Press Releases 2003
Presidents Bush and Kwasniewski Discuss North Korea, F-16s and the War on Terror
14 January 2003 |
|
The war on terror can and will be won, President Bush said January
14 during a media availability in the Oval Office with Polish President
Aleksander Kwasniewski.
The way to win, he said, is to work
together with friends to share intelligence and cut off terrorist
financing. "It requires a lot of communication, it requires a lot of
cooperation, and it requires a lot
of patience. And this government has got all three."
Bush
also said the international community expects North Korea not to
develop nuclear weapons, and that he is "absolutely convinced" the
situation can be resolved peacefully. If North Korea chooses to
disarm,
he said, then he would reconsider whether or not to start an initiative
broached last autumn "which would talk about energy and food, because
we care deeply about the suffering of the North Korean
people."
Kwasniewski
agreed with Bush on the North Korea issue, saying he is sure there are
enough possibilities to propose a positive solution with the help of
international partners including Japan, Russia,
China, and South Korea. He also said the Korean case cannot be compared to the situation involving Iraq.
Kwasniewski's
visit comes less than a month after his government announced its
decision to buy U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets, which he said represented
"a good contribution to our NATO membership ... [and]
-- a chance to open new chapter in the economic relations between Poland and United States."
