[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 46 (Monday, November 17, 2003)]
[Pages 1583-1586]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Heritage Foundation President's Club Luncheon

November 11, 2003

    Ed, thank you very much. It's an honor to be here. I appreciate your 
invitation. I want to thank you for your decades of leadership in the 
conservative movement. Presidents come and go, except here at the 
Heritage Foundation. [Laughter] I appreciate being with your good bride, 
Linda, the trustees of the Heritage, the longtime Heritage supporters, 
and the Ronald Reagan Fellow at Heritage, a man who is a fine leader, a 
fine Attorney General, Ed Meese.
    It's appropriate that we gather in the building named for Ronald 
Reagan. The Heritage Foundation emerged as an important voice in 
Washington during the Reagan years. The American people gave Ronald 
Reagan his mandate for leadership. Yet it was the Heritage Foundation, 
with a book by that title, from which he drew ideas and inspiration. 
Ever since, in the councils of Washington, Heritage has been an advocate 
for free enterprise, traditional values, and the advance of liberty 
around the world. My administration has benefited from your good work, 
and so has our country. Thank you for what you do.
    We meet on Veterans Day, and I know there are many veterans in this 
room. On behalf of the Nation, I thank you for your service to our 
country. The title of ``veteran'' is a term of great respect in America. 
All who served, whether for a few years or for many, have put the 
Nation's needs above their own. All stood ready if the order came to 
risk everything for their country's cause. Our wars have taken from us 
some of our finest citizens and every hour of the lifetimes they had 
hoped to live. And the courage of our military has given us every hour 
we live in freedom.
    In every generation, members of the Armed Forces have been loyal to 
one another and faithful to the ideals of America. After the Second 
World War, returning veterans often said they had just been doing their 
jobs,

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or didn't talk about their service at all. Yet they knew the stakes of 
the fight they had been in and the magnitude of what they had achieved. 
Long after putting away his uniform, one American expressed his pride in 
having served in World War II. He said, ``I feel like I played my part 
in turning this from a century of darkness into a century of light.'' 
This is true of all who have served and sacrificed in the struggles of 
the 20th century. They maintained the greatest fighting force in the 
world. They kept our country free, and we're grateful to them all.
    We come to this Veterans Day in a time of war. And today's military 
is acting in the finest traditions of the veterans who came before them. 
They've given all that we've asked of them. They are showing bravery in 
the face of ruthless enemies and compassion to people in great need. Our 
men and women in uniform are warriors, and they are liberators, strong 
and kind and decent. By their courage, they keep us safe; by their 
honor, they make us proud.
    When we lose such Americans in battle, we lose our best. And the 
time--this time of brave achievement is also a time of sacrifice. Not 
far from this place, at Army and Navy medical centers, young 
servicemembers are recovering from injuries of war. Not far from here, 
at Arlington National Cemetery, as in hometowns across America, we have 
laid to rest young men and women who died in distant lands. For their 
families, this is a terrible sorrow, and we pray for their comfort. For 
the Nation, there is a feeling of loss, and we remember and we honor 
every name.
    Our people in uniform know the cost and risk of war. They also know 
what is at stake in this war. Army Command Sergeant Major Ioakimo 
Falaniko recently lost his son, Private Jonathan Falaniko, in an attack 
near Baghdad. Father and son both served in Iraq in the same unit, the 
1st Armored Division's Engineer Brigade. At his son's memorial service, 
Command Sergeant Major Falaniko said this: ``What our country brings to 
Iraq is a chance for freedom and democracy. We're making a difference 
every day. My son died for a good cause. He answered the Nation's 
call.''
    Our mission in Iraq and Afghanistan is clear to our servicemembers 
and clear to our enemies. Our men and women are fighting to secure the 
freedom of more than 50 million people who recently lived under two of 
the cruelest dictatorships on Earth. Our men and women are fighting to 
help democracy and peace and justice rise in a troubled and violent 
region. Our men and women are fighting terrorist enemies thousands of 
miles away in the heart and center of their power so that we do not face 
those enemies in the heart of America. Our men and women are fighting 
for the security of America and for the advance of freedom, and that is 
a cause worth fighting for.
    The work we are in is not easy, yet it is essential. The failure of 
democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq would condemn every advocate of 
freedom in those two countries to prison or death and would extinguish 
the democratic hopes of millions in the Middle East. The failure of 
democracies in those two countries would provide new bases for the 
terrorist network and embolden terrorists and their allies around the 
world. The failure of democracy in those two countries would convince 
terrorists that America backs down under attack, and more attacks on 
America would surely follow.
    The terrorists cite the examples of Beirut and Somalia as evidence 
that America can be made to run. Five years ago, one of the terrorists 
said that an attack could make America retreat in less than 24 hours. 
The terrorists are mistaken.
    The United States will complete our work in Iraq and in Afghanistan. 
Democracy in those two countries will succeed, and that success will be 
a great milestone in the history of liberty. A democratic revolution 
that has reached across the globe will finally take root in the Middle 
East. The stagnation and isolation and anger of that region will give 
way to progress and opportunity. America and the world will be safer 
from catastrophic violence because terror is not the tool of the free.
    The United States has made an unbreakable commitment to the success 
of freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have a strategy to see that 
commitment through. In Afghanistan, we're helping to build a free and 
stable

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democracy as we continue to track down and destroy Taliban and Al Qaida 
forces. Following years of cruel oppression, the Afghan people are 
living with hope, and they're making steady progress.
    In Iraq, the terrorists have chosen to make a stand and to test our 
resolve. Their violence is concentrated in a relatively small area of 
that country. Yet the terrorists are dangerous. For the sake of Iraq's 
future, for the sake of America's security, these killers must be 
defeated.
    After the swift advance of our coalition to Baghdad and the removal 
of Saddam Hussein from power, some remnants of the regime fled from the 
battlefield. Over time, Ba'ath Party and Fedayeen fighters and other 
Saddam loyalists have organized to attack our forces, to terrorize 
international aid workers, and to murder innocent Iraqis. These bitter 
holdouts would rather see Iraqis dead than see them free.
    Foreign jihadists have arrived across Iraq's borders in small groups 
with the goal of installing a Taliban-like regime. Also present in the 
country are some terrorists from Ansar Islam and from Al Qaida, who are 
always eager to join in the killing and who seek revenge after their 
defeat in Afghanistan. Saddam loyalists and foreign terrorists may have 
different long-term goals, but they share a near-term strategy: to 
terrorize Iraqis and to intimidate America and our allies.
    Recent reporting suggests that despite their differences, these 
killers are working together to spread chaos and terror and fear. Since 
the fall of Saddam Hussein, 93 percent of terror attacks have occurred 
in Baghdad and five of Iraq's 18 provinces. The violence is focused in 
200 square miles known as the Ba'athist Triangle, the home area of 
Saddam Hussein and most of his associates. Here, the enemy is waging the 
battle, and it is here that the enemy will be defeated.
    In the last few months, the adversary has changed its composition 
and method, and our coalition is adapting accordingly. We're employing 
the latest battlefield technology to locate mortar positions and 
roadside bombs. Our forces are moving against specific targets based on 
intelligence gathered from Iraqis. We're conducting hundreds of daily 
patrols. Last month alone, we made 1,500 raids against terrorists. The 
recent operations have resulted in the capture or death of more than 
1,000 killers, the seizure of 4,500 mortar rounds; 1,600 rocket-
propelled grenades have been seized, thousands of other weapons and 
military equipment. Our coalition is on the offensive in Iraq, and we 
will stay on the offensive.
    The long-term security of Iraq will be assured by the Iraqis 
themselves. One hundred and eighteen thousand Iraqis are now serving as 
police officers and border guards, civil defense personnel, and in the 
facilities protection service. Iraq's security forces join in operations 
with our troops, and they patrol towns and cities independently. Some 
700 troops are now serving in the new Iraqi army. Thousands more are 
being trained, and we expect to see 35,000 Iraqi troops in the field by 
the end of next year. Increasingly, the Iraqi people are assuming the 
responsibilities and the risks of protecting their own country. And 
their willingness to accept these duties is one of the surest signs that 
the Iraqis want freedom and that the Iraqis are headed toward self-
government.
    Under our strategy, increasing authority is being transferred to the 
Iraqi people. The Iraqi Governing Council has appointed ministers who 
are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Iraqi government. 
The Council has also begun the process that will lead to a new 
constitution. No friend or enemy should doubt Iraq liberty will find a 
lasting home.
    Iraqis are a proud people, and they want their national 
independence. And they can see the difference between those who are 
attacking their country and those who are helping to build it. Our 
coalition is training new police; the terrorists are trying to kill 
them. We're protecting pipelines and powerplants for the good of the 
Iraqi people; the terrorists are trying to blow them up. We're turning 
authority over to Iraqi leaders; the terrorists are trying to 
assassinate them. We're offering aid and self-rule and hope for the 
future; the terrorists offer nothing but oppression and death. The vast 
majority of Iraqis know exactly what is going on in their country today. 
Having seen the worst of tyranny, the Iraqi people will reject the 
return of tyranny.

