    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [September 9, 2008]
    [Pages 1184-1189]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the National Defense University
    September 9, 2008

        Thank you, General, for your kind and
    short introduction. [Laughter] I am pleased to be back at the National
    Defense University again. It turns out this is my fifth visit as
    President. Every time I come here, I'm inspired and encouraged because
    of the brave men and women who work here. And I really do want to thank
    you for your warm hospitality.
        Across the world, NDU students and faculty have served with valor in
    the war against these extremists and killers. On this campus, you're
    helping train the next generation of military and civilian leaders who
    will defend our Nation against the real and true threats of the 21st
    century. You've developed new ways for our military and civilian
    personnel to work together to meet the new challenges we face. I thank
    you for your patriotism, I thank you for your hard work, and I thank you
    for your devotion to protecting the American people.
        I thank the Members of the Congress who have joined us, Congressman
    Randy Forbes of Virginia and Congressman
    Trent Franks of Arizona. Thanks for coming.
        I'm going to be talking in a little while about a recommendation I
    have received from the Joint Chiefs. And I'm so pleased that the Vice
    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Cartwright, is with us today. Thanks for coming, Hoss.
        I thank the leadership of the NDU. Thanks for having me again. I
    appreciate the civilian personnel, U.S. Government civilians studying
    here. And I thank those who wear the uniform. You know, one of the great
    things about being the Commander in Chief is to be the Commander in
    Chief of people who have volunteered to serve our country in a time of
    danger. I'm incredibly impressed by our military, and I am thankful to
    our military families.
        You know, last week, a remarkable event took place in Iraq. At a
    ceremony in the city of Ramadi, responsibility for security in Anbar
    Province was transferred to Iraqi civilian authorities. Iraqi forces are
    now leading security operations across Anbar, with American troops in an
    overwatch role. With this transfer of responsibility, the people of
    Anbar took charge of their own security and their own destiny. It's a
    moment of pride for all Iraqis, and it was a moment of success in the
    war on terror.
        Two years ago, such a moment was unimaginable to most. Anbar was one
    of the most dangerous Provinces in Iraq; Al Qaida was in control of
    almost every major population center. They had largely succeeded in
    turning the region into a safe haven, which brought them closer to one
    of their goals: a place from which to launch new attacks against
    America, our allies, and our interests in the region. In 2006, a
    military intelligence report concluded the Province was lost, and Anbar
    was held up as proof of America's failure in Iraq.
        Yet something remarkable was happening. The tribes in Anbar were
    growing tired of Al Qaida's brutality. They wanted to live a normal
    life, and this presented us with an opportunity to defeat Al Qaida in
    Anbar. Last year, we sent 4,000 additional marines to Anbar as part of
    the surge. The surge showed America's commitment to security. It showed
    we were committed to helping the average citizen in Anbar live a normal
    life. And it helped renew the confidence of local leaders, the

    [[Page 1185]]

