[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[March 13, 2006]
[Pages 462-470]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
March 13, 2006
Thanks for the warm welcome. Cliff,
thanks for the introduction. It's a pleasure to be with the Foundation
for the Defense of Democracies. This organization was formed in the wake
of the September the 11th attacks to fight the ideologies that drive
terrorism. You recognized immediately that the war on terror is a
struggle between freedom and tyranny and that the path to lasting
security is to defeat the hateful vision the terrorists are spreading
with the hope of freedom and democracy.
The foundation is making a difference across the world, and I
appreciate the difference you're making. You have trained Iraqi women
and Iranian students in the principles and practice of democracy. You've
translated ``democracy readers'' into Arabic for distribution across the
broader Middle East. You've helped activists across the region organize
effective political movements so they can help bring about democratic
change and ensure the survival of liberty in new democracies. By
promoting
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democratic ideals and training a new generation of democratic leaders in
the Middle East, you are helping us to bring victory in the war on
terror, and I thank you for your hard work in freedom's cause.
I also want to thank the members of the Board of the Foundation for
the Defense of the Democracies. I want to thank Steve
Trachtenberg, the president of
George Washington University, and his wife, Fran, for joining us today. Thanks for letting me come to your
campus. I'm honored to be here. He informed me that my dad will be giving the graduation speech this year--
[laughter]--and Mother is getting an honorary
degree. [Laughter] Smart man.
Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.
I'm proud that Secretary Rumsfeld is with us. I want to thank Senator
Dick Lugar for being with us today. Mr.
Chairman, proud you're here. Thanks for coming. I want to thank the
Members of the United States Congress who have joined us: Congressman
Lungren, Adam Schiff, Joe Wilson, Tom
Cole, and Dan Boren. I
appreciate you all taking time to be here today; it means a lot.
I want to thank the ambassadors who have joined us. I see two for
certain, one from Jordan and one from
Israel. Proud you both are here. If there's
any other ambassadors here, I apologize for not introducing you, and you
don't have as good a seat as these two guys. [Laughter]
The mission of this foundation is to defeat terror by promoting
democracy, and that is the mission of my administration. Our strategy to
protect America is based on a clear premise: The security of our Nation
depends on the advance of liberty in other nations. On September the
11th, 2001, we saw that problems originating in a failed and oppressive
state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our
country. We saw that dictatorships shelter terrorists, feed resentment
and radicalism, and threaten the security of free nations. Democracies
replace resentment with hope; democracies respect the rights of their
citizens and their neighbors; democracies join the fight against terror.
And so America is committed to an historic, long-term goal: To secure
the peace of the world, we seek the end of tyranny in our world.
We are making progress in the march of freedom, and some of the most
important progress has taken place in a region that has not known the
blessings of liberty, the broader Middle East. Two weeks ago, I got a
chance to visit Afghanistan and to see firsthand the transformation that
has taken place in that country. Before September the 11th, 2001,
Afghanistan was ruled by a cruel regime that oppressed its people,
brutalized women, and gave safe haven to the terrorists who attacked
America.
Today, the terror camps have been shut down; women are working; boys
and girls are going to school; Afghans have voted in free elections--25
million people have had the taste of freedom. Taliban and Al Qaida
remnants continue to fight Afghanistan's democratic progress. In recent
weeks, they have launched new attacks that have killed Afghan citizens
and coalition forces. The United States and our allies will stay in the
fight against the terrorists, and we'll train Afghan soldiers and police
so they can defend their country. The Afghan people are building a
vibrant young democracy that is an ally in the war on terror, and
America is proud to have such a determined partner in the cause of
freedom.
Next week, we will mark the 3-year anniversary of the start of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. In less than 3 years, the Iraqi people have
gone from living under the boot of a brutal tyrant, to liberation, to sovereignty, to free elections, to a
constitutional referendum, and last December, to elections for a fully
constitutional government. In those December elections, over 11 million
Iraqis--more than 75 percent of the Iraqi voting-age population--defied
the terrorists to cast their ballots.
