CNN - Bush / al-Maliki news conference - 2006-11-30 - 1 of 2

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] How wall?

[0:01] >> But I'm realistic

[0:03] because I understand how tough it is

[0:04] inside of Iraq.

[0:07] The prime minister is dealing with

[0:08] sectarian violence. The prime minister

[0:11] is having to deal with al-Qaeda.

[0:13] The prime minister is having to deal

[0:14] with criminal elements.

[0:16] And and and we want to help him. And

[0:19] yes, I talked about making sure that

[0:21] al-Qaeda doesn't take uh doesn't uh

[0:24] provide get safe haven in Iraq. Sure,

[0:27] that's a an important part of our

[0:28] strategy. But I also have said that the

[0:30] goal is a country that can defend,

[0:32] sustain, and govern itself. And

[0:34] therefore, to the extent that our troops

[0:36] are needed to help do that, we're we're

[0:37] willing to do that. That's part of the

[0:39] operation in Baghdad. Part of the plan

[0:41] in Baghdad was to uh prevent uh you

[0:44] know, prevent killers from taking

[0:46] innocent life.

[0:48] >> Well, that's killers taking se taking

[0:51] innocent life is in some cases

[0:53] sectarian. I happen to view it as

[0:55] criminal

[0:56] as well as sectarian. I think anytime

[0:59] you murder somebody, you're a criminal.

[1:02] And I believe a just society and a

[1:04] society of that holds people to account

[1:06] and believes in rule of law protects

[1:09] innocent people from murderers no matter

[1:11] what their political party is. And I

[1:14] I've discussed this with the prime

[1:15] minister and I don't want to put words

[1:18] in his mouth, but I I received a

[1:19] satisfactory answer

[1:22] about the need to protect innocent life.

[1:24] And that's exactly what our troops have

[1:26] been doing along with the Iraqis. my

[1:28] plan and his plan is to accelerate the

[1:31] Iraqis responsibility.

[1:33] See, here's a man who's been elected by

[1:35] the people. The people expect him to

[1:37] respond. He doesn't have the capacity to

[1:39] respond.

[1:41] And so, we want to accelerate that

[1:42] capacity. We want him to be in the lead

[1:46] in taking the fight against the enemies

[1:48] of his own country. And that's exactly

[1:51] what we discussed today. We had a joint

[1:52] committee on accelerating the transfer

[1:54] of security responsibility report

[1:57] and it was a report that General Casey

[2:01] who's with us today and and our

[2:03] ambassador Zul Kalazad who's with us

[2:05] today as well as the prime minister's

[2:07] team delivered to both of us about how

[2:10] to accelerate responsibility to the

[2:13] Iraqi government so this person elected

[2:16] by the people can take the fight to

[2:18] those who want to destroy a young

[2:21] democracy. Y

[2:24] you had a question for the

[2:28] >> as quick as possible. Martha, as quick

[2:29] as I've been asked about timetables ever

[2:32] since we got into this. All timetables

[2:35] mean is that it uh it it it it is a

[2:39] timetable for withdrawal. You kept

[2:41] asking me those questions.

[2:43] All that does is hold on a second. All

[2:47] that does is set people up for

[2:50] unrealistic

[2:51] expectations as soon as possible. And

[2:54] today we made a step toward as soon as

[2:56] possible by transferring a accelerating

[3:00] the transfer of of of authorities,

[3:02] military authorities to the prime

[3:04] minister.

[3:06] >> Hold on a second. Hold on. Please, sir.

[3:08] Please. Thank you.

[3:10] >> She asked him a question.

[3:13] I emphasize what the president I

[3:15] emphasize what the president has just

[3:17] said that we have agreed together and

[3:19] we're very clear together about the

[3:21] importance of accelerating

[3:26] the transfer of the security

[3:28] responsibility

[3:30] and be assured that the Iraqi forces and

[3:32] the security forces

[3:35] have reached a good level of competency

[3:37] and efficiency to protect Iraq as a

[3:40] country and to pro protect its

[3:42] uh people. As far as the other issue

[3:46] related to the meeting, I have met with

[3:50] King Abdullah. Then I've met again with

[3:53] his prime minister and a group of his

[3:56] ministers. And we've discussed the

[3:57] bilateral relations that are of concern

[4:00] to both nations, Iraq and Jordan. And

[4:03] that relationship is based on mutual

[4:05] friendship

[4:07] and being your good host and a good

[4:10] neighbor.

[4:12] And there was not part of our agenda a

[4:14] trilateral meeting. So there is no

[4:16] problem.

[4:21] >> Please

[4:25] from network. Did you discuss with the

[4:28] president the Iranian influence that is

[4:30] expanding in Iraq

[4:33] [snorts] and how and the almost complete

[4:36] Iranian control over Baghdad as the uh

[4:40] press sources seems to indicate

[4:44] >> in Iraq did you broke this big wall

[4:46] between Iraq and Iranian so and are you

[4:51] going to to deal with

[4:53] >> I didn't understand your first question

[4:54] >> to deal with the Iranian directly Am

[4:57] I going to meet with Iranians directly?

