[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[June 28, 2005]
[Pages 1072-1078]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Address to the Nation on the War on Terror From Fort Bragg, North 
Carolina
June 28, 2005

    Thank you. Please be seated. Good evening. I'm pleased to visit Fort 
Bragg, ``Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces.'' It's an 
honor to speak before you tonight.
    My greatest responsibility as President is to protect the American 
people, and that's your calling as well. I thank you for your service, 
your courage, and your sacrifice. I thank your families who support you 
in your vital work. The soldiers and families of Fort Bragg have 
contributed mightily to our efforts to secure our country and promote 
peace. America is grateful, and so is your Commander in Chief.
    The troops here and across the world are fighting a global war on 
terror. The war reached our shores on September the 11th, 2001. The 
terrorists who attacked us and the terrorists we face murder in the name 
of a totalitarian ideology that hates freedom, rejects tolerance, and 
despises all dissent. Their aim is to remake the Middle East in their 
own grim image of tyranny and oppression by toppling governments, by 
driving us out of the region, and by exporting terror.
    To achieve these aims, they have continued to kill in Madrid, 
Istanbul, Jakarta, Casablanca, Riyadh, Bali, and elsewhere. The 
terrorists believe that free societies are essentially corrupt and 
decadent and with a few hard blows, they can force us to retreat. They 
are mistaken. After September the 11th, I made a commitment to the 
American people: This Nation will not wait to be attacked again. We will 
defend our freedom. We will take the fight to the enemy.
    Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war. Many terrorists who kill 
innocent men, women, and children on the streets of

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Baghdad are followers of the same murderous ideology that took the lives 
of our citizens in New York, in Washington, and Pennsylvania. There is 
only one course of action against them, to defeat them abroad before 
they attack us at home. The commander in charge of coalition operations 
in Iraq, who is also senior commander at this base, General John 
Vines, put it well the other day. He said, 
``We either deal with terrorism and this extremism abroad, or we deal 
with it when it comes to us.''
    Our mission in Iraq is clear. We're hunting down the terrorists. 
We're helping Iraqis build a free nation that is an ally in the war on 
terror. We're advancing freedom in the broader Middle East. We are 
removing a source of violence and instability and laying the foundation 
of peace for our children and our grandchildren.
    The work in Iraq is difficult, and it is dangerous. Like most 
Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is 
horrifying, and the suffering is real. Amid all this violence, I know 
Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it, 
and it is vital to the future security of our country. And tonight I 
will explain the reasons why.
    Some of the violence you see in Iraq is being carried out by 
ruthless killers who are converging on Iraq to fight the advance of 
peace and freedom. Our military reports that we've killed or captured 
hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia and 
Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and others. They are making 
common cause with criminal elements, Iraqi insurgents, and remnants of 
Saddam Hussein's regime who want to restore 
the old order. They fight because they know that the survival of their 
hateful ideology is at stake. They know that as freedom takes root in 
Iraq, it will inspire millions across the Middle East to claim their 
liberty as well. And when the Middle East grows in democracy and 
prosperity and hope, the terrorists will lose their sponsors, lose their 
recruits, and lose their hopes for turning that region into a base for 
attacks on America and our allies around the world.
    Some wonder whether Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. 
Among the terrorists, there is no debate. Hear the words of Usama bin 
Laden: ``This third world war is raging'' in 
Iraq. ``The whole world is watching this war.'' He says it will end in 
``victory and glory, or misery and humiliation.''
    The terrorists know that the outcome will leave them emboldened or 
defeated. So they are waging a campaign of murder and destruction. And 
there is no limit to the innocent lives they are willing to take.
    We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who exploded car bombs 
along a busy shopping street in Baghdad, including one outside a mosque. 
We see the nature of the enemy in terrorists who sent a suicide bomber 
to a teaching hospital in Mosul. We see the nature of the enemy in 
terrorists who behead civilian hostages and broadcast their atrocities 
for the world to see.
    These are savage acts of violence, but they have not brought the 
terrorists any closer to achieving their strategic objectives. The 
terrorists, both foreign and Iraqi, failed to stop the transfer of 
sovereignty. They failed to break our coalition and force a mass 
withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war. They 
failed to prevent free elections. They failed to stop the formation of a 
democratic Iraqi Government that represents all of Iraq's diverse 
population. And they failed to stop Iraqis from signing up in large 
number with the police forces and the army to defend their new 
democracy.
    The lesson of this experience is clear: The terrorists can kill the 
innocent, but they cannot stop the advance of freedom. The only way our 
enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September the 11th, 
if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi, and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like 
bin

