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Milestone 1,000th Day Approaches in Iraq; Bush Gives Speech on Status of War

Aired December 07, 2005 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
We are waiting to hear from President Bush. The president is scheduled to deliver an address on Iraq about 15 minutes from now. The focus of the speech is on the rebuilding of the Iraqi economy. The president is addressing the Council on Foreign Relations.

The trial of Saddam Hussein and members of his regime is in recess until December 21st. Today's session was delayed for hours when Hussein refused to show up. The proceedings finally went on without him. A witness testified about months of torture he suffered and witnessed at Abu Ghraib prison and Iraqi intelligence headquarters.

Survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor will be among the guests on today's 64th anniversary of the bombing. A U.S. Navy ship and the Hawaii Air National Guard will honor the veterans and those who died in the surprise attack. Besides the Hawaii event, there will also be remembrances in the nation's capital.

A friend of Don Ho tells the Associated Press the Hawaiian singer is in intensive care in a unit of a Thai hospital today. Ho underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his heart. The treatment hasn't been approved in the U.S. Ho has suffered from heart problems for about a year. He got a pacemaker implanted a few months ago.

Once again waiting to hear from President Bush in about 15 minutes. The administration's campaign comes as a milestone approaches. One week from today, the Iraq war marks its 1,000th day. And we're looking at a live picture of the hotel room where President Bush will be speaking in about 15 minutes. Naturally, this milestone gives pause to reflect on the gains and losses and the subjective way of measuring them.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with a reality check. Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. Well, the president's speech, of course, is expected to focus on reconstruction and economic issues in Iraq. But clearly it is the military situation that remains front and center for the troops and their families.

Now, there are indications that there are a lot of things that the troops and the military commanders are still quite concerned about. And, of course, improvised explosive devices, IEDs, remain the number one killer, if you will, of the American troops serving in Iraq.

There is growing concern by commanders about new types of IEDs being seen in Iraq. They are more sophisticated, more lethal, more deadly. There are some of the new types of IEDs we are learning about. One example, something called daisy chain IEDs, many IEDs strung together, detonated perhaps simultaneously, designed to cause maximum damage.

The president and the administration continue to focus, of course, on their view that Iraqi security forces are making progress and taking over. And, indeed, there are more security forces. They are taking the lead in more areas in Iraq. But one of the great concerns, Daryn, about the upcoming December 15th elections: what happens if the new Iraqi government elected then does ask U.S. troops to leave?

The commanders say the Iraqis are not ready to fully take over on their own and that it will be a very, very difficult problem if that is something that the U.S. is confronted with after December 15th -- Daryn.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. I know you'll be along as we watch the president's speech in about 10 minutes. And as I was mentioning, just about ten minutes from now, President Bush will deliver the speech on Iraq and the war there. It's a battle for public support at home.

He's going to present his case for progress made in the war, even as polls show American confidence is falling. Our correspondents and now analysts will walk us through the speech and the stakes involved.

In our Washington bureau, we have CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley and chief national correspondent John King. We're going to begin with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

Bill, good morning to you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. The Iraq debate here in the United States has just taken a new turn. The issue: can the United States win a victory?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The V word, victory, was all over the president's speech in Annapolis last week on the backdrop behind him, in the president's remarks.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Helping us bring victory in the war on terror.

Clear strategy for victory.

Critical to the victory in Iraq. And they are bringing us victory.

I will settle for nothing less than complete victory.

SCHNEIDER: The White House released the National Security Council document called "Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." The table of contents mentions victory six times.

The turning point in the Vietnam War came in 1968, when newscaster Walter Cronkite returned from Vietnam and told Americans that, in his opinion, the war had become a stalemate. The U.S. could not win. If we've lost Walter Cronkite, we've lost the country, President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said.

Now the chairman of the Democratic party is trying to play the Cronkite role.

HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that, unfortunately, is just plain wrong.

SCHNEIDER: This time, the president responded quickly with the V word.

