[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 14 (Monday, April 8, 2002)]
[Pages 541-544]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Situation in the Middle East and an Exchange With 
Reporters in Crawford, Texas

March 30, 2002

    The President. This morning I made a series of phone calls to world 
leaders to express my concern, listen to their concerns about the 
escalating violence in the Middle East.
    We are at this point because there has not been enough done to fight 
off terror. All the leaders in the world must stand up against terror, 
must do everything in their power to cut off the funding to terrorist 
organizations, to prevent terrorist organizations from finding safe 
haven. And that especially applies to Chairman Arafat. I believe he can 
do a lot more to prevent attacks such as the one that just occurred in 
Tel Aviv.
    I am deeply concerned about the loss of innocent lives. It breaks my 
heart when children and innocent women and innocent men lose their life. 
I fully understand Israel's need to defend herself. I respect that. It's 
a country that has seen a wave of suicide bombers come into the hearts 
of their cities and kill

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innocent people. That country has a right to defend herself.
    And as she does so, I urge that their Government, the Israeli 
Government, make sure that there is a path to peace as she secures her 
homeland. But they've got to keep in mind the need that there's got to 
be a peaceful solution at some point. I've been assured by the Israeli 
Government that--about the well-being of Chairman Arafat and that he 
won't be harmed.
    I have heard him say that, well, in that he's confined, he can't do 
anything to secure--to help secure the region. I know he's got a lot of 
forces; he's got a lot of people that listen to him still; and he has 
got to speak out clearly. He's got to make it absolutely clear that the 
Palestinian Authority does not support these terrorist activities and 
use his security forces to prevent them from happening.
    I've asked that General Zinni stay in the region. I think it's very 
important for our country to provide an opportunity for discussions, an 
opportunity for people to come together, and so Zinni will stay there. 
He will stay there to continue to push for a process that will 
ultimately get us into Mitchell, and Mitchell is the best hope for 
peace. It has been agreed to by the parties. It is an opportunity for 
those who love peace to have a framework for peace.
    Last night the administration supported a U.N. Security Council 
resolution that urges there to be a cease-fire, to start a process that 
will end this cycle of violence. Here we are on one of holiest of 
holidays, and we're worried about people needlessly losing their lives. 
And our prayers and thoughts go to the families of the victims, and I 
pray for peace. And I urge all parties to recognize that there are 
terrorists in this world who can't stand the thought of peace, and all 
of us--all of us--must work together to condemn, find, and stop 
terrorist activities.
    I'll be glad to answer a few questions.

Preventing Terrorism

    Q. Mr. President, with this latest terrorist attack on a Tel Aviv 
cafe tonight with many apparent casualties, does Chairman Arafat in your 
opinion really have any control over these suicide bombers?
    The President. I think Chairman Arafat can do a lot more. I truly 
believe that. I believe he needs to stand up and condemn, in Arabic, 
these attacks. He's got a security force, admittedly somewhat on the 
defensive right now. But nevertheless, there is a security force; there 
is a security apparatus. We've been dealing with the leaders of the 
security apparatus. And they have got to do a much better job of 
preventing people from coming into Israel to blow up innocent people.
    The leaders in the region must do the same thing. Again, I was 
pleased that Crown Prince Abdullah spoke out so forcefully for what he 
called normalization. We support that. But there is no normalcy when day 
after day killers destroy innocent lives. All the leaders must join with 
governments such as ours to strongly condemn and stop terrorist 
activities.
    I spoke to Jose Maria Aznar today. He's the head of the EU now, and 
he told me, he said, you know, the world must fight off these 
terrorists. And the region can do more, in my judgment. The Iranians 
must step up and stop sponsoring terrorism. The Syrians must 
participate. If people want peace in the region, there has got to be a 
united effort against terror, and I do believe Mr. Arafat can do more.

Diplomatic Efforts in the Middle East

    Q. Mr. President, you made a lot of phone calls today, but not to 
Sharon, not to Arafat. Why not, and what is the next U.S. step?
    The President. Well, first of all, my administration has made a lot 
of phone calls into the region on a daily basis. Secretary of State 
Powell will be speaking to Prime Minister Sharon again.
    Q. Today?
    The President. Yes, today; soon, as I understand it, unless this 
current--this recent bombing has put the Prime Minister into a Cabinet 
meeting and therefore won't be able to take a phone call. But he was 
supposed to have made a call, like, right now.
    Nevertheless, we're in constant touch with these governments, and 
the next step is to continue our call and our efforts and our push to 
fight off terror. It appears to me these aren't just isolated incidents. 
I mean, there's a pattern, a routine, and a constancy.

