Transcript: The President's Interview with Print Media Columnists
Q: I want to go on the air –
THE PRESIDENT: You want to say, 12 million people voted, or we killed Zarqawi.
Q: I want to go on the air tonight, I want some good news. I need some good news, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I do, too.
Q: I really do.
THE PRESIDENT: You're talking to Noah about the flood. I do, too.
Q: It's a hard thing.
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that, but – go ahead.
Q: You said if we leave Iraq they'll come after us –
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q: – we've heard you say that quite specifically. So maybe that's a sign of victory, is that they haven't come here.
THE PRESIDENT: Look, he's trying – this is so hard. That's what makes this more difficult – I don't know what Harry Truman was feeling like, or Franklin Roosevelt. But I do know
– I'm sure there were moments of high frustration for them – but I do know that at Midway, they were eventually able to say two carriers were sunk and one was damaged. We don't get to say that. A thousand of the enemy killed, or whatever the number was. It's happening; you just don't know it. And there's no scorecard. There's not a scoreboard that makes it – great, four more schools – that doesn't score, that doesn't mean anything.
You know, Larry, I've thought long and hard about this, because it is precisely what is frustrating most people. Most people out there – I agree with you – those who say we shouldn't have been there, they're clear. A lot of people – one time I – well, a lot of people are just saying, you're not doing enough to win. We're not winning, you're not doing enough to win, and I'm frustrated, I want it over with, with victory. And I'm trying to figure out a matrix that says things are getting better. I think that one way to measure is less violence than before, I guess. We'll have to see what happens here after Ramadan. I believe these people – oh, I was going to tell you Abizaid believes Ramadan, no question, caused them to be more violent because he says there's some kind of reward during Ramadan for violence. And I think they're trying to affect the elections.
Q: Well, one measure you mentioned is the compromises you'd like to see Prime Minister Maliki make.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q: Specifically one we all know about is for sharing oil revenues.
THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely.
Q: If they were to come to a deal on that, that would be a big victory.
THE PRESIDENT: I think it's going – see, that's what this benchmark deal is all about. There's one way, Kudlow – forgot to – I should have thought of that. The idea is to develop with the Iraqi government a series of benchmarks – oil, federalism, constitutional reform – there's like 20 different things – and have that developed in a way that they're comfortable with and we're comfortable with.
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