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to gather with leaders of the Jewish commu- President’s courageous decision to recognize nity to celebrate our final Hanukkah here in the new State of Israel gave him an immortal the White House. place in Jewish history. Those words filled I want to thank our Attorney General for the President’s eyes with uncharacteristic joining us. General, I appreciate you and tears. And later, Ben-Gurion would say he Susan joining us. I am proud to be here with rarely had seen somebody so moved. one of America’s great Sen- And so tonight I’m deeply moved to wel- ators, Joe Lieberman—[applause]—his come the grandsons of these two great greatness made possible by his wife Hadas- men—Clifton Daniel and Yariv Ben- sah, I might add. [Laughter] And one of the Eliezer—to light the Truman menorah to- young leaders of the United States Congress, gether. Eric Cantor, and his wife Diana. And we’re Laura and I wish all the people of Jewish proud to be here with Kol Zimra as well, faith a happy Hanukkah and many joyous Ha- who will perform later. nukkahs in the years ahead. Thank you. The story of Hanukkah recalls the miracu- lous victory of a small band of patriots against NOTE: The President spoke at 5:30 p.m. in the tyranny and the oil that burned for eight Grand Foyer at the White House. In his remarks, nights. Through centuries of exile and perse- he referred to President Jalal Talabani of Iraq; President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan; Susan cution, Jews have lit the menorah. Each year, Mukasey, wife of Attorney General Michael B. they behold its glow with faith in the power Mukasey; and entertainers Kol Zimra. The Office of God and love for His greatest gift, free- of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish lan- dom. guage transcript of these remarks. This Hanukkah we celebrate another mi- raculous victory, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. When Presi- Remarks Following a Meeting With dent Harry Truman led the world in recog- President Elias Antonio Saca nizing Israel in May of 1948, many wondered Gonzalez of El Salvador whether the small nation could possibly sur- December 16, 2008 vive. Yet from the first days of independence, the people of Israel defied dire predictions. President Bush. Mr. President, With determination and hard work, they benvenido de nuevo. I am honored to have turned a rocky desert into fertile soil. They you back. I appreciate your friendship, and built a thriving democracy, a strong economy, I appreciate your strong leadership for the and one of the mightiest military forces on people of our close ally, El Salvador. Earth. Like the Maccabees, Israel has de- We’ve had a very good discussion. First, fended itself bravely against enemies seeking I want to thank you for your support of free- its destruction. And today, Israel is a light dom in Iraq. You and—have been steadfast unto the nations and one of America’s closest in recognizing that freedom is the way to help friends. build lasting peace. This evening we have the great privilege I appreciate very much the fact that your of celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary and country is a vibrant democracy. You’ve been Hanukkah in a very special way. Thanks to steadfast in your support for your—the right the generosity of the Truman Library, we are of your people to express themselves in a free fortunate to light the menorah presented to society, and I applaud you for that strength. President Truman in 1951 as a symbol of I want to thank you very much for invest- friendship by Israel’s first Prime Minister, ing in your people. You’re a—we’ve got a David Ben-Gurion. partnership through the Millennium Chal- A decade after President Truman received lenge Corporation. And part of your commit- this gift, he visited Prime Minister Ben- ment was honest government and the invest- Gurion for one of the last times. As they part- ment in the health and education of your ed, Ben-Gurion told the President that as a people. And you’ve honored that agreement. foreigner he could not judge President Tru- I thank you very much for understanding that man’s place in American history, but the the benefits of trade are good for your people

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and our people as well. And you’re a very With regards to the Millennium account, strong advocate of CAFTA, which is working we have been very successful. We’re working very well. very fast. We’re going to build a highway, And finally, you’ve been very strong when a 300-kilometer-long highway in the north- it comes to helping interdict the flow of ern part of the country. And at the same drugs. I explained to the President that since time, we’re going to develop the rural areas 2001, drug use in the United States amongst along that highway. And all this has been teenagers has declined by 25 percent. And done hand in hand with the United States. the reason I said that is because in order to I wish you the best of luck in your new affect the flow of drugs there must be a com- life. I was just in Dallas recently, because prehensive approach. First of all, we got to— I went to promote the TPS for our people. we in the United States must reduce de- And everybody knew there that President mand. But it also requires a strong coopera- Bush was going to move to Dallas. [Laughter] tive spirit to interdict supply. And you have been very strong in that. You are leaving on January 20th. And I And so I thank you. It’s been a pleasure leave on the 1st of June. to work with you. You may have heard that President Bush. Si. [Laughter] I’m about to retire. And as I head toward President Saca. So I hope that I can go the great State of Texas, I will have very fond and visit you and talk to you—— memories of our time together, and the President Bush. Por cierto—por cierto. strength of our friendship and of your leader- President Saca. Lo damos por cierto. ship. President Bush. Si. So welcome. President Saca. Okay. President Bush has President Saca. Muchas gracias. been a strong advocate of freedom. And I President Bush. Si. think that the United States has much to President Saca. Thank you so much. I thank President Bush, especially the fact that also thank President Bush. I think that we the U.S. has not been attacked again by the have got a very fruitful relationship and one terrorist groups. This is something quite in- that is very concerned for our people. I think tangible, because you cannot touch it, you that El Salvador is a good example of a coun- cannot feel it, until that, unfortunately, some- try that moved from war to peace. And we’ve thing like that would happen again. always had the contribution of the United States in all of the stages of this peace. You can always count with the support of I always tell President Bush that free trade El Salvador on these issues, Mr. President, was so important, as well as the immigration and the United States in general, the new issue for our people. And all these issues have President, because the historical relationship been worked out, especially regarding co- between the United States of America and operation with regards to the combat against El Salvador is a relationship of shared values, drugs. I have confirmed President Bush that and we will continue to share in this friend- El Salvador is going to renew the FOL that ship strongly, as it is now. we have at the Pacific coast. And that has Thank you so much. allowed us to capture a lot of drug traffickers President Bush Thank you, sir. and seize a lot of drugs also for the Pacific coast. NOTE: The President spoke at 10:07 a.m. in the So a mid-income country like El Salvador Oval Office at the White House. President Saca knows perfectly well that the path towards referred to President-elect Barack Obama; FOL, prosperity is effort and hard work and free- the U.S. Military Forward Operating Location in dom. And this is something that Salvadorans Comalapa, El Salvador; ILEA, the Department practice on a daily basis. We have worked of Homeland Security’s International Law En- forcement Acadamies; and TPS, temporary pro- hand in hand with ILEA. And ILEA is the tected immigration status. President Saca spoke place where our judges and our prosecutors in Spanish, and his remarks were translated by are being trained, and it is something that an interpreter. The Office of the Press Secretary we’re doing together with the United States also released a Spanish language transcript of of America. these remarks.

