Excerpt: Bush Says Anti-Terrorism Struggle Not Against Muslims

President Bush assured Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that the war the international community is fighting in Afghanistan is a war against "terror and evil," not against Muslims.

Bush made this remark at a joint press conference with the Nigerian president in Washington November 2. Bush said his administration is grateful for Nigeria's support in the anti-terrorism struggle.

Bush also said the U.S. recognizes the importance of economic prosperity throughout the world to help people appreciate rule of law and "other people's points of view."

The following excerpts from the transcript of the Bush-Obasanjo press conference contain Bush's comments about the benevolence of Islam and the importance of trade and prosperity.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm proud to welcome President Obasanjo back to the White House. We just had a very good visit.

We discussed our mutual concern, our mutual desire. And that is to fight and win the war against terror. The President has been a steadfast friend of the United States government and the United States people, before and after September 11th, and for that we're most grateful.

He has got a huge Muslim population in his country. And I assured him, and assure those Muslims who live in his country, that our war that we now fight is against terror and evil. It's not against Muslims. We both understand that the Islamic faith teaches peace, respects human life, is nonviolent. And I want to thank the President's leadership in sending a -- not only a message of tolerance and respect, but also his vision, which I share, that our struggle is going to be long and difficult. But we will prevail. We will win. Good will overcome evil.

Part of the reason why is we've got a strong coalition. And the President is part of that coalition.

....

QUESTION: Could you tell us a little bit more about what you discussed, in terms of reaching out to young people in Muslim countries and addressing the poverty and the despair that they feel, so that they do not become foot soldiers for terrorist networks?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We did spend time talking about the totality of a war against terror not only require strong military action, strong diplomatic action, strong financial action -- but it also recognizes that we need to share a message that our respective governments respect tolerance, respect other points of view. We don't share the point of view that evil is religious. We don't appreciate the fact that somebody has tried to hijack a religion in order to justify terror activities.

And we also recognize that economic prosperity throughout the world is more likely to make people appreciate rule of law, appreciate other people's points of view. That's one reason why I've been such a strong supporter of AGOA, which is the African trade act. That's why I believe we ought to start a new round at Qatar, a new round for world trade. I mean, I believe prosperity can best be enhanced by a world that trades in freedom. And I think that's a significant part of making sure people are able to rise out of poverty.

But on the other hand, I don't accept the excuse that poverty promotes evil. That's like saying poor people are evil people. I disagree with that. Osama bin Laden is an evil man. His heart has been so corrupted that he's willing to take innocent life. And we are fighting evil, and we will continue to fight evil, and we will not stop until we defeat evil.