[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 30 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Pages 1406-1415]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Tony Blair of the 
United Kingdom

July 28, 2006

    President Bush. Thank you all. Prime Minister Tony Blair, welcome 
back to the White House. As you know, we've got a close relationship. 
You tell me what you think. You share with me your perspective--and you 
let me know when the microphone is on. [Laughter]
    Today the Prime Minister and I talked about the ways we're working 
to advance freedom and human dignity across the world. Prime Minister 
Blair and I discussed the crisis in the Middle East. In Lebanon, 
Hizballah and its Iranian and Syrian sponsors are willing to kill and to 
use violence to stop the spread of peace and democracy--and they're not 
going to succeed.
    The Prime Minister and I have committed our Governments to a plan to 
make every effort to achieve a lasting peace out of this crisis. Our top 
priorities in Lebanon are providing immediate humanitarian relief, 
achieving an end to the violence, ensuring the return of displaced 
persons, and assisting with reconstruction. We recognize that many 
Lebanese people have lost their homes, so we'll help rebuild the 
civilian infrastructure that will allow them to return home safely.
    Our goal is to achieve a lasting peace, which requires that a free, 
democratic, and independent Lebanese Government be empowered to exercise 
full authority over its territory. We want a Lebanon free of militias 
and foreign interference, and a Lebanon that governs its own destiny, as 
is called for by U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1680.
    We agree that a multinational force must be dispatched to Lebanon 
quickly to augment a Lebanese Army as it moves to the south of that 
country. An effective multinational force will help speed delivery of 
humanitarian relief, facilitate the return of displaced persons, and 
support the Lebanese Government as it asserts full sovereignty over its 
territory and guards its borders.
    We're working quickly to achieve these goals. Tomorrow Secretary 
Rice will return to the region. She will work with the leaders of Israel 
and Lebanon to seize this opportunity to achieve lasting peace and 
stability for both of their countries. Next week, the U.N. Security 
Council will meet as well. Our goal is a Chapter VII resolution setting 
out a clear framework for cessation of hostilities on an urgent basis 
and mandating the multinational force.
    Also at the United Nations, senior officials from many countries 
will meet to discuss the design and deployment of the multinational 
force. Prime Minister Blair and I agree that this approach gives the 
best hope to end the violence and create lasting peace and stability in 
Lebanon. This approach will demonstrate the international community's 
determination to support the Government of Lebanon and defeat the threat 
from Hizballah and its foreign sponsors.
    This approach will make possible what so many around the world want 
to see: the end of Hizballah's attacks on Israel; the return of Israeli 
soldiers taken hostage by the terrorists; the suspension of Israel's 
operations in Lebanon; and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
    This is a moment of intense conflict in the Middle East. Yet our aim 
is to turn it into a moment of opportunity and a chance for a broader 
change in the region. Prime Minister Blair and I remain committed to the 
vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by 
side in peace and security. This vision has been embraced by Israel, the 
Palestinians, and many others throughout the region and the world, and 
we will make every effort to make this vision a reality. The United 
States is committed to using all of its influence to seize this moment 
to build a stable and democratic Middle East.
    We also talked about other regions and other challenges and other 
conflicts. The Prime Minister and I each met with the Prime Minister of 
Iraq this week. The U.S. and U.K. are working together to support the 
Prime Minister and his unity Government, and we will continue to support 
that Government. Afghanistan's people and their freely-

[[Page 1407]]

