QUESTION: Madam Secretary, welcome to Berlin.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much.
QUESTION: This is the beginning of a new term for this President and a lot of people in Old Europe are hoping for a different kind of presidency, somewhat more gentle, more kind, more patient, more international than the first one was. Any hope of that happening?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we certainly have a lot of work to do together, we and the Europeans, and we’ve been through a difficult time, there’s no doubt, that the last three and a half years or so facing the emerging threat of terrorism, we fought two wars, it has been in many ways a difficult time.
But now we see a whole range of opportunities before us, opportunities that diplomacy can help us achieve. When we look at what happened for instance in Iraq on Sunday, whatever the view of how we got there, it was an affirmation by the Iraqi people that they are indeed seeking democratic aspirations and that we need to support them, and I’m coming here to have conversations with our European allies about how we support those aspirations going forward.
In Afghanistan we see, again, people who are aspiring to democracy. And of course I’m spending a good deal of time talking about the possibilities in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to begin to bring some possibility of a permanent peace to that longstanding conflict.
QUESTION: Let’s start with Iraq. You heard the Chancellor say that Germany is willing to do a little more, but basically staying out of trouble, not bringing German soldiers into Iraq and concentrating on things which are comparatively easy. Are you satisfied with the German contribution?
SECRETARY RICE: Germany has already been contributing in the police training that it has been doing in the UAE. And I was heartened to hear the Chancellor talking about what more could be done to help the Iraqi people to build their security forces, their police forces. What matters is that we as an international community come together with our contributions to support a people that have begun to face down terrorists, who have begun to liberate themselves from the fear that people like Al Zarqawi has tried to impose on that society, that we support them, and contributions are very much welcome. We need to work with the Iraqis to know what is best for them because there is now going to be an elected government in Iraq within a month or so. But we think that the German leadership and the German government is thinking in very creative and innovative ways about how to help the Iraqis.
QUESTION: The German government is also preventing NATO from taking on any duties inside Iraq. Is that acceptable to the US government?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we’ve been concerned of course, what it means for the alliance to have national caveats, but we are working our way through this. And we are working our way as an alliance that is taking on new responsibilities. When we look at far NATO has come in recent years, we no longer have arguments about NATO being out-of-area. When you look at what NATO has done in Afghanistan- at one point actually leading the ISAF there - when you look at the training mission that NATO is engaged in in Iraq, when you look at NATO’s outreach to the broader Middle-Eastern in the Istanbul initiative, this is an alliance that is in transition. And of course we will have to come to terms with some of the difficult issues that that transition will raise. But we are very satisfied with the way that we have moved forward and we will keep working on the various issues that have emerged.
QUESTION: You make it sound so harmonious and like there is no trouble.
SECRETARY RICE: Oh, it is harmonious. There are differences and there will always be differences. Friends can have differences. The key is that we work openly to resolve them. The key is that we always remember that what unites us is far greater than anything that divides us. We have common values, we have a common history. We are lucky enough, we and the Germans, to be on the right side of the divide of freedom, and we therefore have an obligation to help those who have not known those values, who don’t liberty, who don’t know the simple pleasure of being able to say what it is that you think, the human dignity of being able to freely educate your children, boys and girls. We need to extend a hand of friendship and support to those people. And that again is why I am here in Europe to discuss and have dialogue about how we take this great alliance that has faced threats in the past, that has seen and was a major force for overcoming the division of Europe, for the collapse of imperial communism, for fighting terrorism and tyranny, how we take this great alliance and move forward in really what historical opportunities are before us.
QUESTION: Addressing Iran,you said it is very important that Iran understands that Europe and America is united in the effort to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons. In the same breath, you day that America won’t be a part of the EU3 diplomatic initiative towards Iran. Why is that? Do you think it is hopeless?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we are united in the purpose here, there is not doubt about that. No one wants to see Iran use the cover of civilian nuclear programs to a build nuclear weapon. And we are sending a very united message.
And we are in close cooperation and close discussion with the EU3 as they move forward. Frankly, the EU3 has given the Iranians an opportunity to show that they are prepared to live up to their international obligations. The Iranians ought to take that opportunity. The United States is also working through the IAEA or the governors. We are working bilaterally with states like Russia to try and diminish the proliferation risk of civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran.
So we have a big agenda. We will all play our part. But the key is that the Iranians must know that there cannot be a place for them in the international community of states if they continue to flaunt and continue to defy their international obligations.
QUESTION: The President has said he won’t take any options, including the military option, from the table. Is there realistically a military option to solve this problem in Iran?
SECRETARY RICE: The President of the United States can never take any option off the table. The fact is that we believe that this is a problem that can be resolved diplomatically, that we have by no means exhausted all of the diplomatic opportunities before us. We have the opportunity that is provided by what the EU3 is doing. We have the opportunity provided by states like Russia deciding that Iran must sign the additional protocol and return fuel before civilian nuclear cooperation can go forward. We have, if necessary, we can always refer Iran to the Security Council. So there are many steps ahead of us and we need to realize that the agenda is a diplomatic one concerning Iran, at this point.
QUESTION: At this point, but is there a realistic military option?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the President is not going to be giving any option away, but we have a broad range of diplomatic alternatives before us and we are going to pursue them forward.
QUESTION: When the German Chancellor first came to the United States to first talk with President Bush, the new President back then, the Kyoto Protocol was put off the table by the American President, which was considered to be almost to be almost offensive by many in Europe, including the Chancellor. Is there now, after Kyoto has come into effect, a movement in the United States to maybe join the world effort to do this in a more formal way, like join the Protocol?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the United States continues to believe that the Kyoto Protocol is not in the interests of the United States. And I might add it is not just the American President, it is also the American Congress, there is not support for the Kyoto Protocol because it would have very deleterious effects on the American economy. We believe that there are numerous ways that the problems of greenhouse gases and climate change can be addressed. The United States spends over $5 billion dollars a year on issues associated with climate change – scientific research, scientific monitoring, technological development.
We are also working actively with some of the developing world, which of course will be a problem for climate change if they are not brought into efforts to find solutions to the problems of greenhouse gases. So we are very active in this area. We intend to continue to be very active in the area, and we look forward to the G8 meetings at Gleneagles, when Prime Minister Blair has put climate change on the agenda, to talking about a common way forward. We believe that science, technology, commitment to dealing with this problem are all there for the taking, and we will very much be a part of this, but Kyoto is just not in our future.
QUESTION: You worked for father Bush in the Bush 41 administration when German reunification was achieved. This was based on a very close, personal trust and relationship between Bush father and the then-German Chancellor Kohl. Do you think that with these very different men now in power on both sides of the Atlantic, that if ever a relationship like that is achievable again between these two individual men?
SECRETARY RICE: I have watched the Chancellor and the President together and they have a warm relationship together. They have a relationship that is built on respect. I think they have a relationship that can be close, and that is close, and that can push this agenda forward, on the personal basis.
The way that we achieved German reunification, of course, was a testament to the US-German friendship, to its depth, to the history that we share, to the values that we share, and it was a great triumph for freedom.
Now we have the opportunity to have other great triumphs for freedom, most especially in a Middle East that is badly in need of reform, and Germany has been very supportive of the agenda for a broader Middle East reform effort, for the Forum for the Future coming out of that effort. and so I think we have a lot of good work that we can do together. And the relationship between the Chancellor and the President is one that can certainly be very, very supportive of it, in fact push that agenda forward.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, thank you very much.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.
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