[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 9 (Monday, March 10, 2008)]
[Pages 320-322]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With King Abdullah II of Jordan and an 
Exchange With Reporters

March 4, 2008

    President Bush. His Majesty and I will take a couple of questions 
after opening statements.
    Your Majesty, I value your friendship, and I value your leadership. 
And I appreciate you coming back. America has got no stronger friend in 
the Middle East than Jordan. And we appreciate the--we appreciate your 
firmness when it comes to dealing with terror and extremism. We 
appreciate the heart when it comes to people--your heart when it comes 
to people who suffer.
    We spent a lot of time talking about the Middle Eastern peace 
process. A couple of points I want to reiterate. One is that the United 
States is engaged and will remain engaged in helping convince the Prime 
Minister of Israel and President Abbas that now is the time to formulate 
a vision of what a state will look like.
    And secondly, I assured His Majesty this is a major focus of my 
administration and that I would like to see that vision, the process 
that we have started in Annapolis, finished prior to my departure from 
the Presidency. In other words, there is a--people say, ``Well, you 
always set--you're hesitant to set timetables.'' But there happens to be 
a timetable, as far as I'm concerned, and that is, I'm leaving office. 
And Secretary Rice is in the region today, and she is making our views 
known, that we expect these leaders to step up and make hard decisions. 
And I told His Majesty I'm optimistic--still as optimistic as I was 
after Annapolis.
    And so we welcome you, sir. And thank you for your passion.
    King Abdullah. Thank you very much, Mr. President. It is obviously a 
great honor to be back here and to be with you. We tremendously 
appreciate the warm relationship and the great friendship between our 
two countries.
    But as His Excellency, the President, just stated, we are very, very 
pleased with the continued commitment that the President has to solve 
the longest, most outstanding issue in the Middle East, the Israeli-
Palestinian process. And the words and discussions that we've had this 
morning will have, I think, a very great response back in our part of 
the world when I will go back and report to many of my colleagues the 
President's commitment to bringing a bright future to Israelis and 
Palestinians and to the whole area.
    And we look forward to continuing to work with you, Mr. President, 
and many of us in the area to finally achieve a peace that will set the 
Middle East in the right direction.
    President Bush. Thank you. A couple of questions apiece.
    Ben [Ben Feller, Associated Press].

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Ben.
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Hold on a second. Ben.

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    Q. ----as you have promised--sorry.
    Q. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Are you--what are your 
thoughts about the fact that President Abbas has not resumed peace 
talks? Are you disappointed? And very quickly, sir, you said you're 
still as optimistic as you were after Annapolis.
    President Bush. Yes.
    Q. What gives you that optimism?
    President Bush. I'm optimistic because I am absolutely convinced 
that Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas understand that this is 
now a key moment in achieving peace. Both leaders are committed to a 
democracy--two democracies living side by side in peace. Both leaders 
understand that there has to be a vision of what that state will look 
like. Both leaders fully understand that there has to--you know, have to 
work out agreements on borders and right of return and other issues. 
Both leaders understand that a vision that respects people and promotes 
freedom stands in stark contrast to the extremists who are willing to 
murder people to stop the advance of democracy and to, you know, dash 
the ambitions of the Palestinians.
    I'm optimistic that they understand that. I understand the 
difficulties, but I also believe both leaders have--when it--ultimately 
will have the courage necessary to reach an agreement. And my job as the 
President and my administration's responsibilities are to help them 
understand what is possible and to keep them moving on a process. And so 
I'm optimistic. I am.
    Q. Are you disappointed about the lack of resumption in peace talks?
    The President. This is a process that, you know, always has two 
steps forward and one step back. We just got to make sure that it's only 
one step back. Condi is out there in the region. And sometimes, you 
know, there's matters going behind the scenes that aren't apparent in 
the public arena. And so, yes, I'm optimistic. And we'll continue to 
work hard to help achieve the vision.
    Step one is to convince the leaders it's necessary and to help them 
define a vision so that a state can come into being after conditions are 
met. But a lot of Palestinians are probably--are saying, ``We've heard 
this kind of rhetoric before. Show us what a state looks like.'' And I 
said, a state has got to be continuous--a contiguous territory; it can't 
look like Swiss cheese. You know, the Palestinians have got to 
understand that this is an option available for them, and it will stand 
in stark contrast to the vision of Hamas, which has been nothing more 
than violence and deprivation.
    You want to call on somebody?
    Q. Mr. President, as you mentioned--you know, as you approach the 
end of your term in office, you mentioned that you still feel that 
establishing the Palestinian state is still achievable.
    President Bush. Yes.
    Q. What is the exact vision that you have, you know, with this short 
time left?
    The President. Sure, I appreciate it. First of all, 10 months is a 
long time. May seem short to you, but it's--there's plenty of time to 
get a deal done.
    Secondly, I have visited with the leaders, you know, on a one-on-one 
basis quite frequently, and I understand that it's--this is a difficult 
subject. But I also feel very comfortable with the commitment they have 
made to try to work out subjects that have been difficult for other 
leaders to work out in the past.
    The role of the United States--we can't impose peace. We can help 
leaders come to agreement and come to the table and make hard decisions. 
We can help facilitate the bridging of gaps, if there are gaps. And 
that's exactly what our diplomacy is in the process of doing.
    And by the way, there is--and one of the reasons why His Majesty is 
so important in this process, as are other leaders in the Middle East, 
including my close friend King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia and President 
Mubarak of Egypt, is that the--both these leaders are going to need the 
support of the Arab world in order to make tough decisions. But first, 
it's up to them. And so I'm optimistic that they can conclude tough 
negotiations. And we'll try to facilitate that.
    Matt [Matt Spetalnick, Reuters].

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)/Oil Prices

    Q. Yes, sir. Every indication out of the OPEC meeting of ministers 
in Vienna is that they will be holding output steady. What is

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your reaction to that, sir, in light of your recent visit to the Middle 
East in which you appealed for an increase in output?
    The President. Yes. I think it's a mistake to have your biggest 
customer's economy slow down--or your biggest customers' economies 
slowing down as a result of high energy prices. It's not the only 
result--our economy is slowing down. I mean, obviously, we've got a 
housing issue and some credit issues. But no question, the high price of 
gasoline has hurt economic growth here in the United States. And if I 
were a member of OPEC, I'd be concerned about high energy prices causing 
people to buy less energy over time.
    And the other thing high energy prices of course does--which is 
stimulate alternative fuels, which we're doing a lot here in America. 
We're spending a lot of money on biofuels and ethanols and new ways to 
make ethanol. So my advice to OPEC--of course they haven't listened to 
it--but my advice to OPEC is to understand the consequences of high 
energy prices, and--because I do. And I understand that this is 
affecting our American citizens. It's making it harder for people to be 
able to drive, and it's making it tough for families to save.
    And so not only is it--high energy prices having an effect on--a 
macroeffect on our economy; it's affecting a lot of our families, which 
troubles me as well. And by the way, the higher energy prices stay, the 
more likely it is countries will quickly diversify. And that's part of 
our strategy.
    You want to call on somebody?
    King Abdullah. I think one more.
    President Bush. One more?
    King Abdullah. Yes--[inaudible].
    President Bush. Here's a great--ask this lady here; she's good.

Iraqi Refugees/Lebanon/Syria

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Apart from the Palestinian issue, did 
you also discuss Lebanon and Iraq and whether there's a common position 
between you and Jordan regarding the crisis in Lebanon and the situation 
in Iraq?
    President Bush. Yes, thank you. We did. His Majesty--and he, of 
course, can answer as well--but His Majesty made it very clear to me 
that stability in Iraq is important for Jordan. He also pointed out 
something which I knew, but I wasn't exactly sure how it was affecting 
his country, that there are roughly three-quarters of a million Iraqi 
citizens who have moved to Jordan. And we talked about a common strategy 
about how to make sure that those citizens ended up, hopefully, going 
home to Iraq as the security situation improved, but also, while they're 
in Jordan, not create terrible issues for the Government.
    And of course we talked about Lebanon. We strongly--I strongly 
support Prime Minister Siniora and the March 14th coalition. I strongly 
condemn a Syrian interference in the Lebanese political process. It is--
I am extremely disappointed that the Syrian leader continues to make it 
hard for the Siniora Government to succeed, and I really don't 
appreciate the fact that they've made it hard for this Government to 
elect a President. We had diplomatic success in the past, when the U.N. 
Security Council passed a resolution seeing to it that Syria left this 
young democracy to be able to grow on its own. And now here they are 
once again interfering inside the politics of this country.
    And so, yes, we discussed the subject.
    King Abdullah. And all I can add to that, on the issue of Lebanon, 
is how we discussed the role of Arab countries and how we can be 
effective in supporting the process in Lebanon, so that as quickly as 
possible a government is formed which will be able them--to take them to 
the future.
    President Bush. Thank you all very much. We've got to go have lunch 
with our wives.

Note: The President spoke at 11:47 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of 
Israel; President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian 
Authority; Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of Lebanon; and President Bashar 
al-Asad of Syria.