elected Government can also count on our support.
    Our two nations urge Iran to accept the EU-3 offer, which also has 
the backing of Russia, China, and the United States. We agree that the 
Iranian regime will not be allowed to develop or acquire nuclear 
weapons.
    The suffering in Darfur deserves the name of genocide. Our two 
nations support a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur, which 
is the best hope for the people in that region.
    I want to thank you for coming. It's good to discuss these urgent 
matters with you. We will continue to consult with each other as events 
unfold in the Middle East and beyond. The alliance between Britain and 
America is stronger than ever, because we share the same values; we 
share the same goals; and we share the same determination to advance 
freedom and to defeat terror across the world.
    Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Blair. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your 
welcome to the White House once again. And first of all, I'd like to say 
some words about the present Middle East crisis, and then we'll talk 
about some of the other issues that we discussed.
    What is happening in the Middle East at the moment is a complete 
tragedy for Lebanon, for Israel, and for the wider region. And the scale 
of destruction is very clear. There are innocent lives that have been 
lost, both Lebanese and Israeli. There are hundreds of thousands of 
people that have been displaced from their homes, again, both in Lebanon 
and in Israel. And it's been a tremendous and terrible setback for 
Lebanon's democracy.
    We shouldn't forget how this began, how it started. In defiance of 
the U.N. Resolution 1559, Hizballah, for almost 2 years, has been 
fortifying and arming militia down in the south of Lebanon, when it is 
the proper and democratically elected Government of Lebanon and its 
armed forces who should have control of that area, as they should of the 
whole of Lebanon. They then, in defiance of that U.N. resolution, 
crossed the U.N. Blue Line. As you know, they kidnaped two Israeli 
soldiers; they killed eight more. Then, of course, there was the 
retaliation by Israel, and there are rockets being fired from the south 
of Lebanon into the north of Israel the entire time.
    So we know how this situation came about and how it started, and the 
question is, now, how to get it stopped and get it stopped with the 
urgency that the situation demands.
    Since our meeting in St. Petersburg for the G-8, we have been 
working hard on a plan to ensure that this happens. And as well as, 
obviously, the consultations that I've had with President Bush, I've 
spoken to President Chirac, Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Erdogan of 
Turkey, the President of the European Union, the Prime Minister of 
Finland, and many, many others.
    And as the President has just outlined to you, I think there are 
three essential steps that we can take in order to ensure that there is 
the cessation of hostilities we all want to see. The first is, I welcome 
very much the fact that Secretary Rice will go back to the region 
tomorrow. She will have with her the package of proposals in order to 
get agreement both from the Government of Israel and the Government of 
Lebanon on what is necessary to happen in order for this crisis to stop.
    Secondly, we are bringing forward to Monday the meeting in the 
United Nations about the international stabilization force. And again, 
this is something we've been discussing with various different countries 
over the past few days. The absolute vital importance of that force is 
that it is able to ensure that the agreement the international community 
comes to, in respect of Lebanon, is enforced and that we have the 
Government of Lebanon able to make its writ run fully with its own armed 
forces in the south of Lebanon.
    And then thirdly, as the President has just said to you, we want to 
see, tabled and agreed, a U.N. resolution as early as possible that will 
allow the cessation of hostilities. Provided that resolution is agreed 
and acted upon, we can, indeed, bring an end to this crisis. But nothing 
will work unless, as well as an end to the immediate crisis, we put in 
place the measures necessary to prevent it occurring again.

[[Page 1408]]

    That is why I return at every opportunity to the basis of the United 
Nations Resolution 1559--almost 2 years ago now--that said precisely 
what should happen in order to make sure that the southern part of 
Lebanon was not used as a base for armed militia. The purpose of what we 
are doing, therefore, is to bring about, yes, the cessation of 
hostilities, which we want to see as quickly and as urgently as 
possible, but also to put in place a framework that allows us to 
stabilize the situation for the medium and longer term.
    In addition to that, we, both of us, believe it is important that we 
take the opportunity to ensure that the Middle East peace process, which 
has been in such difficulty over the past few months, is given fresh 
impetus towards the two-state solution that we in the international 
community want to see. In the end, that is of fundamental importance, 
also, to the stability and peace of the region.
    Now, in addition to all of these things--and obviously, we discussed 
Iraq, as the President has just said, and the work that our troops are 
doing in Iraq and, indeed, in Afghanistan. And if I might, let me once 
again pay tribute to the quite extraordinary professionalism, 
dedication, bravery, and commitment of the Armed Forces of both the 
United States and the United Kingdom and the many other countries that 
are working there with us.
    In addition to that, as the President indicated to you, we discussed 
the situation in the Sudan. We will have an opportunity to discuss other 
issues later, notably, obviously the world trade talks and other such 
things. But I want to emphasize, just in concluding my opening remarks, 
by referring once again to the absolutely essential importance of 
ensuring that not merely do we get the cessation of hostilities now in 
Lebanon and in respect of Israel but that we take this opportunity--
since we know why this has occurred; we know what started it; we know 
what the underlying forces are behind what has happened in the past few 
weeks--we take this opportunity to set out and achieve a different 
strategic direction for the whole of that region, which will allow the 
Government of Lebanon to be in control of its country, Lebanon to be the 
democracy its people want, and also allow us to get the solution in 
respect of Palestine that we have wanted so long to see.
    If we are able, out of what has been a tragedy, a catastrophe for 
many of the people in the region, to achieve such a thing, then we will 
have turned what has been a situation of tragedy into one of 
opportunity. And we intend to do that.
    President Bush. Good job.
    Three questions a side. Tom [Tom Raum, Associated Press].

