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Skriven 2006-06-09 23:33:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0606092) for Fri, 2006 Jun 9
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President Bush and Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark Participate in Joint
Press Availability
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 9, 2006

President Bush and Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark Participate in Joint
Press Availability
Camp David


˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

10:43 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good day. Welcome to Camp David. More importantly, welcome
to Camp David to the Prime Minister and his wife. Mr. Prime Minister, we're
glad you're here. Welcome.

The invitation to come to Camp David is an expression of my high regard for
Prime Minister Rasmussen and our friendship between our two countries. You
know, I think -- I was checking back, I think it's been over two years
since we've had a foreign leader come and visit us here. And thanks for
bringing such good weather. It was important to have good weather today,
because the Prime Minister is going to give me a mountain biking lesson
after this news conference.

A couple of thoughts, then he's going to speak, and then we'd be glad to
answer some questions.

First, I appreciate the Prime Minister's belief that freedom can help
change the world, and that freedom is universal. We had a really important
discussion about our desire to help others realize the great blessings of
liberty, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prime Minister Rasmussen has
been a strong believer in supporting the Iraqi government's desire to live
in democracy. I thank you for your courage, I thank you for your country's
commitment of troops that are helping make a difference.

We talked about the new government in Iraq. The Prime Minister has met
Prime Minister Maliki -- I have not, and so it was very useful for me to
hear from him first hand about the Prime Minister's determination to
succeed. I appreciate his understanding of the Prime Minister's desire to
set priorities, starting with electricity in Baghdad, security in Baghdad,
and dismantling militia groups that are creating havoc.

We discussed our common strategies in Iraq. One of the most important
strategies is to make sure that the police force in Iraq is capable of
inspiring the population who they're supposed to be protecting. And I
believe we took a long -- we took a big step toward that when the Prime
Minister selected a new Minister of the Interior, and as well as a new
Defense Minister.

And so we spent time on that, and we spent time on Afghanistan, as well.
Prime Minister Rasmussen shared his thoughts with me about President
Karzai. We both agree that he's a patriot, that he's the kind of person
that we can back and that we will back as this new democracy begins to
develop.

We spent time on Iran. We shared thoughts about how to diplomatically solve
the problem, and the problem is the Iranians want to have a nuclear weapon
and they shouldn't have one.

We spent time talking about Darfur, our desire to help the AU forces
achieve stability in Darfur. I've spoken out on this subject a lot. I
believe there's genocide taking place, and I believe we have a
responsibility to work together to bring some security to the poor folks
that are being harassed and raped and murdered in the far reaches of
Darfur.

The Prime Minister and I share values, and he spent time making sure that I
understood his strong belief that when we fight the war on terror and we
help new democracies, that we've got to uphold the values that we believe
in, and he brought up the Guantanamo issue. And I appreciate the fact that
the Prime Minister is concerned about the decisions that I made on --
toward Guantanamo. I assured him that we would like to end the Guantanamo.
We'd like it to be empty. And we're now in the process of working with
countries to repatriate people.

But there are some that, if put out on the streets, would create grave harm
to American citizens and other citizens of the world. And, therefore, I
believe they ought to be tried in courts here in the United States. We will
file such court claims once the Supreme Court makes its decision as to
whether or not -- as to the proper venue for these trials. And we're
waiting on our Supreme Court to act.

We talked about bilateral relations. I am impressed by the fact that the
Prime Minister is off to the West Coast with a message of new technologies
and the desire for Denmark to work with some of our venture capitalists and
businesses to promote energy independence, for example, and to come up with
technologies that will enable a country like ours to become less reliant
upon foreign sources of energy.

All in all, we had a very constructive visit, which will be continued over
lunch after the bike ride -- presuming he doesn't ride me into the ground.
(Laughter.)

Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. Glad you're here.

PRIME MINISTER RASMUSSEN: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Let me first
of all express my gratitude for inviting me to Camp David. I'm very honored
to be here. And one could hardly imagine a better venue to spend time for
work and pleasure with close friends. So thank you very much.

We have had a very productive meeting this morning at this wonderful
setting. First we talked about Iraq. A few weeks ago, I met with the new
Iraqi government, as the President pointed out. It was with a particular
sense of respect I heard the views of the first permanent
democratically-elected government in Iraq. I would say that our efforts
have not been in vain.

