    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [March 19, 2004]
    [Pages 410-414]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom
    March 19, 2004

        Good morning, and thanks for coming. Laura
    and I are pleased to welcome you all to the White House. Mr. Secretary,
    thank you for being here. Members of my National Security Council are
    here; members of the administration; members of our Armed Forces;
    Members of the United States Congress--thank you for being here; ladies
    and gentlemen. I particularly want to thank the members of the
    diplomatic corps who are here, thank the ambassadors for coming today.
        We are representing 84 countries united against a common danger and
    joined in a common purpose. We are the nations that have recognized the
    threat of terrorism, and we are the nations that will defeat that
    threat. Each of us has pledged before the world: We will never bow to
    the violence of a few. We will face this mortal danger, and we will
    overcome it together.
        As we meet, violence and death at the hands of terrorists are still
    fresh in our memory. The people of Spain are burying their innocent
    dead. These men and women and children began their day in a great and
    peaceful city, yet lost their lives on a battlefield, murdered at random
    and without remorse. Americans saw the chaos and the grief and the
    vigils and the funerals, and we have shared in the sorrow of the Spanish
    people. Ambassador Ruperez,
    please accept our deepest sympathy for the great loss that your country
    has suffered.
        The murders in Madrid are a reminder that the civilized world is at
    war, and in

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    this new kind of war, civilians find themselves suddenly on the
    frontlines. In recent years, terrorists have struck from Spain to
    Russia, to Israel, to East Africa, to Morocco, to the Philippines, and
    to America. They've targeted Arab States such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
    and Yemen. They have attacked Muslims in Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan,
    Iraq, and Afghanistan. No nation or region is exempt from the
    terrorists' campaign of violence.
        Each of these attacks on the innocent is a shock and a tragedy and a
    test of our will. Each attack is designed to demoralize our people and
    divide us from one another. And each attack must be answered not only
    with sorrow but with greater determination, deeper resolve, and bolder
    action against the killers. It is the interest of every country and the
    duty of every government to fight and destroy this threat to our people.
        There is no dividing line--there is a dividing line in our world,
    not between nations and not between religions or cultures but a dividing
    line separating two visions of justice and the value of life. On a tape
    claiming responsibility for the atrocities in Madrid, a man is heard to
    say, ``We choose death, while you choose life.'' We don't know if this
    is the voice of the actual killers, but we do know it expresses the
    creed of the enemy. It is a mindset that rejoices in suicide, incites
    murder, and celebrates every death we mourn. And we who stand on the
    other side of the line must be equally clear and certain of our
    convictions. We do love life, the life given to us and to all. We
    believe in the values that uphold the dignity of life, tolerance and
    freedom and the right of conscience. And we know that this way of life
    is worth defending. There is no neutral ground--no neutral ground--in
    the fight between civilization and terror, because there is no neutral
    ground between good and evil, freedom and slavery, and life and death.
        The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is an inescapable
    calling of our generation. The terrorists are offended not merely by our
    policies; they are offended by our existence as free nations. No
    concession will appease their hatred. No accommodation will satisfy
    their endless demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to control the
    peoples of the Middle East and to blackmail the rest of the world with
    weapons of mass terror.
        There can be no separate peace with the terrorist enemy. Any sign of
    weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence and invites more
    violence for all nations. The only certain way to protect our people is
    by united and decisive action. In this contest of will and purpose, not
    every nation joins every mission or participates in the same way. Yet,
    every nation makes a vital contribution, and America is proud to stand
    with all of you as we pursue a broad strategy in the war against terror.
        We are using every tool of finance, intelligence, law enforcement,
    and military power to break terror networks, to deny them refuge, and to
    find their leaders. Over the past 30 months, we have frozen or seized
    nearly $200 million in assets of terror networks. We have captured or
    killed some two-thirds of Al Qaida's known leaders as well as many of Al
    Qaida's associates in countries like the United States or Germany or
    Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or Thailand. We are taking the fight to Al
    Qaida allies, such as Ansar Al-Islam in Iraq, Jemaah Islamiyah in
    Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Our coalition is sending an unmistakable
    message to the terrorists, including those who struck in Madrid: These
    killers will be tracked down and found; they will face their day of
    justice.
        Our coalition is taking urgent action to stop the transfer of deadly
    weapons and materials. America and the nations of Australia and France
    and Germany and Italy and Japan and the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
    Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, and Norway have joined in
    the Proliferation Security Initiative, all aimed to bind together to
    interdict lethal