BUSH: Our troops need to know that the American people stand with them and we have a strategy for victory.

SCHNEIDER: The public wants the same thing in Iraq as it did in Vietnam: to win and get out. The U.S. did not win in Vietnam.

In 2003, the Bush administration claimed to win in Iraq. But the U.S. has not been able to get out. The longer it takes to get out, and the higher the casualties, the more Americans sour on the idea of winning.

Last week, most Americans said they did not believe the president's plan would achieve victory. The administration is struggling to convince them otherwise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: A lot of Democrats worry that if they say the United States can't win, they'll sound defeatist. And a lot of them argue the United States can win by getting out, thereby depriving the insurgents of a target.

KAGAN: All right. Bill, you'll be with us throughout the hour.

Now to John King. John, it's this big P.R. push, it's trying to try to turn around the sagging poll numbers. And yet, this is the second of four speeches we're seeing the president make in the 10:00 Eastern a.m. Hour. Why not go primetime and address at a time when more Americans would hear what he had to say?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House knows the president would not get primetime coverage by the major broadcast networks if he were to try to give four speeches over a period of four weeks. So they hope to give the speeches in the daytime, hope that some people are watching us here on CNN. Some people will hear about it on this radio and there will be coverage throughout the day, including the primetime news tonight.

So the president trying to turn around the polls. As he tries, Daryn, one of the challenges for this president, whether it is the progress in the war, the military front or progress he will talk about today in the economic and reconstruction front, the challenge is, he is being judged by what the administration said before the war.

Remember, the administration said there was this whole class of Iraqi citizens just waiting for Saddam to be gone so they could build a modern country. There were the oil revenues that would be quickly online that will help pay for all this. Well, none of that has happened. So the president has to say today that he is making adjustments. His critics will say the president is just now coming to terms with many planning mistakes.

KAGAN: And now to Candy Crowley. Candy, the Democrats taking advantage of these sagging poll numbers. But to truly take advantage, they have to come up with a unified statement and a true alternative that Americans are going to grasp onto. Are they able to do that?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, (INAUDIBLE) for the Democratic party. They are really -- so much of this reminds me of the last campaign we had where the Democratic party could not find a kind of core position about this war.

Now they're struggling with remarks by Howard Dean, the chairman of the DNC, Nancy Pelosi, joining with Congressman John Murtha to say let's pull out within six months. And then they have others like Joe Lieberman, who I think we'll probably hear his name mentioned today by the president. And those, you know, that say, no, it wouldn't be right to pull out, but we've got to have an exit strategy.

So they are all over the map and it does sort of hurt their position, politically at least, that they can't sort of gather around one thing. But this has always been their problem with the war.

KAGAN: And Bill, back to you. Let's talk about the audience the president speaks to today. We've seen him speak in front of military audiences. Today it's the Council on Foreign Relations. What can you tell us about the group and what kind of reception the president should get?

SCHNEIDER: This is the foreign policy establishment. These are the Americans who have been involved in foreign policy, who pay attention to it. It's centered in New York, with branches here in Washington and other places.

And it is not, for once, an automatically friendly audience. There are a lot of critics in the foreign policy establishment. Some of them like Brent Scowcroft, associated with his father's administration. Some Democrats. But this is not uniformly friendly audience like, say, the audience he spoke to the other day at Annapolis. They will be polite. Remember I said it's the establishment. But a lot of them will be -- are going to be critical. So you won't see a lot of who-has and enthusiastic applause.

KAGAN: You think we'll hear boos?

SCHNEIDER: No.

KAGAN: No boos.

SCHNEIDER: No. This is a polite audience. It's the establishment.

KAGAN: All right, they'll be well behaved.

SCHNEIDER: Well behaved, but critical in many cases.

KAGAN: Very good.

John King, do you think there's something we will hear today that we have not heard before?

KING: You will hear more detail. What the president is trying to do in these speeches is to get more in to the detail he thinks the American people don't know, because what they see is the pictures of the violent insurgency, and they see here in Washington the back and forth between the president and his critics, mostly Democrats.

