Contact: White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2580

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 /Standard Newswire/ -- [Continued from Part 1 of 2]

Second part of your long question?

Q    Well, are you willing to engage direct talks with --

PRESIDENT BUSH:  Oh, Iran and Syria.

Q    -- just a regional effort --

PRESIDENT BUSH:  No, no, I understand.  Steve, let me talk about engaging Iran.  We have made it clear to the Iranians

that there is a possible change in U.S. policy, a policy that's been in place for 27 years, and that is that if they would like to engage the United States, that they've got to verifiably suspend their enrichment program.  We've made our choice.  Iran now has an opportunity to make its choice.  I would hope they would make the choice that most of the free world wants them to make, which is there is no need to have a weapons program; there is no need to isolate your people; there's no need to continue this obstinance when it comes to your stated desires to have a nuclear weapon.  It's not in your interest to do so.

And should they agree to verifiably suspend their enrichment, the United States will be at the table with our partners. 

It's really interesting to talk about conversations with countries -- which is fine; I can understand why people speculate about it -- but there should be no mistake in anybody's mind, these countries understand our position.  They know what's expected of them. 

There is -- if we were to have a conversation, it would be this one, to Syria:  Stop destabilizing the Siniora government.  We believe that the Siniora government should be supported, not weakened.  Stop allowing money and arms to cross your border into Iraq.  Don't provide safe haven for terrorist groups.  We've made that position very clear. 

And the truth of the matter is, is that these countries have now got the choice to make.  If they want to sit down at the table with the United States, it's easy -- just make some decisions that will lead to peace, not to conflict. 

Is that the third part of your question?  You've got to stop these long questions, Steven.  Steven.

Q    Combat troops out by early 2008, is that --

PRESIDENT BUSH:  One of the things the report did mention, and I think you've said it in your comment, if conditions so allow.  And we want our combat troops out as quick as possible.  We want the Iraqis taking the fight.  But it's very important to be -- as we design programs, to be flexible and realistic.  And as the report said -- I don't -- got the exact words, but it was along the lines of depending upon conditions, I believe is what the qualifier was.  And I thought that made a lot of sense.  I've always said we'd like our troops out as fast as possible.  I think that's an important goal.

On the other hand, our commanders will be making recommendations based upon whether or not we're achieving our stated objective.  And the objective, I repeat, is a government which can sustain, govern, and defend itself -- free government of Iraq that can do that -- and will be an ally in this movement -- against this movement that is threatening peace and stability.  And it's real. 

I like to remind people it's akin to the Cold War in many ways.  There's an ideological clash going on.  And the question is, will we have the resolve and the confidence in liberty to prevail?  That's really the fundamental question facing -- it's not going to face this government or this government, because we made up our mind.  We've made that part clear.  But it will face future governments.  There will be future opportunities for people to say, well, it's not worth it, let's just retreat.  I would strongly advise a government not to accept that position because of the dangers inherent with isolationism and retreat.

Q    I'll try to be succinct.  Mr. President, two years ago you said that you were ready to expend political capital on the Israel-Palestinian situation.  With hindsight, do you think you've fulfilled that intention?  How closely do you see a linkage between what happens in Israel-Palestine and a settlement in Iraq, achieving your goals?

Prime Minister, given that you were so recently in the Middle East and the situation hasn't exactly improved since then, is there anything specific you're hoping to achieve next week when you go back?

PRESIDENT BUSH:  Want me to start?  I'm getting older, so you're going to have to repeat the second part of your question.  (Laughter.)  Let me answer the first part.  What's important is for people to accept the goal of two states living side-by-side for peace.  And what has changed in the Middle East is that Israel and Palestine -- at least the current leadership of both countries, or both -- one entity and one country -- accept that goal.  That's important. 

To that end, the previous Prime Minister made a decision to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza, which I felt was a good decision, which would expedite the potential arrival of a state.  And so to answer your question, yes, we're spending a lot of capital getting people headed in the same direction, which if you look at the history of the Middle East, is a change.

Secondly, one of the reasons why there hasn't been instant success is because radicals and extremists are trying to stop the advance of a Palestinian state.  Why?  Because democracy is a defeat for them.  That's what I strongly believe.  I find it interesting that when Prime Minister Olmert reaches out to Palestinians to discuss a way forward on the two state solution, Hezbollah attacks Israel.  Why?  Because radicals and extremists can't stand the thought of a democracy.  And one of the great ironies is that people in the Middle East are working hard to prevent people in the Middle East from realizing the blessings of a free society in their democracy.

And so, no question progress has been spotty.  But it's important for people to understand one of the reasons why is, is because radicals are trying to prevent it, and they're willing to kill innocent people to prevent progress.  Now, our goal is to help the Abbas government strengthen its security forces, and we're doing that.  Our goal is to help the Abbas government form a government that adheres to the principles of the Quartet.  We can't abandon the principles of the Quartet just because it may sound easy.  You can't do that.  When nations lay out principles, you've got to adhere to those principles -- just like when we laid out a vision, you adhere to that vision.

And so the Prime Minister's visit, like Condi's visit recently to the Middle East, are all aiming to help countries remove obstacles necessary to achieve the vision.  And it's hard work, but it's necessary work.  And so I do believe there is a -- I know there's a change of attitude.  And now the fundamental question is, can we help the moderates prevail?  And make no mistake about it, radicals and extremists will kill in order to stop the progress.  And that's what's difficult.  But it should be a signal to those of us who have got the comfort of liberty to understand the consequences of this ideological struggle we're fighting.  One of the consequences is denial of a Palestinian state. 

This is ironic, isn't it -- I think it is, and it's sad. 

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:  I think, first of all, it's important to understand how much has begun, how much work there's been.  I mean, I know I've had many, many meetings on this issue over the past few months.  I know Secretary Rice has been immensely active on it over these past months, as well.  Now, some of that is visible and out there at press conferences and meetings, and a lot of it is behind the scenes. 

But in essence, what we've got to do is to try to resolve two issues.  First of all, we need to get the release of Corporal Shalit, which, as Prime Minister Olmert made clear the other day, would then allow the release of many Palestinian prisoners, as well.  And this is obviously a very important issue. 

But then, secondly, and this is, I think, really -- one of the core questions is, we are prepared to release the money to the Palestinian Authority.  We are prepared to take the peace process forward and get into a process of negotiation.  But we need a government on both sides that is committed to the basic principles of that negotiation.  And at the present time, we are not able to achieve a national unity government on the Palestinian side.  And the reason for that is that we are saying, not as a matter of dogma at all, but you can't have a government that everyone can deal with, and you can then negotiate a peace between Israel and Palestine, unless it's on the basis that everyone accepts the other's right to exist.  So that's the difficulty.  It's not a kind of technical point, it's absolutely at the heart of it.

Now, what we have got to do is to find either a way of unlocking the problem of forming that national unity government on the principles laid down by the United Nations, as well as the rest of the Quartet, or alternatively, a different way forward, but whatever way forward will have to be on the basis you get an empowered Palestinian government with whom everyone can negotiate and deal with.

Now, you know, again, it's a very, very obvious thing.  It's not just for the Israelis and the Palestinians, but also for the whole of the region.  You know, you can't negotiate this unless everyone accepts the basic principles of the negotiation.  But if people were to do that, and after all, we're only asking people to accept the position that the United Nations, and really, the whole of the international community, you could move this forward quickly.  I mean, I don't think there's any doubt at all that if you could get an empowered Palestinian government able to negotiate -- Israel has made it clear it is prepared to negotiate.

I'm not saying there aren't very tricky issues.  There are things like Jerusalem, the right of return, which are very, very difficult.  But actually, it's not beyond our wit to put it together.  We could put it together.  But you need to get these initial steps taken.

Now what I'm wont to do when I go out there is just explore what is the way that we get that ability to get the negotiation underway, trying to work round these obstacles.  And it's something -- we were talking about Iran and Syria moments ago, it's something all of those countries could help with if they wanted to help with it.  So I kind of feel one thing that is important is that everyone understands that there's no shortage of willingness, energy, commitment on our side.

And believe me, I've thought about this with the President many, many times, and I don't believe there's any shortage of those qualities on his part at all.  But we need to get this -- we need to get the door unlocked because it's kind of barred at the moment.  It needs to be opened.  And that's the task, I think, for the next period.

PRESIDENT BUSH:  L.A. Times Man.

Q    Mr. President, you have said that you have the Baker-Hamilton report, you also have the -- you're waiting to hear from the Pentagon, you're waiting to hear from the State Department.  This report was prepared by a bipartisan group, the only one you'll get.  Secretary Baker has a special relationship with the family.  Should this report not get extra consideration?  Does it not carry more weight than any of the others?

PRESIDENT BUSH:  That's an interesting question.  It's certainly an important part of our deliberations, and it was certainly an important part of our discussions this morning.  Some reports are issued and just gather dust.  And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. 

To show you how important this one is, I read it, and our guest read it.  The Prime Minister read -- read a report prepared by a commission.  And this is important.  And there are some -- I don't think Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton expect us to accept every recommendation.  I expect them -- I think -- I know they expect us to consider every recommendation, Jim.  We ought to pay close attention to what they advise.  And I told them yesterday at our meeting that we would pay close attention, and would seriously consider every recommendation.  We've discussed some of their recommendations here at this press conference.  And we are -- we will spend a lot of time on it.

And I -- and so you ask its relative importance.  I'd call it a very important report, and a very important part of our working to a new approach, a new way forward in Iraq.

And I can't -- I really do thank those citizens for taking time out of busy lives to spend time helping us look at different options.  These are distinguished souls; they got plenty to do.  They're busy people, and yet they took nine months out and they talked to a lot of people.  They went to Iraq, they thought about it a lot, and it was a very considerate, important report.  And I will take the recommendations very seriously.