Situation in the Middle East/War on Terror

    Q. Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, with support apparently 
growing among the Arab population, both Shi'a and Sunni, for Hizballah 
by bounds, is there a risk that every day that goes by without a cease-
fire will tip this conflict into a wider war?
    And, Mr. President, when Secretary Rice goes back to the region, 
will she have any new instructions, such as meeting with Syrians?
    President Bush. Her instructions are to work with Israel and Lebanon 
to get a--to come up with an acceptable U.N. Security Council resolution 
that we can table next week. And secondly, it's really important for 
people to understand that terrorists are trying to stop the advance of 
freedom, and therefore, it's essential that we do what's right and not 
necessarily what appears to be immediately popular.
    There's a lot of suffering in Lebanon because Hizballah attacked 
Israel. There's a lot of suffering in the Palestinian Territory because 
militant Hamas is trying to stop the advance of democracy. There is 
suffering in Iraq because terrorists are trying to spread sectarian 
violence and stop the spread of democracy. And now is the time for the 
free world to work to create the conditions so that people everywhere 
can have hope.
    And those are the stakes; that's what we face right now. We've got a 
plan to deal with this immediate crisis. It's one of the reasons the 
Prime Minister came, to talk about that plan. But the stakes are larger 
than just Lebanon.
    Isn't it interesting, that when Prime Minister Olmert starts to 
reach out to President

[[Page 1409]]

Abbas to develop a Palestinian state, militant Hamas creates the 
conditions so that there's crisis, and then Hizballah follows up? Isn't 
it interesting, as a democracy takes hold in Iraq, that Al Qaida steps 
up its efforts to murder and bomb in order to stop the democracy?
    And so one of the things that the people in the Middle East must 
understand is that we're working to create the conditions of hope and 
opportunity for all of them. And we'll continue to do that, Tom. 
That's--this is the challenge of the 21st century.
    Prime Minister Blair. It's very obvious what the strategy of 
terrorism is, and of the actions that Hizballah took. Their strategy is 
to commit an outrage that provokes a reaction and then on the back of 
the reaction, to mobilize extreme elements and then try and create a 
situation which even moderate people feel drawn to their cause. That's 
the strategy.
    And you, quite rightly, say, ``Well, isn't there a danger that the 
Arab street and people in Arab Muslim countries become more sympathetic 
to Hizballah as a result of what's happened?'' That is their strategy. 
How do we counter it? We counter it, one, by having our own strategy to 
bring the immediate crisis to an end, which we do. That is what is 
important about the Secretary of State visiting the region, getting an 
agreement, tabling it to the United Nations, getting the endorsement of 
the United Nations, having an international stabilization force to move 
into the situation. We've got to deal with the immediate situation.
    But then, as the President was saying a moment or two ago, we've 
then got to realize what has happened in the past few weeks is not an 
isolated incident. It is part of a bigger picture. Now, I'm going to say 
some more things about this in the days to come, but we really will 
never understand how we deal with this situation unless we understand 
that there is a big picture out in the Middle East which is about 
reactionary and terrorist groups trying to stop what the vast majority 
of people in the Middle East want, which is progress towards democracy, 
liberty, human rights, the same as the rest of us.
    Now, that's the battle that's going on. And, yes, it is always very 
difficult when something like this happens, as it has happened over the 
past few weeks. So we've got to resolve the immediate situation, but we 
shouldn't be in any doubt at all, that will be a temporary respite 
unless we put in place the longer-term framework.

