Remarks by President Bush and President Karzai of Afghanistan in Press Availability (Transcript)

WASHINGTON, June 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a transcript of remarks by President Bush and President Karzai of Afghanistan in a press availability:

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good day. Laura and I are pleased to welcome President Karzai back to the White House -- really glad you're here.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I also appreciate your honor and your courage and your skill in helping to build a new and democratic Afghanistan. You've been instrumental in lifting your country from the ashes of two decades of war and oppression. Under your leadership, Afghanistan's progress has been dramatic.

Three years ago, the Taliban had granted Osama bin Laden and his terrorist al Qaeda organization a safe refuge. Today, the Taliban has been deposed, al Qaeda is in hiding, and coalition forces continue to hunt down the remnants and holdouts. Coalition forces, including many brave Afghans, have brought America, Afghanistan and the free world its first victory in the war on terror. Afghanistan is no longer a terrorist factory sending thousands of killers into the world.

Three years ago, 70 percent of Afghans were malnourished, and one in four Afghan children never saw their 5th birthday.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Today, clean water is being provided throughout the country, hospitals and clinics have been rehabilitated, and millions of children have been vaccinated against measles and polio.

Three years ago, women were viciously oppressed and forbidden to work outside the home, and even denied what little medical treatment was available. Today, women are going to school, and their rights are protected in Afghanistan's constitution.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. President, it's a tremendous privilege and honor for us to be invited again by you and the First Lady to the White House. It was a great honor for me today to be speaking to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. I will cherish that memory of talking to the representatives of the American people.

We are sending today five million children to school. Almost half of those children are girls. Our universities are open. Our universities are coming up in all -- all over the country, in other provinces of the country. We are building a national army, a vital institution for the defense of our country. You want us to stand on our own feet; you want us to defend our own sovereignty and provide security to our people, and you're helping us do that.

The National Army of Afghanistan is popular with the Afghan people. Wherever they go, people receive them with welcome. In Farah Province, where they went some months ago, school girls and boys give them flowers. Thank you very much for that.

We are also building our police forces. We have a constitution that we have today which is the most enlightened in that part of the world. And that constitution has been made possible because of the liberation that you helped us gain, and because of the stability that the United States helped us have in Afghanistan. As a result of that, we have a constitution that sets us as an example of an Islamic democratic state. Thank you very much, Mr. President, for that.

We are looking forward in this relationship to a stronger relationship. And I'm sure the United States will remain committed to Afghanistan. Afghanistan is, in the month of September, looking forward to elections, presidential elections, and elections of parliament and elections of the provincial assemblies and district assemblies.

So far we have registered 3.8 million voters. And out of the 3.8 million voters, Mr. President, 35.4 percent are, so far, women. And as the trend continues, as we move forward to the registration of more voters, the number of women registering will exceed, definitely, 40 percent. In certain parts of the country, in the central highlands, today I learned that the registration of women has exceeded that of men; they are more than 50 percent. This could have not been achieved in Afghanistan without your help and that of the international community.

Afghanistan has problems, too. Among the problems is the question of drugs. The Afghan government is adamant, the Afghan people are adamant to fight this menace, to end it in Afghanistan and receive your help in that.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We'll answer some questions, in the tradition of democratic societies. Are you ready? We'll start with Hunt.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: I'm ready. I now know, Mr. President, what the free press means. We have it in Afghanistan.

Q Mr. President, Iraq's Prime Minister says the new government expects to take custody of Saddam Hussein and all other detainees when sovereignty is transferred in about two weeks. And your spokesman says that that's under consideration. Will you turn him over by that date, and what factors are you weighing in that decision?

And, President Karzai, who will try Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar when they're caught?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We're working with the Iraqi government on a couple of issues. One is the appropriate time for the transfer of Saddam Hussein. And secondly, we're working to make sure there's appropriate security. I mean, one thing, obviously, is that we don't want and I know the Iraqi interim government doesn't want is there to be lax security and for Saddam Hussein to somehow not stand trial for the horrendous murders and torture that he inflicted upon the Iraqi people. So we're working with them.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Osama and Mullah Omar have committed crimes against the Afghan people, against the people in the United States, and against the international community. They are international criminals. They are wanted by the international community. They are wanted by the world conscience. They have to be arrested and tried. And when they are arrested, we will consult the international community and find appropriate mechanism for their trial.