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Americans were inspired by the images of Iraqis bringing elderly
relatives to the polls, holding up purple ink-stained fingers, dancing
in the streets, and celebrating their freedom. By their courage, the
Iraqi people have spoken and made their intentions clear: They want to
live in democracy, and they are determined to shape their own destiny.
The past few weeks, the world has seen very different images from
Iraq, images of violence and anger and despair. We have seen a great
house of worship, the Golden Mosque of Samarra, in ruins after a brutal
terrorist attack. We've seen mass protests in response to provocation.
We've seen reprisal attacks by armed militias on Sunni mosques and
random violence that has taken the lives of hundreds of Iraqi citizens.
The terrorists attacked the Golden Mosque for a reason: They know
that they lack the military strength to challenge Iraqi and coalition
forces directly, so their only hope is to try and provoke a civil war.
So they attacked one of Shi'a Islam's holiest sites, hoping to incite
violence that would drive Iraqis apart and stop their progress on the
path to a free society.
Immediately after the attack, I said that Iraq faced a moment of
choosing. And in the days that followed, the Iraqi people made their
choice. They looked into the abyss and did not like what they saw. After
the bombing, most Iraqis saw what the perpetuators of this attack were
trying to do. The enemy had failed to stop the January 2005 elections;
they failed to stop the constitutional referendum; they failed to stop
the December elections. And now they're trying to stop the formation of
a unity government. By their response over the past 2 weeks, Iraqis have
shown the world they want a future of freedom and peace, and they will
oppose a violent minority that seeks to take that future away from them
by tearing their country apart.
The situation in Iraq is still tense, and we're still seeing acts of
sectarian violence and reprisal. Yet out of this crisis, we've also seen
signs of a hopeful future. We saw the restraint of the Iraqi people in
the face of massive provocation. Most Iraqis did not turn to violence,
and many chose to show their solidarity by coming together in joint
Sunni and Shi'a prayer services. We saw the leadership of Sunni and
Shi'a clerics who joined together to denounce the bombing and call for
restraint. Ayatollah Sistani issued a strong
statement denouncing what he called sectarian sedition, and he urged all
Iraqis--in his words--``not to be dragged into committing acts that
would only please the enemies.'' We saw the capability of the Iraqi
security forces, who deployed to protect religious sites, enforce a
curfew, and restore civil order. We saw the determination of many of
Iraq's leaders, who rose to the moment, came together, and acted
decisively to diffuse the crisis.
Iraq's leaders know that this is not the last time they will be
called to stand together in the face of an outrageous terrorist attack.
Iraq's leaders know that they must put aside their differences, reach
out across political, religious, and sectarian lines, and form a unity
government that will earn the trust and the confidence of all Iraqis.
Iraqis now have a chance to show the world that they have learned the
lesson of Samarra: A country that divides into factions and dwells on
old grievances risks sliding back into tyranny. The only path to a
future of peace is the path of unity.
Soon the new Parliament will be seated in Baghdad, and this will
begin the process of forming a government. Forming a new government will
demand negotiation and compromise by the Iraqis; it will require
patience by America and our coalition allies.
In the weeks ahead, Americans will likely see a good deal of
political maneuvering in Iraq, as different factions and leaders advance
competing agendas and seek their share of political power. Out of this
process, a free government will emerge that represents the will of the
Iraqi people, instead of the will of one cruel dictator.
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The work ahead in Iraq is hard, and there will be more difficult
moments. The Samarra attack was a clear attempt to ignite a civil war.
And we can expect the enemy will try again, and they will continue to
sow violence and destruction designed to stop the emergence of a free
and democratic Iraq.
