    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [April 12, 2005]
    [Pages 587-591]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Military Personnel at Fort Hood, Texas
    April 12, 2005

        The President. Thank you all for the warm welcome. It wasn't all
    that long ago that I brought my family over to go to church Easter
    Sunday here at Fort Hood. I've been looking forward to coming back and
    giving you a proper Army greeting: Hooah!
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. It's an honor to be with the courageous men and women
    of the ``Phantom Corps.''
        The soldiers and families of Fort Hood have contributed mightily to
    our efforts in the war on terror. Many of you have recently returned
    from Iraq.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Welcome home, and thank you for a job well done.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Others are preparing to head out this fall----
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. ----some for a second tour of duty.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Whether you're coming or going, you are making an
    enormous difference for the security of our Nation and for the peace of
    the world. I want to thank you for defending your fellow citizens. I
    want to thank you for extending liberty to millions. And I want to thank
    you for making America proud.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. I especially want to thank the military families who
    are here today. I want to thank you for your sacrifices in the war on
    terror. It isn't easy being the one left behind when a loved one goes to
    war. You have a wonderful community here at Fort Hood. I thank you for
    the support you have given to each other. By loving and supporting a
    soldier, you are also serving our Nation. Americans are grateful for
    your sacrifice and your service, and so is your Commander in Chief.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. I want to thank Lieutenant General Tom Metz and his wife, Pam. I want to
    thank Command Sergeant Major Joe Gainey and his lovely wife. I want
    to thank all the officers and soldiers of this fantastic base.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. I appreciate our fine Governor from the State of
    Texas, Governor Rick Perry, for joining us today.
        I want to thank Congressman John Carter
    and Congressman Chet Edwards for
    joining us today. I'm looking forward to giving them a ride back to
    Washington on Air Force One. [Laughter] I suspect they're looking
    forward to the ride back. [Laughter]
        I want to thank Major General Pete Chiarelli for being with us today, and his wife, Beth; Major General J.D. Thurman
    and his wife, Dee; Command Sergeant

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    Major Tom McMurtrie; and all the
    soldiers, airmen, military families, veterans, friends of Fort Hood, and
    the III Corps.
        This weekend we marked the 2-year anniversary of the liberation of
    Baghdad.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Coalition forces crossed more than 350 miles of
    desert to get there, pushing through dust storms and death squads. They
    reached the Iraqi capital in 21 days, and that achievement will be
    studied for generations as the fastest armored advance in military
    history.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. The coalition assault was rapid, and it wasn't easy.
    The enemy hid in schools and hospitals. They used civilians as human
    shields. Yet our troops persevered. We protected civilian lives while
    destroying the Republican Guard's Medina Division, pushing through the
    Karbala Gap, capturing Saddam International Airport, and, on April 9th,
    we liberated the Iraqi capital.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. For millions of Iraqis and Americans, it is a day
    they will never forget. The toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad will be recorded alongside the fall
    of the Berlin Wall as one of the great moments in the history of
    liberty. And 8 months later, soldiers of the Ivy Division----
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. ----brought the real Saddam Hussein to justice. When Ironhorse soldiers left for Iraq,
    Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator sitting in a palace, and by the
    time you came home, he was sitting in a prison cell.
        When it came time to drive the terrorists and insurgents from
    Fallujah, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division spearheaded the assault.
    The ``First Team'' was ``First in Fallujah,'' and when the dust settled,
    what you found there reminds us why we are at war: Blood-stained torture
    chambers used by terrorists to execute hostages; you found videos of
    beheadings and brutal terrorist attacks; you found over 600 improvised
    explosive devices, including an ice cream truck that had been loaded
    with bombmaking materials for a terrorist attack.
        The men and women of the Phantom Corps know why we are in Iraq. As
    one First Team soldier, Lieutenant Mike Erwin,
    put it, ``If we can start to change the most powerful country in the
    Middle East, the others will follow, and Americans 20 years down the
    road won't have to deal with a day like September the 11th, 2001.''
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. The terrorists have made Iraq a central front in the
    war on terror. Because of your service, because of your sacrifice, we
    are defeating them there where they live, so we do not have to face them
    where we live.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Because of you, the people of Iraq no longer live in
    fear of being executed and left in mass graves. Because of you, freedom
    is taking root in Iraq. Our success in Iraq will make America safer for
    us and for future generations.
        In my liberation message to the Iraqi people, I made them a solemn
    promise: ``The Government of Iraq and the future of your country will
    soon belong to you.'' I went on to say, ``We will help you build a
    peaceful and representative government that protects the rights of all
    citizens. And then our military forces will leave.''
        From the beginning, our goal in Iraq has been to promote Iraqi
    independence by helping the Iraqi people establish a free country that
    can sustain itself, rule itself, and defend itself. And in the last 2
    years, Iraqis have made enormous progress toward that goal. Iraqis have
    laid the foundations of a free society, with hundreds of independent
    newspapers and dozens of political parties and associations and schools
    that teach Iraqi children how to read and write, instead of the
    propaganda of Saddam Hussein. Iraqis have
    laid the foundation of a free economy, with a new currency and

