For Immediate Release
October 9, 2003
President Discusses Progress in Iraq
Excerpts from October 9, 2003 Speech in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Click here to read full remarks (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031009-9.html)
And as we overcome our challenges to the economy, we're answering
great threats to our security. September the 11, 2001, moved our
country to grief -- and moved our country to action. We made a pledge
that day, and we have kept it: We will bring the guilty to justice; we
will take the fight to the enemy. (Applause.) We now see our enemy
clearly. The terrorists plot in secret. They target the innocent. They
defile a great religion. They hate everything this nation stands for.
These committed killers will not be stopped by negotiations; they won't
respond to reason. The terrorists who threaten America cannot be
appeased -- they must be found, they must be fought, and they must be
defeated. (Applause.)
This is a new kind of war, and we must adjust. It's a new kind of
war, and America is following a new strategy. We're not waiting for
further attacks. We're striking our enemies before they can strike us
again. We've taken unprecedented steps to protect our homeland. And
for those of you who are here who are on the front lines of homeland
protection, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing. (Applause.)
Yet wars are won on the offensive -- and our friends and America
are staying on the offensive. (Applause.) We're finding them. We're on
the hunt. We're rolling back the terrorist threats -- not on the
fringes of its influence, but at the heart of its power. We're making
good progress. We're hunting the al Qaeda terrorists wherever they hide
-- from Pakistan, to the Philippines, to the Horn of Africa, to Iraq.
Nearly two-thirds of al Qaeda's known leaders have been captured or
killed. Our resolve is firm; our resolve is clear: No matter how long
it takes, all who plot against America will face the justice of
America. (Applause.)
We have sent a message understood throughout the world: If you
harbor a terrorist, if you support a terrorist, if you feed a
terrorist, you are just as guilty as the terrorists. And the Taliban
found out what we meant. (Applause.) Thanks to our great military,
Afghanistan is no longer a safe-haven for terror, the Afghan people are
free, and the people of America are more secure from attack.
(Applause.) And we have fought the war on terror in Iraq. The regime of
Saddam Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass destruction,
sponsored terrorist groups, and inflicted terror on its own people.
Nearly every nation recognized and denounced this threat for over a
decade. Last year, the U.N. Security Council -- in Resolution 1441 --
demanded that Saddam Hussein disarm, prove his disarmament to the
world, or face serious consequences. The choice was up to the dictator,
and he chose poorly.
I acted because I was not about to leave the security of the
American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by
and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein. So
our coalition acted, in one of the swiftest and most humane military
campaigns in history. And six months ago today, the statue of the
dictator was pulled down. (Applause.)
Since the liberation of Iraq, our investigators have found evidence
of a clandestine network of biological laboratories. They found
advanced design work on prohibited longer-range missiles. They found an
elaborate campaign to hide these illegal programs. There's still much
to investigate, yet it is now undeniable that Saddam Hussein was in
clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441. It
is undeniable that Saddam Hussein was a deceiver and a danger. The
Security Council was right to demand that Saddam Hussein disarm, and we
were right to enforce that demand. (Applause.) Who can possibly think
that the world would be better off with Saddam Hussein still in power?
Surely not the dissidents who would be in his prisons or end up in mass
graves. Surely not the men and women who would fill Saddam's torture
chambers, or the women in his rape rooms. Surely not the victims he
murdered with poison gas. Surely not anyone who cares about human
rights and democracy and stability in the Middle East. There is only
one decent and humane reaction to the fall of Saddam Hussein: Good
riddance. (Applause.)
Now our country is approaching a choice. After all the action we
have taken, after all the progress we have made against terror, there
is a temptation to think the danger has passed. The danger hadn't
passed. Since September the 11th, the terrorists have taken lives --
since the attacks on our nation that fateful day, the terrorists have
attacked in Casablanca, Mombasa, Jerusalem, Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad,
Karachi, New Delhi, Bali, and Jakarta. The terrorists continue to plot
and plan against our country and our people. America must not forget
the lessons of September 11th. (Applause.) America cannot retreat from
our responsibilities and hope for the best. Our security will not be
gained by timid measures. Our security requires constant vigilance and
decisive action. I believe America has only one option: We must fight
this war until the work is done. (Applause.)
We're fighting on many fronts, and Iraq is now the central front.
