[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 2 (Monday, January 21, 2008)]
[Pages 62-63]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to Military Personnel at Camp Arifjan

January 12, 2008

    The President. Hooah!
    Audience members. Hooah!
    The President. Yes, thanks for coming out. [Laughter] It's good to 
see you. Command Sergeant Major Harbin, thank--he's a silver-tongued 
fox. [Laughter] Thank you for the introduction, Command Sergeant. I'm 
honored to be introduced by one of our enlisted personnel. After all, 
our military is strong because of the sergeant corps of the military.
    I'm also proud to be with our officers. I particularly want to thank 
General Lovelace for his leadership. I'm honored to be with the brave 
men and women of the 3d Army. I also offer greetings to the marines, 
sailors, airmen, coast guardsmen----
    Audience member. Woo-hoo! [Laughter]
    The President. ----as well as all the Department of Army civilians--
--
    Audience member. Hooray! [Laughter]
    The President. I'm here to thank you for your service. I want you to 
know, the American people are mighty proud of you, and so am I. Sorry my 
wife is not with me. She was here the other day, though. She sends her 
best. I'm traveling today with the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. 
I just had a meeting with our Ambassador and our commander on the ground 
in Iraq. I'm proud to be here with Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General 
David Petraeus.
    Since the 3d Army was established at the close of World War I, its 
soldiers have proven themselves true to their motto, ``The Third . . . 
Always First.'' You're the first bunch I've been talking to here on my 
trip, first bunch of those wearing the uniform. People say, ``You 
looking forward to the trip?'' I said, one thing I'm really looking 
forward to is seeing the men and women who represent the United States 
in our military. The reason I am is--anxious to be here is because we 
can't thank you enough and we can't thank your families enough for doing 
the hard work necessary to protect the United States of America.
    I appreciate what this 3d Army did in World War II. I hope you do 
too as well. After all, you're members of Patton's own; played a vital 
role in the destruction of the Nazi war machine. They helped liberate 
about 12,000 towns; at least that's according to the history of the 3d 
Army. From their noble ranks came soldiers with some of our

[[Page 63]]

Nation's highest directors [decorations],* including 19 recipients of 
the Medal of Honor. You--a distinguished history, and you're making 
history yourselves. Sometimes it's hard to forecast what the history 
pages are going to see when you're right in the midst of it all. 
Sometimes it's hard to judge how the 3d Army will be talked about by 
future Presidents when you're in the midst of protecting the country, 
when you're in the midst of dealing in a dangerous region.
    * White House correction.
    But I want to tell you what the history will say. The history will 
say, it was when you were called upon, you served, and the service you 
rendered was absolutely necessary to defeat an enemy overseas so we do 
not have to face them here at home. It will say loud and clear that this 
military, comprised of brave men and women who sacrificed on behalf of a 
noble cause called peace--the men and women of this military understood 
that we're in an ideological struggle; that we're facing coldblooded 
murderers who kill the innocent to achieve their hateful vision of a 
future.
    And they understood, history will show that those who wore the 
uniform in the beginning of the 21st century understood a timeless 
truth: that the ideology of--based upon liberty is necessary for peace; 
that in this ideological struggle, on the short term, we will find and 
bring the enemies to justice. But in the long term, the best way to 
defeat the ideology of hate is one with an ideology of hope, and that's 
one with liberty at its fundamental core.
    It's hard work that you're doing, but it's necessary work. It's hard 
to be away from your home, but that's a soldier's life. When you get to 
e-mailing your family, you tell them I check in with you. [Laughter] And 
you're looking pretty good. It looks like you haven't missed a meal. 
[Laughter] But you also tell them that the message I brought was, 
they're in this fight as well. And the citizens of the United States of 
America respect our military, and we respect our military families. And 
this Government will make sure that our families have a good life, with 
good support, when you're deployed overseas.
    And so I thank you for what you're doing. There is no doubt in my 
mind that we will succeed. There is no doubt in my mind, when history 
was written, the final page will say, victory was achieved by the United 
States of America for the good of the world; that by doing the hard work 
now, we can look back and say, the United States of America is more 
secure and generations of Americans will be able to live in peace.
    God bless you, and God bless the United States.

Note: The President spoke at 10:38 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Command Sgt. Maj. Don Harbin, USA, command sergeant major, Area Support 
Group--Kuwait; Lt. Gen. James L. Lovelace, USA, commanding general, 3d 
Army; and Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-
National Force--Iraq.