23 September 2003
President Pledges Continued U.S. Support for Afghanistan
Bush meets with Afghan, Indonesian presidents, Moroccan king
President Bush congratulated interim Afghan President Hamid Karzai September 23 for the success his country has attained since the defeat of the Taliban regime less than two years ago, and pledged accelerated U.S. support, according to a senior U.S. administration official.
The official, briefing on background at the White House's media center in New York, said the two discussed security sector reform in Afghanistan and the new draft constitution that the loya jirga will debate and decide on in December.
Bush and Karzai also discussed the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and social issues such as the immunization of children, food supplies and water management. Iraq was also discussed near the end of the meeting, the official said.
"And President Karzai ended the meeting by thanking President Bush and saying that none of what has been achieved in Afghanistan so far could have been done without his leadership and without the assistance of the United States," according to the official.
Two other senior administration officials briefed the media as well. One discussed the president's meeting with Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, and the other described the meeting of Bush and Morocco's King Mohammed VI, both on September 23.
Presidents Bush and Megawati met for 15 minutes, the official said, and Bush praised Indonesia "as a powerful example of a functioning, successful Muslim democracy, proving that democracy is strong and that freedom is powerful -- a good example for the Iraqi people."
Moroccan King Mohammed VI met with the president for 30 minutes, and Bush thanked him for Morocco's "positive attitude toward the reconstruction of Iraq," and for Morocco's "continuing constructive role with both parties, Israelis and Palestinians" in the search for a lasting peace in the Middle East, the official said.
The transcript of the briefing follows:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(New York, New York)
September 23, 2003
BACKGROUND BRIEFING BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON THE PRESIDENT'S BILATERAL MEETINGS
Waldorf Astoria New York, New York
MR. McCORMACK: Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the cozy confines of the Waldorf Astoria Press Filing Center. We have three senior administration officials here this evening to talk about the president's meetings this afternoon. First up, we have a senior administration official to talk about the president's meeting with President Megawati of Indonesia. Next up, King Mohammed VI of Morocco; and finally, President Karzai of the Afghan Interim Authority. With that, I'll turn it over to our senior administration officials.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi. You can refer to me as Senior Administration Official A, if that makes it easier. (Laughter.)
MR. McCORMACK: Roman Numeral I.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sean is being difficult again. (Laughter.)
The meeting with President Megawati [Soekarnoputri] was the fourth meeting the president and she have had over the past couple of years. The atmosphere was excellent; they seem to know and like each other pretty well. It was a 15-minute meeting so that we could get to the King of Morocco afterward.
The president had a good discussion with President Megawati on bilateral issues, particularly on the need for continued cooperation against terrorism. He also discussed the situation in Iraq. And in this context he noted that Indonesia serves as a powerful example of a functioning, successful Muslim democracy, proving that democracy is strong and that freedom is powerful -- a good example for the Iraqi people.
They also discussed regional issues. President Megawati described an increasingly stable Southeast Asia. And finally the two discussed the Middle East.
Q: So this is B, right?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Two, Roman numeral II. (Laughter.)
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The president met with King Mohammed VI. The meeting lasted about half an hour. The president stressed the long-standing, close friendship and alliance between the United States and Morocco. He commended the King on the economic reforms underway and the recent local elections, and said we were determined to do all we can to help Morocco.
They discussed the global war on terror, and both noted that each country has suffered from terrorism -- Morocco just a couple of months ago in the attacks on Casablanca -- and stressed that they would continue to cooperate closely against terror.
On Iraq, the president noted and thanked the king for Morocco's positive attitude toward the reconstruction of Iraq and particularly its support for seating the Governing Council at the recent Arab League meeting in Cairo.
On Middle East peace, the president thanked Morocco for its continuing constructive role with both parties, Israelis and Palestinians, and its maintaining close contacts with both parties.
