    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [August 13, 2001]
    [Pages 957-959]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters in Meridian, Texas
    August 13, 2001

    President's Vacation

        Q. How are you doing, sir?
        The President. I'm doing great, thank you.

    Terrorist Attack in Israel

        Q. What's your response to the suicide----
        The President. I'll see you at the ranch--my response to what?
        Q. The latest suicide bombing in Israel.
        The President. Ask me at the ranch. We're going to have a little
    press avail after I sign the bill.

    President's Round of Golf

        Q. How's it going?
        The President. Really good.
        Q. How's your swing?
        Q. No flaws?
        The President. You saw it--needs a little work.
        Q. Don't we all.
        The President. I'm glad you asked who's winning the contest. Team
    sport.
        Q. Is this a rematch?
        The President. Yes, it is.
        Q. And who won last time?
        The President. Tie. If I hit every shot good, people would say I
    wasn't working. [Laughter]

    [[Page 958]]

        Q. I thought the President always wins.

    Situation in the Middle East

        The President. About time you learned something.
        On Israel, the Palestinians--we will never get to Mitchell until the
    leadership works to reduce and stop violence. These terrorist acts,
    which are despicable, will prevent us from ever getting into the
    Mitchell process.
        My administration has been calling upon all the leaders in the
    Middle East to do everything they can to stop the violence, to tell the
    different parties involved that peace will never happen and, so long as
    terrorist activities continue, it will be impossible to get into
    Mitchell or any other discussion about peace under the threat of
    terrorism. Secretary Powell was in touch
    with Mr. Arafat and Mr. Sharon; we delivered that message consistently.
        Q. What more do you think you can do?
        The President. Well, Europe and moderate Arab nations must join with
    us to continue to send a consistent message that there will be no peace
    unless we break this cycle of violence. And the United States is doing
    everything in our power to convince the parties, but I want to remind
    people there must be the will. The people in the area must make the
    conscious decision to stop terrorism. And we're going to continue----
        Q. But can the Israelis continue to show moderate restraint or----
        The President. I appreciate the fact that they do show a moderate
    restraint. Sometimes they haven't, and sometimes they have. But what's
    important is that we say to all the parties that if there's a desire for
    peace--or at least a discussion of peace or the desire to get in
    Mitchell, the first thing that must happen is--is that we must stop
    violence.
        Q. But do you have confidence in Arafat that he can stop the
    terrorist acts?
        The President. I think he can do a lot
    more to be convincing the people on the street to stop these acts of
    terrorism and the acts of violence. I said in the Oval Office it is very
    important for Mr. Arafat to show a 100 percent effort, to do everything
    he can to convince the different parties on the West Bank and in Gaza to
    stop the violence. And we recognize that there could be isolated
    incidents of terror, but these--this is a continuing terrorist campaign,
    and we've got to stop. I will invite the respective parties to come and
    see me at the appropriate time.
        Q. Sir, what about your response to people who say that your
    administration isn't doing enough to stop the escalation of violence
    there?
        The President. We have been engaged in the Middle East ever since I
    got sworn in. Ours is the administration that sent George Tenet to the Middle East to lay out a platform for
    discussions amongst security forces to bring peace to the region. We
    wholeheartedly endorse the Mitchell report. We have spent, on a near
    daily basis, talking to the different parties, urging them--because
    there's nothing that an administration can do if there's no will for
    peace.
        And we're obviously working with the leaders to try to convince them
    to take the necessary steps to send a signal to the people on the
    streets that peace--we want peace. We want at least discussions towards
    peace, if not in a final agreement.
        We've got a long way to go; I recognize that. And it's so important
    for there to be the will, the desire. It requires two parties to make
    the conscious decision that we're going to do everything we can to stop
    terrorism, and our administration and my Government is working hard to
    send that message. We're on the phone almost on a daily basis to the
    respective parties.
        Q. Do you see the will on either side, sir?
        The President. Well, sometimes we see the will on the other side,
    and sometimes that cycle overcomes the will. There's a lot of people in
    the Middle East who are

    [[Page 959]]

    desirous to get into the Mitchell process, but first things first. These
    terrorist acts and the responses have got to end in order for us to get
    the framework--the groundwork, not framework--the groundwork to discuss
    a framework, to lay the--all right.
        Q. Have you made any calls yourself, sir?
        The President. I've made a lot of calls over--you mean the last
    couple of days? No, I haven't, not over the last couple of days.
    Secretary Powell did--I'm, of course, very
    aware of how the conversations went.

    Note: The exchange began at 8:53 a.m. at the Bosque Valley Golf Club. In
    his remarks, the President referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the
    Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. He also
    referred to the Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee,
    chaired by former Senator George J. Mitchell, issued April 30. A tape
    was not available for verification of the content of this exchange.