[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 30 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Pages 1382-1387]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of 
Iraq

July 25, 2006

    President Bush. Thank you all. Please be seated.
    Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the White House. I just had a very 
constructive meeting with the leader of a Government that has been 
chosen by the Iraqi people in free and fair elections. I appreciate your 
vision for a free Iraq, and I appreciate you briefing me on a strategy 
to reduce violence and to rebuild your country.
    You have a strong partner in the United States of America, and I'm 
honored to stand here with you, Mr. Prime Minister. It's a remarkable, 
historical moment, as far as I'm concerned, to welcome freely elected 
leader of Iraq to the White House.
    We discussed a lot of issues. The Prime Minister has laid out a 
comprehensive plan. That's what leaders do. They see problems; they 
address problems; and they lay out a plan to solve the problems. The 
Prime Minister understands he's got challenges, and he's identified 
priorities.
    Our priority is to help this Government succeed. It's in the 
national interest of the United States that a unity government, based 
upon a constitution that is advanced and modern, succeed. And that's 
what I told the Prime Minister. He comes wondering whether or not we're 
committed. He hears all kinds of stories here in the United States. And 
I assured him that this Government stands with the Iraqi people. We're 
impressed by your courage, Mr. Prime Minister, and we're impressed by 
the courage of the Iraqi people. And we want to help you.
    We talked about security in Baghdad. No question, the terrorists and 
extremists are brutal. These are people that just kill innocent people 
to achieve an objective, which is to destabilize his Government. The 
Prime Minister tells me that he and his Government are not shaken by 
these actions. They're concerned about them; they're not shaken by them.
    The Iraqi people want to succeed. They want to end this violence. 
Our strategy is to remain on the offense, including in Baghdad. Under 
the Prime Minister's leadership, coalition and Iraqi leaders are 
modifying their operational concept to bring greater security to the 
Iraqi capital. Coalition and Iraqi forces will secure individual 
neighborhoods, will ensure the existence of an Iraqi security presence 
in the neighborhoods, and gradually expand the security presence as 
Iraqi citizens help them root out those who instigate violence.
    This plan will involve embedding more U.S. military police with 
Iraqi police units to make them more effective. The Prime Minister 
advised me that to support this plan, he and General Casey have agreed 
to deploy additional American troops and Iraqi security personnel in 
Baghdad in the coming weeks. These will come from other areas of the 
country. Our military commanders tell me that this deployment will 
better reflect the current conditions on the ground in Iraq.
    We also agreed that Iraqi security forces need better tools to do 
their job. And so we'll work with them to equip them with greater 
mobility, firepower, and protection.
    We still face challenges in Baghdad, yet we see progress elsewhere 
in Iraq. Iraqi security forces are growing in strength and capability, 
and recently, a key province in southern Iraq was transferred to full 
Iraqi

[[Page 1383]]

