Remarks by the President and Mrs. Bush in Interview by Television of Spain
The Embassy of Spain
Washington, D.C.

Q First of all, I would like to thank you very much on behalf of the Spanish people for being able to send a message. And I'd like to ask your feelings about this horrifying thing that happened yesterday in Madrid. First question: What are your feelings?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can remember when our citizens lost life. I remember the horror, the outrage, the anger, and the incredible sadness. So I guess my -- I feel the same way today. My first reaction is, my heart breaks for those who are mourning the loss of their loved one. It must be a sense of emptiness and a sense of real -- their hearts are broken. And we send our prayers to those who are so sad --

Translation: It's all about us!

MRS. BUSH: Grieving. Who are grieving today. We all are thinking about them. And I want all the people who lost somebody yesterday in Spain to know that the American people are sending our love and our condolences. And we know what it feels like, and we know how tough it is.

Translation: Let me do the talking from here on out.

Q That would be the second question. The message for the people of Spain is that of solidarity and love?

THE PRESIDENT: Of course. I think the people of Spain are going to rally around those who have lost life. It's amazing what happens when something like this happens to a society. There's an outpouring of love and concern. There's an outpouring of love here in America from people that the families in Spain will never know. There's just a lot of people who care deeply about the fact of the lost life. Neighbors will help neighbors.

Translation: Too bad your term is up, Jose, you could really ride this wave. Get all misty-eyed and say 'neighbors will help neighbors' 'n shit.

I think you're going to find, as well, that the people of Spain -- or we'll find, as well -- the people of Spain will refuse to be intimidated, that they're not going to allow killers, cold-blooded killers, to intimidate the country. And these people kill because they hate freedom and they hate what Spain stands for. Spain is a great culture and a great people, with great traditions of democracy. And the killers hate freedom and they're trying to intimidate. And the Spanish people will not be intimidated.

Translation: Gee, that 'blame everything on haters of freedom and democracy' talking point really does cover everything.

[...]

Q Mr. President, you've been dealing with this situation for four years. I'm sure it's been very hard. What could you say to the Spanish government, now dealing with a hard thing?

THE PRESIDENT: My first reaction is that the people of Spain are lucky to have Jose Maria Aznar as the President during these times. He is a man who understands the war on terror, clearly knows the stakes, and knows that we must never give an inch to the terrorists. He will be able to be a strong voice, a compassionate voice and a strong voice during these times.

Translation: Call out to my main man Jose (dude, ya gotta lose the 'Maria'). Thanks for the troops, man.

The government must stay strong. But the Spanish government has been fighting terrorist organizations for a while. Jose Maria has been strong against terrorist organizations like ETA. He knows what the stakes are. We don't know who did this yet. I wouldn't rule anybody out. You'll hear all kinds of rumors, and it will take a while to find out the facts. And the United States government will help the Spanish government find out the facts, if they so desire.

Translation: Heh heh, pretendin' Spain can desire anything it wants. Good thinkin', 43.

People will find there's going to be a lot of speculation here, and that's all it's going to be. People will claim credit, or not claim credit. People will say, "We didn't do it," or, "We did do it," to create a sense of confusion. But the facts will become known after a while. It takes a while; it took us a while to find out exactly who ordered the attacks on America. And once the facts are known and once we find out who did it, America will join the Spanish government to hunt the terrorists down and bring them to justice.

Translation: Hot damn! Another war, and just in time for the election.

[...]

Q Let's talk a bit about the future. As you know, we have elections in a couple of days, the day after tomorrow. And some people say that if it's al Qaeda, that could mean that somebody is trying to punish the Spanish government for backing the war. What do you think about it?

THE PRESIDENT: I think that's a feeble excuse. Killers kill. And I think we shouldn't give them any great credit. All they're trying to do is shake the will of the free world. They hate freedom and they're willing to try to create -- intimidate people to change. And the Spanish government will never change its love for freedom. It's one of the great things about Spain, is its embrace of liberty.

Translation: I can tell Laura is impressed by my grasp of Spanish history...we should put this in a campaign commercial!

But people shouldn't speculate right now as to who did it. It's going to take a while, it just is. These were very coordinated bombings, and it's going to take some good forensic work to get the facts.

And so I hope the people of Spain just go about their business and -- participate in the elections, of course -- after all, Spain is a democracy -- and not let the speculation decide how to vote. They ought to vote for who they think is going to be the best government.

Translation: Look! I'm a spreader of freedom and democracy....

Q Thank you very much. As I said, on behalf of the Spanish people, thank you for sending a message and for being close to us.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well, we care deeply about our friends, and the people of Spain are friends. May God bless them.

Translation: Ha! Screw you France and Germany.