George Mitchell Interview (page: 5 / 6) Presidential Medal of Freedom	Print Interview

Our interview is taking place in a land with a history of tremendous pain and suffering over politics and religion. You had a very important role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. Can you tell us about your role in that peace process?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. George Mitchell: When I told President Clinton that I was not going to seek reelection to the Senate, he first tried to talk me out of my decision. And then when I made clear that I was going ahead to announce that I was not going to seek reelection, he asked if I would be open to doing other things, or was I just turned off on politics? I told him, "I'm not turned off on politics. I love being in the Senate, I love being majority leader, and I'm open to doing other things." So much later, he asked me to go to Northern Ireland as his representative for a short-term and rather limited mission. As they say, one thing led to another, and, ultimately, the British and Irish governments asked me to serve as chairman of the peace negotiations, which ironically began six years ago this week. There had been more than a quarter century of bitter sectarian war, thousands killed, tens of thousands injured. Every previous effort to reach an end to the conflict failed, and there was little prospect of success. Negotiations lasted for two years, during which there was virtually no progress and widespread predictions of failure. In a sense, we had 700 days of failure and one day of success. But through the courage of the political leaders of Northern Ireland and the Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair, and of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, and President Clinton's tenacity and perseverance, we ended up with a peace agreement.

When I announced it to the waiting world, I said that it was an historic step, which it was, but I also said that by itself, the agreement doesn't provide a guaranteed peace or a reconciliation. It makes them possible, but there'll be many difficult decisions ahead, many dark days, and there have been.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Today, there are problems in Northern Ireland. Implementation will take a long time. But the most important thing is that the rate of killing is way down. Commerce and growth are up. The local government created as a result of the agreement is functioning, and people now have a sense of what life is like not in constant war. So I think, on the whole, it has been historic, and it was one of the most difficult, but one of the most rewarding tasks I've ever been engaged in.

Will you be going back to Israel any time soon?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. George Mitchell: I was asked to go to the Middle East by Prime Minister Barak, Chairman Arafat, and President Clinton, and chaired an international commission there. The report which we gave to President Bush just about a year ago is one of the few things that the Israelis and Palestinians agreed on, at least rhetorically. President Bush has adopted it as a basis of U.S. policy in the Middle East. But our feeling of surprise and elation at the positive response by the Israelis and Palestinians has created an extra special discouragement at the failure to implement the recommendations in our plan.

[ Key to Success ] Vision

I have been there often. I've spent a great deal of time there meeting with government leaders and ordinary citizens and the victims of the terrible violence that afflicts the area. I think that there will be an end to the violence and a return to negotiations. I hope it's before too many more lives are lost.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. You know, the pessimism which exists now in the Middle East existed in Northern Ireland, but we stayed at it. We persevered through violence, through political upheaval, and fortunately an agreement was reached in Northern Ireland, and I think there will be one in the Middle East. I have formed the conviction as a result of my experiences in those two places and in the Balkans, where I also spent a lot of time, that there's no such thing as a conflict that cannot be ended. Conflicts are created, conducted, and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings.

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