civilian control. In the midst of all the violence in Baghdad, sometimes 
a success is obscured. And this transfer of a key province is the 
beginning of other provinces to be transferred to full Iraqi control. 
It's a sign of progress. No question, it's tough in Baghdad, and no 
question, it's tough in other parts of Iraq. But there are also places 
where progress is being made, and the Prime Minister and I talked about 
that progress.
    The Prime Minister and I agreed to establish a joint committee to 
achieve Iraqi self-reliance. This new partnership will seek to ensure 
the smoothest and most effective assumption of security responsibility 
by Iraqi forces. Prime Minister Maliki was very clear this morning: He 
said he does not want American troops to leave his country until his 
Government can protect the Iraqi people. And I assured him that America 
will not abandon the Iraqi people.
    Tomorrow the Prime Minister and I will travel to Fort Belvoir in 
Virginia to visit with American troops and their families so we can 
thank them for their courage and their sacrifice. And we in the United 
States need to recognize the enormous sacrifice of the Iraqi people. The 
people are suffering hardships. These terrorists and killers are trying 
to shake the will of the Iraqi people. But despite large casualties, 
both civilian and military, the Iraqi people continue to stand for 
public office, enlist in their security forces, and, through their 
actions, demonstrate every day that they want to raise their families 
and live their lives like other free people around the world. And I'm 
impressed by the courage of the Iraqi citizens, Mr. Prime Minister.
    Citizens continue to believe in the future of their country and to 
subscribe to the notion upon which America is also founded, that the 
freedom of their country is worth fighting for. America is proud to be 
allied with such people. And it's important the Iraqi people hear of our 
pride and our determination, Mr. Prime Minister.
    We also discussed several new initiatives we're undertaking to 
create opportunity for the Iraqi people, and one of them is called the 
Iraqi Leaders Initiative. And starting next summer, 200 high school and 
university students from all regions of Iraq and all sectors of Iraqi 
society will come to America to study at local institutions and build 
personal friendships with the people of our country. This is going to be 
the largest program of its kind, and it will help build the next 
generation of leaders for a free and democratic Iraq.
    Prime Minister and I spent time talking about Lebanon, and we had a 
frank exchange on--of views on this situation. I listened closely to the 
Prime Minister, and I valued a chance to hear his perspective. I heard 
him on the seriousness of the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and the 
need to do more for the Lebanese people. I told him that Secretary Rice 
has announced greater humanitarian measures for Lebanon to include $30 
million in aid. America is concerned about the women and children who 
suffer in that country, concerned about the loss of innocent life. I 
reminded him and told him that Condi is over there working to establish 
corridors to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid and central relief 
supplies.
    I told him I support a sustainable cease-fire that will bring about 
an end to violence. And I talked about the importance of strengthening 
the Lebanese Government and supporting the Lebanese people.
    Prime Minister and I also discussed his proposal for an 
international compact for Iraq. The compact will outline Iraq's 
commitment to specific economic reforms and the international 
community's commitment to support those reforms. We expect the 
international compact will be signed later this year. And I told the 
Prime Minister that the United States will work to encourage other 
countries to support the compact and for other countries that have made 
pledges to Iraq, to make good on their pledges.
    In light of the recent violence in the Middle East, some are 
questioning whether democracy can take root in the region. I believe 
that the Iraqi people are showing us their answer. They're making 
enormous sacrifices to secure their freedom, and they've elected leaders 
who are making tough decisions.
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, you're such a leader, and I welcome you 
here to the White House. Thanks for coming.
    Prime Minister Maliki. Thank you very much. In the name of God, the 
most merciful and the passionate, I would like to thank President George 
Bush. Mr. President, I

[[Page 1384]]