Lebanon/United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559

    Q. Mr. President, you spoke of having a plan to rebuild houses in 
Lebanon. Wouldn't the people of Lebanon rather know when you're going to 
tell the Israelis to stop destroying houses?
    And, Prime Minister, you've talked of having a plan today, but isn't 
the truth that you and the President believe that Israel is on the right 
side in the war on terror and you want them to win this war, not to stop 
it?
    President Bush. Look, we care deeply about the people whose lives 
have been affected in Lebanon, just like we care deeply about the people 
whose lives have been affected in Israel. There's over a million people 
in Israel that are threatened by this consistent rocket attack coming 
out of Lebanon. And, yes, we want to help people rebuild their lives, 
absolutely. But we also want to address the root causes of the problem, 
and the root cause of the problem is, you've got Hizballah that is armed 
and willing to fire rockets into Israel--a Hizballah, by the way, that I 
firmly believe is backed by Iran and encouraged by Iran.
    And so for the sake of long-term stability, we've got to deal with 
this issue now. Listen, the temptation is to say, ``It's too tough; 
let's just try to solve it quickly with something that won't last; let's 
just get it off the TV screens.'' But that won't solve the problem. And 
it's certainly not going to help the Lebanese citizens have a life that 
is normal and peaceful.
    What is necessary is to help the Siniora Government, and one way to 
help the Siniora Government is to make aid available to help rebuild the 
houses that were destroyed. Another way to help the Siniora Government 
is to implement 1559, which is the disarmament of armed militia inside 
his country.
    And I--look, we care deeply about the lives that have been affected 
on both sides of this issue, just like I care deeply about the innocent 
people who are being killed in

[[Page 1410]]

Iraq and people being denied a state in the Palestinian Territory. But 
make no mistake about it, it is the goal and aims of the terrorist 
organizations to stop that type of advance. That's what they're trying 
to do. They're trying to evoke sympathy for themselves. They're not 
sympathetic people. They're violent, cold-blooded killers who are trying 
to stop the advance of freedom.
    And this is the calling of the 21st century, it seems like to me, 
and now is the time to confront the problem. And of course, we're going 
to help the people in Lebanon rebuild their lives. But as Tony said, 
this conflict started, out of the blue, with two Israeli soldiers 
kidnaped and rockets being fired across the border.
    Now, we have urged restraint. We made it clear that we care about 
wanton destruction. On the other hand, in my judgment, it would be a big 
mistake not to solve the underlying problems. Otherwise, everything will 
seem fine, and then you'll be back at a press conference saying, ``How 
come you didn't solve the underlying problems?''
    Prime Minister Blair. We feel deeply for people in Lebanon and 
people in Israel who are the innocent casualties of this conflict; of 
course, we do. And we want it to stop, and we want it to stop now. And 
what we're putting forward today is actually a practical plan that would 
lead to a U.N. resolution--could be early next week--that would allow 
it, put in place the conditions for it to stop.
    But what we've also got to do is to make sure that we recognize that 
this action wasn't simply aimed against Israel, and then Israel 
retaliated. It was also aimed against the proper Government of Lebanon 
being able to control its own country. And the very reason why, 2 years 
ago, the international community passed this resolution was because 
people could see that what was going to happen in southern Lebanon was 
that these Hizballah militias, that are armed and financed by Iran and 
by Syria, were going to move into the south of the country in order to 
be a focus of terrorism and discontent.
    Now, that is the fact. And of course, all of us are appalled at the 
destruction and loss of life; of course, we are. And that's why we've 
actually come together today with a viable plan--if people can agree it, 
as I believe they can--to get it stopped. But once you stop this 
violence happening now--which, of course, we should do--once you do, it 
doesn't alter the underlying reality unless we've got a framework that 
allows us to put the Government of Lebanon properly back in charge of 
its own country; unless we've got the commitment to take forward the 
Israel-Palestine two-state deal, which is there and which everyone wants 
to see; and then if we can--unless we mobilize the international 
community, to deal with the threat that Iran poses.
    And there's no other way out of this. We're not--we can, all of us, 
make whatever statements we want to do, use whatever words we want to 
do, but the brutal reality of the situation is that we're only going to 
get violence stopped and stability introduced on the basis of clear 
principles.
    Now, as I say, we've set out a way to do this. But it requires the 
long term, as well as the short term.

Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. On the issue of the multinational 
force, what shape should it take; who should lead it; who should be part 
of it? And also, should Hizballah agreeing to it be a precondition for 
setting up the force?
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, you talked about a resolution leading to a 
cessation of hostilities, and I'm just wondering, should it include a 
call for an immediate cease-fire?
    President Bush. In terms of the troops, that's what the meeting 
Monday is going to be about. And this is one of these issues that 
requires international consensus. People will put forth ideas, and we'll 
participate in terms of trying to help develop a consensus about what 
the force ought to look like.
    In a general sense, though, the force needs to serve as a complement 
to a Lebanese force. See, that's the whole purpose of the force, is to 
strengthen the Lebanese Government by helping the Lebanese force move 
into the area. The whole cornerstone of the policy for Lebanon is for 
Lebanon to be free and able to govern herself and defend herself with a 
viable force.

[[Page 1411]]

    And so one of the things you'll see in discussions there is, how do 
we help the Lebanese Army succeed? What does it--what's required? What's 
the manpower need to be in order to help this force move into the south 
so the government can take control of the country. What it looks like--
if I hold a press conference on Tuesday, I'll be able to answer that 
better. But since I probably won't be, read your newspaper.
    Q. What about Hizballah----
    President Bush. That's a part of the conditions that they'll be 
discussing. That's what they'll be talking about. The key is to have 
Lebanon agree with it. And the key is to have Israel agree with it. 
Those are the two parties. Hizballah is not a state. They're a supposed 
political party that happens to be armed. Now, what kind of state is it 
that has got a political party that has got a militia? It's a state that 
needs to be helped, is what that is. And we need to help the Siniora 
Government deal with a political party that is armed, that gets its arms 
and help from other parts of the world--in order for Lebanon's democracy 
to succeed.
    A lot has changed in Lebanon. It wasn't all that long ago that 
Lebanon was occupied by Syria. And we came together and worked in the 
U.N. Security Council, and Syria is now out of Lebanon. But part of the 
resolution that enabled Syria to get out was that Hizballah would 
disarm. And if we truly want peace in the region, we've got to follow 
through on that 1559, and that's what the whole strategy is. And part of 
the peacekeepers will be to--or the multinational force, whatever you 
call them, will be in there trying to help the Government.
    Prime Minister Blair. Just on the international force, the thing 
that's very important to realize is that the purpose of it, obviously, 
is to help stabilize the situation. But it's also to allow the 
Government of Lebanon's true armed forces to come down from the north 
and occupy the south themselves. In other words, the purpose of the 
force is almost as a bridge between the north and the south, in order to 
allow the forces of the Government of Lebanon to come down and do what 
Resolution 1559 always anticipated would happen.
    And as for your second question, yes, of course, the U.N. 
resolution, the passing of it, the agreeing of it can be the occasion 
for the end of hostilities if it's acted upon and agreed upon. And that 
requires not just the Government of Israel and the Government of 
Lebanon, obviously, to abide by it but also for the whole of the 
international community to exert the necessary pressure so that there is 
the cessation of hostilities on both sides. Now, that will be important 
also in making it very clear to Hizballah and those that back Hizballah 
that they have to allow the stabilization force to enter.
    But, yes, of course--look, anybody with any human feeling for what 
is going on there wants this to stop as quickly as possible. And we have 
a process that allows us to do this, but it's got to be acted on. It's 
not just going to be agreed in theory; it's got to be acted on too.