So you'll hear him talk about cities, like Mosul, like Najaf, where he will say those cities were once hostage to the insurgency. They are now not only relatively peaceful, but they are now under the control of Iraqi security forces. He'll talk about electricity being restored. He'll more and more Iraqis having cell phones, little details like that to try to make the case that yes, the pictures you see are bad, but if you look at the entire country, there is some slow progress being made.

The president again, as Bill noted at the top, trying to convince the American people they may not see victory today, but it is around the corner, if they will be more patient. This is yet again from the president an appeal for patience.

KAGAN: And, Candy, your thoughts on the theme of today economic progress and the picture the president will try to paint?

CROWLEY: Well, again, I think it all does get back to how -- is the glass half full? Is the glass half empty? It's literally what this is about. And in order for the president to say give me more time -- because he is playing for time here, there's no doubt about it -- give me more time to have this progress begin to show up on your TV screens, where what you're seeing day after day is the death of Marines and soldiers, give me some more time here. And what he has to do is convince people, as John said, that there are things they're not seeing that are, in fact, happening.

So what he has to do is at least hold steady some of those poll numbers. which he seems to have done. But remember, this is a series of speeches. There will be another one were the political situation in Iraq. So what the president needs to do is really paint a different picture of Iraq than most Americans are seeing right now.

KAGAN: Bill, if you could pick up on candy's point of glass half empty, half full. Don't people see what they want to see when look at Iraq? They either see a democracy, the birth of a democracy, or they see a disaster of an unjust war. And you're going to gather -- and we're going to gather -- I think there'll do some introductions here. Bill, your quick thoughts on that.

SCHNEIDER: They do see what they want to see. And frankly, there's plenty of evidence to make either argument, that things are very bad or that things are getting better.

KAGAN: All right. And with that, why don't we go live to Washington D.C. President Bush being introduced as he addresses the Council on Foreign Relations.

This is his second in a series of four speeches. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... at the Special Council on Foreign Relations event. The council is an independent nonpartisan membership organization, one dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that policymakers, journalists, students and citizens can better understand the foreign-policy choices facing the United States.

Mr. President, on behalf of our chairman, Pete Peterson, and our entire board, the staff, 4,300 members nationwide and our 250 corporate members, it is my honor and my privilege to welcome you to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.

Richard, thanks for the invitation. Thanks for letting me come by and address the Council on Foreign Relations.

The council is one of America's oldest and most administered foreign policy organizations. And I appreciate the chance to come and talk about foreign policy.

Richard's a good man. And he's doing a fine job as the president of the Council on Foreign Relations and I appreciate your service to the country.

I want to thank Nancy Roman, I want to thank the board members of the council, and I want to thank you all for being here today.

Today we mark the anniversary of a fateful day in American history. On December the 7th, 1941, our peaceful nation awoke to an attack plotted in secret and executed without mercy. The strike on Pearl Harbor was the start of a long war for America, a massive struggle against those who attacked us and those who shared their destructive ambitions.

Fortunately for all of us, a great generation of Americans was more than equal to the challenge. Our nation pulled together and, despite setbacks and battlefield defeats, we did not waver in freedom's cause.

With courage and determination we won a war on two fronts. We liberated millions, we aided the rise of democracy in Europe and Asia, we watched enemies become allies, and we laid the foundation of peace for generations.

On September the 11th, 2001, our nation awoke to another sudden attack. In the space of just 102 minutes, more Americans were killed than we lost at Pearl Harbor.

Like generations before us, we accepted new responsibilities and we confronted new dangers with firm resolve.

Like generations before us, we're taking the fight to those who attacked us and those who share their murderous vision for future attacks.

Like generations before us, we face setbacks on the path to victory, yet we will face this war without wavering. And like the generations before us, we will prevail.

Like earlier struggles for freedom, this war will take many turns.

