George
W. Bush
Remarks at MacDill Air Force Base
Tampa, FL
March 26, 2003
Thank you, all. (Applause.)
Thank you, all. Thank you, all, very much. General Delong,
thanks for such a kind introduction.
We are pleased to see so many family members who are here.
We want to -- (applause) -- we thank you for coming. And
I want you to know your nation appreciates your commitment
and your sacrifice in the cause of peace and freedom. (Applause.)
We are pleased to see so many family members who are here.
We want to -- (applause) -- we thank you for coming. And
I want you to know your nation appreciates your commitment
and your sacrifice in the cause of peace and freedom. (Applause.)
We're also proud to be here today with our friends and
allies, representative of the 48 nations across the world
who have joined America in Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Applause.)
Over the last week the world has witnessed the skill and
honor and resolve of our military in the course of battle.
We have seen the character of this new generation of American
Armed Forces. We've seen their daring against ruthless
enemies and their decency to an oppressed people. Millions
of Americans are proud of our military, and so am I. I
am honored to be the Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)
I appreciate very much General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has joined us from Washington,
D.C. today. He is representative of the caliber of our
generals. He's one of the finest people I know. I'm proud
you're here, General Pace. Thank you for representing the
Marine Corps so well, and all the fighting men and women.
(Applause.)
I'm proud, also, to be here with Charles Holland, Commander
of SOCOM -- (applause), the Wing Commander of MacDill Air
Force Base, Colonel Tanker
Snyder. (Applause.) He told me that was his given name,
Tanker. (Laughter.) That's a heck of a name, Tanker. (Laughter.)
Of course, I'm really proud of your Governor. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: God bless you, sir! (Laughter and applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank members of the Florida
congressional delegation who flew down with us today on
Air Force One, starting with the Chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, a Floridian committed to making sure our military
has what it takes to win war and, therefore, be able to
keep the peace -- the Chairman, Bill Young. (Applause.)
As well, Congressman Jim Davis, Mike Bilirakis, Adam Putnam
and Katherine Harris came down today. (Applause.) I know
we've got some of the Mayors from the local area here,
Rick Baker, Brian Aungst and my old buddy, Dick Greco,
the Mayor of
Tampa, Florida -- for being here. (Applause.)
I want to thank everybody in uniform who is here today
-- thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your
love of America. (Applause.) I appreciate the members of
the United States Coast Guard who are here today. (Applause.)
Our Coast Guard is deployed in the Middle East, at the
same time it protects this homeland of ours. And you're
doing a fine job on behalf of the American people, all
up and down the coastlines of this great country.
I want to thank members of the Florida Army National Guard
who are here. (Applause.) And I suspect we might have a
few veterans -- (applause) -- as well as retired members
of our military. I want to thank you all for your service,
for setting such a clear example for future generations
of those who wear our uniform. I think you'll agree that
our military is not letting you down when it comes to upholding
the great tradition of peace through strength. (Applause.)
One of the problems with being the President is you always
end up being the last guy here. (Laughter.) So I'm sorry
I didn't get to hear Toby Keith and Daryl Worley. But I
want to thank you all for coming and providing your talents
today in support of -- support of our efforts to make the
world a more peaceful place. I also want to thank Chaplain
Stone. I appreciate your words of prayer for our men and
women in uniform, especially for your prayers for the loved
ones of American and British troops whose lives were lost.
People across this country are praying. They are praying
that they hope those families and loved ones will find
comfort and grace in their sorrow. We pray that God will
bless and receive each of the fallen, and we thank God
that liberty found such brave defenders. (Applause.)
At MacDill Air Force Base, I know you're proud of a certain
Army general who couldn't -- (applause) -- who couldn't
be with us today on the account of some pressing business.
(Laughter and applause.) Tommy Franks has my respect, the
respect of our military, and the thanks of the United States
of America. (Applause.)
MacDill is the Command Center of our Special Operations
Forces -- (applause) -- the silent warriors who were first
on the ground -- were first on the ground there in Iraq.
And here at CENTCOM, you coordinate the work of a grand
coalition that is disarming a dangerous enemy and freeing
a proud people. (Applause.)
Every nation in our coalition understands the terrible
threat we face from weapons of mass destruction. Every
nation represented here refuses to live in a future of
fear, at the mercy of terrorists and tyrants. And every
nation here today shares the same resolve: We will be relentless
in our pursuit of victory. (Applause.)
Our military is making good progress in Iraq; yet this
war is far from over. As they approach Baghdad, our fighting
units are facing the most desperate elements of a doomed
regime. We cannot know the duration of this war, but we
are prepared for the battle ahead. We cannot predict the
final day of the Iraqi regime, but I can assure you, and
I assure the long-suffering people of Iraq, there will
be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime, and that day
is drawing near. (Applause.)
Many of you here today were also involved in the liberation
of Afghanistan. (Applause.) The military demands are very
different in Iraq. Yet our coalition is showing the same
spirit, the same resolve -- that spirit and resolve that
destroyed the al Qaeda terror camps, that routed the Taliban
and freed the people of Afghanistan. (Applause.)