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Laden. For the sake of our Nation's security, this will not happen on my 
watch.
    A little over a year ago, I spoke to the Nation and described our 
coalition's goals in Iraq. I said that America's mission in Iraq is to 
defeat an enemy and give strength to a friend--a free, representative 
government that is an ally in the war on terror and a beacon of hope in 
a part of the world that is desperate for reform. I outlined the steps 
we would take to achieve this goal: We would hand authority over to a 
sovereign Iraqi Government. We would help Iraqis hold free elections by 
January 2005. We would continue helping Iraqis rebuild their nation's 
infrastructure and economy. We would encourage more international 
support for Iraq's democratic transition, and we would enable Iraqis to 
take increasing responsibility for their own security and stability.
    In the past year, we have made significant progress. One year ago 
today, we restored sovereignty to the Iraqi people. In January 2005, 
more than 8 million Iraqi men and women voted in elections that were 
free and fair and took time on--and took place on time.
    We continued our efforts to help them rebuild their country. 
Rebuilding a country after three decades of tyranny is hard, and 
rebuilding while at war is even harder. Our progress has been uneven, 
but progress is being made. We're improving roads and schools and health 
clinics. We're working to improve basic services like sanitation, 
electricity, and water. And together with our allies, we'll help the new 
Iraqi Government deliver a better life for its citizens.
    In the past year, the international community has stepped forward 
with vital assistance. Some 30 nations have troops in Iraq, and many 
others are contributing nonmilitary assistance. The United Nations is in 
Iraq to help Iraqis write a constitution and conduct their next 
elections. Thus far, some 40 countries and 3 international organizations 
have pledged about $34 billion in assistance for Iraqi reconstruction. 
More than 80 countries and international organizations recently came 
together in Brussels to coordinate their efforts to help Iraqis provide 
for their security and rebuild their country. And next month, donor 
countries will meet in Jordan to support Iraqi reconstruction.
    Whatever our differences in the past, the world understands that 
success in Iraq is critical to the security of our nations. As German 
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said at the 
White House yesterday, ``There can be no question, a stable and 
democratic Iraq is in the vested interest of not just Germany but also 
Europe.''
    Finally, we have continued our efforts to equip and train Iraqi 
security forces. We made gains in both the number and quality of those 
forces. Today, Iraq has more than 160,000 security forces trained and 
equipped for a variety of missions. Iraqi forces have fought bravely, 
helping to capture terrorists and insurgents in Najaf and Samarra, 
Fallujah and Mosul. And in the past month, Iraqi forces have led a major 
antiterrorist campaign in Baghdad called Operation Lightning, which has 
led to the capture of hundreds of suspected insurgents. Like free people 
everywhere, Iraqis want to be defended by their own countrymen, and we 
are helping Iraqis assume those duties.
    The progress in the past year has been significant, and we have a 
clear path forward. To complete the mission, we will continue to hunt 
down the terrorists and insurgents. To complete the mission, we will 
prevent Al Qaida and other foreign terrorists from turning Iraq into 
what Afghanistan was under the Taliban, a safe haven from which they 
could launch attacks on America and our friends. And the best way to 
complete the mission is to help Iraqis build a free nation that can 
govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself.
    So our strategy going forward has both a military track and a 
political track. The principal task of our military is to find and 
defeat the terrorists, and that is why we

