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CIA report on Iraq's weapons of Mass Destruction
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09.07.03
Address of the President to the Nation
The Cabinet Room
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. I have asked for this time to keep you informed
of America's actions in the war on terror.
Nearly two years ago, following deadly attacks on our country, we began a
systematic campaign against terrorism. These months have been a time of new
responsibilities, and sacrifice, and national resolve and great progress.
America and a broad coalition acted first in Afghanistan, by destroying the
training camps of terror, and removing the regime that harbored al Qaeda. In a
series of raids and actions around the world, nearly two-thirds of al Qaeda's
known leaders have been captured or killed, and we continue on al Qaeda's trail.
We have exposed terrorist front groups, seized terrorist accounts, taken new
measures to protect our homeland, and uncovered sleeper cells inside the United
States. And we acted in Iraq, where the former regime sponsored terror,
possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and for 12 years defied the
clear demands of the United Nations Security Council. Our coalition enforced
these international demands in one of the swiftest and most humane military
campaigns in history.
For a generation leading up to September the 11th, 2001, terrorists and their
radical allies attacked innocent people in the Middle East and beyond, without
facing a sustained and serious response. The terrorists became convinced that
free nations were decadent and weak. And they grew bolder, believing that
history was on their side. Since America put out the fires of September the
11th, and mourned our dead, and went to war, history has taken a different turn.
We have carried the fight to the enemy. We are rolling back the terrorist threat
to civilization, not on the fringes of its influence, but at the heart of its
power.
This work continues. In Iraq, we are helping the long suffering people of that
country to build a decent and democratic society at the center of the Middle
East. Together we are transforming a place of torture chambers and mass graves
into a nation of laws and free institutions. This undertaking is difficult and
costly -- yet worthy of our country, and critical to our security.
The Middle East will either become a place of progress and peace, or it will be
an exporter of violence and terror that takes more lives in America and in other
free nations. The triumph of democracy and tolerance in Iraq, in Afghanistan and
beyond would be a grave setback for international terrorism. The terrorists
thrive on the support of tyrants and the resentments of oppressed peoples. When
tyrants fall, and resentment gives way to hope, men and women in every culture
reject the ideologies of terror, and turn to the pursuits of peace. Everywhere
that freedom takes hold, terror will retreat.
Our enemies understand this. They know that a free Iraq will be free of them --
free of assassins, and torturers, and secret police. They know that as democracy
rises in Iraq, all of their hateful ambitions will fall like the statues of the
former dictator. And that is why, five months after we liberated Iraq, a
collection of killers is desperately trying to undermine Iraq's progress and
throw the country into chaos.
Some of the attackers are members of the old Saddam regime, who fled the
battlefield and now fight in the shadows. Some of the attackers are foreign
terrorists, who have come to Iraq to pursue their war on America and other free
nations. We cannot be certain to what extent these groups work together. We do
know they have a common goal -- reclaiming Iraq for tyranny.
Most, but not all, of these killers operate in one area of the country. The
attacks you have heard and read about in the last few weeks have occurred
predominantly in the central region of Iraq, between Baghdad and Tikrit --
Saddam Hussein's former stronghold. The north of Iraq is generally stable and is
moving forward with reconstruction and self-government. The same trends are
evident in the south, despite recent attacks by terrorist groups.
Though their attacks are localized, the terrorists and Saddam loyalists have
done great harm. They have ambushed American and British service members -- who
stand for freedom and order. They have killed civilian aid workers of the United
Nations -- who represent the compassion and generosity of the world. They have
bombed the Jordanian embassy -- the symbol of a peaceful Arab country. And last
week they murdered a respected cleric and over a hundred Muslims at prayer --
bombing a holy shrine and a symbol of Islam's peaceful teachings.
This violence is directed not only against our coalition, but against anyone in
Iraq who stands for decency, and freedom and progress.
There is more at work in these attacks than blind rage. The terrorists have a
strategic goal. They want us to leave Iraq before our work is done. They want to
shake the will of the civilized world. In the past, the terrorists have cited
the examples of Beirut and Somalia, claiming that if you inflict harm on
Americans, we will run from a challenge. In this, they are mistaken.
Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would
be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in many places.
Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand
there -- and there they must be defeated. This will take time and require
sacrifice. Yet we will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to
achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom and to
make our own nation more secure.
America has done this kind of work before. Following World War II, we lifted up
the defeated nations of Japan and Germany, and stood with them as they built
representative governments. We committed years and resources to this cause. And
that effort has been repaid many times over in three generations of friendship
and peace. America today accepts the challenge of helping Iraq in the same
spirit -- for their sake, and our own.
Our strategy in Iraq has three objectives: destroying the terrorists, enlisting
the support of other nations for a free Iraq and helping Iraqis assume
responsibility for their own defense and their own future.
First, we are taking direct action against the terrorists in the Iraqi
theater, which is the surest way to prevent future attacks on coalition forces
and the Iraqi people. We are staying on the offensive, with a series of precise
strikes against enemy targets increasingly guided by intelligence given to us by
Iraqi citizens.
