/ 19 October 2001

BUSH ‘AMAZED’ AT HATRED FOR THE US

US President George W Bush said Thursday he was ”amazed” by the hatred many people in the Islamic world have for the United States. ”I’m amazed that there’s such misunderstanding of what our country is about that people would hate us,” he told a news conference. ”Like most Americans, I just can’t believe it because I know how good we are.” Bush said the United States had to sharpen its effort to explain its war on terrorism to people in the Muslim world. ”We’ve got to do a better job of explaining to the people in the Middle East, for example, that we don’t fight a war against Islam or Muslims. We don’t hold any religion accountable. We’re fighting evil.” The president said the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11 ”have hijacked a great religion in order to justify their evil deeds. And we cannot let it stand.” -Sapa-AFP