(March
18,2006)
THE PRESIDENT:
|
US President George W. Bush |
Good
morning. In recent weeks, Americans have seen horrific images from Iraq: the
bombing of a great house of worship in Samarra, sectarian reprisals between
Sunnis and Shias, and car bombings and kidnappings. Amid continued reports about
the tense situation in parts of that country, it may seem difficult at times to
understand how we can say that progress is being made. But the reaction to the
recent violence by Iraq's leaders is a clear sign of Iraq's commitment to
democracy.
I'm encouraged to see that Iraqi political leaders are making good progress
toward forming a unity government, despite the recent violence. Our Ambassador
to Iraq, Zal Khalilzad, reports that the violence has created a new sense of
urgency among these leaders to form a national unity government as quickly as
possible. I urge them to continue their work to put aside their differences, to
reach out across political, religious, and sectarian lines, and to form a
government that can confront the terrorist threat and earn the trust and
confidence of all Iraqis.
I also remain optimistic because slowly but surely our strategy is getting
results. This month I'm giving a series of speeches to update the American
people on that strategy. I'm discussing the progress we are making, the lessons
we have learned from our experience, and how we are fixing what has not worked.
This past week, I discussed the security element of our strategy. I spoke about
our increasingly successful efforts to train Iraqi security forces to take the
lead in the fight against the terrorists. And I described our strengthened
efforts to defeat the threat of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
On Monday, I will give a speech discussing how we are working with all
elements of Iraqi society to remove the terrorists and restore order in Iraqi
cities, to rebuild homes and communities, and to achieve the stability that can
come only from freedom. I will also share some concrete examples of how this
approach is succeeding -- evidence of real progress that is too often lost amid
the more dramatic reports of violence.
Sunday marks the third anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi
Freedom. The decision by the United States and our Coalition partners to remove
Saddam Hussein from power was a difficult decision -- and it was the right
decision. America and the world are safer today without Saddam Hussein in power.
He is no longer oppressing the Iraqi people, sponsoring terror, and threatening
the world. He is now being tried for his crimes, and over 25 million Iraqis now
live in freedom. This is an achievement America and our allies can be proud of.
These past three years have tested our resolve. We've seen hard days and
setbacks. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the terrorists made Iraq the central
front in the war on terror, in an attempt to turn that country into a safe haven
where they can plan more attacks against America. The fighting has been tough.
The enemy has proved brutal and relentless. We have changed our approach in many
areas to reflect the hard realities on the ground. And our troops have shown
magnificent courage and made tremendous sacrifices.
These sacrifices by our Coalition forces -- and the sacrifices of Iraqis --
have given Iraq this historic opportunity to form a democratic government and
rebuild itself after decades of tyranny. In the past three years, Iraqis have
gone from living under a brutal tyrant, to liberation, sovereignty, free
elections, a constitutional referendum, and last December, elections for a fully
constitutional government. By their courage, the Iraqi people have spoken and
made their intentions clear: They want to live in a democracy and shape their
own destiny.
In this fight, the American and Iraqi people share the same enemies because
we stand for freedom. The security of our country is directly linked to the
liberty of the Iraqi people, and we will settle for nothing less than complete
victory. Victory will come when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer
threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the
safety of their own citizens, and when Iraq is not a safe haven for the
terrorists to plot new attacks against our nation.
More fighting and sacrifice will be required to achieve this victory, and for
some, the temptation to retreat and abandon our commitments is strong. Yet there
is no peace, there's no honor, and there's no security in retreat. So America
will not abandon Iraq to the terrorists who want to attack us again. We will
finish the mission. By defeating the terrorists in Iraq, we will bring greater
security to our own country. And when victory is achieved, our troops will
return home with the honor they have earned.
Thank you for listening.