    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [March 19, 2008]
    [Pages 391-396]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the War on Terror in Arlington, Virginia
    March 19, 2008

        Thank you all. Deputy Secretary England,
    thanks for the introduction. One boss may
    not be here, but the other one is. [Laughter] I appreciate your kind
    words. I'm pleased to be back here with the men and women of the Defense
    Department.
        On this day in 2003, the United States began Operation Iraqi
    Freedom. As the campaign unfolded, tens and thousands of our troops
    poured across the Iraqi border to liberate the Iraqi people and remove a
    regime that threatened free nations.
        Five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over
    whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning,
    and whether we can win it. The answers are clear to me: Removing Saddam
    Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America
    can and must win.
        The men and women who crossed into Iraq 5 years ago removed a
    tyrant, liberated a country, and rescued millions from unspeakable
    horrors. Some of those troops are with us today, and you need to know
    that the American people are proud of your accomplishment, and so is the
    Commander in Chief.
        I appreciate Admiral Mullen, the Joint
    Chiefs who are here. Thanks for coming. Secretary Donald Winter of the Navy; Deputy Secretary of State John
    Negroponte is with us. Admiral Thad
    Allen of the Coast Guard is with us.
    Ambassador from Iraq is with us;
    Mr. Ambassador, we're proud to have you here. Soldiers, sailors,
    marines, airmen, and coast men--coastguardsmen, thanks for coming;
    thanks for wearing the uniform. Men and women of the Department of State
    are here as well.
        Operation Iraqi Freedom was a remarkable display of military
    effectiveness. Forces from the UK, Australia, Poland, and other allies
    joined our troops in the initial operations. As they advanced, our
    troops fought their way through sandstorms so intense that they
    blackened the daytime sky. Our troops engaged in pitched battles with

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    Fedayeen Saddam, death squads acting on the orders of Saddam Hussein,
    that obeyed neither the conventions of war nor the dictates of
    conscience. These death squads hid in schools, and they hid in
    hospitals, hoping to draw fire against Iraqi civilians. They used women
    and children as human shields. They stopped at nothing in their efforts
    to prevent us from prevailing, but they couldn't stop the coalition
    advance.
        Aided by the most effective and precise air campaign in history,
    coalition forces raced across 350 miles of enemy territory, destroying
    Republican Guard divisions, pushing through the Karbala Gap, capturing
    Saddam International Airport, and liberating Baghdad in less than 1
    month.
        Along the way, our troops added new chapters to the story of
    American military heroism. During these first weeks of battle, Army
    Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith and his troops came under a surprise
    attack by about a hundred Republican Guard forces. Sergeant Smith
    rallied his men. He led a counterattack, killing as many as 50 enemy
    soldiers before being fatally wounded. His actions saved the lives of
    more than a hundred American troops and earned him the Medal of Honor.
        Today, in light of the challenges we have faced in Iraq, some look
    back at this period as the easy part of the war. Yet there was nothing
    easy about it. The liberation of Iraq took incredible skill and amazing
    courage. And the speed, precision, and brilliant execution of the
    campaign will be studied by military historians for years to come.
        What our troops found in Iraq following Saddam's removal was
    horrifying. They uncovered children's prisons and torture chambers and
    rape rooms where Iraqi women were violated in front of their families.
    They found videos showing regime thugs mutilating Iraqis deemed disloyal
    to Saddam. And across the Iraqi countryside, they uncovered mass graves
    of thousands executed by the regime.
        Because we acted, Saddam Hussein no longer fills fields with the
    remains of innocent men, women, and children. Because we acted, Saddam's
    torture chambers and rape rooms and children's prisons have been closed
    for good. Because we acted, Saddam's regime is no longer invading its
    neighbors or attacking them with chemical weapons and ballistic
    missiles. Because we acted, Saddam's regime is no longer paying the
    families of suicide bombers in the Holy Land. Because we acted, Saddam's
    regime is no longer shooting at American and British aircraft patrolling
    the no-fly zones and defying the will of the United Nations. Because we
    acted, the world is better and United States of America is safer.
