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Text 3711, 585 rader
Skriven 2006-11-30 23:31:16 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0611301) for Thu, 2006 Nov 30
====================================================

===========================================================================
President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister
Maliki of Iraq
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 30, 2006

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister
Maliki of Iraq
Four Seasons Hotel Amman
Amman, Jordan


˙˙˙˙˙ Joint Statement by the President of the United States and the Prime
Minister of Iraq ˙˙˙˙˙ Renewal in Iraq ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

9:43 A.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good morning. It's good to be in Amman. I first want to
thank His Majesty King Abdullah for his gracious hospitality.

Prime Minister Maliki and I just had a very productive meeting. This is the
third time we've met since he took office six months ago, and with each
meeting I'm coming to know him better. He's a strong leader who wants a
free and democratic Iraq to succeed. The United States is determined to
help him achieve that goal.

I told the Prime Minister we're ready to make changes to better support the
unity government of Iraq, and that certain key principles behind our
strategy remain firm and they're fixed. First, we believe the success of
Prime Minister Maliki's government is critical to the success in Iraq. His
government was chosen by the Iraqi people through free elections in which
nearly 12 million people defied terrorists to cast their ballots. I've told
the Prime Minister that our goal in Iraq is to strengthen his government
and to support his efforts to build a free Iraq that can govern itself,
sustain itself, and defend itself, and is an ally in the war against the
terrorists.

Secondly, the success of the Iraqi government depends on the success of the
Iraqi security forces. During our meetings, the Prime Minister and I heard
an update from an important group that our government established last
month: the Joint Committee on Accelerating the Transferring of Security
Responsibility. We agreed on the importance of speeding up the training of
Iraqi security forces. Our goal is to ensure that the Prime Minister has
more capable forces under his control so his government can fight the
terrorists and the death squads, and provide security and stability in his
country.

Third, success in Iraq requires a united Iraq where democracy is preserved,
the rule of law prevails, and minority rights are respected. The Prime
Minister made clear that splitting his country into parts, as some have
suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want, and that any partition of
Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence. I agree. In the
long-term, security in Iraq requires reconciliation among Iraq's different
ethnic and religious communities, something the overwhelming majority of
Iraqis want.

The Prime Minister and I also discussed the review of our strategy in Iraq
that is now nearing completion. I assured the Prime Minister that our
review is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the sovereign government
of Iraq to meet their objectives, which we share. As part of the review,
I've asked our military leaders in the Pentagon and those on the ground in
Iraq to provide their recommendations on the best way forward.

Others outside the government are conducting their own review, and I look
forward to hearing their recommendations. I want to hear all advice before
I make my decisions about adjustments to our strategy and tactics in Iraq
to help this government succeed.

My consultations with the Prime Minister and the unity government are a key
part of the assessment process. And that's why I appreciate him coming over
from Iraq so that we could have a face-to-face visit. The Prime Minister
and I agree that the outcome in Iraq will affect the entire region. To stop
the extremists from dominating the Middle East, we must stop the extremists
from achieving their goal of dominating Iraq. If the extremists succeed in
Iraq, they will be emboldened in their efforts to undermine other young
democracies in the region, or to overthrow moderate governments, establish
new safe havens, and impose their hateful ideology on millions. If the
Iraqis succeed in establishing a free nation in the heart of the Middle
East, the forces of freedom and moderation across the region will be
emboldened, and the cause of peace will have new energy and new allies.

Mr. Prime Minister, I want to thank you again for your time. I appreciate
your friendship, and I appreciate the courage you show during these
difficult times as you lead your country.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: (As translated.) Thank you. In the name of God. In
the beginning, I would like to thank King Abdullah for hosting this
meeting. And I would also like to thank the President of the United States
for his response and for the role that he has shown in dealing most
positively with all the files that we've discussed.

And I would like, during this occasion as we leave this transitional stage,
we have won initially when we have accomplished democracy in Iraq and when
we give Iraq the permanent constitution and the parliament and the unity
government. And all these are victories that are victories with the
principles that we believe in. And therefore, these victories were our
decision not to let those who would like to tamper with the fates of the
region, or those who oppose democracy to win, so that the despotic regime
comes back. And Iraq will never be a safe haven for terrorists who are
trying to spread darkness instead of light, the light that started in
Mesopotamia.

We have many visions and many ideas about the transformation process and we
are determined to succeed in the face of all the challenges that we believe
are probably -- should exist in a situation such as the situation that Iraq
is going through. These are not outrageous challenges. There are criminals,
there are people who are breaking the law. But the steel strength of the
national unity government would help us face all those who are breaking the
law, or those who are trying to take down democracy in Iraq, or those who
are conspiring and trying to have coups or basically bring down the
national unity government.

We are active with anybody who are working within the framework of the
constitution. Because we established the constitution, we'll abide by it,
we'll protect it, and we'll be protected by it. We assure everybody that we
are in alliance with the international community in facing all the
challenges that the world is facing. And foremost of those challenges is
terrorism. Terrorism is not a danger only to Iraq, it's a culture, it's an
ideology. The whole civilized world must face it as one line, one unit.
Some people might not understand the successes that we have as we daily
face terrorism in Iraq and as the security forces in Iraq chase them down,
arrest them. This is solid strength based on our vision, and our vision is
that terrorism, terroristic ideology, extremism, sectarianism are all
issues that will rob humans from happiness.

We are ready to cooperate with everybody who believe that they need to
communicate with the national unity government, especially our neighbors.
Our doors are open, and our desire is strong that between us and our
neighbors, we will have strong relationships based on mutual respect and
staying away from everybody's internal business. Iraq is for Iraqis, and
its borders will be sound and will not allow anybody to violate these
borders or interfere in our internal affairs.

So everybody who is trying to make Iraq their own influences appear on the
account of the Iraqi people needs to recalculate for it will not happen.
And all the political forces in Iraq have agreed on that. They want to form
a very strong political base to support the national unity government. We
have visions in Iraq, and we are at the steps of transformation into a new
stage where we'll have security plans that we believe will be effective and
will deliver what is required.

In Iraq, we don't only deal with terrorism. We're dealing with building a
whole state in all its aspects -- political, economic, security, militarily
-- and all these are signs of maturity that are now very obvious in Iraq.
And we hope that they will be complemented and supported by the
international community and by our neighbors, who I hope that will be
supportive not only for the benefit of Iraq, for the benefit of those
countries, as well.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We will take a couple of questions. Abramowitz.

Q Mr. President, the memo from your National Security Advisor has raised
the possibility the United States should press Prime Minister Maliki to
break with Moqtada al-Sadr. Is this, in fact, your strategy? And did you
raise this issue with the Prime Minister this morning?

And to the Prime Minister, I'd like to ask, the President's Advisor has
said that a central problem in Iraq is your close alliance with Mr.
al-Sadr, and did you make any representations to the President that you
would break with al-Sadr, and could your government survive such a break?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I will let the Prime Minister talk about his relations with
al-Sadr. I will tell you that he and I spent a lot of time talking about
the security situation inside of Iraq. I expressed my concern about the
security situation; he expressed his concern about the security situation.
After all, one of his most important jobs is to provide security for the
Iraqi people. Part of the Prime Minister's frustration is, is that he
doesn't have the tools necessary to take care of those who break the law.

I was reassured by his commitment to a pluralistic society that is
politically united, and a society in which people are held to account if
they break the law -- whether those people be criminals, al Qaeda, militia,
whoever.

He discussed with me his political situation, and I think it is best that
he talk to you about the Sadr group or any other group he wants to talk
about inside of Iraq.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: Matter of fact, my coalition is not with only one
entity. The national unity government is a government formed of all the
entities that participated in it. Therefore, that coalition basically
represents a national responsibility.

And Mr. Sadr and the Sadrists are just one component that participate in
the parliament or in the government. And I think participating in the
government is a responsibility and it's a mutual commitment, and those who
participate in this government need to bear responsibilities. And foremost
upon those responsibilities is the protection of this government, the
protection of the constitution, the protection of the law, not breaking the
law.

