[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 30 (Monday, July 30, 2007)]
[Pages 1004-1009]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks to Military Personnel and Their Families at Charleston Air Force
Base, South Carolina
July 24, 2007
Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you, Colonel. Thanks for the
hospitality and kind introduction. I'm proud to be with the men and
women of the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, the Army, and the Coast
Guard. Thanks for serving. Thanks for wearing the uniform of the United
States of America.
I'm proud to be back here in the great State of South Carolina. I'm
proud to be with some of the Palmetto State's finest citizens. I'm glad
to be eating lunch with you. The food is pretty good, Colonel.
[Laughter] I always like a good barbecue. [Laughter]
I also am proud to be with the military families. You know, our
troops are obviously engaged in a tough struggle, tough fight, a fight
that I think is noble and necessary for our peace. And so are our
families. Our military families endure the separations. They worry about
their loved ones. They pray for safe return. By carrying out these
burdens, our military families are serving the United States of America,
and this country is grateful to America's military families.
I appreciate Colonel Millander leading the 437th Airlift Wing here
at the Charleston Airbase. Thank you for the tour. Nice, big airplanes
carrying a lot of cargo. [Laughter] And it's good to see the amazing
operations that take place here to keep our troops supplied.
I'm honored here to be with Deb as well. That's Red's wife. I call
him Red; you call him Colonel. [Laughter] He did a smart thing; he
married a woman from Texas. So did I. [Laughter] And Laura sends her
very best to you all. I'm proud to be here with Mark Bauknight--Colonel
Bauknight, acting commander of the 315th Airlift Wing, and his wife,
Leslie.
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I am traveling today with one of the true stalwarts of freedom, a
man who understands the stakes of the war we're in, and a man who
strongly supports the military in accomplishing the mission that we've
sent you to do, and that's Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
This base is represented by Congressman Henry Brown of South Carolina.
He understands what I understand; when we have somebody in harm's way,
that person deserves the full support of the Congress and the President.
And you'll have the full support of the President of the United States
during this war against these radicals and extremists.
I appreciate the Lieutenant Governor of this State, Andre Bauer.
Thanks for coming, Governor. I'm proud to be here with the speaker of
the house of representatives for South Carolina, State Representative
Bobby Harrell. Mr. Speaker, thanks for coming.
We've got some mayors with us, and I appreciate the mayors being
here today: Mayor Riley, Mayor Hallman, Mayor Summey. I'm honored that
you all would take time out of your busy schedule to come by and pay
tribute to these men and women who serve our Nation so ably.
I'm proud to be with Chairman Tim Scott of the Charleston County
Council. I'm proud to be with other State and local officials. And I'm
really glad to be with you all. Thank you for your courage.
Since the attacks of September the 11th, 2001, the airmen of Team
Charleston have deployed across the globe in support in the war on
terror. During the liberation of Afghanistan, aircrews from Team
Charleston flew hundreds of sorties to transport troops and deliver
supplies and help the liberation of 25 million people.
Team Charleston is playing a crucial role in Iraq. Every day, C-17s
lift off from Charleston carrying tons of vital supplies for our troops
on the frontlines. Your efforts are saving lives, and you're bringing
security to this country. Every member of Team Charleston can take pride
in a great record of accomplishment. And America is grateful for your
courage in the cause of freedom. And your courage is needed.
Nearly 6 years after the 9/11 attacks, America remains a nation at
war. The terrorist network that attacked us that day is determined to
strike our country again, and we must do everything in our power to stop
them. A key lesson of September the 11th is that the best way to protect
America is to go on the offense, to fight the terrorists overseas so we
don't have to face them here at home. And that is exactly what our men
and women in uniform are doing across the world.
The key theater in this global war is Iraq. Our troops are serving
bravely in that country. They're opposing ruthless enemies, and no enemy
is more ruthless in Iraq than Al Qaida. They send suicide bombers into
crowded markets; they behead innocent captives; and they murder American
troops. They want to bring down Iraq's democracy so they can use that
nation as a terrorist safe haven for attacks against our country. So our
troops are standing strong with nearly 12 million Iraqis who voted for a
future of peace, and they do so for the security of Iraq and the safety
of American citizens.
There's a debate in Washington about Iraq, and nothing wrong with a
healthy debate. There's also a debate about Al Qaida's role in Iraq.
Some say that Iraq is not part of the broader war on terror. They
complain when I say that the Al Qaida terrorists we face in Iraq are
part of the same enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001.
They claim that the organization called Al Qaida in Iraq is an Iraqi
phenomenon, that it's independent of Usama bin Laden, and that it's not
interested in attacking America.