        When the Iraqi regime was removed, it did not lay down its arms and
    surrender. Instead, former regime elements took off their uniforms and
    faded into the countryside to fight the emergence of a free Iraq. And
    then they were joined by foreign terrorists who were seeking to stop the
    advance of liberty in the Middle East and seeking to establish safe
    havens from which to plot new attacks across the world.
        The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than
    we anticipated, but it is a fight we must win. So our troops have
    engaged these enemies with courage and determination. And as they've
    battled the terrorists and extremists in Iraq, they have helped the
    Iraqi people reclaim their nation and helped a young democracy rise from
    the rubble of Saddam Hussein's tyranny.
        Over the past 5 years, we have seen moments of triumph and moments
    of tragedy. We have watched in admiration as 12 million Iraqis defied
    the terrorists and went to the polls and chose their leaders in free
    elections. We watched in horror as Al Qaida beheaded innocent captives
    and sent suicide bombers to blow up mosques and markets. These actions
    show the brutal nature of the enemy in Iraq, and they serve as a grim
    reminder. The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of
    Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of America. Defeating
    this enemy

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    in Iraq will make it less likely that we will face the enemy here at
    home.
        A little over a year ago, the fight in Iraq was faltering. Extremist
    elements were succeeding in their efforts to plunge Iraq into chaos.
    They had established safe havens in many parts of the country. They were
    creating divisions among the Iraqis along sectarian lines. And their
    strategy of using violence in Iraq to cause divisions in America was
    working as pressures built here in Washington for withdrawal before the
    job was done.
        My administration understood that America could not retreat in the
    face of terror. And we knew that if we did not act, the violence that
    had been consuming Iraq would worsen and spread and could eventually
    reach genocidal levels. Baghdad could have disintegrated into a
    contagion of killing, and Iraq could have descended into full-blown
    sectarian warfare.
        So we reviewed the strategy and changed course in Iraq. We sent
    reinforcements into the country in a dramatic policy shift that is now
    known as the surge. General David Petraeus
    took command with a new mission: work with Iraqi forces to protect the
    Iraqi people, pressure the enemy into strongholds, and deny the
    terrorists sanctuary anywhere in the country. And that is precisely what
    we have done.
        In Anbar, Sunni tribal leaders had grown tired of Al Qaida's
    brutality and started a popular uprising called the Anbar Awakening. To
    take advantage of this opportunity, we sent 4,000 additional marines to
    help these brave Iraqis drive Al Qaida from the Province. As this effort
    succeeded, it inspired other Iraqis to take up the fight. Soon similar
    uprisings began to spread across the country. Today, there are more than
    90,000 concerned local citizens who are protecting their communities
    from the terrorists and insurgents and the extremists. The Government in
    Baghdad has stepped forward with a surge of its own; they've added more
    than 100,000 new Iraqi soldiers and police during the past year. These
    Iraqi troops have fought bravely, and thousands have given their lives
    in this struggle.
        Together, these Americans and Iraqi forces have driven the
    terrorists from many of the sanctuaries they once held. Now the
    terrorists have gathered in and around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul,
    and Iraqi and American forces are relentlessly pursuing them. There will
    be tough fighting in Mosul and areas of northern Iraq in the weeks
    ahead. But there's no doubt in my mind, because of the courage of our
    troops and the bravery of the Iraqis, the Al Qaida terrorists in this
    region will suffer the same fate as Al Qaida suffered elsewhere in Iraq.
        As we have fought Al Qaida, coalition and Iraqi forces have also
    taken the fight to Shi'a extremist groups, many of them backed and
    financed and armed by Iran. A year ago, these groups were on the rise.
    Today, they are increasingly isolated, and Iraqis of all faiths are
    putting their lives on the line to stop these extremists from hijacking
    their young democracy.
        To ensure that military progress in Iraq is quickly followed up with
    real improvements in daily life, we have doubled the number of
    Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq. These teams of civilian experts
    are serving all Iraqi--18 Iraqi Provinces, and they're helping to
    strengthen responsible leaders and build up local economies and bring
    Iraqis together, so that reconciliation can happen from the ground up.
