Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari

On Friday, President Bush welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari to the White House. During a joint press conference, Prime Minister Jaafari delivered this opening statement. In case you missed it, here it is:

Thank you very much. I want to thank the United States people for their courage and commitment against terrorism, and for democracy in our country.

I visited hospitals in the past month in Turkey, Muthanna, and yesterday in Washington, D.C. There were Iraqis and American; they had suffered side by side; and they were on a common enemy -- terrorism. They were fighting for the security of Iraq, but also of Americans. This is not the time to fall back -- to fall back. We owe to those who have made sacrifices to continue toward the goals they fought for.

I see from up close what's happening in Iraq, and I know we are making steady and substantial progress. People said Saddam would not fall, and he did. They say the election would not happen, and they did. They say the constitution will not be written, but it will. And the political process is worth a thousand tanks. Including the Sunni Arabs will further undermine the terrorists. They have joined the parliamentary committee and the government, and they will take part in the next elections.

(As translated.) Another time I would like to thank and commend Mr. President for his hospitality and his receiving me here, and for the subjects we discussed together. And also he was frank and transparent and he gave me very good feelings towards the people in Iraq. I would also like to thank the American people for standing beside the Iraqi people, going through these difficult times. No doubt our people will never forget those who stand beside Iraq, particularly at these terrible times. We do appreciate the assistance given by America during the present period of time in particular. There is a great achievement in Iraq, there is democracy in Iraq, and the people in Iraq defied terrorism and they refused to accept any dictatorship.

There is about 30 percent of women participating, and this is an example of democracy in Iraq and in the region, even in the whole world. There are six women Ministers in my government, and it is my intention to add one more woman to be deputy to the Prime Minister.

In the new Iraq, there is progress on more than one aspect, even though, again, it's all the challenges we have, particularly in security. Even though there is a lot of infiltration from the countries adjacent to Iraq, moving from inside Iraq itself, but there is a will in Iraq to secure security. And so the bombing in Iraq has been reduced a lot. And we are making great progress, and we depend on our security forces, multi-national forces also who work with us support us, but the responsibility in the front line is for the Iraqis and everything is making progress quantitatively and qualitatively.

We want to secure love instead of hatred in our country, coexistence and cooperation in Iraq instead of cursing each other. The whole people of Iraq would like to continue the democracy in Iraq and they will fight for achieving it. So many people said that democracy will never stand in Iraq, said that elections will never be held in Iraq, and they said also that the government will never be established in Iraq, and they said there would be no constitution -- but everything will be there and the whole world will see that changes in Iraq happen because of the great will of the people of Iraq and the countries that are assisting us.

We want fraternal relations with all the countries of the world and the adjacent countries keeping our sovereignty against all infiltration from the borders of Iraq. We want goodness for all countries of the world and wish you all the best for the American people. Thank you, very much. Thank you, very much.

Apparently, Jaafari hasn't received the memo from Ted Kennedy that Iraq is a hopeless quagmire.