[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 29 (Monday, July 24, 2006)]
[Pages 1348-1351]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Tony Blair of the 
United Kingdom and an Exchange With Reporters in Strelna

July 16, 2006

    President Bush. It's good to be here with my friend and our close 
ally. We just had a wide-ranging discussion. We talked about the Middle 
East; we talked about Iraq; we talked about Iran. I was pleased to 
inform and thank Tony for the good work in the United Nations on a 
unanimous resolution regarding North Korea.
    We talked about trade. We're both committed to a world that trades 
freely. All in all, it's a typical Blair-Bush conversation--it was wide-
ranging and conclusive. And I appreciate your insight and your thoughts.
    Prime Minister Blair. Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. The 
President has indicated to you the subjects we discussed. And we went 
through basically all of the international agenda, as evidence of a very 
strong common agreement on the key questions.
    President Bush. Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Israel's offensive in Lebanon appears to have no end in sight at 
this point. Are you willing to go along with Lebanon's call for a 
ceasefire?
    President Bush. One of the interesting things about this recent 
flareup is that it helps clarify a root cause of instability in the 
Middle East--and that's Hizballah and Hizballah's relationship with 
Syria and Hizballah's relationship to Iran and Syria's relationship to 
Iran. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, it's really important 
for the world to address the root cause.
    We, of course, are in continued discussions with Israel. All 
sovereign nations have the right to defend themselves against terrorist 
attacks. However, we hope that there is restraint as people respond. And 
one of our concerns, of course, is the fragile democracy in Lebanon. So 
in order to solve this problem, the international community must address 
the root causes, otherwise there may

[[Page 1349]]

be apparent calm and then all of a sudden, there will be more conflict.
    Remember, Hizballah started this by capturing two Israeli soldiers 
and firing rockets into Israel. And as we talk about Hizballah, we must 
always remember that there is an issue in Gaza as well. And we've 
discussed this issue, and we will continue to work with the parties 
involved to solve that issue as well.

Prime Minister Blair's Upcoming Meeting With President Vladimir Putin of 
Russia

    Q. Last night President Putin said that if you asked him about 
Russian democracy, he had some questions to ask you about Lord Levy. Do 
you feel that your ability to play a role in international states is now 
being seriously undermined by Lord Levy's activities?
    Prime Minister Blair. No, I don't. I think--I'm sure we will have a 
discussion not just about that but about the full range of international 
issues that we've been discussing including, obviously, the most 
pressing issue on the international agenda at the moment.
    Q. Do you expect him to raise Lord Levy with you?
    Prime Minister Blair. No, I'm not, frankly.
    President Bush. Keil [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Mr. President, you've talked here about your concern about the 
fragility of the democracy in Lebanon and the Prime Minister there 
calling for a ceasefire. Do you think that's needed now to protect his 
Government? And, if not, why?
    President Bush. My message to Israel is that as a sovereign nation, 
you have every right to defend yourself against terrorist activities. 
And again, I repeat, this started because Hizballah decided to capture 
two Israeli soldiers and fire hundreds of rockets into Israel from 
southern Lebanon. That's the cause of the crisis.
    And so our message to Israel is, look, defend yourself, but as you 
do so, be mindful of the consequences. And so we've urged restraint.
    Q. What about a ceasefire?
    President Bush. Well, it's really important--this is a moment of 
clarification. It's becoming clear for everybody to see some of the root 
causes of instability. I say, ``some of the root causes of 
instability,'' because there's still a militant wing of Hamas that wants 
to stop progress.
    But let's step back for a minute. We were making progress toward a 
two-state solution, two democracies living side by side in peace. 
There's a Prime Minister from Israel, Olmert, who is dedicated to a two-
state solution. He comes to the United States and holds a press 
conference and says, ``I am dedicated; as a matter of fact, I am so 
dedicated, I'm campaigning on the platform that if need be, we will 
unilaterally make the decision that there's a Palestinian state.'' 
That's a remarkable statement. He also said that he is willing to reach 
out to President Abbas, which he has done. He's also reached out to 
other nations in the neighborhood in order to--in order to make sure 
there's a negotiated settlement.
    As progress was being made, it obviously scared those who can't 
stand the thought of democracy. So you have the militant wing of Hamas 
act first, and then you had Hizballah act. And in order to solve this 
problem, Dick, the world must address the root causes of the problem.
    And so we have said to Israel--and we're in touch with Israel a 
lot--remember, there's a fledgling democracy on your northern border, 
which will ultimately help you achieve the peace you want. And today 
here at the G-8, we'll discuss this issue. And it's a--one of the 
interesting things about this moment is, it's now become clear to a lot 
of people why we don't have peace in the Middle East. It's a moment of 
clarification. And therefore, it's a moment that requires all of us to 
work together to send a clear message not only to Hizballah but to the 
Iranians who finance Hizballah and to the Syrians who house Hizballah.

