[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 15 (Monday, April 14, 2003)]
[Pages 414-415]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

April 5, 2003

    Good morning. American and coalition forces are steadily advancing 
against the regime of Saddam Hussein. With each new village they 
liberate, our forces are learning more about the atrocities of that 
regime and the deep fear the dictator has instilled in the Iraqi people. 
Yet no crime of this dying regime will divert us from our mission. We 
will not stop until Iraq is free.
    This week, coalition forces have been clearing southern cities and 
towns of Saddam's death squads and enforcers. Our special forces and 
Army paratroopers, working with Kurdish militia, have opened a northern 
front against the enemy. In the town of An Najaf, members of our 101st 
Airborne Division have been welcomed as liberators. At An Nasiriyah, 
marines continue to eliminate the enemy while other Army and Marine 
units have closed in on Baghdad. From the skies above, coalition 
aircraft and cruise missiles are removing hundreds of military targets 
from the map.
    As the vise tightens on the Iraqi regime, some of our enemies have 
chosen to fill their final days with acts of cowardice and murder. In 
combat, Saddam's thugs shield themselves with women and children. They 
have killed Iraqi citizens who welcome coalition troops, and they have 
forced other Iraqis into battle by threatening to torture or kill their 
families. They have executed prisoners of war, waged attacks under the 
white flag of truce, and concealed combat forces in civilian 
neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and mosques. In this war, the Iraqi 
regime is terrorizing its own citizens, doing everything possible to 
maximize Iraqi civilian casualties and then to exploit the deaths they 
have caused for propaganda. These are war criminals, and they'll be 
treated as war criminals.
    In stark contrast, the citizens of Iraq are coming to know what kind 
of people we have sent to liberate them. American forces and our allies 
are treating innocent civilians with kindness and showing proper respect 
to the soldiers who surrender. The people of the United States are proud 
of the honorable conduct of our military. And I am proud to lead such 
brave and decent Americans.
    In recent days, we have also brought food and water and medicine to 
the Iraqi people. We're delivering emergency rations to the hungry. 
Right now, cargo ships are bound for Iraq, carrying wheat from Oklahoma, 
Kansas, and Texas--enough to feed 4.5 million Iraqis for 1 month. 
Additional food, supplied by the World Food Program, is moving by truck 
convoy across the Turkish border into northern Iraq.
    We are bringing aid to the long-suffering people of Iraq, and we are 
bringing something more. We are bringing hope. One Iraqi, when the 
coalition troops arrived, described the emotions of his village. ``They 
were waiting for you,'' he said, ``and all the people believe that 
America and Britain have come to liberate them, not to conquer.''
    Village by village, city by city, liberation is coming. The people 
of Iraq have my pledge: Our fighting forces will press on until their 
oppressors are gone and their whole country is free.
    By our actions in this war, we serve a great and just cause. Free 
nations will not sit and wait, leaving enemies free to plot another 
September the 11th--this time perhaps with chemical, biological, or 
nuclear terror. We'll remove weapons of mass destruction from the hands 
of mass murderers. And by defending our own security, we are ridding the 
people of Iraq from one of the cruelest regimes on Earth. The United 
States and our allies pledged to act if the dictator did not disarm. The 
regime in Iraq is now learning that we keep our word.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 1 p.m. on April 4 in the Cabinet Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 5. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
April 4 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
remarks, the President referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.

[[Page 415]]