[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[May 29, 2003]
[Pages 551-552]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
[[Page 551]]
Interview With TV3 of France
May 29, 2003
France-U.S. Relations
Q. Mr. President, are you going to forgive the French attitude on
Iraq? What are you going to tell President Chirac when you're going to
see him face to face?
The President. Sure.
Q. Are you still mad at him? Are you going to take sanctions against
France?
The President. No, no. No sanctions. I'm not mad. I mean, I'm
disappointed, and the American people are disappointed. But now is the
time to move forward, and there's a lot of issues that we can work
together on. I know that Jacques Chirac feels
strongly about Africa, and so do I. And therefore, we can work together,
for example, on the AIDS pandemic in Africa. I laid out a bit initiative
here for the American people, and the Congress passed a $15 billion, 5-
year plan to work on HIV/AIDS in Africa. And there would be an
opportunity, for example, for America and the French to work together to
solve some big problems.
And I'm going to remind him, just like
I'm going to remind a lot of people, that we can do a heck of a lot more
together than we can arguing with each other. And I can understand why
some didn't agree with our policy in Iraq, but it's now time to move
forward.
Middle East Peace Process
Q. Considering the roadmap, peace in Middle East--you are going to
meet most of the protagonists next week--how do you plan concretely to
succeed where your predecessors failed?
The President. Yes. Well, first of all, I appreciate the
understanding of Jacques Chirac and the
administration about me leaving a little early from Evian to go to the
Middle East, where I will first meet with our Arab friends, some of the
leaders in the neighborhood, and remind them they have a responsibility
to the process. In other words, if they're interested in the achievement
of peace, that they must cut off funding, for example, or work to cut
off the financing of money to terrorist groups that would like to
destroy the process.
Secondly, I believe that the Palestinian Authority--the new Prime
Minister ``Abu Mazen'' is firmly committed to
the defeat of terror and the advancement of a state and the institutions
necessary to make a state viable. And so I'm very encouraged by his
emergence.
And thirdly, I believe Israel recognizes it's in their self-interest
to support the notion of two states living side by side in peace. I'm
the first President to have ever proposed that. I did so at the United
Nations, and I take that vision into the Middle East knowing that the
process is going to be difficult. But I believe that people now see the
necessity of achieving that end result.
Iraq
Q. Mr. President, what do you answer to the American press that are
trying to say that you have not released yet the proof of the existence
of arms of massive destructions in Iraq? What do you answer to them?
The President. Well, they must not be paying attention, is what I
answer, because we've discovered mobile biological laboratories, the
very same laboratories that Colin Powell
talked about at the United Nations, the very same laboratories that were
banned by the resolutions of the United Nations.
Q. The situation in Iraq is far from being stabilized. We have seen
some American soldiers killed. Do you fear the rise of Muslim
fundamentalism in this region against the occidental world, against
United States? And do you fear at the same time the risk
[[Page 552]]
of creation of an Islamic republic backed by neighboring Iran?
The President. No, I don't fear that. I think the Iraqi people want
to run their own state. They don't need to have an Iranian-backed
regime. I think the Iraqi people are plenty capable of managing their
own affairs.
Secondly, I fully recognize that democracy didn't flourish
overnight. But I didn't expect it to. This is a country which has been
ravished by a brutal dictator who murdered
and tortured to stay in power. And it wasn't all that long ago that they
were liberated from Saddam Hussein. So it's going to take a while.
And therefore, I've told Jerry Bremer Paul
``Jerry'' that our Government, my Government, will be
patient, as he makes progress toward improving the lives of the Iraqi
people. And I say ``he,'' it's not only Jerry Bremer and the United
States; there's a lot of people that are involved with the
reconstruction of Iraq. And as life returns back to normal and as we get
a hold of the situation--particularly in Baghdad--of the killers and
people that are wreaking havoc--in other words, as we bring security to
the neighborhoods, you'll see a good, democratic government emerge.
Iran
Q. Is Iran a preoccupation for you--the ayatollahs with Al Qaida,
which might be in that country attacking the United States?
The President. Well, we are concerned--we are concerned that there's
Al Qaida inside of Iran and have made our concerns very clearly. And
this will give me a chance to do so again. To the extent that they have
got Al Qaida in their country, we expect them to detain them and
eventually hand them over to their countries of origin. There's no
preoccupation. Our main focus right now is to find Al Qaida wherever
they exist and bring them to justice, and we will do that. We'll
continue to do that, and we expect others to join us.
And I want to compliment the French for joining in this fight
against Al Qaida. The French intelligence service have been very good to
work with, and we've shared intelligence which has made France more
secure and America more secure. And for that I'm grateful.
Q. Mr. President, I want to thank you very much, and I definitely
wish you all the best and great success for the future.
The President. Thank you, sir. Thanks for coming.
Note: The interview was taped at 2:43 p.m. in the Library at the White
House for later broadcast. The transcript was embargoed for release by
the Office of the Press Secretary until 4:30 p.m. In his remarks, the
President referred to President Jacques Chirac of France; Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority; former President
Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and L. Paul Bremer III, Presidential Envoy to
Iraq. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
interview.