[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 9 (Monday, March 1, 2004)]
[Pages 263-264]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

February 21, 2004

    Good morning. This week, I traveled to Fort Polk in Louisiana to 
visit with soldiers and family members who are giving vital service in 
the war on terror. Fort Polk is home to some of the Army's oldest and 
finest units. Since September the 11th, 2001, Fort Polk has trained and 
deployed more than 10,000 troops to fight the terrorist enemy worldwide, 
including in Afghanistan and

[[Page 264]]

Iraq. Thanks to their bravery and skill, America is waging this fight 
with focus and determination.
    Over the last 29 months, many terrorists have learned the meaning of 
justice. Nearly two-thirds of Al Qaida's known leaders have been 
captured or killed. The terrorists are on the run, with good reason to 
fear what the night might bring. Success in the war on terror also 
requires that we confront regimes that might arm terrorists with the 
ultimate weapons. America is determined to meet this danger and to deny 
terrorists and dangerous regimes the ability to threaten us with the 
world's most deadly weapons.
    For 12 years, the former dictator of Iraq defied the international 
community. He refused to disarm or account for his illegal weapons and 
programs. My administration looked at the intelligence information, and 
we saw a threat. Members of Congress looked at the intelligence, and 
they saw a threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the 
intelligence, and it saw a threat. All of us knew Saddam Hussein's 
history. He waged aggressive wars against neighboring countries and 
inspired to dominate the Middle East. He cultivated ties to terrorists. 
He built weapons of mass destruction. He hid those weapons. And he used 
chemical weapons against thousands of Iraqis and Iranians. Saddam 
Hussein doubted our resolve to enforce our word. Now he sits in a prison 
cell while his country moves toward a democratic future.
    Today in Iraq, our coalition faces deadly attacks from a remnant of 
Saddam's supporters joined by foreign terrorists. Recently we 
intercepted a letter sent by a senior Al Qaida associate named Zarqawi 
to one of Usama bin Laden's top lieutenants. The letter describes a 
terrorist strategy, to tear Iraq apart with ethnic violence, to 
undermine Iraqi security forces, to demoralize our coalition, and to 
prevent the rise of a sovereign, democratic government. This terrorist 
outlines his efforts to recruit and train suicide bombers and boasts of 
25 attacks on innocent Iraqis and coalition personnel. And he urges Al 
Qaida members to join him in waging war on our coalition and on the 
people of Iraq.
     Zarqawi and men like him have made Iraq the central front in our 
war on terror. The terrorists know that the emergence of a free Iraq 
will be a major blow against the worldwide terrorist movement. In this, 
they are correct.
    But we have seen this enemy before, and we know how to deal with 
them. Fighting alongside the people of Afghanistan, we are defeating the 
terrorists in that country, and fighting alongside the people of Iraq, 
we will defeat the terrorists there as well. Iraq, like Afghanistan, 
will be free.
    Our coalition is working with Iraq's Governing Council to draft a 
basic law with a bill of rights. We're working with Iraqis and the 
United Nations to prepare for a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty. 
The establishment of a free Iraq will be a watershed event in the 
history of the Middle East, helping to advance the spread of liberty 
throughout that vital region. And as freedom takes hold in the greater 
Middle East, the people of the region will find new hope, and America 
will be more secure.
    Two-and-a-half years ago, on a clear September morning, the enemies 
of America brought a new kind of war to our shores. Three days later, I 
stood in the rubble of the Twin Towers. My resolve today is the same as 
it was then: I will not relent until the terrorist threat to America is 
removed.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 11:35 a.m. on February 20 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on February 
21. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on February 20 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to Usama bin Laden, 
leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; and senior Al Qaida 
associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of this address.