Bush and Blair: Shoulder to Shoulder

RAY SUAREZ:

President Bush began the day with a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at London's Westminster Abbey. He then met privately for 20 minutes with families of some of the 50 British soldiers killed in Iraq. Nearby, tens of thousands of antiwar demonstrators gathered in central London. The protesters marched past parliament on the way to Trafalgar Square, where they toppled a giant effigy of Mr. Bush. ( Cheers and applause )

The demonstrators were kept away from Ten Downing Street, where the president held talks with Prime Minister Blair. At a press conference, the two leaders said today's deadly attacks in Turkey would not deter them in the fight against terrorism.

TONY BLAIR:

Once again, we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism, there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it, wherever and whenever we can, and in defeating it utterly.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

I also want to express my deep sympathy for the loss of life in Turkey. The nature of the terrorist enemy is evident once again. We see their contempt– their utter contempt– for innocent life. They hate freedom. They hate free nations. Today, once again, we saw their ambitions of murder. The cruelty is part of their strategy. The terrorists hope to intimidate, they hope to demoralize. They particularly want to intimidate and demoralize free nations. They're not going to succeed.

RAY SUAREZ:

Both men defended the war in Iraq and promised to keep troops there as long as necessary.

TONY BLAIR:

Could I ask both leaders about the agenda on Iraq? You are both engaged in an unpredictable and dangerous war, as we've seen today. And yet, you say you want to bring the troops home starting from next year. Now, how is that possible when the security situation is still so unresolved?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

I said that we're going to bring our troops home starting next year? What I said is that we'll match the security needs with the number of troops necessary to secure Iraq. And we're relying upon our commanders on the ground to make those decisions.

REPORTER:

So you'll keep a certain number of troops in Iraq for a longer time?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

We could have less troops in Iraq, we could have the same number of troops in Iraq, we could have more troops in Iraq, what is ever necessary to secure Iraq.

TONY BLAIR:

And let me make it absolutely clear for our position, as well. We stay until the job gets done. And what this latest terrorist outrage shows us is that this is a war. Its main battleground is Iraq. We have got to make sure we defeat these terrorists, the former Saddam people in Iraq, and we must do that because that is an essential part of defeating this fanaticism and extremism that is killing innocent people all over our world today. And I can assure you of one thing, that when something like this happens today, our response is not to flinch or give way or concede one inch. We stand absolutely firm until this job is done: Done in Iraq, done elsewhere in the world.

REPORTER:

For both of you, Mr. President, Mr. Prime minister, do the attacks today, do you view them as a direct attack on the alliance?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

These terrorist attacks are attacks on freedom. And they attack when they can. And our job is to secure our homelands and chase down these killers and bring them to justice. And we're making good progress with al-Qaida. And if you were to view al-Qaida's organization structure as a kind of a board of directors, and then there would be the operating management, we are dismantling the operating management, one person at a time. We're on an international manhunt. I don't know the nature of the casualties today, but I do know the nature of the casualties in the recent attack in Istanbul. More Muslims died in that attack. These are al-Qaida killers killing Muslims. And they need to be stopped. And we will stop them.

TONY BLAIR:

See, here's where we got to… we've got to see what this struggle is about, because you can see it clearer and clearer day by day. This is a struggle between fanaticism and extremism on the one hand, and people who believe in freedom and in tolerance on the other.

RAY SUAREZ:

The two leaders said they couldn't agree on two contentious issues: The nine British prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay and U.S. tariffs on European steel. President Bush concluded his London visit by hosting a dinner for Queen Elizabeth. Tomorrow, he's scheduled to travel to Prime Minister Blair's home district in northern England before returning to Washington.