www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040625-2.html
Printer-Friendly Version For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 25, 2004 Interview of the President by Radio and Television Ireland The Library June 24, 2004 4:08 PM EDT Q Mr President, you're going to arrive in Ireland in about 24 hours' time, and no doubt you will be welcomed by our political leaders. Unfortunately, the majority of our public do not welcome your visit because they're angry over Iraq, they're angry over Abu Ghraib. THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I hope the Irish people understand the great values of our country. And if they think that a few soldiers represents the entirety of America, they don't really understand America then. There have been great ties between Ireland and America, and we've got a lot of Irish Americans here that are very proud of their heritage and their country. But, you know, they must not understand if they're angry over Abu Ghraib -- if they say, this is what America represents, they don't understand our country, because we don't represent that. We're a strong country, and we'll defend ourselves -- but we help people. Q And they're angry over Iraq, as well, and particularly the continuing death toll there. But what they should be angry about is the fact that there was a brutal dictator there that had destroyed lives and put them in mass graves and had torture rooms. Listen, I wish they could have seen the seven men that came to see me in the Oval Office -- they had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein because the currency had devalued when he was the leader. An American saw the fact that they had had their hands cut off and crosses -- or Xs carved in their forehead. And they came to my office with a new hand, grateful for the generosity of America, and with Saddam Hussein's brutality in their mind. Look, Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, against the neighborhood. He was a brutal dictator who posed a threat -- such a threat that the United Nations voted unanimously to say, Mr Saddam Hussein -- Q Indeed, Mr President, but you didn't find the weapons of mass destruction. He said -- the United Nations said, disarm or face serious consequences. And no one can argue that the world is better off with Saddam -- if Saddam Hussein were in power. Q But, Mr President, the world is a more dangerous place today. THE PRESIDENT: What was it like September the 11th, 2001? It was a -- there was a relative calm, we -- Q But it's your response to Iraq that's considered -- THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind. On September the 11th, 2001, we were attacked in an unprovoked fashion. And then there have been bombings since then -- not because of my response to Iraq. Q Indeed, Mr President, and I think Irish people understand that. But I think there is a feeling that the world has become a more dangerous place because you have taken the focus off al Qaeda and diverted into Iraq. Do you not see that the world is a more dangerous place? I saw four of your soldiers lying dead on the television the other day, a picture of four soldiers just lying there without their flight jackets. THE PRESIDENT: Listen, nobody cares more about the death than I do -- Q Is there a point or place -- THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish, please. Let me finish, and then you can follow up, if you don't mind. But I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place. I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world. Listen, people join terrorist organizations because there's no hope and there's no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom. And so the idea is to promote freedom, and at the same time protect our security. And I do believe the world is becoming a better place, absolutely. Q Mr President, you are a man who has a great faith in God. I've heard you say many times that you strive to serve somebody greater than yourself. Q Do you believe that the hand of God is guiding you in this war on terror? THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I think that God -- that my relationship with God is a very personal relationship. But the God I know is not one that -- the God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom. But I get great sustenance from my personal relationship. That doesn't make me think I'm a better person than you are, by the way. Because one of the great admonitions in the Good Book is, don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I've got a log in my own. Q You're going to meet Bertie Ahern when you arrive in Shannon Airport tomorrow. I guess he went out on a limb for you, presumably because of the great friendship between our two countries. Can you look him in the eye when you get there and say, it will be worth it, it will work out? I wouldn't be doing this, I wouldn't have made the decisions I did if I didn't think the world would be better. I'm not going to put people in harm's way, our young, if I didn't think the world would be better. And -- Q Why is it that others -- THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. And so, yes, I can turn to my friend, Bertie Ahern, and say, thank you, thanks for helping, and I appreciate it very much. Q Why is it that others don't understand what you're about? But I'm the kind of person, I don't really try to chase popular polls, or popularity polls. My job is to do my job and make the decisions that I think are important for our country and for the world. And I argue strongly that the world is better off because of the decisions I have made -- along with others. One of our greatest allies of -- in the world is your neighbor, Great Britain. Tony Blair has been a strong advocate for not only battling terrorists, but promoting freedom, for which I am grateful. Let me say one other thing about America that your viewers must know -- is that not only are we working hard to promote security and peace, we're also working to eradicate famine and disease. There is no more generous country on the face of the earth than the United States of America, when it comes to fighting HIV/AIDS. As a matter of fact, it was my initiative -- Q Indeed, that's understood -- THE PRESIDENT: -- my initiative, that asked Congress to spend $15 billion over five years to battle this pandemic. And no other country in the world feeds more of the hungry than the United States. Q Mr President, I know your time is tight, can I move you on to Europe? Are you satisfied that you are getting enough help in Iraq from European countries? You have come together, you are more friendly now -- but they're not really stepping up to the plate with help, are they? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think, first of all, most of Europe supported the decision in Iraq. And, really, what you're talking about is France, isn't it? They did vote for the UN Security Council resolution that said, disclose, disarm or face serious consequences. We just had a difference of opinion about when you say something, do you mean it. But, nevertheless, there's no doubt in my mind President Chirac would like to see a free and democratic and whole Iraq emerge. But most European countries are very supportive and are participating in the reconstruction of Iraq. Can democracy really flourish with the violence that's going on? I mean, you keep emphasizing the death and I don't blame you -- but all that goes to show is the nature of the enemy. They're willing to slaughter innocent people to stop the advance of freedom. And so the free world has to make a choice: Do we cower in the face of terror, or do we lead in the face of terror? We will not let these terrorists dash the hopes and ambitions of the people of Iraq. There's some kind of attitude that says, oh, gosh, the terrorists attacked, let's let the Iraqis suffer more. And I'm most proud of this fellow, Prime Minister Allawi. He says to me, Mr President, don't leave our country, help us secure our country so we can be free. Can I just turn to the Middle East -- THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Q -- and you will be discussing at the EU summit and the idea of bringing democracy to the broader Middle East. Q Is that something that really should start, though, with the solving of the Israeli...
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