The enemies of a free Iraq are determined, yet so are the Iraqi
people, and so are America and coalition partners. We will not lose our
nerve. We will help the Iraqi people succeed. Our goal in Iraq is
victory, and victory will be achieved when the terrorists and Saddamists
can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces
can provide for the safety of their own citizens, and when Iraq is not a
safe haven for terrorists to plot new attacks against our Nation.
We have a comprehensive strategy for victory in Iraq, a strategy I
laid out in a series of speeches last year. Our strategy has three
elements. On the political side, we are helping Iraqis build a strong
democracy so that old resentments will be eased and the insurgency
marginalized. On the economic side, we are continuing reconstruction
efforts and helping Iraqis build a modern economy that will give all its
citizens a stake in a free and peaceful Iraq. And on the security side,
we are striking terrorist targets and training the Iraqi security
forces, which are taking responsibility for more Iraqi territory and
becoming increasingly capable of defeating the enemy. In the coming
weeks, I will update the American people on our strategy, the progress
we are making, the lessons we have learned from our experiences, and how
we are fixing what hasn't worked.
Today I will discuss the third element of our strategy, the progress
of our efforts to defeat the terrorists and train the Iraqi security
forces so they can take the lead in defending their own democracy.
At the end of last year, I described in detail many of the changes
we have made to improve the training of Iraqi security forces, and we
saw the fruits of those changes in recent days in Iraq. After the
Samarra bombings, it was the Iraqi security forces--not coalition
forces--that restored order. In the hours after the attack, Iraqi
leaders put the Iraqi security forces on alert, canceling all leaves and
heightening security around mosques and critical sites. Using security
plans developed for the December elections, they deployed Iraqi forces
in Baghdad and to other troubled spots.
Iraqi police manned checkpoints, increased patrols, and ensured that
peaceful demonstrators were protected, while those who turned to
violence were arrested. Public order brigades deployed as rapid reaction
forces to areas where violence was reported. The 9th Mechanized Division
of the Iraqi Army, which was in the midst of a major training event,
regrouped and entered the Baghdad city gates, taking up assigned
positions throughout the city with T-72 tanks and armored infantry
vehicles. During the past 2 weeks, Iraqi security forces conducted more
than 200 independent operations--each of them Iraqi-planned, Iraqi-
conducted, and Iraqi-led.
Having Iraqi forces in the lead has been critical to preventing
violence from spinning out of control. For example, on the day of the
Samarra bombing, the Iraqi national police responded to an armed
demonstration in an area immediately adjacent to Sadr City where an
angry Shi'a crowd had surrounded the Sunni Al-Quds Mosque. The Iraqi
brigade commander placed his troops--who were largely Shi'a--between the
crowd and the mosque and talked to the crowd using megaphones and--
calling for calm and urging them to disperse. After a 2-hour standoff,
the crowd eventually left without incident, and the National Police
remained in position overnight to guard the mosque until the threat was
over. The fact that Iraqis were in the
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lead and negotiating with their own countrymen helped diffuse a
potential confrontation and prevented an escalation of violence.
In another Baghdad neighborhood, a similar situation unfolded. A
group of armed militia members had gone in and occupied the Al-Nida
Mosque. An Iraqi Army brigade quickly arrived on the scene, and the
brigade commander negotiated with the group and secured their peaceful
departure. Once again, because Iraqi forces spoke their language and
understood their culture, they were able to convince the Iraqi militia
to leave peacefully.
Not all Iraqi units performed as well as others, and there were some
reports of Iraqi units in Eastern Baghdad allowing militia members to
pass through checkpoints. But American commanders are closely watching
the situation, and they report these incidents appear to be the
exception, not the rule. In the weeks since the bombing, the Iraqi
security forces turned in a strong performance. From the outset, Iraqi
forces understood that if they failed to stand for national unity, the
country would slip into anarchy. And so they have stood their ground and
defended their democracy and brought their nation through one of its
most difficult moments since liberation.
