    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [January 3, 2003]
    [Pages 20-24]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Troops at Fort Hood, Texas
    January 3, 2003

        The President. Thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you all
    very much. General, thanks a lot for that kind introduction. I always
    like a short introduction. [Laughter] Thank you for your warm welcome,
    and thank you for this jacket.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. I'm proud to wear it.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. And I'm proud to wear it in my home State of Texas.
    Laura and I are honored to kick off the new year
    with the soldiers and families of Fort Hood.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. All Texans are proud that our State is the home to so
    many fine military units, including the great 1st Cavalry Division----
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. ----and the mighty 4th Infantry Division----
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. ----the key ingredients to the home of America's
    hammer.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. On Christmas Eve I had the honor of calling some of
    our troops who are around the world, service members, men and women from
    many bases, including Fort Hood. I thanked them for serving America so
    far from home and far away from their families.
        Today it's my honor to come here to Fort Hood to thank each and
    every one of you for the work you do to make sure that our United States
    Army is second to none.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. We've got more than 1,300 troops from Fort Hood that
    are serving abroad and defending our country and keeping the peace, from
    Cuba to Kuwait to Korea. Another 1,600 are preparing to deploy abroad.
    In the months ahead, more soldiers from Fort Hood may be giving--given
    other essential missions. But wherever you serve or wherever you may be
    sent, you can know that America is grateful and your Commander in Chief
    is confident in your abilities and proud of your service.
        Audience members. Hooah!

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        The President. I want to thank General Wilson and his wife, Lynn, for
    receiving Laura and me. I want to thank Larry
    Ellis and
    Ellis. I appreciate so much General Joe Peterson. I want to thank Sergeant Major Gravens and his wife, Deborah,
    for joining us here today. I appreciate my friend, the Governor of the
    great State of Texas, Rick Perry, for joining us
    today. I want to thank members of the congressional delegation who are
    here, Joe Barton, Congressman Chet
    Edwards. I appreciate you all coming.
        I want to thank some of the State and local officials. I know my
    friend Dianne White Delisi White is here. I
    want to thank Suzanna Hupp and Sid
    Miller as well. I want to thank the mayor of Killeen; haven't seen the mayor in a while.
    It's good to be in your presence, Mayor. Appreciate all the local
    officials, my fellow Texans, military families, veterans, and all the
    community leaders who have come out today. Thanks for being here.
        I know we've got some of the many veterans who live in this area
    with us today. The men and women of Fort Hood follow in the great
    traditions that you passed on to them. You each wear a proud title,
    veteran of the United States military, and I want to thank you for the
    example you have set and the service you gave to our country.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. And I appreciate and America appreciates the
    sacrifices of our military families. I signed the largest increase in
    defense spending in a generation.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. I wanted to make sure that our soldiers had the best
    possible pay----
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. ----the best possible training----
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. ----and to make sure the housing was the best
    possible for our families, military families. That's the least we owe
    the husbands and wives of those who wear the uniform. Each one of you
    knows that Army life can be rewarding, and you know it can be dangerous
    and difficult. Every day, our military families are putting America's
    interests first, and America thanks you as well as those who wear the
    uniform.
        Fort Hood and the units that call it home have a special place in
    our country's military history. For decades, soldiers from the First
    Team and the Iron Horse Division and from other units have fought
    America's battles with distinction and courage.
        Now you're called again into action, to defend America and the cause
    of freedom in the first war of the 21st century. For this country and
    for our friends around the world who love freedom like we do, the stakes
    are great. The terrorists have shown what they intend for us, and we're
    not going to forget.
        We're not going to forget the fact that they kill without regard for
    the rules of war. They don't value innocent life like we do. In America,
    we say everybody is precious. Everybody counts. Everybody is equal in
    the eyes of the Almighty.
        That's not the way the enemy thinks. They don't value innocent life.
    They're nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers, and that's the way
    we're going to treat them.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. They reach across oceans to target the innocent. They
    seek weapons of mass murder on a massive scale. The terrorists will not
    be stopped by mercy or by conscience, but they will be stopped.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. And they will be stopped by the will and the might of
    the United States of America.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Our country is in a great contest of will and
    purpose. We're being

    [[Page 22]]

