Number range CHAPTERTHE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

(Hanoi, Vietnam)

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For Immediate Release November 17, 2006

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH

AND PRIME MINISTER HOWARD OF AUSTRALIA

IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Sheraton Hanoi

Hanoi, Vietnam

1:17 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT BUSH: I just had an enjoyable lunch with my friend, John
Howard. We talked about a variety of subjects. I talked to John about
Iraq. I appreciate the Australian contributions to helping this young
democracy succeed. There\'s a lot of questions, I know, in the press
around the world about our troop posture and about the attitudes of our
government. I assured John that we will get the job done. We will
continue to help this Maliki government meet the aspirations of the
Iraqi people.

And that \-- I\'m sure there\'s some questions by the Australian press
about what the elections mean. The elections mean that the American
people want to know whether or not we have a plan for success, and that
\-- and I assured John that any repositioning of troops, if that\'s what
we choose to do, will be done in close consultation with John and his
government. But I also assured him that we\'re not leaving until this
job is done, until Iraq can govern, sustain and defend itself.

We talked about the climate. John has got some very strong ideas about
the use of technologies to enable countries like our own and the rest of
the world to be able to grow, and at the same time, protect the
environment. And I appreciated his views. And I share those views. I
assured him that we will continue to spend research dollars to develop
technologies such as clean coal technologies, something that Australia
is interested in, or the use of ethanol, for example, to power our
automobiles, or money spent to develop hydrogen fuel cells, all aimed at
changing our energy habits, and at the same time, protecting the
environment.

We talked about the neighborhood that Australia is in. I always admire
John\'s strategic vision of the world. I really appreciate the chance to
have lunch with you.

PRIME MINISTER HOWARD: Well, thank you very much, George. We did cover
all of those subjects, and we spent a lot of time, naturally, talking
about Iraq. Our views are very similar. It\'s not easy, but we hold to
the view, and I\'ve said it back in Australia, and I\'d repeat it here
today, that the idea of the coalition leaving in circumstances where the
Iraqi people were not soon to be able to look after themselves and to
enjoy the democracy they want would be a catastrophic defeat for our
cause, not only in the Middle East, but it would embolden terrorists in
that region and it would embolden terrorism in countries like Indonesia.

Our discussions about climate change were very valuable. Our thinking is
similar. We don\'t believe that Kyoto is the answer. Both our countries
are committed to dealing with the growth of greenhouse gasses. We can
have debate about the severity of the problem, but there\'s really no
debate about the desirability of responding to it, provided we do it in
a way that maintains economic growth in our societies and the world.

And we certainly have a similarity of commitment to doing things in the
area of technology. And I indicated to the President that Australia is
looking very seriously at the place of nuclear power in our own
response. And the Australian media will be aware of the upcoming
Switkowski report that is going to deal with the whole question of
nuclear power in the overall equation.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We\'ll answer a couple of questions. Jennifer.

Q Thank you, sir. What does it mean to you, personally, and what do you
think it means to other Americans who experienced some of the turbulence
of the Vietnam War that you\'re here now, talking cooperation and peace
with a former enemy?

PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, Laura and I were talking about \-- we were
talking about how amazing it is we\'re here in Vietnam. And one of the
most poignant moments of the drive in was passing the lake where John
McCain got pulled out of the lake. And he\'s a friend of ours; he
suffered a lot as a result of his imprisonment, and yet, we passed the
place where he was, literally, saved, in one way, by the people pulling
him out.

I guess my first reaction is history has a long march to it, and that
societies change and relationships can constantly be altered to the
good. And I\'m looking forward to my meetings with the President and the
Prime Minister here shortly. I found it really interesting, for example,
that the Prime Minister\'s children were educated in the United States.
The Prime Minister of Vietnam who, as I understand it, was part of the
Viet Cong, sends his children to our country to get educated, and one of
his children ended up marrying a Vietnamese American. And it shows how
hopeful the world can be and how people can reconcile and move beyond
past difficulties for the common good.

Vietnam is an exciting place. It\'s a place with an enormous future, and
they obviously have got to work through difficulties like religious
freedom, for example, but nevertheless, there\'s certainly a new
hopefulness to this country. And so I\'m \-- thought a lot about what it
was like, what my impressions of Vietnam were growing up, and here I am
in this country today, and I guess my answer is, it\'s very hopeful.