would like to thank you for your invitation to come here and visit the 
United States of America, and I would like to thank you for the warm 
welcome that myself and my delegation received. And I also--I appreciate 
very much your interest in the situation in Iraq and the responsible 
spirit that has dominated our discussions today.
    We have discussed with President Bush, clearly and frankly, all the 
current challenges and the horizon and the future and ways of 
cooperation between our two countries in order to build a democratic, 
united, flourishing Iraq that enjoys its full national sovereignty. We 
have agreed that building the security and military institutions in 
Iraq, in terms of numbers, equipment, firearms, and as quickly as 
possible, represents the fundamental base in order to stabilize the 
country and to have security and defeat terrorism.
    I reaffirmed to the President Iraq's need to--the cooperation from 
the international community and your cooperation. And I have seen a 
great deal of understanding for this very vital issue from the 
President. I also expressed my appreciation to the role that's been 
played by the multinational forces and the exerted efforts to support us 
and to help us in building our security organizations, to allow our 
organizations to fully be in control of the security position and the 
security circumstances.
    I agreed with the President to form a joint committee of experts and 
the connections in order to achieve the self-sufficiency for the Iraqi 
forces. This will allow these forces to bear the responsibility of 
protecting security and confronting terrorism in our country. And in 
this field, we have achieved our first and initial success when our 
forces assumed the responsibility in the Muthanna Governorate. This is a 
very important step--will be followed by similar steps in many other 
governorates in Iraq.
    We are determined to defeat terrorism. And the security plan for 
Baghdad have entered the second phase, and it's achieving its objectives 
in hunting the terrorist networks and eliminating it.
    I have informed the President about the national reconciliation 
plan, which I have launched in order to attract more Iraqi forces which 
have not engaged in the political process yet. This initiative 
represents, in addition to building the Iraqi Armed Forces, one of the 
initiatives that will contribute to choking terrorism and defeating 
terrorism in Iraq.
    On the economic sphere and the reconstruction of Iraq, I have seen 
support from President Bush to ensure the success of the international 
impact, which we hope that, through it, we'll be able to have the 
support of the world community in reconstructing Iraq and improving the 
services that the Government is providing to its own Iraqi people. We 
hope that many other countries will participate and contribute in that 
conference that will be convened in the next few months in order to sign 
this international compact. I assured the President, Iraq's readiness to 
make this conference a success and accept the mutual commitments between 
Iraq and those who will sign the compact. The President reaffirmed his 
administration's commitment to encourage as many countries as possible 
to support this compact.
    I also discussed with the President the issue of Lebanon in all 
seriousness, in a way that matches the importance of the size of 
destructions that happened to the Lebanese people as a result of the 
military air and ground attacks. And I also emphasized the importance of 
immediate cease-fire, and call on the international community to support 
the Lebanese Government and support the Lebanese people to overcome the 
damage and destruction that happened.
    I also expressed to the President about Iraq's desire and Iraq's 
political leadership's desire to merge in the international community 
and its institutions, and to participate effectively in the various 
issues on the basis of mutual interest, and to be committed to the 
policy of not interfering or intervening in the domestic policies of 
other countries. I also reaffirmed the importance of approaching every 
issue through peaceful and diplomatic means to deal with the problems 
that exist in our region. These chronic problems requires a great deal 
of wisdom and patience and perseverance in order to find the just and 
successful and fair solution.
    Mr. President, I thank you once again for your kind invitation and 
for your very warm hospitality and generosity.

[[Page 1385]]

    President Bush. ----questions a side, starting with you, Tom [Tom 
Raum, Associated Press].

Security Situation in Baghdad

    Q. Mr. President and Mr. Prime Minister, why should one expect this 
new security crackdown in Baghdad to succeed when all previous ones have 
failed?
    And, Mr. President, you've said before that withdrawal of U.S. 
troops would depend on conditions on the ground. What do conditions on 
the ground now in Baghdad suggest in terms of whether there can be a 
significant withdrawal of American forces by the end of the year?
    President Bush. I'll start--do you want to start? Go ahead.
    Prime Minister Maliki. Actually, the circumstances that the Baghdad 
security plans, or other plans related to Basra and other places, are 
different in terms of circumstances from the previous plans. Today, Iraq 
has a national unity Government that--it is basically composed of--all 
elements of the Iraqi people are represented in this Government. Iraq 
has a Parliament; it has a Constitution to face all these challenges. So 
what the Baghdad security plan gains, in terms of support, is support 
from all over the segments of the Iraqi population.
    Secondly, by monitoring the reality on the ground, we will be able 
to ensure the success, especially what happens against the innocent 
people. The Baghdad security forces was able to eliminate many hotspots 
of crimes and troubles in Baghdad.
    President Bush. One of the things that's important is for--and one 
of the reasons why you trust the commanders on the ground is because 
there needs to be flexibility. And I explained to the Prime Minister 
that I'll be making my decisions based upon the recommendations of 
General Casey. And obviously, the violence in Baghdad is still terrible, 
and therefore, there needs to be more troops. In other words, the 
commanders said, ``What more can we do; how best to address the 
conditions on the ground?'' And they have recommended, as a result of 
working with the Prime Minister, based upon his recommendation, that we 
increase the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad alongside of Iraqi troops. 
And we're going to do that.
    The second request that the Prime Minister made was that he needs 
more equipment for his troops. And General Dempsey, along with General 
Casey have reviewed his requests and his ideas. And I told the Prime 
Minister if this is what these generals recommend, it's what I support.
    Conditions change inside a country, Tom. And the question is, are we 
going to be facile enough to change with--will we be nimble enough; will 
we be able to deal with the circumstances on the ground? And the answer 
is, yes, we will.
    Mr. Prime Minister, would you like to call on somebody? There you 
go.

