President Salutes the Military at Macdill Air Force Base in Tampa
Remarks by the President to Military Personnel
Macdill Air Force Base
Tampa, Florida
10:38 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome.
(Applause.) It is great to be back in Florida -- it is great to be
back in Florida with the fine men and women of MacDill Air Force Base.
(Applause.) I told my dad I was coming here today, and he suggested I
drop in by parachute. (Laughter.) I told him I thought I'd wait for
my 80th birthday. (Laughter.)
With us today by satellite are American servicemen and women in
Afghanistan and Iraq. (Applause.) You are stationed in faraway lands,
but you're always in the thoughts of your fellow Americans. You face
hard duty. You've endured the heat of the Persian Gulf, and the harsh
winters of Central Asia. You're serving with honor and pride. You're
making our country safer, and your country is proud of you. Thank you
for your service. (Applause.)
I also know that we're on Armed Forces radio and TV. We're carried
to bases and ships around the world. Wherever your duty has taken you,
I want you to know that you are a part of a great force for good in
this world. The defense of our country, the security of our friends,
and the peace of the world depend on you. Thank you for working hard,
and for bringing credit and honor to the United States military.
(Applause.)
I want to thank General Lance Smith, and his wife, Linda. I want
to thank General John Abizaid, who is not with us today, and his wife,
Kathy. I want to thank General Doug Brown. I want to thank Colonel
Brian Kelly, and his wife, Susan. I want to thank a member of my
Cabinet who's traveled here, a veteran of the United States military,
the Secretary for the Department of Veteran Affairs, Secretary Tony
Principi. (Applause.)
Some day you'll be veterans. Our government will honor our
commitment to our veterans, past, present and future. (Applause.)
I want to thank Mayor Pam Iorio for being here today, the Mayor of
Tampa, Florida; and Mayor Rick Baker, the Mayor of St. Petersburg,
Florida. Thank you all for coming today. I'm honored you're here.
And thank you for providing such important support for the men and
women who wear our nation's uniform. (Applause.)
I want to thank my friends, Darryl Worley and Mark Willis, for
being here today. These boys can sing. (Applause.) I know we've got
people from the Tampa Bay Lightning here. (Applause.) It seems like
it would be hard to skate on ice in this kind of weather. (Laughter.)
But I know the general manager, Jay Feaster, is with us, and John
Tortorella, the coach, is with us. Congratulations on being champs.
(Applause.)
I just had the honor of meeting Master Sergeant Gina Carnesecchi on
Air Force One. I'll tell you why I want to bring up Gina. She is a
veteran of -- she's been deployed -- let me put it to you that way.
She came back, she helped start Operation Lighthouse, here at MacDill.
It's a program to encourage troops and their families. She helped to
organize care packages and make sure families are able to communicate
with a loved one abroad. She's a volunteer. She serves our nation as
a Master Sergeant. In her spare time, she volunteers to help make
somebody's life better.
You see, the strength of America is the hearts and souls of the
American people. The strength of this country is because we've got
thousands of people from all walks of life who have heard the universal
call to love a neighbor just like they would like to be loved
themselves. For those of you who are helping to make somebody's life
better, I thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. (Applause.)
MacDill is the home of the U.S. Central Command. The Command was
activated in the early 1980s. Back then, America needed CENTCOM to
help protect our allies from aggression and to support Afghan freedom
fighters. Now, at the start of a new century, the men and women of
CENTCOM have liberated two nations, and have rescued more than 50
million people from tyranny. (Applause.) Today your nation is
counting on you to ensure the defeat of terrorists, to secure America,
and to advance freedom throughout the Middle East. That's our
mission.
I'm grateful to the fine men and women of the 6th Air Mobility
Wing, which established the "air bridge" that got troops and supplies
into the theaters of operations. Some of you deployed to Iraq with the
447th Air Expeditionary Group. Your job was to move cargo and
passengers in and out of the Baghdad International Airport every day.
Last Thanksgiving, I was one of those passengers, and I appreciated the
on-time arrival. (Applause.)
MacDill is also the headquarters for our quiet warriors, the United
States Special Operations Command. (Applause.) It is the nature of
Special Ops that many of your victories are unseen and must remain
secret -- but I know about them. (Laughter.) Our Special Operations
force are the worst nightmare of America's worst enemies, and you're
making us proud. (Applause.)
All who wear the uniform can know that America appreciates your
service and your sacrifice. Our government owes you more than
gratitude. I made a commitment to the men and women of our military, a
commitment to their loved ones: You will have the resources you need
to fight and win the war on terror. (Applause.)
Here at CENTCOM, the Coalition Village flies the flags of 65
nations that are doing their part in the war on terror. On behalf of
our country, I thank all of friends and allies for serving with America
in the cause of freedom. (Applause.)
