Address
of the President Bush to the Nation, September 7, 2003
THE PRESIDENT: 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 Qaeda. In a series of raids and actions around the world, nearly
two-thirds of al Qaeda's known leaders have been captured or killed, and we
continue on al Qaeda'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'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 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're 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. The request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in
Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, which we expect will cost $66 billion 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
and 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 risk 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've 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.
THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE