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Skriven 2006-10-27 23:31:18 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (061027) for Fri, 2006 Oct 27
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President Bush and NATO Secretary General Deliver Remarks in Oval Office
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 27, 2006

President Bush and NATO Secretary General Deliver Remarks in Oval Office
Oval Office

President's Remarks view


10:53 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: I'm proud to welcome the Secretary General of NATO here to
the Oval Office. We've just had a fascinating discussion.

First, Mr. Secretary General, you've been a very strong leader. As a matter
of fact, you've made NATO a values-based organization that is capable of
dealing with the true threats of the 21st century. I appreciate your
leadership. I particularly appreciate the fact that you have led the 26
nations of NATO into Afghanistan to help this young democracy. You know
what I know, that the real challenge for the future is to help people of
moderation and young democracies succeed in the face of threats and attacks
by radicals and extremists who do not share our ideology, have kind of a
dark vision of the world.

I appreciate the fact that you're reaching out to global partners, nations
which share our value, but have not been considered a -- necessarily
considered a part of NATO. I want to thank your view of making sure NATO
continues to provide the opportunity for other nations to join NATO.

I'm looking forward to Riga. The Riga summit is a time for us to celebrate
the great successes of this partnership. Mr. Secretary General and I will
be there reminding our partners that we have a lot of work to be done in
the noble cause of peace.

So, welcome.

SECRETARY GENERAL de HOOP SCHEFFER: Mr. President, thank you very much, and
thank you for giving me your time. I can echo your words. NATO is
delivering security in the 21st century. And that means defending values,
and that means defending values not only in Europe, but far away from
NATO's traditional area. And the case in point, of course, is Afghanistan,
where there was a regime which was grossly violating human rights, no
women's rights, public executions. There we are trying to assist the Afghan
government to establish democracy, to establish human rights, to establish
those values.

And let me -- let me say that when, in those actions of NATO, of those
brave NATO soldiers, civilians are killed, as happened two days ago, that's
always a tragedy. That's a tragedy.

But let me convince you to look at the broader picture. They are against
democracy. Girls did not go to school when the Taliban was running
Afghanistan. Now they go to school. Now there is a precedence. Now there is
a government. Civilian victims are a tragedy, but we are there in favor of
democracy; they are there to destroy democracy, and they are there to
destroy our values.

Mr. President, I'm looking forward to the Riga summit, where we'll see a
21st century NATO delivering security in many, many places of the world
with 50,000 soldiers, including many Americans, on three continents. That
is the challenge, but I can tell you that NATO is up to the challenge, NATO
is delivering security, and NATO will continue to do this, indeed, with its
presence, but also with global partners, because terrorism, proliferation,
failed states and failing states are global threats we have to face and to
counter on a global scale.

Mr. President, once again, thank you very much for being here.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir. I'll answer a couple of questions this morning.
Jennifer.

Q Thank you, sir. What does it say to you that Iran is doubling its
enrichment capacity?

THE PRESIDENT: It says to me that we must double our effort to work with
the international community to persuade the Iranians that there is only
isolation from the world if they continue working forward on such a
program. And I've read the speculation about that that's what they may be
doing, but whether they've doubled it or not, the idea of Iran having a
nuclear weapon is unacceptable, and it's unacceptable to the United States
and it's unacceptable to nations we're working with in the United Nations
to send a common message.

Caren.

Q Sir, do you agree with the Vice President that a dunk in the water is a
"no brainer" when it comes to interrogating a terror suspect?

PRESIDENT BUSH: This country doesn't torture, we're not going to torture.
We will interrogate people we pick up off the battlefield to determine
whether or not they've got information that will be helpful to protect the
country.

Keil.

Q Mr. President, with the elections just about 10 days away, polls show
that voters are more disenchanted with the Republican-led Congress than at
any time since 1994, when the Democrats lost power. What explanation or
answer do you have for people who feel that way?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I understand people here in Washington have already
determined the outcome of the elections. As I said in my press conference
the other day, I've seen it before where people start measuring the drapes
in their new offices before the vote has been counted -- in other words,
they're taking the people's vote for granted.

This election is going to be determined by how our candidates run locally.
And I believe if they continue to emphasize the big issues -- keeping taxes
low, and protecting the American people -- we'll win. And so we'll see how
the outcome comes. I know there's a lot of speculation here in Washington,
D.C., and there's a lot of fascination about listening to these pundits and
people who are giving their opinions.

All I can tell you is what I see: I see enthusiasm amongst Republicans, I
see candidates who are saying, vote for me, I will work to make sure
America doesn't get attacked again. And I'm seeing candidates saying, I
understand that if we run up your taxes like the Democrats do, it's going
to hurt this economy, and so we'll keep your taxes low.

Thank you all very much.

END 10:59 A.M. EDT

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