That would be news to Usama bin Laden. He's proclaimed that the
``third world war is raging in Iraq.'' Usama bin Laden says, ``The war
is for you or for us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and
disgrace forever.'' I say that there will be a big defeat in Iraq, and
it will be the defeat of Al Qaida.
Today I will consider the arguments of those who say that Al Qaida
and Al Qaida in Iraq are separate entities. I will explain why they are
both part of the same terrorist network and why they are dangerous to
our country. I'd like to start with some basic facts. Al Qaida in Iraq
was founded by a Jordanian terrorist, not an Iraqi. His name was Abu
Musab Al Zarqawi. Before 9/11, he ran a terrorist camp in Afghanistan.
He was not yet
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a member of Al Qaida, but our intelligence community reports that he had
longstanding relations with senior Al Qaida leaders, that he had met
with Usama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Zawahiri.
In 2001, coalition forces destroyed Zarqawi's Afghan training camp,
and he fled the country, and he went to Iraq, where he set up operations
with terrorist associates long before the arrival of coalition forces.
In the violence and instability following Saddam's fall, Zarqawi was
able to expand dramatically the size, scope, and lethality of his
operation. In 2004, Zarqawi and his terrorist group formally joined Al
Qaida, pledged allegiance to Usama bin Laden, and he promised to
``follow his orders in jihad.''
Soon after, bin Laden publicly declared that Zarqawi was the
``Prince of Al Qaida in Iraq,'' and he instructed terrorists in Iraq to
``listen to him and obey him.'' It's hard to argue that Al Qaida in Iraq
is separate from bin Laden's Al Qaida when the leader of Al Qaida in
Iraq took an oath of allegiance to Usama bin Laden.
According to our intelligence community, the Zarqawi-bin Laden
merger gave Al Qaida in Iraq, quote, ``prestige among potential recruits
and financiers.'' The merger also gave Al Qaida's senior leadership,
quote, ``a foothold in Iraq to extend its geographic presence to plot
external operations and to tout the centrality of the jihad in Iraq to
solicit direct monetary support elsewhere.'' The merger between Al Qaida
and its Iraqi affiliate is an alliance of killers, and that is why the
finest military in the world is on their trail.
Zarqawi was killed by U.S. forces in June 2006. He was replaced by
another foreigner, an Egyptian named Abu Ayyub al-Masri. His ties to the
Al Qaida senior leadership are deep and longstanding. He has
collaborated with Zawahiri for more than two decades. And before 9/11,
he spent time with Al Qaida in Afghanistan, where he taught classes
indoctrinating others in Al Qaida's radical ideology.
After Abu Ayyub took over Al Qaida's Iraqi operations last year,
Usama bin Laden sent a terrorist leader named Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi to
help him. According to our intelligence community, this man was a senior
adviser to bin Laden who served as his top commander in Afghanistan. Abd
al-Hadi never made it to Iraq. He was captured and was recently
transferred to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. The fact that
Usama bin Laden risked sending one of his most valued commanders to Iraq
shows the importance he places on success of Al Qaida's Iraqi
operations.
According to our intelligence community, many of Al Qaida in Iraq's
other senior leaders are also foreign terrorists. They include a Syrian
who is Al Qaida in Iraq's emir in Baghdad, a Saudi who is Al Qaida in
Iraq's top spiritual and legal advisor, an Egyptian who fought in
Afghanistan in the 1990s and who has met with Usama bin Laden, a
Tunisian who we believe plays a key role in managing foreign fighters.
Last month in Iraq, we killed a senior Al Qaida facilitator named Mehmet
Yilmaz, a Turkish national who fought with Al Qaida in Afghanistan and
met the September the 11th mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and other
Al Qaida leaders.
A few weeks ago, we captured a senior Al Qaida in Iraq leader named
Mashadani. Now, this terrorist is an Iraqi. In fact, he was the highest
ranking Iraqi in the organization. Here's what he said; here's what he
told us: The foreign leaders of Al Qaida in Iraq went to extraordinary
lengths to promote the fiction that Al Qaida in Iraq is an Iraqi-led
operation. He says, Al Qaida even created a figurehead whom they named
Umar al-Baghdadi. The purpose was to make Iraqi fighters believe they
were following the orders of an Iraqi instead of a foreigner. Yet once
in custody, Mashadani revealed that al-Baghdadi is only an actor. He
confirmed our intelligence that foreigners are the top echelons of Al
Qaida in Iraq--they are the leaders--and that foreign leaders make most
of the operational decisions, not Iraqis.
Foreign terrorists also account for most of the suicide bombings in
Iraq. Our military estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of suicide
attacks in Iraq are carried out by foreign-born Al Qaida terrorists.