Democracy is what it is all about. We agree on the very reason for being
engaged in Iraq: to put an end to oppression and to promote freedom,
democracy and human rights. These are the very values we want to defend.
That also gives us strong obligation to live up to those values in every
step we take. When unacceptable events happen in Abu Ghraib, and when
allegations are made about horrific events in Haditha, it is not only a
tragedy for the victims, it is damaging to our own efforts and an offense
to our very own values. The President has assured me that all allegations
will be investigated and if there has been wrongdoing, then the responsible
will be prosecuted.

We are committed to remain in Iraq as long as the Iraqi government and the
U.N. request our assistance, and as long as we can make a positive
difference.

As the President mentioned, we had also a discussion on Iran. I am pleased
that the United States, under the President's leadership, has joined the
European allies in presenting a package to the Iranians. It's now up to the
Iranians to take advantage of this window of opportunity.

Secondly, we touched upon energy. I strongly share the President's view
that energy is a major strategic challenge. I think that transatlantic
cooperation can contribute to ensuring energy security and sustainable
development. It could, for instance, be instrumental in developing new
energy technologies.

In Denmark, this issue has been a high priority for 30 years. We have
focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency, and we are among the
leading countries when it comes to developing technologies in that field.
It is part of the reason for our strong economy and competitiveness. And in
Denmark, we have managed to combine economic growth with energy efficiency.
Over the last 25 years, the Danish economy has grown by 50 percent without
increasing the use of energy.

I think it's fair to say that Danish companies are at the edge in
developing new technologies, and they are already engaged in the United
States. Some of them are traveling with me to the West Coast on Monday.

Which brings me to my final point on our bilateral economic relations.
Trade and investment between the United States and Denmark is flourishing
at impressive growth rates. The United States is now the biggest foreign
investor in Denmark. Likewise, Danish companies have turned their attention
towards the United States. Our top five companies have created more than
20,000 jobs in the United States, and they have engaged in a vast number of
subcontractors. I think that the broad range of subjects demonstrates the
vitality and closeness of our relations.

Mr. President, the health experts tell us that we need daily exercise. So
before we even start thinking about lunch, I'm looking forward to exploring
Camp David in even greater detail on bike. It's going to be hard work; I
know that. But I will do my very best to keep up with you, Mr. President.
(Laughter.)

So, once again, thank you very much for your hospitality. Meeting with you
at Camp David has indeed been a great symbol of the close and very warm
relations between our two countries. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I'll take a couple of questions. Deb.

Q Mr. President, after meeting with the Danish Prime Minister last month,
Maliki said he thought he could stand up the Iraqi security forces in about
a year-and-a-half. And with Zarqawi's death, do you think this is
realistic?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think it is -- we'll get a realistic appraisal about the
capacity for standing up Iraqi troops as this new government begins to
function as a government. It wasn't until just a couple of days ago that
they had a Defense Minister. Now they've got a Defense Minister, which will
give us time to assess their command and control, their capacity to be able
to send an order from the top to the bottom of their organization, a
Defense Ministry that will be independent from politics, hopefully.

Once we make those assessments, then I think I'll be able to give the
American people a better feel for what "stand up/stand down" means. And one
of the reasons we're coming here -- I'm coming here Monday, by the way, Mr.
Prime Minister, with a lot of my Cabinet members to discuss the way forward
in Iraq, to analyze the new government, to look carefully at what their
blueprint for the future looks like, and to figure out how we can help. And
of course, I will share our thoughts with the Prime Minister, because he's
a very important part of our coalition.

Zarqawi's death helps a lot. Zarqawi was bin Laden's main advocate outside
of some remote parts of the world. He was the operator. He was the person
that had made the declaration that it's just a matter of time for America
and other democracies to leave, so that we could then -- so that they could
then develop safe haven from which to launch further attacks. He beheaded
people, he was a cold-blooded killer, he masterminded the bombing of the
hotel in Jordan. He masterminded the bombing of the U.N. headquarters early
on in the liberation of Iraq.

Removing Zarqawi is a major blow to al Qaeda. It's not going to end the
war, and it's certainly not going to end the violence. But it's going to
help a lot.

One of the goals of al Qaeda was to encourage sectarian violence inside the
country; it was to pit Sunni against Shia and Shia against Sunni in order
to be able to stop democracy. His whole ambition was to stop the advance of
democracy in Iraq. And our troops -- who performed brilliantly, by the way,
in bringing this man to justice -- did the Iraqis and the Americans and
anybody else who loves freedom a great service by bringing him to justice.