G-8 Summit/Middle East

    Q. Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. President, do you get a sense among 
the other leaders who are gathered here today that you are all on the 
same wavelength when it comes to the Middle East? Or do some leaders 
have

[[Page 1350]]

very different views about what's happening there?
    President Bush. I think most leaders are now beginning to recognize 
the root cause of the problem. Clearly, the Prime Minister does. And our 
respective political directors and foreign ministers and Secretary of 
States have been talking about this issue a lot. And there seems to be a 
consensus growing that in order for us to have the peace we want, that 
the world is going to have to recognize that there are terrorist 
elements who are dedicated to stopping the advance of democracy and 
peace. And therefore, we must deal with those. And I repeat, there are 
two nation-states that are very much involved with stopping the advance 
of peace, and that would be Iran, and that would be Syria.

War on Terror/Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Mr. Prime Minister, can I just ask you on this: The Russians have 
said they feel Israel's use of force is excessive. What do you think of 
that? And could you just spell out exactly what influence the Russians, 
you think, have or could have in this situation?
    Prime Minister Blair. Well, I think everyone is going to work very 
hard to find a common and unified position. But the essential point is 
this: We all want the situation to clam down, and we want it to calm 
down because we're mindful of the need to protect Lebanese democracy, 
and we're also deeply mindful of the need to try to reengage people with 
the negotiated process towards a two-state solution, Israel and an 
independent, viable state in Palestine.
    Now the question is, how do we calm it down from this position now? 
And as the President was just saying a moment or two ago, the absolute 
essence of this, the only way we are going to get this situation calm 
and we're going to get the cessation of hostilities, is if we address 
the reasons why the situation has arisen. And the basic reasons are that 
there are extremists who want to interrupt the process that can lead to 
that two-state solution--Israel with its security protectors, a proper 
independent Palestinian state--and there are also extremists backed, I'm 
afraid, by Iran and by Syria who want to disrupt the positions in 
Lebanon and who want to create a situation of tension and hostility 
there.
    So if we're going to make this work--and we've got the U.N. mission 
that is out there now, and that's obviously very important, and we 
support it--if we want to make this work, we have got to deal with those 
underlying conditions that have given rise both to the problem in the 
Gaza and the problems into Lebanon. And I hope very much that everybody 
here, because we have a common position in supporting Lebanon and its 
democracy and supporting the security of Israel, and supporting the two-
state solution--since we're agreed on those basic fundamentals, we 
should be able to agree on a position here. And I think it would be a 
very good signal to send out to the world at this moment, that we can 
agree to such a position.
    I think that sometimes, for understandable reasons, there's been a 
hesitation in putting the real truth of this situation up to people, and 
the fact is there are those out in that region, notably Iran and Syria, 
who do not want this process of democratization and peace and 
negotiations to succeed.
    President Bush. Let me just say one thing. You've triggered a 
brilliant thought. [Laughter] A couple of points--Kofi Annan is going to 
be here, and the United States, as well, supports the mission in the 
region. Secondly, of course, all of us care deeply about the loss of 
innocent life. And in thinking about that, I remember a year ago what 
took place during the G-8 hosted by Tony. There were terrorist attacks 
in London, and there was a loss of innocent life. And there was outrage, 
as there should have been, and a determination to work together to 
protect life.
    And that same determination must be applied to the Middle East as 
well. The terrorists will do anything to achieve objectives. They went 
into London subways. They'll fire rockets into Israel, all aiming to 
disrupt, to destroy, to prevent free societies from flourishing, because 
they don't agree with freedom. And the stakes are high, and the stakes 
have been clarified once again, during yet another G-8. And Tony and I 
will call upon our fellow leaders to come together and to

[[Page 1351]]

make it clear that we reject this kind of violence and that we will be 
steadfast in our support of freedom.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 8:50 a.m. in Cottage Nine at the 
Konstantinovsky Palace Complex. In his remarks, he referred to Prime 
Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel; President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of 
the Palestinian Authority; and Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the 
United Nations. A reporter referred to Baron Michael A. Levy, Prime 
Minister Blair's personal envoy to the Middle East, who was arrested on 
July 12 in connection with a police investigation into possible 
infringements of honours and elections laws. A tape was not available 
for verification of the content of these remarks.