[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 48 (Monday, December 5, 2005)]
[Pages 1789-1796]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the War on Terror in Annapolis, Maryland

November 30, 2005

    Thank you. Please be seated. Please be seated. Thanks for the warm 
welcome. It's good to be back at the Naval Academy. I'm pleased to 
provide a convenient excuse for you to miss class.
    This is the first year that every class of Midshipmen at this 
Academy arrived after the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. Each of 
you has volunteered to wear our Nation's uniform in a time of war, 
knowing all the risks and dangers that accompany military service. Our 
citizens are grateful for your devotion of duty, and America is proud of 
the men and women at the U.S. Naval Academy.
    I thank Admiral Rempt for his invitation to come and give this 
speech. I appreciate Admiral Mike Mullen. I'm traveling today with a man 
who's done a fine job as the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense 
Donald Rumsfeld--Navy Aviator Don Rumsfeld. I'm proud that the Governor 
of the great State of Maryland, Bob Ehrlich, and his wife, Kendel, is 
with us. Thanks for being here, Governor.
    So appreciate that Members of the United States Congress have joined 
us, starting with the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, 
Senator John Warner of the State of Virginia--former Secretary of the 
United States Navy, I might add. Chairman of the House Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence, Congressman Pete Hoekstra, from the State of 
Arizona, Congressman John Shadegg, and from the State of Indiana, 
Congressman Mike Pence, I'm honored you all came. Thanks for being here.
    Appreciate the mayor of the city of Annapolis, Mayor Ellen Moyer, 
joining us. I want to thank all the State and local officials. I want to 
thank the faculty members here. Thank you all for letting me come by.
    Six months ago, I came here to address the graduating class of 2005. 
I spoke to them about the importance of their service in the first war 
of the 21st century, the global war on terror. I told the class of 2005 
that 4 years at this Academy had prepared them morally, mentally, and 
physically for the challenges ahead. And now they're meeting those 
challenges as officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
    Some of your former classmates are training with Navy SEAL teams 
that will storm terrorist safe houses in lightning raids. Others are 
preparing to lead Marine rifle platoons that will hunt the enemy in the 
mountains of Afghanistan and the streets of Iraqi cities. Others are 
training as naval aviators who will fly combat missions over the skies 
of Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere. Still others are training as 
sailors and submariners who will deliver the combat power of the United 
States to the farthest regions of the world and deliver compassionate 
assistance to those suffering from natural disasters. Whatever their 
chosen mission, every graduate of the class of 2005 is bringing honor to 
the uniform and helping us bring victory in the war on terror.
    In the years ahead, you'll join them in the fight. Your service is 
needed because our Nation is engaged in a war that is being fought on 
many fronts, from the streets of Western cities to the mountains of 
Afghanistan, the islands of Southeast Asia, and the Horn of Africa. This 
war is going to take many turns, and the enemy must be defeated on every 
battlefield. Yet the terrorists have made it clear that Iraq is the 
central front in their war against humanity, and so we must recognize 
Iraq as the central front in the war on terror.
    As we fight the enemy in Iraq, every man and woman who volunteers to 
defend our Nation deserves an unwavering commitment to the mission and a 
clear strategy for victory. A clear strategy begins with a clear 
understanding of the enemy we face. The enemy in Iraq is a combination 
of rejectionists, Saddamists, and terrorists. The rejectionists are by 
far the largest group. These are ordinary Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, 
who miss the privileged status they had under the regime of Saddam 
Hussein, and they reject an Iraq in which they're no longer the dominant 
group.
    Not all Sunnis fall into the rejectionist camp. Of those that do, 
most are not actively fighting us, but some give aid and comfort to the 
enemy. Many Sunnis boycotted the January elections, yet as democracy 
takes

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hold in Iraq, they are recognizing that opting out of the democratic 
process has hurt their interests. And today, those who advocate violent 
opposition are being increasingly isolated by Sunnis who choose peaceful 
participation in the democratic process. Sunnis voted in the recent 
constitutional referendum in large numbers, and Sunni coalitions have 
formed to compete in next month's elections--or this month's elections. 
We believe that over time, most rejectionists will be persuaded to 
support a democratic Iraq led by a Federal Government that is a strong 
enough Government to protect minority rights.
    The second group that makes up the enemy in Iraq is smaller but more 
determined. It contains former regime loyalists who held positions of 
power under Saddam Hussein, people who still harbor dreams of returning 
to power. These hardcore Saddamists are trying to foment antidemocratic 
sentiment amongst the larger Sunni community. They lack popular support 
and therefore cannot stop Iraq's democratic progress. And over time, 
they can be marginalized and defeated by the Iraqi people and the 
security forces of a free Iraq.
    The third group is the smallest but the most lethal, the terrorists 
affiliated with or inspired by Al Qaida. Many are foreigners who are 
coming to fight freedom's progress in Iraq. This group includes 
terrorists from Saudi Arabia and Syria and Iran and Egypt and Sudan and 
Yemen and Libya and other countries. Our commanders believe they're 
responsible for most of the suicide bombings and the beheadings and the 
other atrocities we see on our television.
    They're led by a brutal terrorist named Zarqawi, Al Qaida's chief of 
operations in Iraq, who has pledged his allegiance to Usama bin Laden. 
Their objective is to drive the United States and coalition forces out 
of Iraq, and to use the vacuum that would be created by an American 
retreat to gain control of the country. They would then use Iraq as a 
base from which to launch attacks against America and overthrow moderate 
governments in the Middle East and try to establish a totalitarian 
Islamic empire that reaches from Indonesia to Spain. That's their stated 
objective. That's what their leadership has said.
    These terrorists have nothing to offer the Iraqi people. All they 
have is the capacity and the willingness to kill the innocent and create 
chaos for the cameras. They are trying to shake our will to achieve 
their stated objectives. They will fail. America's will is strong, and 
they will fail because the power--because the will to power is no match 
for the universal desire to live in liberty.
    The terrorists in Iraq share the same ideology as the terrorists who 
struck the United States on September the 11th. Those terrorists share 
the same ideology with those who blew up commuters in London and Madrid, 
murdered tourists in Bali, workers in Riyadh, and guests at a wedding in 
Amman, Jordan. Just last week, they massacred Iraqi children and their 
parents at a toy giveaway outside an Iraqi hospital.
    This is an enemy without conscience, and they cannot be appeased. If 
we're not fighting and destroying this enemy in Iraq, they would not be 
idle. They would be plotting and killing Americans across the world and 
within our own borders. By fighting these terrorists in Iraq, Americans 
in uniform are defeating a direct threat to the American people. Against 
this adversary, there is only one effective response: We will never back 
down; we will never give in; and we will never accept anything less than 
complete victory.
    To achieve victory over such enemies, we are pursuing a 
comprehensive strategy in Iraq. Americans should have a clear 
understanding of this strategy--how we look at the war, how we see the 
enemy, how we define victory, and what we're doing to achieve it. So 
today we're releasing a document called the ``National Strategy for 
Victory in Iraq.'' This is an unclassified version of the strategy we've 
been pursuing in Iraq, and it is posted on the White House web site, 
whitehouse.gov. I urge all Americans to read it.
    Our strategy in Iraq has three elements. On the political side, we 
know that free societies are peaceful societies, so we're helping the 
Iraqis build a free society with inclusive democratic institutions that 
will protect the interests of all Iraqis. We're working with the Iraqis 
to help them engage those who can

[[Page 1791]]