It's true that today, most of Al Qaida in Iraq's rank-and-file fighters
and some of its leadership are Iraqi. But to focus exclusively on this
single fact is to ignore the larger truth: Al Qaida
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in Iraq is a group founded by foreign terrorists, led largely by foreign
terrorists, and loyal to a foreign terrorist leader, Usama bin Laden.
They know they're Al Qaida. The Iraqi people know they are Al Qaida.
People across the Muslim world know they are Al Qaida. And there's a
good reason they are called Al Qaida in Iraq. They are Al Qaida . . . in
. . . Iraq.
Some also assert that Al Qaida in Iraq is a separate organization
because Al Qaida's central command lacks full operational control over
it. This argument reveals a lack of understanding. Here is how Al
Qaida's global terrorist network actually operates. Al Qaida and its
affiliate organizations are a loose network of terrorist groups that are
united by a common ideology and shared objectives and have differing
levels of collaboration with Al Qaida senior leadership. In some cases,
these groups have formally merged into Al Qaida and take what's called a
bayat, a pledge of loyalty to Usama bin Laden. In other cases,
organizations are not formally merged with Al Qaida, but collaborate
closely with Al Qaida leaders to plot attacks and advance their shared
ideology. In still other cases, there are small cells of terrorists that
are not part of Al Qaida or any other broader terrorist group, but
maintain contact with Al Qaida leaders and are inspired by its ideology
to conduct attacks.
Our intelligence community assesses that Al Qaida in Iraq falls into
the first of these categories. They are a full member of the Al Qaida
terrorist network. The Al Qaida leadership provides strategic guidance
to their Iraqi operatives. Even so, there have been disagreements,
important disagreements between the leaders, Usama bin Laden, and the
Iraqi counterparts, including Zawahiri's criticism of Zarqawi's
relentless attacks on the Shi'a. But our intelligence community reports
that Al Qaida's senior leaders generally defer to their Iraqi-based
commanders when it comes to internal operations because distance and
security concerns preclude day-to-day command authority.
Our intelligence community concludes that, quote, ``Al Qaida and its
regional node in Iraq are united in their overarching strategy.'' And
they say that Al Qaida senior leaders and their operatives in Iraq,
quote, ``see Al Qaida in Iraq as part of Al Qaida's decentralized chain
of command, not as a separate group.''
Here's the bottom line: Al Qaida in Iraq is run by foreign leaders
loyal to Usama bin Laden. And like bin Laden, they are coldblooded
killers who murder the innocent to achieve Al Qaida's political
objectives. Yet despite all the evidence, some will tell you that Al
Qaida in Iraq is not really Al Qaida and not really a threat to America.
Well, that's like watching a man walk into a bank with a mask and a gun,
and saying he's probably just there to cash a check.
You might wonder why some in Washington insist on making this
distinction about the enemy in Iraq. It's because they know that if they
can convince America we're not fighting bin Laden's Al Qaida there, they
can paint the battle in Iraq as a distraction from the real war on
terror. If we're not fighting bin Laden's Al Qaida, they can argue that
our Nation can pull out of Iraq and not undermine our efforts in the war
on terror. The problem they have is with the facts. We are fighting bin
Laden's Al Qaida in Iraq; Iraq is central to the war on terror; and
against this enemy, America can accept nothing less than complete
victory.
There are others who accept that Al Qaida is operating in Iraq but
say its role is overstated. Al Qaida is one of the several Sunni
jihadist groups in Iraq. But our intelligence community believes that Al
Qaida is the most dangerous of these Sunni jihadist groups for several
reasons. First, more than any other group, Al Qaida is behind most of
the spectacular, high-casualty attacks that you see on your TV screens.
Second, these Al Qaida attacks are designed to accelerate sectarian
violence by attacking Shi'a in hopes of sparking reprisal attacks that
inspire Sunnis to join Al Qaida's cause.
Third, Al Qaida is the only jihadist group in Iraq with stated
ambitions to make the country a base for attacks outside Iraq. For
example, Al Qaida in Iraq dispatched terrorists who bombed a wedding
reception in Jordan. In another case, they sent operatives to Jordan,
where they attempted to launch a
[[Page 1008]]
rocket attack on U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea.
And most important for the people who wonder if the fight in Iraq is
worth it, Al Qaida in Iraq shares Usama bin Laden's goal of making Iraq
a base for its radical Islamic empire and using it as a safe haven for
attacks on America. That is why our intelligence community reports, and
I quote, ``compared with other leading Sunni jihadist groups, Al Qaida
in Iraq stands out for its extremism, unmatched operational strength,
foreign leadership, and determination to take the jihad beyond Iraq's
borders.''
