[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[April 10, 2003]
[Pages 330-331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Videotaped Remarks to the Iraqi People
April 10, 2003

    This is George W. Bush, the President of the United States. At this 
moment, the regime of Saddam Hussein is being 
removed from power, and a long era of fear and cruelty is ending. 
American and coalition forces are now operating inside Baghdad, and we 
will not stop until Saddam's corrupt gang is gone. The Government of 
Iraq and the future of your country will soon belong to you.
    The goals of our coalition are clear and limited. We will end a 
brutal regime, whose aggression and weapons of mass destruction make it 
a unique threat to the world. Coalition forces will help maintain law 
and order so that Iraqis can live in security. We will respect your 
great religious traditions, whose principles of equality and compassion 
are essential to Iraq's future. We will help you build a peaceful and 
representative government that protects the rights of all citizens. And 
then our military forces will leave. Iraq will go forward as a unified, 
independent, and sovereign nation that has regained a respected place in 
the world.

[[Page 331]]

    The United States and its coalition partners respect the people of 
Iraq. We are taking unprecedented measures to spare the lives of 
innocent Iraqi citizens. We are beginning to deliver food and water and 
medicine to those in need. Our only enemy is Saddam and his brutal 
regime, and that regime is your enemy as well.
    In the new era that is coming to Iraq, your country will no longer 
be held captive to the will of a cruel dictator. You will be free--free to build a better life instead 
of building more palaces for Saddam and his 
sons, free to pursue economic prosperity 
without the hardship of economic sanctions, free to travel and free to 
speak your mind, free to join in the political affairs of Iraq. And all 
the people who make up your country--Kurds, Shi'a, Turkomans, Sunnis, 
and others--will be free of the terrible persecution that so many have 
endured.
    The nightmare that Saddam Hussein has 
brought to your nation will soon be over. You are a good and gifted 
people, the heirs of a great civilization that contributes to all 
humanity. You deserve better than tyranny and corruption and torture 
chambers. You deserve to live as free people. And I assure every citizen 
of Iraq: Your nation will soon be free.
    Thank you.

Note: The President's remarks were videotaped at 11:30 a.m. on April 8 
in the small dining room at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland for 
later broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary released the remarks 
on April 10 and also released an Arabic language transcript of these 
remarks.