[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 2006)]
[Pages 2122-2123]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Chairman Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim of the 
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq

December 4, 2006

    President Bush. Your Eminence, welcome back to the Oval Office. This 
is the second opportunity I've had to meet with one of the distinguished 
leaders of a free Iraq. This is a man whose family suffered unbelievable 
violence at the hands of the dictator, Saddam Hussein. He lost nearly 60 
family members, and yet rather than being bitter, he's involved with 
helping the new Government succeed.
    We talked about a lot of important issues. I appreciate so very much 
His Eminence's commitment to a unity government. I assured him the 
United States supports his work and the work of the Prime Minister to 
unify the country. Part of unifying Iraq is for the elected leaders and 
society leaders to reject the extremists that are trying to stop the 
advance of this young democracy. I appreciated very much His Eminence's 
strong position against the murder of innocent life.
    We talked about the need to give the Government of Iraq more 
capability as quickly as possible, so that the elected Government of 
Iraq can do that which the Iraqi people want, which is to secure their 
country from the extremists and murderers. I told His Eminence that I 
was proud of the courage of the Iraqi people. I told him that we're not 
satisfied with the pace of progress in Iraq, and that we want to 
continue to work with the sovereign Government of Iraq to accomplish our 
mutual objectives, which is a free country that can govern itself, 
sustain itself, and defend itself--a free country which will serve as an 
ally in the war against the extremists and radicals and terrorists.
    So, Your Eminence, welcome back. Thank you for the very constructive 
conversation we had.
    Chairman Hakim. In the name of God, the merciful, the passionate, 
and blessing upon Prophet Mohammed and his purified family and his loyal 
companions. My meeting with President Bush today emerges from our shared 
commitment towards continued dialog and consultation among us and also 
on the basis of our conviction that the Iraqi issue is a mutual 
interest. It's an issue that requires coordination between the two sides 
in a way that concerns both of us politically and from a security point 
of view and economic point of view as well.
    Therefore, our conversation today focused on ways to advance the 
work of the Iraqi Government, the elected Government, as well as to 
advance the whole situation in Iraq and move it forward. Also, we have 
discussed ways in order to provide all the necessities that the Iraqi 
Armed Forces will need, in terms of armament, in terms of trainings, in 
order to be in a position to assume the security file.
    The Iraqi situation is being subjected to a great deal of 
defamation, and the true picture is not being presented in order to show 
a dark side of what's happening in Iraq. We see the attempts to defame 
and distort the situation in Iraq, not taking into consideration the 
democratic steps that that country has taken, writing the Constitution 
and establishing a state that depends heavily on the Constitution, that 
it is unified and that it is strong. There are attempts to show the 
sectarian strife in an attempt to weaken the position in Iraq.
    The U.S. interests, the Iraqi interests, the regional interests, 
they are all linked. Therefore, it is very important when we deal with 
this issue, we look at the interests of the Iraqi people. If we don't, 
this whole issue could backfire and could harm the interests of the 
region, the United States, and Iraq as well.
    Therefore, we believe that the Iraqi issue should be solved by the 
Iraqis with the help of friends everywhere. But we reject any attempts 
to have a regional or international

[[Page 2123]]

role in solving the Iraqi issue. We cannot bypass the political process. 
Iraq should be in a position to solve Iraqi problems. We welcome any 
effort that could enhance the democratic reality in Iraq and protect the 
constitutional role of that state.
    We have gone a long way to establish a democratic and pluralistic 
society in Iraq. We have given a great deal of sacrifice toward 
achieving that objective. We cherish all the sacrifices that took place 
for the liberation and the freedom of Iraq, sacrifices by the Iraqi 
people, as well as friendly nations, and on top of that list, sacrifices 
by the Americans. We have now an elected government in Iraq, a 
government that it is so determined to combat both violence and terror, 
a government that it is--strongly believes in the unity of that 
government and of that country and the society, a government that deals 
and will deal with all the sources of terrorism regardless where they 
come from.
    We will work very hard and seek all forms of cooperation at the 
international level and the regional level in order to defeat terrorism, 
that it is trying to use Iraq as a base in order to sabotage the future 
of that nation.
    Thank you very much, Mr. President, for allowing me this opportunity 
to meet with you. I would like to take this opportunity also to thank 
the American people and their sympathy toward Iraq, those who helped 
Iraq to get rid of a brutal dictatorship and to enjoy freedom and 
liberties.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:26 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to former President Saddam Hussein 
and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq. Chairman Hakim spoke in 
Arabic, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter.