Interview with Paris Match Magazine

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 7, 2004

May 28, 2004

France-U.S. Relations

Q. You'll be walking on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. Does that mean that you're not angry at us anymore?

The President. I've never been angry at the French. France has been a long-time ally, and I--look, I made a difficult decision, and not everybody agreed with it. But I understand that. And now is the time to work together to promote the values we believe in, which is human rights and human dignity and rule of law and freedom and justice.

And Omaha Beach is a symbol of working together to uphold the values that unite us. It's an interesting time in history to be going to Omaha Beach.

Q. For 200 years, America and France have walked hand in hand, sharing the same values yon are speaking about. Last year, for the first time we were not allies. What went wrong?

The President. I don't--you need to talk to the French leadership.

Q. Speaking of the French leadership--

The President. For whom I have great respect.

Q. Yes. But Jacques Chirac was a good friend of your father. He was one of the first--I think the first President to congratulate you in person on your election day.

The President. Right here, that's right.

Q. Yes. He also was the first in New York after 9/11, the first foreign leader to fly over the ruins of the World Trade Center. I mean, it's--for the French people, people don't understand what happened between the two of you.

The President. I just think he just didn't agree with upholding the Security Council resolution that said, "Disarm. Prove you disarm, or face serious consequences." He voted--France voted for that resolution, as did the United States. It was the "face serious consequences" part. And friends can disagree. I've got--I've had friends all my life, who I call friends, who didn't agree with every decision I made. And Jacques made it perfectly clear to me, he didn't believe the use of military force was necessary, and we discussed it as friends would discuss it.

Q. Does that mean now that the French President will be invited in Crawford in the near future?

The President. If he wants to come and see some cows, he's welcome to come out there and see some cows. [Laughter]

Proposed U.N. Security Council Resolution on Iraq

Q. You're now asking the United Nations to help you find a solution to the Iraqi crisis. Is it--

The President. No--may I stop you? May I? No, we're going to the United Nations again to pass a resolution which supports a new government to which full sovereignty has been transferred.

You know, after World War II, a lot of people didn't think Germany could be free and democratic, nor Japan. And there were people that just didn't believe it was true. Fortunately, there were optimists and people who adhered to their principles and value systems, based upon rule of law and democracy, justice. And they had the day. They ruled the day--fortunately, their opinions did--so that now some of our strongest allies in the war are Germany and Japan. No, it's never too late to believe people can be free.

Situation in Iraq

Q. But it's obviously more difficult than you expected.

The President. Well, some parts are, and some parts aren't. I thought going in, there would be mass refugee flows, mass starvation, oil fields would be blown up. None of that happened. What did happen was, is that we moved so quickly through the country--

Q. But I'm speaking about--

The President. Let me finish. We moved so quickly through the country that many of the former Saddam loyalists just melted into the countryside and have come back to try to stop the advance of freedom. And the other thing that's happened is foreign fighters are in Iraq, who are convincing suiciders to kill innocent Iraqis.

And it's tough. It's hard work. But we will prevail, because people want to be free, and that's important. And that's why it's necessary for the world to come together at this point, to be able to help the Iraqi people form their government--not an American government, not something that looks like America, but something uniquely Iraqi. And that's what we're doing.

Nature of the U.S. Presence in the World

Q. The whole world remembers you addressing the firemen in the ruins of the World Trade Center. You were healing the wounds and uniting the world at that time. Today, your message through the megaphone doesn't reach the world. Don't you feel isolated?

The President. No, I feel very comfortable with what I'm doing.

Q. Yes, but all the nations--

The President. Let me finish my--you ask a question. I give you the answers. And then if you want to ask another question, you're allowed to do so.

I believe that the United States must continue to work with other nations. And there are a lot of nations working in Afghanistan and in Iraq to not only deal with terror, the immediate effects of terror--and that is, finding people before they hurt somebody again but also to spread freedom. Free societies are peaceful societies. Free societies are hopeful societies. And there's a lot of nations working to get her to do so.