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.