'However Long It Takes'

Camp David, Maryland, March 27

George Bush: : Thank you all. It's my honor to welcome my friend and Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, back toCamp David. America has learned a lot about Tony Blair over the last weeks. We've learned that he's a man ofhis word. We've learned that he's a man of courage, that he's a man of vision. And we're proud to have him asa friend.

The United States and United Kingdom are acting together in a noble purpose. We're working together to makethe world more peaceful; we're working together to make our respective nations and all the free nations of theworld more secure; and we're working to free the Iraqi people.

British, American, Australian, Polish and other coalition troops are sharing the duties of this war, andwe're sharing the sacrifices of this war. Together, coalition forces are advancing day by day, in steadyprogress, against the enemy. Slowly, but surely, the grip of terror around the throats of the Iraqi people isbeing loosened.

We appreciate the bravery, the professionalism of the British troops, and all coalition troops. Together wehave lost people, and the American people offer their prayers to the loved ones of the British fallen, just aswe offer our prayers to the loved ones of our own troops who have fallen.

We're now engaging the dictator's most hardened and most desperate units. The campaign ahead will demandfurther courage and require further sacrifice. Yet we know the outcome: Iraq will be disarmed; the Iraqiregime will be ended; and the long-suffering Iraqi people will be free.

In decades of oppression, the Iraqi regime has sought to instill the habits of fear in the daily lives ofmillions; yet, soon, the Iraqis will have the confidence of a free people. Our coalition will stand with thecitizens of Iraq in the challenges ahead. We are prepared to deliver humanitarian aid on a large scale -- andas a matter of fact, are beginning to do so as we speak.

Today the Prime Minister and I also urge the United Nations to immediately resume the oil-for-food program.More than half the Iraqi people depend on this program as their sole source of food. This urgent humanitarianissue must not be politicized, and the Security Council should give Secretary General Annan the authority tostart getting food supplies to those most in need of assistance.

As we address the immediate suffering of the Iraqi people, we're also committed to helping them over thelong-term. Iraq's greatest long-term need is a representative government that protects the rights of allIraqis. The form of this government will be chosen by the Iraqi people, not imposed by outsiders. And thePrime Minister and I are confident that a free Iraq will be a successful nation.

History requires more of our coalition than a defeat of a terrible danger. I see an opportunity, as doesPrime Minister Blair, to bring renewed hope and progress to the entire Middle East. Last June 24th, I outlineda vision of two states, Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security. Soon, we'll releasethe road map that is designed to help turn that vision into reality. And both America and Great Britain arestrongly committed to implementing that road map.

For nearly a century, the United States and Great Britain have been allies in the defense of liberty. We'veopposed all the great threats to peace and security in the world. We shared in the costly and heroic struggleagainst Nazism. We shared the resolve and moral purpose of the Cold War. In every challenge, we've applied thecombined power of our nations to the cause of justice, and we're doing the same today. Our alliance is strong,our resolve is firm, and our mission will be achieved.

Mr. Prime Minister.

Tony Blair: Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for your welcome. Thank you for your strength and for your leadershipat this time. And I believe the alliance between the United States and Great Britain has never been in betteror stronger shape.

Can I also offer the American people, on behalf of the British people, our condolences, our sympathy, ourprayers for the lives of those who have fallen in this conflict, just as we have offered the condolence, thesympathy, and the prayers to the families of our own British servicemen.

Just under a week into this conflict, let me restate our complete and total resolve. Saddam Hussein and hishateful regime will be removed from power. Iraq will be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction, and the Iraqipeople will be free. That is our commitment, that is our determination, and we will see it done.

We had this morning a presentation of the latest military situation, which shows already the progress thathas been made. It's worth just recapping it, I think, for a moment. In less than a week, we have secured thesouthern oil fields and facilities, and so protected that resource and wealth for the Iraqi people and avoidedecological disaster. We've disabled Iraq's ability to launch external aggression from the west.

Our forces are now within 50 miles of Baghdad. They've surrounded Basra. They've secured the key port ofUmm Qasr. They've paved the way for humanitarian aid to flow into the country. And they brought real damage onIraq's command and control. So we can be confident that the goals that we have set ourselves will be met.

I would like to pay tribute to the professionalism and integrity of our forces and those of the UnitedStates of America, our other coalition allies, and to say how their professionalism, as well as their skilland their bravery, stands in sharp contrast to the brutality of Saddam's regime.

Day by day, we have seen the reality of Saddam's regime -- his thugs prepared to kill their own people; theparading of prisoners of war; and now, the release of those pictures of executed British soldiers. If anyoneneeded any further evidence of the depravity of Saddam's regime, this atrocity provides it. It is yet one moreflagrant breach of all the proper conventions of war. More than that, to the families of the soldiersinvolved, it is an act of cruelty beyond comprehension. Indeed, it is beyond the comprehension of anyone withan ounce of humanity in their souls.