    tribal sheikhs, who then led an uprising to take Anbar back from the
    terrorists. Together, local tribes, Iraqi troops, and American forces
    systematically dismantled Al Qaida control across the Province.
        Today, Anbar is a Province transformed. Attacks in the Province have
    dropped by more than 90 percent. Casualties are down dramatically.
    Virtually every city and town in Anbar now has a mayor and a functioning
    municipal council. Provincial Reconstruction Teams are helping local
    leaders create jobs and economic opportunity. As security has improved,
    reconciliation is taking place across the Province. Today, Anbar is no
    longer lost to Al Qaida; it has been reclaimed by the Iraqi people.
        We're seeing similar gains in other parts of Iraq. Earlier this
    year, the Iraqi Government launched a successful military operation
    against Shi'a extremist groups in places like Basra and Baghdad and al-
    Amarah. Iraqi forces are staying on the offense. They are pressing the
    advantage against those who would bring harm and danger to their
    citizens. They're conducting operations in and around the northern city
    of Mosul, where Al Qaida terrorists seek refuge. The Iraqi Army recently
    launched a new offensive against Al Qaida in Diyala Province. All these
    operations are Iraqi led, with American forces playing a supporting
    role.
        As a result of these and other operations in Iraq, violence is down
    to its lowest point since the spring of 2004. Civilian deaths are down,
    sectarian killings are down, suicide bombings are down, and normal life
    is returning to communities across the country. Provincial
    reconciliation is moving forward. The Iraqi Government has passed
    budgets and major pieces of legislation. Our diplomatic--diplomats
    report that markets once shuttered by terrorist violence are now open
    for business. Yesterday Ambassador Crocker
    and General Petraeus reported to me via
    SVTS that they had just gone into a market area and seen the commerce
    and the activities. The Iraqi Health Ministry issued an interesting
    report that said that hundreds of doctors who had fled the fighting have
    now returned to serve the people of their country.
        The reduced levels of violence in Iraq have been sustained for
    several months. While the progress in Iraq is still fragile and
    reversible, General Petraeus and
    Ambassador Crocker report that there now
    appears to be a degree of durability to the gains we have made.
        Here's the bottom line: While the enemy in Iraq dangerous, we have
    seized the offensive. Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of
    leading and winning the fight. As a result, we've been able to carry out
    a policy of return on success, reducing American combat forces in Iraq
    as conditions on the ground continue to improve.
        We've now brought home all five of the Army combat brigades, the
    Marine expeditionary unit, two Marine battalions that were sent to Iraq
    as part of the surge. I was proud to visit with some of those troops at
    Fort Bragg earlier this year. They are among our Nation's finest
    citizens, and they have earned the gratitude and respect of the American
    people.
        Another aspect of our return on success policy in Iraq is reduced
    combat tours. Last month, troops began deploying for 12-month tours
    instead of 15-month tours. This change will ease the burden on our
    forces, and I think, more importantly, this change will make life for
    our military families easier.
        I'm pleased to announce the next step forward in our policy of
    return on success. General Petraeus has
    just completed a review of the situation in Iraq, and he and the Joint
    Chiefs of Staff have recommended that we move forward with additional
    force reductions, and I agree. Over the next several months, we'll bring
    home about 3,400 combat support forces, including aviation personnel,
    explosive ordnance teams, combat and construction engineers, military
    police, and logistical support forces.

    [[Page 1186]]

        By November, we'll bring home a Marine battalion that is now serving
    in Anbar Province. And in February of 2009, another Army combat brigade
    will come home. This amounts to about 8,000 additional American troops
    returning home without replacement. And if progress in Iraq continues to
    hold, General Petraeus and our military
    leaders believe additional reductions will be possible in the first half
    of 2009.
        The progress in Iraq is a credit to the valor of American troops and
    civilians, the valor of Iraqi troops, and the valor of our coalition
    partners. And I thank those who are here from other nations for joining
    us, and I thank you for working with our troops. We welcome you to the
    United States. And we appreciate your working closely with those who
    wear the uniform.
        Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began--I want our fellow citizens to
    hear this fact--more than 140,000 troops from 41 countries have served
    as part of our coalition in Iraq. Sons and daughters of Australia,
    Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark,
    El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the
    Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand,
    and Ukraine have given their lives in the fight against the extremists.
    The citizens of these countries have sacrificed for the cause of freedom
    in Iraq. America has been proud to serve alongside such courageous
    allies.
        I congratulate our coalition partners on their historic
    accomplishments in Iraq and for maintaining their resolve during the
    dark days. Thanks to their determined work and the growing capability of
    Iraqi forces, many of our partners in Iraq are now in a position to
    return on success as well. Australia has withdrawn its battle group, the
    Polish contingent is set to redeploy shortly, and many more coalition
    nations will be able to conclude their deployments to Iraq this year,
    thanks to the skill of their troops and the success of their missions.
        The important task in the period ahead will be to work toward the
    conclusion of a strategic framework agreement and a status of forces
    agreement between the United States and Iraq. These agreements will
    serve as the foundation for America's continued security support to Iraq
    once the United Nations resolution authorizing the multinational forces
    there expires on December 31 of this year. They will allow us to
    establish a bilateral relationship between the United States and Iraq
    like those we have with dozens of other countries around the world.
        Early on in this struggle, I made clear that America's goal in Iraq
    was to help the Iraqi people build a democratic nation that can govern
    itself, sustain itself, and defend itself. And thanks to the success of
    the surge, Iraq is making steady progress toward that goal. The steps
    I've described here at NDU will help us build on this success. It will
    set America's engagement in Iraq on a strong and steady course, and it
    will allow our troops to come home in victory.
        Al Qaida's leaders have repeatedly declared that Iraq is the central
    front of their war with America, but it is not the only front. As Al
    Qaida faces increased pressure in Iraq, the terrorists are stepping up
    their efforts on the front where this struggle first began, the nation
    of Afghanistan.
        After September the 11th, 2001, coalition forces destroyed the
    Taliban regime. We drove Al Qaida from the Afghan sanctuary where they
    had plotted and planned unprecedented attacks on our country. We helped
    Afghans begin to build a new democracy. Together with our military,
    American civilian experts helped the Afghan people build their economy
    and provide basic services and expand health care, as well as opened up
    schools for Afghan girls and boys.
        These were important successes. Yet the enemies of a free
    Afghanistan refused to give up the fight. They sought to undermine the
    democratic Government so they

    [[Page 1187]]

    could regain the place of dominance they enjoyed in Afghanistan before
    September the 11th. With the help of their sanctuary in Pakistan, they
    ruthlessly attack innocent Afghans across the country.
        As the security situation changed, America and our coalition
    partners responded with troop increases. At the NATO summit in Bucharest
    in April, I told our allies the United States was deploying 3,500 more
    marines to Afghanistan and that we would make additional forces
    available in 2009. I also called on allies to increase their force
    levels. And during the past year, the United Kingdom, France, Poland,
    Bulgaria, Romania, Australia, Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and
    others have sent additional forces to support the NATO mission in
    Afghanistan.
        These troop increases represent a quiet surge in Afghanistan. In
    all, the number of American troops in the country increased from less
    than 21,000 2 years ago to nearly 31,000 today. The number of coalition
    troops, including NATO troops, increased from about 20,000 to about
    31,000. And the number of trained Afghan Army and police forces
    increased from less than 67,000 to nearly 144,000.
        These troop increases have made a difference, yet huge challenges in
    Afghanistan remain. This is a vast country. And unlike Iraq, it has few
    natural resources and has an underdeveloped infrastructure. Its
    democratic institutions are fragile. Its enemies are some of the most
    hardened terrorists and extremists in the world. With their brutal
    attacks, the Taliban and terrorists have made some progress in shaking
    the confidence of the Afghan people. And in the face of all these
    challenges, the Afghan people are naturally questioning what their
    future looks like.
        Afghanistan's success is critical to the security of America and our
    partners in the free world. For all the good work we've done in that
    country, it is clear we must do even more. As we learned in Iraq, the
    best way to restore the confidence of the people is to restore basic
    security, and that requires more troops. I'm announcing today additional
    American troop deployments to Afghanistan. In November, a Marine
    battalion that was scheduled to deploy to Iraq will instead deploy to
    Afghanistan. It will be followed in January by an Army combat brigade.
        The mission of these forces will be to work with the Afghan forces
    to provide security for the Afghan people, protect Afghanistan's
    infrastructure and democratic institutions, and help ensure access to
    services like education and health care. They will show the citizens of
    Afghanistan that the Government and its partners will stand with them in
    the battle against the Taliban and the extremists. They will help
    clarify a stark contrast in Afghanistan: While the terrorists and
    extremists deliberately target and murder the innocent, coalition and
    Afghan forces risk their lives to protect the innocent.
        Regrettably, there will be times when our pursuit of the enemy
    result--will result in accidental civilian deaths. This has been the
    case throughout the history of warfare. Our Nation mourns the loss of
    every innocent life. Every grieving family has the sympathy of the
    American people. And I've given President Karzai my word that America will work closely with the Afghan
    Government to ensure the security of the Afghan people while protecting
    innocent life.
        As we deploy these reinforcements, America will take new steps to
    help the Afghan Government mobilize more forces of its own. Afghan
    fighters are good fighters. If you talk to people who have been in
    Afghanistan, they'll tell you the Afghan troops are courageous; they
    just need some help.
        Along with the Afghan Government, the United States and our allies
    are now launching a new initiative to double the size of the Afghan
    National Army over the next 5 years. We'll also work to increase the
    involvement of Afghan tribes. Local Afghan forces were key to our
    successes in

    [[Page 1188]]

    2001 and 2002, when we combined the 21st-century capabilities of the
    American military with the courage of Afghan fighters on horseback.
        In the period ahead, we will once again encourage Afghan security
    forces and Afghan tribes to take a leading role in the building of a
    democratic Afghanistan. The Taliban and Al Qaida will not be allowed to
    return to power. The terrorists will suffer the same fate in Afghanistan
    that they are now suffering in Iraq, and they will be defeated.
        In addition to these new military measures, we're stepping up
    efforts on the civilian side. We're increasing our civilian presence
    with new personnel from USAID and the Drug Enforcement Agency, as well
    as the Foreign Service. We're using Provincial Reconstruction Teams of
    military and civilian experts to help local communities fight
    corruption, improve governance, and jump-start their economies. We're
    using agricultural development teams to help Afghan farmers feed their
    people and become more self-sufficient. We're supporting Afghanistan's
    National Development Strategy, which helps the democratic Government in
    Kabul offer greater support for the Provinces in areas like health and
    infrastructure.
        We're working with the Afghan authorities to prepare for elections
    of 2009 and 2010. Recently, at an international conference in Paris,
    America pledged $10 billion over the next 2 years to support
    Afghanistan's development. In all these ways, we're working to ensure
    that our military progress is accompanied by the political and economic
    gains that are critical to the success of a free Afghanistan.
        As we take these new steps in Afghanistan, we must also help the
    Government of Pakistan defeat Taliban and Al Qaida fighters hiding in
    remote border regions of their country. These extremists are
    increasingly using Pakistan as a base from which to destabilize
    Afghanistan's young democracy. In the past year, the Taliban, Al Qaida,
    and other extremist groups operating in these remote regions have
    stepped up their attacks against the Pakistani Government, hoping to
    stop that country's democratic progress as well.
        This morning I called Pakistan's newly elected leader, President
    Zardari. I pledged the full support of
    America's Government as Pakistan takes the fight to the terrorists and
    extremists in the border regions.
        Defeating these terrorist and extremists is in Pakistan's interest;
    they pose a mortal threat to Pakistan's future as a free and democratic
    nation. Defeating these terrorist and extremists is also Pakistan's
    responsibility, because every nation has an obligation to govern its own
    territory and make certain that it does not become a safe haven for
    terror. America and our NATO allies will continue helping Pakistan in
    its efforts to defeat the extremists. The same terrorists who murdered
    innocent civilians in Karachi and Islamabad are plotting new attacks
    against the United States and Europe.
        Each of these three places I've discussed today--Iraq, Afghanistan,
    and parts of Pakistan--pose unique challenges for our country. Yet
    they're all theaters in the same overall struggle. In all three places,
    extremists are using violence and terror in an attempt to impose their
    ideology on whole populations. They murder to impose their dark vision
    of the world. In all three places, America is standing strongly with
    brave elected leaders and determined reformers and millions of ordinary
    citizens who seek a future of liberty and justice and tolerance.
        Defeating our enemies requires success on the military front.
    Together with our allies, we've made substantial progress toward
    breaking up terrorist networks, and we will not rest until they are
    destroyed. Defeating our enemies also requires success in the
    ideological battle. We must show the people of the broader Middle East a
    better alternative to a life of violence and despair, and that
    alternative is based on liberty. History shows that people who are

    [[Page 1189]]

    given the choice between freedom and tyranny will choose freedom. And
    history shows that freedom will yield the peace we all want.
        There will be difficult moments in the work ahead, and yet we can be
    confident in the outcome. With faith in the power of freedom, we will
    transform nations that once harbored our enemies into strong and capable
    allies in the war on terror. With faith in the power of freedom, we will
    prove that the future of the Middle East belongs not to terror, but to
    liberty. And with faith in the power of freedom, we will leave behind a
    safer and more peaceful world for our children and our grandchildren.
        I thank you for all you do to keep America safe. I thank you for
    your service in freedom's cause. May God bless you, your families, and
    our country.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:57 a.m. in Eisenhower Hall. In his
    remarks, he referred to Lt. Gen. Frances C. Wilson, USMC, president,
    National Defense University, who introduced the president; Gen. David H.
    Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq; President
    Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan; and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan.
    The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of these remarks.