For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 30, 2002
President Calls on World Leaders to Condemn Terrorism
Remarks by the President on the Middle East
The President's Ranch
Crawford, Texas
12:40 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: This morning I made a series of phone
calls to world leaders to express my concern. I listened to
their concerns about the escalating violence in the Middle East.
We are at this point because there has not been enough done to
fight off terror. All the leaders in the world must stand up
against terror, must do everything in their power to cut off the
funding to terrorist organizations, to prevent terrorist organizations
from finding safe haven.
And that especially applies to Chairman Arafat. I
believe he can do a lot more to prevent attacks, such as the one that
just occurred in Tel Aviv.
I am deeply concerned about the loss of innocent
lives. It breaks my heart when children, innocent women and
innocent men lose their life. I fully understand Israel's
need to defend herself; I respect that. It's a country that
has seen a wave of suicide bombers coming into the hearts of their
cities and killing innocent people. That country has a right
to defend herself.
And as she does so, I urge that their government, the Israeli
government, make sure that there is a path to peace as she secures her
homeland. But they've got to keep in mind the need that
there's got to be a peaceful solution at some point. I've
been assured by the Israeli government that -- about the well-being of
Chairman Arafat, that he won't be harmed.
I have heard him say that, well, he's confined, he can't do
anything to secure -- to help them secure the region. I know
he's got a lot of forces, he's got a lot of people that listen to him
still. And he has got to speak out clearly. He's
got to make it absolutely clear that the Palestinian Authority does not
support these terrorist activities, and use the security forces to
prevent them from happening.
I've asked that General Zinni stay in the region. I
think it's very important for our country to provide an opportunity for
discussions, an opportunity for people to come together. So
Zinni will stay there. He will stay there to continue to
push for a process that will ultimately get us into Mitchell, and
Mitchell is the best hope for peace. It has been agreed to
by the parties as an opportunity for those who love peace to have a
framework for peace.
Last night the administration supported a U.N. Security Council
resolution that urges there to be a cease-fire, start a process that
will end this cycle of violence. Here we are on one of
holiest of holidays and we're worried about people needlessly losing
their lives. And our prayers and thoughts go to the families
of the victims. And I pray for peace. And I urge
all parties to recognize that there are terrorists in this world who
can't stand the thought of peace and all of us -- all of us -- must
work together to condemn, find and stop terrorist activities.
I'll be glad to answer a few questions.
Q Mr. President, with this latest terrorist
attack on a Tel Aviv cafe tonight, with many apparent casualties, does
Chairman Arafat in your opinion really have any control over these
suicide bombers?
THE PRESIDENT: I think Chairman Arafat can do a lot
more. I truly believe that. I believe he needs to
stand up and condemn, in Arabic, these attacks. He's got a
security force that admittedly is somewhat on the defensive right
now. But, nevertheless, there is a security force, there is
a security apparatus. We've been dealing with the leaders of
the security apparatus.
And they have got to do a much better job of preventing people from
coming into Israel to blow up innocent people. The leaders
in the region must do the same thing. Again, I was pleased
that Crown Prince Abdullah spoke out so forcefully for what he called
normalization. We support that.
But there is no normalcy when, day after day, killers destroy
innocent lives. All the leaders must join with governments
such as ours to strongly condemn and stop terrorist activities.
I spoke Jose Maria Aznar, he's the head of the EU now, and he told
me, he said, you know, the world must fight off these terrorists, and
the region can do more, in my judgment. The Iranians must
step up and stop sponsoring terrorism. The Syrians must
participate. If people want peace in the region, there has
got to be a united effort against terror, and I do believe Mr. Arafat
can do more.
Q Mr. President, you made a lot of phone
calls today, but not to Sharon, not to Arafat. Why not and
what is the next U.S. step?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, my administration has
made a lot of phone calls into the region on a daily
basis. Secretary of State Powell will be speaking to Prime
Minister Sharon again.
Q Today?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, today; soon, as I understand
it. Unless this current -- this recent bombing has put the
Prime Minister into a Cabinet meeting and, therefore, won't be able to
take a phone call. But he was supposed to have made a call,
like, right now.
Nevertheless, we're in constant touch with these governments and
the next step is to continue our call and our efforts and our push to
fight off terror.
It appears to me these aren't just isolated incidents. I
mean, there's a pattern, a routine, and a constancy. And so
we will continue to lead, to talk and urge world leaders, particularly
those in the region, to do everything they can to shut off the capacity
of people to come and bomb.
Q Why wasn't Arafat called by Powell today?
THE PRESIDENT: He may be doing that, I just don't
know. Mr. Arafat, he doesn't need a phone call from
me. All he's got to do is watch what I just
said. And that message will be delivered to him.
Q Mr. President, have we reached a point
where there needs to be a more aggressive and more visible and public
U.S. effort to quell the violence? And will that include
greater outreach to the nations in the region?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you may recall the Vice President
has just returned from the region, which is a significant
outreach. We're spending a great deal of time in our
capacity as the leader of a coalition against the war on terror to
continue not only our war in Afghanistan and elsewhere, but also
continuing to fight terror in this region.
