2003 Issam M. Fares Lecture
Former President George H.W. Bush
February 26, 2003

Thank you President Bacow for those very kind words of introduction. To say I'm pleased to be back here is a unique understatement. I am a little annoyed about one thing. If one more of you guys come up to me and say, "Where's Barbara?" I used to be President of the United States of America, you know what I mean? And now I'm either the father of the President, or Barbara's husband. So, thank you for that warm introduction, and all of you for that warm reception. Leila, you should be giving this speech with your fairness, your objectivity, your professionalism. And thank you for welcoming me back to your campus.

And as for my friend, Issam Fares, I told a bunch of kids that I was privileged to meet with earlier, students of this wonderful school, that at this stage in my life, 78 going on 79, looking forward to my final parachute jump on June 12th, 2004, which is my 80th birthday-- at this stage of my exciting life, I've concluded that these policy matters are very important. But, the thing that really matters to me now, and to Barbara too, is friendship and family. And with Issam here, I should be more respectful, Deputy Prime Minister of our great friend Lebanon, but with Issam Fares here I feel blessed by being with a very good, close friend. And Issam, thank you for your role in all of this. [applause] And I'm glad to see some of the students here. The moral of that story is they will go to any excuse to avoid going to class, and come listen to me. Not very good judgement, but you're not in class. Look at it that way.

Now, I was very pleased really to receive and accept this invitation. I have great respect for the Fares Center, located at this great institution of higher learning. And being here today provides yet another reminder of how time does fly by. For it's been noted it was nine years ago that I was last invited to come here and deliver this Fares lecture. Maybe it's because you're getting older, but time seems to go much faster now. Some of you old guys out there, and I spot one or two who are in my generation--not you, sir, but some others over here. Maybe you know what I'm talking about. Time goes flying by.

Today, of course, the original concept that led to the creation of the Fares Lecture has expanded now almost to also encompass a wonderful center complete with its own faculty, curriculum, broad range of academic programs. And I share the great hopes that you have, for what you hope to accomplish at the Fares Center. And I want to salute Issam again, and all in the Tufts community, many of the leaders of whom are represented here today, for your collective efforts to make this vibrant center an effective reality.

I have a certain appreciation for that, for what you've been going through to get a meaningful center like this rolling. We went through a similar exercise down in Texas with my library which is located at Texas A&M University, where we created the Bush School of Government and Public Service. I'm not here to recruit. But, if any of you guys want to go to Texas for a good Masters Program in either public service or international affairs, think about us. We're a few steps behind the Fares Center, but we're good. And you'd be welcome, I'll tell you.

Launching a forward-looking enterprise like this one takes a lot of hard work. There are a lot of people who share a commitment to certain ideals. But, my experience at Texas A&M has taught me, and returning here to Tufts reinforces this: a few things in life are more meaningful. I've been blessed in life by doing many different things. And this concept of teaching a handful of young kids that public service is a noble calling – in spite of all the flack out there from the press and controversy that swirls around, I love the challenge, and I love seeing these kids understand that serving others is what a lot of life ought to be about.

In our case we started our school to help inculcate into future generations the idea that, despite the controversy that sometimes erupts, public service remains a noble calling. And that good people of all political persuasions can and should get involved in the process. And Mr. President, I was impressed by your remarks, your assessment of the Fares Center, and of what Tufts is trying to do in this regard. It's outstanding.

At the heart of our school is the idea that society is best served when informed citizens participate in the debate to help tackle the big issues of their time. And only through fair and open competition in the marketplace of ideas can true, lasting, enlightened progress be established and then harnessed to spread the hope of peace with prosperity. I know this Center is similarly founded upon high-minded ideals that are first celebrating the rich heritage of the Eastern Mediterranean cultures. And second, addressing the many complex and compelling challenges that a region's people face so that they too can realize the unlimited promise of this new era.

On both fronts, I believe this Center is uniquely positioned to make a truly positive and long-lasting contribution. And, I believe, institutions like this can serve and increasingly must serve, a constructive role in strengthening the general awareness of this oft misunderstood part of the world of the Middle East.

As the group most directly involved in fostering this informed dialogue and debate, I particularly want to salute the faculty here for their pivotal leadership. Now, many people don’t know this, but I spent a year back in the late 70's teaching. I was an adjunct professor at Rice University in Houston, my hometown. And I asked what that means, "adjunct." She said, "That means you don't get paid." So, some thought I was over-compensated anyway. But, I loved my brief time in the world of academia. And I have great respect for the men and women who teach, who maybe could make a ton of money somewhere else, but are teaching because they believe in inculcating values and history into a handful of young people.