    tested. In times of crisis, we will act decisively. And in times of
    calm, we'll be focused and patient and relentless in our pursuit of the
    enemy. That's what we owe the American people.
        We're not waiting for another attack. We can't wait for another
    attack to employ the full power of America in this cause. We're acting
    now to protect the American people and to shape a future of peace. This
    war, like others, is not going to be won on the defensive. So we're
    going to take this fight to the enemy.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. And we're making good progress. We're making good
    progress. Working with our friends and allies, we have freed the people
    of Afghanistan from one of the most brutal regimes in the history of
    mankind. We enforced a clear doctrine that said, ``If you harbor a
    terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you're just
    as guilty as the terrorists,'' and the Taliban knows what we meant.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. We've destroyed camps where terrorists train. There
    used to be camps. The United States military showed up. There are not
    any camps in Afghanistan.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. We've emptied caves where they hid. See, they used to
    think they could hide. But you can't hide from the United States of
    America. You may hide for a brief period of time, but pretty soon we're
    going to put the spotlight on you, and we'll bring you to justice.
        We've cut off millions of dollars that the enemy was using to fund
    operations. We're working with friends and allies around the world, and
    we're hauling them in, one by one. Some have met their fate by sudden
    justice. Some are now answering questions at Guantanamo Bay. In either
    case, they're no longer a problem to the United States of America and
    our friends.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. We do not yet have all the terrorists, but they're
    all on the run. And if they listen carefully, they will hear behind them
    the mighty footsteps of the United States of America.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. And we're not quitting. We'll fight this war on many
    fronts, with many tools. Our intelligence operations are tracking the
    terrorists. We're sharing intelligence with other countries that share
    our desire for peace. Our allies are keeping the peace and helping us
    keep the peace in Afghanistan. We're hunting the terrorists on every
    continent. See, they're in over 60 different countries.
        We've got a vast coalition of people bound by this principle: Either
    you're with us, or you're with the enemy; either you're with those who
    love freedom, or you're with those who hate innocent life. Our coalition
    is strong, and we're keeping it strong. And we're on the hunt. We're
    chasing them down one by one.
        And as well, we're confronting the threat of outlaw regimes who seek
    weapons of mass destruction. Different circumstances require different
    strategies, from the pressure of diplomacy to the prospect of force. Yet
    in every case, the resolve of our Nation is the same: We must and we
    will protect the American people and our friends and allies from
    catastrophic violence, wherever the source, whatever the threat.
        In the case of North Korea, the world must continue to speak with
    one voice, to turn that regime away from its nuclear ambitions.
        In the case of Iraq, the world has already spoken with one voice.
    The Iraqi regime has a duty under Security Council resolutions to
    declare and destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction. That's what
    the world has said. That's what the United States expects from Saddam
    Hussein.
        The Iraqi regime is a grave threat to the United States. The Iraqi
    regime is a threat to any American and to threats who are friends of
    America. Why do I say that?

    [[Page 23]]

    Well, first of all, the leader in Iraq has
    publicly proclaimed his hatred for our country and what we stand for.
        The Iraqi regime has a record--a record of torturing their own
    people, a brutal record, and a record of reckless aggression against
    those in their neighborhood.
        The Iraqi regime has used weapons of mass destruction. They not only
    had weapons of mass destruction; they used weapons of mass destruction.
    They used weapons of mass destruction on people in other countries; they
    have used weapons of mass destruction on their own people. That's why I
    say Iraq is a threat, a real threat.
        Four years ago, U.N. inspectors concluded that Iraq had failed to
    amount--account for large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons,
    weapons capable of killing millions. In last month's declaration, Iraq
    again failed to account for those weapons.
        The Iraqi dictator did not even attempt
    to submit a credible declaration. We can now be certain that he holds
    the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council and its resolutions in
    contempt. He really doesn't care about the opinion of mankind. Saddam
    Hussein was given a path to peace. Thus far, he has chosen the path of
    defiance.
        The fate of the Iraqi regime is being determined by its own
    decisions. Saddam Hussein knows precisely
    what he can and must do to avoid conflict. We have made that clear. The
    world has spoken with one voice.
        And even now, he could end his defiance
    and dramatically change directions. He has that choice to make. We
    certainly prefer voluntary compliance by Iraq. You see, the use of
    military force is this Nation's last option, its last choice.
        Yet, if force becomes necessary to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass
    destruction and enforce the will of the United Nations, if force becomes
    necessary to secure our country and to keep the peace, America will act
    deliberately, America will act decisively, and America will prevail
    because we've got the finest military in the world.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. We are ready. We're prepared. And should the United
    States be compelled to act, our troops will be acting in the finest
    traditions of America--should we be forced to act. Should Saddam
    Hussein seals his fate by refusing to disarm,
    by ignoring the opinion of the world, you will be fighting not to
    conquer anybody but to liberate people.
        See, we believe in freedom. No matter what their oppressors may say,
    the people of Iraq have no love for tyranny. Like all human beings, they
    desire and they deserve to live in liberty and to live in dignity.
    America seeks more than the defeat of terror. We seek the advance of
    human freedom in a world at peace. That is the charge history has given
    us, and that is the charge we will keep.
        In crucial hours, the success of our cause will depend upon you. As
    members of our military, you serve this Nation's ideals, and you
    demonstrate those ideals in your code and in your character. As
    Commander in Chief, I have come to know the men and women who wear
    America's uniform. I have seen your love of country and your devotion to
    a cause larger than yourself. I have seen your discipline, your
    idealism, and your sense of honor. I know that every order I give can
    bring a cost. I also know without a doubt that every order I give will
    be carried out with skill and unselfish courage.
        Some crucial hours may lie ahead. We know the challenges and the
    dangers we face. If this generation of Americans is ready, we accept the
    burden of leadership. We act in the cause of peace and freedom, and in
    that cause, we will prevail.
        Thank you for your service. May God bless you. May God bless your
    families, and may God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. at the Abrams Physical Fitness
    Center. In his

    [[Page 24]]

    remarks, he referred to Gen. Robert Wilson, USA, acting commanding
    general, III Corps and Fort Hood, and his wife, Lynn; Gen. Larry Ellis,
    USA, commanding general, Army Forces Command, and his wife, Jean; Gen.
    Joe Peterson, USA, commanding general, 1st Cavalry Division; Command
    Sgt. Maj. Michael Gravens, USA, corps sergeant major, III Corps and Fort
    Hood, and his wife, Deborah; Texas State Representatives Dianne White
    Delisi, Suzanna Hupp, and Sid Miller; Mayor Maureen J. Jouett of
    Killeen, TX; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the
    Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these
    remarks.