Therefore, I do not talk about one side at the expense of the other. I'm
talking about a state; I'm talking about law; I'm talking about
commitments. And this should apply to all the partners in the government
who have chosen to participate in the political process.

As to the issues that would pertain to violating the law or breaking the
law, we would deal with them the same way, because the most important
principle is the sovereignty and the power and the establishment of the
state that must be borne by the state, but only our partners should
participate in that.

Q Hezbollah has denied that his forces trained Moqtada al-Sadr forces, but
do you have any information if Hezbollah has actually trained the forces of
Moqtada al-Sadr?

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: I think they expressed itself and expressed its
responsibilities. And one -- another time I would like to say that Iraq and
all the Iraqis in the political process; nobody has the right, outside of
Iraq, to interfere in the political or the security situation inside of
Iraq. We invite everybody to cooperate with us, but as far as this issue
related to training, Hezbollah denied and they're responsible for their
denial.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Our objective is to help the Maliki government succeed. And
today we discussed how to further the success of this government. This is a
government that is dedicated to pluralism and rule of law. It's a
government elected by the Iraqi people under a constitution approved by the
Iraqi people, which, in itself, is an unusual event in the Middle East, by
the way.

We talked today about accelerating authority to the Prime Minister so he
can do what the Iraqi people expect him to do, and that is bring security
to parts of his country that require firm action. It's going to -- the
presence of the United States will be in Iraq so long as the government
asks us to be in Iraq. This is a sovereign government. I believe that there
is more training to be done. I think the Prime Minister agrees with me. I
know that we're providing a useful addition to Iraq by chasing down al
Qaeda and by securing -- by helping this country protect itself from al
Qaeda.

Al Qaeda wants a safe haven in Iraq. Al Qaeda made it clear earlier that
suicide bombers would increase sectarian violence. That was part of their
strategy. One of our goals is to deny safe haven for al Qaeda in Iraq, and
the Maliki government expects us and wants us to provide that vital part of
security.

So we'll be in Iraq until the job is complete, at the request of a
sovereign government elected by the people. I know there's a lot of
speculation that these reports in Washington mean there's going to be some
kind of graceful exit out of Iraq. We're going to stay in Iraq to get the
job done, so long as the government wants us there.

We want the people of Iraq to live in a free society. It's in our
interests. In my judgment, if we were to leave before the job is done, it
would only embolden terrorists, it would only embolden the extremists. It
would dash the hopes of millions of people who want to live in a free
society, just like the 12 million people who voted in the Iraqi election.
They want to live in a free society. And we support this government,
because the government understands it was elected by the people. And Prime
Minister Maliki is working hard to overcome the many obstacles in the way
to a peaceful Iraq, and we want to help him.

Let's see -- Martha.

Q Mr. President, is there a time limit on meeting any of these goals for
Prime Minister Maliki? And you keep mentioning that the U.S. goal is to
fight al Qaeda. Does that mean you believe it's up to the Iraqis to stop
the sectarian violence and quell the sectarian violence, and this is
something you don't want U.S. troops involved in?

And Prime Minister Maliki, can you tell us why you canceled the meeting
last night?

PRESIDENT BUSH: What was the first part of your three-part question?
(Laughter.)

Q Time limit on meeting goals. Is there a time limit on meeting goals?

PRESIDENT BUSH: A time limit. As soon as possible. But I'm realistic,
because I understand how tough it is inside of Iraq. The Prime Minister is
dealing with sectarian violence. The Prime Minister is having to deal with
al Qaeda. The Prime Minister is having to deal with criminal elements. And
we want to help him.

And, yes, I talked about making sure that al Qaeda doesn't take -- doesn't
provide -- gets safe haven in Iraq. Sure, that's an important part of our
strategy. But I also have said that the goal is a country that can defend,
sustain, and govern itself. And therefore, to the extent that our troops
are needed to help do that, we're willing to do that. That's part of the
operation in Baghdad. Part of the plan in Baghdad was to prevent -- prevent
killers from taking innocent life.

