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PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S
SPEECH ON IRAQ; SEPTEMBER 07, 2003
From Yahoo! News Website
Good evening. I have asked for this time to keep you informed of
America's actions in the war on terror.
Nearly two years ago, following deadly attacks on our country, we began
a systematic campaign against terrorism. These months have been a time
of new responsibilities and sacrifice and national resolve and great progress.
America and a broad coalition acted first in Afghanistan, by destroying
the training camps of terror, and removing the regime that harbored al-Qaida.
In a series of raids and actions around the world, nearly two-thirds of
al-Qaida's known leaders have been captured or killed, and we continue on
al-Qaida's trail.
We have exposed terrorist front groups, seized terrorist accounts, taken
new measures to protect our homeland, and uncovered sleeper cells inside
the United States. And we acted in Iraq, where the former regime sponsored
terror, possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and for 12 years
defied the clear demands of the United Nations Security Council. Our coalition
enforced these international demands in one of the swiftest and most humane military
campaigns in history.
For a generation leading up to September the 11th, 2001, terrorists and their
radical allies attacked innocent people in the Middle East and beyond,
without facing a sustained and serious response. The terrorists became
convinced that free nations were decadent and weak. And they grew bolder,
believing that history was on their side.
Since America put out the fires of September the 11th, and mourned our
dead, and went to war, history has taken a different turn. We have carried
the fight to the enemy. We are rolling back the terrorist threat to civilization,
not on the fringes of its influence, but at the heart of its power.
This work continues. In Iraq, we are helping the long-suffering people of that
country to build a decent and democratic society at the center of the Middle
East. Together we are transforming a place of torture chambers and mass
graves into a nation of laws and free institutions. This undertaking is difficult
and costly — yet worthy of our country, and critical to our security.
The Middle East will either become a place of progress and peace, or it will
be an exporter of violence and terror that takes more lives in America and in
other free nations. The triumph of democracy and tolerance in Iraq, in
Afghanistan and beyond would be a grave setback for international terrorism.
The terrorists thrive on the support of tyrants and the resentments of
oppressed peoples. When tyrants fall, and resentment gives way to hope,
men and women in every culture reject the ideologies of terror, and turn to
the pursuits of peace. Everywhere that freedom takes hold, terror will retreat.
Our enemies understand this. They know that a free Iraq will be free of them
— free of assassins, and torturers, and secret police. They know that as
democracy rises in Iraq, all of their hateful ambitions will fall like the statues
of the former dictator. And that is why, five months after we liberated Iraq, a
collection of killers is desperately trying to undermine Iraq's progress and
throw the country into chaos.
Some of the attackers are members of the old Saddam regime, who fled the
battlefield and now fight in the shadows. Some of the attackers are foreign
terrorists, who have come to Iraq to pursue their war on America and other
free nations. We cannot be certain to what extent these groups work
together. We do know they have a common goal — reclaiming Iraq for
tyranny.
Most, but not all, of these killers operate in one area of the country. The
attacks you have heard and read about in the last few weeks have occurred
predominantly in the central region of Iraq, between Baghdad and Tikrit —
Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s former stronghold. The north of Iraq is
generally stable and is moving forward with reconstruction and
self-government. The same trends are evident in the South, despite recent
attacks by terrorist groups.
Though their attacks are localized, the terrorists and Saddam loyalists have
done great harm. They have ambushed American and British service
members who stand for freedom and order. They have killed civilian aid
workers of the United Nations who represent the compassion and generosity
of the world. They have bombed the Jordanian embassy — the symbol of a
peaceful Arab country. And last week they murdered a respected cleric and
over a hundred Muslims at prayer — bombing a holy shrine and a symbol of
Islam's peaceful teachings.
This violence is directed, not only against our coalition, but against anyone
in Iraq who stands for decency, and freedom, and progress.
There is more at work in these attacks than blind rage. The terrorists have a
strategic goal. They want us to leave Iraq before our work is done. They
want to shake the will of the civilized world. In the past, the terrorists have
cited the examples of Beirut and Somalia, claiming that if you inflict harm on
Americans, we will run from a challenge. In this, they are mistaken.
Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror
would be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in
many places. Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a
desperate stand there — and there they must be defeated. This will take
time, and require sacrifice.
Yet, we will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to
achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom, and
to make our own Nation more secure.
America has done this kind of work before. Following World War II, we lifted
up the defeated nations of Japan and Germany, and stood with them as
they built representative governments. We committed years and resources
to this cause. And that effort has been repaid many times over in three
generations of friendship and peace. America today accepts the challenge
of helping Iraq in the same spirit — for their sake, and our own.
Our strategy in Iraq has three objectives — destroying the terrorists —
enlisting the support of other nations for a free Iraq — and helping Iraqis
assume responsibility for their own defense and their own future.
First, we are taking direct action against the terrorists in the Iraqi theater,
which is the surest way to prevent future attacks on coalition forces and the
Iraqi people. We are staying on the offensive, with a series of precise strikes
against enemy targets increasingly guided by intelligence given to us by
Iraqi citizens.