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    materials transported by air or sea or land. Many governments have
    cooperated to expose and dismantle the network of A.Q. Khan, which sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran, and North
    Korea. By all these efforts, we are determined to prevent catastrophic
    technologies from falling into the hands of an embittered few.
        Our coalition is also confronting the dangerous combination of
    outlaw states, terrorist groups, and weapons of mass destruction. For
    years, the Taliban made Afghanistan the home base of Al Qaida. And so we
    gave the Taliban a choice, to abandon forever their support for terror
    or face the destruction of their regime. Because the Taliban chose
    defiance, our coalition acted to remove this threat. And now the terror
    camps are closed, and the Government of a free Afghanistan is
    represented here today as an active partner in the war on terror.
        The people of Afghanistan are a world away from the nightmare of the
    Taliban. Citizens of Afghanistan have adopted a new constitution
    guaranteeing free elections and full participation by women. The new
    Afghan army is becoming a vital force of stability in that country.
    Businesses are opening, health care centers are being established, and
    the children of Afghanistan are back in school, boys and girls.
        This progress is a tribute to the brave Afghan people and to the
    efforts of many nations. NATO, including forces from Canada, France,
    Germany, and other nations, is leading the effort to provide security.
    Japan and Saudi Arabia have helped to complete the highway from Kabul to
    Kandahar, which is furthering commerce and unifying the country. Italy
    is working with Afghans to reform their legal system and strengthening
    an independent judiciary. Three years ago, the people of Afghanistan
    were oppressed and isolated from the world by a terrorist regime. Today,
    that nation has a democratic government and many allies, and all of us
    are proud to be friends of the Afghan people.
        Many countries represented here today also acted to liberate the
    people of Iraq. One year ago, military forces of a strong coalition
    entered Iraq to enforce United Nations demands, to defend our security,
    and to liberate that country from the rule of a tyrant. For Iraq, it was
    a day of deliverance. For the nations of our coalition, it was the
    moment when years of demands and pledges turned to decisive action.
    Today, as Iraqis join the free peoples of the world, we mark a turning
    point for the Middle East and a crucial advance for human liberty.
        There have been disagreements in this matter among old and valued
    friends. Those differences belong to the past. All of us can now agree
    that the fall of the Iraqi dictator has removed a source of violence,
    aggression, and instability in the Middle East. It's a good thing that
    the demands of the United Nations were enforced, not ignored with
    impunity. It is a good thing that years of illicit weapons development
    by the dictator have come to the end. It is a good thing that the Iraqi
    people are now receiving aid instead of suffering under sanctions. And
    it is a good thing that the men and women across the Middle East,
    looking to Iraq, are getting a glimpse of what life in a free country
    can be like.
        There are still violent thugs and murderers in Iraq, and we're
    dealing with them. But no one can argue that the Iraqi people would be
    better off with the thugs and murderers back in the palaces. Who would
    prefer that Saddam's torture chambers still
    be open? Who would wish that more mass graves were still being filled?
    Who would begrudge the Iraqi people their long-awaited liberation? One
    year after the armies of liberation arrived, every soldier who has
    fought, every aid worker who has served, every Iraqi who has joined in
    their country's defense can look with pride on a brave and historic
    achievement. They've served in freedom's cause, and that is a privilege.

