[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 41 (Monday, October 13, 2003)]
[Pages 1329-1330]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

October 4, 2003

    Good morning. This weekend in Iraq, 750 Iraqi citizens completed 
their military training and became the first battalion of the new Iraqi 
Army. For decades, Iraq's army served the interests of a dictator. 
Today, a new army is serving the Iraqi people. And less than a year from 
now, Iraq will have a 40,000-member military force, trained and 
dedicated to protecting their fellow citizens.
    Our coalition is helping to train and equip Iraq's new army so that 
Iraqis can take over border protection and other security duties as soon 
as possible. Soldiers in the new battalion join more than 80,000 other 
Iraqis who are defending their country's security. Iraq now has a Civil 
Defense Corps of nearly 2,500, a border guard force of 4,700, and a 
facility protection service of over 12,000. And more than half of the 
Iraqis under arms are police officers, instructed by professionals like 
New York City's outstanding former police chief, Bernard Kerik. Iraq's 
neighbor, Jordan, has announced that it will help Iraq train additional 
police officers.
    For three decades, the police in Iraq were the feared enforcers of a 
dictatorship. Now Iraq's new police are enforcing the just laws of an 
emerging democracy. Already the Iraqi police are assuming greater 
responsibility and greater risks. This week, Iraqi officers aided a 
series of joint raids by American troops, leading to the arrest of more 
than 50 suspected criminals and terrorists. We're on the offensive 
against the desperate holdouts and Saddam loyalists who oppose progress 
in Iraq. The free nation we are helping to build will be free of them.
    The United States is standing with the Iraqi people as they move 
toward self-government. My wartime funding request to Congress includes 
more than $5 billion to help the people of Iraq take responsibility for 
their own security. These funds will be used to prepare the Iraqi Army, 
to train public safety and emergency personnel, and to establish a fair 
and effective judicial system.
    Greater security is essential to Iraq's future. A secure Iraq will 
protect the nation's schools and the hospitals that are opening and the 
roads that are being built and the water and power facilities we are 
repairing. Across Iraq, our coalition is turning over responsibility to 
the future leaders of that country. Those leaders include women. Just 
this weekend, a conference is being held at the University of Babylon to 
affirm the vital role of women in the Iraqi society.
    The transition to self-government is a complicated process, because 
it takes time to build trust and hope after decades of oppression and 
fear. Yet we are making steady progress, and we will keep our promise to 
fully return Iraq's Government to Iraq's people as soon as possible.
    The men and women of our coalition have shown bravery and skill and 
compassion in Iraq. And they know their mission. They know that we are 
fighting terrorists in Iraq so that we will not have to face them and 
fight them in the streets of our own cities.

[[Page 1330]]

Our forces know that a secure and sovereign Iraq will be a setback for 
terrorists and an inspiration to all who dream of freedom in the Middle 
East. And the world can be certain, this essential mission in the war on 
terror will be completed.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 11:27 a.m. on October 2 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on October 4. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
October 3 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
remarks, the President referred to former President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.