29 October 2002
White House Says Terrorists to Blame for Moscow Hostage Crisis
(Excerpts from regular White House briefing with Ari Fleischer) (2280)
President Bush "feels very strongly" that responsibility for the
deaths in the recent hostage crisis in Moscow "rests with the
terrorists who took these people hostage and put them in harm's way in
the first place," White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said in response
to questions from journalists October 29.
Asked how Bush views the use of gas in ending the crisis, Fleischer
responded: "The President understands that in this circumstance -- you
had terrorists who had proven that they were going to kill, who had
already killed, who were deadly serious about killing more, who had
700 hostages, who had the theater booby-trapped and were prepared to
take mass quantities of life. The President views this entire matter
as a tragic one, but it's a tragedy that was brought on as a result of
the terrorists who put people in the way."
Asked whether the Russian armed forces or Russian government bore any
responsibility for "driving the Chechnens to terrorism," Fleischer
replied that Bush's view is unequivocal: "There is no excuse for
terrorism in any part of the world by anybody for any reason, no
matter how worthy they believe their political goals. No matter how
much any individual or group thinks that their political goals are
more important than anybody else's -- there is no excuse to engage in
terrorizing innocent civilians and taking people hostage as the means
of trying to achieve their political goals."
He also noted that "the President's position toward the conflict,
itself, in Chechnya has been loud and clear, and that is, the best
solution and the ultimate solution to the dispute in Chechnya is a
political one. And the President has made that point repeatedly,
publicly and privately with Russian officials."
Fleischer made these remarks at the regular White House briefing.
Following are excerpts from the briefing:
(begin excerpt)
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
October 29, 2002
PRESS BRIEFING BY ARI FLEISCHER
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
12:35 p.m. EST
[...]
Q: Does the President think that it was right for Putin to gas his own
people, and do we know what kind of gas was used?
MR. FLEISCHER: We still do not have any information yet about the
exact nature of the gas that was used. Embassy Moscow is working to
ascertain that information. As for the President and his thinking
about all of this, the President feels very strongly that
responsibility for this rests with the terrorists who took these
people hostage and put them in harm's way in the first place. That's
where the President believes the fault lies.
Q: He thinks then, therefore, it was okay to use gas -- I mean at any
cost?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the President abhors the loss of all life in
this instance. And the President makes no mistake about who is to
blame for this -- the people who put people in harm's way, or the
terrorists who took the lives --
Q: I'm not asking who's to blame. Does he think it was right to use
gas, or does he think there were any possible alternatives?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President understands that in this circumstance --
you had terrorists who had proven that they were going to kill, who
had already killed, who were deadly serious about killing more, who
had 700 hostages, who had the theater booby-trapped and were prepared
to take mass quantities of life. The President views this entire
matter as a tragic one, but it's a tragedy that was brought on as a
result of the terrorists who put people in the way.
Q: The answer is yes?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm addressing it as the President approaches it.
Q: May I follow up on that? A couple questions on that. When America
was struck on [September] 11th, the first call I think we got from a
foreign leader was President Putin. Why hasn't President Bush called
President Putin immediately after a significant terrorist event in his
country?
MR. FLEISCHER: He did, Ron. President Bush called President Putin
immediately upon the taking of the hostages and offered America's
support, and said that we'll stand with you during this period. So he
indeed did.
Q: Okay, sorry about that. Did the President or have any of his people
asked the Russian government what type of gas was used in the siege
that has affected three or four Americans?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's what I indicated earlier; that's being worked
through Embassy Moscow.
Q: And again, have you gotten any further reading on what the U.S.
reaction is to the fact that the Russians won't tell us what type of
gas was used that may have hurt or killed Americans?
MR. FLEISCHER: We're continuing to work that through, through the
State Department and through embassy officials.
Q: You don't find it surprising or frustrating that Russia just
doesn't say, here's the answer? Why are they dragging their feet?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard it be characterized by the President,
so I would hesitate to do so myself.
Q: This morning you told us that the United States was consulted by
Russian security services in advance of the raid. About what? What was
the nature of those consultations?
MR. FLEISCHER: I looked into the question that I got earlier, and to
the best that I've been able to determine, there have been -- there
was no advance notice to the Americans about the raid, no advance
discussions to Americans about the nature of the raid, what it would
entail, the type -- the gas. Obviously we still don't know what the
gas was, so there was no -- nothing that I've been able to discern
that would lead anybody to that conclusion.
Q: But there were advance consultations about the situation?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, there were. There was discussions as soon as the
hostages were taken, which I think you expect any time there is any
type of incident around the world, there's a tendency to
information-share about anything that could be helpful. But nothing at
all that I've been able to glean along the lines that I was asked this
morning.
Q: And then do you know what extent -- what the extent of U.S.
programs involving this kind of weapon, this kind of gas that was used
in --
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know specifically, Terry. What I can tell you
is that the Department of Defense does have a variety of programs
involving non-lethal systems, in a host of areas. I think many of
these have been public before. I know there have been interesting
stories in the press, for example, about foams, non-lethal foams that
can be used to immobilize people, weapons that shoot nets to trap
people, things of that nature that can be used in different types of
military situations.
Q: And gasses?
