[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
[September 25, 2007]
[Pages 1235-1237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq in New York City
September 25, 2007

    President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, it's good to see you again. We 
generally meet via TV screens--[laughter]--and now it's good to see you 
in person. And I appreciate your delegation coming. You brought a very 
distinguished delegation--Ministers in this Government, the Foreign 
Minister, the Speaker of the 
Assembly is with us today--Mr. 
Speaker, thank you.
    We talked about a lot of issues; we spent time talking about 
reconciliation and law. And the Prime Minister and the 
Speaker

[[Page 1236]]

are dedicated to getting good law out of the Assembly. And the political 
parties in Iraq must understand the importance of getting these laws 
passed. Some politicians may be trying to block the law to gain special 
advantage. And these parties have got to understand that it's in the 
interests of Iraq to get good law passed. And so I want to thank you for 
your dedication and your commitment to laws that will help this young 
democracy reconcile and move forward.
    The Prime Minister and I have talked about a variety of concerns. 
And I assured him we want his security forces well-trained, mobile, and 
capable of handling Iraqi security on their own. I have made it clear to 
the American people that our troop levels will depend upon success. When 
General Petraeus reported to the country, 
you know, I talked about troops coming home based upon success. And 
success in Iraq is important to the future of our countries, and it's 
obviously important to the people of Iraq.
    You're sitting in a vital region and when you succeed--which I'm 
confident you will--it'll send a message to other people who believe in 
peace. It'll make it easier for people to grow up with a hopeful future 
in the Middle East. When that happens, it makes America more secure. If 
we were to leave before the job is done, chaos could ensue, innocent 
people would lose their life, extremists would be emboldened, nations 
that are worried about the United States would--about our commitment 
would lose their nerve, the countries of the Middle East would be 
endangered, and that would cause America to be endangered as well.
    And so we're with you, Prime Minister. We thank you for the courage 
of the Iraqi people. We expect there to be reconciliation and law, just 
like you expect there to be reconciliation and law. And I appreciate 
your time today. Appreciated your remarks yesterday; I thought they were 
strong remarks about a hopeful Iraq. And it's good to be with you.
    Prime Minister Maliki. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I am 
grateful to be here with you. I thank you for the meeting with your 
distinguished delegation and with my delegation.
    During the meeting with the President, we have reviewed a number of 
issues. We have discussed a variety of issues. All of them are common 
issues that we strongly believe that they represent the mutual goal that 
we have, the mutual goal of confronting and defeating terrorism, as well 
as building and continuing to build the Iraqi institutions and the Iraqi 
Government.
    The Iraqi side is fully prepared to assume all the responsibilities 
and to work for a better future for all of Iraq. We have made it very 
clear and emphasized that the future of Iraq goes through the gates of 
national reconciliations, of political agreements. And that is the way 
to make the states, and that's the way to ensure and assure the future 
of Iraq.
    The task before us is gigantic. We have succeeded in ridding Iraq of 
the dictatorship and the regime that governed there. Now we have another 
challenge, which is to get rid of terrorism, terrorist organizations. 
The road will be long; it requires cooperation from everyone and the 
international community in order to uproot terrorism and secure a better 
future for everyone.
    We believe and we feel that there is a development and progress 
that's happening every day in our political life, in the way to manage 
and administer the country in the security situation. Of course, as the 
President referred, also we have some spending legislations--that we 
will continue to exert every possible efforts to have those spending 
legislations passed. They've been sent to the Iraqi parliament. But 
also, we continue to work on the basis of the existing law, and we 
continue to work to have those legislations passed.

[[Page 1237]]

    We also discussed the importance and--of the region where we live. 
It is a vital region. It is important for Iraq and the region to be away 
from conflicts, to have a stable region and a stable Iraq, and to uproot 
terrorism in that part of the world and in that country. Iraq's security 
is very important, and we have talked about the importance of mutual 
respect between our two sides and working together for our mutual goals. 
We have a great deal of confidence that we will be victorious. Shukran.
    President Bush. Shukran.

Note: The President spoke at 11:33 a.m. at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In 
his remarks, he referred to Minister of Foreign Affairs Hoshyar Mahmud 
Zebari and Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mahmud al-
Mashhadani of Iraq; and Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, 
Multi-National Force--Iraq. Prime Minister Maliki spoke in Arabic, and 
his remarks were translated by an interpreter.