    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [March 12, 2004]
    [Pages 373-375]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview of the President and the First Lady by
    Television of Spain (TVE)
    March 12, 2004

    Reaction to March 11 Terrorist Attacks in Madrid, Spain

        Q. First of all, I would like to thank you very much on behalf of
    the Spanish people for being able to send a message. And I'd like to ask
    your feelings about this horrifying thing that happened yesterday in
    Madrid. First question: What are your feelings?
        The President. Well, I can remember when our citizens lost life. I
    remember the horror, the outrage, the anger, and the incredible sadness.
    So I guess my--I feel the same way today. My first reaction is, my heart
    breaks for those who are mourning the loss of their loved one. It must
    be a sense of emptiness and a sense of real--their hearts are broken.
    And we send our prayers to those who are so sad----
        The First Lady. Grieving, who are grieving today. We all are
    thinking about them. And I want all the people who lost somebody
    yesterday in Spain to know that the American people are sending our love
    and our condolences. And we know what it feels like, and we know how
    tough it is.
        Q. That would be the second question. The message for the people of
    Spain is that of solidarity and love?
        The President. Of course. I think the people of Spain are going to
    rally around those who have lost life. It's amazing what happens when
    something like this happens to a society. There's an outpouring of love
    and concern. There's an outpouring of love here in America from people
    that the families in Spain will never know. There's just a lot of people
    who care deeply about the fact of the lost life. Neighbors will help
    neighbors.
        I think you're going to find as well that the people of Spain--or
    we'll find as well--the people of Spain will refuse to be intimidated,
    that they're not going to allow killers, coldblooded killers, to
    intimidate the country. And these people kill because they hate freedom
    and they hate what Spain stands for. Spain is a great culture and a
    great people, with great traditions of democracy. And the killers hate
    freedom, and they're trying to intimidate. And the Spanish people will
    not be intimidated.
        Q. As you know, the royal family is working hard, as is the Spanish
    Government, trying to heal, if it's possible. Any message for the many
    women, many families who now feel really lost?
        The First Lady. I want to encourage women and men, and mothers and
    fathers particularly, to put their arms around their children. These are
    very frightening times

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    for adults, so we can imagine how frightening they are for children. And
    it's a time for adults, mothers and dads and grandparents, to protect
    their children and reassure their children, put their arms around them
    and let them know they're going to be okay and the country is going to
    be okay and things will work out, as we grieve for these people who lost
    the person they love best in the bombings.

    Cooperation With Spanish Government

        Q. Mr. President, you've been dealing with this situation for 4
    years. I'm sure it's been very hard. What could you say to the Spanish
    Government now dealing with a hard thing?
        The President. My first reaction is that the people of Spain are
    lucky to have Jose Maria Aznar as the
    President during these times. He is a man who understands the war on
    terror, clearly knows the stakes, and knows that we must never give an
    inch to the terrorists. He will be able to be a strong voice, a
    compassionate voice and a strong voice during these times.
        The Government must stay strong. But the Spanish Government has been
    fighting terrorist organizations for a while. Jose Maria has been strong against terrorist organizations like
    ETA. He knows what the stakes are. We don't know who did this yet. I
    wouldn't rule anybody out. You'll hear all kinds of rumors, and it will
    take a while to find out the facts. And the United States Government
    will help the Spanish Government find out the facts, if they so desire.
        People will find there's going to be a lot of speculation here, and
    that's all it's going to be. People will claim credit or not claim
    credit. People will say, ``We didn't do it,'' or ``We did do it,'' to
    create a sense of confusion. But the facts will become known after a
    while. It takes a while. It took us a while to find out exactly who
    ordered the attacks on America. And once the facts are known and once we
    find out who did it, America will join the Spanish Government to hunt
    the terrorists down and bring them to justice.
        Q. Would it make any difference if it's ETA or Al Qaida or any
    radical----
        The President. Well, it's hard to speculate. We've seen claims
    already--``No, we didn't do this.'' Sometimes when somebody says, ``No,
    we didn't do it,'' it means they did do it. And sometimes these people
    want to deceive. But we don't know yet. And all I can assure the people
    of Spain is that, to the extent that the Government wants, we will help
    find out the facts, and if these terrorists are overseas or plotting
    from overseas or anywhere in Europe, we will lend our expertise, our
    intelligence gathering to help the Spanish authorities bring these
    people to justice. That's what the Spanish people expect. These people
    need to be brought to justice. And we will help any way we can.

    Responsibility for Attack/Spanish Election

        Q. Let's talk a bit about the future. As you know, we have elections
    in a couple of days, the day after tomorrow. And some people say that if
    it's Al Qaida, that could mean that somebody is trying to punish the
    Spanish Government for backing the war. What do you think about it?
        The President. I think that's a feeble excuse. Killers kill. And I
    think we shouldn't give them any great credit. All they're trying to do
    is shake the will of the free world. They hate freedom, and they're
    willing to try to create--intimidate people to change. And the Spanish
    Government will never change its love for freedom. It's one of the great
    things about Spain, is its embrace of liberty.
        But people shouldn't speculate right now as to who did it. It's
    going to take a while. It just is. These were very coordinated bombings,
    and it's going to take some good forensic work to get the facts.
        And so I hope the people of Spain just go about their business--and
    participate in the elections, of course; after all, Spain is a
    democracy--and not let the speculation

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    decide how to vote. They ought to vote for who they think is going to be
    the best government.
        Q. But it's almost inevitable. I mean, the whole world is watching
    who is behind the attacks----
        The President. Sure. We want to help--we want to find--we want to
    help find out. But I don't think you can know immediately. Again, people
    will--this happened in our country. And there was all kinds of
    speculation as to who attacked, who started the attacks. And it took a
    while to make sure we knew. But over time, our intelligence services got
    worked up and law enforcement got involved, and I think you'll find the
    case to be in Spain as well. The facts will become known. And then that
    makes it easier for the Government to make the decision as to how to
    proceed.
        Q. Thank you very much. As I said, on behalf of the Spanish people,
    thank you for sending a message and for being close to us.
        The President. Yes. Well, we care deeply about our friends, and the
    people of Spain are friends. May God bless them.
        Q. Thank you.
        The First Lady. Thank you.

    Note: The interview began at 1:25 p.m. at the Embassy of Spain. In his
    remarks, the President referred to Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA).
    A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
    interview.