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are on the offense. And as we pursue the terrorists, our military is 
helping to train Iraqi security forces so that they can defend their 
people and fight the enemy on their own. Our strategy can be summed up 
this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.
    We've made progress, but we have a lot more work to do. Today, Iraqi 
security forces are at different levels of readiness. Some are capable 
of taking on the terrorists and insurgents by themselves. A large number 
can plan and execute antiterrorist operations with coalition support. 
The rest are forming and not yet ready to participate fully in security 
operations. Our task is to make the Iraqi units fully capable and 
independent. We're building up Iraqi security forces as quickly as 
possible, so they can assume the lead in defeating the terrorists and 
insurgents.
    Our coalition is devoting considerable resources and manpower to 
this critical task. Thousands of coalition troops are involved in the 
training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. NATO is establishing a 
military academy near Baghdad to train the next generation of Iraqi 
military leaders, and 17 nations are contributing troops to the NATO 
training mission. Iraqi army and police are being trained by personnel 
from Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, Romania, Australia, and 
the United Kingdom. Today, dozens of nations are working toward a common 
objective, an Iraq that can defend itself, defeat its enemies, and 
secure its freedom.
    To further prepare Iraqi forces to fight the enemy on their own, we 
are taking three new steps: First, we are partnering coalition units 
with Iraqi units. These coalition-Iraqi teams are conducting operations 
together in the field. These combined operations are giving Iraqis a 
chance to experience how the most professional armed forces in the world 
operate in combat.
    Second, we are embedding coalition transition teams inside Iraqi 
units. These teams are made up of coalition officers and noncommissioned 
officers who live, work, and fight together with their Iraqi comrades. 
Under U.S. command, they are providing battlefield advice and assistance 
to Iraqi forces during combat operations. Between battles, they are 
assisting the Iraqis with important skills, such as urban combat and 
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance techniques.
    Third, we're working with the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and 
Defense to improve their capabilities to coordinate antiterrorist 
operations. We're helping them develop command and control structures. 
We're also providing them with civilian and military leadership 
training, so Iraq's new leaders can effectively manage their forces in 
the fight against terror.
    The new Iraqi security forces are proving their courage every day. 
More than 2,000 members of Iraqi security forces have given their lives 
in the line of duty. Thousands more have stepped forward and are now 
training to serve their nation. With each engagement, Iraqi soldiers 
grow more battle-hardened, and their officers grow more experienced. 
We've learned that Iraqis are courageous and that they need additional 
skills, and that is why a major part of our mission is to train them so 
they can do the fighting. And then our troops can come home.
    I recognize that Americans want our troops to come home as quickly 
as possible. So do I. Some contend that we should set a deadline for 
withdrawing U.S. forces. Let me explain why that would be a serious 
mistake. Setting an artificial timetable would send the wrong message to 
the Iraqis, who need to know that America will not leave before the job 
is done. It would send the wrong signal to our troops, who need to know 
that we are serious about completing the mission they are risking their 
lives to achieve. And it would send the wrong message to the enemy, who 
would know that all they have to do is wait us out. We will stay in Iraq 
as long as we are needed and not a day longer.

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    Some Americans ask me, ``If completing the mission is so important, 
why don't you send more troops?'' If our commanders on the ground say we 
need more troops, I will send them. But our commanders tell me they have 
the number of troops they need to do their job. Sending more Americans 
would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in 
this fight. And sending more Americans would suggest that we intend to 
stay forever, when we are, in fact, working for the day when Iraq can 
defend itself and we can leave. As we determine the right force level, 
our troops can know that I will continue to be guided by the advice that 
matters, the sober judgment of our military leaders.
    The other critical element of our strategy is to help ensure that 
the hopes Iraqis expressed at the polls in January are translated into a 
secure democracy. The Iraqi people are emerging from decades of tyranny 
and oppression. Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Shi'a and Kurds were brutally oppressed, and the 
vast majority of Sunni Arabs were also denied their basic rights, while 
senior regime officials enjoyed the privileges of unchecked power. The 
challenge facing Iraqis today is to put this past behind them and come 
together to build a new Iraq that includes all of its people.
    They're doing that by building the institutions of a free society, a 
society based on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of 
religion, and equal justice under law. The Iraqis have held free 
elections and established a Transitional National Assembly. The next 
step is to write a good constitution that enshrines these freedoms in 
permanent law. The Assembly plans to expand its constitutional drafting 
committee to include more Sunni Arabs. Many Sunnis who opposed the 
January elections are now taking part in the democratic process, and 
that is essential to Iraq's future.
    After a constitution is written, the Iraqi people will have a chance 
to vote on it. If approved, Iraqis will go to the polls again to elect a 
new Government under their new, permanent constitution. By taking these 
critical steps and meeting their deadlines, Iraqis will bind their 
multiethnic society together in a democracy that respects the will of 
the majority and protects minority rights.
    As Iraqis grow confident that the democratic progress they are 
making is real and permanent, more will join the political process. And 
as Iraqis see that their military can protect them, more will step 
forward with vital intelligence to help defeat the enemies of a free 
Iraq. The combination of political and military reform will lay a solid 
foundation for a free and stable Iraq.
    As Iraqis make progress toward a free society, the effects are being 
felt beyond Iraq's borders. Before our coalition liberated Iraq, Libya 
was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons. Today, the leader of 
Libya has given up his 
chemical and nuclear weapons programs. Across the broader Middle East, 
people are claiming their freedom. In the last few months, we've 
witnessed elections in the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon. These 
elections are inspiring democratic reformers in places like Egypt and 
Saudi Arabia. Our strategy to defend ourselves and spread freedom is 
working. The rise of freedom in this vital region will eliminate the 
conditions that feed radicalism and ideologies of murder, and make our 
Nation safer.
    We have more work to do, and there will be tough moments that test 
America's resolve. We're fighting against men with blind hatred and 
armed with lethal weapons, who are capable of any atrocity. They wear no 
uniform. They respect no laws of warfare or morality. They take innocent 
lives to create chaos for the cameras. They are trying to shake our will 
in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September the 11th, 
2001. They will fail. The