Q Including sectarian violence?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well that's -- killers taking innocent life is, in some
cases, sectarian. I happen to view it as criminal, as well as sectarian. I
think any time you murder somebody, you're a criminal. And I believe a just
society and a society of -- that holds people to account and believes in
rule of law protects innocent people from murderers, no matter what their
political party is.

And I discussed this with the Prime Minister, and I don't want to put words
in his mouth, but I received a satisfactory answer about the need to
protect innocent life. And that's exactly what our troops have been doing,
along with the Iraqis. My plan, and his plan, is to accelerate the Iraqis'
responsibility. See, here's a man who has been elected by the people; the
people expect him to respond, and he doesn't have the capacity to respond.
And so we want to accelerate that capacity. We want him to be in the lead
in taking the fight against the enemies of his own country.

And that's exactly what we discussed today. We had a Joint Committee on
Accelerating the Transfer of Security Responsibility Report. And it was a
report that General Casey, who is with us today, and our Ambassador Zal
Khalilzad, who is with us today, as well as the Prime Minister's team,
delivered to both of us about how to accelerate responsibility to the Iraqi
government so this person elected by the people can take the fight to those
who want to destroy a young democracy.

You had a question --

Q Sir, there are no time limits here?

PRESIDENT BUSH: As quick as possible, Martha. As quick -- I've been asked
about timetables ever since we got into this. All timetables mean is that
it -- it is a timetable for withdrawal. You keep asking me those questions.
All that does is --

Q Mr. President --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Hold on a second. All that does is set people up for
unrealistic expectations. As soon as possible. And today, we made a step
toward as soon as possible by transferring a -- accelerating the transfer
of authorities, military authorities to the Prime Minister.

Q Did you put any pressure --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Hold on a second. Hold on, please, sir. Please. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: I emphasize what the President has just said, that
we have agreed together, and we are very clear together, about the
importance of accelerating the transfer of the security responsibility. And
be assured that the Iraqi forces and the security forces have reached a
good level of competency and efficiency to protect Iraq as a country and to
protect its people.

As far as the other issue related to the meeting, I have met with King
Abdullah, then have met again with his Prime Minister, and a group of his
ministers, and we've discussed bilateral relations that are of concern to
both nations -- Iraq and Jordan -- and that relationship is based on mutual
friendship and being a good host and a good neighbor. And there was not
part of our agenda a trilateral meeting, so there is no problem.

Please.

Q (As translated.) Did you discuss with the President the Iranian influence
that is expanding in Iraq, and the almost complete Iranian control over
Baghdad, as the press sources seems to indicate? -- did you build this big
wall between Iraq and Iranian? So and are you going to deal with --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Did I -- I didn't understand your first question.

Q To deal with Iranian directly?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Am I going to meet with the Iranians directly, is that the
question?

Q The question of Iraq, yes.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: As far as the first question that was mentioned by
the reporter, I think these are wrong and exaggerated information, and they
are being used as one of the propaganda mechanisms to give the impression
of sectarian strife so that will reach a point of no return. Because we
want to emphasize that we will not allow anybody to exert their control
over any part of Iraq. If there is any talk about intervention in Iraq and
all the discussion, all the talks about people or other nations exerting
control over Iraq, this is not true. This is a political process in Iraq.
We want good relationships with our neighbors, we want complementary
relationships with our neighbors to protect the region from tensions. But
the main principle underlying all this is the respect of the Iraqi borders
and the internal affairs of Iraq.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I believe the Iranians fear democracy, and that's why they
destabilize Lebanon; that's why they are worried about the establishment of
a Palestinian state.

I appreciate the Prime Minister's views that the Iraqis are plenty capable
of running their own business and they don't need foreign interference from
neighbors that will be destabilizing the country. I am very worried, as
should the world, about Iran's desires to have a nuclear weapon and,
therefore, will continue to work with the world to send a clear message to
the Iranians, the Iranian government, that we will -- they will become more
isolated. And my message to the Iranian people is we have no beef with the
Iranian people. We respect their heritage, we respect their history, we
respect their traditions. I just have a problem with a government that is
isolating its people, denying its people benefits that could be had from
engagement with the world.

