Administration of George W. Bush, 2001 / Dec. 21 1817

The President. All the time. All the time an intelligence service, say in the Middle we’re reminding people that this is a per- East or in Europe, and that piece of informa- formance-oriented world. If you want to win tion will be analyzed and passed immediately the war on terror, you must perform. And on to the FBI, that has now shifted its culture a good area, for example, is in the financial from one of doing important work, like area, where we’re constantly working with white-collar crime or spy-on-spy work, to nations to help them chase down money that prevention. That is the most, primary job of is moving illegally. There’s a lot of coopera- the FBI, is to prevent a further attack. tion. And there’s over 4,000 agents working on But you asked a very interesting ques- every single lead we get—leads that some- tion—do you keep a scorecard? And the an- times prove to be false but sometimes indi- swer is, I do. I do, because I’m an old base- cate that there could be somebody here in ball guy, and I like to keep the score. I like the country that is—intends to do us harm. to see who’s performing and who’s not per- And we will use whatever resources nec- forming. It’s a part of being a coalition. essary to haul them in if that’s the case. Tommy Franks said something interesting So yes, the country is safer. Is it still— the other day—and by the way, he was one totally safe? No. And that’s why, as I’ve told year ahead of Laura at Midland Lee High you, my main job, my main worry for Amer- School. [Laughter] They were ‘‘Fighting ica is to prevent another attack. Every morn- Rebels’’ together. [Laughter] But Tommy ing at 6:50 a.m. in the morning, I come in said, ‘‘This war—the phase of this war is kind here, and I think about the possibilities. And of like a baseball game.’’ Of course, my ears every day I meet with the FBI Director and perked up. He said, ‘‘There will be a lot of Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft, along with moments of boredom, and then there would George Tenet, reminding them that we have be some great joy as we’’—what he was say- an awesome responsibility to do whatever we ing was that we’re in a slow pursuit to achieve can to protect the American people. And the objective that Ron talked about. we’ve made great progress since September Last question. the 11th. The American people need to know that Domestic Security even though we go into a holiday season, this Q. Sir, can you say that the country is more Government will be doing everything we can secure today and less vulnerable to terrorism to keep our country safe. We’re keeping than it was before September 11th? CAPs up, we’re keeping—those are military The President. Yes, sir. The country is flights around—just to make sure if some- more secure today and less vulnerable to at- body tries to attack us, there will be—we’ll tack than before September the 11th because have the measures in place to prevent it. the enemy has made it clear that we are a Listen, I hope you all have a great holiday. target, and we responded. Thank you. America never dreamt before September the 11th anybody would attack us. We knew NOTE: The President spoke at 11:10 a.m. in the there were threats. During the summer there Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, had been some threats to overseas assets that he referred to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad; and Gen. Tommy Franks, we responded to. But we really never felt USA, commander in chief, U.S. Central Com- that—we had the sense that we’re invulner- mand. A tape was not available for verification able. And now they’ve made it clear that of the content of these remarks. they’re not afraid to attack us. And so, one, we’re aware. Secondly, we have got a much better system of sharing in- Statement on Pakistan Extremist formation—information we gather overseas Groups to agencies here at home. When we get a December 21, 2001 hint—and by the way, as a result of the coali- tion, there is much more intelligence-sharing Yesterday, at a ceremony marking the going on. So oftentimes we’ll get a lead from 100th day since the September 11 terrorist

VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:00 Dec 27, 2001 Jkt 197250 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\PRESDOCS\P51DET4.021 pfrm09 PsN: P51DET4 1818 Dec. 21 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2001

attacks, I detailed actions the United States through this period, and reiterate our con- Government has taken in response to ter- fidence in the country’s standing as one of rorist attacks here and abroad. the Western Hemisphere’s leading democ- At the same time, I announced that the racies. U.S. Government had blocked the assets of two more terrorist organizations: NOTE: An original was not available for • Umma Tameer-e-Nau (UTN), an orga- verification of the content of this joint statement. nization that claimed to feed the hungry and needy of Afghanistan but that in fact provided information about nuclear Joint Statement by President George weapons to Al Qaida; and W. Bush and President Nursultan • Lashkar-e-Taiba, a stateless sponsor of Nazarbayev on the New Kazakhstan- terrorism that has conducted operations American Relationship against Indian troops and civilian tar- December 21, 2001 gets. I also condemned the terrorist attacks We declare our commitment to strengthen against the Indian Parliament and the Kash- the long-term, strategic partnership and co- mir Legislature and extended condolences to operation between our nations, seeking to the Indian Government and the families of advance a shared vision of a peaceful, pros- the victims. perous and sovereign Kazakhstan in the 21st These attacks were meant to strike at In- Century that is increasingly integrated into dia’s democracy and kill its leaders but were the global economy and the community of also intended to undermine Pakistan, harm democratic nations. To this end, we will ad- the rapidly improving U.S.-Pakistan relation- vance our cooperation on counterterrorism ship, and to destabilize the global coalition and non-proliferation, democratic political against terrorism. and free-market economic reform, and mar- I have strongly condemned the attacks. I ket-based investment and development of call upon President Musharraf to take deci- energy resources. sive action against Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e- These goals further reflect our recognition Mohammed, and other terrorist organiza- that the threats of terrorism and proliferation tions, their leaders, finances, and activities. of weapons of mass destruction endanger the President Musharraf has condemned the security not only of the United States and terrorist attacks on the Legislature in Kazakhstan, but of the world at large. We Srinagar and on the Indian Parliament. He therefore seek to develop our security co- has said that he would move against those operation to address these challenges and involved in the attacks. As President foster cooperation among Kazakhstan, its Musharraf does so, he will have our full sup- Central Asian neighbors, the United States, port. and our European friends, partners, and al- lies. In pursuit of these objectives, we are determined to deepen cooperation bilaterally Joint Statement by the Leaders of the and within NATO’s Partnership for Peace. United States of America, Canada We reiterate our intent to cooperate in the and the United Mexican States on war against terrorism to its conclusion and Argentina within the framework of the international co- December 21, 2001 alition. We underscore our support for a broad-based Afghan government at peace in- Argentina is our neighbor and friend and ternally and with its neighbors. We also we have witnessed recent events with con- pledge our readiness to cooperate in Afghani- cern and compassion. We hope that all Ar- stan’s reconstruction. gentines can come together to find a solution Recognizing that Kazakhstan was the first that leads the country back to sustainable country to renounce its nuclear-weapons sta- growth and prosperity. We applaud the great tus voluntarily, we reaffirm our mutual com- strength displayed by Argentina’s institutions mitment to the non-proliferation of weapons

VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:00 Dec 27, 2001 Jkt 197250 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\PRESDOCS\P51DET4.021 pfrm09 PsN: P51DET4