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terrorists do not understand America. The American people do not falter 
under threat, and we will not allow our future to be determined by car 
bombers and assassins.
    America and our friends are in a conflict that demands much of us. 
It demands the courage of our fighting men and women. It demands the 
steadfastness of our allies, and it demands the perseverance of our 
citizens. We accept these burdens because we know what is at stake. We 
fight today because Iraq now carries the hope of freedom in a vital 
region of the world, and the rise of democracy will be the ultimate 
triumph over radicalism and terror. And we fight today because 
terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is 
where they are making their stand. So we'll fight them there. We'll 
fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the 
fight is won.
    America has done difficult work before. From our desperate fight for 
independence to the darkest days of a Civil War to the hard-fought 
battles against tyranny in the 20th century, there were many chances to 
lose our heart, our nerve, or our way. But Americans have always held 
firm, because we have always believed in certain truths. We know that if 
evil is not confronted, it gains in strength and audacity and returns to 
strike us again. We know that when the work is hard, the proper response 
is not retreat; it is courage. And we know that this great ideal of 
human freedom entrusted to us in a special way and that the ideal of 
liberty is worth defending.
    In this time of testing, our troops can know: The American people 
are behind you. Next week, our Nation has an opportunity to make sure 
that support is felt by every soldier, sailor, airman, coast guardsman, 
and marine at every outpost across the world. This Fourth of July, I ask 
you to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom by 
flying the flag, sending a letter to our troops in the field, or helping 
the military family down the street. The Department of Defense has set 
up a web site, americasupportsyou.mil. You can go there to learn about 
private efforts in your own community. At this time when we celebrate 
our freedom, let us stand with the men and women who defend us all.
    To the soldiers in this hall and our service men and women across 
the globe: I thank you for your courage under fire and your service to 
our Nation. I thank our military families. The burden of war falls 
especially hard on you. In this war, we have lost good men and women who 
left our shores to defend freedom and did not live to make the journey 
home. I've met with families grieving the loss of loved ones who were 
taken from us too soon. I've been inspired by their strength in the face 
of such great loss. We pray for the families, and the best way to honor 
the lives that have been given in this struggle is to complete the 
mission.
    I thank those of you who have reenlisted in an hour when your 
country needs you. And to those watching tonight who are considering a 
military career, there is no higher calling than service in our Armed 
Forces. We live in freedom because every generation has produced 
patriots willing to serve a cause greater than themselves. Those who 
serve today are taking their rightful place among the greatest 
generations that have worn our Nation's uniform. When the history of 
this period is written, the liberation of Afghanistan and the liberation 
of Iraq will be remembered as great turning points in the story of 
freedom.
    After September the 11th, 2001, I told the American people that the 
road ahead would be difficult and that we would prevail. Well, it has 
been difficult, and we are prevailing. Our enemies are brutal, but they 
are no match for the United States of America, and they are no match for 
the men and women of the United States military.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 8:02 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Usama bin Laden,

[[Page 1078]]

leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; senior Al Qaida associate 
Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and Col. 
Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.