be persuaded to join the new Iraq and to marginalize those who never 
will. On the security side, coalition and Iraqi security forces are on 
the offensive against the enemy, cleaning out areas controlled by the 
terrorists and Saddam loyalists, leaving Iraqi forces to hold territory 
taken from the enemy, and following up with targeted reconstruction to 
help Iraqis rebuild their lives.
    As we fight the terrorists, we're working to build capable and 
effective Iraqi security forces so they can take the lead in the fight 
and eventually take responsibility for the safety and security of their 
citizens without major foreign assistance.
    And on the economic side, we're helping the Iraqis rebuild their 
infrastructure, reform their economy, and build the prosperity that will 
give all Iraqis a stake in a free and peaceful Iraq. In doing all this, 
we've involved the United Nations, other international organizations, 
our coalition partners, and supportive regional states in helping Iraqis 
build their future.
    In the days ahead, I'll be discussing the various pillars of our 
strategy in Iraq. Today I want to speak in depth about one aspect of 
this strategy that will be critical to the victory in Iraq, and that's 
the training of Iraqi security forces. To defeat the terrorists and 
marginalize the Saddamists and rejectionists, Iraqis need strong 
military and police forces. Iraqi troops bring knowledge and 
capabilities to the fight that coalition forces cannot.
    Iraqis know their people. They know their language, and they know 
their culture, and they know who the terrorists are. Iraqi forces are 
earning the trust of their countrymen, who are willing to help them in 
the fight against the enemy. As the Iraqi forces grow in number, they're 
helping to keep a better hold on the cities taken from the enemy. And as 
the Iraqi forces grow more capable, they are increasingly taking the 
lead in the fight against the terrorists. Our goal is to train enough 
Iraqi forces so they can carry the fight, and this will take time and 
patience. And it's worth the time, and it's worth the effort because 
Iraqis and Americans share a common enemy, and when that enemy is 
defeated in Iraq, Americans will be safer here at home.
    The training of the Iraqi security forces is an enormous task, and 
it always hasn't gone smoothly. We all remember the reports of some 
Iraqi security forces running from the fight more than a year ago. Yet 
in the past year, Iraqi forces have made real progress.
    At this time last year, there were only a handful of Iraqi 
battalions ready for combat. Now there are over 120 Iraqi army and 
police combat battalions in the fight against the terrorists, typically 
comprised of between 350 and 800 Iraqi forces. Of these, about 80 Iraqi 
battalions are fighting side by side with coalition forces, and about 40 
others are taking the lead in the fight. Most of these 40 battalions are 
controlling their own battle space and conducting their own operations 
against the terrorists with some coalition support, and they're helping 
to turn the tide of this struggle in freedom's favor. America and our 
troops are proud to stand side by side with these brave Iraqi fighters.
    The progress of the Iraqi forces is especially clear when the recent 
antiterrorist operations in Tall `Afar are compared with last year's 
assault in Fallujah. In Fallujah, the assault was led by nine coalition 
battalions made up primarily of United States Marines and Army, with six 
Iraqi battalions supporting them. The Iraqis fought and sustained 
casualties. Yet in most situations, the Iraqi role was limited to 
protecting the flanks of coalition forces and securing ground that had 
already been cleared out by our troops. This year in Tall `Afar, it was 
a very different story.
    The assault was primarily led by Iraqi security forces, 11 Iraqi 
battalions, backed by 5 coalition battalions providing support. Many 
Iraqi units conducted their own antiterrorist operations and controlled 
their own battle space, hunting for enemy fighters and securing 
neighborhoods block by block. To consolidate their military success, 
Iraqi units stayed behind to help maintain law and order, and 
reconstruction projects have been started to improve infrastructure and 
create jobs and provide hope.
    One of the Iraqi soldiers who fought in Tall `Afar was a private 
named Tarek Hazem. This brave Iraqi fighter says, quote, ``We're not 
afraid. We're here to protect our country. All we feel is motivated to 
kill the terrorists,''

[[Page 1792]]

end quote. Iraqi forces not only cleared the city; they held it. And 
because of the skill and courage of the Iraqi forces, the citizens of 
Tall `Afar were able to vote in October's constitutional referendum.
    As Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead in the fight against the 
terrorists, they're also taking control of more and more Iraqi 
territory. At this moment, over 30 Iraqi army battalions have assumed 
primary control of their own areas of responsibility. In Baghdad, Iraqi 
battalions have taken over major sectors of the capital, including some 
of the city's toughest neighborhoods. Last year, the area around 
Baghdad's Haifa Street was so thick with terrorists that it earned the 
nickname ``Purple Heart Boulevard.'' Then Iraqi forces took 
responsibility for this dangerous neighborhood, and attacks are now 
down.
    Our coalition has handed over roughly 90 square miles of Baghdad 
province to Iraqi security forces. Iraqi battalions have taken over 
responsibility for areas in south-central Iraq, sectors of southeast 
Iraq, sectors of western Iraq, and sectors of north-central Iraq. As 
Iraqi forces take responsibility for more of their own territory, 
coalition forces can concentrate on training Iraqis and hunting down 
high-value targets, like the terrorist Zarqawi and his associates.
    We're also transferring forward operating bases to Iraqi control. 
Over a dozen bases in Iraq have been handed over to the Iraqi 
Government, including Saddam Hussein's former palace in Tikrit, which 
has served as the coalition headquarters in one of Iraq's most dangerous 
regions. From many of these bases, the Iraqi security forces are 
planning and executing operations against the terrorists and bringing 
security and pride to the Iraqi people.
    Progress by the Iraqi security forces has come, in part, because we 
learned from our earlier experiences and made changes in the way we help 
train Iraqi troops. When our coalition first arrived, we began the 
process of creating an Iraqi army to defend the country from external 
threats and an Iraqi civil defense corps to help provide the security 
within Iraq's borders. The civil defense forces did not have sufficient 
firepower or training. They proved to be no match for an enemy armed 
with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars, so the 
approach was adjusted. Working with Iraq's leaders, we moved the civil 
defense forces into the Iraqi army. We changed the way they're trained 
and equipped, and we focused the army's mission on defeating those 
fighting against a free Iraq, whether internal or external.
    Now, all Iraqi army recruits receive about the same length of basic 
training as new recruits in the U.S. Army, a 5-week core course, 
followed by an additional 3 to 7 weeks of specialized training. With 
coalition help, Iraqis have established schools for the Iraqi military 
services, an Iraqi military academy, a noncommissioned officer academy, 
a military police school, a bomb disposal school, and NATO has 
established an Iraqi Joint Staff College. There's also an increased 
focus on leadership training, with professional development courses for 
Iraqi squad leaders and platoon sergeants and warrant officers and 
sergeants major. A new generation of Iraqi officers is being trained, 
leaders who will lead their forces with skill so they can defeat the 
terrorists and secure their own freedom.
    Similar changes have taken place in the training of the Iraqi 
police. When our coalition first arrived, Iraqi police recruits spent 
too much time of their training in classroom lectures, and they received 
limited training in the use of small arms. This did not adequately 
prepare them for the fight they would face. And so we changed the way 
the Iraqi police are trained. Now, police recruits spend more of their 
time outside the classroom with intensive hands-on training in 
antiterrorism operations and real-world survival skills.
    Iraq has now six basic police academies and one in Jordan that 
together produce over 3,500 new police officers every 10 weeks. The 
Baghdad police academy has simulation models where Iraqis train to stop 
IED attacks and operate roadblocks. And because Iraqi police are not 
just facing common criminals, they are getting live-fire training with 
AK-47s.
    As more and more skilled Iraqi security forces have come on line, 
there's been another important change in the way new Iraqi recruits are 
trained. When the training effort

[[Page 1793]]

began, nearly all the trainers came from coalition countries. Today, the 
vast majority of Iraqi police and army recruits are being taught by 
Iraqi instructors. By training the trainers, we're helping Iraqis create 
an institutional capability that will allow the Iraqi forces to continue 
to develop and grow, long after coalition forces have left Iraq.
    As the training has improved, so has the quality of the recruits 
being trained. Even though the terrorists are targeting Iraqi police and 
army recruits, there is no shortage of Iraqis who are willing to risk 
their lives to secure the future of a free Iraq.
    The efforts to include more Sunnis in the future of Iraq were given 
a significant boost earlier this year. More than 60 influential Sunni 
clerics issued a fatwa calling on young Sunnis to join the Iraqi 
security forces, quote, ``for the sake of preserving the souls, 
property, and honor'' of the Iraqi people. These religious leaders are 
helping to make the Iraqi security forces a truly national institution, 
one that is able to serve, protect, and defend all the Iraqi people.
    Some critics dismiss this progress and point to the fact that only 
one Iraqi battalion has achieved complete independence from the 
coalition. To achieve complete independence, an Iraqi battalion must do 
more than fight the enemy on its own; it must also have the ability to 
provide its own support elements, including logistics, airlift, 
intelligence, and command and control through their ministries.
    Not every Iraqi unit has to meet this level of capability in order 
for the Iraqi security forces to take the lead in the fight against the 
enemy. As a matter of fact, there are some battalions from NATO 
militaries that would not be able to meet this standard. The facts are 
that Iraqi units are growing more independent and more capable. They are 
defending their new democracy with courage and determination. They're in 
the fight today, and they will be in the fight for freedom tomorrow.
    We're also helping Iraqis build the institutions they need to 
support their own forces. For example, a national depot has been 
established north of Baghdad that is responsible for supplying the 
logistical needs of the ten divisions of the Iraqi army. Regional 
support units and base support units have been created across the 
country with the mission of supplying their own war fighters. Iraqis now 
have a small air force, that recently conducted its first combat airlift 
operations, bringing Iraqi troops to the front in Tall `Afar. The new 
Iraqi navy is now helping to protect the vital ports of Basra and Umm 
Qasr. An Iraqi military intelligence school has been established to 
produce skilled Iraqi intelligence analysts and collectors. By taking 
all these steps, we're helping the Iraqi security forces become self-
supporting so they can take the fight to the enemy and so they can 
sustain themselves in the fight.
    Over the past 2\1/2\ years, we've faced some setbacks in standing up 
a capable Iraqi security force, and their performance is still uneven in 
some areas. Yet many of those forces have made real gains over the past 
year, and Iraqi soldiers take pride in their progress. An Iraqi first 
lieutenant named Shoqutt describes the transformation of his unit this 
way: ``I really think we've turned the corner here. At first, the whole 
country didn't take us seriously. Now things are different. Our guys are 
hungry to demonstrate their skill and to show the world.''
    Our troops in Iraq see the gains that Iraqis are making. Lieutenant 
Colonel Todd Wood of Richmond Hill, Georgia, is training Iraqi forces in 
Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. He says this about Iraqi units he's 
working with: ``They're pretty much ready to go it on their own. What 
they're doing now would have been impossible a year ago. These guys are 
patriots, willing to go out knowing the insurgents would like nothing 
better than to kill them and their families. They're getting better, and 
they'll keep getting better.''
    Our commanders on the ground see the gains the Iraqis are making. 
General Marty Dempsey is the commander of the Multinational Security 
Transition Command. Here's what he says about the transformation of the 
Iraqi security forces: ``It's beyond description. They are far better 
equipped, far better trained'' than they once were. The Iraqis, General 
Dempsey says, are ``increasingly in control of their future and their 
own security--the Iraqi security forces are regaining control of the 
country.''

[[Page 1794]]

    As the Iraqi security forces stand up, their confidence is growing, 
and they're taking on tougher and more important missions on their own. 
As the Iraqi security forces stand up, the confidence of the Iraqi 
people is growing, and Iraqis are providing the vital intelligence 
needed to track down the terrorists. And as the Iraqi security forces 
stand up, coalition forces can stand down, and when our mission of 
defeating the terrorists in Iraq is complete, our troops will return 
home to a proud nation.
    This is a goal our Iraqi allies share. An Iraqi army sergeant named 
Abbass Abdul Jabar puts it this way: ``We have to help the coalition 
forces as much as we can to give them a chance to go home. These guys 
have been helping us. Now we have to protect our own families.'' America 
will help the Iraqis so they can protect their families and secure their 
free nation. We will stay as long as necessary to complete the mission. 
If our military leaders tell me we need more troops, I will send them.
    For example, we've increased our force levels in Iraq to 160,000, up 
from 137,000, in preparation for the December elections. My commanders 
tell me that as Iraqi forces become more capable, the mission of our 
forces in Iraq will continue to change. We will continue to shift from 
providing security and conducting operations against the enemy 
nationwide to conducting more specialized operations targeted at the 
most dangerous terrorists. We will increasingly move out of Iraqi 
cities, reduce the number of bases from which we operate, and conduct 
fewer patrols and convoys.
    As the Iraqi forces gain experience and the political process 
advances, we will be able to decrease our troop levels in Iraq without 
losing our capability to defeat the terrorists. These decisions about 
troop levels will be driven by the conditions on the ground in Iraq and 
the good judgment of our commanders, not by artificial timetables set by 
politicians in Washington.
    Some are calling for a deadline for withdrawal. Many advocating an 
artificial timetable for withdrawing our troops are sincere, but I 
believe they're sincerely wrong. Pulling our troops out before they've 
achieved their purpose is not a plan for victory. As Democratic Senator 
Joe Lieberman said recently, setting an artificial timetable would 
``discourage our troops because it seems to be heading for the door. It 
will encourage the terrorists. It will confuse the Iraqi people.''
    Senator Lieberman is right. Setting an artificial deadline to 
withdraw would send a message across the world that America is weak and 
an unreliable ally. Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would 
send a signal to our enemies that if they wait long enough, America will 
cut and run and abandon its friends. And setting an artificial deadline 
to withdraw would vindicate the terrorists' tactics of beheadings and 
suicide bombings and mass murder and invite new attacks on America. To 
all who wear the uniform, I make you this pledge: America will not run 
in the face of car bombers and assassins so long as I am your Commander 
in Chief.
    As we train Iraqis to take more responsibility in the battle with 
the terrorists, we're also helping them build a democracy that is worthy 
of their sacrifice. And in just over 2\1/2\ years, the Iraqi people have 
made incredible progress on the road to lasting freedom. Iraqis have 
gone from living under the boot of a brutal tyrant to liberation, free 
elections, and a democratic constitution. And in 15 days, they will go 
to the polls to elect a fully constitutional government that will lead 
them for the next 4 years.
    With each ballot cast, the Iraqi people have sent a clear message to 
the terrorists: Iraqis will not be intimidated. The Iraqi people will 
determine the destiny of their country. The future of Iraq belongs to 
freedom. Despite the costs, the pain, and the danger, Iraqis are showing 
courage and are moving forward to build a free society and a lasting 
democracy in the heart of the Middle East, and the United States of 
America will help them succeed.
    Some critics continue to assert that we have no plan in Iraq except 
to, quote, ``stay the course.'' If by ``stay the course,'' they mean we 
will not allow the terrorists to break our will, they're right. If by 
``stay the course,'' they mean we will not permit Al Qaida to turn Iraq 
into what Afghanistan was under the Taliban, a safe haven for terrorism 
and a launching pad for attacks on America, they're right as well. If by 
``stay the course''

[[Page 1795]]

they mean that we're not learning from our experiences or adjusting our 
tactics to meet the challenges on the ground, then they're flat wrong. 
As our top commander in Iraq, General Casey, has said, ``Our commanders 
on the ground are continuously adapting and adjusting, not only to what 
the enemy does but also to try to out-think the enemy and get ahead of 
him.'' Our strategy in Iraq is clear; our tactics are flexible and 
dynamic. We have changed them as conditions required, and they are 
bringing us victory against a brutal enemy.
    Victory in Iraq will demand the continued determination and resolve 
of the American people. It will also demand the strength and personal 
courage of the men and women who wear our Nation's uniform. And as the 
future officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, you're 
preparing to join this fight. You do so at a time when there is a 
vigorous debate about the war in Iraq. I know that for our men and women 
in uniform, this debate can be unsettling. When you're risking your life 
to accomplish a mission, the last thing you want to hear is that mission 
being questioned in our Nation's Capital. I want you to know that while 
there may be a lot of heated rhetoric in Washington, DC, one thing is 
not in dispute: The American people stand behind you.
    And we should not fear the debate in Washington. It's one of the 
great strengths of our democracy that we can discuss our differences 
openly and honestly, even at times of war. Your service makes that 
freedom possible. And today, because of the men and women in our 
military, people are expressing their opinions freely in the streets of 
Baghdad as well.
    Most Americans want two things in Iraq: They want to see our troops 
win, and they want to see our troops come home as soon as possible. And 
those are my goals as well. I will settle for nothing less than complete 
victory. In World War II, victory came when the Empire of Japan 
surrendered on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri. In Iraq, there will not 
be a signing ceremony on the deck of a battleship. Victory will come 
when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq's 
democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the safety of 
their own citizens, and when Iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists to 
plot new attacks on our Nation.
    As we make progress toward victory, Iraqis will take more 
responsibility for their security, and fewer U.S. forces will be needed 
to complete the mission. America will not abandon Iraq. We will not turn 
that country over to the terrorists and put the American people at risk. 
Iraq will be a free nation and a strong ally in the Middle East, and 
this will add to the security of the American people.
    In the short run, we're going to bring justice to our enemies. In 
the long run, the best way to ensure the security of our own citizens is 
to spread the hope of freedom across the broader Middle East. We've seen 
freedom conquer evil and secure the peace before. In World War II, free 
nations came together to fight the ideology of fascism, and freedom 
prevailed. And today, Germany and Japan are democracies, and they are 
allies in securing the peace. In the cold war, freedom defeated the 
ideology of communism and led to a democratic movement that freed the 
nations of Eastern and Central Europe from Soviet domination, and today, 
these nations are allies in the war on terror.
    Today in the Middle East, freedom is once again contending with an 
ideology that seeks to sow anger and hatred and despair. And like 
fascism and communism before, the hateful ideologies that use terror 
will be defeated by the unstoppable power of freedom. And as democracy 
spreads in the Middle East, these countries will become allies in the 
cause of peace.
    Advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in the Middle East 
begins with ensuring the success of a free Iraq. Freedom's victory in 
that country will inspire democratic reformers from Damascus to Tehran 
and spread hope across a troubled region and lift a terrible threat from 
the lives of our citizens. By strengthening Iraqi democracy, we will 
gain a partner in the cause of peace and moderation in the Muslim world 
and an ally in the worldwide struggle against the terrorists.
    Advancing the ideal of democracy and self-government is the mission 
that created our Nation, and now it is the calling of a new generation 
of Americans. We will meet the challenge of our time. We will answer 
history's call with confidence because we know

[[Page 1796]]

that freedom is the destiny of every man, woman, and child on this 
Earth.
    Before our mission in Iraq is accomplished, there will be tough days 
ahead. A time of war is a time of sacrifice, and we've lost some very 
fine men and women in this war on terror. Many of you know comrades and 
classmates who left our shores to defend freedom and who did not live to 
make the journey home. We pray for the military families who mourn the 
loss of loved ones. We hold them in our hearts, and we honor their 
memory of every fallen soldier, sailor, airman, coastguardsman, and 
marine.
    One of those fallen heroes is a marine corporal named Jeff Starr, 
who was killed fighting the terrorists in Ramadi earlier this year. 
After he died, a letter was found on his laptop computer. Here's what he 
wrote, he said, ``If you're reading this, then I've died in Iraq. I 
don't regret going. Everybody dies, but few get to do it for something 
as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we are in Iraq. It's 
not to me. I'm here helping these people, so they can live the way we 
live, not to have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators. Others 
have died for my freedom, now this is my mark.''
    There is only one way to honor the sacrifice of Corporal Starr and 
his fallen comrades, and that is to take up their mantle, carry on the 
fight, and complete their mission.
    We will take the fight to the terrorists. We will help the Iraqi 
people lay the foundations of a strong democracy that can govern itself, 
sustain itself, and defend itself. And by laying the foundations of 
freedom in Iraq, we will lay the foundation of peace for generations to 
come.
    You all are the ones who will help accomplish all this. Our freedom 
and our way of life are in your hands, and they're in the best of hands. 
I want to thank you for your service to the cause of freedom. I want to 
thank you for wearing the uniform. May God bless you all, and may God 
continue to bless the United States of America.

Note: The President spoke at 9:45 a.m. in Alumni Hall at the U.S. Naval 
Academy. In his remarks, he referred to Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, USN, 
superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy; Adm. Michael G. Mullen, USN, Chief 
of Naval Operations; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; senior Al 
Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization; Lt. Col. Todd Wood, USA, commander, 2d 
Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Liberty; and Gen. George W. 
Casey, Jr., USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of these remarks.