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    independent central bank, new laws to encourage foreign investment, and
    thousands of small businesses established since liberation.
        The troops from Fort Hood have done their part. In Baghdad, soldiers
    of the 1st Cavalry Division launched Operation Adam Smith, and the new
    generation of Iraqi entrepreneurs you helped nurture will create jobs
    and opportunities for millions of their fellow citizens. Iraqis have
    laid the foundation for a society built on the rule of law. Today,
    courts are functioning across Iraq, and hundreds of independent Iraqi
    judges have been trained in Bahrain and Jordan and Czech Republic and
    Britain and Italy.
        An Iraqi special tribunal has been established that will try senior
    leadership, including Saddam Hussein.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. He will get the trial that he did not afford his
    fellow citizens when he was in power. Slowly but surely, the land that
    gave civilization the first written code of law is now restoring the
    rule of law and setting the example for people across the Middle East.
        Iraqis have laid a solid foundation for democratic self-government.
    The world watched in awe as the Iraqi people defied the car bombers and
    assassins to cast their votes in the country's first free and democratic
    election in decades. It took courage, the kind of courage displayed by a
    29-year-old Iraqi policeman named Abdul Amir. On election day, Amir noticed a suspicious man
    walking toward the line of voters at a Baghdad polling station. With
    complete disregard for his own safety, he threw his arms around the man
    and dragged him into a nearby intersection, where the man detonated the
    belt of explosives that was wrapped around his body. Amir took the brunt
    of the blast, giving his own life to save scores of innocent civilians.
    He is a hero of a free Iraq, and the world honors his valor and his
    sacrifice.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Because of brave Iraqis like Abdul Amir, today, the free nation of Iraq has elected a
    Transitional Assembly, a President, and two
    Deputy Presidents, leaders who answer to the people instead of the other
    way around.
        I've spoken with the new leaders of Iraq, President
    Talabani as well as Speaker--Assembly Speaker
    al-Hasani. I congratulated them on their
    achievement. I told them I look forward to working with the new
    Government that will soon be established. I assured them that the United
    States will continue to stand with the Iraqi people as they take control
    of their destiny and assume the blessings of self-government.
        There's a lot of hard work ahead. The Iraqi people face brutal and
    determined enemies. But Iraqis are also determined, and they have the
    will to defeat the insurgency. The soldiers and police of a free Iraq
    learned on election day they can face down the insurgents, and they
    learned they can prevail. The Iraqi people now have confidence that the
    soldiers and police of a free Iraq have the courage and resolve to
    defend them. The Iraqi security forces are fighting bravely for the
    future of their country, and in the last 6 months alone, more than 800
    have given their lives in the struggle.
        The soldiers of Fort Hood have seen their courage in action.
    Sergeant First Class Troy Hawkins recently put
    it, ``The Iraqis will stand and fight. I've seen guys with grenade
    fragments in them, bleeding, pulling people off the street and getting
    kids out of the way. Then they'll fight the enemy. They're determined to
    make this work.'' And the United States is determined to help the Iraqis
    succeed.
        As Iraq's new Government assumes increasing responsibility for the
    stability of their country, security operations are entering a new
    phase. Iraq's security forces are becoming more self-reliant and taking
    on greater responsibilities. And that means that America and its
    coalition partners are increasingly playing more of a supporting

