    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 23 (Monday, June 16, 2008)]
    [Pages 799-801]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Interview With Gianni Riotta of Italy's Rai TV

    June 6, 2008

    Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran

        Mr. Riotta. Mr. President, the world has known tremendous change
    during your tenure, and three areas of concern remain: Iraq, Iran,
    Afghanistan. What's your assessment of those three theaters? And looking
    back in perspective, would you do anything different?
        The President. Well, that's an interesting question on doing
    anything different. Of course, history is going to be the judge of that.
    But the decision, for example, on Iraq, to remove Saddam Hussein, was
    the right decision then, and it's the right decision now.
        The progress in Iraq has been substantial. For a period of time,
    it--the democracy was in doubt, primarily because sectarian violence was
    really unacceptable. I decided to put more troops in, rather than pull
    back, and now the violence is the lowest it's been since March of 2004.
    And politics is beginning to happen. So I'm encouraged about Iraq.
        Afghanistan is also difficult because of new democracy emerging from
    the shadows of a brutal regime. Last year, of course, the Taliban
    announced they were going to go on the offense. In fact, our coalition
    went on the offense and, from a security perspective, made some progress
    against the Taliban. The best progress, though, is the advance of better
    trained police forces--and I thank the Italian Government for helping--
    as well as a better Afghan Army, which over time needs to provide the
    security for the country. Iraq will probably--progresses quicker cause
    it's got wealth. Afghanistan is broke.
        Iran--the free world must continue to send a clear message to the
    Iranians that their ability to enrich, which could be transferred to a
    program to develop a nuclear weapon, is unacceptable. And so I will
    continue to work on this trip to talk about the dangers of a nuclear
    Iran--not civilian nuclear power, but a program that would be aimed at
    blackmail or destruction--and that we've got to work to stop them from
    learning how to enrich. And there's other ways to approach it.

    Iran

        Mr. Riotta. Should Iran resist the international pressure, military
    option remains open?
        The President. Yes, it does.

    Iran/Italy

        Mr. Riotta. Italy wants to join the 5-plus-1 group of contacts
    negotiating with Iran. Germany is skeptical; they don't want us. What do
    you say?
        The President. I say that whatever is effective in terms of sending
    a clear message to Iran. I will be spending time talking to this with
    the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. I've talked to Condi about this
    issue. I said, look, whatever works. Let's make sure we're effective.
    Italy can be an effective voice in sending a message to the Iranians.
    And that you don't have to choose isolation; there's a better way
    forward. Verifiably suspend your enrichment program, and there's a
    better way forward for you and your people.
        And Italy can be a critical part of that. And so we'll work--I
    haven't really taken the temperature that much, but my judgment is,
    Italy can be a very important contributor.

    U.S. Foreign Relations/Energy/Food Prices

        Mr. Riotta. The relationship between the United States and Europe
    has been strained sometimes in the recent past. During your trip, what
    do you suggest we can do together vis-a-vis the oil crisis, the food
    crisis, and the recession coming?
        The President. Yes, you know--first of all, let me talk about
    strained relations. Look, I've had great relations with many of the
    leaders. America and Italy remain incredibly

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    close. Do we agree on every issue? No. But do we agree on common values?
    Absolutely. We believe in human rights and human dignity and free press
    and free religion. And so what unites us is a heck of a lot stronger
    than those moments where we don't necessarily agree on every single
    issue. And so I will remind people of that. I'll remind people that
    we've got a lot of work to do.
        In terms of the current energy issue, look, we're too dependent on
    hydrocarbons. World demand is such, relative to supply, that the price
    of energy is high. And therefore, we need to be spending monies on new
    technologies to enable us to become less dependent on oil. And I'm a big
    nuclear power guy. I believe the United States must be much more
    aggressive expanding nuclear power for two reasons: one, less dependency
    on hydrocarbons; and two, it will make us better stewards of the
    environment. I mean, if you're concerned about global warming, one thing
    you ought to be concerned about then is making sure that we've got power
    generated from a clean source of energy, a renewable source of energy,
    which is nuclear power.
        The food prices concern me, obviously. But the truth of the matter
    is, one reason why food price are so high is because energy prices are
    high. I mean, when you think about it, farming is a pretty energy-
    intensive business--fertilizer is an energy; driving a tractor is an
    energy; crops to markets require energy. And so the crux of a lot of the
    problem is the energy prices.

    Italy-U.S. Relations

        Mr. Riotta. Talking to Prime Minister Berlusconi, what areas do
    you--will you encourage Italy to work with the United States,
    especially?
        The President. Well, Iran, of course, cause I just happen to see it
    as a major threat. We--look, we got a lot of common areas: Afghanistan--
    and I will thank the Italian people for their sacrifices to help this
    young democracy. Silvio Berlusconi and I worked a lot of big issues
    together in the past. I know him well; I trust him; I like him. I'm--I
    find him to be one of the really interesting world leaders. And I'm
    really looking forward to seeing him again in his capacity, once again,
    as the Prime Minister.
        We ought to work on trade matters. We ought to work on diseases like
    HIV/AIDS and malaria on the continent of Africa, for example. I mean,
    there's a lot we can do together.