Q Mr. President, there are signs that inflation may be on the horizon in the U.S. economy. How concerned are you about this? What are you -- I mean, do you think this might slow down the recovery that you've been so happy about? Also, if I can ask you a follow-up on the security about Saddam Hussein. What guarantee --

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I thought you said am I worried that inflation is going to -- what I'm pleased about is the fact that our economy is strong and is getting stronger. All indications are -- is that the economic stimulus plan we put in place is working. There's strong growth. There is -- there is -- there are new jobs being added. Consumer spending is up. Disposable -- after-tax disposable income is high. In other words, the ingredients for continued economic growth are present. And I'm very pleased. I'm particularly pleased because it means that workers are able to do their duties to their families.

Q If I could just pick up on that, sir, about pessimism. Your presumed Democratic challenger is spending this week and next partially critical of your economic policies. And while things have looked good in the last few months, could the case not be made that over the longer-term of your administration, that you're still operating at an economic deficit?

And what do you plan to do to avoid the fate of Bush 41 who didn't get credit for an improving economy in an election year?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I think one thing the American people have seen is that I know how to lead. When I first came to office, the economy was headed into a recession. And we acted. We acted in a way that called upon the true strength of the American people, and that is we encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish by letting people keep more of their own money.

Q Mr. President, how do you explain why the success we've had in Afghanistan appears to be alluding us in Iraq? Is it possible that the Afghan people objected to the Taliban more strongly than the Iraqi people objected to the reign of Saddam Hussein?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, that's not possible. The Iraqi people objected to the reign of Saddam Hussein, and you would, too, if you lived there -- where you couldn't express yourself, where you got tortured, where there was mass graves.

This is hard work. And it wasn't easy work in Afghanistan, by the way. I mean, it seems easy now that we're standing here, Wendell, after several years of working together with this great leader, but it was hard work. And out of kind of the desperate straits that the Afghan people found themselves is now a welcoming society beginning to grow. And the same thing is going to happen in Iraq.

These aren't easy tasks. I mean, somehow there's expectation, well, all this is supposed to have happened yesterday. That's just not the way it works when you go from a society that has -- that was subjugated to a tyrant, by a tyrant, to a free society. And the President will tell you, it's hard work. It may look easy, in retrospect, but it's not easy. And that's why it's very important for us to speak clearly to the people of Afghanistan and in Iraq that the United States will help them, will stay and help them fulfill the mission, which is a free and peaceful Afghanistan, a free and peaceful Iraq, which are in our nation's interests.

Q On another issue, have you been called to answer questions regarding the CIA leak? And have you retained the attorney --

PRESIDENT BUSH: You need to call -- you need to call -- you need to talk to the counsel over there.

Q He said that politicians should not wear religious faith on their sleeve. And a lot of Republicans interpreted those remarks as being critical of you and your position on stem cell. I'd like to ask you about that.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Whether or not a politician should wear their -- I've always said I think it's very important for someone not to try to take the speck out of somebody else's eye when they may have a log in their own. In other words, I'm very mindful about saying, you know, oh, vote for me, I'm more religious than my neighbor. And I think it's -- I think it's perfectly -- I think it's important for people of religion to serve. I think it is very important for people who are serving to make sure there is a separation of church and state.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Zarqawi. Zarqawi is the best evidence of connection to al Qaeda affiliates and al Qaeda. He's the person who's still killing. He's the person -- and remember the email exchange between al Qaeda leadership and he, himself, about how to disrupt the progress toward freedom?

Saddam Hussein also had ties to terrorist organizations, as well. In other words, he was affiliated with terrorism -- Abu Nidal, the paying of families of suiciders to go kill innocent people. I mean, he was no doubt a destabilizing force. And we did the absolute right thing in removing him from power. And the world is better off with him not in power.

