    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 12 (Monday, March 22, 2004)]
    [Pages 430-433]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks on the Anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom

    March 19, 2004

        Good morning and thanks for coming. Laura and I are pleased to
    welcome you all to the White House. Mr. Secretary, thank you for being
    here. Members of my National Security Council are here, members of the
    administration, members of our Armed Forces, Members of the United
    States Congress. Thank you for being here. Ladies and gentlemen. I
    particularly want to thank the members of the diplomatic corps who are
    here. Thank the ambassadors for coming today.
        We are representing 84 countries united against a common danger and
    joined in a common purpose. We are the nations that have recognized the
    threat of terrorism, and we are the nations that will defeat that
    threat. Each of us has pledged before the world: We will never bow to
    the violence of a few. We will face this mortal danger, and we will
    overcome it together.
        As we meet, violence and death at the hands of terrorists are still
    fresh in our memory. The people of Spain are burying their innocent
    dead. These men and women and children began their day in a great and
    peaceful city, yet lost their lives on a battlefield, murdered at random
    and without remorse. Americans saw the chaos and the grief and the
    vigils and the funerals, and we have shared in the sorrow of the Spanish
    people. Ambassador Ruperez, please accept our deepest sympathy for the
    great loss that your country has suffered.
        The murders in Madrid are a reminder that the civilized world is at
    war, and in this new kind of war, civilians find themselves suddenly on
    the frontlines. In recent years, terrorists have struck from Spain to
    Russia to Israel to East Africa to Morocco to the Philippines and to
    America. They've targeted Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and
    Yemen. They have attacked Muslims in Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq,
    and Afghanistan. No nation or region is exempt from the terrorists'
    campaign of violence.
        Each of these attacks on the innocent is a shock and a tragedy and a
    test of our will. Each attack is designed to demoralize our people and
    divide us from one another. And each attack must be answered not only
    with sorrow but with greater determination, deeper resolve, and bolder
    action against the killers. It is the interest of every country and the
    duty of every government to fight and destroy this threat to our people.
        There is no dividing line--there is a dividing line in our world,
    not between nations and not between religions or cultures but a dividing
    line separating two visions of justice and the value of life. On a tape
    claiming responsibility for the atrocities in Madrid, a man is heard to
    say, ``We choose death, while you choose life.'' We don't know if this
    is the voice of the actual killers, but we do know

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    it expresses the creed of the enemy. It is a mindset that rejoices in
    suicide, incites murder, and celebrates every death we mourn. And we who
    stand on the other side of the line must be equally clear and certain of
    our convictions. We do love life, the life given to us and to all. We
    believe in the values that uphold the dignity of life, tolerance and
    freedom and the right of conscience. And we know that this way of life
    is worth defending. There is no neutral ground--no neutral ground--in
    the fight between civilization and terror, because there is no neutral
    ground between good and evil, freedom and slavery, and life and death.
        The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is an inescapable
    calling of our generation. The terrorists are offended not merely by our
    policies; they are offended by our existence as free nations. No
    concession will appease their hatred. No accommodation will satisfy
    their endless demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to control the
    peoples of the Middle East and to blackmail the rest of the world with
    weapons of mass terror.
        There can be no separate peace with the terrorist enemy. Any sign of
    weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence and invites more
    violence for all nations. The only certain way to protect our people is
    by united and decisive action. In this contest of will and purpose, not
    every nation joins every mission or participates in the same way. Yet,
    every nation makes a vital contribution, and America is proud to stand
    with all of you as we pursue a broad strategy in the war against terror.
        We are using every tool of finance, intelligence, law enforcement,
    and military power to break terror networks, to deny them refuge, and to
    find their leaders. Over the past 30 months, we have frozen or seized
    nearly $200 million in assets of terror networks. We have captured or
    killed some two-thirds of Al Qaida's known leaders as well as many of Al
    Qaida's associates in countries like the United States or Germany or
    Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or Thailand. We are taking the fight to Al
    Qaida allies, such as Ansar Al-Islam in Iraq, Jemaah Islamiya in
    Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Our coalition is sending an unmistakable
    message to the terrorists, including those who struck in Madrid: These
    killers will be tracked down and found; they will face their day of
    justice.
        Our coalition is taking urgent action to stop the transfer of deadly
    weapons and materials. America and the nations of Australia and France
    and Germany and Italy and Japan and the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
    Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, and Norway have joined in
    the Proliferation Security Initiative, all aimed to bind together to
    interdict lethal materials transported by air or sea or land. Many
    governments have cooperated to expose and dismantle the network of A.Q.
    Khan, which sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. By all
    these efforts, we are determined to prevent catastrophic technologies
    from falling into the hands of an embittered few.
        Our coalition is also confronting the dangerous combination of
    outlaw states, terrorist groups, and weapons of mass destruction. For
    years, the Taliban made Afghanistan the home base of Al Qaida. And so we
    gave the Taliban a choice, to abandon forever their support for terror
    or face the destruction of their regime. Because the Taliban chose
    defiance, our coalition acted to remove this threat. And now the terror
    camps are closed, and the Government of a free Afghanistan is
    represented here today as an active partner in the war on terror.
        The people of Afghanistan are a world away from the nightmare of the
    Taliban. Citizens of Afghanistan have adopted a new constitution
    guaranteeing free elections and full participation by women. The new
    Afghan army is becoming a vital force of stability in that country.
    Businesses are opening, health care centers are being established, and
    the children of Afghanistan are back in school, boys and girls.
        This progress is a tribute to the brave Afghan people and to the
    efforts of many nations. NATO, including forces from Canada, France,
    Germany, and other nations, is leading the effort to provide security.
    Japan and Saudi Arabia have helped to complete the highway from Kabul to
    Kandahar, which is furthering commerce and unifying the country. Italy
    is working with Afghans to reform

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    their legal system and strengthening an independent judiciary. Three
    years ago, the people of Afghanistan were oppressed and isolated from
    the world by a terrorist regime. Today, that nation has a democratic
    government and many allies, and all of us are proud to be friends of the
    Afghan people.
        Many countries represented here today also acted to liberate the
    people of Iraq. One year ago, military forces of a strong coalition
    entered Iraq to enforce United Nations demands, to defend our security,
    and to liberate that country from the rule of a tyrant. For Iraq, it was
    a day of deliverance. For the nations of our coalition, it was the
    moment when years of demands and pledges turned to decisive action.
    Today, as Iraqis join the free peoples of the world, we mark a turning
    point for the Middle East and a crucial advance for human liberty.
        There have been disagreements in this matter among old and valued
    friends. Those differences belong to the past. All of us can now agree
    that the fall of the Iraqi dictator has removed a source of violence,
    aggression, and instability in the Middle East. It's a good thing that
    the demands of the United Nations were enforced, not ignored with
    impunity. It is a good thing that years of illicit weapons development
    by the dictator have come to the end. It is a good thing that the Iraqi
    people are now receiving aid instead of suffering under sanctions. And
    it is a good thing that the men and women across the Middle East,
    looking to Iraq, are getting a glimpse of what life in a free country
    can be like.
        There are still violent thugs and murderers in Iraq, and we're
    dealing with them. But no one can argue that the Iraqi people would be
    better off with the thugs and murderers back in the palaces. Who would
    prefer that Saddam's torture chambers still be open? Who would wish that
    more mass graves were still being filled? Who would begrudge the Iraqi
    people their long-awaited liberation? One year after the armies of
    liberation arrived, every soldier who has fought, every aid worker who
    has served, every Iraqi who has joined in their country's defense can
    look with pride on a brave and historic achievement. They've served in
    freedom's cause, and that is a privilege.
        Today in Iraq, a British-led division is securing the southern city
    of Basra. Poland continues to lead a multinational division in south-
    central Iraq. Japan and the Republic of Korea--of South Korea have made
    historic commitments of troops to help bring peace to Iraq. Special
    forces from El Salvador and Macedonia and other nations are helping to
    find and defeat Ba'athist and terrorist killers. Military engineers from
    Kazakhstan have cleared more than a half a million explosive devices
    from Iraq. Turkey is helping to resupply coalition forces. All of these
    nations and many others are meeting their responsibilities to the people
    of Iraq.
        Whatever their past views, every nation now has an interest in a
    free, successful, stable Iraq. And the terrorists understand their own
    interest in the fate of that country. For them, the connection between
    Iraq's future and the course of the war on terror is very clear. They
    understand that a free Iraq will be a devastating setback to their
    ambitions of tyranny over the Middle East. And they have made the
    failure of democracy in Iraq one of their primary objectives.
        By attacking coalition forces, by targeting innocent Iraqis and
    foreign civilians for murder, the terrorists are trying to weaken our
    will. Instead of weakness, they're finding resolve. Not long ago, we
    intercepted a planning document being sent to leaders of Al Qaida by one
    of their associates, a man named Zarqawi. Along with the usual threats,
    he had a complaint: ``Our enemy,'' said Zarqawi, ``is growing stronger,
    and his intelligence data are increasing day by day. This is
    suffocation.'' Zarqawi is getting the idea. We will never turn over Iraq
    to terrorists who intend our own destruction. We will not fail the Iraqi
    people, who have placed their trust in us. Whatever it takes, we will
    fight and work to assure the success of freedom in Iraq.
        Many coalition countries have sacrificed in both Iraq and
    Afghanistan. Among the fallen soldiers and civilians are sons and
    daughters of Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France,
    Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands,
    Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine,
    Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We honor

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    their courage. We pray for the comfort of their families. We will uphold
    the cause they served.
        The rise of democratic institutions in Afghanistan and Iraq is a
    great step toward a goal of lasting importance to the world. We have set
    out to encourage reform and democracy in the greater Middle East as the
    alternatives to fanaticism, resentment, and terror. We've set out to
    break the cycle of bitterness and radicalism that has brought stagnation
    to a vital region and destruction to cities in America and Europe and
    around the world. This task is historic and difficult. This task is
    necessary and worthy of our efforts.
        In the 1970s, the advance of democracy in Lisbon and Madrid inspired
    democratic change in Latin America. In the 1980s, the example of Poland
    ignited a fire of freedom in all of Eastern Europe. With Afghanistan and
    Iraq showing the way, we are confident that freedom will lift the sights
    and hopes of millions in the greater Middle East.
        One man who believed in our cause was a Japanese diplomat named
    Katsuhiko Oku. He worked for the Coalition Provision Authority in Iraq.
    Mr. Oku was killed when his car was ambushed. In his diary he described
    his pride in the cause he had joined. ``The free people of Iraq,'' he
    wrote, ``are now making steady progress in reconstructing their country
    while also fighting against the threat of terrorism. We must join hands
    with the Iraqi people in their effort to prevent Iraq from falling into
    the hands of terrorists.'' This good, decent man concluded, ``This is
    also our fight to defend freedom.''
        Ladies and gentlemen, this good man from Japan was right. The
    establishment of a free Iraq is our fight. The success of a free
    Afghanistan is our fight. The war on terror is our fight. All of us are
    called to share the blessings of liberty and to be strong and steady in
    freedom's defense. It will surely be said of our times that we lived
    with great challenges. Let it also be said of our times that we
    understood our great duties and met them in full.
        May God bless our efforts.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:02 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Javier Ruperez, Spain's Ambassador
    to the United States; A.Q. Khan, former head of Pakistan's nuclear
    weapons program; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and senior Al
    Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.