    Pope Benedict XVI

        Mr. Riotta. You met the Pope while in the United States, and how do
    you see his role in trying to reopen the dialog between different
    civilizations and religions?
        The President. Yes, I think it's--look, the Holy Father is a
    significant world figure. And we had a fabulous visit here, and it was
    such an honor to welcome him to the South Lawn of the White House. I
    wish you could have seen it. But you--maybe you did see it. I wish your
    viewers could have seen the reception he was given here. I think it was
    one of the largest crowds ever on the South Lawn, like 13,000 people.
    And my own personal visit with him was so uplifting.
        And we did talk about the interfaith dialog, that I think is really
    important for people to find common ground through religion to, like,
    deal with the violence that is used by some in the name of religion, to
    perpetuate an ideology, and to remind people that peace--religion is
    peace. And there's no better person to carry that message than His Holy
    Father.
        I talked to the King of Saudi Arabia about his visit with the Holy
    Father, and those are two very important figures when it comes to,
    obviously, Christianity and Islam. And I think it's just--I think it's
    great that he's reaching out.

    2008 Presidential Election

        Mr. Riotta. I know you don't want to comment on the Presidential
    elections, but the world is watching and is very excited because----
        The President. Yes.
        Mr. Riotta. ----there is a former war hero, there is an African
    American candidate, there's been Italian Americans, there's been a lady
    running for President. How do you see vitality of the American
    democracy, looking at this?
        The President. Well, look, I'm for McCain, and everybody knows that.
    On the other hand, I thought it was a really good statement, powerful
    moment when a major political party nominates a African American

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    man to be their standard bearer. And it's good for our democracy that
    that happened. And we also had a major contender being a woman.
    Obviously, Hillary Clinton was a major contender. So I think it's a good
    sign for American democracy.
        Now the debate begins as to who could be the best President. And I'm
    in an interesting position. I ran hard for Presidency twice; I
    campaigned hard in the off years, and now I'll be passing the mantle on
    to Senator McCain, particularly at the convention when he becomes the
    official nominee of our party. Obviously, he's going to be the nominee,
    but there's a moment at the convention where it's--``here he is.'' And
    I'll do my part to help him win, and--but it's going to be up to him.
    That's--he'll be the man sitting in the Oval Office making the tough
    decisions for peace and security.

    Iraq

        Mr. Riotta. You mentioned history at the beginning of this
    interview. And you know--you're aware that history will ask you about
    Iraq. What do you think, now when you look back to Iraq, especially
    after the report yesterday, are you still happy with all these
    positions?
        The President. Look, I want to remind people, the report yesterday
    was one of many reports that--everybody thought Saddam Hussein had
    weapons of mass destruction. I will remind people--and one of the things
    that's important about history is to remember the true history. And so
    the Security Council resolution was 15 to nothing on Saddam Hussein:
    disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. European nations--
    France, Great Britain--supported that--1441, because everybody thought
    he had weapons of mass destruction, including many of the people who--of
    the Democratic Party here in the United States. You should listen to
    their words and listen to their quotes.
        And so, absolutely, getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right
    thing. And it was--we're all disappointed the intelligence wasn't what
    it was. But now the challenge is to help this young democracy survive.
    And a democracy in the heart of the Middle East is going to be, in my
    judgment, a powerful part of change. And we've got to work to free
    people in the Middle East from tyranny, because that is from--the place
    from which the terrorists have launched their attacks.

    President's Future

        Mr. Riotta. In the few seconds that are left, what will you do next?
        The President. You know, good question. I haven't had much time to
    think about it, because I've got a lot to do. But I will probably write
    a book talking about the decisions I had to make, precisely to make sure
    that history understands the conditions and the environment during which
    I had to make decisions; start a freedom institute at what's called
    Southern Methodist University in Dallas to talk about the universal
    values of freedom abroad and at home. And other than that, I'm open for
    suggestions.
        Mr. Riotta. Thank you, Mr. President.
        The President. Yes, sir. Thanks. Looking forward to going back to
    Rome. It's a fabulous city, one of the great cities of the world.
        Mr. Riotta. Especially after you leave the White House, come and I
    will take you around. [Laughter] Without the constraint of official----
        The President. I'd love to.

    Note: The interview was taped at 10:28 a.m. in the Map Room at the White
    House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to
    Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy; Pope Benedict XVI; King
    Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia; Democratic
    Presidential candidate Barak Obama; former Democratic Presidential
    candidate Hillary Clinton; and Republican Presidential candidate John
    McCain. The interviewer referred to former Republican Presidential
    candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani. The transcript was released by the Office
    of the Press Secretary on June 7. A portion of this interview could not
    be verified because the tape was incomplete.