You did not hear any of this as it was with the Arab press and not the World or US press. Interesting statements on their part. Good stuff.

Arab Media Roundtable with Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary Rice from Baghdad, Iraq

            QUESTION:  [In Arabic]

            SECRETARY RUMSFELD:  I see your point.

            First of all, it's impressive to see that Iraq has a free press and so many people who are here of their own initiative reporting whatever they want to report, and I congratulate the country of Iraq for having a free press.

            There's no question but that the insurgency and the terrorists have media committees.  They try to manipulate the press.  They try to do things and say things that advantage the cause of violent extremism.  We're on the other side.  We think people want to live in peace and they're opposed to violent extremism.

            Part of the battle is in public opinion as you suggest by your question.  Part of it's here, part of it's elsewhere in the world, and part of it's in the United States.

            The terrorists are not going to win a single battle in Iraq or in the Middle East or anywhere in the world in terms of a military battle.  The battle they're engaged in is trying to win a test of wills, trying to get other people to give up their free way of life.  We don't intend to give up our free way of life and we don't think the Iraqi people intend to give up their free way of life. 

            Zarqawi and his folks failed to stop the elections, they failed to stop the constitution, they tried to stop the formation of this government and they're going to fail there as well.

            QUESTION:  [In Arabic]

            SECRETARY RICE:  First of all we brought a message of congratulations on his nomination because this is really a milestone for the Iraqi people.  The nomination of the first freely elected permanent government of Iraq is a real milestone.  I said to him as well as to others, this is a day that the United States, the coalition and I think the Iraqi people have been looking forward to ever since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, so in that sense it was a time to welcome these events, the formation of this government.

            We also gave a message that the United States wants to be a good partner for this new government.  We understand the tremendous challenges that the government has.  We understand the concerns of the Iraqi people, indeed the impatience of the Iraqi people to deal with the security situation, to provide economic opportunity, and to make certain that Iraq is on the right road to democracy and prosperity.  We pledged our partnership to do that.  The President wanted us to come out and make certain that the United States is ready to provide whatever help we can to the new Iraqi government.

            But we also had a message that we found that the Prime Minister and the other leaders were also giving to us, which is this is a time that Iraqis are taking responsibility for their own future.  We can be partners, we can support, we can help, but this is Iraq's time and the time for Iraq's newly elected leaders to take on these responsibilities and to represent the desires and the aspirations of the Iraqi people who voted in large numbers, who faced down terrorists in order to vote and express themselves.  So there is a tremendous responsibility on this government.  We wanted to acknowledge that and to acknowledge that the United States is going to be a good partner.

            QUESTION:  [In Arabic]

            SECRETARY RUMSFELD:  I don't know that we really offered advice in that sense.  We discussed the importance of the Iraqi security forces, the effort that's going into training and equipping both the police and the army elements, and that our desire to continue to pass off responsibility to the Iraqi security forces as we've been doing with respect to provinces, real estate, bases, assignments.  The fact that we've been very pleased with their progress, and the importance of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior working closely together to serve the Iraqi people.

            Needless to say, our hope is that we will see the government formed soon and that they will be people who are competent and capable and reflect the best interests of the Iraqi people.  I must say, I came away from my meetings with the government leaders today impressed with their seriousness of purpose, the constructive approach they take with each other, and optimistic about their future.

            SECRETARY RICE:  If I could just add, we wanted to say how important it was that the ministries would be ministries of national unity just as the government is a government of national unity, but before we could say that the leaders said that to us.  So I think the leaders understand that the real goal now has to be to bring the Iraqi people together in one project, in one effort to build a unified Iraq.

            SECRETARY RUMSFELD:  I should add, the Iraqi people went out in great numbers and voted.  In fact increasing numbers from the January election to the October referendum to the December election, and spoke with a powerful voice that they wanted a unified country and they wanted a government that represented all of the people of Iraq.  And it's really quite an experience for us to see that.  Then to see the people that they've selected assume that responsibility in such a responsible way.

            QUESTION:  [In Arabic]

            SECRETARY RICE:  Zarqawi is not somebody with whom you can negotiate.  He wants one thing, which is to tear Iraq apart.  And his video said to me that he has not been able to succeed in doing that despite threats and despite some very tragic incidents in which he and his terrorists have indeed killed people and assassinated people.  And yet the political process goes on.

            He was unable to, the terrorists were unable to stop the Iraqi people from voting, as Don said, in ever-increasing numbers and including a significant and substantial Sunni vote in the last election.  This government of national unity is now about to be formed and it's quite clear that the worst thing that can happen to the terrorists is for the political process to move ahead and to be successful because that means that Iraqis have chosen compromising politics over violence and repression.  The only thing the terrorists have to offer is violence and repression.