Our top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has said that Al
Qaida is ``public enemy number one'' in Iraq. Fellow citizens, these
people have sworn allegiance to the man who ordered the death of nearly
3,000 people on our soil. Al Qaida is public enemy number one for the
Iraqi people; Al Qaida is public enemy number one for the American
people. And that is why, for the security of our country, we will stay
on the hunt, we'll deny them safe haven, and we will defeat them where
they have made their stand.
Some note that Al Qaida in Iraq did not exist until the U.S.
invasion and argue that it is a problem of our own making. The argument
follows the flawed logic that terrorism is caused by American actions.
Iraq is not the reason that the terrorists are at war with us. We were
not in Iraq when the terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993.
We were not in Iraq when they attacked our Embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania. We were not in Iraq when they attacked the USS Cole in 2000.
And we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001.
Our action to remove Saddam Hussein did not start the terrorist
violence, and America withdrawal from Iraq would not end it. The Al
Qaida terrorists now blowing themselves up in Iraq are dedicated
extremists who have made killing the innocent the calling of their
lives. They are part of a network that has murdered men, women, and
children in London and Madrid, slaughtered fellow Muslims in Istanbul
and Casablanca, Riyadh, Jakarta, and elsewhere around the world. If we
were not fighting these Al Qaida extremists and terrorists in Iraq, they
would not be leading productive lives of service and charity. Most would
be trying to kill Americans and other civilians elsewhere--in
Afghanistan or other foreign capitals or on the streets of our own
cities.
Al Qaida is in Iraq, and they're there for a reason. And
surrendering the future of Iraq to Al Qaida would be a disaster for our
country. We know their intentions. Hear the words of Al Qaida's top
commander in Iraq when he issued an audio statement in which he said he
will not rest until he has attacked our Nation's Capital. If we were to
cede Iraq to men like this, we would leave them free to operate from a
safe haven which they could use to launch new attacks on our country.
And Al Qaida would gain prestige amongst the extremists across the
Muslim world as the terrorist network that faced down America and forced
us into retreat.
If we were to allow this to happen, sectarian violence in Iraq could
increase dramatically, raising the prospect of mass casualties. Fighting
could engulf the entire region in chaos, and we would soon face a Middle
East dominated by Islamic extremists who would pursue nuclear weapons
and use their control of oil for economic blackmail or to fund new
attacks on our Nation.
We've already seen how Al Qaida used a failed state thousands of
miles from our shores to bring death and destruction to the streets of
our cities, and we must not allow them to do so again. So however
difficult the fight is in Iraq, we must win it. And we can win it.
Less than a year ago, Anbar Province was Al Qaida's base in Iraq and
was written off by many as lost. Since then, U.S. and Iraqi forces have
teamed with Sunni sheiks who have turned against Al Qaida. Hundreds have
been killed or captured. Terrorists have been driven from most of the
population centers. Our troops are now working to replicate the success
in Anbar in other parts of the country. Our brave men and women are
taking risks, and they're showing courage, and we're making progress.
For the security of our citizens and the peace of the world, we must
give General Petraeus and his troops the time and the resources they
need, so they can defeat Al Qaida in Iraq.
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Thanks for letting me come by today. I've explained the connection
between Al Qaida and its Iraqi affiliate. I presented intelligence that
clearly establishes this connection. The facts are that Al Qaida
terrorists killed Americans on 9/11; they're fighting us in Iraq and
across the world; and they are plotting to kill Americans here at home
again. Those who justify withdrawing our troops from Iraq by denying the
threat of Al Qaida in Iraq and its ties to Usama bin Laden ignore the
clear consequences of such a retreat. If we were to follow their advice,
it would be dangerous for the world and disastrous for America. We will
defeat Al Qaida in Iraq.
In this effort, we're counting on the brave men and women
represented in this room. Every man and woman who serves at this base
and around the world is playing a vital role in this war on terror. With
your selfless spirit and devotion to duty, we will confront this mortal
threat to our country, and we're going to prevail.
I have confidence in our country, and I have faith in our cause
because I know the character of the men and women gathered before me. I
thank you for your patriotism. I thank you for your courage. You're
living up to the motto, ``one family, one mission, one fight.'' Thank
you for all you do. God bless your families. God bless America.
Note: The President spoke at 11:50 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to
Mayor Joseph P. Riley of Charleston, SC; Mayor Harry M. Hallman, Jr., of
Mount Pleasant, SC; Mayor R. Keith Summey of North Charleston, SC; and
Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--
Iraq.