[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 2006)]
[Pages 2151-2152]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Senior State Department Officials

December 11, 2006

    Thank you all for coming. I just had a briefing with my senior 
policy advisers here at the State Department. I want to thank you for 
your hospitality, Madam Secretary.
    We talked about a lot of things. We talked about what's taking place 
on the ground in Iraq, particularly from the perspective of the State 
Department. I must tell you, there are some fantastic, brave souls who 
are heading PRTs, Provincial Reconstruction Teams. These are our 
civilian components on the ground there in Iraq. And we got a briefing 
from Baghdad, with one of our PRT leaders here in Washington, about the 
challenges and the tasks to help this Iraqi Government get a country 
that can sustain and govern and defend itself.
    No question in my mind, there are some very brave State Department 
officials who are engaged in this really important endeavor, and I want 
to thank them and their families. I appreciate the advice I got from 
those folks in the field. And that advice is an important part and an 
important component of putting together a new way forward in Iraq. Like 
most Americans, this administration wants to succeed in Iraq, because we 
understand success in Iraq will help protect the United States in the 
long run.
    We also talked about the neighborhood, the countries that surround 
Iraq and the responsibilities that they have to help this young Iraqi 
democracy survive. We believe that most of the countries understand that 
a mainstream society, a society that is a functioning democracy, is in 
their interests. And it's up to us to help focus their attentions

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and focus their efforts on helping the Iraqis succeed.

    I appreciate so very much the Iraqi leadership taking the lead in 
its neighborhood. After all, one of the things we're trying to do is 
help this Government get on its feet so it can govern and it can conduct 
its own foreign policy. But the role of America is to help this young 
democracy survive.

    I'm looking forward to continuing my deliberations with the 
military. There's no question, we've got to make sure that the State 
Department and the Defense Department are--the efforts and their 
recommendations are closely coordinated so that when I do speak to the 
American people, they will know that I've listened to all aspects of 
Government and that the way forward is the way forward to achieve our 
objective: to succeed in Iraq. And success is a country that governs, 
defends itself, that is a free society, that serves as an ally in this 
war on terror.Q06
    And the reason why that's vital is because Iraq is a central 
component of defeating the extremists who want to establish safe haven 
in the Middle East, extremists who would use their safe haven from which 
to attack the United States, extremists and radicals who have stated 
that they want to topple moderate governments in order to be able to 
achieve assets necessary to effect their dream of spreading their 
totalitarian ideology as far and wide as possible.

    This is really the calling of our time, that is, to defeat these 
extremists and radicals. And Iraq is a component part, an important part 
of laying the foundation for peace.

    And so, Madam Secretary, thank you for the briefing. I want to thank 
your team here in Washington for their good work, and I thank those out 
in the field who have shown such incredible bravery to do the hard work 
necessary to secure our country.

    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:55 a.m. at the Department of State.