[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 27 (Monday, July 10, 2006)]
[Pages 1277-1278]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With United States Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay 
Khalilzad

July 6, 2006

    The President. It's been my pleasure to sit here and talk to our 
Ambassador from Iraq. I want--first, Zal, I thank you for your service. 
I really appreciate your family supporting you on this very important 
mission. I know the Secretary of State and the National Security Adviser 
join me in saying, it gives us great comfort to know that we've got a 
man of your caliber there. It's a hard job. And Zal has earned the 
confidence of the new Iraqi Government, and I was able to see that 
firsthand in how the Prime Minister and other members of his 
administration related to him.
    He brought back a report that is realistic. On the one hand, he said 
they've got a good Government--goal-oriented people who are working to 
achieve certain objectives. And I know that you've been impressed by 
Prime Minister Maliki's determination to succeed and his willingness to 
lay out a commonsense agenda and then hold people to account.
    Zal also said it's still a dangerous place because there are people 
there that will do anything to stop the progress of this new Government. 
And you have to ask yourself, who's afraid of democracy? I mean, why 
would people be afraid of a peaceful civil society? And the answer is, 
people who want to not only harm Iraqis but want to harm us.
    And I've assured Zal that--to assure the Iraqi people that when we 
give our word, we'll keep our word. And we intend to work closely with 
the Government and to help defend the people until this Government is 
more capable of defending itself.
    And he talked about police training. There's more work to be done in 
training the police. And we talked about the training of the Army, and 
it's gone quite well. Zal is concerned about foreign influences in the 
country, as am I.
    I do appreciate your briefing on the Prime Minister's recent trip in 
the neighborhood, which looked like a very successful trip. We, of 
course, are concerned that some in the neighborhood may want to derail 
the progress of a free Iraq. And that is troubling and something that 
we'll work on.
    But, Mr. Ambassador, you represent our country with a lot of class 
and dignity. And so, thank you. You may want to say a few comments.
    Ambassador Khalilzad. Thank you, Mr. President. I came today to also 
wish the President a happy birthday. Happy birthday, Mr. President. And 
it's an honor to serve the United States in Iraq. Under your leadership, 
we're working very hard to make sure Iraq succeeds because Iraq is the 
defining challenge of our time. And what happens in Iraq will shape the 
future of the Middle East, and the future of the Middle East will shape 
the future of the world.
    So it's an honor to see you again. And happy birthday, Mr. 
President.
    The President. Thank you, sir. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:12 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks,

[[Page 1278]]

he referred to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq.