"If somebody were sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop it. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."
- US Senator Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, during his trip to the Middle East, July 24, 2008
"And I am especially pleased - as the first British Prime Minister to address the Knesset - to congratulate you at this sixtieth anniversary on the achievement of 1948: the centuries of exile ended, the age-long dream realised, the ancient promise redeemed - the promise that even amidst suffering, you will find your way home to the fields and shorelines where your ancestors walked."
- Speech by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the Knesset , Jerusalem, Israel, July 22, 2008 (full speech)
"We face with the Iranians, and so do our allies and friends, a growing missile threat that is growing ever longer and ever deeper and where the Iranian appetite for nuclear technology to this point is still unchecked."
- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, July 9, 2008
“If you were living in Israel, you’d be a little nervous, if a leader in your neighborhood announced that he’d like to destroy you. And one sure way of achieving that means, is through the development of a nuclear weapon. Therefore, now is the time for all of us to work together to stop Iran,”
- US President George W. Bush, June 10, 2008
"To allow the world's leading sponsor of terror to gain the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
- US President George W. Bush, May 18, 2008
"I have always been and will always be a friend of Israel . . . Anyone trying to destroy Israel will find France blocking the way . . . the Iranian crisis is the largest in the world. Israel is not alone in this crisis. France will always stand beside you and assist you when needed."
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, June 23, 2008
"The establishment of Israel "the miracle of the 20th century."
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, October 2007
"All
the decades of deceit and cruelty have now
reached an end. Saddam
Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within
48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result
in military conflict commenced at a time of
our choosing. For their own safety,
all foreign nationals, including journalists
and inspectors, should leave Iraq immediately.
Many Iraqis can hear me to night in a translated
radio broad cast, and I have a message for
them: If we must begin a military campaign,
it will be directed against the lawless men
who rule your country and not against you...
America tried to work with the United Nations
to address this threat because we wanted to
resolve the issue peacefully. We believe in
the mission of the United Nations. One
reason the U.N. was founded after the Second
World War was to confront aggressive dictators
actively and early, before they can attack
the innocent and destroy the peace... This
is not a question of authority, it is a question
of will... The
United Nations Security Council has not lived
up to its responsibilities, so we will rise
to ours."
-
US President George W. Bush, March 17, 2003 (full
transcript)
"The games he (Saddam Hussein) has been playing are over. It's time to stop
him"
-
US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, March 9, 2003
"Saddam
Hussein has a long history of reckless aggression
and terrible crimes. He possess weapons of terror.
He provides funding and training and safe haven
to terrorists, terrorists who would willing use
weapons of mass destruction against America and
other peace-loving countries. Saddam Hussein
and his weapons are a direct threat to
this country,
to our people and to all free people. If the
world fails to confront the threat posed
by the Iraqi
regime, refusing to use force even as a last
resort, free nations would assume the unacceptable
risks.
The attacks of September the 11th, 2001, show
what the enemies of America did with four
airplanes.
We will not wait to see what terrorists or terrorist
states could do with weapons of mass destruction.
We are determined to confront threats wherever
they arise. I will not leave the American people
at the mercy of the Iraqi dictator and his weapons...
I want the United Nations to be effective. It's
important for it to be a robust, capable body.
It's important for its words to mean what they
say. And as we head into the 21st century. I'm
confident the American people understand that when
it comes to our security, if we need to act, we
will act, and we really don't need the United Nations'
approval to do so. When it comes to our security,
we really don't need anybody's permission."
- US President George W.
Bush, March 6, 2003
"It's
a moment for this body (The UN)... to determine
whether or not it's going to be relevant as the
world confronts threats in the 21st century.
Is it going to be a body that means what
it says?
We certainly hope so."
- US President George W. Bush,
February 23, 2003
"Different threats require different strategies. In Iran, we continue to
see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction
and supports terror. We also see Iranian citizens risking intimidation and
death as they speak out for liberty and human rights and democracy. Iranians,
like all people, have a right to choose their own government and determine their
own destiny and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom...
The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving... Evidence
from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people now
in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects
terrorists, including members of al-Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints,
he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop
their own. Before September 11, many in the world believed that Saddam
Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents and lethal viruses and shadowy
terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with
other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam. It
would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring
a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in
our power to make sure that that day never comes. Some have said we must not
act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced
their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If
this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words
and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and
restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy and it is not an option. This dictator
who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on
whole villages, leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind or disfigured.
Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained by torturing children
while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have
catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock,
burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills,
cutting out tongues and rape. If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. And
tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy
is not surrounding your country. Your enemy is ruling your country. And the day
he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation."
- US President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, January 28, 2003
"We
are where we are today with Iraq because Saddam
Hussein
and his regime have repeatedly violated the trust
of the United Nations, his people and his neighbors,
to such an extent as to pose a grave danger
to international
peace and security... it is not a matter of time,
it is a matter of telling the truth... We will
have
to take that next step, and history will judge
us as to whether or not we have the strength,
the fortitude
and the willingness to take that next step."
-
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, January 26, 2003
"To the European side, I said, Your attitude
towards Israel and the Arabs and the Palestinians
should be balanced. When it will be balanced, you
are most welcome to participate. But at this moment,
the relations are unbalanced."
-
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, January 19,
2003
"President
Bush said that leaders compromised by terror cannot
be partners for peace. Legitimizing the sham reform
efforts of Arafat's regime will, in effect, legitimize
a Palestinian leadership compromised by terror. Not
only has the PA failed to fight terrorism, Arafat's
own Fatah and Tanzim forces proudly took credit for
yesterday's savage attack, and for many other atrocities
over the last two years."
-
Israeli Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, January
6, 2003
"The passengers aboard
the bus yesterday had the basic human right to live
and not be burned to death, and this was violated
in the most shocking and horrific way. No one in Europe
has ever experienced suicide attacks... If you want
to rebuild homes of terrorists that we destroyed,
why not repair blown up buses and bring people back
to life?"
-
Israel Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, The European
Parliament, October 22, 2002
"The
use of arms did not give us any credit. The Palestinians
now have to think very carefully about the next phase.
I'm not saying the struggle against the occupation
should not continue, but it has to be a peaceful one,
with the help of our friends all over the world...
We have 80 percent unemployment in the Bethlehem area
and the city is paralyzed from an economic point of
view."
- Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser (The Jerusalem Post,
August 21, 2002)
"Think
of the prelude to World War Two. Think of all
the countries that said, well, we dont
have enough evidence. I mean, Mein Kampf had
been written. Hitler had indicated what he intended
to do. The people who argued for waiting for
more evidence have to ask themselves how they
are going to feel at that point where another
event occurs."
-
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (London
Telegraph, August 21, 2002)
"If
you have a country that's a sliver and you can see
three sides of it from a high hotel building, you've
got to be careful what you give away and to whom you
give it. If you're giving it to an entity that has
some track record, that has a degree of accountability,
that has the ability to enforce security that's promised
in whatever arrangements are made, it seems to me
that's one thing. If you're making a deal and yielding
territory to an entity that cannot or will not do
that -- and there is no question but that the Palestinian
Authority have been involved with terrorist activities,
so that makes it a difficult interlocutor.
My feeling about the so-called occupied territories
are that there was a war, Israel urged neighboring
countries not to get involved in it once it started,
they all jumped in, and they lost a lost of real estate
to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict.
In the intervening period, they've made some settlements
in various parts of the so-called occupied area, which
was the result of a war, which they won.
They have offered up -- successive prime ministers
have offered up various portions of that so-called
occupied territory, the West Bank, and at no point
has it been agreed upon by the other side. I suspect
it will be, even in my lifetime, that there will
be
some sort of an entity that will be established.
Maybe it will take some Palestinian expatriates
coming back
into the region and providing the kind of responsible
government that would give confidence that you
could
make an arrangement with them that would stick.
It may be that the neighboring countries, Egypt
and Jordan
and Saudi Arabia and others, will have to assist
in providing a degree of accountability."
-
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, August
6, 2002 (full
transcript)
"Israel
is the only outpost of freedom and democracy in the
Middle East and the only absolutely reliable friend
of the United States"
-
Former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, August 5,
2002
"If you talk to people who use anti-Semitic clichés without knowing
what they are doing, they are shocked that somebody would think they were anti-Semitic.
But it's everywhere. It's in print. It's dinner party conversations. When a
dozen Israeli kids are killed because somebody throws a bomb in order to kill
Israeli
kids, then it's regrettable. If Israel kills a dozen kids as collateral damage
when they try to kill a murderer who hides among children, then this is a war
crime."
