[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 11 (Monday, March 20, 2006)]
[Pages 455-456]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 11, 2006

    Good morning. This month will mark the 3-year anniversary of the 
start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, which liberated Iraq from the tyranny 
of Saddam Hussein. As this milestone approaches, I will be giving a 
series of speeches to update the American people on our strategy for 
victory in Iraq. I will discuss the progress we are making, the lessons 
we've learned from our experiences, and how we're fixing what has not 
worked.
    On Monday I will give the first of these speeches, focusing on the 
security element of our strategy, the task of defeating the terrorists 
and training Iraqi security forces so they can take the lead in the 
fight and defend their own democracy.
    The Iraqi security forces have made great strides in the past year, 
and they performed well after the recent bombing of the Golden Mosque of 
Samarra. This mosque is one of Shi'a Islam's holiest sites, and after it 
was bombed, bands of armed militia began exacting revenge with reprisal 
attacks on Sunni mosques and random violence that took the lives of 
hundreds of innocent Iraqis.
    Immediately after the attack, Iraq's leaders came together and acted 
to restore calm and end the violence. They deployed Iraqi security 
forces to Baghdad and other areas threatened by violence. These forces 
moved rapidly and effectively to protect religious sites, enforce a 
curfew, and reestablish civil order where necessary. We commend them for 
their good work.
    The situation in Iraq is still tense. Reports of kidnappings and 
executions are being taken very seriously. The Iraqi Government has made 
clear that such violent attacks cannot be tolerated. The vast majority 
of Iraqis have shown they want a future of freedom and peace.
    By their response over the past 2 weeks and their participation in 
three successful elections last year, the Iraqi people have made clear 
they will not let a violent minority take that future away by tearing 
the country apart. And the Iraqi security forces have shown that they 
are capable of rising above sectarian divisions to protect the unity of 
a free Iraq.

[[Page 456]]

    The effective performance of the Iraqi security forces during this 
crisis showed that our hard work to build up and train these forces is 
paying off. In the coming months, we will help prepare more Iraqi 
battalions to take the lead in battle, and Iraqi forces will assume 
responsibility over more territory. Our goal is to have the Iraqis 
control more territory than the coalition forces by the end of this 
year. And as Iraqis assume responsibility over more territory, this 
frees American and coalition forces to concentrate on hunting down high-
value targets like the terrorist Zarqawi and his associates.
    As we take the fight to the terrorists, they realize they cannot 
defeat us directly in battle, so they have resorted to brutal attacks 
against innocent Iraqis and American forces using improvised explosive 
devices, or IEDs. IEDs are homemade bombs that can be hidden in cars or 
by the side of a road and detonated remotely, using everyday devices 
like garage door openers and cordless phones.
    These weapons are now the principal threat to our troops and to the 
future of a free Iraq. And to defeat this threat, my administration has 
established a new high-level command at the Department of Defense, led 
by retired four-star General Montgomery Meigs. This weekend General 
Meigs is briefing me at the White House on our plan to defeat the threat 
of IEDs. We're harnessing every available resource, the ingenuity of our 
best scientists and engineers, and the determination of our military to 
defeat this threat. And we're not going to rest until this danger to our 
troops has been removed.
    In the coming days, there will be considerable reflection on the 
removal of Saddam Hussein from power and our remaining mission in Iraq. 
The last 3 years have tested our resolve. The fighting has been tough. 
The enemy we face has proved to be brutal and relentless. We have 
changed our approach in many areas to reflect the hard realities on the 
ground. And the sacrifice being made by our young men and women who wear 
the uniform has been heartening and inspiring.
    Amid the daily news of car bombs and kidnappings and brutal 
killings, I can understand why many of our fellow citizens are now 
wondering if the entire mission was worth it. I strongly believe our 
country is better off with Saddam Hussein out of power. Under Saddam 
Hussein, Iraq was an enemy of America who shot at our airplanes, had a 
history of pursuing and using weapons of mass destruction, threatened 
and invaded his neighbors, ordered the death of thousands of his 
citizens, and supported terrorism.
    After the liberation of the Iraqi people, Al Qaida and their 
affiliates have made Iraq the central front on the war on terror. By 
helping the Iraqi people build a free and representative government, we 
will deny the terrorists a safe haven to plan attacks against America. 
The security of our country is directly linked to the liberty of the 
Iraqi people. This will require more difficult days of fighting and 
sacrifice, yet I am confident that our strategy will result in victory, 
and then our troops can come home with the honor they have earned.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7 a.m. on March 10 in the Cabinet Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 11. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 10 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
address, the President referred to former President Saddam Hussein of 
Iraq; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; and Montgomery C. 
Meigs, director, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. 
The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.