CNBC Press Releases

BARTIROMO: What can you tell us about the war? How is the war in Iraq going?

Mr. BUSH: Well, I think it's going--there's been a change in Iraq because people are now beginning to feel more secure. And when people feel more secure, they take a--more of a risk toward, you know, following their instincts, which is to have a peaceful society under a constitution that they voted for. And so I'm pleased with the security progress. There's more work to be done, but the surge that David Petraeus recommended to me is working. More and more Iraqis are becoming more and more capable of handling their own security.

We're moving troops out. As David Petraeus said, we'll be able to reduce, you know, from 20 battalions to five--or 15 over--till next July. And that's on schedule, it looks like.

The political progress is, you know, is spotty in that they're doing some good things and they need to do others. And I talked to Prime Minister Maliki today and encouraged him to work hard to see if he can't get law out of his--out of his parliament that will send a signal to the Iraqis that--whether they be Shia, Sunni or Kurd--this government is for everybody.

And--in the meantime, however, there's reconciliation taking place at the grassroots level, at which people are--people are coming together at the local government and providing services and taking federal monies being distributed throughout the country and using it for the embetterment of their people. So you're seeing a democracy emerge and it's exciting. It's in their interest that we succeed.

BARTIROMO: You once said that Putin has a good heart. Do you still feel that way?

Pres. BUSH: I said I looked in his eyes and saw his soul, that was my quote. I think President Putin is--first of all, I'm friendly with him. You can be friendly with people you don't agree with necessarily. One of my concerns about the Russian political scene is that there's got to be checks and balances and, to the extent that those are being reduced, I've expressed concerns. We--we're working collaboratively on some issues, such as proliferation of materials, weapon--nuclear materials. And we're working together to see if we can't get Russia into the WTO. People are trading with Russia. It's in our interest that there be certain rules and the ability to, you know, have arbitration serve as a dispute resolution mechanism. And we have our differences with Russia as well.

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