[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 46 (Monday, November 19, 2007)]
[Pages 1486-1491]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany 
in Crawford

November 10, 2007

    President Bush. Thank you for coming. The Chancellor and I have had 
a series of discussions on important subjects, starting with a dinner we 
had last night. And then we got up this morning and had the wonderful 
opportunity to walk across some of the ranch. It was a glorious morning. 
The sun was beginning to rise; the birds were beginning to chirp. And we 
were able to have a meaningful discussion on a lot of issues. And then 
we completed our discussions here in what is my office.
    Madam Chancellor, I'm really glad you gave me an excuse to come down 
to Texas. And I'm really glad you and Professor Sauer came. You can 
imagine how conducive it is to have meaningful, strategic discussions in 
an environment outside of our respective capitals. And that's what we 
did.
    We discussed Afghanistan. I do want to thank the German people for 
their strong support of this young democracy. And I appreciate the 
German troops who are far from home, who are helping people realize the 
blessings of liberty.
    We discussed Iran and our deep desire to solve this important issue 
diplomatically. And I believe we can solve it diplomatically, and it is 
more likely we do so when the United States, Germany, and other nations 
work collaboratively to send a common and firm message to the Iranians 
that it is--the free world does not think you should have the capacity 
to be able to make a nuclear weapon. And we will work according--
together accordingly.
    We talked about Iraq. I want to thank Chancellor Merkel for 
understanding that success in Iraq is important for Middle Eastern 
peace. I fully understand that our nations have had difference of 
opinion on this issue, but now that this Iraqi democracy is emerging, I 
really appreciate the fact that Germany has been a constructive partner 
in the Compact--constructive partner with Iraq in the Compact. And I 
appreciate very much the fact that the German Government is committed to 
help train police in the UAE.

[[Page 1487]]

    I want to thank the Chancellor for her clear vision on issues such 
as Kosovo and Burma and Lebanon. We discussed the Middle Eastern peace. 
The upcoming Annapolis conference is an important moment as we head 
toward two states living side by side in peace.
    We had a very good discussion on Doha and the need for Germany and 
Europe and the United States to work closely together with developing 
nations such as Brazil and India to advance the Doha round. I 
appreciated very much the Chancellor's briefing on her trip to India. It 
helps a lot for those of us who are engaged in international politics to 
get advice from people who have seen firsthand the attitudes and--of 
important players such as India.
    And finally, we had a meaningful and long discussion on climate 
change. And once again, I assured Angela that I care deeply about the 
issue; that the United States is willing to be an active participant and 
trying to come up with solutions that bring comfort to people around the 
world; that it is possible to have the technologies necessary to deal 
with this issue without ruining our economies. It's hard to deal with 
the climate change issue if you're broke. It's easier to deal with the 
climate change issue if you've got the revenues and finances that enable 
you to invest in new technologies that will change how we live and, at 
the same time, enable us to grow our economies and, at the same time, 
enable us to be good stewards of the environment.
    And so, Madam Chancellor, the mike is yours.
    Chancellor Merkel. Well, yes, thank you very much, Mr. President, 
dear George. First of all, allow me to thank you very warmly for the 
possibility to meet with you here in Texas and to have this exchange of 
views. I would also like to extend this word of gratitude to you on 
behalf of my husband, who accompanies me here to this, what we also in 
Germany would call a very beautiful spot, a very beautiful part of this 
planet, of this world. It enables us to appreciate a little bit the 
vastness of the territory here and also the beauty and the sheer variety 
of species that you have here.
    So we again were able to see this for ourselves this morning. Thank 
you again for making this possible, to have this stroll with you and to 
appreciate the beauty of this part and to have again an exchange of 
views on a number of subjects.
    President Bush. Jawohl. [Laughter]
    Chancellor Merkel. Let me say, first of all, that we did make the 
best possible use of our time to exchange our views on a number of 
issues. We did talk about Afghanistan, as the President already said, 
where we just recently were, and where we say that together with the 
Afghan Government, we need to do more in order to help them continue to 
build up the police and to continue to also build up the army there, 
improve that, and go on with the training that we have already embarked 
on.
    We addressed the issue of Iran. We were at one in saying that the 
threat posed through the nuclear program of Iran is indeed a serious 
one. We both share this view, but that we also were of the opinion that 
we think that this issue can be solved through diplomatic means; that 
the next step, then, obviously, would be a resolution. There is already 
work underway to prepare for this next step.
    We have also been very clear in saying that if the talks with the 
representatives of Iran and Mr. Solana, as the representative on the 
European Union side, do not yield any results, then further steps will 
have to be made. Also, if the reports remain unsatisfactory--that the 
International Atomic Energy Organization puts on the table 
unsatisfactory--then we need to think about further possible sanctions. 
And we do not only need to think about them, but we also have to then 
talk and agree on further possible sanctions, if all of these conditions 
are [not] * met.
    * White House correction.
    We then also said that Germany needs to look somewhat closer at the 
existing business ties with Iran. There are certain companies that have 
business with Iran. We have already done that. And we need to look, as 
the situation unfolds, whether we have to have a closer look again at 
that and possibly need to work together with our German business 
community. I will talk with them again