[4:59] Is that the question?

[4:59] >> Then the question of Iraq? Yes.

[5:24] uh sectarian strife so that we reach a

[5:27] point of a bad point of no return

[5:30] because we want to emphasize that we

[5:32] will not to allow anybody to exert their

[5:35] control over any part of Iraq. If

[5:37] there's any talk about intervention in

[5:39] Iraq

[5:41] and all the discussion, all the talks

[5:43] about people or other nations exerting

[5:46] control over Iraq, this is not true.

[5:48] This is a political process in Iraq. We

[5:51] want good relationships with our

[5:53] neighbors. We want complimentary

[5:56] relationships with our neighbors to pro

[5:58] to protect the region from tensions. But

[6:00] the main principle underlying all these

[6:03] is the respect of the Iraqi borders and

[6:08] the internal affairs of Iraq.

[6:11] >> Iranians um

[6:15] fear democracy

[6:18] and that's why they destabilize it uh

[6:21] Lebanon.

[6:24] Uh that's why they

[6:26] are worried about the establishment of a

[6:28] Palestinian state.

[6:32] Uh, I

[6:34] appreciate the prime minister's views

[6:36] that the Iraqis are plenty capable of

[6:39] running their own business and they

[6:40] don't need foreign interference from

[6:41] neighbors that will be destabilizing the

[6:44] country.

[6:46] I am very worried as should the world

[6:48] about Iran's desires to have a nuclear

[6:51] weapon

[6:54] and therefore will continue to work

[6:57] with the world to send a clear message

[7:00] to the Iranians, the Iranian government

[7:03] that uh that we will um you know they'll

[7:08] become more isolated. And my message to

[7:10] the Iranian people is we have

[7:13] no beef with the Iranian people. We

[7:15] respect their heritage. We respect their

[7:17] history. We respect their traditions. I

[7:20] just have a problem with a government

[7:23] that is isolating its people, denying

[7:25] its people benefits that could be had

[7:28] from engagement with the world.

[7:30] It's uh and I told the prime minister

[7:33] we'll continue to work to with the world

[7:36] community to to insist that Iran abandon

[7:39] its nuclear weapons programs. And I have

[7:42] said that if they were to verifiably

[7:45] suspend their enrichment program, we

[7:47] would be a part of the EU3 plus Russia

[7:49] plus China discussions. They know how to

[7:51] get us to the table. The choice is

[7:53] theirs to make. It's the choice of the

[7:55] Iranian government as to whether or not

[7:59] uh they make uh make the right decisions

[8:02] for not only uh the sake of diplomacy

[8:05] but for the sake more importantly for

[8:06] the sake of their people. Uh we might as

[8:09] well keep going. Prime Minister Richard.

[8:13] >> Thank you Mr. President.

[8:14] >> Please sir, please.

[8:16] Thank you.

[8:17] uh when we were in Baghdad 6 months ago,

[8:20] you expressed the same kind of

[8:21] confidence in the prime minister and his

[8:23] government that you've expressed today.

[8:24] Yet there have been repeated rounds of

[8:26] disappointments when it comes to the

[8:28] prime minister's Baghdad security plan

[8:31] uh with his plans for reconciliation.

[8:33] I'm wondering if anything I if you've

[8:36] had any doubts over the last six months

[8:38] about the strength of his government,

[8:40] about the prime minister's own abilities

[8:42] and and what gives you such confidence

[8:44] today to think that he can achieve what

[8:45] he hasn't done over the last 6 months?

[8:47] >> Yeah. Well, as you mentioned, he's been

[8:49] in he's been in power for 6 months

[8:52] and uh I've been able to watch a uh a

[8:55] leader emerge.

[8:58] The first thing that gives me confidence

[8:59] is that he wants responsibility.

[9:02] the sign of leadership is for somebody

[9:04] to say, "I want to be able to have the

[9:06] tools necessary to protect my people."

[9:08] One of his frustrations with me is that

[9:12] he believes we've been slow about giving

[9:14] him the tools necessary to protect the

[9:15] Iraqi people.

[9:18] And uh

[9:20] today we had a meeting that will

[9:22] accelerate the capacity for the uh prime

[9:25] minister to do the hard work necessary

[9:27] to to help stop this violence. No

[9:31] question. It's it's it's a violent

[9:32] society right now. He knows that better

[9:36] than anybody.

[9:38] He was explaining to me that

[9:39] occasionally the house in which he lives

[9:41] gets shelled

[9:43] by terrorists who are trying to frighten

[9:45] him. And so the second point I make to

[9:47] you is that I I I appreciate his

[9:49] courage. You can't lead unless you have

[9:51] courage.