General Marty Dempsey, our top
commander responsible for training the Iraqi security forces, says this
about their performance: ``They were deliberate, poised, even-handed,
and professional. They engaged local tribal, political, and religious
leaders. They patiently but deliberately confronted armed groups to let
them know that they had control of the situation.'' He went on to say,
``I'm sure we will find instances where they could have performed
better, but in the face of immense pressure, they performed very, very
well.'' As a result of their performance, the Iraqi security forces are
gaining the confidence of the Iraqi people. And as the Iraqi security
forces make progress against the enemy, their morale continues to
increase.
When I reported on the progress of the Iraqi security forces last
year, I said that there were over 120 Iraqi and police combat battalions
in the fight against the enemy, and 40 of those were taking the lead in
the fight. Today, the number of battalions in the fight has increased to
more than 130, with more than 60 taking the lead. As more Iraqi
battalions come on line, these Iraqi forces are assuming responsibility
for more territory. Today, Iraqi units have primary responsibility for
more than 30,000 square miles of Iraq, an increase of roughly 20,000
square miles since the beginning of the year. And Iraqi forces are now
conducting more independent operations throughout the country than do
coalition forces.
This is real progress, but there is more work to be done this year.
Our commanders tell me that the Iraqi police still lag behind the army
in training and capabilities, so one of our major goals in 2006 is to
accelerate the training of the Iraqi police. One problem is that some
national police units have been disproportionately Shi'a, and there have
been some reports of infiltration of the National Police by militias.
And so we're taking a number of steps to correct this problem.
First, we have begun implementing a program that has been effective
with the Iraqi Army--partnering U.S. battalions with the Iraqi National
Police battalions. These U.S. forces are working with their Iraqi
counterparts, giving them tactical training so they can defeat the
enemy. And they are also teaching them about the role of a professional
police force in a democratic system, so they can serve all Iraqis
without discrimination.
Second, we are working with the Iraqi leaders to find and remove any
leaders in the National Police who show evidence of loyalties to
militia. For example, last year, there were reports that the Second
Public Order Brigade contained members of an illegal militia who were
committing abuses. So last December, the Interior Ministry
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leadership removed the Second Brigade commander and replaced him with a
new commander, who then dismissed more than 100 men with suspected
militia ties. Today, this Iraqi police brigade has been transformed into
a capable, professional unit, and during the recent crisis after the
Samarra bombing, they performed with courage and distinction.
Finally, we are working with Iraqis to diversify the ranks of the
National Police by recruiting more Sunni Arabs. For example, the basic
training class for the National Police public order forces that
graduated last October was less than one percent Sunni. The class
graduating in April will include many, many more Sunnis. By ensuring the
public order forces reflect the general population, Iraqis are making
the National Police a truly national institution, one that is able to
serve, protect, and defend all the Iraqi people.
As more capable Iraqi police and soldiers come on line, they will
assume responsibility for more territory, with the goal of having the
Iraqis control more territory than the coalition by the end of 2006. And
as Iraqis take over more territory, this frees American and coalition
forces to concentrate on training and on hunting down high-value targets
like the terrorist Zarqawi and his
associates. As Iraqis stand up, America and our coalition will stand
down. And my decisions on troop levels will be made based upon the
conditions on the ground and on the recommendations of our military
commanders, not artificial timetables set by politicians here in
Washington, DC.
These terrorists know they cannot defeat us militarily, so they have
turned to the weapon of fear. And one of the most brutal weapons at
their disposal are improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. IEDs are bombs
made from artillery shells, explosives, and other munitions that can be
hidden and detonated remotely. After the terrorists were defeated in
battles in Fallujah and Tall `Afar, they saw that they could not
confront Iraqi or American forces in pitched battles and survive. And so
they turned to IEDs, a weapon that allows them to attack from a safe
distance, without having to face our forces in battle.
