I support the fact that he is
a strong leader.
I regret that I didn't have an opportunity to take advantage of the
kind invitation to go to Tokyo, but, Mr. Prime Minister, I assure you
that when things settle down, if I'm still invited, I would like to
come back.
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI: Of course.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir.
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI: I appreciate your strong leadership to fight
terrorism. Your determination and the patience, I appreciate.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
I'll be glad to take -- yes, Ron.
Q: A question, sir?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Sure.
Q: Your reaction, please, to the crash of the helicopter that cost the
lives of two servicemen. And can you tell us what mission it was that
they were supporting?
PRESIDENT BUSH: My heart goes out to the family and friends of those
who lost their life. It is hard to express my gratitude in proper
words for people that are willing to sacrifice for freedom. The nation
feels the same gratitude. And I want to assure the loved ones that the
soldiers died in a cause that is just and right, and that we will
prevail.
In the addresses I've given to our nation, I have said that sometimes
the American people and our allies will see actions we take, and
sometimes people won't see the actions we take. But they can rest
assured that we will use the resources of our country, all the
resources of our country, to ferret out and find and bring to justice
those who would harm our country and harm other countries, as well.
And that's exactly what we're doing.
Q: Sir, are you satisfied with the progress in the first day of the
ground war by the Special Forces?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I am satisfied we're making very good progress. We are
dismantling Taliban defenses, Taliban military. We are destroying
terrorist hideaways. We are, slowly, but surely, encircling the
terrorists so that we can bring them to justice.
Steve.
Q: Do you feel like you've prepared the American people adequately for
the possibility of casualties, sir?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Steve, I think the American people understand that
ours will be a long struggle against terror. And they understand there
will be sacrifice. After all, there was no greater example of that
sacrifice than on Flight 93, when American citizens, after having said
the Lord's Prayer, said, "let's roll." And they stormed that airplane
so as to save lives on the ground.
I think the American people now fully understand that we are in an
important struggle, a struggle that will take time, and that the
country -- there will be moments of sacrifice. We've seen two such
examples today.
The thing that's important for me to tell the American people, that
these soldiers will not have died in vain. This is a just cause. It's
an important cause. The Prime Minister of Japan understands how
important this cause is. He's a strong friend and ally in our fight
against terror. We must succeed -- and we will succeed.
Q: Mr. President, both you and Dr. Rice have talked about how much
cooperation you're getting from other countries. Is it the case that
all countries around the world are cooperating in this effort, or are
there still countries that we would like to see more determination
from to join this fight against terror?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I fully understand that some countries will
participate with military forces, and others won't feel comfortable
doing that. Some countries will be very good about sharing
intelligence; other countries may not be so good. Some countries will
be much more efficient about cutting off money; other countries may be
a little lax about cutting off money. But the point is, is that the
coalition is broad and deep and strong and committed.
And we are very pleased with not only the commitment, but the
collective contribution. And we're making great progress. We're -- not
only are we doing well militarily, but we're sharing intelligence all
across the globe, in ways that people could never envision up to now.
So I'm very pleased. And I want to commend the Secretary of State for
not only working hard to put the coalition together, but working hard
to reinforce the coalition. And one of the reasons I came to this
important meeting was to be able to look at my friend and thank him
for his commitment, his support, and thank other world leaders for
their support.
Q: Should the American people expect more from --
Q: Sir, can you tell us how the meeting went with the Prime Minister
of Malaysia, who has expressed concern about the military action?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, we had a very good visit today. He is concerned
about the death of innocent people in Afghanistan, and I assured him I
am, too. Our beef is not with the Afghan people. Our beef is with a
government that houses and feeds and tries to hide terrorists. And I
assured him that our campaign was -- that we were trying to be as
careful as we possibly could to achieve our military objective.
Secondly, I want the American people to understand that we're a
compassionate government. We're spending a great deal of money to help
the people of Afghanistan. And I'm concerned about the fact that food
isn't getting to some Afghan citizens, and the reason why is because
the Taliban is preventing food distribution. They're disrupting food,
they're stealing food. These are people that are willing to starve
their people, which is yet another reason why the Taliban must go.
Q: Should the American people expect more --
Q: -- to his question, were you commenting on the success of today's
mission, or to the success of the mission in general?
PRESIDENT BUSH: The success of the mission in general. We're making
great progress. We're making great progress. As you know, I'm not
going to comment on a specific operation. I will tell you, though,
that we're using all the resources of the country. And, in general,
we're making very good progress. We're pleased with the progress being
made.
Q: Should the American people expect more raids like today, sir?
Q: -- what about Putin tomorrow --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Oh, I think it's a very important meeting with
President Putin tomorrow. I'm sorry, Mr. Prime Minister. But I look
forward to the continued progress toward our Crawford meeting.
Somebody said, well, there's great anticipation that there will be
so-called breakthroughs. Well, the breakthrough occurred in our first
meeting, where we made a determined effort to work together to find
common ground when it comes to new strategic arrangements. But I
wouldn't expect any startling news, except for the fact that we're
continuing our dialogue.
The Prime Minister has got a few comments.
Q: (Question asked in Japanese.)
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI: My treasure, precious, for Ripken,
world-famous baseball player. I love baseball very much. I love
baseball very much -- American sports.
PRESIDENT BUSH: He's got a very nice arm, too. (Laughter.) I saw his
fastball at Camp David. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI: Yes -- quite a spirit, very strong. Reliable.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Plus, we've been very impressed by Ichiro. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI: My name is June Ichiro. (Laughter.) June is
pure -- June means pure, purity. Ichiro.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Got you. (Laughter.)
(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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