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10 April 2003

Government, Future "Will Belong to You," Bush Tells Iraqis

(Bush Broadcast to the Iraqi People) (700)
The Saddam Hussein regime and its "long era of fear and cruelty" are
ending, President Bush told the Iraqi people in a radio and television
broadcast April 10. American and coalition forces are in Baghdad, he
said, and "will not stop until Saddam's corrupt gang is gone. The
government of Iraq, and the future of your country, will soon belong
to you."
"We will help you build a peaceful and representative government that
protects the rights of all citizens. And then our military forces will
leave," Bush said. "Iraq will go forward as a unified, independent and
sovereign nation that has regained a respected place in the world."
The president's message, which was recorded April 8 as Bush was
meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Northern Ireland,
was broadcast at 6:00 p.m. Baghdad time April 10 on the Iraqi
state-owned television station that for decades was controlled by the
Saddam Hussein regime. It was also carried on television and radio
networks in the United States and Europe.
The Baghdad television station is now controlled by coalition military
forces, who will begin broadcasting news, official statements dubbed
in Arabic, footage of events, and interviews with Iraqis and
influential scholars each evening.
"For the first time in decades, the Iraqi people will be able to see
something other than Iraqi state-fed propaganda," White House
Spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters April 10. "They'll be able to
see facts and actual information, he said."
Following is the White House text of the Bush message:
(begin text)
ADDRESS GIVEN BY U.S. PRESIDENT, GEORGE BUSH, TO "TOWARDS FREEDOM TV",
IRAQ,
THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2003
MESSAGE TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE FROM THE U.S. PRESIDENT, GEORGE W. BUSH
This is George W. Bush, the President of the United States. At this
moment, the regime of Saddam Hussein is being removed from power, and
a long era of fear and cruelty is ending. American and coalition
forces are now operating inside Baghdad -- and we will not stop until
Saddam's corrupt gang is gone. The government of Iraq, and the future
of your country, will soon belong to you.
The goals of our coalition are clear and limited. We will end a brutal
regime, whose aggression and weapons of mass destruction make it a
unique threat to the world. Coalition forces will help maintain law
and order, so that Iraqis can live in security. We will respect your
great religious traditions, whose principles of equality and
compassion are essential to Iraq's future. We will help you build a
peaceful and representative government that protects the rights of all
citizens. And then our military forces will leave. Iraq will go
forward as a unified, independent and sovereign nation that has
regained a respected place in the world.
The United States and its coalition partners respect the people of
Iraq. We are taking unprecedented measures to spare the lives of
innocent Iraqi citizens, and are beginning to deliver food, water and
medicine to those in need. Our only enemy is Saddam's brutal regime --
and that regime is your enemy as well.
In the new era that is coming to Iraq, your country will no longer be
held captive to the will of a cruel dictator. You will be free to
build a better life, instead of building more palaces for Saddam and
his sons, free to pursue economic prosperity without the hardship of
economic sanctions, free to travel and speak up your mind, free to
join in the political affairs of Iraq. And all the people who make up
your country -- Kurds, Shi'a, Turkomans, Sunnis and others -- will be
free of the terrible persecution that so many have endured.
The nightmare that Saddam Hussein has brought to your nation will soon
be over. You are a good and gifted people -- the heirs of a great
civilization that contributes to all humanity. You deserve better than
tyranny and corruption and torture chambers. You deserve to live as
free people. And I assure every citizen of Iraq: your nation will soon
be free.
Thank you.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)