I last came to MacDill during the first week of operation Iraqi
Freedom. In that battle, we and our allies acted with speed and
precision to destroy a brutal regime, while sparing innocent Iraqis.
Our coalition showed the world, when we see a threat to America and our
friends, we will take decisive action. (Applause.) And when we
promise to act, we mean exactly what we say. (Applause.)
Because America and our allies acted, one of the most brutal, evil
regimes is gone forever. (Applause.) This was a regime that tortured
children in front of their parents. This was a regime that used
chemical weapons against whole villages. It gave cash rewards to
families of suicide bombers. It sheltered terrorist groups. Iraq was
a country in which millions of people lived in fear, and many thousands
disappeared into mass graves. That was the life in Iraq for more than
a generation, until the Americans arrived. (Applause.) Because
America and our allies acted, an aggressive threat to the security of
the Middle East and to the peace of the world is gone forever. America
is safer because Saddam Hussein sits in a prison cell. (Applause.)
When our forces were bringing down the dictator and his regime, I
said here at MacDill that our work would not end with the liberation of
Iraq. I pledged that we would help the Iraqi people to find the
benefits and assume the duties of self-government. We're keeping our
commitment.
All of you understand that freedom in Iraq and freedom in
Afghanistan have deadly and determined enemies. Our men and women in
those countries are fighting freedom's enemies with skill and courage.
You're showing great respect for the holy sites of those countries.
You're helping to bring opportunity and security to nations that have
known years of cruel oppression. These are difficult tasks, but they
are essential tasks. (Applause.) By fighting the terrorists in
distant lands, you are making sure your fellow citizens do not face
them here at home. (Applause.) By helping the rise of democracy in
Iraq, in Afghanistan, and throughout the world, you are giving people
an alternative to bitterness and hatred, and that is essential to the
peace of the world.
Yesterday, President Karzai of Afghanistan came to the White House
and to the U.S. Capitol, and thanked the American people for helping to
free his country and for being a friend to the Afghan people. The
President of Iraq came to America last week and expressed his gratitude
for the sacrifices of the American people and our troops. These two
Presidents, and the nations they serve, know the character of the
American Armed Forces, They're seeing the nature of your mission, as
well. We have come not to conquer, but to liberate people, and we will
stand with them until their freedom is secure. (Applause.)
We're moving forward with our five-point plan for Iraqi
self-government. We're handing over authority to a sovereign Iraqi
government. We're encouraging more international support for Iraq's
political transition. We're helping Iraqis take responsibility for
their own security. We're continuing to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure,
and we're helping Iraq move to free elections. A turning point will
come two weeks from today. On June the 30th, governing authority will
be transferred to a fully sovereign interim government, the Coalition
Provisional Authority will cease to exist, an American embassy will
open in Baghdad. (Applause.)
Iraq's new leaders are rising to their responsibilities. Together
with our coalition and the United Nations, they are working to prepare
the way for national elections by next January. In July, Iraqis from
every part of the country will gather for a national conference that
will choose an interim national council to advise and support Prime
Minister Allawi and his cabinet. The U.N. Security Council has voted
unanimously to endorse the Iraqi interim government and the plan for
Iraq's political transition. The Iraqi people are making steady
progress, and we will not let thugs and killers stand in the way of a
free and democratic Iraq. (Applause.)
As Iraq gains self-government, it is essential that Iraq gain the
means of self-defense. So we're now leading an international effort to
help train Iraq's new security forces. There are now more than 200,000
Iraqis on duty and in training in various branches of the Iraqi
security forces. We're working to build and strengthen Iraqi chains of
command. We've learned from our experiences, Iraqi soldiers naturally
want to take orders from Iraqi officers. So we're helping to prepare a
new generation of Iraqi military commanders, who will lead the security
forces of a free and sovereign Iraq.
Those of you in Iraq are seeing results of your work. Iraqi police
and Civil Defense Corps have recently captured several terrorists,
including Umar Boziani, a key lieutenant of the terrorist named
Zarqawi. Recently, in Mosul, the Civil Defense Corps successfully
repelled attacks on government buildings. The U.S. commander on the
ground, Brigadier General Carter Ham, said the Iraqi forces "stood
strong." In Najaf, Iraqi police are now patrolling the streets.
They're being greeted warmly by their fellow citizens.
You see, these brave Iraqis are stepping up. They're setting an
example for their fellow citizens. They're staying in the fight,
taking the battle to the terrorists and Saddam holdouts. They are
securing a future of liberty and opportunity for their children and
their grandchildren. (Applause.) And when the history of modern Iraq
is written, the people of Iraq will know their freedom was finally
secured by the courage and by the determination of Iraqi patriots.
(Applause.)
