[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 6 (Monday, February 13, 2006)]
[Page 202]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With King Abdullah II of Jordan

February 8, 2006

    President Bush. Your Majesty, welcome back. I have had two good 
discussions with His Majesty. Last night His Majesty and the Crown 
Prince came to have dinner with Laura and me and some Members of 
Congress, and we had a really good discussion. We had a little time by 
ourselves to talk strategically about the world and our deep desire for 
this world to be peaceful.
    Of course, we talked about Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian territories. 
And I appreciate your vision and your desire to achieve a better world 
for the people in your neighborhood.
    We also talked about a topic that requires a lot of discussion and a 
lot of sensitive thought, and that is the reaction to the cartoons. I 
first want to make it very clear to people around the world that ours is 
a nation that believes in tolerance and understanding. In America, we 
welcome people of all faiths. One of the great attributes of our country 
is that you're free to worship however you choose in the United States 
of America.
    Secondly, we believe in a free press. We also recognize that with 
freedom comes responsibilities. With freedom comes the responsibility to 
be thoughtful about others. Finally, I have made it clear to His 
Majesty, and he made it clear to me, that we reject violence as a way to 
express discontent with what may be printed in a free press. I call upon 
the governments around the world to stop the violence, to be respectful, 
to protect property, and protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are 
serving their countries overseas.
    And so, Your Majesty, thank you for coming. I'm proud to share the 
moment with you.
    King Abdullah. Thank you very much for your kind words. And I would 
just like to echo what the President said. We've had some very fruitful 
discussions, and we're appreciative of the vision and the desire that 
the President has for peace and stability in our part of the world. He 
has always strived to make life better for all of us in the Middle East, 
and I tremendously appreciate that role.
    The issue of the cartoons, again, and with all respect to press 
freedoms, obviously, anything that vilifies the Prophet Mohammed--peace 
be upon him--or attacks Muslim sensibilities, I believe needs to be 
condemned. But at the same time, those that want to protest should do it 
thoughtfully, articulately, express their views peacefully. When we see 
protests--when we see destruction, when we see violence, especially if 
it ends up taking the lives of innocent people, is completely 
unacceptable. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a religion of 
peace, tolerance, moderation.
    And we have to continue to ask ourselves, what type of world do we 
want for our children? I too often hear the word used as, tolerance. And 
tolerance is such an awful word. If we are going to strive to move 
forward in the future, the word that we should be talking about is 
acceptance. We need to accept our common humanity and our common values. 
And I hope that lessons can be learned from this dreadful issue, that we 
can move forward as humanity, and truly try to strive together, as 
friends and as neighbors, to bring a better world to all.
    President Bush. Thank you, Your Majesty. I appreciate you.

Note: The President spoke at 9:26 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan.