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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 3, 2002
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
12:55 P.M. EST
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. I have no opening statement, so I'll be happy to take your questions.
Q Does the administration still believe that in the
Middle East
a cease-fire must take hold first, in accordance with the Tenet war
plan, before any political discussions concerning borders, refugees,
settlements to take place?
MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, the President has repeatedly made clear that
he thinks it would be very hard to achieve a peace in the Middle East
until a cease-fire takes hold. He thinks the violence makes it harder
to achieve a political solution. The President remains committed to
both a political solution and to a diminution of the violence. The two
do go together. But the President thinks it's much harder to have --
and it's just logical, so long as there is violence, it's very hard for
both parties to engage in meaningful political talks.
Q So first there must be a cease-fire?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President believes it makes it much easier for
both parties, logically thinking, to achieve political progress once a
cease-fire takes hold.
But as the President indicated in Philadelphia last night, he
remains committed to a political vision as he works for a cease-fire.
Q So what's the administration's response to the argument raised
in this country, and certainly in the Arab world, that there has to be
some promise, some hope, some prospect of political progress for the
Palestinians to buy into a cease-fire?
MR. FLEISCHER: Which is exactly why the President, when he went to
the United Nations, became the first President to give a speech to the
United Nations calling for the creation of a state called Palestine,
along side an Israel that can live in secure borders.
The President understands the political element to this, and that's
why he is committed to helping bring the parties together. But
realistically speaking, if you live on the ground in the Middle East
today and there is so much violence, it makes it much harder to enter
into meaningful political talks, until the violence can be diminished,
eliminated, or brought under control.
Q But to separate the philosophical from the actual, at the
moment, General Zinni and this administration is only engaged in
discussions to secure a cease-fire, which is to say only negotiations
among security officials. Or is there anyone at any level of the
administration actually pursuing a dialogue about a political outcome
for a Palestinian state today, now?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, clearly, the two are intertwined, Tenet and
Mitchell, as we've been saying repeatedly. There's the Tenet plan
which focuses on creating an environment in which the peace talks can
be more fruitful. There remains in place the Mitchell accords, which
are the more political areas that can be discussed.
I think it goes without saying that it's going to be easier to make
progress on the political front if the violence is reduced. And so it
makes sense that both are important, but the focus has got to be, in
the President's opinion, on reducing the violence, to make the
political talks more fruitful. But there should be no question, the
United States is committed to progress on both.
Q That's their direct answer, though, to the question --
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has always said, make a 100 percent
effort.
Q I'm sorry, can I just follow up?
MR. FLEISCHER: Go ahead, David.
Q Is there a direct answer, though, to the question of what's
happening now? Is there any political discussion going on at any level
of the administration? Because what we know is that General Zinni is
engaged in conversations with security officials to work out the
arrangements of a cease-fire.
MR. FLEISCHER: Right.
Q Is anything happening at any other level of the administration
that has to do with the political settlement?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I refer you to what the President said last
night, and that's a message that's conveyed on a regular basis to the
leaders in the region. The President had a series of phone calls over
the weekend, as well, to Mideast leaders. And the President, in those
conversations, did articulate again his political vision of a
Palestinian state. So, yes, there are talks that go on. But as the
President has indicated many times, it's very hard to get to that in a
meaningful way so long as there's so much violence.
Q Ari, many people are saying this goes beyond politics, with
all the intensity of last week. It's more of a heart issue, especially
when you have these suicide bombings, and the White House is calling on
Yasser Arafat to speak to his people in Arabic. But will that make a
difference? And is it realistic to think that politics plays a role
right now when, as I said, it's an issue for many of these people, an
issue of the heart?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President believes that anybody who puts on
explosives to kill themselves, and in the process to take the lives of
innocents along with them, is a terrorist, regardless of what action or
alleged motive they act out of; it's terrorism. And that is what makes
it such a difficult problem in the region. It's what led to the
violence again and to the actions that Israel took.
The President is dedicated to trying to find a way to bring the
parties together. General Zinni remains in the region, and the
President is always exploring for constructive ways. But, again, the
United States will continue to put a shoulder to the wheel to bring the
parties together. Chairman Arafat has committed himself previously to
a peace process; the President still believes that Chairman Arafat can
and should live up to the commitments made. And that's, along with
Israel, making clear, making certain that its actions -- keep in mind
that peace has got to be the goal at the end of the day -- that's the
way the President still sees to bring the parties together, and he'll
continue to push.
Q Who in the administration has made the last contact with
Yasser Arafat?
MR. FLEISCHER: Check with the State Department. General Zinni is
on the ground there, as well.
Q But, Ari, with the intensity of everything going on, you would
think that the administration -- you could tell us, you know, who has
had the last contact and when with Yasser Arafat.
MR. FLEISCHER: I just indicated General Zinni is on the ground
there as well, having contacts with Palestinian officials.
Q But I'm talking Yasser Arafat.
MR. FLEISCHER: April, I'm answering the question, and I speak for
the President directly. I can talk to you about the President's
contacts; you need to talk to the authorities directly involved at the
State Department.
Q Is the President putting any pressure on Israel to pull back
from Bethlehem? The Christian churches, so forth, had asked for sort
of some relief from this pressure -- tanks and so forth? Is he
aware -- is the President aware of all this?
MR. FLEISCHER: You've heard the President's statements on this.
Q Ari, I have two questions for you. The President of Egypt,
Hosni Mubarak, a valued ally of the United States and the Middle East,
has restricted diplomatic contacts with the government of Israel. Do
you think this is a useful step in what the U.S. is trying to achieve
in the Middle East?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think this underscores why the President feels as
strongly as he does and the importance of finding ways to bring the
parties together to achieve a peaceful settlement to the violence in
the Middle East. We anticipate that Egypt will maintain its commitment
to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, which remains a foundation for
regional stability. It's an example of nations that were once
intractable foes, how they were able to come together as a result of
the vision and the leadership of President Sadat and President
Mubarak. And it's that type of leadership that the President hopes
will take broadening in the region. So that's where we are.
Q Can I follow up? I wanted to ask you about the price of oil.
It has been rising rapidly in the past few days, it's now at the
highest level in the past six months. With the situation exploding,
basically, in the Middle East, what steps has the United States taken
in case there is a problem with oil deliveries to the United States,
which would affect economic recovery which supposedly is already
starting to take hold?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President has noted, of course, the
rising price of gasoline, which affects Americans of all walks of life,
throughout our country. There are several factors that contribute to
it, including the tensions in the Middle East, that is a contributory
factor to it.
The other -- the economy, which is in the early stages of a
recovery from all statistics, is another factor in it. There appears
to be a now repeating seasonal event that's been happening for the last
several springs, going into summer, in a row. I think you can count
more than three.
And the President views this as an issue, specifically when it
comes to our over-reliance on foreign oil, as a wake-up call, a
warning, especially to the United States Senate, about the need for the
United States to reduce our reliance on foreign supplies of energy.
The Senate has an energy plan that passed by the House of
Representatives that they are considering now, and the President urges
the Senate to move with dispatch when they return from recess to pass
the energy plan, which provides a long-term, comprehensive structure to
reduce prices.
This is an issue that Americans confront seemingly every spring
after spring after spring, from a variety of circumstances, both
international and domestic. It's time to stop focusing on it as a
short-term problem and enact a long-term solution so this won't become
a repetitive short-term issue.
Q Getting back to his first question, is the action by Egypt
today useful or un-useful in the effort to bring peace in the Middle
East?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's a reflection of how complicated the
situation is on the ground, Ron. That's again why the President is so
dedicated to trying to achieve peace in the region. And, again, I can
reiterate that we anticipate that the commitment to the
Egyptian/Israeli Peace Treaty, which remains in effect, will endure,
and that's important.
Q Ari, two quick questions. Isn't this a serious blow,
especially after last week, the administration praising the leaders of
the Arab summit, recognizing that Israel has a right to exist? And now
you have Egypt making a move, suspending most government contacts? I
mean, isn't this a concern that this could really spread into a wider
regional conflict with Israel?
MR. FLEISCHER: again, I indicated at the top that's another sign
of why the President thinks it's so important to try to find ways to
bring the parties together.
Q If I can follow, President Mubarak certainly has been very
vocal, saying the administration needs to do more, that what you all
are doing is not enough, that you need to get more deeply engaged,
maybe send Secretary Powell to the region, link the cease-fire with
political talks. What do you say to those calls that the status quo is
not working?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has always said he'll take whatever
actions he deems to be most constructive to bring peace to the region.
And that remains the United States' policy.
But, again, the United States will remain committed to finding a
way to bring the parties together to achieve peace. As a result of the
President's efforts, as a result of the President's message about the
creation of a Palestinian state, his sensitivity to the plight of the
Palestinian people, his desire to find a way through political process
to open up the borders so the Palestinian people can have access to
employment, can have access to improving their economic way of life; as
a result of sending General Zinni to the region; as a result of
Secretary Powell's speech that he gave in Kentucky -- progress had
been made.
What ground it to a halt was the suicide bombings. The President
believes that progress can again be made, and he will remain committed
to finding a path to get that done. The violence has derailed it. The
violence will not derail it forever. The President will remain
committed.
Q Just to follow on the same theme, the deterioration is even
more widespread. You have anti-U.S. demonstrations going on from Egypt
to Bahrain; it's throughout the Arab world. Now, how much concern does
the administration have about the destabilizing factor in all of this
for the region as a whole and what, if anything, is the administration
doing? This comes on the heels of the U.S. trying to improve its image
in the region and, in fact, now we have more violent protests than
we've had in a long time.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President is focused on the core issues
that give rise to this. And those core issues are the dispute between
the Israeli's and the Palestinians. And the settlement of that has got
to be through what the President has discussed before: reducing the
level of violence, bringing the parties together around the political
progress that can be made as set out in the Mitchell plan. That's the
core issue that creates these events.
Q Right. So there's no diplomatic activity at other, kind of,
bilateral places like -- you know, with Bahrain, specifically, or
with Egypt, independent of Zinni's actions?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, there are other areas. If you recall, the
President over the weekend spoke to President Aznar. Spain holds the
presidency of the European Union. The President yesterday, when he
talked to President Putin, the two of them discussed this issue. You
can be assured that there are a variety of people, all who share the
President's concern about how to bring the parties together, who have
communications in the area.
But, again, the situation is, I think the American people recognize
and understand, is deeply, deeply complicated and has been an issue
that many American presidents have dealt with, and that President Bush
will continue to deal with it.
Q Ari, can I come back to the oil embargo, the threats? Does
America have anything specifically to say to those who are already
calling for an embargo to place pressure on America and Israel? And is
there anything specifically we would like to say to our friends in the
Arab world about the possibility of an oil embargo? Because they're in
sympathy with the goals --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, if you will note, the two states that have
said something about this topic are Iran and Iraq. But the President's
point is that in any environment, whether it's at a time of peace or a
time of violence in the Middle East, it is in America's interests in
all times to be more energy-independent. And that now rests in the
hands of the United States Senate.
Q You're saying to the Senate. Are we saying anything to our
friends in the Arab world about, look, let's not get started down this
road?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, the only nations that I'm aware of that have
even suggested this was the road they want to travel are Iran and Iraq,
and they have not been met with much agreement anywhere in the Arab
world.
Q And you're not concerned about that possibility, that others
might be interested and see this as a legitimate way of putting
pressure --
MR. FLEISCHER: As I think you've heard as well, Iran and Iraq are
the only two nations that seem to be going down -- if they, indeed,
travel this road, they're the only ones who are talking about this
road.
Q Ari, in light of the arc of the events in the Middle East, in
the President's view, is Yasser Arafat running out of time to
demonstrate 100 percent effort?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard the President discuss a timetable
of that nature, Ed.
Q Ari, do you expect that the Middle East will be the primary
focus of the discussions between the President and Prime Minister Blair
this weekend in Crawford? And any reaction to that call launched by
the EU for an international conference?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think with Prime Minister Blair's visit, the
focus will be, if the past is any guide, a very broad-based series of
discussions. I can tell you specifically this weekend at the
President's ranch, Prime Minister Blair and President Bush will talk
about the war against terrorism, they will talk about events in the
Middle East. I think they will talk about NATO, NATO enlargement,
which is coming up as an issue to be settled or decided upon this
fall. And typically they talk about many other issues around the
world.
The United States and Great Britain enjoy a very special
relationship, a very warm and friendly relationship. And the two
leaders enjoy spending time together and talking about these various
topics. So I think you're going to see a very wide ranging series of
discussions.
Q Have you gotten any more information about the documents found
by Israel linking Arafat to the suicide bombings? Has anyone in the
administration viewed them, or do they plan to?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have no information yet that anybody has reviewed
them. This is something that we will want to discuss. We have not, at
this moment, seen those documents. But under the obligations that the
Palestinian Authority agreed to under the Oslo accords where they
agreed to renounce terrorism, this would not be consistent with that.
But, again, we have not seen those documents yet.
Q Do you have any more information about what was apparently an
offer by North Korea to start talking a little bit more about its
nuclear program?
MR. FLEISCHER: I do. I've looked into those press reports, and
from what we can glean, we believe this is a reference to the North's
decision to resume talks of what's called KEDO, which is related to the
reactor project. This is the Korean Peninsula Energy Development
Organization, or KEDO.
We continue to await a response from North Korea to our
longstanding proposal to meet with them on broader issues of concern.
Q Ari, you've said that the collapse of the Middle East peace
process really was a result of the most recent wave of suicide
bombings. There was progress toward implementing the Zinni agreement a
week or so ago, and then this wave of particularly devastating bombings
destroyed it. And, yet, this administration has been under some
criticism from its earliest days to get more involved in the Middle
East peace process, though you have never said that you were
uninvolved.
Do you see no complicity on America's part in the not being
involved enough, early enough, to prevent things from getting to this
state and, perhaps, weakening our hand with our Arab allies?
MR. FLEISCHER: Wendell, the President has been deeply involved
from day one in the events in the Middle East and he remains deeply
involved. That applies to the President, himself, personally; that
applies to the Vice President, who just returned from a visit to the
region at the President's direction; that applies to the Secretary of
State; it applies to the United States government.
And, frankly, I think that's something the American people
recognize and agree with. I think the American people understand how
difficult the situation is in the Middle East, how it's been an issue
that has been around for decades. It did not begin on January 20,
2001. And I think the American people support what the President is
doing in terms of the level of engagement, the level of involvement and
the message that the President is providing.
Q Let me follow, if I can. The President has clearly stepped-up
his involvement. General Zinni remains in the region now; this past
fall and winter he was recalled. There have, as I said, been constant,
fairly constant calls for the U.S. to do more. Mr. Bush is doing more
now. Do you not see that having done more earlier might have
strengthened the U.S. hand?
MR. FLEISCHER: Wendell, I just answered that question. This is
nothing new; the history of the Middle East have been a series of calls
on the United States, at varying levels, to do what the United States
can do. And there is no question the United States can do a lot. We
are in the position to do the most to bring peace to the region.
To bring peace to the region it also takes a lot of work from the
two parties, themselves, to try to move the process forward. In that
part, the United States will always be there to help the two parties to
get the job done. The violence last week is what set it back, and
nobody should make any mistake about that.
But the President does not accept, not for one day, the notion that
the violence will forever derail the prospects for peace in the Middle
East because he, himself, personally remains committed to finding a way
to achieve peace in the Middle East, no matter what the time table.
Q Ari, one follow up. Does the United States believe that the
Palestinians or the Israelis are responsible for the desecration of the
Christian holy sites?
And, one other question. Would the U.S. accept a unilateral
declaration of a Palestinian state at this time?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President believes that the decision about the
creation of the Palestinian state, as he said when he announced his
support for a state named Palestine at the United Nations, will be as a
result of a security agreement, a political process that's agreed to by
the two parties. And that way, it can be a state that endures by
respecting Israel's right to exist in security. That is the
President's vision, at the end of the day.
What's so difficult at the Middle East is how to arrive at the end
of the day. But that's why the violence in any area, no matter how
holy -- the entire region is holy -- is something that the President
cares deeply about, and that's why he is going to stay at this and
commit himself to achieving peace.
Q What's the White House's reaction to President Mubarak's
letter calling for the United States to take immediate action to end
what he called the violent military campaign by Israel to occupy a
Palestinian area?
MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't seen the letter, so I'm not familiar with
it.
Q How does the President deal with the kind of pressure he's
under on this issue? I guess what I'm asking is, does he factor these
various voices into his thinking? Or does he take an approach that
says, you know, I need to shut out the noise and focus with my advisors
what I think is the best course?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, the President approaches this issue in
several ways. One, by having a clear sense of mission and purpose.
That clear sense of mission and purpose is a political settlement to
this dispute which, at the end of the day, results in the creation of a
Palestinian state and an Israel that has a right to live in security.
To achieve that, the President has set into motion a series of
mechanisms to help make that happen. That's the President's process.
As part of it, as you know over the weekend, when the President
called the leaders in the region -- and spoke to the King of Jordan
and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the President of Egypt, the
Presidency of the European Union, the Secretary General of the United
Nations -- the many people the President called over the weekend, the
President called them to talk to them, to listen to their thoughts, to
hear their concerns, to work the phones, and to think about or reflect
on the different messages he's hearing from the region. That's how you
bring people together. And it's a lengthy process in the Middle East.
And so the President approaches it by having a clear sense of
mission and vision, and then by listening and working with the leaders
on the ground.
Q But what about domestically? There are lots of interest
groups in this country that have opinions about the course he should
take. Is he going to listen to them and factor that in, or does he
take the approach this is a foreign policy matter?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as I kind of indicated in Wendell's question,
I think the President believes in the merits of what he's doing, no
matter how difficult it is. But I think the President believes that
the American people understand how difficult this region is, they
understand that setbacks can result from violence and I think the
President believes that the American people support what he is doing
and how he's doing it.
Q What it sounds like is he's decided, this is the course I'm
going to follow and I'm going to stay the course despite pressures from
all sides for me to do something --
MR. FLEISCHER: The President will always look for constructive
ways to accomplish bringing peace to the Middle East. And I think
that's what all presidents try to do. This has not been an easy issue
for any American president. But all presidents have tried, and tried
to do their best. President Bush is deeply in the middle of this. The
situation, as a result of what happened from last week forward, has
gotten to a very difficult point.
In President Bush's opinion, because it's difficult today, it does
not mean it will forever be impossible to make progress. And he,
again, is guided in his mind by how much progress is made, right up to
the point where the Passover massacre took place. He would like to
create an environment where that progress can begin again. And that is
the goal that he's dedicated himself to.
But he believes that it will happen, Ron; I can just tell you that
in talking to him. And he understands that it won't be easy, it's
going to be difficult and it's going to require a lot of give and take
in bringing people together, and he's dedicated to that and Secretary
Powell is, and that's the purpose of having an administration.
Q Can I just follow-up?
MR. FLEISCHER: We've got a lot of people who haven't had any yet,
and then we'll come to the top. We're still going in order here.
Q I wanted to follow a little bit on Jean and Kelly's question,
which is essentially to see where we are with our Arab allies in the
wake of 9/11. We put in a lot of work to try to bring people to our
side, to counter some of the negative images, and we see that
deteriorating in the moment.
On a diplomatic level, do we have diplomats -- the President this
weekend said he wanted to see within Arab nations leaders take efforts
not just to speak in one way publicly, but to speak to their own people
in a certain way. Are diplomats saying to Arab leaders, you need to
say something in your own country to counteract that? Or a press
office, much as the way we saw set up in London, something to try to
counter this, so in six months when there's a new U.S. goal that we
want to pursue but we've got a really negative situation, something
done to counteract that today?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President's message around the world is
consistent about the need to speak out and to counter terrorism in all
its forms, and that's something world leaders understand. They've
heard it from the President directly. They've heard it from the Vice
President when he traveled through the region. They hear it from the
State Department every day. And so it is a consistent approach. And
different leaders have different actions that they take in response to
that call.
Q Just to follow up on that, I mean, a lot of the criticism that
the United States is getting is from nations who we are relying on for
the broader war on terrorism. What kind of concerns do you have that
the position that the United States is taking in the Middle East is
going to undercut those broader efforts? Because, as you know, in the
Middle East, people have different views of what's terrorism and what
isn't terrorism.
MR. FLEISCHER: The President is confident that, as a result of
principled and consistent leadership in the fight against terrorism,
that's the best way to bring support and earn support around the
world. And the President will continue to engage in the personal
diplomacy. Secretary Powell will continue to engage in diplomacy, to
continue to build that case around the world.
So the President's approach will remain consistent, dedicated to
the fight against terrorism. There will be other issues that can come
up. The President will deal with those issues as they come up. But,
again, the President's belief is that by being consistent in the fight
against terrorism, and by working hard to solve the problem in the
Middle East, we can make progress on both fronts.
Q Ari, yesterday, Mark Regev, the spokesperson for the Israeli
Embassy here, said that there may be an Israeli pullout in a matter of
days, that Israel is definitely going to be pulling out and it may
happen in a matter of days. Has the White House been informed of
anything such as that?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have no information that would confirm that. I
can tell you what, of course, Secretary Powell yesterday said, that he
does not expect the Israeli action to be of a permanent duration. But
I cannot speak to the exact timing of what Israel is doing.
Q Ari, you were saying before that if these documents that the
Israelis put out yesterday are correct, it would be a violation of the
Oslo accords on Arafat's part. What would be the implication of a
violation of the Oslo accords?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm just not going to go beyond what I said about
those documents until we have seen them.
Q But I'm sort of curious why you haven't seen them? Everybody
in the world has seen them; they're up on the Web.
MR. FLEISCHER: That's not quite right.
Q Well, it is right.
MR. FLEISCHER: There's a difference between seeing something on TV
and seeing them.
Q Ari, there is a message for President Bush from the Indian
parliamentarians who were here in Washington studying the U.S. security
concerns and security problems. And they were impressed, because they
might take some message from here back home, because their House was
attacked and they escaped.
What they're saying is that really that the suicide bombings are
also happening in India, in Kashmir, and same suicide bombings from the
Middle East. There may be attacks now for the rest of the world, it
might move from the Middle East, because it appears it is a test and
some countries are even financing -- for these young suicide
bombers.
Now, I have not seen any single Muslim or Arab country publicly
condemning these suicide bombers or supporters. So what these
parliamentarians are saying, that President Bush is doing great job and
India is with the United States for fighting against terrorism, but the
President should look beyond really. It means fighting terrorism
against India, because we are in the same, similar situation like the
Middle East.
So what would you say to these people that what they said, that
India lost two Prime Ministers due to the terrorist bombings?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think that's why the legislative branch welcomed
these Indian leaders here. There was a group of, I think, four
representatives from India's lower house who went up to Capitol
Hill to have a discussion about the security procedures that were put
in place in our legislative branch that could be helpful to India's
legislative branch.
They did not meet with the White House. It was focused exclusively
Parliament to Congress, and we welcome such visits. It's a helpful way
for the United States to share information with other leaders of the
world who are concerned about terrorism at home.
Q Ari, the other day when you were asked --
MR. FLEISCHER: I thought I saw you on TV last night. Did I see
you in the audience for a TV show?
Q I don't know.
MR. FLEISCHER: I thought I saw you in the front row, watching a
show. It was a news show. (Laughter.)
Q Was it a CNN program?
MR. FLEISCHER: I believe it was. (Laughter.)
Q The other day when you were asked why you don't condemn
Israeli killing of innocent Palestinians you said, well -- as
terrorism, why the President doesn't condemn it as terrorism, you said,
well, when a Palestinian blows himself up in the cafeteria, he's
intending to kill innocents, but as for Israel there are times when in
military operations innocent lives are lost.
A number of human rights groups, including Beit Shalom, have
documented how Israel targets Palestinian civilians. Most recently, a
21-year-old Palestinian American, Suraida Saleh, on Friday was shot
down in Ramallah. She was, by the way, born a couple blocks from here
at GW Hospital. She was a passenger in a car; her husband was driving,
her husband is a journalist. And a group of Israeli undercover agents
dressed as Arabs -- they're called Mustaarabeem -- were at the
intersection and just opened fire on the car.
Now, if that fact pattern is correct, why doesn't the President
condemn that as terrorism?
Q The President has repeatedly stated his concern about the
impact of violence on all people in the region; he's repeatedly stated
his concern about the plight of the Palestinian people. It's one of
the reasons why he is so dedicated to finding a way to reduce the
violence, if not be able to stop it altogether. There's violence on
all sides. There is Palestinian against Palestinian violence. There
is taking of lives. There's loss of lives by innocents. This is why a
cease-fire and then progress on the political front is so essential, in
the President's opinion.
Q Ari, does the President regard the military actions Israel is
taking in Ramallah, in Bethlehem and elsewhere in the territories as
constituting self-defense?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have nothing to add beyond what the President,
himself, said about this topic on Saturday.
Q So is the answer "yes"?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has addressed that Saturday.
Q Can you say in what way the activities have made Israel more
secure?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, the President understands that after a
nation suffers a suicide bombing that took place, that a nation has a
right to defend itself. In the calling on that, the President has also
urged Israel to remember that the goal has got to be peace at the end
of the day.
Q I'm sorry, can I follow, Ari? Does the President still
believe, after all that's gone on, that Sharon and Arafat can implement
the terms of Tenet on their own, or does he believe that U.S. monitors
or observers will be necessary for that implementation?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, he believes that it has to have the
participation and the cooperation of the United States to have Sharon
and Arafat come together and the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority
come together in order to have a meaningful cease-fire take place.
That's why he sent General Zinni to the region and that's why General
Zinni is there.
The exact modalities of that, in terms of monitors or any other of
the other type events that would accompany that on the ground would be
determined by the negotiation with the Israelis, the Palestinians and
the United States. These were the tripartite talks that are taking
place under General Zinni's eye, that have been making so much progress
toward the middle of last week. And that clearly does involve a role
for the United States.
Q The Europeans are on the brink of imposing a whole range of
tariff hikes, specifically aimed at American products that are linked
to, as part of a steel decision. Does the White House feel that the
United States is now involved in a trade war?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think that as the President made clear when he
announced the action that was taken as a result of the finding by the
International Trade Commission concerning steel, that any actions any
other nations would take would have to be determined and considered by
the World Trade Organization. And that is the proper place for any
disputes to be settled, and if there are disputes, they will be settled
by the WTO in accordance with the laws that govern all the nations that
join the WTO.
Q Not the process, but is the result of what the Europeans are
doing --
MR. FLEISCHER: But the result cannot go into effect until the WTO
acts. So we understand that there are various nations that are
expressing themselves. But in terms of concrete action, it all has to
go as a result of the WTO rules, and be WTO legal and compliant.
Q Are these irritants in some way standing in the way of
American diplomacy and the larger issues that we've been discussing
here this morning?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think everybody has recognized that since the
Industrial Revolution, even before that, trade is a nation -- an
issue among nations that is always present in international relations,
and our relations with other nations are built on a series of items,
including trade, including many other issues that are bilateral that
lead to enduring strengths. And these trade issues always seem to
come, they get worked out, some of them rise up. It all seems to fit
into the international good relations business.
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