12 January 2009
Counterterrorism Should Top Obama Security Agenda, Bush Says
Bush reflects on gains, continuing challenges in final press appearance
Washington — Preventing terrorists from staging another attack on American soil may be the most urgent security challenge facing President-elect Barack Obama, says President Bush.
“I wish him all the best. The stakes are high,” Bush said January 12, in what White House officials billed as Bush’s farewell press conference. “There is an enemy that still is out there … an enemy that would like to attack America and Americans again.”
Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States has built a wide array of new diplomatic and security partnerships worldwide to share intelligence, track terrorist finances and bring extremists to justice — an accomplishment that top officials and experts agree has prevented another attack on U.S. territory.
When Obama takes office January 20, confronting terrorism at home will also mean redoubling America’s half-century of commitment to peace in the Middle East. The Bush administration helped move the process forward by being the first explicitly to call for the creation of a Palestinian state and by helping Israeli and Palestinian officials re-launch peace talks at the 2007 Annapolis Conference.
“Most people in the Middle East now accept the two-state solution as the best way for peace. Most Palestinians want their own state. And most Israelis understand there needs to be a democracy on their border in order for there to be long-lasting peace,” Bush said. “The challenge, of course, has been to lay out the conditions so that a peaceful state can emerge.”
But extremist groups, such as Hamas and al-Qaida, remain committed to derailing peace-building efforts across the Middle East, Bush said. He repeated America’s call for an end to Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip with a sustainable cease-fire that will stop Hamas rocket attacks into Israeli communities and stop weapons smuggling into Gaza. “The choice is Hamas’ to make,” Bush said.
Meanwhile, Bush said, the United States must continue in the international efforts to help the Palestinian Authority build strong governing institutions and effective security forces, and to offer new economic opportunities for the citizens of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinians need “a vibrant economy … that will help lead to democracy,” Bush said. “Will this ever happen? I think it will. And I know we have advanced the process.”
PROGRESS — AND REGRETS — IN IRAQ
Another key component of Bush’s legacy — his 2003 decision to lead an international coalition to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and set the nation on the course to democracy — will pose a continuing challenge for future presidents, he said. “The question is, in the long run, will this democracy survive?”
The 2007 U.S. troop surge helped the Iraqi government confront extremist elements, setting the stage for improved security and a recently concluded treaty between Washington and Baghdad for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Iraq by 2011 — an agreement that Obama says he would like to fulfill ahead of schedule.
Bush acknowledged that despite these gains, his administration made several mistakes in Iraq, from the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison to flawed intelligence that indicated Saddam had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction — a belief shared by several U.S. allies in the months leading up to the war in Iraq.
“The one thing about the presidency is that you can only make decisions on the information at hand. You don’t get to have information after you’ve made the decision. It’s not the way it works,” Bush said. “You stand by your decisions and you do your best to explain why you made the decisions you made.”
BUSH URGES CONTINUED FOCUS ON NORTH KOREA, IRAN
Another major policy challenge would be maintaining the international diplomatic momentum needed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, Bush said. He urged the next administration to continue working with the Chinese-led Six-Party Talks to pressure North Korea to honor its pledges. North Korean leaders agreed to allow international monitors to fully verify all of Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities as part of efforts to eliminate nuclear programs from the Korean Peninsula and stabilize the region.
“In order to advance our relations with North Korea, the North Korean government must honor the commitments it made, to allow for strong verification measures to be in place, to ensure that they don’t develop a highly enriched uranium program, for example.
“North Korea’s still a problem,” Bush said. “They’re still dangerous and Iran is still dangerous.”
During his election campaign, Obama pledged a new U.S. willingness to engage diplomatically with Iran, North Korea and several other countries — a policy course that will take shape over the next several months and a topic likely to figure prominently in the Senate’s consideration of former senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as Obama’s secretary of state.
“I’m not going to speculate about what he’s going to do,” Bush said. “He’s going to get in the Oval Office, he’s going to analyze each situation, and he’s going to make the decisions that he thinks [are] necessary.”
A transcript of Bush’s remarks is available from America.gov.