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    role. Today, more than 150,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained
    and equipped, and for the first time, the Iraqi army, police, and other
    security forces now outnumber U.S. forces in Iraq.
        Like free people everywhere, Iraqis want to be defended and led by
    their own countrymen. We will help them achieve this objective so Iraqis
    can secure their own Nation. And then our troops will come home with the
    honor they have earned.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. The Iraqi people know the sacrifices you are making.
    They're grateful to you. They are grateful to your families. One Iraqi
    army colonel put it this way: ``These U.S.
    soldiers leave their wives and kids to come here and give us freedom. We
    have to thank them for doing that for us.'' You are making possible the
    peace of Iraq, and you are making possible the security of free nations.
    Yours is noble work. It's important work, and I thank you for assuming
    your duty.
        As the Iraqi democracy succeeds, that success is sending a message
    from Beirut to Tehran that freedom can be the future of every nation.
    The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be
    a crushing defeat to the forces of tyranny and terror and a watershed
    event in the global democratic revolution.
        In the last 2 years, you have accomplished much, yet your work isn't
    over. Freedom still faces dangerous adversaries. Terrorists still want
    to attack our people, but they're losing. These terrorists are losing
    the struggle because they're under constant pressure from our Armed
    Forces, and they will remain under constant pressure from our Armed
    Forces.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. And they are losing the struggle because they are on
    the wrong side of history. Across the broader Middle East, the tide of
    freedom is surging. The people of Afghanistan have embraced free
    government after suffering under one of the most backward tyrannies on
    Earth. The people of the Palestinian Territories cast their ballots
    against violence and corruption of the past. The people of Lebanon are
    rising up to demand their freedom and independence. Saudi Arabia has
    held its first municipal elections in decades. Egypt is taking its first
    steps on the path to democratic reform. A critical mass of events is
    taking that region in a hopeful new direction. And as freedom spreads in
    the Middle East and beyond, the American people will be safer and the
    free world more secure.
        You have fought the battles in the war on terror, and you have
    served the cause of freedom. And you can be proud of all that you have
    achieved.
        This time of brave achievement is also a time of sacrifice. Many of
    our soldiers have returned from war with grave wounds that they will
    carry with them the rest of their lives. And America will fulfill its
    duty by providing them the best medical care possible. Still others have
    given their lives in this struggle--your friends, your comrades. We
    honor their memory. We lift them up in prayer. Their sacrifice will
    always be remembered by a grateful nation.
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. We can live as free people because men and women like
    you have stepped forward and have volunteered to serve.
        I came here today to thank you in person for your courageous choice
    of service. You're making America proud. You're making America free. And
    you're making the world more peaceful. I want to thank you for all
    you've done for our great Nation. May God bless you and your families.
    And may God continue to bless this great land of liberty, the United
    States of America.
        Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:14 a.m. at Cooper Field. In his remarks,
    he referred to Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, USA, commanding general, III
    Corps and Fort Hood, and his wife, Pam; CSM William J. ``Joe'' Gainey,
    USA, command sergeant major, III

    [[Page 591]]

    Corps and Fort Hood, and his wife, Cindy; Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli,
    USA, commanding general, 1st Cavalry Division; Maj. Gen. James D.
    Thurman, USA, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division, and his wife,
    Dee; CSM Thomas O. McMurtrie, USA, command sergeant major, U.S. Army
    Garrison, Fort Hood; Gov. Rick Perry of Texas; President Jalal Talabani
    of the Iraqi Transitional Government; and Hajim al-Hasani, Speaker,
    Iraqi Transitional National Assembly. The Office of the Press Secretary
    also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.