*EPF304 04/17/2002
Bush Says the Middle East Must Choose Between Peace or Terror
(Also discusses global war on terrorism in VMI speech) (940)

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Washington -- All parties in the Middle East region "must choose between two separate paths -- the path of peace or the path of terror," President Bush said in a speech April 17 at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, in which he also discussed the global war on terrorism.

Bush thanked Secretary of State Colin Powell "for his hard work at a difficult task" on his trip to the Middle East. "He returns home having made progress towards peace," the President said, adding that "we're confronting hatred that is centuries old, disputes that have lingered for decades."

Bush said he will continue to remind leaders in the region that they have responsibilities in the short run to defuse the current crisis.

"The Palestinian Authority must act -- must act -- on its words of condemnation against terror. Israel must continue its withdrawals, and all Arab states must step up to their responsibilities.

"The Egyptians and Jordanians and Saudis have helped in the wider war on terrorism," he said, "and they must help confront terrorism in the Middle East.

"All parties have a responsibility to stop funding or inciting terror," Bush said, and "all parties must say clearly that a murderer is not a martyr; he or she is just a murderer."

"And all parties must realize that the only vision for a long-term solution is for two states -- Israel, Palestine -- to live side by side in security and in peace. That will require hard choices and leadership -- by Israelis, Palestinians, and their Arab neighbors. The time is now for all to make the choice for peace."

Discussing the broader war on terrorism, and what he called "the grave threat" the civilized world faces from weapons of mass destruction possessed by "a small number of outlaw regimes," Bush said "wherever global terror threatens the civilized world, we and our friends and our allies will respond and will respond decisively."

This battle, he said, will be fought "in different ways, with different tactics in different places. And we will fight the threat from weapons of mass destruction in different ways, with different tactics in different places. Yet our objective is always the same: We will defeat global terror, and we will not allow the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most dangerous weapons."

"Every nation that joins our cause is welcome. Every nation that needs our help will have it," Bush said, adding that "no nation can be neutral. Around the world, the nations must choose -- they are with us or they're with the terrorists."

The global coalition against terror is having success, he said.

"Today around the world we make progress on the many fronts. In some cases we use military force, and others we're fighting through diplomacy, financial pressure or special operations. In every case, we will defeat the threats against our country and the civilized world."

Discussing the situation in Afghanistan, Bush said the battles there against al Qaeda terrorists are not over.

"As the spring thaw comes, we expect cells of trained killers to try to regroup, to murder, create mayhem, and try to undermine Afghanistan's efforts to build a lasting peace," he said. "We're tough. We're determined. We're relentless. We will stay until the mission is done."

Bush noted that in what he called the second phase of the war on terror, U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence officers are helping countries around the world in their efforts to crack down on terror within their borders.

"Global terrorism will be defeated only by a global response," he said. "We must prevent al Qaeda from moving its operations to other countries. We must deny terrorists the funds they need to operate. We must deny them safe havens to plan new horrors and indoctrinate new recruits."

The United States, Bush noted, is working with Yemen's government to prevent terrorists from reassembling there. It sent troops to help train local forces in the Philippines to help them defeat terrorists trying to establish a militant regime, and the U.S. is providing temporary help to the Republic of Georgia as that country routs out a terrorist cell near the Russian border.

Discussing the threat posed by rogue nations that possess and are developing chemical and biological and nuclear weapons, the President said these regimes are "building missiles to deliver them and at the same time cultivating ties to terrorist groups.

"In their threat to peace, in their mad ambitions, in their destructive potential, and in the repression of their own people, these regimes constitute an axis of evil, and the world must confront them."

America, he said, along with other nations, "will oppose the proliferation of dangerous weapons and technologies. We will proceed with missile defenses to protect the American people, our troops, and our friends and allies. And America will take the necessary action to oppose emerging threats. We'll be deliberate and we will work with our friends and allies, and as we do so, we will uphold our duty to defend freedom."

"Men and women everywhere," the President said, "want to live in dignity to create and build and own; to raise their children in peace and security. The way to a peaceful future can be found in the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. Dignity requires the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property, equal justice, religious tolerance. No nation owns these principles; no nation is exempt from them."

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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