And the enemy must be defeated on every battlefront, from the streets of Western cities to the mountains of Afghanistan to the tribal regions of Pakistan to the islands of Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa.

Yet the terrorists have made it clear that Iraq is the central front in their war against humanity. So we must recognize Iraq as the central front in the war on terror.

Last week at the Naval Academy I gave the first in a series of speeches outlining our strategy for victory in Iraq. I explained that our strategy begins with a clear understanding of the enemy we face. The enemy in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists and Saddamists and terrorists.

The rejectionists are ordinary Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs who miss the privileged status they had under the regime of Saddam Hussein. They reject an Iraq in which they are no longer the dominant group.

We believe that over time most of this group will be persuaded to be a democratic Iraq led by a federal government that is strong enough to protect minority rights. The Saddamists are former regime loyalists who harbor dreams of returning to power. And they're trying to foment anti-democratic sentiment amongst the larger Sunni community. Yet they lack popular support and over time they can be marginalized and defeated by security forces of a free Iraq.

The terrorists affiliated with or inspired by Al Qaida are the smallest, but most lethal, group. Many are foreigners coming to fight freedom's progress in Iraq. They are led by a brutal terrorist named Zarqawi, Al Qaida's chief of operations in Iraq, who has pledged his allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

The terrorists' stated objective is to drive the United States and coalition forces out of Iraq and to gain control of that country.

They would then use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks against America, overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East, and try to establish a totalitarian Islamic empire that reaches from Indonesia to Spain.

The terrorists in Iraq share the same ideology as the terrorists who struck the United States on September the 11th, blew up commuters in London and Madrid, murdered tourists in Bali, killed workers in Riyadh, and slaughtered guests at a wedding in Amman, Jordan.

This is an enemy without conscience. They cannot be appeased. If we're not fighting and destroying the enemy in Iraq, they would not be leading the quiet lives of good citizens; they would be plotting and killing our citizens across the world and within our own borders.

By fighting the terrorists in Iraq, we are confronting a direct threat to the American people. And we will accept nothing less than complete victory.

We're pursuing a comprehensive strategy in Iraq. Last week, my administration released a document called the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.

Our goal is victory. And victory will be achieved when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the safety of their own citizens and when Iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists to plot new attacks against our nation.

Our strategy to achieve that victory has three elements.

On the political side, we're helping the Iraqis build inclusive democratic institutions that will protect the interests of all Iraqis.

We're working with the Iraqis to help them engage those who can be persuaded to join the new Iraq and to marginalize those who never will.

In two and a half years, the Iraqi people have made amazing progress. They've gone from living under the boot of a brutal tyrant to liberation, to free elections, to a democratic constitution. A week from tomorrow they will go to the polls to elect a fully constitutional government that will lead them for the next four years.

By helping Iraqis continue to build their democracy, we will gain an ally in the war on terror. By helping them build a democracy, we will inspire reformers from Damascus to Tehran. And by helping them build a democracy, we'll make the American people more secure.

On the security side, coalition and Iraqi security forces are on the offense against the enemy. We're clearing out areas controlled by the terrorists and Saddam loyalists, leaving Iraqi forces to hold territory taken from the enemy, and following up with targeted reconstruction to help Iraqis rebuild their lives.

And as we fight the terrorists, we're working to build capable and effective Iraqi security forces so they can take the lead in the fight and eventually take responsibility for the safety and security of their citizens without major foreign assistance.

As Iraqi forces become more capable, they're taking responsibility for more and more Iraqi territory. We're transferring bases for their control to take the fight to the enemy. And that means American and coalition forces can concentrate on training Iraqis and hunting down high-value targets like Zarqawi.

On the economic side, we're helping Iraqis rebuild their infrastructure and reform their economy, build the prosperity that will give all Iraqis a stake in a free and peaceful Iraq.

In doing this, we've involved the United Nations, other international organizations, our coalition partners and supporting regional states.

A week ago at the Naval Academy, I spoke about our efforts to train the Iraqi security forces. I described the changes we've made in the way these forces are trained and the resulting gains the Iraqi forces have made in the past year.