The principal victims of IED attacks are innocent Iraqis. The
terrorists and insurgents have used IEDs to kill Iraqi children playing
in the streets, shoppers at Iraqi malls, and Iraqis lining up at police
and army recruiting stations. They use IEDs to strike terror in the
hearts of Iraqis in an attempt to break their confidence in the free
future of their country.
The enemy is also using IEDs in their campaign against U.S. and
coalition forces in Iraq, and we are harnessing every available resource
to deal with this threat. My administration has established a new, high-
level organization at the Department of Defense, led by retired four-
star General Montgomery Meigs. On
Saturday, General Meigs along with the Secretary of Defense briefed me at the White House on our plan to defeat
the threat of IEDs. Our plan has three elements: targeting, training,
and technology.
The first part of our plan is targeting and eliminating the
terrorists and bombmakers. Across Iraq, we are on the hunt for the
enemy--capturing and killing the terrorists before they strike,
uncovering and disarming their weapons before they go off, and rooting
out and destroying bomb-making cells so they can't produce more weapons.
Because the Iraqi people are the targets--primarily the targets of
the bombers, Iraqis are increasingly providing critical intelligence to
help us find the bombmakers and stop new attacks. The number of tips
from Iraqis has grown from 400 last March to over 4,000 in December. For
example, just 3 weeks ago, acting on tips provided by local citizens,
coalition forces uncovered a massive IED arsenal hidden in a location
northwest of Baghdad. They found and confiscated more than 3,000 pieces
of munitions in one of the largest weapons caches
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discovered in that region to date. Just 2 weeks ago, acting on
intelligence from Iraqis, coalition forces uncovered a bomb-making
facility northeast of Fallujah. They captured 61 terrorists at the
facility and confiscated large numbers of weapons.
In all, during the past 6 months, Iraqi and coalition forces have
found and cleared nearly 4,000 IEDs, uncovered more than 1,800 weapons
caches and bomb-making plants, and killed or detained hundreds of
terrorists and bombmakers. We're on the hunt for the enemy, and we're
not going to rest until they've been defeated.
The second part of our plan is to give our forces specialized
training to identify and clear IEDs before they explode. Before arriving
in Iraq and Afghanistan, our combat units get training on how to counter
the threat of IEDs. And to improve our training, last month, we
established a new IED Joint Center of Excellence headquartered at Fort
Irwin, California, where we're taking lessons learned from the IED fight
in Iraq and sharing them with our troops in the field and those
preparing to deploy. This new initiative will ensure that every Army and
Marine combat unit headed to Afghanistan and Iraq is prepared for the
challenges that IEDs bring to the battlefield.
Before deploying, our troops will train with the equipment they will
use in the IED fight. They'll study enemy tactics and experience live-
fire training that closely mirrors what they will see when they arrive
in the zone of combat. Our goal with this training is to ensure that
when our forces encounter the enemy, that they're ready.
The third part of our plan is to develop new technologies to defend
against IEDs. We are putting the best minds in America to work on this
effort. The Department of Defense recently gathered some--gathered 600
leaders from industry and academia, the national laboratories, the
National Academy of Sciences, all branches of the military, and every
relevant Government Agency to discuss technology solutions to the IED
threat. We now have nearly 100 projects underway. For security reasons,
I'm not going to share the details of the technologies we're developing.
The simple reason is, the enemy can use even the smallest details to
overcome our defenses.
Earlier this year, a newspaper published details of a new anti-IED
technology that was being developed. Within 5 days of the publication--
using details from that article--the enemy had posted instructions for
defeating this new technology on the Internet. We cannot let the enemy
know how we're working to defeat him. But I can assure the American
people that my administration is working to put the best technology in
the hands of our men and women on the frontlines, and we are mobilizing
resources against the IED threat.
I assured General Meigs that he will
have the funding and personnel he needs to succeed. In 2004, the
administration spent $150 million to fight the IED threat. This year,
we're providing $3.3 billion to support our efforts to defeat IEDs.