I told the Prime Minister, we'll continue to work with the world community
to insist that Iran abandon its nuclear weapons programs. And I have said
that if they were to verifiably suspect their enrichment program, we would
part of the EU3 plus Russia plus China discussions. They know how to get us
to the table. The choice is theirs to make. It's the choice of the Iranian
government as to whether or not they make the right decisions, for not only
the sake of the diplomacy, but for the sake -- more importantly, for the
sake of their people.

We might as well keep going, Prime Minister.

Richard. Please, sir. Please. Thank you.

Q When you were in Baghdad six months ago, you expressed the same kind of
confidence in the Prime Minister and his government that you've expressed
today. Yet there have been repeated rounds of disappointments when it comes
to the Prime Minister's Baghdad Security Plan, with his plans for
reconciliation. I'm wondering, if anything, if you've had any doubts over
the last six months about the strength of his government, about the Prime
Minister's own abilities. And what gives you such confidence today to think
that he can achieve what he hasn't done over the last six months?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, as you mentioned, he's been in power for six months,
and I've been able to watch a leader emerge. The first thing that gives me
confidence is that he wants responsibility. A sign of leadership is for
somebody to say, I want to be able to have the tools necessary to protect
my people. One of his frustrations with me is that he believes we've been
slow about giving him the tools necessary to protect the Iraqi people. And
today we had a meeting that will accelerate the capacity for the Prime
Minister to do the hard work necessary to help stop this violence. No
question it's a violent society right now. He knows that better than
anybody. He was explaining to me that occasionally the house in which he
lives gets shelled by terrorists who are trying to frighten him.

And so the second point I make to you is that I appreciate his courage. You
can't lead unless you have courage. And he's got courage, and he's shown
courage over the last six months. Thirdly, he has expressed a deep desire
to unify his country. You hear all kinds of rumors about the politics
inside of Iraq. I'm talking to the man face-to-face, and he says that he
understands that a unified government, a pluralistic society, is important
for success. And he's making hard decisions to achieve that.

No question it's been tough. It would have been a lot easier had people not
tried to destabilize the young democracy. His job would have been more
simple had there not been terrorists trying to create sectarian violence.

Now, I want everybody to remember that it was Mr. Zarqawi of al Qaeda who
said, let us bomb Shia in order to create the

conditions necessary for sectarian violence. The Samara bombing started off
this new phase of violence. The Prime Minister comes in about halfway
through that phase in order to -- he'd been selected and now he's dealing
with a serious situation on the ground. And what I appreciate is his
attitude. As opposed to saying, America, you go solve the problem, we have
a Prime Minister who's saying, stop holding me back, I want to solve the
problem.

And the meeting today was to accelerate his capacity to do so. It's not
easy for a military to evolve from ground zero, and I appreciate our
forces, and I appreciate General Casey, who have worked very hard to train
the Iraqis so they become a capable fighting force, as well as a unifying
element for Iraq. But it's one thing to put people in uniform, and another
thing to have clear command structure, or the capacity to move troops from
point A to point B, or the capacity to make sure that the troop carrier
from point A to point B has got the necessary air in its tires or oil in
its engine. In other words, this is a sophisticated operation to get a
unifying army stood up.

And one of the reasons I appreciate the Prime Minister is that he, on the
one hand, sees that it's a sophisticated operation to get a military up
from zero, but on the other hand, is frustrated by the pace. And the reason
why he's frustrated is because he wants to show the people who elected him
that he is willing to take the hard tasks on necessary to provide security
for the Iraqi people, such as hunting down those who are killing the
innocent. And the reason I came today to be able to sit down with him is to
hear the joint plans developed between the Iraqi government, the sovereign
government of Iraq, and our government, to make sure that we accelerate the
transfer of capacity to the Prime Minister. And I know he's looking forward
to more capacity being transferred so he can do his job.

Anyway, he's the right guy for Iraq, and we're going to help him, and it's
in our interest to help him, for the sake of peace.