Today, I'm going to talk about how we're working with those Iraqi forces and Iraq's leaders to improve security and restore order, to help Iraqis rebuild cities and to help the national government in Baghdad revitalize Iraq's infrastructure and economy.

Over the course of this war, we have learned that winning the battle for Iraqi cities is only the first step. We also have to win the battle after the battle by helping Iraqis consolidate their gains and keep the terrorists from returning.

It used to be that after American troops cleared the terrorists out of a city and moved on to the next mission, there weren't enough forces -- Iraqi forces -- to hold the area. We found that after we left, the terrorists would reenter the city, intimidate local leaders and police and eventually retake control.

This undermined the gains of our military, it thwarted our efforts to help Iraqis rebuild, and led local residents to lose confidence in the process and in their leaders. So we adjusted our approach. As improvements in training produced more capable Iraqi security forces, those forces have been able to better hold onto the cities we cleared out together.

With help from our military and civilian personnel, the Iraqi government can then work with local leaders and residents to begin reconstruction, with Iraqis leading the building efforts and our coalition in a supporting role.

This approach is working. And today I want to describe our actions in two cities where we have seen encouraging progress: Najaf and Mosul.

The city of Najaf is located about 90 miles south of Baghdad.

And it's the home to one of Shia Islam's holiest places, the Imam Ali Shrine.

As a predominantly Shia city, Najaf suffered greatly during Saddam's rule. Virtually every element of infrastructure and basic services had been crippled by years of insufficient maintenance.

In 1991, thousands of Najaf residents were killed during a brutal crackdown by the dictator.

Our troops liberated Najaf in 2003. Yet about a year later, the city fell under the sway of radical and violent militia. Fighting in the streets damaged homes and businesses, and the local economy collapsed as visitors and pilgrims stopped coming to the shrine out of fear for their lives.

In the summer of 2004, we discussed the growing problem in Najaf with Iraq's political leaders, and the coalition and Iraqi government decided to retake control of the city. And we did.

Together, coalition and Iraqi forces rooted out the militia in tough urban fighting.

It was an intense battle. Our guys performed great and so did the Iraqi forces.

Together with the Iraqi government and the Shia clerical community, we forced the militia to abandon the shrine and return it to the legitimate Iraqi authority. The militia forces agreed to disarm and leave Najaf.

As soon as the fighting in Najaf ended, targeted reconstruction moved forward. The Iraqi government played an active role, and so did our military commanders and diplomats and workers from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Together, they worked with Najaf's governor and other local officials to rebuild the local police force, repair residents' homes, refurbish schools, restore water and other essential service, reopen a soccer stadium, complete with new lights and fresh sod. Fifteen months later, new businesses and markets have opened in some of Najaf's poorest areas. Religious pilgrims are visiting the city again. Construction jobs are putting local residents back to work.

One of the largest projects was the rebuilding of the Najaf teaching hospital, which had been looted and turned into a military fortress by the militia.

Thanks to the efforts by Iraqi doctors and local leaders, and with the help of American personnel, the hospital is now open and capable of serving hundreds of patients each day.

Najaf is now in the hands of elected government officials. An elected provincial council is at work drafting plans to bring more tourism and commerce to the city. Political life has returned and campaigns for the upcoming elections have begun with different parties competing for the vote.

The Iraqi police are now responsible for day-to-day security in Najaf. An Iraqi battalion has assumed control of the former American military base and our forces are now about 40 minutes outside the city.

A U.S. Army sergeant explains our role this way, "We go down there if they call us and that doesn't happen very often. Usually we just stay out of their way."

Residents of Najaf are also seeing visible progress and they have no intention of returning to the days of tyranny and terror.

One man from Najaf put it this way: "Three years ago we were in ruins. One year ago we were fighting in the streets. Now look at the people shopping and eating and not in fear."

There's still plenty of work left to be done in Najaf. Like most of Iraq, the reconstruction in Najaf has proceeded with fits and starts since liberation. It's been uneven.

Sustaining electric power remains a major challenge. Construction has begun on three new substations to help boost capacity.

Because there's a shortage of clean water, new water treatment and sewage units are now being installed.

Security in Najaf has improved substantially, but threats remains. There's still kidnappings and militias. Armed gangs are exerting more influence than they should in a free society.

Local leaders and Iraqi security forces are confronting these problems. And we're helping them.

Another area that has seen tremendous gains is the ancient city of Mosul. Mosul was one of Iraq's largest cities, and it's the home of a diverse population of Sunni Arabs, Kurds and other ethnic groups. Mosul was also the city where our troops brought to justice Saddam's sons in the summer of 2003.

In the months after liberation, Mosul was relatively quiet. And so we began to redeploy our forces elsewhere in the country.

And when the terrorists and Saddamists infiltrated the city, the Iraqi police were not up to the task of stopping them. These thugs intimidated residents and they overwhelmed the police.

By late last year, terrorists and Saddamists had gained control of much of Mosul, and they launched a series of car bombings and ambushes, including an attack on a coalition mess tent that killed 14 American servicemembers.

The terrorists and Saddamists killed innocent Iraqi civilians, and they left them in the streets with notes pinned to their bodies threatening others.

American and Iraqi forces responded with a series of coordinated strikes on the most dangerous parts of the city. Together, we killed, captured and cleared out many of the terrorists and Saddamists, and we helped the Iraqi police and legitimate political leaders regain control of the city.

As the Iraqis have grown in strength and ability, they have taken more responsibility for Mosul's security. Coalition forces have moved into a supporting role.

As security in Mosul improved, we began working with local leaders to accelerate reconstruction. Iraqis upgraded key roads and bridges over the Tigris River, rebuilt schools and hospitals and started refurbishing the Mosul airport. Police stations and fire houses were rebuild.

And Iraqis have made major improvements in the city's water and sewage network.

Mosul still faces challenges.

Like Najaf, Mosul's infrastructure was devastated during Saddam's reign. The city is still not receiving enough electricity, so Iraqis have a major new project under way to expand the Mosul power substation.

Terrorist intimidation is still a concern. This past week, people hanging election posters were attacked and killed.

Yet freedom is taking hold in Mosul and residents are making their voices heard. Turnout for the October referendum was over 50 percent in the province where Mosul is located. That's more than triple the turnout in the January election. And there's heavy campaigning going on in Mosul for next week's election.

In places like Mosul and Najaf, residents are seeing tangible progress in their lives. They're gaining a personal stake in a peaceful future. And their confidence in Iraq's democracy is growing. The progress of these cities is being replicated across much of Iraq and more of Iraq's people are seeing the real benefits that a democratic society can bring.

Throughout Iraq, we're also seeing challenges common to young democracies. Corruption is a problem at both the national and local levels of the Iraqi government.

We will not tolerate fraud. So our embassy in Baghdad is helping to demand transparency and accountability for the money being invested in reconstruction.

We've helped the Iraqi people establish institutions like a commission on public integrity and a stronger supreme board of audit to improve oversight of the rebuilding process. The Iraqi people expect money to be spent openly and honestly, and so do the American people.

Another problem is the infiltration of militia groups and to some Iraqi security forces, especially the Iraqi police. We're helping Iraqis deal with the problem by embedding coalition transition teams and Iraqi units to mentor police and soldiers.

We're also working with Iraq leaders at all levels of government to establish high standards for police recruiting. In a free Iraq, former militia members must shift their loyalty to the national government and learn to operate under the rule of law.

As we help Iraq's leaders confront these challenges, we're also helping them rebuild a sound economy that will grow and deliver a better life for their people.

Iraq's a nation with the potential for tremendous prosperity. The country has a young and educated workforce. They've got abundant land and water. And they have among the largest oil resources in the world.

