Source: http://www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/06_200.htm http://www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/06_200.htm
Date: August 9, 2006

USUN PRESS RELEASE #  200(06)   
August 9, 2006 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
Remarks by Ambassador John R. Bolton, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, on the Situation in the Middle East, at the Security Council stakeout, August 9, 2006 
Ambassador Bolton:  So negotiations continue. And I've met this morning with Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States.  We'll have other meetings during the day, and we're continuing to work on trying to bring the resolution to agreement so we can have a vote as early as possible. And that's - 
Reporter: (Inaudible)  
Ambassador Bolton: I don't think I can fix that, to tell you the truth. (Laughter.) 
Reporter: Ambassador, were the - 
Ambassador Bolton:What I said - what, do you want me to speak louder or -
Reporter:  (Inaudible) 
Ambassador Bolton:  Were you able to hear what I just said? Okay. 
Reporter: Just go ahead and continue. 
Ambassador Bolton:  Okay. So why don't I answer your questions. 
Reporter:  Ambassador, to what extent were the speeches yesterday in that meeting a complicating factor and further complicated, perhaps, by the Israeli cabinet's decision today to move to the Litani River on your negotiations? 
Ambassador Bolton: Well, there are a lot of things that obviously have affected the ongoing negotiations, but we're going to take them into account and continue to try and roll.  When we put the draft resolution down on Saturday, there were a number of delegations, including some of the other perm 5, that said this is ready to be voted on on Saturday.  And I think there's a lot of support for the substance of the resolution.  There are some -
Reporter:  (Inaudible) 
Ambassador Bolton:There are some important issues that remain to be discussed, and that's what we're trying to take account of in the negotiations.  And we're moving as fast as we can.  We're just going from one meeting to another. 
Reporter:  Mr. Ambassador, you yourself have always said one day is a long time in politics. Obviously, the Arab and Lebanese opposition has changed the way - (Inaudible- Audio Difficulty). 
Ambassador Bolton: I'm not responsible for that, either. 
Reporter: Neither am I.  Obviously, the demands put forward by Lebanon and the Arab League have sort of changed dimensions, and the one issue that seems to be paramount is their demand for a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon once there is some sort of a cessation of hostilities and some recognition that they would like of the fact that they have offered to deploy these 15,000 Lebanese troops, and they believe that those troops, 
Ambassador Bolton:  Well, we think there's no question but that the decision of the Lebanese cabinet to deploy the 15,000 is significant and we are going to take account of that in the resolution, I think.  The strategic issue, however, remains the same as it has been from near the outset of this, which is that the - everybody wants to see this used to transform the situation in the region; which means, fundamentally, that we don't want Hezbollah to re-infiltrate the southern part of Lebanon, so that the question remains how to have an effective security presence in the southern part of Lebanon as the Israeli forces withdraw, when that becomes appropriate, and how you put that together, how you arrange that politically, how that becomes part of the overall transformation of Lebanon, the full implementation of 1559 and 1680.  That's still the central point that we're trying to reach.  So - although positions have changed and there are new circumstances, unquestionably, that do have an effect.  Of course they do.  But it doesn't change the basic objective that we have, and what we're struggling to do now is to make sure that the resolution - this first resolution goes as far as we can to accomplish those objectives. 
Reporter:  Ambassador, what - 
Ambassador Bolton:  Let's try this gentleman. 
Reporter:  I'd like to follow up to what Edie has said.  Speaking about the differences between the United States and France, which apparently - I don't know whether you talked about it or not - basically, are the differences old, including in the resolution the Lebanese proposal of 15,000 as side by side with the U.N. force, or there are other reasons for their differences? 
Ambassador Bolton:  Let me just answer it this way.  The draft resolution that France and the United States circulated to the council on Saturday was the result of a lot of intense negotiation not just here in New York, but in capitals, phone conversations between ministers and security advisors - national security advisors and others.  And it was a very good-faith effort on both of our parts to try to balance all of the competing interests that are at stake in this conflict.  I think I said to you before, if we could write a resolution that would please every party to the conflict and every particular, we probably wouldn't be in the middle of a crisis.  So the question now to try and bring that resolution, however modified, to closure to get to a vote, is not any easier than it was to get to the first draft. But the point is that the objective remains the same, I think, not just for the United States and France, but for most of the members of the Council, which is not to get ourselves into a situation where we fall back into the status quo ante.  And the disagreements, the areas of uncertainty are things that we're working very hard on, and I don't think purpose would be served by exposing all of them in public.  
Reporter:  Ambassador?  Yeah, thanks.  Ambassador, why is the United States, if it is in fact opposed to any mention of an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon?  And why is the United States, if it is in fact opposed to, is opposing a UNIFIL (Inaudible)?  Do you have any other option?  Do you have any other better alternative than that? 
Ambassador Bolton:  We're not opposed to either of those things.  In fact, in the text of the resolution that was circulated on Saturday, both of those elements are referred to, and indeed since then, the government of Israel has made it clear that when the security situation in Southern Lebanon is addressed, that it is indeed committed to withdrawing. That's the basic strategic point we're trying to work out so that Hezbollah doesn't reinfiltrate as the Israeli forces leave, and we recreate the conditions that bring us back to the status quo ante.  That's exactly the point. And how to beef up UNIFIL, in what respects, how to change its mandate, how to make it more of a force that can help participate in that new security structure is one of the elements we're talking about. 
Reporter:  Are the architects of the resolution being kind of - not out-foxed, but you're having to deal with these diplomatic and military maneuvers from Lebanon and Israel.  Is the council being overtaken in your good work?  And what is the status of the relationship with the French at this moment as you work together? 
Ambassador Bolton:  We have a great relationship.  Among other areas of our agreement, neither one of us are happy with the coffee at the French Mission - of which we've been drinking quite a bit lately but we're continuing to work.  Events are moving.  It's a bit of a moving target, I grant you, but we're still working hard to bring this thing to closure.  I just want to take one more here. 
Reporter:  Mr. Ambassador, is there any way the United States can see in this resolution, the first one, a simultaneous cessation of hostilities coupled with a withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Lebanese territories? 
Ambassador Bolton:  Well, you may recall that when we started discussion of this issue, one of our concepts was to have almost everything wrapped up in one resolution so that we'd have the political solution, the creation of the enhanced multinational force, however that turned out to be, and the cessation of hostilities all done at once.  We felt that was the most appropriate way to create the basis for a sustained, long-term solution. Now, we're not wed to the operational mechanics of how to do that in one resolution, which is why we've been considering two resolutions.  There are a variety of ways we can do that.  We're still exploring all those possibilities.  Okay, thank you very much.