Teaching, as I've discovered, has its own reward. My friend, the late Steve Ambrose who passed away last fall, said he loved being a professor and historian because it gave him a chance to contribute in a positive way to the world's knowledge. And in the same light, the faculty here at the Fares Center, and in the broader Tufts family, has a tremendously important role to play: contributing in a positive way to the lives of the young men and women who are drawn to this campus in pursuit of academic achievement and intellectual enlightenment.

And together with a dedicated team of administrators and the steadfast family of supporters, you are indeed lighting the path to understanding in a positive way at a critical time in our country's history. I was invited to come here this afternoon to share a few perspectives on the Middle East. And as this audience knows better than most, it's a familiar exercise for speakers at lectures like this to suggest that there's never been a more timely occasion to discuss the subject they were addressing. So, what I'll do here is say some remarks, and then be glad to field some questions.

Notice that I said "field." I didn't say "answer." You know, when you're President, you go to these press conferences you see all the time. And a guy like my friend, and he is a friend, he's helping us on our fight against cancer, Sam Donaldson gets up, "Mr. President, you can't leave here until you give me an answer on this." Back then you had to say, "Well thank you, Sam, very much. I'd like to try to help you with that one." The day that the Berlin Wall came down, I see my friend John Sununu here, a famous female reporter was standing next to my desk, and she said, "Mr. President, why don't you go to the Berlin Wall and dance with the young kids. Families are being reunited as we speak. Why can't you do that like Senator Mitchell and Gephart suggest?" The stupidest idea I ever heard was for me to stick my fingers in Gorbachev's eyes when things were going very smoothly towards a unified Germany. But, instead of telling her that, I said, "Well, thank you very much. Let me try to explain it." Now, if I don't like your questions, heck with you, I'm not going to answer them, I'll go to the next one, because I'm a free spirit. [applause]

Today we are beginning to see some difficult and defining days in the Middle East. But at the outset let me say that despite a seemingly unending cycle of bloodshed that has claimed too many innocent victims, despite the heartbreaking suffering that we see on all sides, despite a bigger rancher that continues to plague the region, I believe that in the longer run – not the excessively long – but in the longer run, the 21st century will offer leaders throughout the Eastern Mediterranean a real chance to emerge from their current period of conflict to begin building a brighter future worthy of their proud peoples.

And I know such optimistic sentiments are not now widely in fashion, and understandably so. For me to suggest as much today might even sound on the naïve side. But, you have to remember, that in my case you're looking at someone who was right there when that, what was previously thought impossible before, namely the regional quest for peace took hold in the region. And it seems like an eternity ago. And yet it's been a dozen years since we convened the Madrid Peace Conference in Spain, together with Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union enthusiastic about this.

As long as I live, I will never forget walking into that peace conference at Madrid that followed the Desert Storm with Gorbachev at my side and see a room full of Arabs and Israeli's sitting across from each other beginning to talk about peace. It made a profound impression on me. And, I believe, it can happen again. As long as I live I can't get it out of my mind because it was so very emotional.

Incidentally, the Madrid conference would never have happened if the international coalition that fought together in Desert Storm had acceded the U.N. mandate and gone on on its own if the United States had gone on on its own, had gone into Baghdad after Saddam and his forces had surrendered and agreed to disarm. The coalition would have instantly shattered. And the political capital that we had gained as a result of our principle restraint to jumpstart the peace process would have been lost. We would have lost all support from our coalition, with the possible exception of England. And we would have lost all support from the smaller nations in the United Nations as well.

And out of that momentum that we achieved at Madrid, we later saw that historic handshake on the south lawn of the White House between Rabin and Arafat, and the Oslo Accords that followed. And we saw King Hussein of Jordan, my late, dear friend, join the steady march on the path to peace.

You know, there was an interesting case, King Hussein of Jordan was a friend of the United States for many years, and cooperated with us on many regional problems. And his judgement was very, very good. But, during Desert Storm he, along with Yemen and Arafat of the PLO, got into Saddam Hussein's orbit. But, the minute the war ended – and this is what I'm hopeful about in the future – I was determined, and I think King Hussein was determined, that we would get the relationship between Jordan and the United States back on track. And to his everlasting credit, he went more than his fair share of the way, and we did get it back on track. And, I think, it was a good thing; I think there's a message in that for those who today say, "How can we ever put things together? How can we ever get talking when you have such acrimony and such bad feeling? It can be done. You've got to reach out to the other person. You've got to convince them that long-term friendship should trump short-term adversity. And that, I salute King Hussein who understood that very well. And incidentally, the day he died he saw very clearly the threat from Saddam Hussein that worries us all today.