MR. FLEISCHER: You'd have to talk to the Department of Defense about
any of the specific, individual programs that they have. I'm not
familiar with each and every one of them.
[...]
Q: Ari, Putin said, in dealing with the Chechens, that this was a part
of the global war on terrorism. And earlier today you were asked
whether or not the administration agreed with that position. You said,
to the extent that al Qaeda is in Chechnya and the rest of the world.
Considering that Russia has given assistance to our war on terrorism,
would the White House, would the administration consider offering
intelligence or personnel or training regarding going after al Qaeda,
say in Chechnya?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, we already do provide the information sharing.
That is a two-way street, and very productively so. It's one of the
interesting things about the end of the Cold War, and the growing
relationship between the United States and Russia. We do share
information with Russia in our mutual effort to fight terrorism. In
addition, I'd remind you that in support of putting an end to
terrorist activities in and around Chechnya, the United States is
providing military training and equipment programs for Georgia,
particularly in the Pankisi Gorge, a neighbor of Russia that's
involved -- the hostilities have been coming from areas that are
particularly centered around the Pankisi Gorge.
Q: Considering what the President has said about the use of poison gas
recently, are there some circumstances in which it is okay to use it?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, I think that it's important to find out
first what exactly was the gas that Russia used. And it's impossible
to characterize it beyond that unless we know.
[...]
Q: I want to make sure I understand your answer about the question on
the Moscow raid. You said that there were advance consultations on the
hostages. Did any of those consultations between American and Russian
officials regarding the hostages get into the area of what the
Russians might or might not be about to do to free those hostages?
MR. FLEISCHER: To the best that I've been able to learn in the
inquiries that I have made, I have no information that would support
that the United States had any advance knowledge of the tactics that
would be used or the nature of the raid.
Q: To your knowledge, there was no American input of any kind into --
MR. FLEISCHER: How it transpired?
Q: Right.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I have not been able to determine that from anybody
I've talked to.
Q: One more on Chechnya, if I may. I understand your answer that the
President believes that the main responsibility for the violence rests
with the Chechen terrorists. Does the President believe that the
Russian armed forces bear any responsibility for driving the Chechnens
to terrorism, given the tactic that Russian armed forces has used
since 1994 in Chechnya?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President's position toward the conflict,
itself, in Chechnya has been loud and clear, and that is, the best
solution and the ultimate solution to the dispute in Chechnya is a
political one. And the President has made that point repeatedly,
publicly and privately with Russian officials.
Q: I understand that, but the question is, there is a history to this
thing. Chechen terrorism didn't begin, didn't sort of spring full
grown from someone's brow. Does the Russian armed forces, does the
Russian government bear any responsibility for driving some number of
Chechens into terrorist actions out of desperation, given the kind of
tactics that the Russians have used?
MR. FLEISCHER: Ken, I can tell you something as powerfully, as
unequivocally as I possibly can from the President of the United
States: There is no excuse for terrorism in any part of the world by
anybody for any reason, no matter how worthy they believe their
political goals. No matter how much any individual or group thinks
that their political goals are more important than anybody else's --
there is no excuse to engage in terrorizing innocent civilians and
taking people hostage as the means of trying to achieve their
political goals.
Q: And in the President's view there's no connection between the
tactics that the Russian armed forces have used --
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, your question supposes that the Russians are to
blame for the terrorists taking Russian citizens hostage. And the
President does not share that. The President knows that the people
responsible, the people who shoulder the burden and the blame are the
terrorists. And there is no excuse -- around the world, in any region
-- for people resorting to terror against innocent civilians to
achieve their civilian goals.
Q: Does that include the past, Ari?
Q: Ari, does the administration take comfort in the strong words that
President Putin said about now really waging a war on terrorism? And
as part of that, I mean, does it ease their opposition to what we're
trying to do with Iraq?
MR. FLEISCHER: Larry, I don't know that I can say that the President
takes comfort in hearing these strong words. I think, frankly, the
President's first reaction is sorrow that other nations around the
world are being victimized by terrorists, whether it's President
Megawati in Indonesia and the people of Indonesia and the people of
Australia, or whether it's the Russians now and President Putin. I
don't think the President welcomes the fact that other nations are
facing up to some of the same issues that we faced up to after
September 11th, because they are now victims of people who are killers
and murderers.
I think the President does recognize that the world does see how
global this terrorist threat can be, how important it is for us to
work together with our allies and friends on a common approach to
terrorism.
That's one of the positive outcomes of the APEC summit that the
President just left in Mexico, where the nations of the Pacific are
talking about how to work together to protect against terrorist
threats. It's one of the reasons there was an initiative there to --
just like in Canada, at the recent G-8 summit -- to bind our nations
together, where United States Customs officials will go to ports
abroad to work collaboratively with our friends in those ports to
prevent terrorists from using foreign soil to reach American soil.
So in some ways, the world is joining as one in the fight against
terrorism. But no matter what has caused a nation to step up to its
fight of terrorism, the President expresses sorrow that innocent lives
are taken as the world steps up.
Q: And do you see it as having any kind of implications for the
situation with Iraq and Russian cooperation?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not heard anybody make that case, so I can't say
it.
[...]
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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