Iraq-U.S. Cooperation in War on Terror

    Q. I have two questions. One, President Bush. The first one: Is 
there an obvious change that could be made to the security status, you 
politically--particularly in Baghdad right now?
    And the second question for you. Mr. Prime Minister, you said in a 
press conference in Baghdad that your visit to Washington, you will 
put--you will cross the t's and dot the i's, especially regarding the 
security needs. Did you cross the t's and dot the i's in your discussion 
with President Bush?
    President Bush. ----a lot of time talking about security, and I can 
understand why. Because there's--there are people who are willing to 
destroy innocent life to achieve a political objective. And the Prime 
Minister is deeply concerned about the lives of his fellow citizens. And 
I appreciate that concern. I would be very worried if a Prime Minister 
came to talk about his country and did not mention, first and foremost, 
protecting people's lives. That's, after all, the most important 
responsibility of government.
    And he believes, and I believe, that the--there needs to be more 
forces inside Baghdad who are willing to hold people to account. In 
other words, if you find somebody who's kidnaping and murdering, the 
murderer ought to be held to account. It ought to be clear in society 
that that kind of behavior is not tolerated.
    And that's the attitude of the Prime Minister. My attitude is, we 
shouldn't try to gauge

[[Page 1386]]

whether or not someone is justified or not; we ought to be saying that 
if you murder, you're responsible for your actions. And I think the 
Iraqi people appreciate that type of attitude.
    And so we--so we're not only talking about adjusting a Baghdad plan 
at the Prime Minister's request to make it more effective--we're also 
talking about how to make the Iraqi Army more effective. But the truth 
of the matter is, the Iraqi Army is becoming a highly professional force 
that will help bring confidence to the people inside Iraq that the 
Government has got the capacity to protect them.
    Prime Minister Maliki. Thank you, Mr. President. Actually, 
successful acts and large issues has to be based on a clear vision. And 
through the serious discussion and the clear and the frank conversation 
that I had with President George Bush, that we are truly crossing the 
t's and dotting the i's in terms of enhancing the security and 
supporting the reconstruction. Through the discussion, we were able to 
go through the details of the vision that will cover the future, because 
we are not talking here about a specific phase of the reconstruction, 
but we are facing the necessity of continuous work in order to make sure 
that the entire political experiment will succeed.
    I believe with a great deal of confidence that I have reaffirmed 
through this, and I became convinced that--I have full confidence of 
victory, and we will be highly capable of defeating terrorism in Iraq.

Situation in the Middle East/Democracy in Iraq

    Q. ----you had a frank exchange on the Middle East. How can you get 
Arab nations to apply pressure to stop the fighting in the Middle East 
if allies like the Prime Minister won't condemn Hizballah?
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, what exactly is your position on Hizballah? 
Thank you.
    President Bush. The terrorists are afraid of democracies. And what 
you've witnessed in Israel, in my judgment, is the act of a terrorist 
organization trying to stop the advance of democracy in the region.
    I assured the Prime Minister that I care deeply about the suffering 
that takes place, that we understand the anguish of leaders in the 
region who see innocent people losing their life. I also assured him 
that Condi Rice's mission is to help get humanitarian aid to the 
Lebanese people. She's working on not only air corridors but sea 
corridors and land corridors to get aid to the people. And the United 
States will participate, as will other nations.
    I also talked about making sure that we adhere to U.N. Resolution 
1559, which basically--not basically--strongly urges political parties 
not to be armed. A key part of our strategy is to support democracy. And 
so not only do we support democracy in the Palestinian Territory, we 
also support the Lebanese democracy. I think the Prime Minister was 
pleased to hear my strong support for the Siniora Government.
    And so Condi goes with the following messages: We support the 
Siniora Government; we care about the people; we will help to get aid to 
the people; and that we want a sustainable cease-fire. We don't want 
something that's short-term in duration. We want to address the root 
causes of the violence in the area, and therefore, our mission and our 
goal is to have a lasting peace--not a temporary peace but something 
that lasts.
    And I believe that Iraq, in some ways, faces the same difficulty, 
and that is, a new democracy is emerging and there are people who are 
willing to use terrorist techniques to stop it. That's what the murder 
is all about. People fear democracy if your vision is based upon kind of 
a totalitarian view of the world. And that's the ultimate challenge 
facing Iraq and Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories, and that is, 
will the free world, and the neighborhood, work in concert to help 
develop sustainable democracy?
    And Iraq took a long step along that--a big step on that path when 
they developed a Constitution that was ratified by the Iraqi people. And 
it's a modern Constitution, and it's a landmark moment in the history of 
freedom advancing in the Middle East.
    I believe that deep in everybody's soul, Mr. Prime Minister, is a 
desire to be free. And when 12 million Iraqis went to the polls and 
said, ``I want to be free,'' it was an amazing moment. I know it seems 
like a long, long time ago that that happened. But it was a