Yet for decades, Saddam Hussein used Iraq's wealth to enrich himself and a privileged few. As he built palaces, Saddam neglected the country's infrastructure, he ruined the economy and he squandered the most valuable resource in Iraq, the talent and the energy of the Iraqi people.

So we're helping the new Iraq government reverse decades of economic destruction, reinvigorate its economy and make responsible reforms. We're helping Iraqis to rebuild their infrastructure and establish the institutions of a market economy.

The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in Iraq. Our policies are aimed at unleashing the creativity of the Iraqi people.

Like our approach to training Iraqi security forces, our approach to helping Iraqis rebuild has changed and improved.

When we started the reconstruction process in the spring of 2003, our focus was on repairing and building large-scale infrastructure, such as electrical plants and large water treatment facilities.

We moved forward with some of those large projects, yet we found our approach was not meeting the priorities of the Iraqi people.

In many places, especially those targeted by the terrorists and Saddamists, the most urgent needs were smaller, localized projects, such as sewer lines and city roads.

Delivering visible progress to the Iraqi people required us to focus on projects that could be completed rapidly. And so, in consultation with the Iraqi government, we started using more resources to fund smaller, local projects that could deliver rapid, noticeable improvements and offer an alternative to the destructive vision of the terrorists.

We increased the amount of money our military commanders had at their disposal for flexible use. We worked with Iraqi leaders to provide more contracts directly to Iraqi firms.

And by adapting our reconstruction efforts to meet needs on the ground, we're helping Iraqi leaders serve their people. And Iraqis are beginning to see that a free life will be a better life.

Reconstruction has not always gone as well as we had hoped, primarily because of the security challenges on the ground.

Rebuilding a nation devastated by a dictator is a large undertaking. It's even harder when terrorists are trying to blow up that which the Iraqis are trying to build.

The terrorists and Saddamists have been able to slow progress, but they haven't been able to stop it.

In the space of two and a half years, we have helped Iraqis conduct nearly 3,000 renovation projects at schools, train more than 30,000 teachers, distribute more than 8 million textbooks, rebuild irrigation infrastructure to help more than 400,000 rural Iraqis and improve drinking water for more than 3 million people.

Our coalition has helped Iraqis introduce a new currency, re-open their stock exchange, extend $21 million in microcredit and small business loans to Iraqi entrepreneurs.

As a result of these efforts and Iraq's newfound freedom, more than 30,000 new Iraqi businesses have registered since liberation. And according to a recent survey, more than three quarters of Iraqi business-owners anticipate growth in the national economy over the next two years.

This economic development and growth will be really important to addressing the high unemployment rate across parts of that country.

Iraq's market-based reforms are gradually returning the proud country to the global economy.

Iraqis have negotiated significant debt relief. And for the first time in 25 years, Iraq has completed an economic report card with the International Monetary Fund -- a signal to the world financial community that Iraqis are serious about reform and determined to take their rightful place in the world economy.

With all of these improvements, we're helping the Iraqi government deliver meaningful change for the Iraqi people. It's another important blow against the Saddamists and the terrorists.

Iraqis who are disillusioned with their situation are beginning to see a hopeful future for their country. Many who once questioned democracy are coming off the fence. They're choosing the side of freedom.

This is quiet, steady progress. It doesn't always make the headlines in the evening news. But it's real, and it's important and it is unmistakable to those who see it close up.

One of those who's seen that progress is Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman. Senator Lieberman has traveled to Iraq four times in the past 17 months. And the article he wrote when he returned from his most recent trip provides a clear description of the situation on the ground.

Here's what Senator Lieberman wrote about the Iraq he saw: "Progress is visible and practical. There are many more cars on the streets, satellite television dishes on the roofs and literally millions more cell phones in Iraq hands than before."

He describes an Iraqi poll showing that two-thirds of Iraqis say they are better off than they were under Saddam Hussein.

Senator Lieberman goes on, quote, "Does America have a good plan for doing this, a strategy for victory in Iraq? Yes, we do. And it's important to make clear to the American people that the plan has not remained stubbornly still but has changed over the years."