And every phone call I make, I remind people that if you're
interested in peace -- and the leaders I've talked to are interested in
peace -- we have all got to come together to stop
terror. Our role is very visible and our role is very
active. And I firmly believe that we can achieve a peace in
the region, but not until -- not until -- there is a concerted, united
effort to rout terror out.
Because what we're seeing is -- we're seeing, for example, in South
Carolina, I remember talking to you all and saying -- this was on
Thursday, saying -- or Wednesday, saying that I was optimistic in
getting a chance to get into Tenet. And by the time I got on
the airplane and landed in Georgia, there had been this awful suicide
bombing. And so it is a -- it's clear to me the more
progress we make toward achieving a cease-fire or meaningful security
discussions, the more a killer organization will try to disrupt the
process.
And, therefore, the best way to make sure that we can get some
meaningful dialogue going is to secure the -- is to help secure the
region, in particular, Israel's homeland, by a united front against
terror. It's essential that we lead -- meaning those who
long for a peace -- and, again, I repeat to you every leader I've
talked to said, we need peace. But there needs to be a
focused, coalition effort in the region against peace -- I mean,
against terror for peace.
Q You mentioned a moment ago that Iran and
Syria need to do more.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I believe they do.
Q Can you identify other countries in the
region who need to do more than they're doing now?
THE PRESIDENT: All the countries in the region must
condemn terror, speak clearly about terror. I appreciate the
fact that the Saudis have spoken about a vision for peace. I
thought that was a very important statement. It recognized
Israel's right to exist. And that's essential.
The corollary to that is in order for Israel to exist, terror must
stop. I can understand why the Israeli government takes the
actions they take. Their country is under
attack. Every day, there has been a suicide bombing and
every day the government sees the loss of innocent life.
On the other hand, I understand why some Palestinians feel so
hopeless. There is a -- the loss of innocent life on the
Palestinian side is too much. But the Palestinians,
particularly those who long for a peaceful resolution, the independent
statehood of the Palestinians -- as a part of that peaceful solution,
they must do everything in their power to stop terrorist activity.
Q On Iran and Syria, do you have any
evidence that those countries are directly involved in the latest
series of bombings?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I do not have
evidence. But I saw, for example, the Syrians once again
walk out of the U.N., when there was a reasonable resolution put
forward. That should say something.
And, secondly, I understand the relations between Hezbollah and
Iran, and there has been no evidence -- I don't know who's claiming
credit for this bombing. I haven't seen Hezbollah's name
mentioned. But, nevertheless, that's terror, that's a
terrorist organization, and -- but no, I have no direct evidence.
Nevertheless, I do know their influence in the
region. And if they are interested in a peaceful resolution,
they too need to be active about cutting off funds. And, as
you may recall, there was a ship, that was intercepted by the Israelis,
that came from Iran full of weapons.
And so my point is that there needs to be a focused international
effort to condemn -- strongly condemn as well as rout out terrorist
activities. Otherwise, we will have a difficult problem in
getting to a peaceful accord.
There has been a framework laid out, and now the efforts will be
focused, like they have been, to get into the framework. In
the meantime, Israel will defend herself. And, again, I
understand that.
You will recall, as I said in my statement, that I hope Israel
keeps in mind that there needs to be a road for peace. It's
in the Israeli's interests not only to defend herself, but to keep in
mind that there has got to be a peaceful resolution in order for her
people to be able to grow up in a secure and peaceful world.
Q Can I follow up on that
point? Do you think that -- it seems as if, even if they're
not trying to physically harm Arafat, they're trying to undermine him,
undermine his leadership with the Palestinians. Do you think
that serves any purpose?
THE PRESIDENT: I think Mr. Arafat could have done more
three weeks ago and can do more today. I know I have been
disappointed in his unwillingness to go a hundred percent toward
fighting terror. That includes using security forces to help
prevent suicide bombers from crossing certain lands. And
that also means speaking out clearly, in his native tongue.
I fully understand the frustrations of the Israeli
people. I sympathize. And I sympathize with the
frustrations of the Palestinian people, those who long for normalcy,
those who want to send their kids to school and go to
work. There's got to be a much more concerted effort by
Chairman Arafat and others to stop terror.
Terror is -- so long as there's this reign of terror, there will be
no peace. So, therefore, stopping terror makes conditions
ripe for peace.
Q Mr. President, did we know in advance
about the invasion? And what's your position
now? Should the Israelis get out of the compound? Should
they continue the military action or quit?
THE PRESIDENT: Israel is a democratically elected
government, and the government is responding to the will of the people
for there to be more security. And Israel will make the
decisions necessary to defend herself.
My point to the Israeli government is, as you do so, keep in mind
there must be an avenue toward a peaceful settlement. As you
defend yourself -- and you have the right to do so -- please keep in
mind and work with the region to develop a strategy that will end up
with a peaceful settlement.
Thank you all for coming.
END 12:57
P.M. CST
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