Since the end of major combat operations, we have conducted raids seizing
many caches of enemy weapons and massive amounts of ammunition, and
we have captured or killed hundreds of Saddam loyalists and terrorists. So
far, of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders, 42 are dead or in custody.
We are sending a clear message: Anyone who seeks to harm our soldiers
can know that our soldiers are hunting for them.
Second, we are committed to expanding international cooperation in the
reconstruction and security of Iraq, just as we are in Afghanistan. Our
military commanders in Iraq advise me that the current number of American
troops — nearly 130,000 — is appropriate to their mission. They are joined
by over 20,000 service members from 29 other countries.
Two multinational divisions, led by the British and the Poles, are serving
alongside our forces — and in order to share the burden more broadly, our
commanders have requested a third multinational division to serve in Iraq.
Some countries have requested an explicit authorization of the United
Nations Security Council before committing troops to Iraq. I have directed
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) to introduce a new
Security Council resolution which would authorize the creation of a
multinational force in Iraq, to be led by America.
I recognize that not all of our friends agreed with our decision to enforce the
Security Council resolutions and remove Saddam Hussein from power. Yet,
we cannot let past differences interfere with present duties.
Terrorists in Iraq have attacked representatives of the civilized world, and
opposing them must be the cause of the civilized world. Members of the
United Nations now have an opportunity, and the responsibility, to assume a
broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation.
Third, we are encouraging the orderly transfer of sovereignty and authority to
the Iraqi people. Our coalition came to Iraq as liberators and we will depart
as liberators. Right now Iraq has its own Governing Council, comprised of 25
leaders representing Iraq's diverse people. The Governing Council recently
appointed cabinet ministers to run government departments.
Already more than 90 percent of towns and cities have functioning local
governments, which are restoring basic services. We are helping to train civil
defense forces to keep order — and an Iraqi police service to enforce the law
— a facilities protection service — Iraqi border guards to help secure the
borders — and a new Iraqi army.
In all these roles, there are now some 60,000 Iraqi citizens under arms,
defending the security of their own country — and we are accelerating the
training of more.
Iraq is ready to take the next steps toward self-government. The Security
Council resolution we introduce will encourage Iraq's Governing Council to
submit a plan and a timetable for the drafting of a constitution, and for free
elections.
From the outset, I have expressed confidence in the ability of the Iraqi
people to govern themselves. Now they must rise to the responsibilities of a
free people and secure the blessings of their own liberty.
Our strategy in Iraq will require new resources. We have conducted a
thorough assessment of our military and reconstruction needs in Iraq, and
also in Afghanistan. I will soon submit to Congress a request for 87 billion
dollars. The request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in
Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, which we expect will cost 66 billion dollars
over the next year.
This budget request will also support our commitment to helping the Iraqi
and Afghan people rebuild their own nations, after decades of oppression
and mismanagement. We will provide funds to help them improve security.
And we will help them to restore basic services, such as electricity and
water, and to build new schools, roads, and medical clinics.
This effort is essential to the stability of those nations, and therefore to our
own security. Now and in the future, we will support our troops and we will
keep our word to the more than 50 million people of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Later this month, Secretary Powell will meet with representatives of many
nations to discuss their financial contributions to the reconstruction of
Afghanistan. Next month, he will hold a similar funding conference for the
reconstruction of Iraq. Europe, Japan and states in the Middle East all will
benefit from the success of freedom in these two countries, and they should
contribute to that success.
The people of Iraq are emerging from a long trial. For them, there will be no
going back to the days of the dictator — to the miseries of humiliation he
inflicted on that good country. For the Middle East and the world, there will
be no going back to the days of fear — when a brutal and aggressive tyrant
possessed terrible weapons.
And for America, there will be no going back to the era before September
the 11th, 2001 — to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have learned
that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength — they are
invited by the perception of weakness.
And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the
enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and
Afghanistan today, so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in
our own cities.
The heaviest burdens in our war on terror fall, as always, on the men and
women of our armed forces and our intelligence services. They have
removed gathering threats to America and our friends, and this nation takes
great pride in their incredible achievements.
We are grateful for their skill and courage, and for their acts of decency,
which have shown America's character to the world. We honor the sacrifice
of their families. And we mourn every American who has died so bravely, so
far from home.
The Americans who assume great risks overseas understand the great
cause they are in. Not long ago I received a letter from a captain in the 3rd
Infantry Division in Baghdad. He wrote about his pride in serving a just
cause, and about the deep desire of Iraqis for liberty.
"I see it," he said, "in the eyes of a hungry people every day here. They are
starved for freedom and opportunity." And he concluded, "I just thought
you'd like a note from the 'front lines of freedom.'" That Army captain, and all
of our men and women serving in the war on terror, are on the front lines of
freedom. And I want each of them to know: Your country thanks you, and
your country supports you.
Fellow citizens: We have been tested these past 24 months, and the
dangers have not passed. Yet Americans are responding with courage and
confidence. We accept the duties of our generation. We are active and
resolute in our own defense. We are serving in freedom's cause — and that
is the cause of all mankind.
Thank you, and may God continue to bless America.
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