    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [March 26, 2003]
    [Pages 297-300]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida
    March 26, 2003

        The President. Thank you all. Thank you all. Thank you all very
    much. General DeLong, thanks for such a
    kind introduction. Laura and I are really proud to be here with the good
    men and women of CENTCOM and MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
        We are pleased to see so many family members who are here. We want
    to--we thank you for coming. And I want you to know your Nation
    appreciates your commitment and your sacrifice in the cause of peace and
    freedom.
        We're also proud to be here today with our friends and allies,
    representative of the 48 nations across the world who have joined
    America in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Over the last week, the world has
    witnessed the skill and honor and resolve of our military in the course
    of battle. We have seen the character of this new generation of American
    Armed Forces. We've seen their daring against ruthless enemies and their
    decency to an oppressed people. Millions of Americans are proud of our
    military, and so am I. I am honored to be the Commander in Chief.
        I appreciate very much General Peter Pace,
    Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has joined us from
    Washington, DC, today. He is representative of the caliber of our
    generals. He's one of the finest people I know. I'm proud you're here,
    General Pace. Thank you for representing the Marine Corps so well, and
    all the fighting men and women.
        I'm proud, also, to be here with Charles Holland, commander of SOCOM; the wing commander of MacDill Air
    Force Base, Colonel Tanker Snyder. ``Tanker''
    He told me that was his given name, Tanker. [Laughter] That's a heck of
    a name, Tanker. [Laughter]
        Of course, I'm really proud of your Governor.
        Audience members. God bless you, sir! [Laughter]
        The President. I want to thank members of the Florida congressional
    delegation who flew down with us today on Air Force One, starting with
    the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a Floridian committed to
    making sure our military has what it takes to win war and, therefore, be
    able to keep the peace--the chairman, Bill Young. W.
    Bill As well, Congressman Jim Davis,
    Mike Bilirakis, Adam Putnam, and Katherine Harris came
    down today. I know we've got some of the mayors from the local area
    here: Rick Baker, Brian Aungst, and my old buddy Dick Greco,
    the mayor of Tampa, Florida--for being here.
        I want to thank everybody in uniform who is here today. Thank you
    for your service, your sacrifice, and your love of America. I appreciate
    the members of the United States Coast Guard who are here today. Our
    Coast Guard is deployed in the

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    Middle East; at the same time, it protects this homeland of ours. And
    you're doing a fine job on behalf of the American people, all up and
    down the coastlines of this great country.
        I want to thank members of the Florida Army National Guard who are
    here. And I suspect we might have a few veterans as well as retired
    members of our military. I want to thank you all for your service, for
    setting such a clear example for future generations of those who wear
    our uniform. I think you'll agree that our military is not letting you
    down when it comes to upholding the great tradition of peace through
    strength.
        One of the problems with being the President is you always end up
    being the last guy here. [Laughter] So I'm sorry I didn't get to hear
    Toby Keith and Darryl Worley. But I want to thank you all for coming and providing
    your talents today in support of our efforts to make the world a more
    peaceful place. I also want to thank Chaplain Stone. I appreciate your words of prayer for our men and
    women in uniform, especially for your prayers for the loved ones of
    American and British troops whose lives were lost.
        People across this country are praying. They are praying that they
    hope those families and loved ones will find comfort and grace in their
    sorrow. We pray that God will bless and receive each of the fallen, and
    we thank God that liberty found such brave defenders.
        At MacDill Air Force Base, I know you're proud of a certain Army
    general who couldn't be with us today on the account of some pressing
    business. [Laughter] Tommy Franks has my
    respect, the respect of our military, and the thanks of the United
    States of America.
        MacDill is the command center of our Special Operations Forces, the
    silent warriors who were first on the ground there in Iraq. And here at
    CENTCOM, you coordinate the work of a grand coalition that is disarming
    a dangerous enemy and freeing a proud people.
        Every nation in our coalition understands the terrible threat we
    face from weapons of mass destruction. Every nation represented here
    refuses to live in a future of fear, at the mercy of terrorists and
    tyrants. And every nation here today shares the same resolve: We will be
    relentless in our pursuit of victory.
        Our military is making good progress in Iraq; yet this war is far
    from over. As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the
    most desperate elements of a doomed regime. We cannot know the duration
    of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead. We cannot predict
    the final day of the Iraqi regime, but I can assure you, and I assure
    the long-suffering people of Iraq, there will be a day of reckoning for
    the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing near.
        Many of you here today were also involved in the liberation of
    Afghanistan. The military demands are very different in Iraq. Yet our
    coalition is showing the same spirit, the same resolve--that spirit and
    resolve that destroyed the Al Qaida terror camps, that routed the
    Taliban and freed the people of Afghanistan.
        In Iraq today, our military is focused and unwavering. We have an
    effective plan of battle and the flexibility to meet every challenge.
    Nothing--nothing--will divert us from our clear mission. We will press
    on through every hardship. We will overcome every danger, and we will
    prevail.
        It has been 6 days since the major ground war began. It's been 5
    days since the major air war began. And every day has brought us closer
    to our objective. At the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Special
    Forces helped to secure airfields and bridges and oilfields, to clear
    the way for our forces and to prevent sabotage and environmental
    catastrophe. Our pilots and cruise missiles have struck vital military
    targets with lethal precision.

