Text 4320, 327 rader
Skriven 2007-04-04 23:33:00 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0704046) for Wed, 2007 Apr 4
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President Bush Visits with the Troops at Fort Irwin, California
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary April 4, 2007

President Bush Visits with the Troops at Fort Irwin, California Fort Irwin,
California

˙˙White House News

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: President Bush Meets with Military Personnel and Their
Families at Fort Irwin ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Defense ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Iraq

1:19 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all. (Applause.) I've been waiting all day to
say, Hoo-ah!

AUDIENCE: Hoo-ah!

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for greeting me. General Cone, thanks. I
appreciate your service to our country and thanks for leading these men and
women. I'm honored also to be with Jill. Thank you for joining us today for
lunch. Command Sergeant Kim Boyink has been a generous host. Sarge, I
appreciate being with you. Thank you for your service. Thanks for setting
such a good example for the enlisted folks.

I often tell people that the backbone of the Army is the sergeant.

AUDIENCE: Hoo-ah!

THE PRESIDENT: And I appreciate you sergeants who have joined us here, and
I appreciate you serving.

I want to thank two members of the United States Congress who have traveled
with me today, men who have concerns about Fort Irwin and have reflected
those concerns in different appropriations measures in the United States
Congress. In other words, they understand the importance of this mission
and they understand the importance of making sure the folks who are
stationed here have the best possible housing and food -- could work a
little bit on it, but -- (laughter.)

But I do want to introduce to you the Congressmen from this district,
Congressman Buck McKeon -- where are you, Buck? There he is. Thanks, Buck.
(Applause.) And Congressman Jerry Lewis, ranking member of the
Appropriations Committee. (Applause.)

I'm proud to be here with Mayor Dale, of the city of Barstow. I appreciate
you coming, Mr. Mayor. (Applause.) Nice of you to be here. Thanks for being
here.

I appreciate not only those who wear the uniform who are here today, I want
to thank your families, too, for coming. It means a lot to me to be with
our military families. I'll say a word about our military families here in
a minute.

I do want to thank those who have just returned from Afghanistan, the 699th
Maintenance Company.

AUDIENCE: Hoo-ah. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: I guess the best words I can say are, welcome -- I mean,
thanks and welcome back. We're glad you're here.

I appreciate those of you who are about to deploy in an important theater
in this war against radicals and extremists, this war on terror, the "Red
Devils" of the 58th Engineers, the "Renegades" of the 557th Maintenance
Company, the "Super HETT" of the 2nd Transportation Company. I appreciate
your -- (applause.)

Ours is a remarkable country when people volunteer to serve our country in
a time of war. The amazing thing about our United States military is
thousands and thousands have signed up knowing full well that we're a
nation at war. The government didn't say, you have to do this, you chose to
do it on your own. You decided to put your country ahead of self in many
ways. I'm proud to be the Commander-in-Chief of such decent people, such
honorable people, and such noble people. And I'm proud to be in your
presence today.

I also want to thank the families. I understand how difficult this war is
on America's military families. I understand the rotations are difficult
for the moms and husbands, and sons and daughters. I understand that when a
loved one is deployed, it creates anxiety. I also understand our military
families are very supportive of those who wear the uniform. And so, on
behalf of a grateful nation, I say thanks to the families who are here, and
all across the United States of America. You're an integral part of making
sure this volunteer army is as successful as it is today.

This country's life changed on September the 11th, 2001, and my attitude
about the world changed that day, too. I decided that I -- that our most
important task in Washington was to protect you, protect the American
people. And I decided that I would use all the resources at our disposal to
do that. Like many Americans, we struggle with understanding with what this
attack meant. But if you think about the lead-up to the attack, you think
about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, or the
extremist attack on our troops in Lebanon, or the embassies in Africa;
Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia; or the USS Cole.

In other words, the attack on September the 11th wasn't the first move by
the extremists. As a matter of fact, they conducted their acts of murder
believing that there wouldn't be a response. They became convinced that
free nations were weak. And they grew bolder believing that history was on
their side.

After the attacks of September the 11th I vowed to our country that we
wouldn't tire, that we would use whatever it took to protect us. And so we
changed our strategy. The strategy is to defeat the enemy overseas so we
don't have to face them here at home. The strategy is to find those who
would kill Americans and bring them to justice. So for those of you in --
who have been in Afghanistan, you're helping this young democracy recover
from a period of time in which brutal extremists provided safe haven to an
enemy which attacked the United States. Part of our doctrine is if you
harbor a terrorist, you're equally as guilty as the terrorists.

Another part of the doctrine is when you see a threat, we must take threats
seriously, before they come here to hurt us. See, what changed on September
the 11th is oceans can no longer protect the people in the United States
from harm. I saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. The world is better off
without Saddam Hussein in power. And so are the citizens of Iraq.

In the long-term, we must remember that freedom is universal, and the best
way to defeat an ideology -- and make no mistake about it, these extremists
believe things -- for example, they don't believe you can worship freely;
they don't believe you should speak your mind; they don't believe in
dissent; they don't believe in human rights. We believe in the right for
people to worship. We believe in the dignity of each human being. Our
ideology is based on the universality of liberty. Their dark ideology is
based upon hatred. And the way to defeat -- ultimately defeat those who
would do harm to America is give people a chance to live in a free society.

And that's the work we're doing, whether it be in Afghanistan or in Iraq.
And I want to thank you for your sacrifice and service.

Iraq, obviously, has got the attention of the United States, as it should.
It's a tough war. The American people are weary of this war. They wonder
whether or not we can succeed. They're horrified by the suicide bombings
they see. I analyzed all the situation here this fall -- I listened to the
advice from the military, I listened to the advice from the political
people -- all in reaction to the fact that al Qaeda and the extremists
bombed a sacred place, which caused sectarian violence to begin to rage.
And it looked like that if action wasn't taken, the capital of this young
democracy would be overwhelmed by chaos.

And I had a choice to make, and that is whether or not to pull back and
hope that chaos wouldn't spread, or to do something about the sectarian
violence that was taking place and to help the Iraqis bring order to their
capital in order to give them breathing space, time to reconcile their
differences after having lived under the thumb of a tyrant for years.

In weighing the options I thought about the consequences of a country that
could sustain itself and defend itself and serve as an ally in the war on
terror. And those consequences will have profound impact over the next
years, over the decades, to know that in the midst of the Middle East there
can flourish free societies, societies where people can live together,
societies where people can express their opinions, societies where people
can live a free life.

That's important because history has proven, has shown that free societies
don't war with each other. But it's also important to have allies in this
war against the extremists who would do us harm.

I've also thought about the consequences of failure and what it would mean
to the American people. If chaos were to reign in the capital of that
country it could spill out to the rest of the country; it could then spill
out to the region, where you would have religious extremists fighting each
other with one common enemy, the United States of America, or our ally, for
example, like Israel.

The enemy that had done us harm would be embolden. They would have seen the
mighty United States of America retreat before the job was done, which
would enable them to better recruit. They have made it clear -- they, being
people like Osama bin Laden or Zawahiri -- have made it clear they want to
drive us from Iraq to establish safe haven in order to launch further
attacks. In my judgment, defeat -- leaving before the job was done, which I
would call defeat -- would make this United States of America at risk to
further attack.

In other words, this is a war in which, if we were to leave before the job
is done, the enemy would follow us here. That's the lesson of September the
11th. It's an integral part of my thinking about how to secure this country
-- to do the most important job that the government must do, and that is to
protect the American people.

So I made a decision, in consultation with our military commanders, people
of sound military judgment; people who have made a career about how to set
strategies in place to achieve military victories. And the new strategy we
developed was to, rather than retreat, reenforce; rather than pull back was
to go in with additional troops to help this young democracy do the job
that the 12 million people who voted in free elections want them to do,
which is to provide security, so a mother can raise her child the way we
would want our mothers to be able to raise our children; to provide
security so that the political reconciliation necessary can go forward in a
more secure environment.

As I made the decision to send in more troops, I also made the decision to
send in a new commander, General David Petraeus. He's an expert on
counter-insurgency. Right now about half of the reinforcements that are
expected to go to Baghdad have arrived. American and Iraqi troops are,
however, on the move. They're rounding up both Shia and Sunni extremists;
they're rounding up those who would do harm to innocent people.

We're after al Qaeda. After all, al Qaeda wants us to fail because they
can't stand the thought of a free society in their midst. We're destroying
car bomb factories, killing and capturing hundreds of insurgents. And
neighborhoods are being reclaimed. There is progress, but the enemy sees
that progress and they're responding in a brutal way.

I was amazed by the story of the extremists who put two children into a
automobile so that they could make it into a crowded area -- then they got
of the car and blew up the car with the children inside. It only hardens my
resolve to help free Iraq from a society in which people can do that to
children, and it makes me realize the nature of the enemy that we face,
which hardens my resolve to protect the American people. The people who do
that are not people -- you know, it's not a civil war; it is pure evil. And
I believe we have an obligation to protect ourselves from that evil. So
while we're making progress, it also is tough. And so the way to deal with
it is to stay on the offense, is to help these Iraqis.

