[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 116 (Thursday, September 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9600-S9601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRIME MINISTER AYAD ALLAWI'S SPEECH

  Mr. FRIST. Madam President, earlier today the Prime Minister of Iraq, 
Dr. Ayad Allawi, made a very powerful speech before a Joint Session of 
Congress. He was joined by several members of his cabinet.
  The Prime Minister is a very strong and capable leader. He is a man 
of vision and principle. He is committed to combating terrorism, and to 
leading Iraq down the path toward democracy.
  I first met the Prime Minister nearly three months ago, just after he 
was selected to be Prime Minister. His actions over the last few months 
have confirmed my opinion of him then--that this man has what it takes 
to bring peace, stability, and freedom to Iraq.
  This morning, the Prime Minister spoke and made the following points:

       We are succeeding in Iraq.
       Our struggle is your struggle; our cause is your cause.
       The fight against terrorists in Iraq today is the world's 
     fight.
       The terrorists will not succeed. We will not compromise 
     with terror.

  The Prime Minister also said that his three goals are: defeat the 
terrorists; improve quality of life for Iraqis; bring democracy to 
Iraq. These are also the United States goals. They should be the 
international community's goals.
  I was heartened and inspired by Prime Minister Allawi's remarks. His 
commitment to values we hold dear is apparent as he leads his country 
through these difficult times.
  He and his government are doing well. They are exercising their 
sovereignty, taking on the insurgents and terrorists, and pursuing 
reconstruction and development. Maybe most importantly, they are 
determined to lead their country toward democracy.
  The key to Iraq's success, however, is bringing stability and 
security to the country. Iraq continues to build its military and 
police forces, but in the meantime, Prime Minister Allawi and his 
government will require the assistance of U.S. forces.
  The last few weeks have been difficult in Iraq, for Americans and 
Iraqis alike. We mourn the deaths of our young service men and women 
who are the frontlines of this global war on terrorism.
  But we know that they have sacrificed for our own security, because a 
free, democratic Iraq won't provide a sanctuary or safe have for 
terrorists and their ilk.
  The Iraqi people have also paid a heavy toll, especially those Iraqis 
who have volunteered to join their country's security forces in an 
effort to protect their country from the terrorists. In fact, over the 
last several months, more Iraqis have been killed than non-Iraqis.
  We should not be surprised by these attacks, however. We know they 
would increase. The terrorists will do everything they can do disrupt 
the political process that is evolving and carrying us forward to 
elections in January.
  But they have not been successful! In the last few weeks, Iraq has 
organized a conference to select an interim national council that will 
serve a legislative and oversight role over Iraq's executive branch.
  In fact, I recently had the opportunity to call and speak with the 
Chairman of the Council, my counterpart. He told me how committed he 
and his colleagues were to defeating the terrorists and bringing 
democracy and freedom to Iraq.
  Prime Minister Allawi has also been clear and resolute in his 
determination to fighting the terrorists. He has also made clear that 
Iraqis need to take the lead in combating this threat. He has also made 
clear that Iraq must stick to the electoral timetable that has been 
established.
  The Prime Minister is correct. We must stick to the January date for 
national elections. Iraq was able to elect its interim national council 
in September. Iraq can elect its national assembly in January.
  We can win the war against terrorism and extremism militarily, but we 
must also win politically, with the people.
  We must not be dissuaded by the naysayers, many of whom also said 
that the interim Iraqi government--Prime Minister Allawi and his 
cabinet--should not have assumed sovereignty on June 1, that it should 
have been delayed because of the terrorists. History has proven them 
wrong.
  To not hold elections in January would be to give the terrorists what 
they want, and to deny the majority of Iraqis that which they want 
most.
  Second, we can help Iraq gain control of the security situation, and 
put an Iraqi face on the solution, by improving and accelerating the 
training of Iraqi military and police forces.
  We can do this by getting NATO on the ground immediately to help 
expand the training infrastructure and expedite the training.
  The third key to moving forward on the path of democracy is to 
improve the daily lives of Iraqis. The U.S. can help in this by 
accelerating and making more efficient the reconstruction and 
development monies the Congress has made available to Iraq.
  We need to get Iraqis back to work for the future of Iraq; we need to 
get them invested, so that rather than blowing up pipelines they are 
fixing them, and rather than shutting down market places, they are 
working in them.
  Finally, we need greater involvement by the international community. 
The U.S. already has over 30 coalition partners on the ground with 
military forces, in harms way, in Iraq. They are doing a superb job. 
But we also need other countries to do their share: by relieving Iraq's 
heavy debt burden, by increasing economic and other reconstruction 
assistance, by providing security forces and other resources to help 
train Iraqi security forces, by urging Iraq's neighbors to better 
control the borders to prevent terrorists and others from crossing into 
Iraq.
  It is clear to me that the frontlines on the Global War on Terrorism 
are being fought in Iraq.
  We must and will defeat the terrorists. Doing so would have a major 
impact on their capabilities and resolve.
  As the President has said over and over, this is a long fight, and 
that it is

[[Page S9601]]

better to fight terrorists overseas, than in our own country.
  We cannot afford--no country can--to suffer the attacks that the 
Russian people have seen in the last few weeks.
  The attacks on the school in Russia, where hundreds of children were 
slaughtered, makes that terribly clear.
  No American mother should have to visit the ``small graves'' that so 
many Russian mothers are mourning over.
  The United States can, must, and will win the war on terrorism. I am 
confident in our military, I am confident in this administration, and I 
am confident in the American people.
  A key element to winning the war on terrorism is overhauling our 
intelligence community. We can't afford to wait, to study this issue 
further, to delay.
  Intelligence reform has been studied for years by a number of 
commissions. The 9/11 Commission is just the latest, and they studied 
it for many months, with scores of staff, and conducted hundreds of 
interviews and dozens of hearings.
  The time for study is over; the time for action is overdue.
  It is true that we may make a misstep, that we may get something 
wrong, but we can always go back and fix that. Overall, I believe the 
improvements the Senate will consider on the Floor next week will 
exceed any deficiencies.
  We must capitalize on the great work done by the 9/11 Commission, and 
on the will of the American people, and do all that we can to improve 
our Nation's intelligence community, our homeland security, and our 
ability to defeat terrorists.

                          ____________________