I'm sure some of you may feel the same way. But, today's problems in view cry out for more statesman like King Hussein. And also Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, I knew him and worked with him. And he was willing to reach out for peace. And he was a wonderful man. Gunned down in a horrible way in his own country. These are bold and courageous leaders, enough to stand down the extremists, and commit themselves and people to dialogue.

My point in noting this well known chain of events is that if only for a time I have seen hope surmount hate in the Middle East itself. And I've seen a forward-looking vision, and a collective courage gain momentum, and break the truly tragic cycle of bloodshed. Most importantly, I've seen the people of the Middle East lift their own eyes to the horizon, and make a clear choice for peace, realizing that they have more to gain by choosing hope over hate, and seeking a common future forged by dialogue and direct negotiation.

And today, of course, the peace process that emerged as a direct result of Desert Storm, where an unprecedented international coalition, numerous Arab partners, joined together to defend Kuwaiti sovereignty and preserve the rule of international law.

[Several students stand up and demonstrate opposition to a possible war with Iraq]

We've now found a real good reason to use duct tape. [applause] Hey, this is calm. Barbara would kill me, but I'm going to tell you a story while they're being gracefully exited. You think this is something. You ought to have gone in with me when I was President, to San Francisco. We rode in – I picture the place well. The Secret Service police keep the people back. And this one demonstrator was standing there, the worst looking woman I've ever seen in my life. And she had a big sign. She came running up to the side of the car saying, "Stay out of my womb." No problem, lady. This is all right, this is okay. And they feel strongly. Let me say this: I do understand, I do understand where they're coming from. And I have no great concern about that. But, I hope they'll listen and see where I'm coming from. [applause]

To put the Middle East back on the path to peace in my view is to require the parties there once again to choose the hard route, take the road less traveled. It's going to require a new vision to be advanced by the region's leaders, and embraced by the people. It will require that they have the courage once again to rise above violence and recrimination and to choose hope over hate. And it's going to require Israeli's and Palestinians to sit down and talk to each other. It's not going to be solved if those talks somehow can't be renewed, and somehow can't be moved forward.

But, before that can happen, I believe there are several dangerous misperceptions in the Middle East that must be resolved before the parties can find their way back to the path of peace. And I furthermore believe there are a number of false stereotypes that must be discarded so Arabs and Americans can rise above current suspicions and rebuild the harmonious and respectful relations that mark out earlier history.

For example, in certain quarters here in the United States, there's a certain ugly stereotyping concerning Saudi Arabia that emerged, maybe for understandable reasons, but emerged after 9/11. This stereotyping offends me, and concerns me. And our President has spoken out against it several times. It suggests that because most of the hijackers were Saudi citizens, the Saudi government and the Saudi people were also anti-American. And in my view, nothing can be further from the truth. We have different systems. But, with the exception of a small fringe element that frankly exist in every society-- Remember, Timothy McVeigh, a lot of people were going, "Oh, he's probably an Arab terrorist." Jumping to stereotypical conclusions only to find that he was a right wing nut. And the Saudi's are our staunch allies and friends, and I don't like it when some of the great newspapers in this country try to make enemies out of Saudi Arabia, or any other country out there, except for one that I'm going to get to.

If I might add, together with the Palestinian statehood initiative announced last June by the President, when our President called for statehood for the Palestinians, I believe the plan introduced by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia last year to advance the peace process does offer real hope for ending the bloodshed in the Middle East. And so I reject this ignorant stereotype that was adopted in some media outlets and elsewhere that all Saudis are our enemies. It's as wrong as it can be. Just as it is wrong for anyone to try and cast a cloud of suspicion over all individuals of Arab decent, be they Christians or followers of the Muslim faith.

Right after 9/11 I was deeply touched, and still am, by the comments of a little Arab American girl, an American citizen in the United States. She asked this question, "Does this mean they're going to knock down my school?" She said something that really penetrated. And so my message for Americans is that we've got to remain tolerant, we've got to continue striving to be a kinder and gentler nation in this regard, choosing hope over hate. And I honestly believe we will.

I believe that with institutions like yours, Leila, offering positive leadership to foster a constructive dialogue between Arabs and Americans, we will indeed continue working to resist these false stereotypes and overcome these distorted perceptions. But, if this is my message and belief when it comes to the American people that we must cast aside misinformed theories and build new levels of understanding, I would also say the same thing to any family, any parent, indeed any child in the Mideast today. My message to them too is to choose hope over hate, and reject the false stereotypes and distorted perceptions about the Untied States of America.