    They're very effective. They're helping give ordinary Iraqis confidence
    that by rejecting the extremists and reconciling with one another, they
    can claim their place in a free Iraq and build better lives for their
    families.
        There's still hard work to be done in Iraq. The gains we have made
    are fragile and reversible. But on this anniversary, the American people
    should know that since the surge began, the level of violence is
    significantly down, civilian deaths are down, sectarian killings are
    down, attacks on American forces are down. We have captured or killed
    thousands of extremists in Iraq, including hundreds of key Al Qaida

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    leaders and operatives. Our men and women in uniform are performing with
    characteristic honor and valor. The surge is working. And as a return on
    our success in Iraq, we've begun bringing some of our troops home.
        The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around, it
    has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on
    terror. For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where Al
    Qaida rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become
    the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive Al Qaida out. In
    Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against
    Usama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his
    murderous network. And the significance of this development cannot be
    overstated.
        The terrorist movement feeds on a sense of inevitability and claims
    to rise on the tide of history. The accomplishments of the surge in Iraq
    are exposing this myth and discrediting the extremists. When Iraqi and
    American forces finish the job, the effects will reverberate far beyond
    Iraq's borders. Usama bin Laden once said, ``When people see a strong
    horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse.'' By
    defeating Al Qaida in Iraq, we will show the world that Al Qaida is the
    weak horse. We will show that men and women who love liberty can defeat
    the terrorists. And we will show that the future of the Middle East does
    not belong to terror. The future of the Middle East belongs to freedom.
        The challenge in this period ahead is to consolidate the gains we
    have made and seal the extremists' defeat. We have learned through hard
    experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast: The
    terrorists and extremists step in; they fill vacuums, establish safe
    havens, and use them to spread chaos and carnage. General
    Petraeus has warned that too fast a
    drawdown could result in such an unraveling with Al Qaida and insurgents
    and militia extremists regaining lost ground and increasing violence.
        Men and women of the Armed Forces: Having come so far and achieved
    so much, we're not going to let this to happen.
        Next month, General Petraeus and
    Ambassador Crocker will come to Washington
    to testify before Congress. I will await their recommendations before
    making decisions on our troop levels in Iraq. Any further drawdown will
    be based on conditions on the ground and the recommendations of our
    commanders. And they must not jeopardize the hard-fought gains our
    troops and civilians have made over the past year.
        Successes we are seeing in Iraq are undeniable, yet some in
    Washington still call for retreat. War critics can no longer credibly
    argue that we're losing in Iraq, so they now argue the war costs too
    much. In recent months, we've heard exaggerated amounts of the costs of
    this war. No one are--would argue that this war has not come at a high
    cost in lives and treasure; but those costs are necessary when we
    consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq.
        If we were to allow our enemies to prevail in Iraq, the violence
    that is now declining would accelerate, and Iraq would descend into
    chaos. Al Qaida would regain its lost sanctuaries and establish new
    ones, fomenting violence and terror that could spread beyond Iraq's
    borders, with serious consequences for the world's economy.
        Out of such chaos in Iraq, the terrorist movement could emerge
    emboldened, with new recruits, new resources, and an even greater
    determination to dominate the region and harm America. An emboldened Al
    Qaida with access to Iraq's oil resources could pursue its ambitions to
    acquire weapons of mass destruction to attack America and other free
    nations. Iran would be emboldened as well, with a renewed determination
    to develop nuclear weapons and impose its brand of hegemony across the
    Middle East. Our enemies would see an

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    America--an American failure in Iraq as evidence of weakness and a lack
    of resolve.
        To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of September
    the 11th and make it more likely that America would suffer another
    attack like the one we experienced that day, a day in which 19 armed men
    with box cutters killed nearly 3,000 people in our--on our soil, a day
    after which, in the following of that attack, more than a million
    Americans lost work, lost their jobs. The terrorists intend even greater
    harm to our country. And we have no greater responsibility than to
    defeat our enemies across the world so that they cannot carry out such
    an attack.