On behalf of the British government, I would like to offer my condolences particularly to the family andthe friends of those two brave young men who died in the service of their country, and to the ordinary Iraqipeople, to whom we are determined to bring a better future.

The future of the Iraqi people is one reason why much of our discussion has focused on humanitarian issues.Again, here we have the ship, the Sir Galahad, loaded with tons of supplies destined for the people of Iraq.The other immediate humanitarian priority is to restart the U.N. oil-for-food program, which the presidentand I discussed, and which I will be discussing with Kofi Annan later this evening. And this is urgent.

We also discussed the post-conflict issues. Contrary to a lot of the comment on this, the position isexactly as the president  and I set out in the Azores -- namely, that we will work with the U.N., ourallies and partners and bilateral donors. We will seek new U.N. Security Council resolutions to affirm Iraq'sterritorial integrity, to ensure rapid delivery of humanitarian relief, and endorse an appropriatepost-conflict administration for Iraq.

But let me emphasize once again that our primary focus now is, and must be, the military victory, which wewill prosecute with the utmost vigor. And the immediate priority for the United Nations is, as the president was indicating a moment or two ago, the oil-for-food program.

In addition, as has just been said to you, we had an excellent discussion of the Middle East, and we bothshare a complete determination to move this forward. It is, indeed, often overlooked that President Bush isthe first U.S. President publicly to commit himself to a two-state solution, an Israel confident of itssecurity and a viable Palestinian state. And I welcome the decision announced recently to publish the road mapas soon as the confirmation of the new Palestinian Prime Minister is properly administered.

Finally, I would just like to say this: I think it is important that we recognize at this time that thegoals that we are fighting for are just goals. Whatever the difficulty of war, let us just remember this is aregime that has brutalized its people for well over two decades. Of course, there will be people fiercelyloyal to that regime who will fight all the way; they have no option. But I have no doubt at all that the vastmajority of ordinary Iraqi people are desperate for a better and different future, for Iraq to be free, forits government to be representative of its people, for the human rights of the people to be cared for.

And that is why, though, of course, our aim is to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and make ourworld more secure. The justice of our cause lies in the liberation of the Iraqi people. And to them we say, wewill liberate you. The day of your freedom draws near.

George Bush: : We'll take two questions a side. We would hope that you would respect asking one question per question.[Whatever that means -- Ed]

That, of course, means I can ask each leader one question.

George Bush: No, it does not mean that. Of course, you will anyway, but --

Yes, sir. First to you, Mr. Prime Minister. Briefly, Secretary Powell said yesterday that the U.N. should have a role in postwar Iraq, but that the United States should have a significant, dominating control of post-Saddam Iraq. How will that kind of talk play in Europe?

And, Mr. President, can you help me understand the timing of this war? You talked yesterday that it willbe -- we're far from over. Today you said, it's going slowly, but surely we're working our way to our endgoal. Given that the resistance has been as strong as it's been in the south, and that we have what you callthe most hardened, most desperate forces still around Baghdad, are we to assume that this is going to last --could last months and not weeks -- and not days?

George Bush: I'll answer that question very quickly and then get to his. However long it takes to win. That's --

... take months?

George Bush: However long it takes to achieve our objective. And that's important for you to know, the American people toknow, our allies to know, and the Iraqi people to know.

It could be months?

George Bush: However long it takes. That's the answer to your question and that's what you've got to know. It isn't amatter of timetable, it's a matter of victory. And the Iraqi people have got to know that, see. They've got toknow that they will be liberated and Saddam Hussein will be removed, no matter how long it takes.

Go ahead.

Tony Blair: In relation to the United Nations, there's no doubt at all that the United Nations has got to be closelyinvolved in this process. That's not just right; it's in everyone's interest that it happens. All I'm sayingto people is, the focus -- the immediate focus has got to be on the oil-for-food program, because that isthing we need to get sorted out with the United Nations literally in the next few days.

Now, after that is the issue of the post-conflict administration, where, as we said in our Azoresstatement, it's important there, again, that the U.N. is involved, and that any post-conflict administrationin Iraq is endorsed by it.

But there are huge numbers of details to be discussed with our allies as to exactly how that is going towork -- and also, the conflict is not yet over, we are still in the conflict. So we will carry on discussingthat with the U.N., with other allies. But I think that is best done in those discussions without trying to doit by discussion through the press conference or through megaphone diplomacy.

