    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 24 (Monday, June 19, 2006)]
    [Pages 1118-1120]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    The President's Radio Address

    June 10, 2006

        Good morning. This was a good week for the cause of freedom. On
    Wednesday night in Iraq, U.S. military forces killed the terrorist
    Zarqawi.
        The killing of Zarqawi is an important victory in the global war on
    terror. This Jordanian-born terrorist was the operational commander of
    Al Qaida in Iraq. He led a

    [[Page 1119]]

    campaign of car bombings and kidnappings and suicide attacks that has
    taken the lives of many American forces, international aid workers, and
    thousands of innocent Iraqis. Zarqawi had a long history of murder and
    bloodshed. Before September the 11th, 2001, he ran a camp in Afghanistan
    that trained terrorists--until coalition forces destroyed that camp. He
    fled to Iraq, where he received medical care and set up operations with
    terrorist associates.
        After the fall of Saddam, Zarqawi went underground and declared his
    allegiance to Usama bin Laden, who called him the ``Prince of Al Qaida
    in Iraq'' and instructed terrorists around the world to ``listen to him
    and obey him.'' Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other
    civilians in Iraq. He masterminded the destruction of the United Nations
    headquarters in Baghdad, and he was responsible for the assassination of
    an American diplomat in Jordan and the bombing of hotels in Amman. His
    goals in Iraq were clear: He wanted to stop the rise of democracy, drive
    coalition forces out, incite a civil war, and turn that country into a
    safe haven from which Al Qaida could launch new attacks on America and
    other free nations. Instead, Zarqawi died in the free and democratic
    Iraq that he fought so hard to prevent, and the world is better off
    because this violent man will never kill again.
        Iraqis can be justly proud of their new Government and its early
    steps to improve their security. And Americans can be enormously proud
    of the men and women of our Armed Forces and the intelligence officers
    who support them. In the past 3 years, our troops have overthrown a
    cruel dictator, fought the terrorists and insurgents house to house, and
    trained Iraqi forces to defend their new democracy. All the while, they
    stayed on the trail of this brutal terrorist, persevering through years
    of near misses and false leads and never giving up hope. This week, they
    got their man. And all Americans are grateful for their remarkable
    achievement.
        Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq
    continues. In the weeks ahead, violence in Iraq may escalate. The
    terrorists and insurgents will seek to prove that they can carry on
    without Zarqawi. And coalition and Iraqi forces are seizing this moment
    to strike the enemies of freedom in Iraq at this time of uncertainty for
    their cause. The work ahead will require more sacrifice and the
    continued patience of the American people.
        I'm encouraged by Prime Minister Maliki's determination to defeat
    our common enemies and bring security and rule of law to all Iraqis.
    This week, he took another major step toward this objective when he
    completed the formation of his Cabinet--naming a new Minister of
    Defense, a new Minister of the Interior, and a new Minister of State for
    National Security. These new leaders will help the Government address
    its top priorities: reconciliation, reconstruction, and putting an end
    to the kidnappings, beheadings, and suicide bombings.
        As they pursue these goals, they will have America's full support.
    On Monday, I will convene my national security team and other key
    members of my Cabinet at Camp David to discuss the way ahead in Iraq. On
    Tuesday, Iraq's new Ambassador to the United States will join us, and we
    will have a teleconference discussion with Prime Minister Maliki and
    members of his Cabinet. Together we will determine how to best deploy
    America's resources in Iraq and achieve our shared goal of an Iraq that
    can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself.
        There's still difficult work ahead in Iraq. Yet this week, the
    ideology of terror has suffered a severe blow: Al Qaida has lost its
    leader in Iraq; the Iraqi people have completed a democratic government
    that is determined to defend them; and freedom has achieved a great
    victory in the heart of the Middle East.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 1:45 p.m. on June 8 in the Cabinet
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on June 10. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    June 9 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his
    address, the President referred to senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab
    Al Zarqawi, who was killed in Baquba, Iraq, on June 7; Usama bin Laden,
    leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; former President Saddam
    Hussein, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki,

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    Minister of Defense Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji, Minister of Interior Jawad
    al-Bulani, and Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili
    of Iraq; and Iraq's Ambassador to the U.S. Samir Shakir al-Sumaydi. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of this address.