            The Iraqi people want a good livelihood, they want compromise, they want to live together in peace, they want their children to go to school, they want to be able to select their leaders, and the terrorists can't offer that.  So there really isn't anything to negotiate with Zarqawi.

            I know there are people who have been involved, who were involved with the insurgency, who may now choose to join the political process.  There are I think legitimate grassroots Sunni leaders who can represent the interests of all Iraqis.  And clearly, Iraqis will have to make those decisions.  But when it comes to these foreign terrorists, and I want to emphasize, the foreign terrorists who came from outside Iraq into Iraq to kill Iraqi children, to kill Iraqi soldiers, to kill Iraqi policemen.  In a case that I remember most vividly, to go into a school and to kill an Iraqi teacher.  That’s what people like Zarqawi came to do and I think the Iraqi people are saying resoundingly that they want nothing to do with that.

            QUESTION:  [In Arabic]

            SECRETARY RUMSFELD:  The United States and coalition countries have always felt that the important thing was the success of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government and that the conditions would determine the pace in which we would be able to pass over responsibility to the Iraqi security forces.  My impression is that that's been the opinion of the successive Iraqi governments including the leadership that we've met with today.  And what will take place, obviously, will be meetings between the new Iraqi government as it's formed, and the coalition forces and a discussion about the conditions in Iraq and the pace at which those reductions could take place.

            It is clearly in our interest to have reductions over time, and it's clearly in the interests of the Iraqi government that that take place.  It is also in the interests of the Iraqi people and the United States to have it done in a way that the conditions permit.  So those discussions will be taking place in the weeks and months ahead.

            QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, how do you look at the statements of [inaudible] Alawi on other [inaudible] when they say that the Iraqi government has [inaudible] sectarian [inaudible]?  Do you think they are going to [joint] settlement on [inaudible]?  I would like to have a military point of view on your [inaudible] about the videotape according to the Minister of Defense.

            SECRETARY RICE:  First of all, in meeting with this government I think the members who have already been selected by the presidency and the speakers and deputies said the nominee for Prime Minster, I think you see that you have a wide range of people involved in this government and I think you will see that even more as ministers are selected.

            This was, after all, a government formation process built on a broad coalition depending on elections of people of various parties, how they did in the elections, and then they were represented in this coalition building process.

            I can tell you that even though this is not the system that the United States uses, we elect a president who then appoints his cabinet members.  But in much of Europe this is exactly the system that is used, in Great Britain or in Germany, where by the way it took them two months to select a government after their elections.

            So it's a process that after the elections all of the parties come together and they form a government.

            I fully hope that Mr. Alawi, who won a seat in the election, will in some way be a part of this great moment in Iraq's history.  We have good relations with him.  He was a very good interim Prime Minister for this country and I hope he or his party will be involved.  But this is obviously up to the Iraqis to decide and up to Mr. Alawi to decide what role he will play.

            But we've always had good relations with him and he's played an important role thus far in the history of this country, the history of the freedom of this country. Don?

            SECRETARY RUMSFELD:  With respect to the question about the Zarqawi tape, I've not seen it.  I had it reported to me this morning.  It strikes me that any Iraqi listening to that tape insofar as it was briefed to me, would have to come away with the firm conclusion that Zarqawi is the number one enemy of the Iraqi people, the number one enemy of a free Iraq, the enemy of people who voted, the enemy of people who are serving in government, and the perpetrator of murder against innocent men, women and children who are Iraqis.  I don't see how any other interpretation of that tape can be made.

            QUESTION:  [In Arabic]

            SECRETARY RICE:  To rearrange the map? No, we have no such intention.  The United States is trying to do one thing and one thing only, which is to support Iraqi patriots and the Iraqi people as well as people throughout this region who have long been denied the aspiration to human liberty and to freedom to pursue one's own life, knowing that you can select those who are going to govern you, to have a say in selecting those who are going to govern you, to be able to say what you think, to be able to educate your children, both boys and girls, to be able to worship as you wish, to be able to have a free press that defends your interests.

            The President has called these the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. All that means is that we as Americans are fortunate to have these freedoms and we believe that everyone all over the world wants to have the same freedoms.  So the United States is here to support those who are fighting for those freedoms, working for those freedoms, and not to rearrange any maps.  We aren't interested in trying to rearrange borders.  That belongs to another century.

            What belongs to this century is the forward march of freedom, and that the desires of people for those liberties are finally being met in the Middle East, and in many ways it's beginning here in Iraq.  Iraq is a great culture, it has always been an important culture in the Middle East, in the Arab world and the Middle East.  It is a place where people come from different ethnic backgrounds, from different religious backgrounds, and yet you see emerging here in Iraq a democratic society where those differences are being overcome by politics and compromise.  Not by violence, and not by repression.  That is going to be a tremendous pillar of stability throughout the Middle East.  It's wonderful to be here and be a small part of that.