[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 39 (Monday, October 1, 2001)]
[Pages 1380-1382]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Muslim Community Leaders and an 
Exchange With Reporters

September 26, 2001

    The President. It's my honor to welcome to the White House my fellow 
Americans, Arab-Americans, Americans who are Muslim by faith, to discuss 
about the current incident that took place, the aftermath of the 
incident, and what our country is going to do to make sure that 
everybody who is an American is respected.
    I have told the Nation more than once that ours is a war against 
evil, against extremists, that the teachings of Islam are the teachings 
of peace and good. And the Al Qaida organization is not an organization 
of good, an organization of peace. It's an organization based upon hate 
and evil.
    I also want to assure my fellow Americans that when you pledge 
allegiance to the flag with your hand on your heart, you pledge just as 
hard to the flag as I do; that the outpouring of support for our country 
has come from all corners of the country, including many members of the 
Muslim faith. And for that I am grateful.
    I appreciate the contributions of time, the contributions of blood 
to help our fellow Americans who have been injured. And I'm proud of the 
Muslim leaders across America who have risen up and who have not only 
insisted that America be strong but that America keep the values intact 
that have made us so unique and different, the values of respect, the 
values of freedom to worship the way we see fit. And I also appreciate 
the prayers to the universal God.
    And so, thank you all for coming. I don't know if you all remember, 
the imam led the service at the National Cathedral. He did a heck of a 
good job, and we were proud to have him there. And I want to thank you 
very much for the gift you gave me, Imam, the Koran. It's a very 
thoughtful gift. I said, ``Thank you very much for the gift.'' He said, 
``It's the best gift I could give you, Mr. President.'' I appreciate 
that very much.
    Q. Mr. President----
    Assistant Press Secretary Johndroe. Thank you all very much. Thank 
you all.

[[Page 1381]]

    Q. Mr. President----
    The President. Yes? Wait a minute. I feel guilty that John [John 
Roberts, CBS News] couldn't--yes?

U.S. Intelligence

    Q. Sir, Senator Shelby this morning had some pretty direct comments 
about his thinking that somebody needs to be held accountable for what 
has been characterized by some people as a massive intelligence failure. 
I wonder what you think of his comments. Is he trying to inject politics 
in this? Does someone need to fall on their sword, if you will?
    The President. Well, John, the intelligence-gathering capacity of 
the United States is doing a fine job. These terrorists had burrowed in 
our country for over 2 years. They were well organized. They were well 
planned. They struck in a way that was unimaginable. And we are a united 
nation. We're going to go forward with our war against these terrorists. 
And our Nation should have all the confidence that the intelligence-
gathering capacity of the United States is doing everything possible to 
not only keep us informed about what's happening overseas but to keep us 
informed about what might happen here at home.
    Q. So how would you characterize his comments over the last few 
days?
    The President. Well, he's a concerned American. I'm sure other 
Americans are asking how could this have happened, including the 
President. But what Americans need to know is that I'm receiving 
excellent intelligence; the CIA is doing a fine job; the FBI is 
responding on every single lead we're getting; and that we're doing 
everything we can to make the homeland safe, as well as everything we 
can to bring people to justice.

Usama bin Laden

    Q. Granted the extremism, do you--and I'd like to ask the imam the 
same question--do you consider bin Laden a religious leader or a 
political leader?
    The President. I consider bin Laden an evil man. And I don't think 
there's any religious justification for what he has in mind. Islam is a 
religion of love, not hate. This is a man who hates. This is a man who's 
declared war on innocent people. This is a man who doesn't mind 
destroying women and children. This is man who hates freedom. This is an 
evil man.
    Q. But does he have political goals?
    The President. He has got evil goals. And it's hard to think in 
conventional terms about a man so dominated by evil that he's willing to 
do what he thinks he's going to get away with. But he's not going to get 
away with it.

Airline Industry

    Q. Sir, there were thousands of more layoffs in the airline industry 
today. What is the administration going to do about it?
    The President. Come to Chicago tomorrow.
    Assistant Press Secretary Johndroe. Thanks. Thank you all. Can we go 
now? Thank you. I don't want to shout you down, so let's just leave. 
Thank you.