        As our coalition fights the enemy in Iraq, we've stayed on the
    offensive on other fronts in the war on terror. You know, just a few
    weeks after commencing Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. forces captured
    Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the
    mastermind behind the September the 11th terrorist attacks; we got him
    in Pakistan. About the same time as we launched Operation Iraqi Freedom,
    coalition forces thousands of--hundreds of miles away launched an
    assault on the terrorists in the mountains of southern Afghanistan in an
    operation called Operation Valiant Strike.
        Throughout the war on terror, we have brought the enemy--we have
    fought the enemy on every single battlefront. And so long as terrorist
    danger remains, the United States of America will continue to fight the
    enemy wherever it makes its stand.
        We will stay on the offense. But in the long run, defeating the
    terrorists requires an alternative to their murderous ideology. And
    there we have another advantage. We've got a singular advantage with our
    military when it comes to finding the terrorists and bringing them to
    justice. And we have another advantage in our strong belief in the
    transformative power of liberty.
        So we're helping the people of Iraq establish a democracy in the
    heart of the Middle East. A free Iraq will fight terrorists instead of
    harboring them. A free Iraq will be an example for others of the power
    of liberty to change the societies and to displace despair with hope. By
    spreading the hope of liberty in the Middle East, we will help free
    societies take root. And when they do, freedom will yield the peace that
    we all desire.
        Our troops on the frontlines understand what is at stake. They know
    that the mission in Iraq has been difficult and has been trying for our
    Nation, because they're the ones who've carried most of the burdens.
    They're all volunteers who have stepped forward to defend America in a
    time of danger. Some of them have gone out of their way to return to the
    fight.
        One of these brave Americans is a Marine Gunnery Sergeant named
    William ``Spanky'' Gibson. In May
    of 2006 in Ramadi, a terrorist sniper's bullet ripped through his left
    knee; doctors then amputated his leg. After months of difficult
    rehabilitation, Spanky was not only walking, he was training for
    triathlons.
        Last year, at the Escape from Alcatraz swim near San Francisco,
    he met Marine General James
    Mattis, who asked if there's anything he
    could do for him. Spanky had just one request: He asked to redeploy to
    Iraq. Today, he's serving in Fallujah, the first full-leg amputee to
    return to the frontlines. Here's what he says about his decision to
    return: ``The Iraqis where--are where we were 232 years ago as a nation.
    Now they're starting a new nation, and that's one of my big reasons for
    coming back here. I wanted to tell the people of this country that I'm
    back to help wherever I can.''
        When Americans like Spanky Gibson serve on our side, the enemy in Iraq doesn't got a
    chance. We're grateful to all the brave men and women of our military
    who have served the cause of freedom. You've done the hard work, far
    from home and far from your loved ones. We give thanks for all our
    military families who love you and have supported you in this mission.

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        We appreciate the fine civilians from many departments who serve
    alongside you. Many of you served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some have
    been on these fronts several times. You will never forget the people who
    fought at your side. You will always remember the comrades who served
    with you in combat, [but] * did not make the journey home. America
    remembers them as well. More than 4,400 men and women have given their
    lives in the war on terror. We'll pray for their families. We'll always
    honor their memory.
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        * White House correction.
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        The best way we can honor them is by making sure that their
    sacrifice was not in vain. Five years ago tonight, I promised the
    American people that in the struggle ahead, ``we will accept no outcome
    but victory.'' Today, standing before men and women who helped liberate
    a nation, I reaffirm the commitment. The battle in Iraq is noble, it is
    necessary, and it is just. And with your courage, the battle in Iraq
    will end in victory. God bless.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:04 a.m. at the Pentagon. In his remarks,
    he referred to Iraq's Ambassador to the U.S. Samir Shakir al-Sumaydi;
    Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--
    Iraq; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization;
    and Gen. James N. Mattis, USMC, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces
    Central Command, and commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
    The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of these remarks.