    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [March 20, 2002]
    [Pages 458-459]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters in Alexandria, Virginia
    March 20, 2002

    Military Tribunals

        Q. Mr. President?
        The President. Yes.
        Q. What are you hoping to achieve by holding the military tribunals?
    And at this point, do we have any people eligible to face those
    tribunals?
        The President. Well, the tribunals are just an option for us. And
    we'll be using the tribunals if in the course of bringing somebody to
    justice it may jeopardize or compromise national security interests. So
    they're a tool; they're an option. As you know, we're discussing rules
    about how they can function well. The Defense Department asked a lot of
    opinions from respected scholars, and the world's now beginning to see
    what we meant by a fair system that will enable us to bring people to
    justice but at the same time protect national security. I have no plans
    right now to use anybody--nobody in mind yet. But the option is
    available.
        Q. Are many of those people otherwise going to be sent back to their
    home countries, and have you decided which ones would be----
        The President. Well, we're still in the process of getting as much
    information from the detainees as possible. Remember, these are--the
    ones in Guantanamo Bay are killers. They don't share the same values we
    share. They would like nothing more than to come after Americans or our
    friends and allies. And so, therefore, it's in our national interest to
    make sure we know enough about them before we decide what to do with
    them. So there's a process--ongoing process to get as much information
    as we can from the prisoners, the detainees. Some talk; some don't talk.
        Q. But let me follow, if I could----
        The President. There will only be three questions.
        Q. Okay, sorry. But if you say they're killers----
        The President. They said they're killers.
        Q. ----what makes them eligible to go to the tribunal?
        The President. I told you, if any evidence that is required to
    convict them jeopardizes the national security interests of the country,
    we'll use the tribunal.

    Situation in the Middle East

        Q. Mr. President, are you frustrated by the continuing violence in
    the Middle East, that looks--one day it looks good, the next day it's--
    --
        The President. Of course I am. I am frustrated by the violence in
    the Middle East, and so are a lot of people who live in the Middle East.
    I know there are some people who do not want us to achieve any kind of
    peaceful settlement of a longstanding dispute. And they're willing to
    use terrorist means to disrupt any progress that's being made. And that
    frustrates me. It frustrates mothers and dads who happen to be
    Palestinians and Israelis, because they want to raise their children in
    a secure environment.
        Nevertheless, we'll continue to work the issue and work it hard.
    Zinni is over there; he's making some
    progress. He's saying to both parties, ``Stay the course. Work hard to
    get into Tenet.'' And hopefully we can achieve what we all want to
    achieve, which is eventually a political settlement. But first and
    foremost, we've got to come up with a security agreement. We made some
    progress, and I want to thank Zinni for his job that he's doing there.
    And I'm looking forward to being briefed by the Vice President tomorrow morning when he gets back from--he's getting
    back this afternoon, but he's going to come in tomorrow morning. We'll
    have breakfast first thing

    [[Page 459]]

    in the morning, prior to me leaving for Mexico.
        Q. Mr. President, just yesterday the Vice President was suggesting
    that he could meet with Chairman Arafat if there was a cease-fire. Does
    a cease-fire mean an end to all suicide bombings?
        The President. Well, what he said was, was
    that there are certain conditions under which he would meet with Mr.
    Arafat, and that is getting into the Tenet
    agreement and meeting the conditions. And we've also said that we expect
    there to be a 100-percent effort by Chairman Arafat. We expect him to be
    reining in those people with whom he's got influence. Clearly, he's not
    going to have influence with every single suicide bomber. I understand
    that. But we expect him to be diligent and firm and consistent in his
    efforts to rein in those who would like to disrupt any progress toward
    peace and rein in those who would harm our friends the Israelis.
        And as I've said in the past, I didn't think he has done a very good job of doing that up to now, and I
    believe he can do a better job. And that's exactly the message the Vice
    President is delivering in his statement.
        Listen, thank you all very much. I don't want to hold two press
    conferences in one week.

    Note: The exchange began at 1:25 p.m. in the mini-auditorium at Samuel
    W. Tucker Elementary School. In his remarks, the President referred to
    U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.);
    and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority. The President
    also referred to the Tenet plan, the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire and
    security plan of June 13, 2001, negotiated by Director of Central
    Intelligence George J. Tenet. The transcript released by the Office of
    the Press Secretary also included Mrs. Bush's closing remarks.