As President George W. Bush has acknowledged, newly-liberated Iraq “is a dangerous place.” There have been continued attacks on coalition troops and Iraqi civilians by foreign terrorists and remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party. Nevertheless, said President Bush, the Iraqi people will not be abandoned by the U.S. or its coalition partners:
“The Baathists try to create chaos and fear because they realize that a free Iraq will deny them the excessive privileges they had under Saddam Hussein. The foreign terrorists are trying to create conditions of fear and retreat because they fear a free and peaceful state in the midst of the part of the world where terror has found recruits; that freedom is exactly what terrorists fear the most.”
One of the coalition’s most important challenges, said President Bush, is to stem the flow of foreign terrorists from Syria, Iran, and other countries:
“The coalition forces have stepped up border patrol efforts. There are now more Iraqis patrolling the border. We are mindful of the fact that some might want to come into Iraq to attack and to create conditions of fear and chaos, and that is why it is important that we step up training for Iraqis, border patrol agents, so they can enforce their own borders.”
The terrorists rely on the death of innocent people to create the conditions of fear that will cause people to lose their will. But, said President Bush, the United States and its coalition partners will not lose their will:
“They're not going to intimidate America and they're not going to intimidate the brave Iraqis who are actively participating in securing the freedom of their country.”
As President Bush said, the coalition will stay in Iraq until the job is done because, “A stable and democratic and hopeful Iraq will no longer be a breeding ground for terror, tyranny, and aggression.”
