Interview of the President by Hisham Bourar, Al Hurra TV

Map Room

January 4, 2008

4:22 P.M. EST
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--Q Thank you, Mr. President, for taking the time to do this
interview on Al Hurra TV. Big trip to the Middle East. What are your
objectives, and why now?

THE PRESIDENT: Now because I believe that it's possible to advance
the Annapolis agenda; now because I believe it's just going to be --
that it will be a chance to be effective on my trip. I'm going to
advance three things: one, the vision of two states,
Palestinian-Israel, living side by side in peace; two, to convince our
friends and allies in the region that it is in their interest to
support the peace process; and three is to remind people that the
United States is committed to helping secure the region, that we have
a active presence in the Middle East and that presence is not going to
wane, that we're committed to helping people realize -- deal with the
threats and the problems of the 21st century.

Q What can you do, personally, to press both sides, the Israelis
and the Palestinians, to reach an agreement this year?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, the agreement -- they must
decide they want to reach agreement. In other words -- and so the
first thing I can do is to make sure there's a sincere desire on the
parts of President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert to achieve an
agreement. I believe that desire exists. The Annapolis Conference was
a success because they wanted it to be a success. And it's to give
them confidence and encourage them to come up with what a state will
look like, to define that state so that people there in the region can
have hope that this kind of a longtime conflict will finally come to
an end, and the first step is the definition of a state.

I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when
there needs to be -- hold hands. And so I'm -- I will go to encourage
them to stay focused on the big picture. There's going to be all kinds
of distractions, and people will be trying to throw up roadblocks and
people will be trying to cause these gentlemen to -- not to -- lose
sight of what's possible. And my job is to help them keep a vision on
what is possible.

Q Do you still believe that your vision of a Palestinian state can
be achieved before you leave office?

THE PRESIDENT: I think the outlines, the definition of a state can
be achieved. The implementation of a state will be subject to a road
map. In other words, there's a lot of work that has to be done.
Palestinian security forces have to be reformed -- which we're helping
with, by the way. The entrepreneurial class of people has to be
encouraged with new capital. The institutions of government need to be
strengthened.

And so the state will come into being, subject to, but the first
step is to -- here's what a state will look like. And I believe we can
get that done by the time I leave office.

Q Will you be asking Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, to
normalize relations with Israel?

THE PRESIDENT: I'll be reminding the Gulf countries, including
Saudi Arabia, that in order for this to be successful, in order for
this process to work, there has to be strong support for both the
Palestinians and the Israelis in the neighborhood. And that's why the
Annapolis Conference -- another reason it was an important conference,
because in that room were -- my friend, the King of Saudi Arabia,
kindly sent his Foreign Minister to that Annapolis meeting. I thought
it was a strong signal. And so both sides are going to need to know
that they'll have support from the neighborhood.

Q Recently there has been some rapprochement between Gulf
countries and Iran. Do you feel that the last NIE report makes it
difficult for you to convince these countries that Iran still poses a
threat to national security?

THE PRESIDENT: I'm sure this subject will come up, and I will
remind them that the NIE said that, one, Iran had a military covert
program. They suspended the program. I will also remind them that a
regime that once had a program could easily start the program up
again, and that the key ingredients to having a weapons program is,
one, the capacity to enrich uranium; secondly, the ability to take
that uranium and make a bomb; and thirdly, the ability to deliver the
bomb by rockets.

Well, the rocket program still exists. As you know, they say they,
only for civilian purposes, they're learning to enrich. Well, if you
can learn to enrich for civilian purposes, you can easily transfer
that knowledge to military purposes. And therefore, Iran is a threat.
And so that will be my message.

And my other message will be, we've got a strategy to deal with
it, and that is to prevent them from learning how to enrich. And I'll
explain to them the different types of sanctions and international
efforts we're making, and how they can help, as well.

Q Recent visits to Damascus by U.S. lawmakers, like a recent one
by Senator Arlen Specter, Republican, and Senator Kennedy, do they
help or undermine your position toward Syria?

THE PRESIDENT: That's an interesting question. I don't know. But
President Assad must understand that if he wants better relations with
the United States -- and frankly, better relations in the region --
the first thing he's got to do is stop interfering in the Lebanese
presidential process. And I would hope that those representatives sent
that message to President Assad.

I don't know how he interprets these meetings, but one thing he
can't be mistaken about is the position of the U.S. government, the
White House. And our position is, is that you can have better
relations, a better way forward with the United States, but you have
got to get out of Lebanon, in terms of the presidential elections, and
stop harboring Hamas, stop letting suiciders go into Iraq, and there's
a better way forward.

Q Speaking of Lebanon, what can the United States do to break the
current stalemate which left the country without a President?

THE PRESIDENT: We're making it awfully clear to -- publicly and
privately -- that Sleiman, who was selected by the -- by a lot of the
players there inside Lebanon, is the right choice; if that's what they
want, that's who we support -- and that the obstacle to that
presidency going forward is Syria.

So I'll be spending some time there in the Middle East discussing
this very subject, because a free Lebanon is in the interests of
everybody in the region, and there's a lot of common ground with the
U.S. position and -- like the Saudis and other nations agree that we
ought to have a free Lebanon, free of Syrian influence.

Q Last question, Mr. President. How do you think people in the
Middle East will remember you?

THE PRESIDENT: I hope they remember me as the guy who was willing
to fight extremists who murdered the innocent to achieve political
objectives, and at the same time, had great faith in the people, the
average citizen of the Middle East, to self-govern; that the Middle
East has got a fantastic future and that I admire the great traditions
of the Middle East and believe that the average man can succeed
mightily; that societies are best served when they respond to the will
of people, and that we must reject the extremists who have a different
view of that, the people that only prey on hopelessness. That's what I
would hope.

I would hope that they would say President Bush respects my
religion and has great love for the human -- human being, and believes
in human dignity. I know my image can be different at times, but I had
to make some tough choices on war and peace. On the other hand, I hope
people are now beginning to see the emergence of a free Iraq, based
upon a modern constitution, is part of my vision for achieving peace
that we all want.

Q Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir. Happy New Year.

Q Happy New Year to you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

END 4:30 P.M. EST

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