For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 12, 2006

President Bush Meets with Vice President Hashemi of Iraq
Oval Office

	President's Remarks

      In Focus: Renewal in Iraq

1:51 P.M. EST

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's been my honor to meet with the Vice President of Iraq again. I had the pleasure of meeting the Vice President in Baghdad. It was there that I invited him to come to Washington, D.C., and I did so because I understand his importance to the future of Iraq.

The Vice President suffered unspeakable violence in his family. He's lost loved ones to violent action. And, yet, in spite of his grief and in spite of pain in his heart, he was willing to work for a united Iraq and a peaceful Iraq; an Iraq that can govern itself and sustain itself and defend itself; a free Iraq that will be an ally in the war against extremists and radicals.

And Mr. Vice President, I respect your courage and I respect your advice.

I spent time with the Vice President today talking about the conditions in Iraq and what the United States can do to help this Iraqi government succeed. He brought me up to date on the terrible violence that is taking place in some of the neighborhoods in Baghdad. He spoke eloquently about the suffering that innocent families have gone through. And my heart goes out to those, Mr. Vice President, who have suffered at the hands of extremists and killers.

Our objective is to help the Iraqi government deal with the extremists and killers, and support the vast majority of Iraqis who are reasonable people who want peace.

And so Mr. Vice President, my message to you today, and to the Iraqi people is, we want to help you. We want to help your government be effective. We want your government to live up to its words and ideals. And I thank you for being a leader of one aspect of Iraqi society -- you're the leader of many Sunnis and you're committed to a government that is Shia, Sunni, Kurdish and everybody else in your country, every other group in your country that will help us yield peace.

And I welcome you, I thank you, and I praise your courage.

VICE PRESIDENT HASHEMI: Thank you, sir. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr. President for the invitation, first of all, and when he expedited my visit to the states, which left a really positive message to the Iraqi people that the American administration, while they are revising their strategy, they are looking for a balance and fair analysis from (inaudible) leaders in Iraq.

So this visit coming upon the heels of Mr. Hakim, I would like also to express my appreciation to the unique and unforgettable commitment of the President when he said, and continued saying that we are committed to the success in Iraq. And I share his views and aspirations that there is no way but success in Iraq.

We have no other option in Iraq but to achieve that success. And in cooperation with our friends, and Mr. President, and the American administration, we will join forces to achieve that success in the foreseeable future.

There is a chance, and I can assure you there is a great and real chance to get out of this present dilemma. It is a hard time that the Iraqis face in time being, but there is a light in the corridor. There is a chance, but we need a good will and a strong determination, the same strong determination that the Mr. President has. There will be a chance for the country and for Iraq to succeed.

During my discussion and dialogue with Mr. President, I had really a frank and positive dialogue and conversation. We talked about key issues. And hopefully at the end of the day, I would like to see my comments and observations welcomed, because at the end of the day, what I say to Mr. President is achieving, or could be seen as a genuine and (inaudible) part in the way of achieving the success.

I thank Mr. President again for the time given to myself and to my colleagues. And I leave United States with a great hope that with our friends in Washington, that they are very much interested, in fact, to help us in these very difficult times, and to achieve the unforgettable, the long-waited success. Whatever the sacrifices, my family and the country, at the end of the day, we have no other option but to maintain this momentum and to struggle until we meet that success, inshallah.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. Thank you.

END 1:58 P.M. EST