Iran/Syria

    Q. Thank you. Mr. President and Prime Minister Blair, can I ask you 
both tonight what your messages are for the Governments of Iran and 
Syria, given that you say this is the crisis of the 21st century?
    President Bush. Want me to start? My message is, give up your 
nuclear weapon and your nuclear weapon ambitions. That's my message to 
Syria--I mean, to Iran. And my message to Syria is, become an active 
participant in the neighborhood for peace.
    Prime Minister Blair. The message is very, very simple to them. It 
is that you have a choice. Iran and Syria have a choice. And they may 
think that they can avoid this choice; in fact, they can't. And when 
things are set in train like what has happened in Lebanon over the past 
few weeks, it only, in my view, underscores the fact they have this 
choice. They can either come in and participate as proper and 
responsible members of the international community, or they will face 
the risk of increasing confrontation.
    And coming in and being proper members of the international 
community does not mean--though I would love to see both Syria and Iran 
proper democracies--does not mean to say that we insist that they change 
their government or even their system of government, although, of 
course, we want to see

[[Page 1412]]

change in those countries. But it does mean Iran abides by its 
obligations under the nuclear weapons treaty. It does mean that Iran and 
Syria stop supporting terrorism. It does mean that instead of trying to 
prevent the democratically elected government of Iraq fulfill its 
mandate, they allow it to fulfill its mandate.
    Now, that's their choice. It's a perfectly simple one. They can 
either decide they are going to abide by the rules of the international 
community or continue to transgress them. And, look, in the end, that's 
the choice that they will have to make. But where I think they make a 
strategic miscalculation is if they think that because of all the other 
issues that we have to resolve and so on, that we are indifferent to 
what they are doing. There will be no sidetracking of our determination, 
for example, to make sure that Iran is fully compliant with the call 
that's been made on them from the whole of the international community 
in respect of nuclear weapons capability. And I hope they realize there 
is a different relationship that is possible with the international 
community, but only on the basis that has been set out.
    President Bush. David Gregory [NBC News].

Iraq/American Influence Abroad/War on Terror

    Q. Thank you. Mr. President, both of you, I'd like to ask you about 
the big picture that you're discussing. Mr. President, 3 years ago, you 
argued that an invasion of Iraq would create a new stage of Arab-Israeli 
peace. And yet today, there is an Iraqi Prime Minister who has been 
sharply critical of Israel. Arab governments, despite your arguments, 
who first criticized Hizballah, have now changed their tune; now they're 
sharply critical of Israel. And despite, from both of you, warnings to 
Syria and Iran to back off support from Hizballah, effectively, Mr. 
President, your words are being ignored. So what has happened to 
America's clout in this region that you've committed yourself to 
transform?
    President Bush. David, it's an interesting period because instead of 
having foreign policies based upon trying to create a sense of 
stability, we have a foreign policy that addresses the root causes of 
violence and instability.
    For a while, American foreign policy was just, let's hope everything 
is calm--kind of managed calm. But beneath the surface brewed a lot of 
resentment and anger that was manifested in its--on September the 11th. 
And so we've taken a foreign policy that says, on the one hand, we will 
protect ourselves from further attack in the short run by being 
aggressive and chasing down the killers and bringing them to justice--
and make no mistake, they're still out there, and they would like to 
harm our respective peoples because of what we stand for--in the long 
term, to defeat this ideology, and they're bound by an ideology. You 
defeat it with a more hopeful ideology called freedom.
    And, look, I fully understand some people don't believe it's 
possible for freedom and democracy to overcome this ideology of hatred. 
I understand that. I just happen to believe it is possible, and I 
believe it will happen. And so what you're seeing is a clash of 
governing styles. For example, the notion of democracy beginning to 
emerge scares the ideologs, the totalitarians, those who want to impose 
their vision. It just frightens them, and so they respond. They've 
always been violent.
    I hear this amazing, kind of, editorial thought that says, all of a 
sudden Hizballah has become violent because we're promoting democracy. 
They have been violent for a long period of time. Or Hamas--one reason 
why the Palestinians still suffer is because there are militants who 
refuse to accept a Palestinian state based upon democratic principles.
    And so what the world is seeing is a desire by this country and our 
allies to defeat the ideology of hate with an ideology that has worked 
and that brings hope. And one of the challenges, of course, is to 
convince people that Muslims would like to be free, that there's other 
people other than people in Britain and America that would like to be 
free in the world. There's this kind of almost--kind of, weird kind of 
elitism that says, well, maybe certain people in certain parts of the 
world shouldn't be free; maybe it's best just to let them sit in these 
tyrannical

