For Immediate Release
August 3, 2004

Global Message

From remarks by President Bush, Rose Garden, 8/2/04

President Bush has announced that he will establish a National Counter-Terrorism Center which will become the U.S. government's knowledge bank for information about known and suspected terrorists.

The new center will coordinate and monitor counter-terrorism plans and activities of all government agencies and departments to ensure effective joint action, and will see that our efforts are unified in priority and purpose.

The center will be responsible for preparing the daily terrorism threat report for the President and for senior officials.

Given the growing threat of weapons and missile proliferation in our world, it may also be necessary to create a similar center in our government to bring together intelligence analysis planning and operations to track and prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

The United States government is paying very close attention to Iran. The United States is working with our friends to keep the pressure on the mullahs to listen to the demands of the free world.

The Administration is also working with the IAEA to keep the pressure on Iran, and Secretary of State Powell is working very closely with the foreign ministers of France, Great Britain and Germany.

The Taliban still roams in parts of Afghanistan, and the United States is working with the Afghan government to bring them to justice. These are similar to the killers in Iraq; they lurk in shadows and come out and kill indiscriminately.

There is much good news in Afghanistan, led by the fact that some 9 million people have registered to vote in that country.