Q Mr. President -- what is your -- Prime Minister Olmert and President Abu
Mazen to keep this cease-fire agreement? And what should be done --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, there's no question that if we were
able to settle the Palestinian-Israeli issue, it would help bring more
peace to the Middle East. And therefore, our government is focused on
helping develop the two-state solution. As a matter of fact, I was the --
our government strongly believes in the two-state solution, and I believe
it's in the Palestinian people's interest that they have their own state.
And I believe it's in Israel's interest that there be a democracy on her
border. And therefore, we're working to that end.

Look, there are extremists who want to stop the development of a
Palestinian state, just like there are extremists who want to destabilize
Lebanon -- and we're strongly in support of the Siniora government -- just
like there are extremists who want to destabilize this young democracy.
Isn't it interesting that the radicals and extremists fear democracy so
much that they're willing to kill innocent people? And the task at hand is
to support moderate, reasonable people in their quest for free societies.
And that means that Abu Mazen, who I believe wants there to be a
Palestinian state living side-by-side with peace in Israel, deserves the
support of the world. And he deserves support in peeling his government
away from those who do not recognize Israel's right to exist.

And therefore, Condoleezza Rice will be going to talk to Abu Mazen
tomorrow, as well as Prime Minister Olmert, working with both parties
together to see how we can advance the vision that the Prime Minister
himself talked about earlier this week.

Q And your advice to both of them?

PRESIDENT BUSH: My advice is, support reasonable people and reject
extremists. Understand that most people want to live in peace and harmony
and security. It's very important for the American people to understand
that most Muslim mothers want their children to grow up in peace, and
they're interested in peace. And it's in our interest to help liberty
prevail in the Middle East, starting with Iraq.

And that's why this business about graceful exit just simply has no realism
to it at all. We're going to help this government. And I'm able to say that
it is -- that we have a government that wants our help and is becoming more
capable about taking the lead in the fight to protect their own country.
The only way that Iraq is going to be able to succeed is when the Iraqis,
led by a capable person, says, we're tired of it, we don't want violence,
we want the peace that our 12 million people voted for. And it's in the
world's interest that Iraq succeed.

Mr. Prime Minister, you want to answer some more questions? (Laughter.) Go
ahead. Hold on for a minute. Wait, wait, wait.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: We said six question, now this is the seventh --
this is the eighth -- eight questions.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, this guy?

Q (As translated.) Mr. President, in light of the war that the United
States is fighting against terror in Iraq, what has been accomplished? What
do you expect to be accomplished after a three-year confrontation?

Another question -- other people are accusing the United States of bringing
terrorism to Iraq, and the proof is that what's going on in Iraq and what's
going on in Afghanistan. And the biggest loser is the Iraqi citizen.

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's an interesting analysis: the biggest loser for a free
society is the Iraqi citizen when this society was just liberated from the
grips of a brutal tyrant that killed thousands and thousands of the Iraqi
citizens.

What has been accomplished is the liberation of a country from a tyrant who
is now sitting in jail getting a trial that he was unwilling to give
thousands of people he murdered himself, or had murdered.

Secondly, this country has a constitution, which is one of the most modern
constitutions ever written in the Middle East. This is a government that
had been elected by the people. No question it's tough. But the reason why
terrorists are trying to stop the advance of freedom in Iraq is the very
reason why we need to help them, because they can't stand democracies and
they want to impose a hateful vision on as much of the world as possible.
They want safe haven from which to launch attacks again. A safe haven in
Iraq, a country that has got a lot of resources, would be very dangerous
for America.

It didn't take but 19 people who were trained in Afghanistan to get on
airplanes and come and kill over 3,000 citizens in my country. Threats that
gather overseas must be taken seriously if we want to protect ourselves.
And the best way to protect ourselves is to hunt down the terrorists and to
help young democracies survive. Freedom and liberty is the great
alternative to the hateful vision of those who are willing to murder
innocent lives to achieve their objective.

And so, you bet it's worth it in Iraq, and necessary. And I was very proud
and pleased to see 12 million Iraqis go to the polls, to be able to express
their desires, their wishes, as they helped put a government in place that
this man now leads.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good to see you, thank you.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all.

END 10:20 A.M. (Local)

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