[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 11 (Monday, March 15, 2004)]
[Pages 351-352]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 6, 2004

    Good morning. This week terrorists launched a series of attacks in 
Iraq, targeting religious sites in Baghdad and Karbala during 
commemorations marking the Shi'a holy day of Ashoura. Laura and I and 
the American people were filled with grief and anger at these terrible 
acts of murder, which took the lives of dozens of innocent Iraqis.
    Some of these killers behind these attacks are supporters of 
Saddam's former regime. Others are foreign terrorists. All of them are 
determined to halt and reverse all progress toward freedom in Iraq. One 
of the terrorist leaders, a killer named Zarqawi, recently wrote to a 
senior Al Qaida terrorist of his plan 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. The killer's strategy will fail.
    Immediately after the attacks, the world saw members of Iraq's 
Governing Council and other Iraqis quickly condemn the bombings and 
voice their determination that their country will be peaceful and free. 
The Iraqi people refuse to live in fear, and so do the members of our 
coalition. Fighting alongside the people of Iraq, we will defeat the 
terrorists who seek to plunge Iraq into chaos and violence, and we will 
stand with the people of Iraq for as long as necessary to build a 
stable, peaceful, and successful democracy.
    The Iraqi people are making excellent progress. Members of the 
Governing Council are having a free and open and spirited debate as they 
complete a new framework for

[[Page 352]]

governing their nation. This transitional administrative law will result 
in protecting the rights of all Iraqis and will move the country toward 
a democratic future.
    A year ago, Iraq's only law was the whim of one brutal man. When the 
new law takes effect, Iraqis will, for the first time in decades, live 
under the clear protections of a written bill of rights. Under this law, 
all Iraqis will be treated equally. No religious or ethnic groups will 
be favored, and none will suffer discrimination at the hands of the 
state.
    The law will protect the rights of free speech and peaceful 
assembly, the right to organize political parties, the right to vote in 
fair elections, and the right to worship according to one's own 
conscience. The law also will guarantee the right to a speedy, fair, and 
open trial. No Iraqi will ever again have to fear the midnight knock of 
the secret police.
    The transitional administrative law will establish a clear path for 
the transition to full Iraqi sovereignty on June 30th of this year. Our 
coalition of 34 countries and the United Nations will continue to work 
closely with the Iraqi people as they progress toward this goal. The law 
calls for the election of a transitional national assembly by January 
31, 2005. Later that year, this assembly will draft a new constitution 
to be ratified by the Iraqi people. And by the end of next year, the 
Iraqi people will elect a parliament and establish a Government that is 
fully representative and truly free.
    Difficult work in creating a new Iraqi Government remains. Yet 
Iraqis are equal to the tasks before them. The Iraqi people have shown 
the world that they are fully capable of living in freedom.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 3:51 p.m. on March 4 at the Bush Ranch 
in Crawford, TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 6. The transcript 
was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on March 5 but 
was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his remarks, the 
President referred to senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; 
and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The Office of the Press 
Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.