Q Mr. President, there have been some reports that the Afghan government has been cooperating with warlords, former warlords in Afghanistan, and I wondered if you talked about that with President Karzai today --

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Yes. See, Afghanistan is emerging from years of oppression to a free, democratic society. And in democracy, you are supposed to be talking to each other. You are supposed to be preparing the country for a better future by negotiating and by understanding each other. And as the Afghan President, it's my job to take that nation, the Afghan people, into a better future, through stability and peace, to a higher degree of democracy, to the elections. It's my job to do that peacefully. It's my job to keep stability and peace in Afghanistan. And I will talk to anybody that comes to talk to me about stability and peace, and about movement towards democracy.

No deals have been made; no coalitions have been made, and no coalition will be made. And they did not ask for it. First of all, we don't call them warlords. Some of those people are respected leaders of the Afghan resistance. Some of them are former presidents. And we respect them in Afghanistan. Yes, there are bad people in the country, as well, with whom we're not making a deal, with whom we are not talking. This country is moving forward. It's a society now emerging with a strong civil society sense in institutions. And that's what we are doing there.

I watched the latter part of this press conference today and was struck by President Bush's strong and forceful demeanor (again) and especially by his strong, inital one word answer to the Al Qaeda/Saddam connection question. Which you can see was expounded upon. He answered it "Zarqawi" and did a pause before proceeding.

Click to read the entire event. I posted much, but as is plain, I excerpted.

Q The Vice President, who I see standing over there, said yesterday that Saddam Hussein has long-established ties to al Qaeda. As you know, this is disputed within the U.S. intelligence community. Mr. President, would you add any qualifiers to that flat statement? And what do you think is the best evidence of it?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Zarqawi. Zarqawi is the best evidence of connection to al Qaeda affiliates and al Qaeda. He's the person who's still killing. He's the person -- and remember the email exchange between al Qaeda leadership and he, himself, about how to disrupt the progress toward freedom?

Don't know if you saw this, Peach, but I thought of you when this question and answer came up.

President Bush didn't hesitate or hem and haw, but forcefully stated "Zarqawi", paused to let that sink in (also kind of like "as if you don't all know"--that's my take), then went on as you can see. Not as much info as you know, but he is going to go with what can be 100% documented, I think.

Yes, Elisabeth.
Q -- Ron Reagan's remarks at the former President's funeral --
PRESIDENT BUSH: I didn't hear them.
Q He said that politicians should not wear religious faith on their sleeve. And a lot of Republicans interpreted those remarks as being critical of you and your position on stem cell. I'd like to ask you about that.

For those following the minor brouhaha brought on by Ron Reagan's eulogy (I noticed and commented immediately upon the utterance), I thought it was interesting that the reporterette brought it up.

Tonight Keith Olberman spoke of his "colleague at MSNBC", Ron Reagan, and how he had made an "apparent" reference to President Bush and his religion and how it affects his job performance. As if Olberman would say that without knowing that is in fact what Reagan was doing.

I took from President Bush's comment on a politician observing a "separation of church and state", that he meant the politician should follow the Constitution and laws of the land and that he wasn't (as the liberal spin would have it) following a "Divine mandate" in his policies.

Q He said that politicians should not wear religious faith on their sleeve. And a lot of Republicans interpreted those remarks as being critical of you and your position on stem cell. I'd like to ask you about that.

I shook my head over the framing of this. "Republicans" indeed.

The only ones I've heard of or directly commenting on it, besides Freepers, are MSNBC pundits, Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, and tonight Keith Olberman.

I'm sure many Republicans DID interpret the remarks as they were intended. But so did everybody else, including Ms. Elisabeth here.

I imagine he is talking about the Afghan resistance against the Soviets.

On Meet the Press Karzai said "Yes, 'War Lord-ism, is a problem, along with the drugs. But the Afghan people don't want the war lords or the drugs. I talk with ordinary people every day and they don't want it. And so, the drugs and the "war lord-ism" don't have the support of the Afghan people. And we are working to solve this problem."

I like Karzai. He seems very straight-forward and honest. No hedging the problems ("Yes, the drugs are perhaps our biggest problem"). But he also talks VERY postively about FREEDOM in Afghanistan.

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