[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 38 (Monday, September 22, 2003)]
[Pages 1217-1218]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 13, 2003

    Good morning. Two years ago this week, America suffered a brutal 
attack. We will never forget the burning towers and the smoke over 
Arlington Cemetery and the passengers who rushed the hijackers. Yet 
history asks for more than memory. On September the 11th, 2001, we began 
a war on global terror that continues to this hour.

[[Page 1218]]

    In the decades before that terrible day, the terrorists conducted a 
series of bolder and bolder attacks in the Middle East and beyond. They 
became convinced that free nations were decadent and weak and would 
never offer a sustained and serious response. They now know otherwise.
    Together with a coalition of nations, we have struck back against 
terror worldwide, capturing and killing terrorists and breaking cells 
and freezing assets. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban regime that 
harbored Al Qaida. In Iraq, we defeated a regime that sponsored terror, 
possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and defied the United 
Nations Security Council for 12 years. We have helped to liberate people 
from oppression and fear.
    Today, with our help, the people of Iraq are working to create a 
free, functioning, and prosperous society. The terrorists know that if 
these efforts are successful, their ideology of hate will suffer a grave 
defeat. So they are attacking our forces, international aid workers, and 
innocent civilians. Their goal is to drive us out of Iraq before our 
work is done. They are mistaken, and they will fail. We will do what is 
necessary to win this victory in the war on terror.
    We are following a clear strategy with three objectives: Destroy the 
terrorists; enlist international support for a free Iraq; and quickly 
transfer authority to the Iraqi people. Through a series of ongoing 
operations, our military is taking direct action against Saddam 
loyalists and foreign terrorists. One major effort underway right now, 
called Operation Longstreet, is seeking and finding our enemies wherever 
they hide and plot. Already, this operation has yielded hundreds of 
detainees and seized hundreds of weapons, and we will remain on the 
offensive against the terrorists.
    We are expanding international cooperation in rebuilding Iraq. Today 
in Geneva, Secretary of State Powell is meeting with Secretary-General 
of the United Nations and representatives of the five permanent members 
of the Security Council. They are discussing ideas for a new resolution 
to encourage wider participation in this vital task.
    And we're moving forward on a specific plan to return sovereignty 
and authority to the Iraqi people. We have created a Governing Council 
made up of Iraqi citizens. The Council has selected a committee that is 
developing a process through which Iraqis will draft a new constitution 
for their country. Day-to-day operations of many government tasks have 
been turned over to ministers appointed by the Governing Council. And 
when a constitution has been drafted and ratified by the Iraqi people, 
Iraq will enjoy free and fair elections, and the coalition will yield 
its remaining authority to a free and sovereign Iraqi Government.
    We have a strategy in Iraq and a mission. We will fight and defeat 
the terrorists there so we don't have to face them in America. And we 
will help transform Iraq into a example of progress and democracy and 
freedom that can inspire change and hope throughout the Middle East.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 1:20 p.m. on September 11 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September 
13. In his address, the President referred to Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan of the United Nations. The transcript was made available by the 
Office of the Press Secretary on September 12 but was embargoed for 
release until the broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of this address.