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        Today in Iraq, a British-led division is securing the southern city
    of Basra. Poland continues to lead a multinational division in south-
    central Iraq. Japan and the Republic of Korea--of South Korea have made
    historic commitments of troops to help bring peace to Iraq. Special
    forces from El Salvador and Macedonia and other nations are helping to
    find and defeat Ba'athist and terrorist killers. Military engineers from
    Kazakhstan have cleared more than a half a million explosive devices
    from Iraq. Turkey is helping to resupply coalition forces. All of these
    nations and many others are meeting their responsibilities to the people
    of Iraq.
        Whatever their past views, every nation now has an interest in a
    free, successful, stable Iraq. And the terrorists understand their own
    interest in the fate of that country. For them, the connection between
    Iraq's future and the course of the war on terror is very clear. They
    understand that a free Iraq will be a devastating setback to their
    ambitions of tyranny over the Middle East. And they have made the
    failure of democracy in Iraq one of their primary objectives.
        By attacking coalition forces, by targeting innocent Iraqis and
    foreign civilians for murder, the terrorists are trying to weaken our
    will. Instead of weakness, they're finding resolve. Not long ago, we
    intercepted a planning document being sent to leaders of Al Qaida by one
    of their associates, a man named Zarqawi. Along with the usual threats, he had a complaint: ``Our
    enemy,'' said Zarqawi, ``is growing stronger, and his intelligence data
    are increasing day by day. This is suffocation.'' Zarqawi is getting the
    idea. We will never turn over Iraq to terrorists who intend our own
    destruction. We will not fail the Iraqi people, who have placed their
    trust in us. Whatever it takes, we will fight and work to assure the
    success of freedom in Iraq.
        Many coalition countries have sacrificed in both Iraq and
    Afghanistan. Among the fallen soldiers and civilians are sons and
    daughters of Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France,
    Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands,
    Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine,
    Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We honor their
    courage. We pray for the comfort of their families. We will uphold the
    cause they served.
        The rise of democratic institutions in Afghanistan and Iraq is a
    great step toward a goal of lasting importance to the world. We have set
    out to encourage reform and democracy in the greater Middle East as the
    alternatives to fanaticism, resentment, and terror. We've set out to
    break the cycle of bitterness and radicalism that has brought stagnation
    to a vital region and destruction to cities in America and Europe and
    around the world. This task is historic and difficult. This task is
    necessary and worthy of our efforts.
        In the 1970s, the advance of democracy in Lisbon and Madrid inspired
    democratic change in Latin America. In the 1980s, the example of Poland
    ignited a fire of freedom in all of Eastern Europe. With Afghanistan and
    Iraq showing the way, we are confident that freedom will lift the sights
    and hopes of millions in the greater Middle East.
        One man who believed in our cause was a Japanese diplomat named
    Katsuhiko Oku. He worked for the Coalition
    Provision Authority in Iraq. Mr. Oku was killed when his car was
    ambushed. In his diary he described his pride in the cause he had
    joined. ``The free people of Iraq,'' he wrote, ``are now making steady
    progress in reconstructing their country while also fighting against the
    threat of terrorism. We must join hands with the Iraqi people in their
    effort to prevent Iraq from falling into the hands of terrorists.'' This
    good, decent man concluded, ``This is also our fight to defend
    freedom.''
        Ladies and gentlemen, this good man from
    Japan was right. The establishment of a free Iraq is our fight. The
    success of a free Afghanistan is our fight. The war

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    on terror is our fight. All of us are called to share the blessings of
    liberty and to be strong and steady in freedom's defense. It will surely
    be said of our times that we lived with great challenges. Let it also be
    said of our times that we understood our great duties and met them in
    full.
        May God bless our efforts.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:02 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Javier Ruperez, Spain's Ambassador
    to the U.S.; A.Q. Khan, former head of Pakistan's nuclear weapons
    program; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and senior Al Qaida
    associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. The Office of the Press Secretary also
    released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.