These investments are making a difference. Today, nearly half of the
IEDs in Iraq are found and disabled before they can be detonated. In the
past 18 months, we've cut the casualty rate per IED attack in half. More
work needs to be done. Yet by targeting the bombmakers and training our
forces and deploying new technologies, we will stay ahead of the enemy,
and that will save Iraqi and American lives.
Some of the most powerful IEDs we're seeing in Iraq today includes
components that came from Iran. Our Director of National Intelligence,
John Negroponte, told the Congress,
``Tehran has been responsible for at least some of the increasing
lethality of anticoalition attacks by providing Shi'a militia with the
capability to build improvised explosive devices'' in Iraq. Coalition
forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in
Iran. Such actions--along with Iran's support for terrorism and its
pursuit of nuclear weapons--
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are increasingly isolating Iran, and America will continue to rally the
world to confront these threats.
We still have difficult work ahead in Iraq. I wish I could tell you
that the violence is waning and that the road ahead will be smooth. It
will not. There will be more tough fighting and more days of struggle,
and we will see more images of chaos and carnage in the days and months
to come. The terrorists are losing on the field of battle, so they are
fighting this war through the pictures we see on television and in the
newspapers every day. They're hoping to shake our resolve and force us
to retreat. They are not going to succeed.
The battle lines in Iraq are clearly drawn for the world to see, and
there is no middle ground. The enemy will emerge from Iraq one of two
ways, emboldened or defeated. The stakes in Iraq are high. By helping
Iraqis build a democracy, we will deny the terrorists a safe haven to
plan attacks against America. By helping Iraqis build a democracy, we
will gain an ally in the war on terror. By helping Iraqis build a
democracy, we will inspire reformers across the Middle East. And by
helping Iraqis build a democracy, we'll bring hope to a troubled region,
and this will make America more secure in the long term.
Since the morning of September the 11th, we have known that the war
on terror would require great sacrifice, and in this war, we have said
farewell to some very good men and women. One of those courageous
Americans was Sergeant William Scott Kinzer, Jr., who was killed last year by the terrorists while securing
polling sites for the Iraqi elections. His mom, Debbie, wrote me a letter. She said: ``These words are straight
from a shattered but healing mother's heart. My son made the decision to
join the Army. He believed that what he was involved in would eventually
change Iraq and that those changes would be re-
corded in history books for years to come. On his last visit home, I
asked him what I would ever do if something happened to him in Iraq. He
smiled at me with--his blue eyes sparkled, as he said, `Mom, I love my
job. If I should die, I would die happy. Does life get any better than
this?''' His mom went on: ``Please do not let the voices we hear the
loudest change what you and Scott started in Iraq. Please do not let his
dying be in vain. Don't let my son have given his all for an unfinished
job. Please complete the mission.''
I make this promise to Debbie and all
the families of the fallen heroes: We will not let your loved ones dying
be in vain. We will finish what we started in Iraq. We will complete the
mission. We will leave behind a democracy that can govern itself,
sustain itself, and defend itself. And a free Iraq in the heart of the
Middle East will make the American people more secure for generations to
come.
May God bless the families of the fallen. May God bless our troops
in the fight. And may God continue to bless the United States of
America.
Note: The President spoke at 1:16 p.m. in the Dorothy Betts Marvin
Theatre at The George Washington University. In his remarks, he referred
to Clifford D. May, president, Foundation for the Defense of
Democracies; Jordan's Ambassador to the U.S. Karim Kawar; Israel's
Ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon; former President Saddam Hussein of
Iraq; Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraqi Shiite leader; Lt. Gen.
Martin E. Dempsey, USA, commander, Multi-National Security Transition
Command--Iraq; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; and Gen.
Montgomery Meigs, USA (Ret.), director, Joint Improvised Explosive
Device Defeat Organization. The Office of the Press Secretary also
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.
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