On the Western Sahara, the president urged Morocco to continue actively seeking a solution, working with [former Secretary of State] Jim Baker and the United Nations toward a solution acceptable to Morocco. And they pledged that they would maintain close contact between the two governments, and also between them. They met last about two years ago, but have maintained telephone contact since.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Administration official three, number three.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: C.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: C? Easier than my actual name, so that's good for you, easy for you. (Laughter.) The president and Mr. [Hamid] Karzai had a 45-minute-long meeting, and it was a very cordial and uplifting meeting. The president congratulated President Karzai on the progress that Afghanistan has made in the course of the last two years, and expressed his continued support for Afghanistan's success, and outlined the acceleration program that the administration had decided on for Afghanistan.
Then the two discussed development with regard to the security sector reform in Afghanistan, as well as the new constitution, the draft of the new constitution that the loya jirga in Afghanistan will debate and decide on in December.
And they spent a good deal of time on two other issues. One, on the status of the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan; and two, on what I would call the human condition in Afghanistan -- issues such as the immunization of Afghan children, the food supply, water management. And also they spent, at the end, a bit of time on Iraq. And President Karzai ended the meeting by thanking President Bush and saying that none of what has been achieved in Afghanistan so far could have been done without his leadership and without the assistance of the United States.
Q: Number 3, please: just the other day, [former President] Jimmy Carter -- who is not against helping Afghanistan -- criticized the policy. He said you're focused entirely on the Kabul area, and the rest of the country is being ignored. And he thought that was not good. I don't know what the acceleration program is, but was there discussion of taking your reconstruction assistance beyond the capital? Is that going on?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: First, I don't know what President Carter has said, but it would be inaccurate to say that our assistance program is focused on Kabul. I would say most of our assistance project are outside Kabul: the Kabul-Khandahar road, [and the] Khandahar-Iraq road. The dozens and dozens of schools that have been built are mostly outside Kabul -- [also medical] clinics.
With regard to reconstruction, the thinking is to do more than the road-building. We're thinking about another 1,000 kilometers of road, in addition to what we have committed ourselves to already for this year, for the coming year, 12 months. [There will be] [m]ore clinics; accelerating the training of the police force -- some 20,000 police are going to be trained in the course of the next 12 months; accelerating the building of the Afghan national army; of course, schools and clinics, as well. This will be for all of Afghanistan and not focus on Kabul, not focus on Kabul alone.
Q: What did they say about the status of al-Qaeda and the Taliban? And what about Osama bin Laden? Did they talk about him at all?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There was not a specific focus on Osama bin Laden, but there was a focus on al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The president of Afghanistan said that there had been significant progress in arresting and eliminating al-Qaeda elements that are Arab, non-Afghan; that, on the other hand, with regard to the Taliban in some madrassas in Pakistan and across the border, there are still people that are preaching a kind of Talibanism and they come across. And the president said that he would raise -- that we regard President Musharraf to be a good partner in the war on terror, but that he would raise President Karzai's concern about the madrassas in Pakistan and the Taliban presence there when he meets with President Musharraf tomorrow [September 24].
Q: Did President Karzai express any concerns or make any pitch for -- as we boost up spending in Iraq that we don't forget Afghanistan?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, quite the contrary; he was very grateful for what he heard today from the president in his speech to the United Nations. You have heard it before, but he specifically referred to the speech -- of the additional $1.2 billion for Afghanistan. He said, "We certainly can use that" -- those were his words -- that came at the right time, we have now the capacity to absorb more help. And he expressed his gratitude and appreciation at the beginning of the meeting, in the middle of the meeting, and at the very end of the meeting, as well. So, no, that issue didn't come up.
Q: A1, please? (Laughter.) President Megawati today said that U.S. policy in the Middle East is "not only unjust, but also one-sided" in favor of Israel. And she said that the Iraq war "has created more -- far more problems than it helped to resolve." Did these sorts of tensions come up in the meeting with President Bush? Did President Bush offer any assurances about, say, the U.S. Middle East policy? Did any of that come up?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Middle East policy definitely came up, and it was in the context of the president making it clear that we have a long road ahead of us and that we are going to stay the course and continue to push. And in that context, President Megawati understood -- said that she understood that there would not be any progress unless we all continued to push the two sides toward progress.
Q: Did they raise the president's upcoming visit to Indonesia -- which may or may not have been announced at this point?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We have not made any final decisions on the itinerary for the trip out to APEC. As soon as we do, we'll let you all know.