[[Page 1488]]

on further possible reductions of those commercial ties, as we have 
already sort of launched that in that tendency already now.
    We then addressed the issue of the Middle East. And I said that it 
is in the interest of the German Government--and we will indeed do 
everything we can to support all of the efforts that the American 
administration is making in order to turn the upcoming conference in 
Annapolis into a success. We want the peace process to make progress, 
and we think that the conference, the upcoming conference in Annapolis 
is indeed a possibility to bring this success about.
    We then had an exchange of views on the current situation in 
Lebanon. Germany having a contingent there, serving with the UNIFIL 
mission, obviously has a very great interest in seeing the situation 
there stabilizing and progress being made in that country. And also, we 
assured the Government of Mr. Siniora of our continued support. We would 
like to--for this Government to be a strong one, and we think it is in 
our interests, in both of our interests that this situation remains 
stable.
    On Kosovo, we did discuss this issue as well. There are currently 
talks going on, and indeed those talks are heading into a crucial phase. 
We call, at this point in time, on both the Kosovo side and the Serbian 
side to try their utmost to bring about a sensible solution to the 
problem there. And what we can do to foster that, we will do.
    We did discuss also--the President raised this issue also with me of 
the world trade round. We then discussed also the issue of the United 
Nations reform of the Security Council, and there we do think that it 
will be necessary to have further exchanges on that particular issue. 
And we do hope that--some progress has been made already in this 
respect, and we hope further progress will be underway. We're going to 
continue to talk about that.
    We then obviously also discussed the issue of the upcoming climate 
conference in Bali. And I think that this is a very good chance of 
turning this conference into a success. There are a lot of things where 
the U.S. and the European Union share views, where we are at one, and 
where I think that possibilities for cooperation may unfold. There are 
still, admittedly, also areas where we do not completely agree yet, 
where there are differences of opinion, but I think that this is a very 
crucial time to really set the agenda for a post-Kyoto regime. And we do 
hope--and we will do everything we can in order to turn this conference 
in Indonesia into a success.
    Thank you.
    President Bush. Two questions a side. John Yang [ABC News].

War on Terror/Pakistan

    Q. Mr. President, this morning Benazir Bhutto said that the 
Pakistanis people's passion for liberty is threatening to explode. 
First, have you had any more further discussions with General Musharraf? 
And are you concerned that the continuing unrest within Pakistan is 
distracting that country's leadership and military from the struggle 
against the Taliban and Al Qaida?
    President Bush. First on Al Qaida, we do share a common goal, and 
that is to eradicate Al Qaida. That goal obviously became paramount to 
the American people when Al Qaida killed 3,000 innocent souls on our 
soil. And since then, the United States of America along with strong 
allies and friends has been in pursuit of Al Qaida.
    I vowed to the American people we'd keep the pressure on them. I 
fully understand we need cooperation to do so, and one country that we 
need cooperation from is Pakistan. That cooperation has been made easier 
by the fact that Al Qaida has tried to kill leaders in Pakistan several 
times. And so we share a common goal.
    Secondly, we share a goal with the Pakistani people, and that is to 
live in a free society. I haven't spoken to President Musharraf since I 
did earlier this week, but he knows my position, and he knows the 
position of the U.S. Government. I do want to remind you that he has 
declared that he'll take off his uniform, and he has declared there will 
be elections, which are positive steps.
    We also believe that suspension of the emergency decree will make it 
easier for the democracy to flourish. And so our message is consistent 
and clear. Our message is also clear to Al Qaida: We will find you, and 
we'll bring you to justice before you can hurt innocent people.

