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21 June 2003

U.S. Effort to Provide Iraqis Safer, Better Lives Continues

(President Bush's weekly radio address to the nation, June 21) (820)
President Bush assessed the U.S. effort in Iraq to provide safety and
security , as well as physical improvements in the life of Iraqi
citizens, in his weekly radio address to the nation June 21.
The president described U.S. military efforts to find and rout out
remnants of the old regime's Ba'ath Party loyalists and "their
terrorist allies." He noted that 28,000 U.S. troops are deployed in
Baghdad to enforce the peace, and that Iraqis are being trained to
police their own cities.
Bush spoke of the magnitude of the efforts to find weapons of mass
destruction, as hundreds of thousands of documents are being examined
and Iraqi scientists are being questioned. He also touched on the many
reconstruction and humanitarian efforts underway in the country, and
thanked U.S. military forces in Iraq for their efforts as well.
The transcript of the address follows:
(begin transcript)
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 21, 2003 
President's Radio Address 
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Ten weeks have passed since the fall of
the Iraqi regime. Since that time, our work in Iraq has focused on two
goals. First, we are working to make Iraq secure for its citizens and
our military. Second, we are working to improve the lives of the Iraqi
people after three decades of tyranny and oppression.
Making Iraq secure is vitally important for both Iraqi citizens and
our own forces. The men and women of our military face a continuing
risk of danger and sacrifice in Iraq. Dangerous pockets of the old
regime remain loyal to it and they, along with their terrorist allies,
are behind deadly attacks designed to kill and intimidate coalition
forces and innocent Iraqis.
Our military is acting decisively against these threats. In Operation
Peninsula Strike and Operation Desert Scorpion, our forces have
targeted Ba'ath party loyalists and terrorist organizations. In
Baghdad, more than 28,000 American combat forces and military police
are enforcing the law and arresting criminals. We are also training
Iraqis to begin policing their own cities.
As we establish order and justice in Iraq, we also continue to pursue
Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Military and
intelligence officials are interviewing scientists with knowledge of
Saddam Hussein's weapons programs and are poring over hundreds of
thousands of documents.
For more than a decade, Saddam Hussein went to great lengths to hide
his weapons from the world. And in the regime's final days, documents
and suspected weapons sites were looted and burned. Yet all who know
the dictator's history agree that he possessed chemical and biological
weapons and that he used chemical weapons in the past.
The intelligence services of many nations concluded that he had
illegal weapons and the regime refused to provide evidence they had
been destroyed. We are determined to discover the true extent of
Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, no matter how long it takes.
To date, the United States has provided Iraq with more than $700
million in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. This month the
World Food Program is distributing food rations to about 25 million
Iraqis. America and our partners are also repairing water treatment
plants to provide more clean water. Each week, through our efforts,
more electricity is made available to more people throughout the
country. And after years of neglect, Iraq's 4.2 million children under
the age of five are receiving vaccinations against diseases such as
polio, measles and tuberculosis.
Iraq's long-term success also depends on economic development. Our
administrator in Iraq has announced a $100 million fund to pay Iraqis
to repair buildings and utilities. Billions of dollars taken from
Iraqis by a corrupt regime have been recovered and will be spent on
reconstruction projects. Iraq is already in the process of selling oil
on world markets, which will bring in much needed revenue to help the
Iraqi people. This week the port at Umm Qasr opened to commercial
traffic, and Baghdad International Airport is expected to reopen next
month.
For the first time in over a decade, Iraq will soon be open to the
world. And the influence of progress in Iraq will be felt throughout
the Middle East. Over time, a free government in Iraq will demonstrate
that liberty can flourish in that region.
American service-members continue to risk their lives to ensure the
liberation of Iraq. I'm grateful for their service, and so are the
Iraqi people. Many Iraqis are experiencing the jobs and
responsibilities of freedom for the first time in their lives. And
they are unafraid. As one Iraqi man said, "We are ready to rebuild our
country." For the people of free Iraq, the road ahead holds great
challenges. Yet at every turn, they will have friendship and support
from the United States of America.
Thank you for listening.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)