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powerful statement about what is possible in terms of achieving peace.
    Prime Minister Maliki. Thank you. Here, actually, we're talking 
about the suffering of a people in a country. And we are not in the 
process of reviewing one issue or another, or any government position. 
The important thing here is what we are trying to do is to stop the 
killing and the destruction, and then we leave the room and the way for 
the international and diplomatic efforts and international organization 
to play the role to be there.
    We are not here facing a situation only in Lebanon, but would be 
facing a variety of issues in different countries. I'm talking here 
about the approach that should be used in order to stop this process of 
promoting hatred--that has to be superior decisions coming from above in 
order to protect these experiments, particularly the democratic 
experiments that should be protected by those who are trying to oppose 
it.

Israel-U.S. Relations/Rule of Law in Iraq

    Q. Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. General Abizaid said 
that the danger that Iraq is facing is the religious danger. Do you 
agree with his assessment? And do you see that--is there any security 
plan that can really curb the religious violence?
    [Inaudible]--humanitarian aid to Lebanon, yet there's also reports 
that your administration are speeding up delivery of laser-guided 
missiles to Israel and bunker-buster bombs. And do you see this--if this 
is true, do you see it as contradictory? On one hand, you allow Israel 
to kill people, and civilian, in particular, and on the other hand, 
you're trying to aid the very people that have been suffering and killed 
as a result?
    President Bush. No, I don't see a contradiction in us honoring 
commitments we made prior to Hizballah attacks into Israeli territory. 
And I--like the Prime Minister, I'm concerned about loss of innocent 
life, and we will do everything we can to help move equipment--I mean, 
food and medicines to help the people who have been displaced and the 
people who suffer.
    Prime Minister Maliki. Yes. I do not reduce the risk and the danger 
of the religious feelings, especially through some of the organizations 
that are trying to promote this hatred. And there are--some of the 
events are on the basis of religious divide, but I would like to assure 
the political, religious leaders and civil societies that the Iraqi 
parties, politicians, religious leaders are rising to their 
responsibility and are condemning those who are cooperating with Al 
Qaida and those who are trying to start a civil war.
    The one--the most important element in the security plan is to curb 
the religious violence, because we will not allow any Iraqis to use this 
background. This is one of the main objective of the security plan. It 
is the policy of the Government: There is no killing or discrimination 
against anyone. Everything is by law and everything based on the 
Constitution and the law. The Government responsibility is to protect 
all Iraqis, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. It's 
important to say that we are shedding the light against those who are 
calling for sectarian religious, because we feel that this is a great 
danger to Iraq. And, God willing, there will be no civil war in Iraq.
    Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Thank you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 11:27 a.m. in the East 
Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. George W. 
Casey, Jr., USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq; Lt. 
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, USA, commander, Multi-National Security 
Transition Command--Iraq and NATO Training Mission--Iraq; and Prime 
Minister Fuad Siniora of Lebanon. A reporter referred to Gen. John P. 
Abizaid, USA, combatant commander, U.S. Central Command. Prime Minister 
Maliki and two reporters spoke in Arabic, and their remarks were 
translated by an interpreter.