THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight in Iraq, the Armed
Forces of the United States are engaged in a struggle that will
determine the direction of the global war on terror -- and our safety
here at home. The new strategy I outline tonight will change America's
course in Iraq, and help us succeed in the fight against terror.
When I addressed you just over a year ago, nearly 12 million
Iraqis had cast their ballots for a unified and democratic nation. The
elections of 2005 were a stunning achievement. We thought that these
elections would bring the Iraqis together, and that as we trained Iraqi
security forces we could accomplish our mission with fewer American
troops.
But in 2006, the opposite happened. The violence in Iraq --
particularly in Baghdad -- overwhelmed the political gains the Iraqis
had made. Al Qaeda terrorists and Sunni insurgents recognized the mortal
danger that Iraq's elections posed for their cause, and they responded
with outrageous acts of murder aimed at innocent Iraqis. They blew up
one of the holiest shrines in Shia Islam -- the Golden Mosque of Samarra
-- in a calculated effort to provoke Iraq's Shia population to
retaliate. Their strategy worked. Radical Shia elements, some supported
by Iran, formed death squads. And the result was a vicious cycle of
sectarian violence that continues today.
The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people -- and
it is unacceptable to me. Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They
have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been
made, the responsibility rests with me.
It is clear that we need to change our strategy in Iraq. So my
national security team, military commanders, and diplomats conducted a
comprehensive review. We consulted members of Congress from both
parties, our allies abroad, and distinguished outside experts. We
benefitted from the thoughtful recommendations of the Iraq Study Group,
a bipartisan panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker and
former Congressman Lee Hamilton. In our discussions, we all agreed that
there is no magic formula for success in Iraq. And one message came
through loud and clear: Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the
United States.
The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists
would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better
position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and
use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in
its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from
which to plan and launch attacks on the American people. On September
the 11th, 2001, we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of
the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety
of our people, America must succeed in Iraq.
The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially
in Baghdad. Eighty percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30
miles of the capital. This violence is splitting Baghdad into sectarian
enclaves, and shaking the confidence of all Iraqis. Only Iraqis can end
the sectarian violence and secure their people. And their government has
put forward an aggressive plan to do it.
Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons:
There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods
that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too
many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders
reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes.
They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work.
Now let me explain the main elements of this effort: The Iraqi
government will appoint a military commander and two deputy commanders
for their capital. The Iraqi government will deploy Iraqi Army and
National Police brigades across Baghdad's nine districts. When these
forces are fully deployed, there will be 18 Iraqi Army and National
Police brigades committed to this effort, along with local police. These
Iraqi forces will operate from local police stations -- conducting
patrols and setting up checkpoints, and going door-to-door to gain the
trust of Baghdad residents.
This is a strong commitment. But for it to succeed, our commanders
say the Iraqis will need our help. So America will change our strategy
to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian
violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require
increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000
additional American troops to Iraq. The vast majority of them -- five
brigades -- will be deployed to Baghdad. These troops will work
alongside Iraqi units and be embedded in their formations. Our troops
will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure
neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help
ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the
security that Baghdad needs.
Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when
previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the
differences: In earlier operations, Iraqi and American forces cleared
many neighborhoods of terrorists and insurgents, but when our forces
moved on to other targets, the killers returned. This time, we'll have
the force levels we need to hold the areas that have been cleared. In
earlier operations, political and sectarian interference prevented Iraqi
and American forces from going into neighborhoods that are home to those
fueling the sectarian violence. This time, Iraqi and American forces
will have a green light to enter those neighborhoods -- and Prime
Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference
will not be tolerated.
I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders
that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government
does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the
American people -- and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now
is the time to act. The Prime Minister understands this. Here is what he
told his people just last week: "The Baghdad security plan will not
provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or
political affiliation."
This new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide
bombings, assassinations, or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make
every effort to ensure that our television screens are filled with
images of death and suffering. Yet over time, we can expect to see Iraqi
troops chasing down murderers, fewer brazen acts of terror, and growing
trust and cooperation from Baghdad's residents. When this happens, daily
life will improve, Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders, and the
government will have the breathing space it needs to make progress in
other critical areas. Most of Iraq's Sunni and Shia want to live
together in peace -- and reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make
reconciliation possible.
A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations.
Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are
accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and
communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks
it has announced.
To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take
responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To
give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will
pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it
is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will
spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure
projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis
plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more
Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will
reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for
considering amendments to Iraq's constitution.
America will change our approach to help the Iraqi government as it
works to meet these benchmarks. In keeping with the recommendations of
the Iraq Study Group, we will increase the embedding of American
advisers in Iraqi Army units, and partner a coalition brigade with every
Iraqi Army division. We will help the Iraqis build a larger and
better-equipped army, and we will accelerate the training of Iraqi
forces, which remains the essential U.S. security mission in Iraq. We
will give our commanders and civilians greater flexibility to spend
funds for economic assistance. We will double the number of provincial
reconstruction teams. These teams bring together military and civilian
experts to help local Iraqi communities pursue reconciliation,
strengthen the moderates, and speed the transition to Iraqi
self-reliance. And Secretary Rice will soon appoint a reconstruction
coordinator in Baghdad to ensure better results for economic assistance
being spent in Iraq.