[9:52] And he's got courage and he's shown

[9:54] courage over the last six months.

[9:57] Thirdly, he has expressed a deep desire

[9:59] to unify his country. [snorts]

[10:02] You hear all kinds of rumors about the

[10:04] politics inside of Iraq. I'm talking to

[10:07] the man face to face and he says that he

[10:10] understands that a unified government, a

[10:13] pluralistic society is important for

[10:15] success

[10:17] and he's making hard decisions to

[10:19] achieve that. No question has been

[10:21] tough. It would have been a lot easier

[10:24] had people uh not tried to destabilize

[10:26] the young democracy.

[10:28] His job would have been more simple had

[10:31] there not been terrorists

[10:34] trying to create sectarian violence. Now

[10:38] I want everybody to remember that it was

[10:40] Mr. Zarqawi of al-Qaeda who said let us

[10:44] bomb

[10:46] Shia in order to create the conditions

[10:49] necessary for sectarian violence.

[10:52] The Samara bombing started off this new

[10:54] phase of violence.

[10:57] The prime minister comes in about

[10:58] halfway through that phase in order to,

[11:01] you know, he he'd been selected and now

[11:04] he's dealing with, you know, a serious

[11:07] situation on the ground.

[11:09] And what I appreciate is his uh his

[11:13] attitude

[11:15] as opposed to saying, "America, you go

[11:17] solve the problem." We have a prime

[11:20] minister who's saying stop holding me

[11:22] back. I want to solve the problem.

[11:26] And the meeting today was to accelerate

[11:29] his capacity to do so.

[11:32] It's not easy for a military to evolve

[11:35] from ground zero.

[11:37] And I appreciate our forces and I

[11:40] appreciate General Casey who've worked

[11:42] very hard to train the Iraqis so that

[11:45] they become a capable fighting force as

[11:48] well as a unifying element for Iraq.

[11:51] But it's one thing to put people in

[11:52] uniform and another thing to have clear

[11:55] command structure or the capacity to

[11:57] move troops from point A to point B or

[12:00] the capacity to make sure that the troop

[12:02] carrier from point A to point B has got

[12:05] the necessary air in its tires or oil in

[12:07] its engine. In other words, this is a

[12:09] sophisticated operation to get a

[12:12] unifying army stood up.

[12:14] And one of the reasons I appreciate the

[12:16] prime minister is that he on the one

[12:19] hand sees that it's a sophisticated

[12:21] operation to get a military up from

[12:23] zero. But on the other hand is

[12:24] frustrated by the pace.

[12:27] And the reason why he's frustrated is

[12:29] because he wants to show the people who

[12:31] elected him that he is willing to take

[12:34] the hard tasks on necessary to provide

[12:36] security for the Iraqi people,

[12:39] such as hunting down those who are

[12:41] killing the innocent.

[12:43] And the reason I came today to be able

[12:45] to sit down with him is to hear the

[12:48] joint plans developed between the Iraqi

[12:51] government, the sovereign government of

[12:53] Iraq and our government to make sure

[12:56] that we accelerate the transfer of

[12:59] capacity to the prime minister.

[13:02] And uh I know he's looking forward to

[13:05] more capacity being transferred so he

[13:07] can do his job. Anyway, I he's the right

[13:09] guy for Iraq

[13:12] and we're going to help him and it's in

[13:14] our interest to help him for the sake of

[13:17] peace.

[13:28] Uh,

[13:30] >> what's your special advice to Prime

[13:32] Minister and President Abu Maz

[13:37] to keep this new ceasefire agreement and

[13:42] what should be done within

[13:45] this?

[13:46] Mhm. Well, first of all, there's no

[13:49] question that um

[13:52] if we were able to settle the

[13:53] Palestinian Israeli issue, it would help

[13:57] bring more peace to the Middle East.

[14:00] And therefore, our government is focused

[14:02] on helping to develop the two-state

[14:05] solution.

[14:07] Matter of fact, I was the our government

[14:10] strongly believes in the two-state

[14:12] solution. And I believe it's in the

[14:13] Palestinian people's interest that they

[14:15] have their own state and I believe it's

[14:17] in Israel's interest that there be a

[14:20] democracy on our border and therefore

[14:22] we're working to that end. The um look,

[14:27] there are extremists who want to stop

[14:29] the development of a Palestinian state,

[14:32] just like there are extremists who want

[14:34] to destabilize Lebanon. And we're

[14:36] strongly in support of the Sonora

[14:38] government, just like there are

[14:39] extremists who want to destabilize this

[14:41] young democracy. Isn't it interesting

[14:43] that the radicals and extremists fear

[14:46] democracy so much that they're willing

[14:47] to kill innocent people? And the task at

[14:50] hand is to support moderate, reasonable

[14:54] people in their quest for free society.