Trying to save Lebanon from bankruptcy is great. Fine. But don’t you fear that through Hezbollah and Syria, Iran might try to ignite or cause civil war in the country? Shi’ites against Sunnis, as they already do in Iraq? Yes, it’s very clear that Syria and Iran are playing a not very helpful role in Lebanon. Syria because, I think, it’s unreconciled to the fact that its forces have had to leave. Iran because it tries to extend its power through extremist forces. But the Lebanese people will resist that kind of external influence. They got their chance when they elected a democratic government under Fouad Siniora and they are being supported very broadly, very enthusiastically by the international community and I know the Lebanese people don’t want violence between them. And I think they will resist efforts to turn Lebanon into civil war. You don’t fear that there’s a chance that Lebanon could be destabilized? Yes, of course. There’s always a danger that those from the outside could bring great destabilization. But that’s why this international conference [in Paris on January 25] is so important. Because it is a strong message that the international community is going to stand by Lebanon and that those who try to destabilize it are in fact not just trying to hurt the Lebanese, but they are in fact hurting international stability as well. Coming back to Iraq, which faces civil war, isn’t there a risk that the country could be partitioned, as King Abdullah of Jordan just said yesterday, with as a possible consequence the destabilization of the region, fueled once more by Iran? Well, again, it’s very interesting. The Iraqis don’t talk about civil war; they talk about national unity. There are some violent people who are clearly trying to drive the Iraqis apart, who don’t want them to find a democratic future for all Iraqis, there’s no doubt about that. And we’ve seen the hand of Iran, particularly in the south, in training the militias. In fact, in doing things that are dangerous to our forces. And that’s why the United States has made clear that it will go after those networks in Iraq that are causing the destabilization. But, again, the Iraqi people are now very determined, the leadership is very determined, and I think you will see from the Iraqi government policies that they are evenhanded, they protect both Shi’ites and Sunnis, that’s very important. National reconciliation. Things like elections, constitutional reform; those will be important. But, in a way, when I see the development of the situation on the ground, isn’t Iraq becoming a nightmare for the United States, as the president put it recently? The US troops are having difficulty stabilizing the situation on the ground, but at the same time, if you leave, it’s going to get worse. So what can we do? Well, President Bush has just reported his strategy. We do not see the situation in Iraq as acceptable. And, indeed, the Iraqis need help to stabilize Baghdad, they need help to get a handle on the civil disorder, on the violent people who are trying to turn Sunnis against Shi’ites, Shi’ites against Sunnis. The president has said the United States will deploy additional forces, 21,500 forces to Baghdad and a smaller number to Anbar province, because we believe that the Iraqi government, given the chance and given the capability, can still get control over Baghdad and protect its population. And that will lead to a stable Iraq. French President Jacques Chirac wants to start a dialogue with Iran to talk about the stabilization of the Middle East. The Saudi authorities welcomed yesterday to Rihadh the Iranian emissary, Ali Larijiani. Does that mean we must negotiate with the Iranians despite the nuclear threat they represent? I don’t think there’s anything to negotiate with the Iranians about the stabilization of the Middle East. The Iranians know what to do to stabilize the Middle East: they can stop supporting and arming Hezbollah; they can stop supporting a Hamas that is trying to undermine Abu Mazen’s [Mahmoud Abbas] efforts at a two-state solution; they can stop supporting death squads in Iraq. There are many things they can do, and I think they know what they are; they don’t need to be told. On the nuclear front, the Iranian ambitions have to be stopped. The good news is that there’s a Chapter VII resolution, which is signed to by all 15 members of the Security Council. There aren’t too many countries under Chapter VII resolution, and so the Iranians are not in very good company and I believe that you’re starting to see that there are Iranians who understand the isolation that their country is facing. Finally, echoing what a lot of Arab leaders seem to say, is not the solution to all of the Middle East’s problems the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? I heard Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak say that recently. There are many problems to the Middle East that need to be resolved. And I don’t think that there will be any one that will resolve all problems. But there’s no doubt that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would make a very big difference. You couldn’t imagine a different kind of Middle East, a more peaceful, democratic Middle East, without the resolution ultimately of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. That’s why the United States has recommitted itself to that process. I was recently in the region. I will go back in a few weeks and I hope to meet with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert and [Palestinian] President Abbas because it’s time for them to start talking about the political horizon. How to establish a Palestinian state within the context of the Road Map, recognizing that all the conditions of the Road Map need to be met. But recognizing also that the Palestinian people need to see that there is a state in their future, a democratic state living side by side in peace with Israel. Palestinians have waited a long time for their state; the Israelis have waited a long time for the security that will come from having a democratic and stable neighbor.

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