Oscar
Bronner - publisher and editor of Der Standard,
a major Austrian daily newspaper, August, 2002
"I'm
just as angry as Israel is right now. I'm furious
that innocent life was lost. However through
my fury,
even though I am mad, I still believe peace is
possible... We are committed to the war on terror,
to fighting
the war on terror, to winning the war on terror."
-
US President George W. Bush mourned the deaths of
five Americans in a Jerusalem bombing, August 1, 2002
"The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian
army came across the Jordan River, I would personally
grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die."
-
Former US President Bill Clinton, July 31, 2002
"I
worked for 18 months to try to put in place a plan
that would allow Chairman Arafat to demonstrate his
leadership. We would have been way along if the violence
had been brought down. Chairman
Arafat simply did not seize any of these opportunities
to bring the violence under control. Moreover,
after the Israelis pulled back from the recent occupation
... we thought maybe we have some movement. What we
saw instead were more bombing. Bombing
after bombing after bombing after bombing, day after
day. Frankly, we also saw continuing indications
that there was complicity with the senior levels in
the Palestinian Authority."
-
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, CBS' "Face
the Nation", June 30, 2002
"We
believe that the leadership he (Arafat) has provided
to the Palestinian people has been inadequate, and
we believe he is compromised. That's why the president
strongly has advocated new leadership coming into
the Palestinian government... Every time we got something
going, the terror came back. And Chairman Arafat was
not doing enough to end the terror, either through
the power of his voice, his position within the Palestinian
community, or the use of the institutions that were
available to him... We hope that Palestinian leaders
will be able to work with us. Not Chairman Arafat. I don't see that as a possibility."
-
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Fox News Sunday,
June 30, 2002 (full
transcript)
"Arafat
is somebody who failed his people and failed to lead
when he had a chancenot just with this
administration. Clearly the Clinton administration
gave him a terrific opportunity to lead. Ehud Barak,
the former prime minister of Israel, gave him a terrific
opportunity to lead. We know
now that the Israeli leadership and the Israeli people,
apparently, a Democratic Israel, was prepared to give
up perhaps 97 percent of the land. They were prepared
to make arrangements on Jerusalem. They were prepared
to make arrangements for right of return of Palestinian
refugees. And what did they get in return? Arafat
started the second Intifadah instead and rejected
that offered hand of friendship. Eventually
you have to say that the problem is with this leadership
and, again, we believe in free elections. We believe
in the democratic process. We believe that institutions,
which constrain the power of one person, can make
a difference to the lives of the Palestinian people.
But this president believes firmly that until there
is a change, a change that we are prepared to help
actively bring about through international assistance, until there is that change, were not going to
be able to make progress on peace... We have
said that the fact of the matter is, that if you have
this leadership that you have now, that youre
not going to make progress on peace because they have
demonstrated no desire to do so."
-
US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, MBC's
"Meet The Press", June 30, 2002 (full
transcript)
"I
think the president has given up hope that Yasser
Arafat can be the one to implement reform."
-
US presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer, June
26, 2002
"I
meant what I said, that there needs to be change.
If people are interested in peace something else has
got to happen. We are now mired in a situation now
where there is terror on the one hand and hopelessness
on the other and that is unacceptable... Listen, I
can assure you we won't be putting money into a society
which is not transparent, and corrupt. And I suspect
other countries won't either."
-
US President George W. Bush, June 26, 2002
"It
is for the Palestinians to elect the people they choose
to elect. But if we are going to make progress we
need people we can negotiate with, who are serious
about negotiating around the issues of security and
political reform necessary for the peace process to
work."
-
British PM Tony Blair, June 26, 2002
"Peace
requires a new and different Palestinian leadership.
I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders,
leaders not compromised by terror... Today, the Palestinian
people live in economic stagnation, made worse by
official corruption. A Palestinian state will require
a vibrant economy, where honest enterprise is encouraged
by honest government... Today,
Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing,
terrorism. This is unacceptable. And the United States
will not support the establishment of a Palestinian
state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight
against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure."
-
US President George Bush, June 24, 2002
"It's hard to get people to focus on peace today
when there's still suffering from the consequences
of terrorism as we speak."
-
US presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer, June
19, 2002
"Frankly,
the Palestinian Authority, which is corrupt and cavorts
with terror...is not the basis for a Palestinian state
moving forward."
-
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Mercury
News, June 15, 2002
"Well, we should keep in mind, he's (Saeb Erekat)
the man who wrongly told the world that there had
been a massacre at Jericho, wrongly told the world
that the Church of the Nativity in -- it was being
torched by Israelis. So I take what he says with a
great grain of salt."
-
CNN's 'Crossfire' host Paul Begala, June 5, 2002
"In
the president's eyes, Yasser Arafat has never played
a role of someone who can be trusted or who was
effective."
-
US presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer, June
5, 2002
"He's had [Arafat] a chance to lead. He had a
chance to get a peace agreement with my predecessor.
He's had chance after chance. And by failing to lead,
he has really let the Palestinians down. I say that
with a lot of angst in my heart, because I am concerned
about the plight of the Palestinian citizenry, poor
and isolated and frustrated. Somebody said, has he
earned your respect? I said, he never had my respect,
because ... he let his people down. The role of a
leader is to lead."
-
US President George Bush, May 21, 2002
"There
have in the past been bombings by elements of the
Palestinian organizations that come under his (Arafat)
control, and there he clearly has the capacity to
act."
-
US Vice President Dick Cheney, May 19, 2002
"Showing
solidarity with Israel today is showing solidarity
with America's war on terrorism."
-
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D), NY, May 5, 2002
"Between
last year's parade and this year's parade, we had
the terrible tragedy of 9-11, and if New Yorkers
don't stand up today, I don't know when you would...
It is terribly important that New York send a message
that we are behind Israel and against terrorism.
Terrorists will not beat us."
-
NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg, May 5, 2002
"The
bond between America and Israel is not just a strategic
one, though that is important. Today, in the war
against terror, we have no stronger ally than Israel.
The more profound tie between our two countries,
however, is a moral one. We are two democracies
whose alliance is forged in our common values. To
be proudly pro-American and pro-Israeli is not to
hold conflicting loyalties. As Scoop understood,
it is about defending the principles that both countries
hold dear.
And I stand before you today, proudly pro-American
and pro-Israel."
- Senator John McCain, The Wall Street Journal,
April 26, 2002 (More)
"I
do believe Ariel Sharon is a man of peace. I think
he wants -- I'm confident he wants Israel to be able
to exist at peace with its neighbor -- with its neighbors...
In Ramallah, there is an issue with the Zeevi five
killers. They're housed in the basement where Colin
visited with Mr. Arafat. And we will work with the
Israelis to figure out a solution to the Zeevi five.
These people are accused of killing a Cabinet official
of the Israeli government. And I can understand why
the Prime Minister wants them brought to justice.
They should be brought to justice if they killed this
man in cold blood."
-
US President George Bush, April 18, 2002 (full
transcript)
"In my meetings with Chairman Arafat, I made
it clear that he and the Palestinian Authority could
no longer equivocate. They must decide, as the rest
of the world has decided, that terrorism must end."
-
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, April 17, 2002
"The PLO engages in state-sponsored terrorism,
and there is no question about it."
-
NY Governor George Pataki, April 11, 2002
"Our dead lie in a long row: women and children,
young and old. And we stand facing them, facing the
vacuum created by their murders, and we are speechless...
And there is one dispatcher: Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat. He is the man who, in a series
of agreements, promised to abandon the path of terrorism,
refrain from committing murder, use his forces to
prevent it - and betrayed all his promises."
-
Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon, April 8, 20002 (full
transcript)
"The
chairman of the Palestinian Authority has not consistently
opposed or confronted terrorists. At Oslo and elsewhere,
Chairman [Yasser] Arafat renounced terror as an
instrument of his cause, and he agreed to control
it. He's not done so. The situation in which he
finds himself today is largely of his own making.
He's missed his opportunities and thereby betrayed
the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead...
I call on the Palestinian Authority and all governments
in the region to do everything in their power to
stop terrorist activities, to disrupt terrorist
financing and to stop inciting violence by glorifying
terror in state-owned media or telling suicide bombers
they are martyrs. They're not martyrs. They're murderers.
And they undermine the cause of the Palestinian
people."
-
US President George Bush, April 4, 2002 (full
transcript)
"I fully understand Israel's need to defend herself;
I respect that. It's a country that has seen a wave
of suicide bombers coming to the heart of their cities
and killing innocent people. And that country has
a right to defend herself. As she does so."
-
US President George Bush, March 29, 2002
"I was delighted to have the opportunity to reaffirm
the strength of America's commitment to the security
and well-being of our friends in Israel.
"The
prime minister and I have discussed a wide range
of issues including our cooperation in the war against
global terror and our shared concern about the spread
of weapons of mass destruction.
"We have also discussed ways of ending the
terror and the violence that have brought so much
suffering to the people of this region.
...
"I would expect the 100 percent effort (by
Arafat) to begin immediately."
-
US Vice President Dick Cheney, Jerusalem, March
19, 2002
"Ladies and gentlemen, Canada has rejoiced at
the triumphs of Israel. We shared the incredible hope
that accompanied the visit of Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.
Like the world, we were heartened over the past decade
as a just and lasting peace seemed to come close.
But since then and all too often, we have shared the
sorrow of Israel as the promise of peace has receded
and as terror has been unleashed on her people. We
continue to express our horror and outrage at the
mounting toll of innocent lives. Too many Israelis
and too many Palestinians are dying. Too many families
are suffering.
There is nothing in our experience that can capture
the fear that Israelis now live with every hour of
every day, where allowing your children to go to a
pizza parlour or a disco or just to play in the park
can be a choice between life and death.
Let me reaffirm tonight that there is no justification
whatsoever for acts of terror against innocent civilians.
Canada condemns without equivocation the use of violence
for political objectives by any state or group. Moreover,
we have called on Yasser Arafat as leader of the Palestinian
Authority to live up to his responsibilities. And
to take strong and effective action against extremist
groups who continue to use the territory under his
authority for safe harbour."
-
Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, March
6, 2002
"Wherever terrorism strikes,
that's ground zero."
...
"Those who protect, and give safe harbor to terrorism
must be held responsible. Yasser Arafat bears the
responsibility for the violence that has occurred,
it rests on his shoulders, even today he could do
more to end the terrorism."
...
"(The Sbarro pizzeria where 15 people were killed
in a suicide bombing last August) is open here and
ready for business and the people of Jerusalem and
Israel are going about their daily lives despite the
threat of terrorism. It is a great lesson to New York
and America."
...
"If
before September 11 I had a sense of commitment to
Israel's future and security, that commitment became
ever more personal and profound after the 11th of
September."
...
"The facts are that Arafat stands responsible
and should be held accountable for the terrorism taking
place under his watch."
...
"(Arafat is) unwilling and unable to be a peace
partner. We do not have a partner on the other side
for that type of long-term negotiated settlement."
- U.S. Senator
Hillary Clinton, February 24, 2002
"The
responsibility for the violence since the collapse
of the Camp David discussions rests squarely on
(Arafat's) shoulders."
...
" (Arafat) has failed as a leader and his inability
or unwillingness to rein in forces of violence and
terrorism demonstrates he is not ready or willing
to be a leader."
...
"It is imperative that Yasser Arafat recognize
that his willingness not only to tolerate but to
use violence cannot succeed."
-
U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, February 23, 2002
"You cannot negotiate with terrorists because
the single response of terrorists for fulfilling their
demands is blackmail - new demands, nothing more.
This was our experience with the regime of Adolph
Hitler"
...
"(Israel) cannot negotiate with people who kill
civilians for political purposes."
...
"Any political leader who tolerates political
terrorism as a legitimate tool for his political campaign
- is a terrorist.
You know the English expression - if it looks like
a duck, walks like a duck, tastes like a duck - then
it is a duck."
-
Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman, February 17, 2002
"A
terrorist underworld -- including groups like Hamas,
Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Jaish-i-Mohammed -- operates
in remote jungles and deserts, and hides in the
centers of large cities"
...
"Iran aggressively pursues these weapons (weapons
of mass destruction) and exports terror, while an
unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope
for freedom."
...
"Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward
America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime
has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and
nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is
a regime that has already used poison gas to murder
thousands of its own citizens -- leaving the bodies
of mothers huddled over their dead children. This
is a regime that agreed to international inspections
-- then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime
that has something to hide from the civilized world.
States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute
an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of
the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction,
these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They
could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them
the means to match their hatred. They could
attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United
States. In any of these cases, the price of
indifference would be catastrophic."
