Remarks at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 18, 2003

Afghanistan today is a friend of the United States of America. It is not a haven for America's terrorist enemies. As NATO assumes a leading role in keeping Afghanistan secure, we're helping with the reconstruction and the founding of a democratic government. We're making steady progress in Afghanistan. New roads are being built. Medical clinics are opening. There are new schools in Afghanistan where many young girls are now going to school for the first time, thanks to the United States of America.

We've also helped to build an Afghan national army. We want the Afghan people to defend themselves at some point in time. This army launched its first major operation, called Warrior Sweep, which are hunting down the terrorists along with the help of the United States of America. Now, thanks to the United States and our fine allies, Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terror. The Taliban is history, and the Afghan people are free.

The war on terror also continues in Iraq. Make no mistake about it, Iraq is part of the war on terror. Our coalition forces are still engaged in an essential mission. We met the major combat objectives in Operation Iraqi Freedom by removing a regime that persecuted Iraqis, that supported terrorists, and that was armed to threaten the peace of the world. All the world is now seeing just how badly the Iraqi people suffered under this brutal dictator. The Iraqi people themselves are seeing a new day, thanks to the brave men and women who came to liberate them.

Thanks to our military, Iraqi citizens do not have to fear a secret police, arbitrary arrests, or loved ones lost forever in mass graves. Thanks to our military, the torture chambers of a dictator are closed; the prison cells for children are empty. Thanks to our military, Saddam Hussein will never threaten anybody with a weapon of mass destruction.

Many members of the former regime challenged our military and had their day of reckoning, and the other ones still in there have a lot to worry about. Parts of Iraq are still dangerous because freedom has enemies inside of Iraq. Men loyal to the fallen regime, some joined by foreign terrorists, are trying to prevent order and stability.

We're on the offensive against these killers. We're going after them. We'll raid their hiding places, and we'll find them. The brave Americans who carry out these missions can know they will have every tool and every resource they need to defend themselves and to do the job they were sent to do.

The terrorists will meet their end, and in the meantime, the Iraqi people are making steady progress in building a stable society and beginning to form a democratic government. Iraq's new Governing Council represents the Nation's diverse groups. In the months ahead, Iraqis will begin drafting a new constitution, and this will prepare the way for elections. America and our coalition are training Iraqi civil defense and police forces so they can patrol their own cities and their own villages. We're training a new army, an army that defends the people instead of terrorizes them.