Q Are there lessons here for the debate over Iraq?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think one thing \-- yes, I mean, one lesson is, is
that we tend to want there to be instant success in the world, and the
task in Iraq is going to take a while. But I would make it beyond just
Iraq. I think the great struggle we\'re going to have is between
radicals and extremists versus people who want to live in peace, and
that Iraq is a part of the struggle. And it\'s just going to take a long
period of time to \-- for the ideology that is hopeful, and that is an
ideology of freedom, to overcome an ideology of hate. Yet, the world
that we live in today is one where they want things to happen
immediately.

And it\'s hard work in Iraq. That\'s why I\'m so proud to have a partner
like John Howard who understands it\'s difficult to get the job done.
We\'ll succeed unless we quit. The Maliki government is going to make it
unless the coalition leaves before they have a chance to make it. And
that\'s why I assured the Prime Minister we\'ll get the job done.

Do you want to ask somebody?

Q Mr. President, did the Prime Minister raise any new ideas on Iraq
during your talks? Can you tell us what they are, and will you be taking
them up?

PRESIDENT BUSH: The Prime Minister\'s main concern was that we consult
closely together. And I assured him that\'s going to be the case.
That\'s the way it has been throughout this war on terror. We value
Australia\'s commitments; I value John Howard\'s advice. And when our
deliberations are complete \-- and as you may or may not know, we\'ve
got a lot of people looking at different tactical adjustments \-- once I
make up my mind what those will be, I\'ll share it with him right off
the bat.

Let\'s see here \-- yes, Steve.

Q You mentioned troop postures in Iraq. There\'s a report that you may
want to send 30,000 additional troops to Iraq. Is that something \--

PRESIDENT BUSH: Where was that report?

Q In the Guardian newspaper.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Guardian newspaper? Well, I don\'t read that paper
often. But I \-- look, I\'m going to listen to our commanders, Steve.
Ours is a condition-based strategy, and Pete Pace is conducting a
thorough study \-- he\'s the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. John Abizaid
has got some ideas, and the Baker-Hamilton commission is looking. I want
to hear from Democrats on Capitol Hill what their views may be. I want
to hear from my fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill. And then I\'ll make
up my mind. So I\'m not aware of the Guardian article.

Q Are you getting sufficient cooperation from South Korea on North
Korea? And will this be something you talk to them about tomorrow?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Oh, absolutely. I\'ll remind \--

Q \-- they\'re not following through on the sanctions as hard as they
could have.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I\'ll, of course, talk to the South Korean President
about implementing the United Nations Security Council resolution. I\'ll
talk to Vladimir Putin, Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Abe, as well. I\'m
meeting with all our partners in the six-party talks.

The APEC is an important summit; it\'s an important opportunity to talk
about the importance of free trade. But it\'s also important to give us
a chance to talk about other issues. And a key issue that John and I, by
the way, talked about is going to be North Korea. We have a chance to
solve this issue peacefully and diplomatically. It\'s important for the
world to see that the Security Council resolutions which were passed are
implemented. So part of my discussions will be how we fully implement
those sanctions that the world has asked for, but also it\'s a chance to
set the conditions right so that the six-party talks will succeed. North
Korea, as you know, has decided to come back to the table and it gives
us a chance to solve this problem peacefully.

Q Mr. President, did you discuss the issue of David Hicks at all with
the Prime Minister? And when do you think he might come to trial?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, we did. The Prime Minister brought it up. He was
pleased that I was able to sign the military tribunal bill \-- in other
words, a way forward for somebody like Hicks to be able to get a day in
court. And he was asking me, do I have a timetable in mind as to when
Hicks\' trial will be coming forth. I told him I didn\'t, although we
hope that Hicks is one of the early people that will have a day in
court.

Interestingly enough, as I understand, Hicks has lawyers that may be
trying to appeal certain aspects of the law we passed. If that\'s the
case, he\'s having his day in court, in an interesting way. But I
believe Hicks deserves a trial and is going to get it.

Thank you all very much.

PRIME MINISTER HOWARD: Thank you.

Q One more, do you feel generous, one more?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I\'m not generous. It\'s also hot out here, Gregory.
We\'re in the sun, you\'re not. (Laughter.)

Q I don\'t see you sweat.

PRESIDENT BUSH: That\'s the problem, you might see me sweat.

END 1:29 P.M. (Local)