-
U.S. President George Bush, State of the Union Address,
January 29, 2002
If anybody harbors a terrorist, theyre
a terrorist. If they fund a terrorist, theyre
a terrorist. If they house terrorists, theyre
terrorists. I mean, I cant make it any more
clear to other nations around the world."
-
U.S. President George Bush, November 26 2001
"In
the 1930s, Hitler told us what he was going to do
and we ignored it for years and years and years.
In the 1990s, the terrorists told us what they were
going to do and we ignored it. We glorified Yasser
Arafat when he was training terrorists in Palestine.
We allowed Saddam Hussein to build weapons of mass
destruction as we removed inspectors. And we
ignored I can't say the handwriting on the
wall but maybe the handwriting just in the
desk drawer that just needed to be opened. And we
should never do that again."
-
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, January 26,
2002
"I
know where he (Arafat) acquired the weapons.
He did acquire the weapons from Iran. The really
disturbing part of this, of course, is that there
are a lot of places he could go in the Arab world
if he were looking for support and sustenance or
for help in moving the peace process forward. Clearly,
he hasn't done that. What he's done is gone to a
terrorist organization, Hezbollah, and a state that
supports and promotes terrorism, that's dedicated
to ending the peace process, Iran, and done business
with them."
-
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, FOX News, January
27, 2002
"If
Arafat wants to commit suicide, then we won't stand
in his way"
-
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, December 2001
"We're
asking no more of Chairman Arafat than we've asked
of every responsible leader, and that is not to
allow terrorism to continue in areas that you control."
-
U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice,
Face The Nation, CBS, December 16, 2001
"All
of that was blown up by these terrorist organizations
on the Palestinian side, The failure is not Gen.
Zinni's, it's not the United States government.
The failure is with the parties in the region, especially,
I have to say, on the part of the Palestinians for
not getting the violence under control."
-
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Meet The Press,
NBC, December 16, 2001
For
a complete transcript, click here
"The
president said what he has repeatedly said publicly
that Chairman Arafat has to show leadership.
There are people on both sides in the Middle East
who want peace and others who seek to obstruct peace,
and Chairman Arafat needs to show to the world what
side he is on."
-
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, December
13, 2001
"The situation has become more serious with these
attacks against the Israeli population. I understand
very well Israel's decision to try to protect itself.
Mr. Arafat must immediately take the necessary steps
to control the terrorists, the people who are capable
of blocking the peace process."
-
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Manley,
December 13, 2001
"Chairman
Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must move immediately
to arrest those responsible for these attacks and
to destroy the infrastructure of the terror organizations
that support them. Coexistence with these organizations
or acquiescence in their activities is simply not
acceptable. Palestinians must act against these
groups and they must act now."
-
US envoy Anthony Zinni, December 12, 2001
"Palestinian
people ought to be asking their leaders, 'Where
does this take us?' and the answer is, 'Nowhere.'"
-
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, December 9,
2001
"The
fact of the matter is, until Arafat demonstrates
that hes serious about controlling suicide
attackers from Palestinian territory against the
Israelis, theres not going to be any progress.
...
"Obviously, the Palestinian people are responsible
for deciding whos going to be their leader
and who represents them. But Hamas, the terrorist
organization-the president took steps this week
to clamp down on their funding and financing-has
taken credit for having killed 25 Israeli civilians
and wounded over 200 more in the past. Its
not surprising, given that level of violence and
those repeated attacks, that the Israelis take steps
to defend themselves. They have every right to do
so."
-
Vice President Dick Cheney, Meet The Press, NBC,
December 9, 2001
For
a complete transcript, click here
"Arafat
is not a particularly strong leader,and I don't
know that he has good control over the Palestinian
situation."
...
"He has not ever delivered anything for the
Palestinian people throughout history. His record
is not particularly impressive."
-
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, NBC's "Meet
the Press", December 2, 2001
"What
Israel is doing is retaliating against acts of violence
intended to kill Israeli civilians. We are doing
exactly the same thing, the difference is the Israelis
don't criticize us when we do it, and we have a
history of criticizing them.
...
Now there isn't going to be a settlement under Yasser
Arafat. He should go. He can no longer bring peace
to the region, if he ever could, he's either unable
or unwilling to control his own territory. And either
way it's time for Arafat to go."
-
Richard Perle, former assistant defense secretary,
Chairman, Pentagon Defense Policy Board, CNN, The
War Room, December 3, 2001
For
a complete transcript, click here
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