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    After decades of a dictator's sustained assault on Iraq's society 
and dignity and spirit, a Jeffersonian democracy will not spring up in a 
matter of months. We know that our Ba'athist and terrorist enemies are 
ruthless and cunning. We also know that the lives of Iraqis have 
improved greatly in 7 short months. Yet, we know the remaining tasks are 
difficult.
    We also know a few things about our own country. America gained its 
own independence and helped free much of the world by taking on 
difficult tasks. We're a confident people, and we have a reason to be 
confident. Our Armed Forces are skilled and powerful and humane. They're 
the best in the world. I will keep them that way.
    We've got good friends and allies serving with us in Iraq. There are 
32 countries standing beside our troops. Our commanders have the 
capabilities they have requested, and they're meeting a changing enemy 
with flexible tactics. The Congress has provided the resources we need 
to support our military and to improve the daily lives of newly 
liberated people. Other nations and organizations have stepped up to 
provide more than $18 billion to the emerging democracies of Afghanistan 
and Iraq. The peoples of those two countries are sacrificing for their 
own liberty. And the United States once again is fighting in the cause 
of our Nation, the great cause of liberty. And we know that the cause of 
liberty will prevail.
    Much is asked of us, and we have answered this kind of challenge 
before. In the summer of 1948, the Soviet Union imposed a sudden and 
total blockade on the city of Berlin in order to force the allies out. 
More than 2 million people would soon be without food or fuel or 
medicine. The entire world watched and wondered if free peoples would 
back down, wondered whether free people would abandon their commitments. 
It was at the outset of the cold war, and the will and the resolve of 
America were being measured.
    In an urgent meeting, all the alternatives were discussed, including 
retreat. When the moment of decision came, President Harry Truman said 
this: ``We stay in Berlin, period. We stay in Berlin, come what may.'' 
By the determination of President Truman, America and our allies 
launched the Berlin airlift and overcame more than 10 months of siege. 
That resolve and the daring of our military saved a city and held back 
the Communist threat in Europe.
    Nearly four decades later, Ronald Reagan came to West Berlin with 
the same kind of resolve, and vision beyond the cold war. When he called 
on the Soviets to tear down that wall, he was asserting a confident new 
doctrine. He believed that communism can not only be contained but 
transcended, that no human barrier could hold back the spread of human 
liberty. The triumph of that vision eventually turned enemies into 
friends, healed a divided continent, and brought security and peace to 
Europe and America.
    Two years into the war on terror, the will and resolve of America 
are being tested in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Again the world is 
watching. Again we will be steadfast. We will finish the mission we have 
begun, period.
    We are not only containing the terrorist threat, we are turning it 
back. We believe that freedom is the right of every person. We believe 
that freedom is the hope of every culture. We believe that freedom is 
the future of every nation in the Middle East. And we know as Americans 
that the advance of freedom is the surest path to peace.
    May God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 1:16 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building and 
International Trade Center. In his remarks, he referred to Edwin J. 
Feulner, president, The Heritage Foundation, and his wife, Linda 
Leventhal; former Attorney General Edwin Meese III; and former President 
Saddam Hussein of Iraq.