Q    Mr. President, the Iraq Study Group said that leaders must be candid and forthright with people.  So let me test that.  Are you capable of admitting your failures in the past, and perhaps much more importantly, are you capable of changing course, perhaps in the next few weeks?

PRESIDENT BUSH:  I think you're probably going to have to pay attention to my speech coming up here when I get all the recommendations in, and you can answer that question, yourself.  I do know that we have not succeeded as fast as we wanted to succeed.  I do understand that progress is not as rapid as I had hoped.  And therefore, it makes sense to analyze the situation and to devise a set of tactics and strategies to achieve the objective that I have stated.

And so if the present situation needs to be changed, it follows that we'll change it if we want to succeed.  What's really interesting is the battle has changed in Iraq from the rejectionists and former Baathists and definitely foreign fighters who have entered the country that were trying to destabilize the new government to one that Mr. Zarqawi stated clearly -- he said, look, let's kill Shia in order to create enough chaos and confusion and doubt of the government, and set off a sectarian battle.  And he succeeded in that extent.  He didn't succeed at avoiding us, but he did succeed at starting off sectarian strife.  And now the fundamental question is, what strategy is necessary to deal with this type of violence?

We'll continue after al Qaeda.  Al Qaeda will not have safe haven in Iraq.  And that's important for the American people to know.  We've got special operators, we've got better intelligence.  And al Qaeda is effective at these spectacular bombings, and we'll chase them down, and we are, along with the Iraqis.  The strategy now is how to make sure that we've got the security situation in place such that the Iraqi government is capable of dealing with the sectarian violence, as well as the political and economic strategies, as well.

So, yes, I think you'll see something differently, because it's a practical answer to a situation on the ground that's not the way we like it.  You wanted frankness -- I thought we would succeed quicker than we did, and I am disappointed by the pace of success. 

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:  Look, there isn't any -- as I said a moment or two ago, there isn't any doubt about how tough this is.  It's hugely challenging.  But what the report did not say is that we should just get out and leave it.  What it did say is that it's immensely important that we succeed.

Now, the question is, therefore, how do we do it?  And in that regard, I think the report is practical, it's clear, and it offers also the way of bringing people together.

The other thing that we want to do, because this is part of succeeding in this mission, is actually to make people understand that this is something where you've got to try and bring people together around a set of common objectives and a practical set of methods to achieve those objectives.

The issues that the report raises -- I mean, these aren't issues that, obviously, no one has ever thought of; these aren't issues that haven't been part of the continual discussion and debate and iteration within the coalition and, indeed, between us and the Iraqi government.  But those essential elements we want to make sure, in the light of the changing situation that there is there, that, one, we have the Iraqi government able to operate effectively, but in a non-sectarian way, because that's what we began with.  Secondly, that we make sure that everyone in the region is supporting that.  And, thirdly, that we set this within the context of a broader vision for the Middle East, not least in respect of Israel and Palestine.

Now, in respect of the elements of that strategy, this report gives us a basis on which we can move forward -- but we've obviously then got to look at the practical measures that are necessary in order to give effect to those elements.  And that's what we'll do.  And I think that, you know, the one thing that no one who is dealing with this on a day to day basis has any doubt about is how tough it is.  But the question is how we make sure that we overcome those tough conditions and succeed, because the need to succeed is so huge.

Q    Prime Minister, just a brief supplementary -- sorry, I didn't get to ask you the question.  You promised some time -- I'm sorry.

PRESIDENT BUSH:  Look, I agree, this is a total violation of -- (laughter.)  Our press corps is calling you down, man.  I mean, there you are -- no, go ahead.  (Laughter.)

Q    You're encouraging it.

PRESIDENT BUSH:  I'm not encouraging it.  You're not a member of the American press, it's the Prime Minister.  (Laughter.)

Q    He's my guy.  (Laughter.)

Q    Only because you cut me off, Mr. President --

PRESS:  Ohhhhh!  (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH:  Okay.  (Laughter.)

Q    Prime Minister, you promised the British military whatever it takes to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the former head of the British Army says the British military is not being funded properly for the job it's being asked to do.  Do you accept that?

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:  We get from our military advice as to what they need and we do our level best to meet it.  I mean, we'll -- I haven't actually read Mike Jackson's comments.  I think it's Mike's speech you're talking about.  And let me tell you he's someone I have enormous amount of respect for, and did a fantastic job when he was chief of our staff. 

But in relation to this, we've worked closely with the military the whole time.  It's important we carry on doing it.  And I've simply made the point that in the last few years, and not least yesterday in the pre-budget report of the chancellor, we gave another significant increase in funding.  But it's important we do this.  This is a mission which it is -- because it's important that we succeed, it's important that we equip our armed forces properly.  But I've got nothing -- if you'll forgive me, I've not got anything to comment on in detail until I've actually read the speech that he made.  Not that -- I'm not saying you wouldn't give me a fair resume of it.  (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH:  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:  Okay.

PRESIDENT BUSH:  Good job.

END    11:58 A.M. EST