There are many challenges yet to come. We can expect more violence
in the weeks and months ahead. But the future of a free Iraq is now
coming into view. As the interim government assumes authority, and
Iraqi security forces defend their country, our coalition will play a
supporting role. And this is an essential part of our strategy for
success. Terrorists who attack a self-governing Iraq are showing us
and the Iraqis who they really are. They're not fighting foreign
forces; they're fighting the Iraqi people. They're not just enemies of
America; they're enemies of democracy and hope. They're enemies of a
peaceful future in Iraq. As Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq said last
week, "Anyone involved in these attacks is nothing more than a traitor
to the cause of Iraq's freedom and the freedom of its people." He went
on to say, "These are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists and
foreign fighters opposed to our very survival as a free state."
The Prime Minister and I share the same resolve: The traitors will
defeated. (Applause.) Their greatest fear is an Iraqi government of,
by, and for the Iraqi people. And no matter what the terrorists plan,
no matter what they attempt, a democratic, free Iraq is on the way.
(Applause.)
At the same time, our coalition is helping the Iraqi people to
rebuild the basic infrastructure of their country. This is work that
America has done before. I want you to remember this. In 1947, two
years after the Nazi surrender, there was still starvation in Germany.
Reconstruction seemed to be faltering. The Marshall Plan had not yet
begun. Soon Berlin would be blockaded, on the orders of Joseph
Stalin. Some questioned whether a free and stable Germany could emerge
from the rubble.
Fortunately, America and our allies were optimistic. They stood
firm. We helped the German people overcome these challenges and resist
the designs of the Soviet Union. We overcame many obstacles, because
we knew that the only hope for a secure America was a peaceful and
democratic Europe. And because we persevered, because we had faith in
our values, because we were strong in the face of adversity, Germany
became the stable, successful, great nation that it is today.
(Applause.)
Fourteen months have passed since the fall of Baghdad. And today,
in spite of terrorist insurgency, Iraq's economy is moving forward.
Markets are beginning to thrive; new businesses have opened; a stable
new currency is in place. Dozens of political parties are organizing.
Hundreds of courts of law are opening across the country. Today in
Iraq, more than 170 newspapers are being published, and I saw the other
day that they've even got talk radio. I don't know if they've
contacted Rush yet. (Laughter.)
Life is better in other ways for the people of Iraq. Electric
power is being restored, and is no longer being distributed based on
loyalty to Saddam Hussein's regime. Our coalition has rehabilitated
nearly 2,500 schools, and over 1,200 more should be completed by the
end of the year. All of Iraq's hospitals and most medical clinics are
open and are serving the people. Since the liberation, the vast
majority of Iraqi children under five years old have been vaccinated
for polio, measles, tuberculosis, and other diseases. In the south of
Iraq, our coalition is reflooding the wetlands that Saddam Hussein
systematically drained to decimate the Marsh Arabs. We're bringing
back a 5,000-year civilization to life. (Applause.)
This summer will bring another milestone for our friends, the
Iraqis. Under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, members of the Iraqi
national soccer team were imprisoned and tortured when they failed to
perform. Last month, inspired by love of country rather than the fear
of a dictator, the Iraqi team won an upset victory over Saudi Arabia,
and earned its first trip ever to compete in the Olympic Games.
(Applause.) All countries gathered in Greece will be able to cheer for
the athletes from a free Iraq. (Applause.)
With each step forward on the path to self-government and
self-reliance, the terrorists will grow more desperate and more
violent. They see Iraqis taking their country back. They see freedom
taking root. The killers know they have no future in a free Iraq.
They want America to abandon the mission and to break our word. So
they're attacking our soldiers and free Iraqis. They're doing
everything in their power to prevent the full transition to democracy.
And we can expect more attacks in the coming few weeks, more car bombs,
more suiciders, more attempts on the lives of Iraqi officials. But our
coalition is standing firm. New Iraq's leaders are not intimidated. I
will not yield, and neither will the leaders of Iraq. (Applause.)
As the Iraqi President al-Yawar said last week, "They will try to
increase the incidents and the violence for a while, but we're
committed, we're consistent, we are focused."
The terrorists will fail. They will fail because the Iraqi people
will not accept a return to tyranny. The terrorists will fail because
the resolve of America and our allies will not be shaken. (Applause.)
And the terrorists will fail because courageous men and women like you
are standing in their way. (Applause.)
All who serve in the United States military -- in Iraq, in
Afghanistan, and at points across America and around the world -- can
take pride in the great work you have accepted. Your fellow citizens
know that your work is not easy. The days are hot, your mission is
hard. Many of you have faced long deployments, sometimes longer than
you expected. You've missed your families; your families miss you.
Some of you have lost comrades, good men and women you will never
forget, and America will never forget them either.
You're sacrificing greatly for our country, and our country has
needed that sacrifice. By standing for the cause of freedom, you're
making our world more peaceful. By fighting terrorists abroad, you're
making the American people more secure here at home. And by acting in
the best traditions of duty and honor, you're making our country and
your Commander-in-Chief incredibly proud.
May God bless you. And may God continue to bless America.
(Applause.)