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        We've destroyed the base of a terrorist group in northern Iraq that
    sought to attack America and Europe with deadly poisons. We have moved
    over 200 miles to the north, toward Iraq's capital, in the last 3 days.
    And the dictator's major Republican Guard units are now under direct and
    intense attack. Day by day, Saddam Hussein is
    losing his grip on Iraq. Day by day, the Iraqi people are closer to
    freedom.
        We are also taking every action we can to prevent the Iraqi regime
    from using its hidden weapons of mass destruction. We are attacking the
    command structure that could order the use of those weapons. Coalition
    troops have taken control of hundreds of square miles of territory to
    prevent the launch of missiles and chemical or biological weapons.
        Every victory in this campaign and every sacrifice serves the
    purpose of defending innocent lives, in America and across the world,
    from the weapons of terror. We will not wait to meet this danger with
    firefighters and police and doctors on the streets of our own cities.
    Instead, we are meeting the danger today with our Army, Navy, Air Force,
    Coast Guard, and Marines.
        All the nations in our coalition are contributing to our steady
    progress. British ground forces have seized strategic towns and ports.
    The Royal Air Force is striking targets throughout Iraq. The Royal Navy
    is taking command of coastal waters. The Australian military is
    providing naval gunfire support and Special Forces and fighter aircraft
    on missions deep in Iraq. Polish military forces have secured an Iraqi
    oil platform in the Persian Gulf. A Danish submarine is monitoring Iraqi
    intelligence, providing early warning. Czech, Slovak, Polish, and
    Romanian forces, soon to be joined by Ukrainian and Bulgarian forces,
    are forward-deployed in the region, prepared to respond in the event of
    an attack of weapons of mass destruction anywhere in the region. Spain
    is providing important logistical and humanitarian support. Coalition
    forces are skilled and courageous, and we are honored to have them by
    our side.
        In the early stages of this war, the world is getting a clearer view
    of the Iraqi regime and the evil at its heart. In the ranks of that
    regime are men whose idea of courage is to brutalize unarmed prisoners.
    They wage attacks while posing as civilians. They use real civilians as
    human shields. They pretend to surrender, then fire upon those who show
    them mercy. This band of war criminals has been put on notice: The day
    of Iraq's liberation will also be a day of justice.
        And in the early stages of this war, we have also seen the honor of
    the American military and our coalition. Protecting innocent civilians
    is a central commitment of our war plan. Our enemy in this war is the
    Iraqi regime, not the people who have suffered under it. As we bring
    justice to a dictator, today we started
    bringing humanitarian aid in large amounts to an oppressed land.
        We are treating Iraqi prisoners of war according to the highest
    standards of law and decency. Coalition doctors are working to save the
    lives of the wounded, including Iraqi soldiers. One of our servicemen
    said this about the injured Iraqis he treated: ``We can't blame them for
    the mistreatment that their Government is doing to our soldiers. I'm all
    for treating them. That's what we do. That's our job.''
        Our entire coalition has a job to do, and it will not end with the
    liberation of Iraq. We will help the Iraqi people to find the benefits
    and assume the duties of self-government. The form of those institutions
    will arise from Iraq's own culture and its own choices. Yet, this much
    is certain: The 24 million people of Iraq have lived too long under a
    violent criminal gang calling itself a government.
        Iraqis are a good and gifted people. They deserve better than a life
    spent bowing before a dictator. The people of Iraq deserve to stand on
    their feet as free men and women, the citizens of a free country.

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        This goal of a free and peaceful Iraq unites our coalition. And this
    goal comes from the deepest convictions of America. The freedom you
    defend is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The
    liberty we prize is not American's gift to the world; it is God's gift
    to humanity.
        The Army Special Forces define their mission in a motto: ``To
    Liberate the Oppressed.'' Generations of men and women in uniform have
    served and sacrificed in this cause. Now the call of history has come
    once again to all in our military and to all in our coalition. We are
    answering that call. We have no ambition in Iraq except the liberation
    of its people. We ask no reward except a durable peace. And we will
    accept no outcome short of complete and final success.
        The path we are taking is not easy, and it may be long. Yet we know
    our destination. We will stay on the path, mile by mile, all the way to
    Baghdad and all the way to victory.
        Thank you all. And may God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:42 a.m. in Hangar 3. In his remarks, he
    referred to Gen. Tommy R. Franks, USA, combatant commander, Lt. Gen.
    Michael P. DeLong, USMC, deputy commander, and Maj. Kenneth Stone, USAF,
    chaplain, U.S. Central Command; Gen. Charles R. Holland, USAF,
    commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; Col. David ``Tanker''
    Snyder, USAF, commander, 6th Air Mobility Wing; Gov. Jeb Bush of
    Florida; Mayor Richard M. Baker of St. Petersburg, FL; Mayor Brian
    Aungst of Clearwater, FL; Mayor Dick A. Greco of Tampa, FL; country
    music entertainers Toby Keith and Darryl Worley; and President Saddam
    Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a
    Spanish language transcript of these remarks.