[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 13 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[Pages 379-381]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida

March 26, 2003

    The President. Thank you all. Thank you all. Thank you all very 
much. General DeLong, thanks for such a kind introduction. Laura and I 
are really proud to be here with the good men and women of CENTCOM and 
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
    We are pleased to see so many family members who are here. We want 
to--we thank you for coming. And I want you to know your Nation 
appreciates your commitment and your sacrifice in the cause of peace and 
freedom.
    We're also proud to be here today with our friends and allies, 
representative of the 48 nations across the world who have joined 
America in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Over the last week, the world has 
witnessed the skill and honor and resolve of our military in the course 
of battle. We have seen the character of this new generation of American 
Armed Forces. We've seen their daring against ruthless enemies and their 
decency to an oppressed people. Millions of Americans are proud of our 
military, and so am I. I am honored to be the Commander in Chief.
    I appreciate very much General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has joined us from Washington, DC, today. He 
is representative of the caliber of our generals. He's one of the finest 
people I know. I'm proud you're here, General Pace. Thank you for 
representing the Marine Corps so well, and all the fighting men and 
women.
    I'm proud, also, to be here with Charles Holland, commander of 
SOCOM; the wing commander of MacDill Air Force Base, Colonel Tanker 
Snyder. He told me that was his given name, Tanker. [Laughter] That's a 
heck of a name, Tanker. [Laughter]
    Of course, I'm really proud of your Governor.
    Audience members. God bless you, sir! [Laughter]
    The President. I want to thank members of the Florida congressional 
delegation who flew down with us today on Air Force One, starting with 
the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a Floridian committed to 
making sure our military has what it takes to win war and, therefore, be 
able to keep the peace--the chairman, Bill Young. As well, Congressman 
Jim Davis, Mike Bilirakis, Adam Putnam, and Katherine Harris came down 
today. I know we've got some of the mayors from the local area here: 
Rick Baker, Brian Aungst, and my old buddy Dick Greco, the mayor of 
Tampa, Florida--for being here.
    I want to thank everybody in uniform who is here today. Thank you 
for your service, your sacrifice, and your love of America. I appreciate 
the members of the United States Coast Guard who are here today. Our 
Coast Guard is deployed in the Middle East; at the same time, it 
protects this homeland of ours. And you're doing a fine job on behalf of 
the American people, all up and down the coastlines of this great 
country.
    I want to thank members of the Florida Army National Guard who are 
here. And I suspect we might have a few veterans as well as retired 
members of our military. I want to thank you all for your service, for 
setting such a clear example for future generations of those who wear 
our uniform. I think you'll agree that our military is not letting you 
down when it comes to upholding the great tradition of peace through 
strength.
    One of the problems with being the President is you always end up 
being the last guy here. [Laughter] So I'm sorry I didn't get to hear 
Toby Keith and Darryl Worley. But I want to thank you all for coming and 
providing your talents today in support of our efforts to make the world 
a more peaceful place. I also want to thank Chaplain Stone. I appreciate 
your words of prayer for our men and women in uniform, especially for 
your prayers for the loved ones of American and British troops whose 
lives were lost.
    People across this country are praying. They are praying that they 
hope those families and loved ones will find comfort and grace in their 
sorrow. We pray that God will bless and receive each of the fallen, and 
we thank God that liberty found such brave defenders.
    At MacDill Air Force Base, I know you're proud of a certain Army 
general who couldn't be with us today on the account of some

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pressing business. [Laughter] Tommy Franks has my respect, the respect 
of our military, and the thanks of the United States of America.
    MacDill is the command center of our Special Operations Forces, the 
silent warriors who were first on the ground there in Iraq. And here at 
CENTCOM, you coordinate the work of a grand coalition that is disarming 
a dangerous enemy and freeing a proud people.
    Every nation in our coalition understands the terrible threat we 
face from weapons of mass destruction. Every nation represented here 
refuses to live in a future of fear, at the mercy of terrorists and 
tyrants. And every nation here today shares the same resolve: We will be 
relentless in our pursuit of victory.
    Our military is making good progress in Iraq; yet this war is far 
from over. As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the 
most desperate elements of a doomed regime. We cannot know the duration 
of this war, but we are prepared for the battle ahead. We cannot predict 
the final day of the Iraqi regime, but I can assure you, and I assure 
the long-suffering people of Iraq, there will be a day of reckoning for 
the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing near.
    Many of you here today were also involved in the liberation of 
Afghanistan. The military demands are very different in Iraq. Yet our 
coalition is showing the same spirit, the same resolve--that spirit and 
resolve that destroyed the Al Qaida terror camps, that routed the 
Taliban and freed the people of Afghanistan.
    In Iraq today, our military is focused and unwavering. We have an 
effective plan of battle and the flexibility to meet every challenge. 
Nothing--nothing--will divert us from our clear mission. We will press 
on through every hardship. We will overcome every danger, and we will 
prevail.
    It has been 6 days since the major ground war began. It's been 5 
days since the major air war began. And every day has brought us closer 
to our objective. At the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Special 
Forces helped to secure airfields and bridges and oilfields, to clear 
the way for our forces and to prevent sabotage and environmental 
catastrophe. Our pilots and cruise missiles have struck vital military 
targets with lethal precision.
    We've destroyed the base of a terrorist group in northern Iraq that 
sought to attack America and Europe with deadly poisons. We have moved 
over 200 miles to the north, toward Iraq's capital, in the last 3 days. 
And the dictator's major Republican Guard units are now under direct and 
intense attack. Day by day, Saddam Hussein is losing his grip on Iraq. 
Day by day, the Iraqi people are closer to freedom.
    We are also taking every action we can to prevent the Iraqi regime 
from using its hidden weapons of mass destruction. We are attacking the 
command structure that could order the use of those weapons. Coalition 
troops have taken control of hundreds of square miles of territory to 
prevent the launch of missiles and chemical or biological weapons.
    Every victory in this campaign and every sacrifice serves the 
purpose of defending innocent lives, in America and across the world, 
from the weapons of terror. We will not wait to meet this danger with 
firefighters and police and doctors on the streets of our own cities. 
Instead, we are meeting the danger today with our Army, Navy, Air Force, 
Coast Guard, and Marines.
    All the nations in our coalition are contributing to our steady 
progress. British ground forces have seized strategic towns and ports. 
The Royal Air Force is striking targets throughout Iraq. The Royal Navy 
is taking command of coastal waters. The Australian military is 
providing naval gunfire support and Special Forces and fighter aircraft 
on missions deep in Iraq. Polish military forces have secured an Iraqi 
oil platform in the Persian Gulf. A Danish submarine is monitoring Iraqi 
intelligence, providing early warning. Czech, Slovak, Polish, and 
Romanian forces, soon to be joined by Ukrainian and Bulgarian forces, 
are forward-deployed in the region, prepared to respond in the event of 
an attack of weapons of mass destruction anywhere in the region. Spain 
is providing important logistical and humanitarian support. Coalition 
forces are skilled and courageous, and we are honored to have them by 
our side.
    In the early stages of this war, the world is getting a clearer view 
of the Iraqi regime

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and the evil at its heart. In the ranks of that regime are men whose 
idea of courage is to brutalize unarmed prisoners. They wage attacks 
while posing as civilians. They use real civilians as human shields. 
They pretend to surrender, then fire upon those who show them mercy. 
This band of war criminals has been put on notice: The day of Iraq's 
liberation will also be a day of justice.
    And in the early stages of this war, we have also seen the honor of 
the American military and our coalition. Protecting innocent civilians 
is a central commitment of our war plan. Our enemy in this war is the 
Iraqi regime, not the people who have suffered under it. As we bring 
justice to a dictator, today we started bringing humanitarian aid in 
large amounts to an oppressed land.
    We are treating Iraqi prisoners of war according to the highest 
standards of law and decency. Coalition doctors are working to save the 
lives of the wounded, including Iraqi soldiers. One of our servicemen 
said this about the injured Iraqis he treated: ``We can't blame them for 
the mistreatment that their Government is doing to our soldiers. I'm all 
for treating them. That's what we do. That's our job.''
    Our entire coalition has a job to do, and it will not end with the 
liberation of Iraq. We will help the Iraqi people to find the benefits 
and assume the duties of self-government. The form of those institutions 
will arise from Iraq's own culture and its own choices. Yet, this much 
is certain: The 24 million people of Iraq have lived too long under a 
violent criminal gang calling itself a government.
    Iraqis are a good and gifted people. They deserve better than a life 
spent bowing before a dictator. The people of Iraq deserve to stand on 
their feet as free men and women, the citizens of a free country.
    This goal of a free and peaceful Iraq unites our coalition. And this 
goal comes from the deepest convictions of America. The freedom you 
defend is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The 
liberty we prize is not American's gift to the world; it is God's gift 
to humanity.
    The Army Special Forces define their mission in a motto: ``To 
Liberate the Oppressed.'' Generations of men and women in uniform have 
served and sacrificed in this cause. Now the call of history has come 
once again to all in our military and to all in our coalition. We are 
answering that call. We have no ambition in Iraq except the liberation 
of its people. We ask no reward except a durable peace. And we will 
accept no outcome short of complete and final success.
    The path we are taking is not easy, and it may be long. Yet we know 
our destination. We will stay on the path, mile by mile, all the way to 
Baghdad and all the way to victory.
    Thank you all. And may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:42 a.m. in Hangar 3. In his remarks, he 
referred to Gen. Tommy R. Franks, USA, combatant commander, Lt. Gen. 
Michael P. DeLong, USMC, deputy commander, and Maj. Kenneth Stone, USAF, 
chaplain, U.S. Central Command; Gen. Charles R. Holland, USAF, 
commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; Col. David ``Tanker'' 
Snyder, USAF, commander, 6th Air Mobility Wing; Gov. Jeb Bush of 
Florida; Mayor Richard M. Baker of St. Petersburg, FL; Mayor Brian 
Aungst of Clearwater, FL; Mayor Dick A. Greco of Tampa, FL; country 
music entertainers Toby Keith and Darryl Worley; and President Saddam 
Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a 
Spanish language transcript of these remarks.