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18 January 2006

Bush Meets with Iraqi Victims of Saddam Hussein

Says abuses stand in contrast to Iraqi society today

Washington -- President Bush met with a group of victims of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s regime who had witnessed brutal actions against human rights.

Speaking at the White House January 18, Bush said the Iraqi victims he met with “have suffered, one way or the other, because the tyrant was a law unto himself, and was willing to deny people basic human rights.”

He said the stories told by the victims were “compelling,” and conveyed both sadness and bravery.

“In the course of our discussion, we were also able to talk about what a contrast it is between a society which was willing to jail people, torture people and beat people and kill people, to a society that is beginning to understand the fruits of democracy and freedom,” Bush told reporters.

The president cited recent elections in Iraq, including a constitutional referendum, as “a testimony to the courage of the Iraqi people,” and said he assured his Iraqi guests that the United States will stand with the Iraqi people until Iraq can defend itself and will not be “a safe haven for the terrorists.” (See Iraq's Political Process.)

The visit coincides with the ongoing trial of Saddam Hussein by an Iraqi tribunal for human-rights abuses.  Bush said it would be an “interesting moment” when the world sees “the person who brutalized many people or ordered the brutality of many people here at this table, get his due justice under rule of law.”

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the visit was “an opportunity to hear from some people who saw firsthand the brutality of his regime,” as well as to “take stock” of progress made in Iraq since his overthrow in 2003.

Providing further details on the meeting, McClellan said the individuals told President Bush “about the torture that they saw or the torture that was carried out on them.

“Some of these individuals talked about being beaten for hours on end by cables and sticks. One individual talked about how a political prisoner was ordered executed by the regime leader known as Chemical Ali,” McClellan said.

For additional information, see Iraq Update.

The transcript of the president’s remarks is available on the White House Web site.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)