[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 12 (Monday, March 25, 2002)]
[Pages 469-470]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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.

[[Page 470]]

    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 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.