Q Can I ask you a follow up?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Probably not.

Q How long will --

PRESIDENT BUSH: This is Mr. Accommodator -- (laughter) -- Mr. Reaching Out.
Yes.

Q You said you'd have to reassess with the new government these various
things. How long do you think that that assessment is going to take?

PRESIDENT BUSH: See, part of the issue I deal with is people want to know
with certainty when certain things are going to happen --

Q Just about --

PRESIDENT BUSH: -- and I understand that; it's a legitimate question. It's
like, when are you going to withdraw troops? And the answer is, when
conditions on the ground --

Q I didn't ask that.

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I know, but I -- you asked the question, I answer them.
The answer is, as to when we'll be able to stand up Iraqis and stand down,
when we'll be able to analyze the situation, depends upon how these people
react, how they react to pressure, how they react to forming their
government. This is a brand-new democracy. And the problem with the war we
have is it requires a certain degree of patience in order to succeed. And
we have to be patient here as this new democracy begins to flourish, and
has to deal with people like Zarqawi, who is trying to stop their advance.

And so, as soon as possible. I've told the American people I'd like to get
our troops out as soon as possible. But the definition of "as soon as
possible" is depending upon victory in Iraq. And victory in Iraq is a
country that can sustain itself, govern itself and defend itself. That's
the definition of victory, and we're making progress toward that goal.

Q Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, last week we saw a major change in the
policy towards Iran. And although you don't want to talk about timetables,
the Prime Minister talked about a window of opportunity for the Iranians.
How do you see that window of opportunity, what is the timetable, and what
will be the next step in the procedure when we talk about Iran?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Actually, you saw a shift in tactics, but not a
shift in strategy. I've always felt like we needed to solve this problem
diplomatically. And I always felt it was essential that when the Iranians
looked out at the world, they see a common, united group of nations saying,
no nuclear weapon.

Part of the change in tactics was to do two things: One, say to the
Iranians, the choice is yours to make, see. You have said you're going to
verifiably suspend your program. Now we're going to see whether or not you
really mean it. And if you do, by the way, the United States will come to
the table. And I said to our friends and partners, if they choose not to
come back -- to suspend verifiably, there must be a consequence. There must
be a sense of urgency on our part to send a common message to them. And I
applaud my Secretary of State for effectively delivering that message.

And so to answer your question, we've given the Iranians a limited period
of time -- weeks, not months -- to digest a proposal to move forward. And
if they choose not to verifiably suspend their program, then there will be
action taken in the U.N. Security Council.

Caren.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Your initial public comments on the death of
Zarqawi have been described as more cautious than other developments, such
as the capture of Saddam Hussein. Are you more cautious now? And, if so,
why?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, let me make sure everybody understands, I'm thrilled
that Zarqawi was brought to justice. And I am so proud of our troops and
intelligence officers who brought him to justice. This man had a lot of
blood on his hands. He killed a lot of people. And it's a big deal to have
brought him to justice. Having said that, I don't want the American people
to think that a war is won with the death of one person, that we have still
more work to do.

I am confident that al Qaeda will try to regroup and kill other people in
order to say, well, we haven't lost our -- we haven't lost our way. I
believe that. I also know that there are criminal elements and irritated
people inside of Iraq who will try to stop the progress of the government;
they will continue to bomb.

The problem we have in this war is that all they've got to do is kill some
innocent people by a car bomb, and it looks like they're winning, see. It
takes a major event like an election or the death of Zarqawi to understand
that we're making progress. And so one of the things I'm trying to be is
realistic with the American people, and say there's still going to be tough
days ahead, because the enemy has got the capacity to get on our TV with
death and destruction. That's what they've got the capacity to do.

In the meantime, however, the political process -- remember, a government
that can sustain itself and govern itself and defend itself. The governance
aspect, as the Prime Minister will attest, is making progress under Prime
Minister Maliki. It's a new type of government. It's a unity government
that represents the Iraqi people under a constitution which they ratified,
which is a remarkable feat, by the way, in the Middle East -- a government
that can defend itself. And that is a government with an army that's
well-trained, with a chain of command, that's responsive to civilian
leadership.

