    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [February 18, 2005]
    [Pages 260-262]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With TV3-France
    February 18, 2005

    France-U.S. Relations

        Q. Mr. President, thank you very much to welcome Francois. You and
    President Chirac want to improve your relationship after bitter
    divisions on Iraq. How do you plan, yourself, to take concrete steps
    with France, with the allies, and restore credible cooperation on the
    hardest issues, like Middle East for instance?
        The President. Sure. No, I think that's a great question because
    inherent in your question is the understanding that there--we share a
    lot of values. Both our nations value human rights and human dignity and
    rule of law and transparency. And we value our friendship from years
    gone by. And I look forward to working with President Chirac. We've have our differences, and now is the time to
    set those aside and focus on peace in the Middle East. I'll work with
    the French on--to help the Lebanese have a free and fair election and a
    burgeoning democracy. And I'll work with the French to continue to help
    with the Middle Eastern pace process. There's a lot of areas where we
    need to work together. And we need to continue to work together on HIV/
    AIDS in Africa and hunger around the

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    world. And I'm looking forward to the meeting.

    Syria

        Q. You and President Chirac keep telling the Syrians that they have
    to withdraw immediately their troops.
        The President. Yes.
        Q. What will you do if they refuse----
        The President. Well, that's----
        Q. ----in the coming weeks?
        The President. That's a--my attitude is, is that when we speak
    together and convince others to speak with us, that the Syrians will get
    the message. And I'm a hopeful person. I'm hopeful that the President of
    Syria will hear the world speak. And the
    French have got a lot of influence in Syria, and we've got some
    influence as well. And the fact that we're talking together should send
    a clear signal to President Asad that we're very serious about this.

    Iran

        Q. Let's come to Iran----
        The President. Sure.
        Q. ----which is backing terrorism and all that. If Iran refuses to
    stop its nuclear program, or the kind of same question, what will you
    do, Mr. President, with the allies or whatever?
        The President. Well, I think the key is there for the Iraqis
    [Iranians] * to hear Europe and the United States speak with one voice.
    And I appreciate President Chirac and his
    Government and as well as the Germans and the Brits working together to
    say to the Iranians, ``We don't want you to have a weapon.'' In other
    words, we--the--we share a goal, and that is for the Iranians not to
    develop a nuclear weapon. And we want to work with our friends to not
    only speak with one voice, clearly with one voice, but also to help
    others realize--like Russia realize. And I think President Putin understands that the Iranians shouldn't have weapon.
    I'm convinced, again, if the Iranians hear us loud and clear, without
    any wavering, that they will make the rational decision.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        * White House correction.
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        Q. But do you trust the Iranians, this regime?
        The President. Well, it's hard to trust a regime that doesn't trust
    their own people. And so part of our belief is that the Iranians ought
    to listen to the reformers in their country, those who believe in
    democracy and then--and give them a say in government. After all, the
    French model and the U.S. model believes in--people ought to be able to
    express themselves in a free society.
        Q. Two quick last questions, Mr. President.
        The President. Sure.

    Iraq

        Q. Iraq is having explosions, terrorist attacks every day. Do you
    fear about not having a national reconciliation? There might be a civil
    war. Do you fear also that the Shiite leaders might decide to build up
    the sort of theocracy like in Iran?
        The President. Yes. No, of course, I'm heartened by the fact that
    the leadership of the Shi'a election parties, the political parties that
    took their message to the people, campaigned on the notion of minority
    rights and a unified country. There are still terrorists there. But the
    terrorists suffered a major defeat when over 8 million people went to
    the polls and said, ``You will not intimidate us. You can't stop us from
    expressing our desire.'' I'm very optimistic and very encouraged about a
    free Iraq becoming a stable partner in peace, an ally in the war on
    terror, and a clear example to others in the greater Middle East that
    freedom is possible.

    Palestinian Authority/Israel

        Q. Last question, Mr. President. Near East, don't you fear that if
    sooner than later, Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon don't reach a global
    peace agreement based on land for peace, that all this bunch of

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    Islamic group terrorists, Hamas, Jihad, Hizballah, might try to get rid
    of Mahmoud Abbas and get in total war with Israel?

        The President. No, that's a concern, of course. And I'm impressed by
    President Abbas' leadership. We
    want to support him as he moves forward to develop a Palestinian state
    based upon democratic institutions. And I think we're making great
    progress. The good news is, is that Europe and Russia and the United
    Nations, the United States all understands that we've got to make
    progress to head off these terrorists so that they don't--so they can't
    capture the imaginations of the Palestinian people anymore. In other
    words, terrorism is not the path to peace and security and freedom and
    hope, and that's democracy. And we're making great progress.

        And I look forward to talking to President Chirac about the progress we're making and remind him, as
    well as the people of France, that we'll stay engaged. The United States
    of America sees a settlement within reach, like I said in my State of
    the Union, and therefore, if you can see it in reach, it means all the
    more reason to stay fully engaged in the peace process.

        Q. I wish you all the very best, Mr. President.

        The President. Thank you, sir. Looking forward to it. Thank you,
    sir.

    Note: The interview was taped at 10:34 a.m. in the Map Room at the White
    House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to
    President Jacques Chirac of France; President Bashar al-Asad of Syria;
    President Vladimir Putin of Russia; and President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu
    Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority. The interviewer referred to Prime
    Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel. A tape was not available for
    verification of the content of this interview.