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. On the Middle East--think that's going to lead to a durable peace 
in the Middle East?
    The President. Steve's [Steve Holland, Reuters] question was on the 
Middle East. Sorry, Gordon. That's what happens when you invite guys--
[laughter]. You invite John Roberts in here--aggressive reporters, you 
get--Steve asked about the Middle East.
    We're encouraged that there are discussions going on that could lead 
to the implementation of Mitchell. There is the framework for peace. 
There is the process now available. It's the Mitchell plan, which 
everybody agreed to is the right way to get to a peaceful resolution in 
the Middle East. And there is a series of discussions that took place. 
Hopefully, there will be more discussions and that both parties get into 
Mitchell. And that's going to be good for America, and it will be good 
for the Middle East and good for the world. And so we're hopeful.
    I don't know if you remember, but I said out of this crisis, this 
tragedy that hit America, I do see opportunity. And one of the 
opportunities would be that there's some sensible thinking that goes 
into the Middle East and that people now realize that this violence, 
this terrible destruction of human life,

[[Page 1382]]

is not the correct path to follow and that, hopefully, people use this 
example as--the incidents that took place on September 11th to bring 
some reality to the Middle East.
    The discussions are moving on. And I want to thank the Secretary of 
State for staying with it, staying on the phone, and encouraging both 
parties to get to the table. And we'll see what happens. We're hopeful.

Chechnya

    Q. Mr. President, have you changed your thinking on Chechnya, in 
light of what's happened since September 11th?
    The President. Well, first of all, to the extent that there are 
terrorists in Chechnya, Arab terrorists associated with the Al Qaida 
organization, I believe they ought to be brought to justice; as you 
heard me say, that our initial phase of the war on terrorism is against 
the Al Qaida organization. And we do believe there are some Al Qaida 
folks in Chechnya.
    However, I do believe it's very important for President Putin to 
deal with the Chechen minority in this country with respect, respect of 
human rights and respect of difference of opinion about religion, for 
example. And so I would hope that the Russian President, while dealing 
with the Al Qaida organization, also respects minority rights within his 
country.

Airport and Airline Security

    Q. Mr. President, tomorrow you'll be announcing some new security 
measures, one of them likely to include some Federal role in training 
airport security personnel and monitoring their work as time goes on, 
moving forward.
    The President. Well, we're going to deal with airport security 
tomorrow, as well as other measures, to try to convince the American 
public it is safe to fly. One of my concerns is that this terrible 
incident has said to many Americans--convinced many Americans to stay at 
home. And one of the keys to economic recovery is going to be a vital--
the vitality of the airline industry.
    I presume many of you came to Washington today by flying, and you're 
here safely. And it's a--we'll announce some confidence-boosting 
measures, some concrete proposals, and I believe we'll be able to work 
with Congress to get them done in an expeditious way.
    Q. You don't support arming pilots?
    The President. Army pilots?
    Q. Arming pilots.
    The President. Oh, arming. As I said, I look forward to any 
suggestion that--there may be better ways to do it than that, but I'm 
open for any suggestion. And the good news is, is that there's a 
willingness on Capitol Hill to work with the administration, and vice 
versa, to come up with constructive, sound ways to convince the American 
public it's safe to fly.
    Q. How quickly do you think you can put these plans in place?
    The President. Oh, some of them will be--some of them will take a 
while; some of them could happen very quickly. Just give me a chance to 
give my speech. You're trying to jump the gun on me, Stretch [Richard 
Keil, Bloomberg News]. [Laughter]
    Q. It's my job, sir.
    The President. You're doing it well, too, my boy. [Laughter]
    John, no longer can you say, I haven't answered your questions. 
[Laughter]
    Q. One of the three ain't bad. Thank you, sir. [Laughter]
    The President. [Inaudible]--batting .333. All right.
    Q. Thank you.
    The President. Gordon, good job--no questions. [Laughter]

Note: The President spoke at 3:40 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to Imam Muzammil H. Siddiqi, 
president, Islamic Society of North America; Usama bin Laden, leader of 
the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and President Vladimir Putin of 
Russia.