[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[June 12, 2006]
[Pages 1117-1119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following Meetings on Iraq and an Exchange With Reporters at
Camp David
June 12, 2006
The President. We just had a meaningful day. We have spent a lot of
time talking to our team in Baghdad about the way forward in Iraq. We've
spent time talking about the security situation in Iraq and what we
intend to do to help the Iraqi Government bring security to
neighborhoods in Baghdad and Basra. We talked about the economic
situation in Iraq. We talked about the energy situation in Iraq. We
talked about a variety of matters with Ambassador Khalilzad and General Casey and
General Abizaid.
As you can see, I not only have my national security team here, I've
got members of my Cabinet as well. We all agree that we have got to
continue to help this new Government move forward. Success in Iraq will
depend upon the capacity of the new Government to provide for its
people. We recognize that. We're encouraged by the formation of a unity
government, and we recognize our responsibilities to help that new
Government.
And tomorrow we'll be meeting with the new Government via SVTS, and
that will be a very interesting experience for all of us, to be able to
talk to our respective counterparts.
The message to the Iraqi Government is, is that we stand with you,
that what you're doing is important, that democracy in Iraq is not only
important to the 12 million people that went to the polls and their
families, but democracy in Iraq is important in the war on terror. It's
important that we succeed in Iraq in order to make America more secure
and the world a better place.
So I want to thank my Cabinet Secretaries for being with me today,
and other members of my team, to really have this very vital and
important discussion.
I'll answer a couple of questions.
U.S. Troop Levels in Iraq
Q. You said that you were going to listen to your U.S. commanders on
the ground about the troops. And, you know, General Casey has said now
that he thinks that gradual U.S. troop reductions could be made in the
coming months. So do you agree with this?
The President. Well, as I also said the last time you asked me this
question--which was a couple of days ago--that we were going to make
sure that we fully understand the Iraqi capability to be able to take
the fight to the enemy and secure
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its country. And the Iraqi Defense Minister is just in office. And General Casey, of course, will be making those assessments, as he told
us today via the teleconference--that he will make the proper
assessments and come back to us and make recommendations to us.
Whatever we do will be based upon the conditions on the ground. And
whatever we do will be toward a strategy of victory. And so this is a
process of getting to know the--understand the Iraqi capabilities,
particularly the command and control structure, and what our need--we
need to do to help them achieve victory.
Abu Musab Al Zarqawi/War on Terror
Q. Mr. President, what do you think of the successor to Zarqawi that
was named by Al Qaida? And how do you stop an insurgency that is still
able to recruit people and continue to threaten attacks?
The President. I think the successor to Zarqawi is going to be on
our list to bring to justice.
What was the second part of your question?
Q. How do you stop an insurgency that continues to be able to
recruit people and continues to threaten attacks and carry them out?
The President. The best way to win this war against an insurgency is
to stand up a unity government which is capable of defending itself but
also providing tangible benefits to the people. The Iraqis have got some
wonderful assets. They've got energy, which they can use to the benefit
of their people. They're entrepreneurial. They've got a stable currency.
They've got a small-business sector that's growing. And, ultimately, the
Iraqi people are going to have to make up their mind: Do they want to
live in terror, or do they want to live in peace? And the United States
and our coalition will help them realize their ambitions if they choose
to live in peace and hope, which we believe they will.
Remember, it wasn't all that long ago that 12 million people went to
the polls and said, ``We want to live in a free society.'' No question,
the fighting is tough. No question, the enemy is violent and mean. But
the enemy doesn't stand for anything. They have no message of hope. They
have no positive philosophy. All they can do is kill and hope that the
Government splits up or that the American people lose their will. And I
keep reminding the American people that the stakes are worth it. It is
worth it to help Iraq succeed. It is worth it to have a democracy in the
Middle East. It is worth it to show other reformers and people who want
to live in a free society what is possible.
Q. Mr. President
The President. Yes.
International Support for Iraq
Q. Are you satisfied with what Iraq's neighbors and the
international community are doing to help this new Government, or would
you like to see them do more, and what should it be?
The President. Iraq's neighbors ought to do more to help them. And
we're constantly working with our friends in the neighborhood to
encourage them to support this new democracy. And I recognize that
there's some concerns about a Shi'a Prime Minister and a--from different countries where there's Sunni
representation, Sunni leadership. But our message is, is that Iraq will
show that it's possible for people of all faiths to live together. After
all, they've got the most modern Constitution in the history of the
Middle East.
We expect our friends who have made commitments, $13 billion, to
honor those commitments. Many of those countries are outside of the
Middle East. And so we'll continue--we discussed that today, as to how
to continue to rally not only the neighborhood, Iraq's neighbors, to the
cause of the new democracy, but how to help others who have made a
pledge to honor their pledge.
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Yes.
Energy/Foreign Sources of Oil
Q. Mr. President, did you talk about oil production and maybe
getting it back to prewar levels, or anything?
The President. We did. We spent a lot of time in talking about
energy and oil. The oil belongs to the Iraqi people. It's their asset.
It is one of the--it's--the capacity to generate wealth from the ground
distinguishes Iraq from Afghanistan, for example. It's something that I
view as a very positive part of Iraqi future. And we talked about how to
advise the Government to best use that money for the benefit of the
people.
Secondly, obviously, we spent time figuring out how to help
strategize with the new ministries as to how to get oil production up.
And recently, they've had oil production as high as a little over 2
million barrels a day, which is extremely positive. The oil sector is
very much like the rest of the infrastructure of Iraq: Saddam
Hussein let it deteriorate. There wasn't much
reinvestment or not much modernization. After all, he was using money
for his own personal gain, and he wasn't spending the people's money on
enhancing the infrastructure. And the oil infrastructure collapsed and
deteriorated. And as a result, there's a lot of work that needs to be
done on, for example, work-overs, that is, to help old wells become
revitalized, see, just a standard maintenance procedure. So there's a
maintenance program on to help the Iraqi people get their production up.
There's some unbelievably interesting exploration opportunities. And
the new Government is going to have to figure out how best to lease the
people's lands in a fair way. My own view is, is that the Government
ought to use the oil as a way to unite the country and ought to think
about having a tangible fund for the people, so the people have faith in
central government.
Listen, thank you all for coming today. And tomorrow is going to be
a fascinating day, and I'm looking forward to having discussions with
our counterparts via SVTS. Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 3:40 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad; Gen. George W. Casey, Jr.,
USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq; Gen. John P.
Abizaid, USA, commander, U.S. Central Command; Minister of Defense Abd
al-Qadir al-Mufriji, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and former President
Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al
Zarqawi, who was killed in Baquba, Iraq, on June 7.