[[Page 1489]]

    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. It's good to see you again.
    Q. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. You're looking like a cowboy. [Laughter]
    Q. Yes, well, I try. The boots are missing.
    President Bush. Yes, okay. [Laughter]

U.S. Foreign Policy/Iran

    Q. But, Mr. President, is it right to say that you have much more a 
multilateral approach towards the solutions of the problems of the world 
than you had maybe 2 years ago?
    And the question to both of you: How much patience do you have with 
Iran? When is the time where diplomacy doesn't work anymore? And do you 
think that the Chinese and Russian Government is doing enough in the 
Iran crisis?
    President Bush. I felt I was pretty multilateral the first 4 years 
of my administration. After all, I went to the United Nations on the 
Iraq issue and on the Afghanistan issue and said, we got a problem; 
let's work together to solve it. I would like to remind you that U.N. 
Security Council Resolution 1441 was unanimously approved by 15 nations. 
And the declaration was, disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. 
And in the case of--in that case, the tyrant didn't disclose, and so he 
faced serious consequences.
    I happen to be the kind of person that when somebody says something, 
they better mean what they say. And although some nations didn't agree 
with that, there was a multilateral effort in Iraq from the get-go, and 
there's been a multilateral effort since the fall of Saddam Hussein. And 
it's important for the multilateral effort to continue because 
democracies are the great alternative to the tyrannies espoused by 
coldblooded killers such as Al Qaida.
    Now, on Iran, what the Iranian regime must understand is that we 
will continue to work together to solve this problem diplomatically, 
which means they will continue to be isolated. And what the Iranian 
people must understand is that we respect their heritage and respect 
their traditions and respect their potential, but it's their Government 
that has made the decisions that are denying them a bright future. And 
so we'll continue to work very closely together.
    And finally, I don't feel comfortable answering your hypothetical 
question as to----
    Q. China and Russia?
    President Bush. Oh, excuse me; that's not hypothetical. [Laughter] I 
thought you were saying, how long. Yes, well, that falls in the 
hypothetical category.
    China and Russia--we working hard with them. My last visit with the 
Chinese President was in Sydney, Australia, and I told him the top of my 
agenda is Iran. And I fully understand that China has got energy needs, 
but a sure way to disrupt energy supply not only in Iran and the Middle 
East, if the Iranians were to develop a nuclear weapon and decided to do 
something with it. And so therefore, now is the time to solve the 
problem.
    And I had a good talk with Vladimir Putin on the very same subject. 
He understands that a nuclear-armed Iran will be dangerous to his 
security and the security of the world. And no responsible leader wants 
the Iranians to be able to threaten world peace.
    Chancellor Merkel. Well, the next diplomatic step, after all, has 
already been devised, has already been envisaged and is there to be 
taken, as it were. But for this next diplomatic step to work, we, 
obviously, then again, will need the engagement; we will need the 
support of both China and Russia.
    And let me say that I am deeply convinced that if the Security--if 
the United Nations Security Council were then to announce sanctions, 
that this would be the clearest message that you can get, that you can 
send, and the clearest message that you can convey to Iran, irrespective 
of the possibilities, obviously, of individual countries also sending 
that clear message, European countries as well. But I think at least 
that is true for me, at the center of all of our efforts has to be 
sanctions that will then be called by the United Nations Security 
Council.
    Let me say also that I'm deeply convinced that the diplomatic 
possibilities have not yet been exhausted; that diplomatic possibilities 
are there; that we can solve this by using diplomatic means, and also, 
we want to solve this by diplomatic means.

[[Page 1490]]

    President Bush. Steven Lee Myers [New York Times]. Would that be 
you?
    Q. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Step forth, Steven Lee.
    Q. I wanted to follow up a bit on Pakistan, if I may.
    President Bush. Sure.

Pakistan

    Q. Are you at all concerned that General Musharraf may not live up 
to the promises that you said he's made to you? And are you concerned, 
as Secretary Gates suggested yesterday, that the distraction, the 
internal turmoil in Pakistan is actually or could have an effect on the 
effort in Afghanistan? Thank you.
    President Bush. Thank you, Steven Lee. I take a person for his word 
until otherwise. I think that's what you have to do. I mean, when 
somebody says this is what they're going to do, then you give them a 
chance to do it. I can tell you this, that President Musharraf, right 
after the attacks on September the 11th, made a decision, and the 
decision was to stand with the United States against the extremists 
inside Pakistan. In other words, he was given an option: Are you with 
us, or are you not with us? And he made a clear decision to be with us, 
and he's acted on that advice.
    I want to remind you that if you're the chief operating officer of 
Al Qaida, you haven't had a good experience. There has been four or five 
number-threes that have been brought to justice one way or the other. 
And many of those folks thought they could find safe haven in Pakistan. 
And that would not have happened without President Musharraf honoring 
his word.
    He fully understands the dangers of Al Qaida. Benazir Bhutto fully 
understands the dangers of Al Qaida. By far, the vast majority of people 
in Pakistan want to live in a free and peaceful society, and they 
understand the dangers of Al Qaida, because Al Qaida is a group of 
ideologues who murder innocent people to achieve their political 
objectives.
    And so I believe that we will continue to have good collaboration 
with the leadership in Pakistan. My concern is for the Pakistani 
democracy, for the sake of the Pakistani people, proceed as--back on 
track as quickly as possible. President Musharraf said that he would 
take off his uniform; he said there will be elections after the new 
year. And our hope is that he would suspend this emergency decree to 
allow this society, which is on the path to democracy, to get back on 
the path to democracy.
    And I think about this issue a lot. One of the things that I pledged 
to the American people is that we will continue the hunt for Al Qaida 
leadership. They're still plotting and planning attacks on the United 
States of America. And our most important responsibility is to protect 
the American people from attack. I will also remind people that the 
great alternative to their vision--their dark, dim vision for humanity--
is freedom. Freedom has got the capacity to turn enemies into allies. 
Freedom has got the capacity to bring peace. And that's why the work to 
help these young democracies is vital work for the peace for our 
children and grandchildren.
    And that's why I applaud the Chancellor's efforts in Afghanistan and 
her concerns about the democracy in Lebanon and her desire for there to 
be a Palestinian democracy and to help--the willingness to begin to help 
this young democracy in Iraq. It's all part of this global struggle 
against extremists and radicals who murder people, who will kill people 
to achieve their objective. And the fundamental question is, will free 
societies have the will, the courage, and the determination to stand up 
to them? And one of the things I have found in this leader is, she does 
have that vision. And I appreciate it a lot.