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And so we will continue to lead, to talk and urge world leaders, 
particularly those in the region, to do everything they can to shut off 
the capacity of people to come and bomb.
    Q. Why wasn't Arafat called by Powell today?
    The President. He may be doing that; I just don't know. Mr. Arafat, 
he doesn't need a phone call from me. All he's got to do is watch what I 
just said, and that message will be delivered to him.
    Q. Mr. President, have we reached a point where there needs to be a 
more aggressive and more visible and public U.S. effort to quell the 
violence? And will that include greater outreach to the nations in the 
region?
    The President. Well, you may recall the Vice President has just 
returned from the region, which is a significant outreach. We're 
spending a great deal of time, in our capacity as the leader of a 
coalition against the war on terror, to continue not only our war in 
Afghanistan and elsewhere but also continuing to fight terror in this 
region.
    And every phone call I make, I remind people that if you're 
interested in peace--and the leaders I've talked to are interested in 
peace--we have all got to come together to stop terror. Our role is very 
visible, and our role is very active. And I firmly believe that we can 
achieve a peace in the region, but not until--not until--there is a 
concerted, united effort to rout terror out.
    Because what we're seeing is--we're seeing--for example, in South 
Carolina, I remember talking to you all and saying--this was on 
Thursday, saying--or Wednesday, saying that I was optimistic that we had 
a chance to get into Tenet. And by the time I got on the airplane and 
landed in Georgia, there had been this awful suicide bombing. And so it 
is a--it's clear to me the more progress we make toward achieving a 
cease-fire or meaningful security discussions, the more a killer 
organization will try to disrupt the process.
    And therefore, the best way to make sure that we can get some 
meaningful dialog going is to secure the--is to help secure the region, 
in particular, Israel's homeland, by a united front against terror. It's 
essential that we--``we'' meaning those who long for a peace--and again 
I repeat to you, every leader I've talked to said we need peace. But 
there needs to be a focused coalition effort in the region against 
peace--I mean, against terror, for peace.

Preventing Terrorism

    Q. You mentioned a moment ago that Iran and Syria need to do more.
    The President. Yes, I believe they do.
    Q. Can you identify other countries in the region who need to do 
more than they're doing now?
    The President. All the countries in the region must condemn terror, 
speak clearly about terror. I appreciate the fact that the Saudis have 
spoken about a vision for peace. I thought that was a very important 
statement. It recognized Israel's right to exist. And that's essential. 
The corollary to that is, in order for Israel to exist, terror must 
stop.
    I can understand why the Israeli Government takes the actions they 
take. Their country is under attack. Every day there has been a suicide 
bombing, and every day the Government sees the loss of innocent life.
    On the other hand, I understand why some Palestinians feel so 
hopeless. There is a--the loss of innocent life on the Palestinian side 
is too much. But the Palestinians, particularly those who long for a 
peaceful resolution, the independent statehood of the Palestinians--is a 
part of that peaceful solution, but they must do everything in their 
power to stop terrorist activity.
    Q. On Iran and Syria, do you have any evidence that those countries 
are directly involved in the latest series of bombings?
    The President. No, I do not have evidence. But I saw, for example, 
that Syria once again walked out of the U.N. when there was a reasonable 
resolution put forward. That should say something.
    And secondly, I understand the connections between Hezbollah and 
Iran. And there has been no evidence--I don't know who's claiming credit 
for this bombing. I haven't seen Hezbollah's name mentioned. But 
nevertheless, that's terror; that's a terrorist organization, and--but 
no, I have no direct evidence. Nevertheless, I do know their influence 
in the region. And if they are interested in a peaceful resolution, they 
too need to be active about cutting off funds. And as you

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may recall, there was a ship that was intercepted by the Israelis, that 
came from Iran full of weapons.
    And so my point is, is that there needs to be a focused 
international effort to condemn--strongly condemn--as well as rout out 
terrorist activities. Otherwise, we will have a difficult problem in 
getting to a peaceful accord.
    There has been a framework laid out, and now the efforts will be 
focused, like they have been, on getting into the framework. In the 
meantime, Israel will defend herself. And again, I understand that.
    You will recall, as I said in my statement, that I hope Israel keeps 
in mind that there needs to be a road for peace. It's in the Israelis' 
interests, in my judgment, not only to defend herself but to keep in 
mind that there has got to be a peaceful resolution in order for her 
people to be able to grow up in a secure and peaceful world.

Israeli Action Against Chairman Arafat

    Q. Can I follow up on that point? Do you think that--it seems as if, 
even if they're not trying to physically harm Arafat, that they're 
trying to undermine him, undermine his leadership with the Palestinians. 
Do you think that serves any purpose?
    The President. I think Mr. Arafat could have done more 3 weeks ago 
and can do more today. I know I have been disappointed in his 
unwillingness to go 100 percent toward fighting terror. That includes 
using his security forces to help prevent suicide bombers from crossing 
certain lands, and that also means speaking out clearly, in his native 
tongue.
    I fully understand the frustrations of the Israeli people. I 
sympathize, and I sympathize with the frustrations of the Palestinian 
people, those who long for normalcy, those who want to send their kids 
to school and go to work. There's got to be a much more concerted effort 
by Chairman Arafat and others to stop terror. Terror is--so long as 
there's this reign of terror, there will be no peace. So therefore, 
stopping terror will make the conditions ripe for peace.
    Q. Mr. President, did we know in advance about the invasion? And 
what's your position now? Should the Israelis get out of the compound? 
Should they continue the military action or quit?
    The President. Israel is a democratically elected government, and 
the Government is responding to the will of the people for there to be 
more security. And Israel will make the decisions necessary to defend 
herself.
    My point to the Israeli Government is: As you do so, keep in mind 
there must be an avenue toward a peaceful settlement. As you defend 
yourself--and you have the right to do so--please keep in mind and work 
with the region to develop a strategy that will end up with a peaceful 
settlement.
    Thank you all for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 12:40 p.m. at the Bush Ranch. In his 
remarks, he referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian 
Authority; U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Gen. Anthony Zinni, 
USMC (Ret.); Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia; President Jose Maria 
Aznar of Spain; and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. The President 
also referred to the Mitchell report, the Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh 
Fact-Finding Committee, issued April 30, 2001, and the Tenet plan, the 
Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire and security plan of June 13, 2001, 
negotiated by Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet.