CNN - Bush / al-Maliki news conference - 2006-11-30 - 2 of 2

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Rice will be going to talk to Abu Mazen

[0:02] tomorrow, as well as Prime Minister

[0:05] Olmert, working with both parties

[0:07] together to see how we can advance the

[0:09] vision that the Prime Minister himself

[0:11] talked about earlier this week.

[0:16] My

[0:17] My advice is support reasonable people

[0:19] and reject extremists.

[0:21] Understand that most people want to live

[0:23] in peace

[0:25] and harmony

[0:26] and security. It's very important for

[0:28] the American people to understand that

[0:30] most Muslim mothers want their children

[0:33] to grow up in peace.

[0:35] And they're interested in peace.

[0:37] And it's in our interest to help liberty

[0:39] prevail in the Middle East starting with

[0:41] Iraq. And that's why this business about

[0:43] graceful exit just simply has no realism

[0:46] to it at all.

[0:47] We're going to help this government.

[0:49] And I'm able to say that it is that we

[0:52] have a government that wants our help

[0:54] and is becoming more capable about

[0:56] taking the lead in the fight to protect

[0:58] their own country. The only way that

[1:00] Iraq is going to be able to succeed is

[1:02] when the Iraqis,

[1:04] led by a capable person, says we're

[1:06] tired of it.

[1:08] We don't want violence.

[1:09] We want the peace that our 12 million

[1:11] people voted for.

[1:13] And it's in the world's interest that

[1:15] Iraq succeed.

[1:17] Mr. Prime Minister, you want to answer

[1:19] some more questions?

[1:23] You want to work Go ahead.

[1:25] Hold on for a minute. Wait a minute.

[1:30] We said six question. Now, this is a

[1:32] seventh and this is the eighth. Eighth

[1:34] questions.

[1:38] Mr. President.

[1:43] Am I calling on one of your press corps,

[1:44] please?

[1:47] Is that This guy? Okay.

[1:52] In light of the war that the United

[1:53] States is fighting against terror in

[1:55] Iraq, what has been accomplished? What

[1:57] do you expect to be accomplished after

[1:59] three-year confrontation? Another

[2:01] question.

[2:03] Other people are are accusing United

[2:05] States of bringing terrorism to Iraq.

[2:09] And the proof is that what's going on in

[2:10] Iraq and what's going on in Afghanistan.

[2:12] The proof is that and and what's the

[2:14] biggest loser is the Iraqi citizen.

[2:18] That's an interesting analysis. The

[2:20] biggest loser for a free society is the

[2:22] Iraqi citizen when this society was just

[2:24] liberated from the grips of a a brutal

[2:27] tyrant

[2:29] that killed thousands and thousands of

[2:31] the Iraqi citizens.

[2:33] I I I What has been accomplished is the

[2:37] liberation of a country

[2:39] from a tyrant who is now sitting in jail

[2:43] getting a trial that he was unwilling to

[2:45] give thousands of people he murdered

[2:47] himself or had murdered.

[2:49] Secondly, a This country has a

[2:51] constitution, which is one of the most

[2:53] modern constitutions ever written in the

[2:55] Middle East. This is a government that

[2:58] has been elected by the people.

[3:00] No question, it's tough. But the reason

[3:02] why terrorists are trying to stop the

[3:05] advance of freedom in Iraq is the very

[3:08] reason why we need to help them.

[3:11] Because they can't stand democracies and

[3:13] they want to impose a hateful vision

[3:17] on as much of the world as possible.

[3:20] They want safe haven from which to

[3:21] launch attacks again.

[3:24] A safe haven in Iraq, a country that has

[3:26] got a lot of resources, would be very

[3:28] dangerous for America.

[3:31] It didn't take but 19 people

[3:34] who were trained in Afghanistan to get

[3:36] on airplanes and come and kill over

[3:38] 3,000 citizens in my country.

[3:43] Threats that gather overseas must be

[3:45] taken seriously

[3:48] if we want to protect ourselves. And the

[3:50] best way to protect ourselves is to hunt

[3:52] down the terrorists and to help young

[3:54] democracy survive.

[3:57] Freedom and liberty is the great

[3:59] alternative to the hateful vision of

[4:02] those who are willing to murder innocent

[4:04] lives to achieve their objective.

[4:07] And so, you bet it's worth it in Iraq

[4:10] and necessary.

[4:11] And I was very proud and pleased to see

[4:14] 12 million Iraqis go to the polls

[4:18] to be able to express their desires,

[4:21] their wishes,

[4:23] as they helped put a government in place

[4:26] that this man now leads.

[4:32] Thank you very much.

[4:37] Good to see you. Thank you.

[4:41] Thank you.

[4:42] Thank you all.

[4:45] President Bush clearly relishing the

[4:47] opportunity there to to speak with the

[4:49] press taking the decision on the fly to

[4:51] extend that press conference beyond the

[4:53] usual three questions. Not

[4:55] unprecedented, but highly unusual to say

[4:58] the least. So, what George W. Bush and

[5:00] Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

[5:01] there their news conference in Amman,

[5:03] Jordan. President Bush said that they'd

[5:05] had a productive breakfast meeting, the

[5:07] third time they'd met since the Prime

[5:09] Minister came to office. The President

[5:11] praised Mr. al-Maliki's strong

[5:14] leadership. He's a strong leader, he

[5:17] said, who wants to who wants a free and

[5:19] democratic Iraq to succeed. The US, he

[5:22] said, is determined to help bring

[5:24] stability to Iraq. The US is willing to

[5:27] make changes to help the unity

[5:28] government. The success government, he

[5:30] said, is critical to stability in Iraq.

[5:34] The US's goal in Iraq, he said, is to

[5:38] support the unity government. The

[5:41] partitioning of Iraq is not an option.

[5:45] The Prime Minister made it quite clear

[5:46] that splitting his country into parts,

[5:48] as some have suggested, is not what the

[5:51] Iraqi people want and that any partition

[5:53] of Iraq would only lead to an increase

[5:54] in sectarian violence. Mr. Bush said

[5:57] that said that after nearly two and a

[5:59] half hours of talks aimed at stabilizing

[6:02] Iraq that that he agreed. Mr. al-Maliki

[6:05] though left the door open for countries

[6:08] like Iran and Syria to play a part in

[6:10] the struggle for peace. So, let's get

[6:14] some immediate reaction now. First from

[6:16] Baghdad, CNN's Arwa Damon joins us live

[6:18] from there. Arwa, what do you make of

[6:19] what you heard?

[6:22] Well, Adrian, we really didn't hear

[6:24] anything new, not from either side. If

[6:26] anyone here was expecting a new

[6:28] breakthrough plan, they will be greatly

[6:30] disappointed. We basically heard what we

[6:33] have heard in the past, an accelerated

[6:35] plan to hand over authority to the Iraqi

[6:38] government, to the Iraqi security

[6:40] forces. Something that has been one of

[6:42] the main challenges here is building up

[6:44] those Iraqi security forces. And in

[6:46] fact, when you speak with many of the US

[6:48] military commanders on the ground that

[6:50] are working side by side with them, they

[6:52] don't believe that accelerating their

[6:55] training, accelerating the process of

[6:57] handing over is going to help. They

[6:59] believe that they still need to continue

[7:01] to work together. When we talk about the

[7:03] Iraqi security forces, we're dealing

[7:04] with issues of of militia infiltration,

[7:07] of a lack of training, of a lack of

[7:09] equipment. We have also seen a trend

[7:11] whereby which once an area is handed

[7:13] over to the Iraqi security forces, for

[7:15] the most part, once the Americans

[7:17] withdraw, the Iraqi security forces are

[7:20] unable to maintain the same low level of

[7:23] violence that allowed the handover to

[7:25] happen. We saw both leaders flat-out

[7:28] skirt one of the core issues here, the

[7:30] radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, how

[7:33] he and his Mahdi militia are going to be

[7:35] dealt with, be it politically or

[7:37] militarily. The same theme we heard that

[7:40] we have heard in the past, that Iraqi

[7:42] security forces need to be trained up,

[7:43] that this is the right government for

[7:45] the job, that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri

[7:47] al-Maliki is the right man for the job.

