PRESIDENT BUSH:
This is George W Bush, the President of the United States. At this
moment, the regime of Saddam Hussein is being removed from power, and a
long era of fear and cruelty is ending. American and coalition forces
are now operating inside Baghdad and we will not stop until Saddams
corrupt gang is gone. The government of Iraq, and the future of your
country, will soon belong to you.
The goals of our coalition are clear and limited. We will end a brutal
regime, whose aggression and weapons of mass destruction make it a
unique threat to the world. Coalition forces will help maintain law and
order, so that Iraqis can live in security. We will respect your great
religious traditions, whose principles of equality and compassion are
essential to Iraqs future. We will help you build a peaceful and
representative government that protects the rights of all citizens. And
then our military forces will leave. Iraq will go forward as a unified,
independent and sovereign nation that has regained a respected place in
the world.
The United States and its coalition partners respect the people of
Iraq. We are taking unprecedented measures to spare the lives of
innocent Iraqi citizens, and are beginning to deliver food, water and
medicine to those in need. Our only enemy is Saddams brutal regime
and that regime is your enemy as well.
In the new era that is coming to Iraq, your country will no longer be
held captive to the will of a cruel dictator. You will be free to build
a better life, instead of building more palaces for Saddam and his sons,
free to pursue economic prosperity without the hardship of economic
sanctions, free to travel and speak your mind, free to join in the
political affairs of Iraq. And all the people who make up your country
Kurds, Shia, Turkomans, Sunnis, and others will be free of the
terrible persecution that so many have endured.
The nightmare that Saddam Hussein has brought to your nation will soon
be over. You are a good and gifted people the heirs of a great
civilisation that contributes to all humanity. You deserve better than
tyranny and corruption and torture chambers. You deserve to live as
free people. And I assure every citizen of Iraq: your nation will soon
be free.