But, about the role of the U.N. and the basis of the principles we set out in the Azores Summit, there issimply no difference at all there. But there are a huge amount of details as to exactly how that is to beimplemented that have to be a matter of discussion, and also, a matter of a reflection of the reality that wewill face when we get to the point of post-conflict.

BBC: For both leaders, if I may. We, all of us, noted quite a shift in emphasis over the last few daysfrom a hope that this could be over very, very quickly, to the military in both countries briefing aboutmonths. My question is really, why do you think that shift has taken place? Did we underestimate the scale ofIraqi resistance? Has it been the weather? Has it been poor advice at the beginning of the campaign, or is ita military question?

Tony Blair: Well, you know, in the previous two campaigns in which I've been involved -- Kosovo and Afghanistan -- youreach this particular point where people start asking -- ask us to speculate on exactly how much time it takesto get the job done. The important thing is the job will be done. There is no point in entering into aspeculation of how long it takes except to say we have been, I think, just under a week into this conflict.Now, because of the way it's reported, you've got this constant 24-hours-a-day media, it may seem to peoplethat it's a lot longer than just under a week. But actually, it's just under a week. And in just under a week,there is a massive amount that has already been achieved. I mean, after all, coalition forces are within 50miles of Baghdad, the southern oil fields are secured, the west is protected from external aggression, we'vegot forces going into the north.

Now, we will carry on until the job is done. But there is absolutely no point, in my view, of trying to seta time limit or speculate on it, because it's not set by time, it's set by the nature of the job. All I woulddo, though, is point out to you that within those six or seven days, actually an enormous amount has alreadybeen achieved.

I think it's also important just to make one other point, which is we have very deliberately wanted to dothis in a way that protects the future of the Iraqi people, too. And that's one reason why we went immediatelyin to secure the oil installations in the south. If we weren't able to do that, then the prospects of theIraqi people for the future would be blighted. That's why the air campaign has targeted very, veryspecifically, as precisely as we possibly can, military command and control, the aspects of Saddam's regime,not the civilian population.

So we're doing this in the way that we set it out to achieve our objectives. We will achieve ourobjectives.

George Bush: I have nothing more to add to that.

Mr. President, you've raised the possibility of holding Iraqis accountable for war crimes. I'm wonderingif now if you could describe what war crimes you think they've committed to date. And secondly, sir, shouldthe Iraqis be prepared for U.S. retaliation with nuclear weapons if they were to attack coalition forces withweapons of mass destruction?

George Bush: You heard the Prime Minister eloquently talk about the loss of British life. They were murdered, unarmedsoldiers executed. I mean, that's a war crime. But, you know, I'm not surprised. This man, Saddam Hussein, hastortured and brutalized his people for a long, long time.

We had reports the other day of a dissident who had his tongue cut out and was tied to the stake in thetown square, and he bled to death. That's how Saddam Hussein retains power.

His sons are brutal, brutal people. They're barbaric in nature. So I'm not surprised he's committing crimesagainst our soldiers. I'm not surprised to hear stories about his thugs killing their own citizens and tryingto blame it on coalition forces. I'm not surprised to know that regular army forces are trying to desert, butget blown away by fellow Iraqi citizens. I'm not surprised, because the nature of the man who has run thecountry for a long period of time.

If he uses weapons of mass destruction, that will just prove our case. And we will deal with it. We've gotone objective in mind: That's victory. And we'll achieve victory.

-- (inaudible) --

George Bush: Well, they've been sent a message in this war, too, in that if you launch a weapon of mass destruction, you'llbe tried as a war criminal. And I urge those Iraqi generals who have any doubt of our word to be careful,because we'll keep our word. We're going to keep our word to the Iraqi people and we'll keep our word to thosewar criminals in Iraq.

I'd like to break the rule, because I don't think we know the details of why you're using this word"executed" about the British servicemen. I would like if you could explain that.

But could I ask you both -- you both talked about the history, the justness of the cause that youbelieve that this war is. Why is it then, that if you go back to that history, if you go back over the lastcentury or, indeed, recent conflicts in your political careers, you have not got the support of people whohave been firm allies, like the French, like the Germans, like the Turkish? Why haven't you got their support?

George Bush: We've got a huge coalition. As a matter of fact, the coalition that we've assembled today is larger than oneassembled in 1991 in terms of the number of nations participating. I'm very pleased with the size of ourcoalition.

I was down yesterday at CENTCOM and met with many of the generals from the countries represented in ourcoalition, and they're proud to be side-by-side with our allies. This is a vast coalition that believes in ourcause, and I'm proud of their participation.

They're not Western allies. Why not?

George Bush: We have plenty of Western allies. We've got -- I mean, we can give you the list. Ally after ally after allyhas stood with us and continues to stand with us. And we are extremely proud of their participation.