[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 11 (Monday, March 15, 2004)]
[Pages 393-395]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview of the President and the First Lady by Television of Spain 
(TVE)

March 12, 2004

Reaction to March 11 Terrorist Attack in Madrid

    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

[[Page 394]]

particularly, to put their arms around their children. These are very 
frightening times 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 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.

[[Page 395]]

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.