The senator says that mistakes have been made. But he goes on to say that he's worried about a bigger mistake. He writes, quote, "what a colossal mistake it would be for America's bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will," and, in a famous phrase, "to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory."

Senator Lieberman is right. There's an important debate going on in our nation's capital about Iraq. And the fact that we can debate these issues openly in the midst of a dangerous war brings credit to our democracy.

In this debate, some are calling for us to withdraw from Iraq on a fixed timetable, without regard to conditions on the ground. Recently, one Democratic leader came out in support of an artificial deadline for withdrawal and said an immediate withdrawal of our troops would, quote, "make the American people safer, our military stronger, and bring some stability to the region," end quote.

That's the wrong policy for our government. Withdrawing on an artificial deadline would endanger the American people, would harm our military and make the Middle East less stable.

It would give the terrorists exactly what they want.

In a letter to the terrorist leader Zarqawi, the Al Qaida leader Zawahiri has outlined his goals in Iraq with these steps, quote: "expel the Americans from Iraq, establish as Islamic authority over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq, extend the jihad wave."

The terrorists hope America will withdraw before the job is done, so they can take over the country and turn it into a base for future attacks.

Zawahiri called the Vietnam War as a reason to believe the terrorists can prevail. He wrote, quote, "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam and how they ran and left their agents is noteworthy."

In the past, Al Qaida has said that American pullouts from Lebanon and Somalia showed them that America was weak and could be made to run.

And now the terrorists think they can make America run in Iraq, and that is not going to happen so long as I'm the commander in chief.

(APPLAUSE)

We are not going to yield the future of Iraq to men like Zarqawi. And we are not going to yield the future of the Middle East to men like bin Laden.

We will complete our mission in Iraq and leave behind a democracy that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.

Our military will continue to hunt down the terrorists in Iraq and to prepare the Iraqi security forces to take over more of the fight and control more of the territory on their own.

We will continue to help the Iraqis rebuild their cities and their lives so they can enjoy the prosperity that freedom brings.

We will continue to stand with the Iraqi people as they move forward on the path of democracy. And when victory is achieved, our troops will then come home with the honor they've earned.

Next week, I'll discuss the political element of our strategy in greater detail, how we're helping Iraqis build a democracy that will be a strong ally in this global war against the terrorists.

One of the great lessons of history is that free societies are peaceful societies, and free nations give their citizens a path to resolve their differences peacefully through the democratic process. Democracy can be difficult and complicated and even chaotic. It can take years of hard work to build a healthy civil society.

Iraqis have to overcome many challenges, including longstanding ethnic and religious tensions and the legacy of a brutal repression. But they're learning that democracy is the only way to build a just and peaceful society, because it's the only system that gives every citizen a voice in determining its future.

Before our mission in Iraq is accomplished, there will be tough days ahead. Victory in Iraq will require continued sacrifice by our men and women in uniform and the continued determination of our citizens.

There'll be good days and there will be bad days in this war. I reject the pessimists in Washington who say we can't win this war.

Yet every day we can be confident of the outcome because we know that freedom has got the power to overcome terror and tyranny. We can be confident about the outcome because we know the character and strength of the men and women in the fight. Their courage makes all Americans proud.

This generation of Americans in uniform is every bit as brave and determined as the generation that went to war after the attack on our nation 64 years ago today.

Like those who came before, they are defeating a dangerous enemy, bringing freedom to millions and transforming a troubled part of the world.

And like those who came before, they will always have the gratitude of the American people.

Our nation will uphold the cause for which our men and women in uniform are risking their lives. We will continue to hunt down the terrorists wherever they hide. We will help the Iraqi people so they can build a free society in the heart of a troubled region. And by laying the foundations of freedom in Iraq and across the broader Middle East, we will lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.

Thanks for giving me a chance to come and speak to you today.

May God continue to bless our country.

(APPLAUSE)

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