Germany/United Nations Security Council

    Q. It's on reforming the United Nations. Could you tell us please, 
both, what kind of progress that you made in your talks on this issue? 
And more specific to you, Mr. President, the German Government, in the 
past, frequently declared to be ready to take more responsibilities 
within the United Nations, including a permanent seat in the Security 
Council. So far, you haven't been very positive on that. Tell us why.
    President Bush.  You're right; I've been studiously noncommittal. 
[Laughter] I have

[[Page 1491]]

taken a position, which is the long-held position of U.S. Governments, 
and that is, Japan should have a seat. Beyond that, I've made no 
commitment, except this: that we're for U.N. Security Council reforms, 
and that I'm willing to listen to good ideas. And Angela brought up some 
good ideas today. And so----
    Q. [Inaudible]
    President Bush. It's up to her to tell you. I don't like to put 
words in leaders' mouths. I don't particularly like it when people put 
words in my mouth, either, by the way, unless I say it. But she can tell 
you what she came up with.
    But I will tell you that it intrigued me, and my--as I said--listen, 
I stood up in front of the U.N. and said precisely what I'm telling you 
now, that we're openminded. There's a good non-answer for you. 
[Laughter]
    Chancellor Merkel. Well, from my side, the people who know me, know 
me as a person who is sort of success-oriented, in the sense that I 
don't think one ought to comment each step on the way towards a success. 
But the message that I received today, and that was a very heartening 
message, was that the President and the administration of the United 
States are interested in the reform of the U.N. Security Council. And in 
this overall complex of issues that relates to that, they will also, 
obviously, be of interest who will then be the members of that reformed 
Security Council.
    I, for me personally, see this issue of a Security Council reform to 
be a very important one. But what is also important, obviously, is to 
try to enlist the support of the other very important countries who are 
members of the Security Council, and hear particularly those countries 
that have veto powers in the Security Council, to see to it that they 
have also a great interest in seeing the Security Council reformed.
    So in this overall context, it has certainly been a good message 
that I heard today, that there is also an interest in that here. I found 
this with the President today. And now we will have to keep an eye on 
further steps to be taken along the way in order to achieve that goal. 
We will try and find allies for this cause. And again, it is in 
Germany's interest, as I said previously in public, to have a permanent 
seat on the Security Council. We will not call on each and every country 
that we talk to, to comment on each and every step along the way. We're 
going to continue to work towards reform. And I think it is of the 
essence that we have heard here today. And this is why this was such an 
important message, that is not only in the interests of Germany, but it 
is also an interest that was explained to us here and clearly stated by 
the U.S. administration.
    President Bush. Yes. I'm now going to go feed the Chancellor a 
hamburger. [Laughter] Right here in Crawford, Texas. No, well, I mean 
back over there. Thank you all.
    Chancellor Merkel. Obviously, for me, as a person who originally 
came from Hamburg----
    President Bush. Yes.
    Chancellor Merkel. ----it's even more important. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Hamburger.
    Thank you.
    Chancellor Merkel. Thank you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 11:45 a.m. at the Bush 
Ranch. In his remarks, he referred to Joachim Sauer, husband of 
Chancellor Merkel; President Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister 
Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan; President Hu Jintao of China; and President 
Vladimir Putin of Russia. Chancellor Merkel referred to European Union 
Foreign Minister Javier Solana Madariaga; and Prime Minister Fuad 
Siniora of Lebanon. Chancellor Merkel spoke in German, and her remarks 
were translated by an interpreter.