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Letter to Congressional Leaders on al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. Reporting on the Deployments of The total number of U.S. forces in Afghani- United States Combat-Equipped stan is approximately 31,000, of which ap- Armed Forces Around the World proximately 13,000 are assigned to the Inter- national Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in December 16, 2008 Afghanistan. The U.N. Security Council au- Dear Madam Speaker: (Dear Mr. thorized ISAF in U.N. Security Council Res- President:) olution 1386 of December 20, 2001, and has I am providing this supplemental consoli- reaffirmed its authorization since that time, dated report, prepared by my Administration most recently for a 12-month period from and consistent with the War Powers Resolu- October 13, 2008, in U.N. Security Council tion (Public Law 93–148), as part of my ef- Resolution 1833 of September 22, 2008. The forts to keep the Congress informed about mission of ISAF under NATO command is deployments of U.S. combat-equipped to assist the Government of Afghanistan in Armed Forces around the world. This sup- creating a safe and secure environment that plemental report covers operations in sup- allows for continued reconstruction and the port of the war on terror and in Kosovo. exercise and extension of Afghan authority. Currently, more than 40 nations contribute THE WAR ON TERROR to ISAF, including all 26 NATO Allies. Since September 24, 2001, I have re- The United States continues to detain sev- ported, consistent with Public Law 107–40 eral hundred al-Qaida and Taliban fighters and the War Powers Resolution, on the com- who are believed to pose a continuing threat bat operations in Afghanistan against al- to the United States and its interests. The Qaida terrorists and their Taliban supporters, combat-equipped and combat-support forces which began on October 7, 2001, and the deployed to Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, deployment of various combat-equipped and Cuba, in the U.S. Southern Command area combat-support forces to a number of loca- of operations since January 2002 continue to tions in the Central, Pacific, European, conduct secure detention operations for the Southern, and Africa Command areas of op- enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay. eration in support of those operations and The U.N. Security Council authorized a of other operations in our war on terror. Multinational Force (MNF) in Iraq under I will direct additional measures as nec- unified command in U.N. Security Council essary in the exercise of the right of the Resolution 1511 of October 16, 2003, and United States to self-defense and to protect reaffirmed its authorization in U.N. Security U.S. citizens and interests. Such measures Council Resolution 1546 of June 8, 2004, may include short-notice deployments of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1637 of special operations and other forces for sen- November 8, 2005, U.N. Security Council sitive operations in various locations through- Resolution 1723 of November 28, 2006, and out the world. It is not possible to know at U.N. Security Council Resolution 1790 of this time the precise scope or the duration December 18, 2007, set to expire on Decem- of the deployment of U.S. Armed Forces ber 31, 2008. Under Resolutions 1546, 1637, necessary to counter the terrorist threat to 1723, and 1790, the mission of the MNF is the United States. to contribute to security and stability in Iraq. United States Armed Forces, with the as- These contributions have included, but have sistance of numerous coalition partners, con- not been limited to, assisting in building the tinue to conduct the U.S. campaign to pursue capability of the Iraqi security forces, sup- al-Qaida terrorists and to eliminate support porting the development of Iraq’s political to al-Qaida. These operations have been suc- institutions, improving local governance, en- cessful in seriously degrading al-Qaida’s hancing ministerial capacity, and providing training capabilities. United States Armed critical humanitarian and reconstruction as- Forces, with the assistance of numerous coa- sistance to the Iraqis. The U.S. contribution lition partners, ended the Taliban regime and to the MNF fluctuates over time depending are actively pursuing and engaging remnant on the conditions in theater as determined

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