Given on September 12. Transcribed by Reg.

Third thing: We've got to deal realistically with Iraq.
We cannot continue to stay the course. The Bush Administration, in my view, is making the same mistake we made in Vietnam in the late 60's and early 70's. They're saying it's about resolve. They're saying it's about American will power. It isn't. It's about having a correct strategy to persuade other people to help us solve the problem. The mistake the administration made in the 1960's and 70's was they tried to solve Vietnam militarily in isolation from all of its neighbors. The Johnson Administration and the Nixon Administration couldn't quite face the fact that it was Russia and China providing enormous support to Vietnam. 200,000 Chinese manned the Ho Chi Min Trail on logistics. 40,000 Russian specialists manned the anti-aircraft system. And so we tried to just solve the problem of Vietnam and we failed.
Today in Iraq, Iraq's neighbors are part of the problem that we're having there. Iraq sits on the divided seam between Sunni and Shia Islam. If the United States succeeds in creating a democratic Iraq with a Shia majority, it's a historic change in the Gulf, and makes half of the people there nervous and it makes half the people ecstatic. Iran wants a Shia-dominated buffer state. The Saudis, the Kuwaitis, the Jordanians, and most of the Syrians do not want that. And so, each in their own way is involved in the tussle and struggle going on between the Iraq Army militias, training leadership, and preparing for what may happen next. Iraq's neighbor are part of the problem. We've got to make them part of the solution. They've got common interests. Nobody wants a regional war in Iraq. They don't want it. They don't want a conflict that's going to rip apart the country, unless they can be sure they're going to come out on top. And the truth is that nobody's going to come out on top. We should make the lead in helping Iraq's neighbors talk to each other and with us, build a consensus of interest, and help shepherd the emergence of a democratic, stable, and integral Iraq. It's the only alternative to civil war and regional war. And they should see it, but they won't see it if we won't at least take the step of talking to them. And I'm talking about speaking and dialog with Syria and Iran, not just Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. I know there are people in Washington who don't want to do this. Iran is a member of the Axis of Evil. Iran is a country that's sponsored terrorism. Iran is about to get nuclear weapons, I guess, although we can discuss about how long that will take. But one thing I learned in my experience is that you can talk to people before you bomb them, and we need to start talking to these nations in the region even if we don't agree with them. That is the single, first step in setting out e realistic policy in Iraq, and we've got to deal with it realistically. The grandiose dreams of a United States Constitution superimposed on Iraq and everybody becoming secular Americans over there and opting for a free enterprise system, and wanting to go to Rider University (audience chuckles), and so forth, that's not going to happen. It's over. The idea that Iraq would provide a model for democracy in the region - forget it. That's not going to happen and the Bush Administration knows it. Do you realize in Iraq, what's happening is every day there are a dozen, two dozen, three dozen kidnappings for money. The way it works is you get a call that says, "We've got your husband. You want him back, $10,000 in 48 hours." If you don't give them the $10,000 in 48 hours, they call you again and say, "We've got the body. $2,000 for the body." And this is not even ideology. This is criminal behavior, and it's happen again, and again, and again. Ordinary Iraqis are hurting in a war (inaudible), it's no model anyone would chose. So, deal realistically with Iraq. Bring the neighbors in, get this conflict settled down, and support the emergence of a democratic, integral, stable Iraq that's not a threat to its neighbors. We can still do it - it's not too late, but we have to talk to people in the region. That's number 3.
(to be continued)