Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Today:


Q Mr. President, do you believe that Saddam Hussein is a bigger threat to the United States than al Qaeda?

PRESIDENT BUSH: That's a -- that is an interesting question. I'm
trying to think of something humorous to say. (Laughter.) But I can't
when I think about al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. They're both risks,
they're both dangerous. The difference, of course, is that al Qaeda likes
to hijack governments. Saddam Hussein is a dictator of a government.
Al Qaeda hides, Saddam doesn't, but the danger is, is that they work in
concert. The danger is, is that al Qaeda becomes an extension of
Saddam's madness and his hatred and his capacity to extend weapons
of mass destruction around the world.

Both of them need to be dealt with. The war on terror, you can't
distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war
on terror. And so it's a comparison that is -- I can't make because I
can't distinguish between the two, because they're both equally as bad,
and equally as evil, and equally as destructive.


I'm convinced.