As we make these changes, we will continue to pursue al Qaeda and
foreign fighters. Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq. Its home base is
Anbar Province. Al Qaeda has helped make Anbar the most violent area of
Iraq outside the capital. A captured al Qaeda document describes the
terrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. This
would bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's
democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks
on the United States at home and abroad.
Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda
leaders, and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local
tribal leaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda.
And as a result, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a
serious blow to the terrorists. So I have given orders to increase
American forces in Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will
work with Iraqi and tribal forces to keep up the pressure on the
terrorists. America's men and women in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe
haven in Afghanistan -- and we will not allow them to re-establish it in
Iraq.
Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity
and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This
begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing
terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of
Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops.
We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of
support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the
networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in
Iraq.
We're also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and
protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the
deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will
expand intelligence-sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to
reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of
Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we
will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and
dominating the region.
We will use America's full diplomatic resources to rally support for
Iraq from nations throughout the Middle East. Countries like Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf States need to understand that an
American defeat in Iraq would create a new sanctuary for extremists and
a strategic threat to their survival. These nations have a stake in a
successful Iraq that is at peace with its neighbors, and they must step
up their support for Iraq's unity government. We endorse the Iraqi
government's call to finalize an International Compact that will bring
new economic assistance in exchange for greater economic reform. And on
Friday, Secretary Rice will leave for the region, to build support for
Iraq and continue the urgent diplomacy required to help bring peace to
the Middle East.
The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than
a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our
time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On
the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared
their intention to destroy our way of life. In the long run, the most
realistic way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful
alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy, by advancing liberty
across a troubled region. It is in the interests of the United States to
stand with the brave men and women who are risking their lives to claim
their freedom, and to help them as they work to raise up just and
hopeful societies across the Middle East.
From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian Territories, millions
of ordinary people are sick of the violence, and want a future of peace
and opportunity for their children. And they are looking at Iraq. They
want to know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country
to the extremists, or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the
choice for freedom?
The changes I have outlined tonight are aimed at ensuring the
survival of a young democracy that is fighting for its life in a part of
the world of enormous importance to American security. Let me be clear:
The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, and they
will make the year ahead bloody and violent. Even if our new strategy
works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue -- and
we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties. The question is
whether our new strategy will bring us closer to success. I believe that
it will.
Victory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers
achieved. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a
battleship. But victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab
world -- a functioning democracy that polices its territory, upholds the
rule of law, respects fundamental human liberties, and answers to its
people. A democratic Iraq will not be perfect. But it will be a country
that fights terrorists instead of harboring them -- and it will help
bring a future of peace and security for our children and our
grandchildren.
This new approach comes after consultations with Congress about the
different courses we could take in Iraq. Many are concerned that the
Iraqis are becoming too dependent on the United States, and therefore,
our policy should focus on protecting Iraq's borders and hunting down al
Qaeda. Their solution is to scale back America's efforts in Baghdad --
or announce the phased withdrawal of our combat forces. We carefully
considered these proposals. And we concluded that to step back now would
force a collapse of the Iraqi government, tear the country apart, and
result in mass killings on an unimaginable scale. Such a scenario would
result in our troops being forced to stay in Iraq even longer, and
confront an enemy that is even more lethal. If we increase our support
at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of
violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.
In the days ahead, my national security team will fully brief
Congress on our new strategy. If members have improvements that can be
made, we will make them. If circumstances change, we will adjust.
Honorable people have different views, and they will voice their
criticisms. It is fair to hold our views up to scrutiny. And all
involved have a responsibility to explain how the path they propose
would be more likely to succeed.
Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key
members of Congress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that
will help us come together across party lines to win the war on terror.
This group will meet regularly with me and my administration; it will
help strengthen our relationship with Congress. We can begin by working
together to increase the size of the active Army and Marine Corps, so
that America has the Armed Forces we need for the 21st century. We also
need to examine ways to mobilize talented American civilians to deploy
overseas, where they can help build democratic institutions in
communities and nations recovering from war and tyranny.
In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have
extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and
defend us. These young Americans understand that our cause in Iraq is
noble and necessary -- and that the advance of freedom is the calling of
our time. They serve far from their families, who make the quiet
sacrifices of lonely holidays and empty chairs at the dinner table. They
have watched their comrades give their lives to ensure our liberty. We
mourn the loss of every fallen American -- and we owe it to them to
build a future worthy of their sacrifice.
Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice,
and resolve. It can be tempting to think that America can put aside the
burdens of freedom. Yet times of testing reveal the character of a
nation. And throughout our history, Americans have always defied the
pessimists and seen our faith in freedom redeemed. Now America is
engaged in a new struggle that will set the course for a new century. We
can, and we will, prevail.
We go forward with trust that the Author of Liberty will guide us
through these trying hours. Thank you and good night. |