
President Bush:
"If we left before the job was done, there would be chaos," Bush said about withdrawing U.S. troops prematurely from Iraq. "Chaos would embolden not only the extremists and radicals that would like to do us harm, but it would also embolden Iran. What you don't want is to have a nuclear arms race taking place in the Middle East."
He denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his remarks about destroying Israel.
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(AP) President Bush, left, is escorted to Air Force One by Brig. Gen. Margaret Woodward at Andrews Air... Full Image | | |
"In Iran, we're dealing with a country where the leader has said that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said. "My belief is that the United States will defend our ally Israel. This is a leader who has made very provocative statements. And, we have made it clear, however, that in spite of that, we are willing to sit down with him, so long as he suspends his program."
"In other words, it's his choice, it's not mine anymore. So I believe that's the best way to achieve an objective," the president added.
"If your question is, will you ever sit down with them? We've proven we would with North Korea. And the answer is yeah, just so long as we can achieve something, so long as we are able to get our objective."