Saddam holdouts and foreign terrorists are trying desperately to
undermine Iraq's progress and to throw that country into chaos. The
terrorists in Iraq believe their attacks on innocent people will weaken
our resolve. That's what they believe. They believe that America will
run from a challenge. They're mistaken. Americans are not the running
kind.
The United States did not run from Germany and Japan following
World War II. We helped those nations to become strong and decent,
democratic societies that no longer waged war on America. And that's
our mission in Iraq today. We're rebuilding schools. A lot of kids are
going back to schools. Reopening hospitals. Thousands of children are
now being immunized. Water and electricity are being returned to the
Iraqi people. Life is getting better.
It's a lot better than you probably think. Just ask people who have
been there. They're stunned when they come back -- when they go to Iraq
and the stories they tell are much different from the perceptions that
you're being told life is like. You see, we're providing this help not
only because we've got good hearts, but because our vision is clear. A
stable and democratic and hopeful Iraq will no longer be a breeding
ground for terror, tyranny, and aggression. (Applause.) Free nations
are peaceful nations. Our work in Iraq is essential to our own security
-- and no band of murderers or gangsters will stop that work, or shake
the will of America. (Applause.)
Nearly every day in Iraq we're launching swift, precision raids
against the enemies of peace and progress. Helped by intelligence from
Iraqis, we're rounding up the enemy. We're taking their weapons. We're
working our way through the famous deck of cards. We've already
captured or killed 43 of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders, and
the other 12 have a lot to worry about. (Laughter.) Anyone who seeks to
harm our soldiers can know that our soldiers are hunting for them. Our
military is serving with great courage -- some of our best have fallen.
We mourn every loss. We honor every name. We grieve with every family.
And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave
defenders. (Applause.) In defending liberty, we are joined by more than
30 nations now contributing military forces in Iraq. Great Britain and
Poland are leading two multinational divisions. And in this cause with
fine allies, we've got the Iraqis, as well. They care about the
security of their country. They want to be free. They love freedom just
like we love freedom. Last week, the first battalion of the New Iraqi
Army completed its training. Within a year, Iraq will have a
40,000-member military force. Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens are
also guarding their own borders, defending vital facilities, and
policing their own streets. Six months ago, the Iraqi people welcomed
their liberation. Today, many Iraqis are armed and trained to defend
their liberty.
Our goal in Iraq is to leave behind a stable, self-governing
society, which will no longer be a threat to the Middle East or to the
United States. We're following an orderly plan to reach this goal. Iraq
now has a Governing Council, which has appointed interim government
ministers. Once a constitution has been written, Iraq will move toward
national elections. We want this process to go as quickly as possible
-- yet it must be done right. The free institutions of Iraq must stand
the test of time. And a democratic Iraq will stand as an example to all
the Middle East. We believe -- and the Iraqi people will show -- that
liberty is the hope and the right of every land. Our work in Iraq has
been long, it's hard, and it's not finished. We will stay the course.
We will complete our job. And beyond Iraq, the war on terror continues.
There will be no quick victory in this war. We will persevere and
victory is certain. (Applause.)
I am confident of victory because I know the character of our
military -- shown in people like Master Sergeant Jake Negrotti, of
Plaistow, New Hampshire. Jake is a member of the New Hampshire Air
National Guard. He's volunteered for overseas deployments three times
since September the 11th. He served in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Right now Jake is an airport manager at Baghdad Airport, helping make
sure our military and humanitarian operations move ahead. People like
Jake Negrotti are showing what it means to be a patriot and a citizen.
We're honored to have Jake's wife, Donna, and his children, Alicia and
Christopher, with us here today. Next time you talk to Jake, Donna, you
tell him his President appreciates his service, and his country is
grateful. (Applause.)
The war on terror has brought hardship and loss to our country,
beginning with the grief of September the 11th. Let us also remember
that the first victory in this war came on that same day, on a hijacked
plane bound for the Nation's Capital. Those men and women on Flight 93
took action, served their country, knowing they would die. (Applause.)
They found incredible courage in their final moments to save the lives
of others. In those moments, and many times since, terrorists have
learned that Americans are courageous and will not be intimidated. We
will fight them with everything we have. Few are called to show the
kind of valor seen on Flight 93, or on the field of battle. Yet all of
us do share a calling -- to be strong in adversity, and to be unafraid
in danger. We Americans have come through so much together, and we have
much yet to do. If we're patient, united, determined, our nation will
prosper, and our nation will win.
May God bless you all. (Applause.)
Thank you all very much. (Applause.) END 10:31 A.M. EDT
|