In Iraq today, our military is focused and unwavering.
We have an effective plan of battle and the flexibility
to meet every challenge. Nothing -- nothing -- will divert
us from our clear mission. We will press on through every
hardship. We will overcome every danger. And we will prevail.
(Applause.)
It has been six days since the major ground war began.
It's been five days since the major air war began. And
every day has brought us closer to our objective. At the
opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Special Forces helped
to secure air fields and bridges and oil fields, to clear
the way for our forces and to prevent sabotage and environmental
catastrophe. Our pilots and Cruise missiles have struck
vital military targets with lethal precision.
We've destroyed the base of a terrorist group in Northern
Iraq that sought to attack America and Europe with deadly
poisons. We have moved over
200 miles to the north, toward Iraq's capital, in the
last three days. (Applause.) And the dictator's major Republican
Guard units are now under direct and intense attack. (Applause.)
Day by day, Saddam Hussein is losing his grip on Iraq;
day by day, the Iraqi people are closer to freedom. (Applause.)
We are also taking every action we can to prevent the
Iraqi regime from using its hidden weapons of mass destruction.
We are attacking the command structure that could order
the use of those weapons. Coalition troops have taken control
of hundreds of square miles of territory to prevent the
launch of missiles, and chemical or biological weapons.
Every victory in this campaign, and every sacrifice serves
the purpose of defending innocent lives, in America and
across the world, from the weapons of terror. We will not
wait to meet this danger, with firefighters and police
and doctors on the streets of our own cities. Instead,
we are meeting the danger today with our Army, Navy, Air
Force, Coast Guard, and Marines. (Applause.)
All the nations in our coalition are contributing to our
steady progress. British ground forces have seized strategic
towns and ports. The Royal Air Force is striking targets
throughout Iraq. The Royal Navy is taking command of coastal
waters. The Australian military is providing naval gunfire
support, and Special Forces, and fighter aircraft on missions
deep in Iraq. Polish military forces have secured an Iraqi
oil platform in the Persian Gulf. A Danish submarine is
monitoring Iraqi intelligence providing early warning.
Czech, Slovak, Polish, and Romanian forces, soon to be
joined by Ukrainian and Bulgarian forces, are forward deployed
in the region, prepared to respond in the event of an attack
of weapons of mass destruction anywhere in the region.
Spain is providing important logistical and humanitarian
support. Coalition forces are skilled and courageous, and
we are honored to have them by our side. (Applause.)
In the early stages of this war, the world is getting
a clearer view of the Iraqi regime and the evil at its
heart. In the ranks of that regime are men whose idea of
courage is to brutalize unarmed prisoners. They wage attacks
while posing as civilians. They use real civilians as human
shields. They pretend to surrender, then fire upon those
who show them mercy. This band of war criminals has been
put on notice: the day of Iraq's liberation will also be
a day of justice. (Applause.)
And in the early stages of this war, we have also seen
the honor of the American military and our coalition. Protecting
innocent civilians is a central commitment of our war plan.
Our enemy in this war is the Iraqi regime, not the people
who have suffered under it. As we bring justice to a dictator,
today we started bringing humanitarian aid in large amounts
to an oppressed land. (Applause.)
We are treating Iraqi prisoners of war according the highest
standards of law and decency. Coalition doctors are working
to save the lives of the wounded, including Iraqi soldiers.
One of our servicemen said this about the injured Iraqis
he treated: "We can't blame them for the mistreatment
their government is doing to our soldiers. I'm all for
treating them. That's what we do. That's our job." (Applause.)
Our entire coalition has a job to do, and it will not
end with the liberation of Iraq. We will help the Iraqi
people to find the benefits and assume the duties of self-government.
The form of those institutions will arise from Iraq's own
culture and its own choices. Yet, this much is certain:
The 24 million people of Iraq have lived too long under
a violent criminal gang calling itself a government.
Iraqis are a good and gifted people. They deserve better
than a life spent bowing before a dictator. The people
of Iraq deserve to stand on their feet as free men and
women -- the citizens of a free country. (Applause.)
This goal of a free and peaceful Iraq unites our coalition.
And this goal comes from the deepest convictions of America.
The freedom you defend is the right of every person and
the future of every nature. The liberty we prize is not
American's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity.
(Applause.).
The Army Special Forces define their mission in a motto, "To
liberate the oppressed." (Applause.) Generations of
men and women in uniform have served and sacrificed in
this cause. Now the call of history has come once again
to all in our military and to all in our coalition. We
are answering that call. We have no ambition in Iraq except
the liberation of its people. We ask no reward except a
durable peace. And we will accept no outcome short of complete
and final success. (Applause.)
The path we are taking is not easy, and it may be long.
Yet we know our destination. We will stay on the path --
mile by mile -- all the way to Baghdad, and all the way
to victory. (Applause.)
Thank you, all. And may God bless America. (Applause.)
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