Since the end of major combat operations, we have conducted raids seizing many
caches of enemy weapons and massive amounts of ammunition, and we have captured
or killed hundreds of Saddam loyalists and terrorists. So far, of the 55 most
wanted former Iraqi leaders, 42 are dead or in custody. We are sending a clear
message: anyone who seeks to harm our soldiers can know that our soldiers are
hunting for them.
Second, we are committed to expanding international cooperation in the
reconstruction and security of Iraq, just as we are in Afghanistan. Our military
commanders in Iraq advise me that the current number of American troops --
nearly 130,000 -- is appropriate to their mission. They are joined by over
20,000 service members from 29 other countries. Two multinational divisions, led
by the British and the Poles, are serving alongside our forces -- and in order
to share the burden more broadly, our commanders have requested a third
multinational division to serve in Iraq.
Some countries have requested an explicit authorization of the United Nations
Security Council before committing troops to Iraq. I have directed Secretary of
State Colin Powell to introduce a new Security Council resolution, which would
authorize the creation of a multinational force in Iraq, to be led by America.
I recognize that not all of our friends agreed with our decision to enforce the
Security Council resolutions and remove Saddam Hussein from power. Yet we cannot
let past differences interfere with present duties. Terrorists in Iraq have
attacked representatives of the civilized world, and opposing them must be the
cause of the civilized world. Members of the United Nations now have an
opportunity -- and the responsibility -- to assume a broader role in assuring
that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation.
Third, we are encouraging the orderly transfer of sovereignty and authority to
the Iraqi people. Our coalition came to Iraq as liberators and we will depart as
liberators. Right now Iraq has its own Governing Council, comprised of 25
leaders representing Iraq's diverse people. The Governing Council recently
appointed cabinet ministers to run government departments. Already more than 90
percent of towns and cities have functioning local governments, which are
restoring basic services. We're helping to train civil defense forces to keep
order, and an Iraqi police service to enforce the law, a facilities protection
service, Iraqi border guards to help secure the borders, and a new Iraqi army.
In all these roles, there are now some 60,000 Iraqi citizens under arms,
defending the security of their own country, and we are accelerating the
training of more.
Iraq is ready to take the next steps toward self-government. The Security
Council resolution we introduce will encourage Iraq's Governing Council to
submit a plan and a timetable for the drafting of a constitution and for free
elections. From the outset, I have expressed confidence in the ability of the
Iraqi people to govern themselves. Now they must rise to the responsibilities of
a free people and secure the blessings of their own liberty.
Our strategy in Iraq will require new resources. We have conducted a thorough
assessment of our military and reconstruction needs in Iraq, and also in
Afghanistan. I will soon submit to Congress a request for $87 billion. The
request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in Iraq,
Afghanistan and elsewhere, which we expect will cost $66 billion over the next
year. This budget request will also support our commitment to helping the Iraqi
and Afghan people rebuild their own nations, after decades of oppression and
mismanagement. We will provide funds to help them improve security. And we will
help them to restore basic services, such as electricity and water, and to build
new schools, roads, and medical clinics. This effort is essential to the
stability of those nations, and therefore, to our own security. Now and in the
future, we will support our troops and we will keep our word to the more than 50
million people of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Later this month, Secretary Powell will meet with representatives of many
nations to discuss their financial contributions to the reconstruction of
Afghanistan. Next month, he will hold a similar funding conference for the
reconstruction of Iraq. Europe, Japan and states in the Middle East all will
benefit from the success of freedom in these two countries, and they should
contribute to that success.
The people of Iraq are emerging from a long trial. For them, there will be no
going back to the days of the dictator, to the miseries and humiliation he
inflicted on that good country. For the Middle East and the world, there will be
no going back to the days of fear, when a brutal and aggressive tyrant possessed
terrible weapons. And for America, there will be no going back to the era before
September the 11th, 2001 -- to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have
learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are
invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on
our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting
that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today so that we do not meet him again on our
own streets, in our own cities.
The heaviest burdens in our war on terror fall, as always, on the men and women
of our Armed Forces and our intelligence services. They have removed gathering
threats to America and our friends, and this nation takes great pride in their
incredible achievements. We are grateful for their skill and courage, and for
their acts of decency, which have shown America's character to the world. We
honor the sacrifice of their families. And we mourn every American who has died
so bravely, so far from home.
The Americans who assume great risk overseas understand the great cause they are
in. Not long ago I received a letter from a captain in the 3rd Infantry Division
in Baghdad. He wrote about his pride in serving a just cause, and about the deep
desire of Iraqis for liberty. "I see it," he said, "in the eyes
of a hungry people every day here. They are starved for freedom and
opportunity." And he concluded, "I just thought you'd like a note from
the 'front lines of freedom.'" That Army captain, and all of our men and
women serving in the war on terror, are on the front lines of freedom. And I
want each of them to know, your country thanks you, and your country supports
you.
Fellow citizens: We've been tested these past 24 months, and the dangers have
not passed. Yet Americans are responding with courage and confidence. We accept
the duties of our generation. We are active and resolute in our own defense. We
are serving in freedom's cause -- and that is the cause of all mankind.
Thank you, and may God continue to bless America.