Posted on 10/15/2003 10:30:54 AM PDT by Stultis
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - President Bush blamed Palestinian authorities Wednesday for the deaths of Americans in an attack in Gaza, saying their failure to create terrorist-fighting security forces "continues to cost lives."
"Palestinian authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms," the president said in a written statement as he flew to California for an overnight visit en route to Asia.
Bush said he condemned the attack in the strongest terms and that the United States was working with authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Putting the blame squarely on the Palestinian leadership, Bush said, "The failure to create effective Palestinian security forces dedicated to fighting terror continues to cost lives. There must be an empowered prime minister who contols all Palestinian forces - reforms that continue to be blocked by Yasser Arafat."
"The failure to undertake these reforms and dismantle the terrorist organizations constitutes the greatest obstacle to achieving the Palestinian people's dream of statehood," Bush said.
He said the Americans who were attacked were in Gaza to help build a better future for Palestinians.
"The U.S. embassy officials traveling in Gaza were there to interview young Palestinian candidates seeking Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States," Bush said. "This is another example of how the terrorists are enemies of progress and opportunity for the Palestinian people."
Bush was notified of the attack in a telephone call by National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice before he left the White House.
An FBI legal attache is investigating the bombing, which killed three Americans. It was the first attack on a U.S. target in three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
The FBI's legal attache from Tel Aviv went to the bombing site and is working with Palestinian and Israeli authorities, said FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell in Washington.
The FBI has not yet determined yet whether more agents will be sent, but in the past it has taken a major role in overseas violence in which Americans are killed.
The bomb exploded under a U.S. diplomatic convoy, ripping apart an armored van in an unprecedented attack on an official U.S. target. There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing.
While targeting Israeli soldiers and civilians for years, groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad repeatedly insist they do not target U.S. officials - apparently to avoid a harsh retribution from the Americans and the anger of Palestinian officials trying to work with Washington.
The bombing, which also wounded a fourth American, will likely intensify U.S. pressure on the Palestinian Authority to take action against militant groups. Arafat, whom Bush has tried to sideline in favor of other leaders, condemned the attack as an "awful crime." Arafat said he ordered an investigation.
The explosion, detonated by a remote-controlled explosive device, occurred as the second vehicle of a three-car convoy had just cleared a checkpoint and entered Gaza, said State Department spokeswoman Brooke Summers.
The three persons who died were security personnel accompanying diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, who were heading to interview Palestinian candidates for Fulbright scholarships, she said.
The U.S. Embassy advised U.S. citizens to leave the Gaza Strip after the attack.
State Department officials said they were asking the Israeli government to help evacuate any American wishing to leave the Gaza Strip. The department also is urging all American citizens on the West Bank to take all available precautions against possible attacks.
Terrorist scum Arafat made his choice.
I hope President Bush will "smoke 'em out, and hunt 'em down."
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