csua.org/u/cjf -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062801298_pf.html
com Text of President Bush's Speech at Fort Bragg, NC FDCH E-Media Tuesday, June 28, 2005; I am pleased to visit Fort Bragg, home of the airborne and special operat ions forces. My greatest responsibility as president is to protect the American people . I thank you for your service, your courage and your sacrifice. I thank your families, who support you in your vital work. The soldiers and families of Fort Bragg have contributed mightily to our efforts to secure our country and promote peace. America is grateful, an d so is your commander in chief. The troops here and across the world are fighting a global war on terror. The terrorists who attacked us and the terrorists we face murder in the n ame of a totalitarian ideology that hates freedom, rejects tolerance and despises all dissent. To achieve these aims, they have continued to kill: in Madrid, Istanbul, Jakarta, Casablanca, Riyadh, Bali and elsewhere. The terrorists believe that free societies are essentially corrupt and de cadent and, with a few hard blows, they can force us to retreat. After September the 11th, I made a commitment to the American people: Thi s nation will not wait to be attacked again. Many terrorists who kill innocent men, women and children on the streets of Baghdad are followers of the same murderous ideology that took the li ves of our citizens in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania. There is only one course of action against them: to defeat them abroad be fore they attack us at home. The commander in charge of coalition operations in Iraq, who is also seni or commander at this base, General John Vines, put it well the other day . He said, We either deal with terrorism and this extremism abroad, or w e deal with it when it comes to us. Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Amid all this violence, I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifi ce worth it? Some of the violence you see in Iraq is being carried out by ruthless kil lers who are converging on Iraq to fight the advance of peace and freedo m Our military reports that we have killed or captured hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia and Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and others. They are making common cause with criminal elements, Iraqi insurgents and remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime who want to restore the old order. They fight because they know that the survival of their hateful ideology is at stake. And when the Middle East grows in democracy and prosperity and hope, the terrorists will lose their sponsors, lose their recruits and lose their hopes for turning that region into a base for attacks on America and our allies around the world. Some wonder whether Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. Here are the words of Osama bin Laden: This third world war is raging in Iraq. He says it will end in victo ry and glory or misery and humiliation. The terrorists know that the outcome will leave them emboldened or defeat ed. So they are waging a campaign of murder and destruction. And there i s no limit to the innocent lives they are willing to take. We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who sent a suicide bomber to a teaching hospital in Mosul. We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who behead civilian hostages and broadcast their atrocities for the world to see. These are savage acts of violence, but they have not brought the terroris ts any closer to achieving their strategic objectives. The terrorists, both foreign and Iraqi, failed to stop the transfer of so vereignty. They failed to break our coalition and force a mass withdrawa l by our allies. The lesson of this experience is clear: The terrorists can kill the innoc ent, but they cannot stop the advance of freedom. The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of Septe mber the 11th, if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like bin Laden. For the sake of our nation's security, this will not happen on my watch. A little over a year ago, I spoke to the nation and described our coaliti on's goal in Iraq. I said that America's mission in Iraq is to defeat an enemy and give strength to a friend -- a free, representative governmen t that is an ally in the war on terror and a beacon of hope in a part of the world that is desperate for reform. We would hand authority over to a sovereign Iraqi government. We would he lp Iraqis hold free elections by January 2005. We would continue helping Iraqis rebuild their nation's infrastructure and economy. We would enco urage more international support for Iraq's democratic transition. And w e would enable Iraqis to take increasing responsibility for their own se curity and stability. One year ago today, we restored sovereignty to the Iraqi people. In Janua ry 2005, more than 8 million Iraqi men and women voted in elections that were free and fair and took time on -- and took place on time. Our progress has been uneven, but progress is being made. We're working to i mprove basic services like sanitation, electricity and water. And togeth er with our allies, we will help the new Iraqi government deliver a bett er life for its citizens. In the past year, the international community has stepped forward with vi tal assistance. Some 30 nations have troops in Iraq, and many others are contributing non-military assistance. Thus far, some 40 countries and three international organizations have pl edged about $34 billion in assistance for Iraqi reconstruction. More than 80 countries and international organizations recently came toge ther in Brussels to coordinate their efforts to help Iraqis provide for their security and rebuild their country. And next month, donor countrie s will meet in Jordan to support Iraqi reconstruction. Whatever our differences in the past, the world understands that success in Iraq is critical to the security of our nations. As German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said at the White House yesterday, There can be no question a stable and democratic Iraq is in the vested interest of not just Germany, but also Europe. Today, Iraq has more than 160,000 security forces trained and equipped fo r a variety of missions. Iraqi forces have fought bravely, helping to ca pture terrorists and insurgents in Najaf and Samarra, Fallujah and Mosul . And in the past month, Iraqi forces have led a major anti- terrorist camp aign in Baghdad called Operation Lightning, which has led to the capture of hundreds of suspected insurgents. Like free people everywhere, Iraqis want to be defended by their own coun trymen, and we are helping Iraqis assume those duties. The progress in the past year has been significant, and we have a clear p ath forward. To complete the mission, we will continue to hunt down the terrorists and insurgents. And the best way to complete the mission is to help Iraqis build a free n ation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. So our strategy going forward has both a military track and a political t rack. The principal task of our military is to find and defeat the terrorists. Our strategy can be summed up this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will s tand down. We have made progress, but we have a lot more work to do. Today, Iraqi security forces are at different levels of readiness. Some a re capable of taking on the terrorists and insurgents by themselves. A l arge number can plan and execute anti- terrorist operations with coaliti on support. The rest are forming and not yet ready to participate fully in security operations. Our task is to make the Iraqi units fully capable and independent. We are building up Iraqi security forces as quickly as possible so they can as sume the lead in defeating the terrorists and insurgents. Thousands of coalition troops are involved in the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. NATO is establishing a military academy near Baghdad to train the next ge neration of Iraqi military leaders, and 17 nations are contributing troo ps to the NATO training mission. Iraqi army and police are being trained by personnel from Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, Romani...
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