[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 19 (Monday, May 10, 2004)]
[Pages 725-726]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

May 1, 2004

    Good morning. A year ago, I declared an end to major combat 
operations in Iraq, after coalition forces conducted one of the 
swiftest, most successful and humane campaigns in military history. I 
thanked our troops for their courage and for their professionalism. They 
had confronted a gathering danger to our Nation and the world. They had 
vanquished a brutal dictator who had twice invaded neighboring 
countries, who had used weapons of mass destruction against his own 
people, and who had supported and financed terrorism. On that day, I 
also cautioned Americans that, while a tyrant had fallen, the war 
against terror would go on.
    One year later, despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people 
is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam's regime. At 
the most basic level of justice, people are no longer disappearing into 
political prisons, torture chambers, and mass graves because the former 
dictator is in prison, himself. And their daily life is improving. 
Electricity is now more widely available than before the war. Iraq has a 
stable currency, and banks are thriving. Schools and clinics have been 
renovated and reopened, and powerplants, hospitals, water and sanitation 
facilities, and bridges are being rehabilitated. Iraq's oil 
infrastructure is being rebuilt, with the Iraqi oil industry already 
producing about 2.5 million barrels per day.
    On the ground in Iraq, we have serious and continuing challenges. 
Illegal militias and remnants of the regime, joined by foreign 
terrorists, are trying to take by force the power they could never gain 
by the ballot. These groups have found little support among the Iraqi 
people.
    Our coalition is implementing a clear strategy in Iraq. First, we 
will ensure an atmosphere of security as Iraqis move toward self-
government. Our coalition supports the efforts of local Iraqis to 
negotiate the disarmament of the radicals in Fallujah. We've also made 
it clear that militias in Najaf and elsewhere must disarm or face grave 
consequences. American and coalition forces are in place, and we are 
prepared to enforce order in Iraq.

[[Page 726]]

    The second element of our strategy is to return sovereignty to the 
people of Iraq on the schedule that we agreed to with the Iraqi 
Governing Council. Like any proud people, Iraqis want to manage their 
own affairs, and that is a goal we share. On June 30th, a sovereign 
Iraqi interim government will take office. Iraqis will assume all 
administrative duties now performed by the coalition. Since February, 
United Nations Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi has been consulting with 
Iraqis on how best to form that interim government. The United States 
fully supports his mission.
    As the transfer of sovereignty approaches on June 30th, we are 
likely to see more violence from groups opposed to freedom. We will not 
be intimidated or diverted. On July 1st and beyond, our reconstruction 
and military commitment will continue.
    In the cause of a free and stable Iraq, our service men and women 
are working hard and sacrificing greatly. And families of the brave 
troops who have fallen must know that their loss is not in vain. We will 
finish our work in Iraq, because the stakes for our country and the 
world are high. The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists 
around the globe, increase dangers to the American people, and 
extinguish the hopes of millions in the Middle East. The success of 
Iraqi democracy would send forth the news from Damascus to Tehran that 
freedom can be the future of every nation. And democracy will succeed in 
Iraq, because our coalition is strong, because our resolve is firm, and 
because the people of Iraq desire and deserve to live in freedom.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:57 a.m. on April 30 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 1. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
April 30 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
this address.