Q: Number three, please. (Laughter.) This is like a game show.
Q: "What's My Line?"
Q: Sign in, please.
Q: There was a discussion, I guess, of the prospects for the constitution in Afghanistan. And, obviously, it's nearly -- more than two years [sic] since the Taliban has fallen. Was there any reflection on what that might mean -- between the two leaders -- any reflection on what that might mean vis-à-vis how long it might take for the Iraqis to come up with a constitution of their own, the difficulties therein?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There was a discussion of that in two ways. One, of course, on the process that Afghanistan has gone through in terms of drafting their constitution -- the commission and outreach to the Afghan public, and the redrafting and the questionnaire that was sent out. President Karzai reported some 400,000-plus questionnaires had been sent out and he reported on the responses that he had received, and said that he would be willing to share the experience of Afghanistan with the Iraqi Governing Council. And President Bush thought that would be a good idea.
Q: This is a broader Mideast question -- President Chirac today said he had raised the idea of what he called accelerating the second phase of the road map, of having an early international conference that, what he said, would update the road map. How do you view this proposal? What's your reaction to it?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's not the U.S. view. Our view remains founded in the president's speech of June 24th of last year. One of the key concepts in that speech was that there needs to be institutional reform on the Palestinian side, that there needs to be an empowered prime minister who would be in charge of the security forces which would fight terror. We would not be favor of trying to leap over that requirement.
We were, in fact, making progress on the institutionalization of a prime minister, and there were steps taken on both the Israeli and Palestinian side until terrorists and Arafat interrupted that progress. But you can't leap over the requirement to have a -- now a new empowered prime minister whose government is fighting terror.
Q: I'm not sure who this question is to because it's sort of broad, but there was a lot of discussion in the speeches of nonproliferation today. But while the word was tossed around a lot, there were not a lot of specifics as to whether everyone is talking about the same kind of nonproliferation proposals. So, at least in terms of where this administration is, what are you talking about when you talk about nonproliferation?
It's the first question. The second is, the lineup of bilaterals today appears to be mostly countries who are critical to the war on terror, even who have been the victims of terror or who are linchpins of terror. Tomorrow seems, at least on the surface of it, more aimed towards getting, at least, financial support for the Iraqi occupation. Is that an accurate description of the schedule?
MR. McCORMACK: We'll have to get back to you separately on those questions.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We don't do windows.
MR. McCORMACK: Yes, this is intended as a readout of these specific meetings. So we'll --
Q: You can't talk about nonproliferation, at least in general?
MR. McCORMACK: Again, these are readouts specifically for these meetings.
Q: I forgot what number you are now --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Which country?
Q: Middle East.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Middle East, OK.
Q: Just to follow up on what the president said about the road map being stalled, and your comments just now, what does the U.S. do now until there is a new Palestinian leader? Is the U.S. role in the Middle East peace process also stalled until a new Palestinian leader is in place?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There's a lot of work to be done, and it's being done. First, we and other countries trying to promote peace are working with Palestinians in the hope that we can urge them, persuade them to come up with a new cabinet that has, as I said before, an empowered prime minister in control of the security forces and fighting terror.
We're also working with the government of Israel to make sure that no future options are foreclosed, for example, by the way the seam-lined fence or wall is built, by expansion of settlements, such actions that might foreclose future possibilities. We're also working with both Palestinians and Israelis on the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in this period -- the Palestinian economy. There are steps the government of Israel can take -- for example, work permits, check points -- that have an impact, a direct impact on the Palestinian economy right now.
But the kind of progress, fast progress that we would like to see on the road map cannot come until the question of fighting terrorism is addressed.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Any other questions?
Q: I've got one on Western Sahara.
Q: Wow, where did that come from? (Laughter.)
Q: Did the president press the King on a Security Council Western Sahara settlement that France and Morocco are resisting?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The president urged the king to continue to work with the U.N. and with the Secretary General's Special Representative, Jim Baker, but said to the king he understood how sensitive this issue is in Morocco, and said that the U.N. and the U.S. would not impose a settlement on Morocco. He urged -- I think I said before he urged the king to continue to address this constructively and see if a solution acceptable to Morocco can be found.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you very much.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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