The United States supports the advance of freedom around the world. The precepts of freedom include the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, free speech, freedom of worship, equal justice, respect for women, religious and ethnic tolerance, and respect for private property. As President George W. Bush says, the greatest security for the U.S. and for all countries comes from the advance of human freedom:
“. . . because free nations do not support terror. Free nations do not attack their neighbors. Free nations do not threaten the world with weapons of mass terror. Americans believe that freedom is the deepest hope and need of every human heart. And I believe that freedom is the right of every person. And I believe that freedom is the future of every nation.”
The cause of freedom led the United States and a coalition of nations to liberate Iraq. Now, says Mr. Bush, the coalition is working to help the Iraqi people build a democratic country that is at peace with its neighbors -- an Iraq free of oppression, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism:
“We are confronting the danger in Iraq, where Saddam hold-outs and foreign terrorists are desperately trying to throw Iraq into chaos by attacking coalition forces and aid workers and innocent Iraqis. They know that the advance of freedom in Iraq would be a major defeat for the cause of terror. This collection of killers is trying to shake the will of America and the civilized world. America will not be intimidated.”
The transition from totalitarian dictatorship to a civil society is difficult. But the Iraqi people have the opportunity to build such a society, and the U.S.-led coalition will not waver in its determination to help them succeed.