[[Page 1413]]

societies. And our foreign policy rejects that concept. We don't accept 
it.
    And so we're working. And this is--as I said the other day, when 
these attacks took place, I said this should be a moment of clarity for 
people to see the stakes in the 21st century. I mean, there's an 
unprovoked attack on a democracy. Why? I happen to believe because 
progress is being made toward democracies. And I believe that--I also 
believe that Iran would like to exert additional influence in the 
region. A theocracy would like to spread its influence using surrogates.
    And so I'm as determined as ever to continue fostering a foreign 
policy based upon liberty. And I think it's going to work unless we lose 
our nerve and quit. And this government isn't going to quit.
    Q. I asked you about the loss of American influence, and are you 
worried about that?
    President Bush. Well, David, we went to the G-8 and worked with our 
allies and got a remarkable statement on what took place. We're working 
to get a United Nations resolution on Iran. We're working to have a 
Palestinian state. But the reason why--you asked the question--is 
because terrorists are trying to stop that progress. And we'll 
ultimately prevail, because they have--their ideology is so dark and so 
dismal that when people really think about it, it will be rejected. They 
just got a different tool to use than we do: They kill innocent lives to 
achieve objectives. That's what they do. And they're good. They get on 
the TV screens, and they get people to ask questions about, well, this, 
that, or the other. I mean, they're able to kind of say to people, 
``Don't come and bother us because we will kill you.''
    And my attitude is, is that now is the time to be firm. And we've 
got a great weapon on our side, and that is freedom and liberty. And 
it's got--those two concepts have got the capacity to defeat ideologies 
of hate.
    Prime Minister Blair. I don't think, actually, it's anything to do 
with a loss of American influence at all. I think we've got to go back 
and ask what changed policy, because policy has changed in the past few 
years. And what changed policy was September the 11th. That changed 
policy, but actually, before September the 11th this global movement 
with a global ideology was already in being. September the 11th was the 
culmination of what they wanted to do. But actually--and this is 
probably where the policymakers, such as myself, were truly in error--is 
that even before September the 11th, this was happening in all sorts of 
different ways in different countries.
    I mean, in Algeria, for example, tens and tens of thousands of 
people lost their lives. This movement has grown; it is there; it will 
latch on to any cause that it possibly can and give it a dimension of 
terrorism and hatred. You can see this. You can see it in Kashmir, for 
example. You can see it in Chechnya. You can see it in Palestine.
    Now, what is its purpose? Its purpose is to promote its ideology 
based upon the perversion of Islam and to use any methods at all, but 
particularly terrorism, to do that, because they know that the value of 
terrorism to them is--as I was saying a moment or two ago, it's not 
simply the act of terror; it's the chain reaction that terror brings 
with it. Terrorism brings the reprisal; the reprisal brings the 
additional hatred; the additional hatred breeds the additional 
terrorism, and so on. Look, in a small way, we lived through that in 
Northern Ireland over many, many decades.
    Now, what happened after September the 11th--and this explains, I 
think, the President's policy, but also the reason why I have taken the 
view and still take the view that Britain and America should remain 
strong allies, shoulder to shoulder in fighting this battle, is that we 
are never going to succeed unless we understand they are going to fight 
hard. The reason why they are doing what they're doing in Iraq at the 
moment--and, yes, it's really tough as a result of it--is because they 
know that if, right in the center of the Middle East in an Arab, Muslim 
country, you've got a nonsectarian democracy, in other words people 
weren't governed either by religious fanatics or secular dictators, 
you've got a genuine democracy of the people--how does their ideology 
flourish in such circumstances?
    So they have imported the terrorism into that country, preyed on 
whatever reactionary elements there are to boost it. And that's why we 
have the issue there; that's why the

[[Page 1414]]

