    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [January 4, 2008]
    [Pages 24-26]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With Hisham Bourar of Alhurra
    Television
    January 4, 2008

    President's Upcoming Visit to the Middle East

        Mr. Bourar. Thank you, Mr. President, for taking the time to do this
    interview on Alhurra TV. Big trip to the Middle East--what are your
    objectives, and why now?
        The President. Now because I believe that it's possible to advance
    the Annapolis agenda; now because I believe this is going to be an--that
    it will be a chance to be effective on my trip. I am going to talk--
    advance three things: one, the vision of two states, Palestine and
    Israel, living side by side in peace; two, to convince our friends and
    allies in the region that it is in their interest to support the peace
    process; and three is to remind people that the United States is
    committed to helping secure the region, that we have a active presence
    in the Middle East, and that presence is not going to wane. It's a--that
    we're committed to helping people realize--deal with the threats and the
    problems of the 21st century.

    President's Role in the Peace Process

        Mr. Bourar. What can you do personally to press both sides, the
    Israelis and the Palestinians, to reach an agreement this year?
        The President. Yes. Well, first of all, the agreement--they must
    decide they want to reach agreement. In other words--and so the first
    thing I can do is to make sure there's a sincere desire on the parts of
    President Abbas and Prime
    Minister Olmert to achieve an agreement. I
    believe that desire exists. The Annapolis conference was a success
    because they wanted it to be a success. And it's to give them confidence
    and to encourage them to come up with the--what a state will look like,
    the--define that state so that people there in the region can have hope
    that this kind of a long-time conflict will finally come to an end. And
    the first step is the definition of a state.
        I can press when there needs to be pressed. I can hold hands when
    there needs to be--hold hands. And so I'm--I will go to encourage them
    to stay focused on the big picture. There's going to be all kinds of
    distractions, and people will be trying to throw up roadblocks, and
    people will be trying to cause these gentlemen to--not to--to lose sight
    of what's possible. And my job is to help them keep a vision on what is
    possible.

    Palestinian State

        Mr. Bourar. Do you still believe that the--your vision of a
    Palestinian state can be achieved before you leave office?
        The President. I think the outlines, the definition of a state can
    be achieved. The implementation of a state will be subject to a roadmap.
    In other words, there's a lot of work that has to be done. Palestinian

    [[Page 25]]

    security forces have to be reformed--which we're helping with, by the
    way. The entrepreneurial class of people has to be encouraged with new
    capital. The institutions of government need to be strengthened.
        And so the state will come into being, subject to--but the first
    step is to--here's what a state will look like. And I believe we can get
    that done by the time I leave office.

    Middle East Peace Process

        Mr. Bourar. Will you be asking Gulf countries, including Saudi
    Arabia, to normalize relations with Israel?
        The President. I'll be reminding the Gulf countries, including Saudi
    Arabia, that in order for this to be successful, in order for this
    process to work, there has to be strong support for both the
    Palestinians and the Israelis in the neighborhood. And that's why the
    Annapolis conference--another reason it was an important conference,
    because in that room were the--my friend, the King of Saudi Arabia, kindly sent his Foreign
    Minister to that
    Annapolis meeting. I thought it was a strong signal. And so both sides
    are going to need to know that they'll have support from the
    neighborhood.

    Iran

        Mr. Bourar. Recently, there has been some rapprochement between Gulf
    countries and Iran. Do you feel that the last NIE report makes it
    difficult for you to convince these countries that Iran still poses a
    threat to national security?
        The President. Yes. I'm sure this subject will come up, and I will
    remind them that the NIE said that, one, Iran had a military covert
    program. They suspended the program. I will also remind them that a
    regime that once had a program could easily start the program up again,
    and that the key ingredients to having a weapons program is, one, the
    capacity to enrich uranium; secondly, the ability to take that uranium
    and make a bomb; and thirdly, the ability to deliver the uranium--the
    bomb by rockets.
        Well, the rocket program still exists. As you know, they say they
    had--only for civilian purposes, they're learning to enrich. Well, if
    you can learn to enrich for civilian purposes, you can easily transfer
    that knowledge for military purposes. And therefore, Iran is a threat.
    And so that will be my message.
        And my other message will be, we've got a strategy to deal with it,
    and that is to prevent them from learning how to enrich. And I'll
    explain to them the different types of sanctions and international
    efforts we're making and how they can help as well.

    Syria

        Mr. Bourar. Recent visits to Damascus by U.S. lawmakers, like a
    recent one by Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican, and Senator Kennedy:
    Do they help or undermine your position toward Syria?
        The President. That's an interesting question. I don't know. But
    President Asad must understand that if he
    wants better relations with the United States--and frankly better
    relations in the region--the first thing he's got to do is stop
    interfering in the Lebanese Presidential process. And I would hope that
    those representatives sent that message to President Asad.
        I don't know how he interprets these
    meetings, but one thing he can't be mistaken about is the position of
    the U.S. Government, the White House. And our position is, is that you
    can have better relations, a better way forward with the United States,
    but you have got to get out of Lebanon, in terms of the Presidential
    elections, and stop harboring Hamas, stop letting suiciders go into
    Iraq. And you--there's a better way forward.

    Lebanon

        Mr. Bourar. Speaking of Lebanon, what could the United States do to
    break the current stalemate which left the country without a President?

    [[Page 26]]

        The President. Yes. We're making it awfully clear to--publicly and
    privately--that the--Sleiman, who was
    selected by the--by a lot of the players there inside Lebanon, is the
    right choice; if that's what they want, that's who we support--and that
    the obstacle to that Presidency going forward is Syria.
        So I'll be spending some time there in the Middle East discussing
    this very subject because a free Lebanon is in the interests of
    everybody in the region. And there's a lot of common ground with the
    U.S. position, and there--like the Saudis and other nations agree that
    we ought to have a free Lebanon, free of Syrian influence.

    President's Legacy

        Mr. Bourar. Last question, Mr. President. How do you think people in
    the Middle East will remember you?
        The President. I hope they remember me as the guy who was willing to
    fight extremists who murdered the innocent to achieve political
    objectives and, at the same time, had great faith in the people, the
    average citizen of the Middle East, to self-govern; that the Middle East
    has got a fantastic future, and that I admire the great traditions of
    the Middle East and believe that the average man can succeed mightily;
    that societies are best served when they respond to the will of people,
    and that we must reject the extremists who have a different view of
    that, the people who only prey on hopelessness. That's what I would
    hope.
        I would hope that they would say, President Bush respects my
    religion and has great love for the human being and believes in human
    dignity. I know my image can be different at times. I had to make some
    tough choices on war and peace. On the other hand, I hope people are now
    beginning to see the emergence of a free Iraq, based upon a modern
    Constitution, is part of my vision for achieving peace that we all want.
        Mr. Bourar. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.
        The President. Yes, sir.
        Mr. Bourar. Thank you.
        The President. Happy New Year.
        Mr. Bourar. Happy New Year to you.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The interview was taped at 4:22 p.m. in the Map Room at the White
    House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to
    President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority; Prime Minister
    Ehud Olmert of Israel; King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud and
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Saud al-Faysal bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of
    Saudi Arabia; President Bashar al-Asad of Syria; and Gen. Michel
    Sleiman, commander, Lebanese Armed Forces. The transcript was released
    by the Office of the Press Secretary on January 6.