    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [May 3, 2003]
    [Pages 420-421]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    May 3, 2003

        Good morning. On Thursday, I visited the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, now
    headed home after the longest carrier deployment in recent history. I
    delivered good news to the men and women who fought in the cause of
    freedom: Their mission is complete, and major combat operations in Iraq
    have ended. Our coalition is now engaged in securing and reconstructing
    that country. The United States and our allies have prevailed.
        Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of
    precision, speed, and boldness the enemy did not expect and the world
    had not seen before. From distant bases or ships at sea, we sent planes
    and missiles that could destroy an enemy division or strike a single
    building or bunker. Marines and soldiers charged to Baghdad across 350
    miles of hostile ground in one of the swiftest mass advances of heavy
    arms in history. The world has seen the might of the American Armed
    Forces.
        In this victory, America received valuable help from our allies.
    This weekend, I am hosting Australian Prime Minister John Howard at my ranch in Crawford, Texas. Prime Minister Howard
    has been a strong ally in the war on terror, and Australian forces have
    played an important role in the liberation of Iraq. Australian Special
    Forces entered Iraq with their American and British counterparts at the
    very beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They helped to secure sites
    in western Iraq that could have been used to launch Scud missiles. And
    they disrupted Iraqi troop movements and command posts, paving the way
    for Army and Marine units making their way to Baghdad.
        Australia FA-18 fighters carried out deep bombing runs in Iraq. The
    Australian Navy worked with British forces to take control of the Faw
    Peninsula. Australian Navy divers cleared mines in the port of Umm Qasr,
    opening sea lanes to deliver humanitarian assistance. And Australian
    transport planes delivered emergency supplies and equipment for Iraqi
    hospitals.
        All told, about 2,000 Australian service members contributed to the
    destruction of Saddam Hussein's regime and the liberation of the Iraqi
    people. All Australians can be justly proud of the superb performance of
    Australians' air, naval, and Special Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    America is deeply grateful for their important contributions.
        Our coalition still has much work to do in Iraq. We are bringing
    order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We are pursuing
    and finding leaders of the old regime who will be held to account for
    their crimes. We have begun the search for hidden chemical and
    biological weapons at hundreds of locations. We are helping to rebuild
    Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for
    himself instead of hospitals and schools for the people. And we will
    stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of,
    by, and for the Iraqi people. The transition from dictatorship to
    democracy is hard and will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our
    coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we
    will leave behind a free Iraq.

    [[Page 421]]

        The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that still goes
    on. Al Qaida is wounded, not destroyed. The scattered cells of the
    terrorist network still operate in many nations. And we know from daily
    intelligence that they continue to plot against free people. The
    proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious danger. The enemies of
    freedom are not idle, and neither are we. Our Government has taken
    unprecedented measures to defend our homeland, and more importantly, we
    will continue to hunt the enemy down before he can strike.
        No act of terrorists will change our purpose or weaken our resolve
    or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to
    victory.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 2:45 p.m. on April 30 in the Cabinet
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 3. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    May 2 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his remarks,
    the President referred to former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of this address.