[7:49] But for many Iraqis, when you ask them

[7:52] if their Prime Minister and if their

[7:53] current government is going to be the

[7:55] government that's going to bring them

[7:56] with security, they will just tell you

[7:58] no. He's not the man for the job. In

[8:00] fact, to give you one example, one of

[8:02] our Iraqi cameraman was watching this

[8:04] press conference and he was laughing

[8:06] hearing what the Prime Minister Maliki

[8:09] was saying, what President Bush was

[8:10] saying. These are things Iraqis have

[8:12] heard before. There is no plan that is

[8:14] going to reassure them that moving

[8:16] forward their country will have

[8:17] stability, Adrian.

[8:19] All right, Arwa, let's bring in CNN's

[8:21] Hala Gorani, who was listening to that

[8:22] press conference there in Amman, Jordan.

[8:26] This

[8:27] meeting between the two leaders Hala

[8:29] postponed from Wednesday night. It's

[8:31] been billed as as crucial. What do you

[8:33] make of

[8:34] of a president who is who is clearly

[8:35] relishing the the opportunity there and

[8:38] and being quite passionate about Iraq in

[8:42] that extended press conference?

[8:45] Well, and just as passionate publicly

[8:47] about his support for Nouri al-Maliki

[8:49] from the very start there, telling the

[8:51] audience and the gathered journalists

[8:53] and the world that Nouri al-Maliki quote

[8:56] is the man for the job. He's the right

[8:58] guy for Iraq and we're going to help him

[9:00] and we're going to support his

[9:02] government. And from the very beginning

[9:03] there, outlining that he and the Iraqi

[9:06] Prime Minister share a common vision on

[9:08] Iraq. Listen to what the president said.

[9:19] And I'm not sure if we have that sound

[9:20] bite.

[9:21] Not sure if we do not have that sound

[9:22] bite for you, but essentially saying

[9:24] what Arwa there was outlining, some of

[9:26] those plans to strengthen Iraqi security

[9:29] forces, support the government. Now,

[9:31] it's worth mentioning that the Iraq

[9:32] Study Group, and these are sources

[9:34] telling CNN,

[9:35] will suggest, and this is the bipartisan

[9:38] study group that is tasked with finding

[9:41] alternate solutions to solve the Iraq

[9:43] crisis, will suggest a gradual but

[9:46] meaningful troop reduction in the new

[9:48] year. President Bush though, in this

[9:50] news conference, once reiterating the

[9:52] fact and the idea that the US will stay

[9:54] in Iraq militarily until quote the job

[9:57] is done." So, there you have an

[9:59] outlining of ideas that as uh Arwa Damon

[10:02] and others are saying have been heard

[10:04] before, but mainly this is a show of

[10:07] solidarity between the Iraqi Prime

[10:09] Minister. And you'll remember that

[10:11] yesterday he did not show up uh to a

[10:14] meeting with George W. Bush uh at a

[10:16] trilateral meeting. He said today in the

[10:18] news conference downplaying that event,

[10:21] uh saying that there was no trilateral

[10:23] meeting ever planned. So, that in effect

[10:25] there was no problem. Adrian?

[10:28] Uh in Baghdad, Prime Minister al-Maliki

[10:30] said that he would not allow anyone to

[10:32] interfere with Iraqi internal affairs.

[10:34] However, he said, "We're ready to

[10:35] cooperate with everybody who wants to

[10:37] communicate with the national

[10:39] government." Appearing to to leave the

[10:41] door open for countries like Iran and

[10:43] Syria to play a part in Iraq. He said,

[10:45] "Uh we're ready to cooperate with

[10:47] everyone who believes that the need that

[10:49] they have a need to cooperate with the

[10:51] national unity government, especially

[10:54] our neighbors." What's the significance

[10:55] of that?

[10:57] Well, Adrian, again those are words that

[10:59] we have heard before. Remember, Iraq

[11:01] realizes that it cannot provide its own

[11:03] security if it does not have the support

[11:06] of its neighbors, namely Syria and Iran.

[11:09] Iraq just recently renewed its

[11:11] diplomatic ties with Syria. We saw a

[11:14] joint effort both from Syria and Iraq,

[11:16] pledges that both would work towards

[11:18] securing their border. Remember, the US

[11:21] and Iraq have accused Syria of allowing

[11:24] terrorists, foreign fighters, funds for

[11:26] the insurgency, and weapons to come

[11:28] across the Syrian border. And the same

[11:30] goes for Iran. Although Iraq and Iran

[11:32] have maintained a fairly close

[11:34] relationship since the fall of Saddam

[11:36] Hussein. In fact, Iraqi President

[11:38] Talabani is in Iran just wrapping up a

[11:40] visit there. And again, the topic of

[11:42] conversation there is securing Iraq, but

[11:44] the crucial issue is what is the

[11:46] difference? Where is that line between

[11:49] working with your neighbors and having

[11:50] your neighbors actively involved in your

[11:53] internal politics. Both US and British

[11:56] intelligence indicate that Iran is

[11:58] directly responsible for funding,

[12:00] arming, and training death squads in

[12:02] Iraq. They claim that there are Iranian

[12:04] operatives that are working inside

[12:07] Iraq's borders. The belief amongst the

[12:09] intelligence community is that Iran

[12:11] wants a stable but a weak Iraq. So,

[12:13] again, it's a fine line between

[12:15] cooperating with your neighbors and

[12:16] having them actively involved inside

[12:19] your country. Adrian?

[12:22] And Hoda, both leaders appear to uh

[12:25] throw off questions following up on

[12:28] yesterday's disclosure of US doubts

[12:30] about the Iraqi leaders' capabilities

[12:33] and the protest in in Baghdad about his

[12:37] his attendance.

[12:38] The President, as you said a few moments

[12:40] ago, keen to stress

[12:43] how

[12:44] how

[12:45] behind al-Maliki he was and and the

[12:47] strength of his leadership.

[12:50] Yes, and you have to put this

[12:51] Adrian in the context really of what's

[12:53] happening at home for both of those

[12:55] leaders. Nouri al-Maliki is under

[12:57] pressure. He suffered the withdrawal

[12:59] of cabinet ministers and politicians, a

[13:02] lawyer to Muqtada al-Sadr, Shiite

[13:04] Muqtada al-Sadr. Inside of America, you

[13:06] have George Bush whose party just lost

[13:08] congressional elections and also with an

[13:11] increasing

[13:13] problem that this administration is

[13:14] facing with regards to the popularity of

[13:16] this war. So, you do have to look at it

[13:18] in this context. This was a public

[13:20] relations effort. This was a news

[13:23] conference and a meeting aimed at trying

[13:25] to reassure

[13:26] the constituents in both countries that

[13:28] there can be a solution. And it's also

[13:31] aimed at highlighting the fact that

[13:32] George W. Bush supports Nouri al-Maliki

[13:35] despite the fact that yesterday, as we

[13:37] have mentioned several times, he did not

[13:39] show up at that three-way meeting. And

[13:41] despite the fact that a leaked memo by

[13:44] the US National Security Advisor Stephen

[13:46] Hadley included some stinging remarks

[13:50] regarding Nouri al-Maliki's

[13:52] ability to control and solve the

[13:55] problems that Iraq is facing today.

[13:57] Adrian?

[13:59] All right. Hoda Gorani in Amman, Arwa

[14:01] Damon in Baghdad, many thanks. At this

[14:03] point we'll bid farewell to viewers in

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