Taliban are trying to come back in Afghanistan. That is why, the moment 
it looked as if you could get progress in Israel and Palestine, it had 
to be stopped. That's the moment when, as they saw there was a problem 
in Gaza, so they realized, well, there's a possibility now we can set 
Lebanon against Israel.
    Now, it's a global movement; it's a global ideology. And if there's 
any mistake that's ever made in these circumstances, it's if people are 
surprised that it's tough to fight, because you're up against an 
ideology that's prepared to use any means at all, including killing any 
number of wholly innocent people.
    And I don't dispute part of the implication of your question at all, 
in the sense that you look at what is happening in the Middle East and 
what is happening in Iraq and Lebanon and Palestine, and, of course, 
there's a sense of shock and frustration and anger at what is happening, 
and grief at the loss of innocent lives. But it is not a reason for 
walking away. It's a reason for staying the course and staying it no 
matter how tough it is, because the alternative is actually letting this 
ideology grip larger and larger numbers of people.
    And it is going to be difficult. Look, we've got a problem even in 
our own Muslim communities in Europe, who will half-buy into some of the 
propaganda that's pushed at it--the purpose of America is to suppress 
Islam, Britain has joined with America in the suppression of Islam. And 
one of the things we've got to stop doing is stop apologizing for our 
own positions. Muslims in America, as far as I'm aware of, are free to 
worship; Muslims in Britain are free to worship. We are plural 
societies.
    It's nonsense; the propaganda is nonsense. And we're not going to 
defeat this ideology until we in the West go out with sufficient 
confidence in our own position and say this is wrong. It's not just 
wrong in its methods; it's wrong in its ideas; it's wrong in its 
ideology; it's wrong in every single wretched reactionary thing about 
it. And it will be a long struggle, I'm afraid. But there's no 
alternative but to stay the course with it. And we will.

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Can I ask you both how soon realistically you think there could 
be an end to the violence, given there's no signs at the moment of 1559 
being met? I mean, do you think we're looking at more weeks, months, or 
can it be achieved sooner than that? And also, will the multinational 
force potentially be used to effect a cease-fire or simply to police an 
agreement once we eventually get to that?
    Prime Minister Blair. Well, the answer to the first point is, as 
soon as possible. And if we can get the U.N. resolution agreed next week 
and acted upon, then it can happen, and it can happen then. We want to 
see it happen as quickly as possible, but the conditions have got to be 
in place to allow it to happen.
    And in relation to the multinational force, what will be--it's not 
going to be the opportunity to fight--to fight their way in. But the 
very way that you posed that question underlines this basic point, which 
is, this can only work if Hizballah are prepared to allow it to work. 
And we've got to make sure, therefore, that we have the force go in as 
part of an agreement that the Government of Lebanon have bound itself 
to, the Government of Israel has bound itself to, the international 
community has bound itself to. And Hizballah have got to appreciate that 
if they stand out against that, then it's not really that they will be 
doing a huge disservice to the people of Lebanon, but they will also, 
again, face the fact that action will have to be taken against them.
    President Bush. We share the same urgency of trying to stop the 
violence. It's why Condi Rice went out there very quickly. Her job is 
to, first and foremost, was to make it clear to the Lebanese people that 
we wanted to send aid and help and help work on the corridors necessary 
to get the aid to the Lebanese people. And she's coming back to the 
region tonight, will be there tomorrow. I could have called her back 
here and could have sat around, visited, and talked. But I thought it 
was important for her to go back to the region to work on a United 
Nations Security Council resolution.
    So, like the Prime Minister, I would like to end this as quickly as 
possible as well. Having said that, I want to make sure that we address 
the root cause of the problem. And I believe the plan that Tony and I 
discussed

[[Page 1415]]

will yield exactly what we want, and that is addressing the root cause 
of the problem.
    Thank you all for coming.

Note: The President's news conference began at 12:36 p.m. in the East 
Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister 
Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel; President 
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority; and Prime 
Minister Fuad Siniora of Lebanaon. Prime Minister Blair referred to 
President Jacques Chirac of France; Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany; 
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey; and Prime Minister Matti 
Taneli Vanhanen and Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, whose 
country currently holds the Council of the European Union Presidency.