I had a meeting, a SVTS -- what they call a SVTS, it's a real-time video
conference -- with Prime Minister Maliki. I urged him, of course, to
continue making the actions necessary to reconcile in their society: pass
an oil law, a de-Baathification law. It's interesting to watch a government
emerge. It's interesting to watch this new democracy begin to take on
responsibilities. And they are. They said they would commit additional
troops into Baghdad; they have. They said they'd name a commander for the
city of Baghdad; they did. They said they would man checkpoints; they are.
They said they'd spend a significant amount of their own money for their
reconstruction; they have -- budgeted $10 billion.

And there's more work to be done. And I reminded the Prime Minister of
that. And I reminded him that our patience is not unlimited. I also
reminded him that we want him to succeed, that it's in the interest of the
United States that this young democracy succeed. It's in the interest we
gain a new ally in the war on terror, in the midst of a part of the world
that produced 19 kids that came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

Just as the strategy is starting to make inroads, a narrow majority in the
Congress passed legislation they knew all along I would not accept. Their
bills impose an artificial deadline for withdrawal from Iraq. Their bills
substitute the judgment of Washington politicians for the judgment of our
military commanders. Their bills add billions of dollars in pork barrel
spending, spending that is unrelated to the war that you're engaged in.
Then, instead of sending an acceptable bill to my desk, they went on spring
break.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking for our military. The Secretary of
Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Chief of Staff
of the Army have warned that if Congress delays these funds past mid-April,
we'll have significant consequences for our Armed Forces. Army Chief of
Staff says this: "Without approval of the supplemental funds in April, we
will be forced to take increasingly draconian measures, which will impact
Army readiness and impose hardship on our soldiers and their families."

For example, the Army says that without these funds, it will be forced to
consider cutting back on training for Guard and Reserve units, and
eventually for active duty personnel. The folks at Fort Irwin know
firsthand how important training is. Washington has a responsibility to
ensure that you have the resources you need to keep this training going.

Soon Congress will return from its break. I urge them to work on
legislation to fund our troops, but that does not tell our military how to
conduct war and sets an artificial timetable for withdrawal. The enemy does
not measure the conflict in Iraq in terms of timetables. They plan to fight
us, and we've got to fight them, alongside the Iraqis. A strategy that
encourages this enemy to wait us out is dangerous -- it's dangerous for our
troops, it's dangerous for our country's security. And it's not going to
become the law.

There are fine, fine people debating this issue in Washington, D.C. They're
patriotic. They're people who have got passionate points of view about this
war. And I understand that. Yet, we cannot allow honest differences in
Washington to harm our troops in battle, or their families here at home.
Members of Congress have sent their message; now they need to send me a
war-spending measure that I can sign into law, so we can provide our troops
and their families with the funds and support they deserve and they need.

I spent some time with the soldiers out in the field, and I want to share
with you what I told them. The work that you have volunteered to do will
have a lasting impact on the world in which we live. When we succeed in
helping this Iraqi government become a country that can sustain itself,
defend itself, govern itself, and serve as an ally in the war on terror, we
will have delivered a significant blow to those who have designs on harming
the American people, because they can't stand the thought of free societies
in their midst. They can't stand the thought of people being able to have a
government of, by, and for the people. It is the opposite of what they do.

But we have done this kind of work before. The United States of America has
done the kind of work that spread liberty in parts of the world where
people never thought liberty could take hold. For example, after World War
II, after we had a brutal war with the Japanese and Nazi Germany, our
troops stayed behind and helped these societies recover and grow and
prosper. And now we're reaping the benefits of helping our former enemies
realize the blessings of liberty. Europe is free and at peace.

You know, after the Korean War, if you had asked somebody, can you imagine
an American President being able to stand up in front of some troops and
say the Far East is peaceful, a part of the world where we lost thousands
of our troops in World War II and Korea is now a relatively peaceful part
of the world, they would have said what a hopeless idealist that person is.
And yet, I can report to you that. And I believe it is because our troops
not only helped in Korea and helped rebuild Japan, but I believe it's
because the presence of the United States gave breathing space to people to
realize the blessings of liberty.

I believe liberty is universal. I don't believe it is just for the United
States of America alone. I believe there is an Almighty, and I believe the
Almighty's gift to people worldwide is the desire to be free. And I think,
if given a chance, people will seize that moment. And that's the work
you're doing.

And so that's why I report to our citizens that the hard work we're doing
today is laying the foundation of peace for generations to come. And it
gives me great confidence to know that standing with the President of the
United States is a fantastic military, well-trained, courageous, and
dedicated to protecting this country.

I'm proud to be your Commander-in-Chief. May God bless you all. (Applause.)

END 1:44 P.M. PDT

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