And, finally, a government that can sustain itself is one that not only has
an economic -- a bright economic future for its people, but one in which
the internal security is such that people have confidence in their
government. And, frankly, that's the area where we need a lot of work,
which is in the police forces. The Interior Minister was dominated by
politicians that wanted to seek revenge, as opposed to provide blanket
security, and as General Casey has said, training our troops -- training
the police is the mission of our troops for 2006. And I want to thank the
Prime Minister for his great contribution through NATO and the police
training academies that we're helping to run.

But we're making progress. But I don't want -- I want the people to
understand that our progress will be viewed as incremental progress. If I
didn't think we would succeed, I wouldn't stay. And if I didn't think it
was necessary for peace, I wouldn't have put our troops there in the first
place. And I told that to the Prime Minister. I said you can count on
America for standing by this new government, because we're doing the right
thing. And people are going to look back at this moment in history and say
a democracy in Iraq helped change the world for the better and helped
provide security. It certainly helped address the simmering resentment that
exists in a part of a region that for too long has been ignored.

And some say, I understand, that liberty isn't universal, therefore we
shouldn't worry about freeing people of Iraq. I strongly disagree with
that. Liberty is universal. And not only in our attempts to defend
ourselves, we also have got to understand that to help win hearts and
minds, freedom is an avenue that will help do that. We've got to be
confident in our belief in freedom and confident in our knowledge that
freedom has the capacity to yield the peace we want.

Q Mr. President and Mr. Prime Minister, in previous meetings you have
discussed Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and now Haditha, and possibly other
crimes have been added to that list.

Mr. President, how did you try to convince the Prime Minister today that
that kind of violations of human rights will stop and guilty will be
prosecuted? And Mr. Prime Minister, are you today convinced that violations
of human rights will stop so that these violations are not undermining the
war for democracy in Iraq? Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, last time -- I think it was in Denmark we talked
about Abu Ghraib, if I'm not mistaken. I told the people in Denmark on your
soil that it was a disgusting event. It soiled our soul. It's not what
America stands for. I also -- I'm not sure I put it this way, but I
understand humans make mistakes, but there needs to be accountability. And
since then, those involved with the Abu Ghraib have been brought to
justice. And that's what happens in transparent societies -- which, by the
way, stood in stark contrast to the society that Saddam Hussein ran, where
there was no justice, where there was no transparency, where people weren't
given a chance to take their case in front of an impartial court. But
that's what's happened here in America.

I'm like the Prime Minister, I understand that these incidents run contrary
to what we believe; I know that. But I also want to assure -- I assured the
Prime Minister -- that they'll be dealt with. That's what societies like
ours do. I can't guarantee success all across the front, but I can
guarantee there will be justice.

PRIME MINISTER RASMUSSEN: I'm very much in line with that. What we have
seen in Abu Ghraib is not, was not what we are standing for. If the
allegations concerning Haditha show up to be true, it is definitely not
what the coalition, what America, what Denmark stands for. On the contrary,
we are in Iraq to promote freedom, democracy, respect for human rights. And
of course we should comply with these basic principles in all our behavior.

I can give no guarantee, but just like the Prime Minister, I can give the
guarantee that in free and open societies, the whole process will be
transparent. And if there are wrongdoings, the responsible will be
prosecuted. That's a guarantee you can give in a free and open society,
based on the rule of law.

Q Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Fine looking shoes you've got on there.

Q Thank you, sir. Mr. President, what are your top commanders telling you
in the last 48 hours about the possible impact of Zarqawi's death, and how
does that affect what you are trying to accomplish in these strategy
meetings, here at Camp David, Monday and Tuesday?

PRESIDENT BUSH: First, we had the strategy meetings scheduled before
Zarqawi's death, interestingly enough. I haven't spoken to our commanders
yet, except to call General Casey and McChrystal and congratulate them, but
more importantly, for them to congratulate the troops and the intel groups
that were working on finding Zarqawi.

I suspect they will tell you what I just said, answered to Caren, and that
is that it's a big deal, but it's certainly not the end of conflict. We had
some -- we believed that al Qaeda was stirring up violence inside of
Baghdad. And one of the things the Prime Minister told the Prime Minister
and me by phone, that the security of Baghdad is a central part of having a
strategy that shows the Iraqi people that the government is capable of
governing and achieving objectives.

And, therefore, if al Qaeda was a part of -- not the sole source, but part
of the violence inside of Baghdad, it helps to get rid of their commander.