My bishop, man of peace, says that everywhere he goes he feels he has to apologize for the United States. I don't feel that way at all. We should be proud of what we've done to help people. We ought to continue to try to help, and to bring peace to a troubled world. So, I don't go around apologizing for the United States. And when I go abroad, I don't find that people loathe us like this good man said. The United States wants to see all the people of the Eastern Mediterranean and indeed throughout the Arab world live in peace and security. We want them to have the freedom to determine their own destiny. And most of all, we want to see every child in that region grow up with a chance to succeed in a world full of opportunity and wonder.

And yet many people through the Middle East and beyond aren't so sure that the United States has their best interest in mind. And perhaps the most obvious example today of a distorted perception of our country relates to the debate over disarming Iraq. Many assert that whether or not there is a war hinges on oil. This simply is not true. Those signs are not expressing the truth. "No oil for war." It said the same back in Kuwait in 1990 and 1991, the same signs. And today the only thing that happened for oil in Kuwait was that Saddam Hussein left the country and tried to burn up all the oil fields. And they were restored, and Kuwait still controls its fields. And they can make the leases to whomever they want.

Signs read, "No war for oil," but I'm sorry, I just feel that they're based on a certain ignorance, if you want to know the truth. It was about liberating a sovereign nation back then. And it wasn't being about the United States trying to get control of Middle East oil. Today the world is once again joined together to tell Saddam that he has crossed another line, one that in many respects is deadly. Just in November, in fact, the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council, including Syria I should note, voted unanimously to demand that Iraq do now what Iraq should have done 12 years ago – stop trying to develop weapons of mass destruction that could be used against people in their region. And instead use that money that they have, that comes from oil, and to use all of intelligence capability, the Iraqi people, their skills, their experience, to make products for peace, not weapons for war. [applause]

I hope that these demonstrators, who are speaking from their heart, take a hard look at it, and just see how illogical it is that the United States would want to go to war in Iraq or Kuwait to get the oil. We have access to oil all over the Middle East. And that's not going to change, and we're not going to seek hegemony in any one of those countries. It's about making Saddam Hussein give up his insane quest for weapons of mass destruction, weapons he's used against Iran, and even his own people before something happens to make September 11th look mild by comparison.

The United States is not looking for an opportunity to hurt the Iraqi people. Our goal there is not regional hegemony as some suggest. It is compliance with a wide array of the United Nations resolutions. It is for Iraq to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. And like every last protestor we've seen, the President shares the hope that this disarmament can be accomplished peacefully.

You know, people say, "What's it like to have your son criticized?" Well, you're looking at one that came in for his fair share, and probably deservedly so on some things, and maybe just emotionally so on others. But, it hurts a lot more when it's your son. It hurts a lot more when they're criticizing, especially when some of the criticism is just meaningless in terms of having any intellectual base to it. I know there's a false stereotype out there that our President wants to go it alone, rush into war. That is totally false. I know there are many here on this campus, and many in the United States, many in my state, many more over in Europe and throughout the Arab world who oppose war on any terms. And it is a sentiment, as I said earlier, that I can understand.

I would ask them hypothetically, "Were we wrong back in 1942 – Had we gone into World War II earlier to save a million Jews, and to save one million Poles, would that have been wrong to use force?" I don't know how the protestors say, "No war on any circumstance," would answer a question like that. But, I think, there is such a concept as a just war.

Like many others who served in the military, I've seen it firsthand, and I saw it as a young man. And I don't think any veteran, and certainly any President could want to go to war. Abraham Lincoln often referred to "being driven to his knees by the weight of the decision to send young men into harm's way." And even though it was a lesser scale than a country totally divided where brother was fighting brother in the north and the south in Lincoln's days, I know exactly how he felt. And so does the 43rd President of the United States. Devoted to his faith, he shares the innately human desire to avoid a conflict where innocent people might lose their lives. And having said that, I do not have any special insights to offer on what may or may not happen from here. We only have one President at a time. And last month marked my ten years since I left office.

And I now I stay out of the President's way and try not to complicate his life. I have an appreciation for the big job he has to do. And so I don't go around giving advice to the 43rd President of the United States. All bets are off when it comes to Barbara. As the President put it, I give him advice when he asks for it, and Barbara gives it even when he doesn't ask for it.

In summary, though, look I can say without fear of meddling, that the United States needs to continue to make clear our respect to Islam, indeed all religions. We cannot let Saddam Hussein's later calls, Johnny come lately calls that this is just Muslims versus the United States or Arabs versus the United States; it is not that. We've got a strong friendship for the vast majority of the diverse peoples in the Arab world. So, we've got to continue our honor bound duty to defeat those small bands of extremists who seek to harm our nation. And we furthermore need to make clear our respect for t