Remarks welcoming general Tommy R. Franks and an exchange with reporters in Crawford, Texas

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Dec 31, 2001

The President. Well, Americans shouldn't, as you know. I mean, I excluded any Americans.

Q. Of the prisoners, have you decided that anyone--

The President. Oh, have I made any decisions yet? Not at all; not yet, Dave. We're still--I still want to make sure that the--I still want to see what the Secretary of Defense recommends as to how to proceed. He has--as I said, he hasn't seen the now-famous document that some American decided to leak.

I don't know why people do that. I guess either to make you feel good and/or to make themselves feel good. But nevertheless, it was not very helpful. And as the Secretary of Defense said, he hasn't even seen the document yet. But they're working through, and we're working through, as you know, all the other types of cases that will come forward. I mean, as Tommy said, there's a lot of people to be questioned, and there's also a lot of decisions to be made as to how to run these folks through our system. And we're just not quite there yet. We've got time.

John Walker

Q. What about Walker?

The President. Well, same situation. We've got time. And Walker is well-berthed on a U.S. warship. It's a heck of a lot more comfortable on that ship than he was in the basement of that prison, when he decided--when he was captured. Walker made a terrible decision, and our system is such that he'll have proper justice. But he's working with the enemy, and we'll see how the courts deal with that.

Secret Service Agent

Q. Sir, were you upset that that Secret Service agent was kept off that plane? Because you have been saying this--

The President. Yes, I was. I talked to the man this morning. I told him how proud I was that he was by my side. Pie's here on the ranch, and he's guarding me. And of course, I was. We'll let the facts--they're going to get the facts out. There's an inquiry going on as to specifically what took place. But if he was treated that way because of his ethnicity, that will make me madder than heck.

Usama bin Laden

Q. There are increasing news reports that bin Laden escaped to Pakistan-

The President. Oh, yeah? Well, sorry to interrupt your question, but if you'd asked me the question yesterday, you would have said there's increasing news reports that he's dead, and the day before, that he's hiding in a cave. In other words, there's increasing speculation about bin Laden. But what one shouldn't speculate on is if he's alive, he's on the run, And you don't need to worry about whether or not we're going to get him, because we are. And it's just a matter of time. I mean, I've read reports where he dyed his hair red. That's not going to stop us from finding him.

Q. But what assurances have you gotten from President Musharraf that if that is the case, that he'll find him and turn him--

The President. Well, I appreciate that. President Musharraf has been very helpful. Tommy has visited with him; I've visited with him; the Secretary of Defense has visited with him. And he said he will help in all matters. And we believe he'll help with Mr. bin Laden, too, if in fact he happens to be in Pakistan. Who knows where he is? But one thing is for certain: He's on the losing side of a rout. And the other thing for certain is we're not going to stop until we get him and all those murderers that are associated with him.