It's also a -- General Abizaid, whose job it is to think beyond just Iraq
-- he's the CENTCOM, he's the theater commander -- will tell you that the
upper management of al Qaeda was counting on Zarqawi to help implement
their vision beyond Iraq.

See, it's really important for the American people to understand that al
Qaeda has got an ideology and a strategy to impose that ideology. And part
of the strategy is to create turmoil in moderate Muslim nations. And they
want to overthrow moderate Muslim nations. They want to have their view of
the world. I call it totalitarian, Islamo-fascism. Whatever you want to
call it, it is extreme and it's real. And Zarqawi was the implementer of
that strategy. And he can no longer implement. And that is helpful in
winning the war on terror.

Iraq is a theater in the war on terror. It's not the war on terror. It's a
part of the war on terror. And Zarqawi was a general inside of Iraq, and he
was a part of their strategy outside of Iraq. And I suspect General Abizaid
-- I don't mean to be putting words into one of our top commanders, but I
would suspect he would say this was a major blow to al Qaeda.

The death of Zarqawi was very important for the people of Iraq. He was
sowing incredible violence inside of Iraq. He promoted spectacular death.
And by the way, he talked about human rights abuses, and we -- definitely
need to be held to account. But the world needs to hold to account
terrorists for civil rights abuses, too. The killing of innocent people to
achieve a military objective is the cornerstone of al Qaeda's military
strategy. And this world of ours -- it's no question we ought to be
concerned about what the United States does. But I expect the free world,
as well, to unite in condemnation of terrorist activities around the world.
See, it ought to be a universal condemnation. We ought not to excuse that
kind of behavior.

And yesterday's action -- or a couple of days ago action, expressed our
disdain for that kind of killing of innocent life. And bringing him to
justice is a positive thing.

It's important for the Iraqi people to see progress in the death of
Zarqawi, there's no question progress toward more stable -- it's not going
to solve all problems. And I'm sure, as I mentioned to you, there's going
to be some who step up and say we will teach you a lesson and we will
continue to send suiciders into neighborhoods just to show that we've still
got power. But they've lost their general. They've lost the person that the
top management of al Qaeda was counting on. And it's a positive
development.

Q Is there specific goals for Monday and Tuesday?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Specific goals for Monday and Tuesday is to review the
Iraqi strategy, the Iraq way forward. In other words, the Prime Minister
has put forward a strategy as to how to achieve his objectives, which
coincide with our objectives -- a nation that can sustain itself, govern
itself and defend itself. And we want to review all aspects of that
strategy. I felt that Camp David is a good place to do it because it can be
distracting down in Washington -- with phone calls, and all those kinds of
-- we can make sure the people involved in senior levels of government stay
focused on the task at hand.

I will be talking to Zal and our commanders, just to get assessment. One
question I'll ask is precisely the question you asked. I want to get a feel
for their view of the Iraqi government's plans and how we can help Iraq
achieve the objectives they want. And then the next day, we're going to
have the Ambassador from Iraq to the United States up to talk with him, as
well as have a Cabinet meeting between my government and the Maliki
government via secure video. And I think that will be a very interesting
moment for the Iraqi government, to see that we're concerned and interested
about their plans for success. And I think it will be interesting for us to
be able to get a sense for the type of people that the Prime Minister has
attracted.

Ask Anders a question, will you? He's feeling a little defensive.
(Laughter.)

Q I'm sorry, I have one for you, Mr. President. This week, a report from
the European Council talked about some CIA flights, illegal CIA flights
with the prisoners in Europe, and illegal CIA presence also in some
European countries. Have these flights taken place, and did you discuss
this in your meeting today?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We haven't discussed it yet. I suspect we will now that you
brought it up. I would just -- I can tell you what I'll tell the Prime
Minister, is that in cases where we're not able to extradite somebody who's
dangerous, sometimes renditions take place. It's been a part of our
government for quite a period of time -- not just my government, but
previous administrations have done so in order to protect people. And as we
do so, we protect the sovereign rights of nations that we're involved with.

Okay, thanks for the press conference. Enjoy yourselves. Get out of here.
(Laughter.) Welcome, glad you all are here.

Q Are you guys going to race?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, we're old -- one of us is old. (Laughter.) I'm taking a
lesson.

END 11:15 A.M. EDT

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