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CNN Live Today
Election Eve; President Bush Delivers Another Speech on Iraq
Aired December 14, 2005 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, election eve brings new hope for the Iraqi people, and another round of violence.
Senior International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour is watching developments today from Baghdad.
And Christiane, you have to wonder if the Iraq people feel as confident as the president does about this impending election.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly they feel hopeful. Whether they feel confident is another matter.
They obviously are going to go to the polls. We expect the turnout to be very large and, most significantly, that the Sunnis this time will turn out, unlike last year when they boycotted and, indeed, when they rejected the new constitution during the referendum just a couple of months ago.
This time they say they are going to the polls. But the level of the way people feel about things here is different depending on what ethnic group they come from.
The Sunnis are very pessimistic. The Shiites are very optimistic. And there's also been quite a lot of sectarian violence, a lot of election-related violence.
Some of the campaign offices have been torched and attacked. Candidates, political workers have been attacked and, indeed, killed as well. It's been quite a violent campaign.
And there's also been some concern about cheating. There was a report we had that a truck with fake ballots had been brought in over the border from Iran. That's still being investigated, although police sources told us that the Iraqi ministry here, the Interior Ministry, has denied it and it's under investigation -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Also, Christiane. Thank you so much from Baghdad.
Well, the Pentagon plans to ask Congress to make another payment on the war soon. The numbers circulating on Capitol Hill goes as high as $100 billion. That would push total spending for Iraq and Afghanistan close to the half-trillion mark.
There are also other numbers to talk about. How many U.S. troops will come home after tomorrow's election?
Let's check in now with Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Are you able to answer that question?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Tough, tough business, Fredricka. But it is the question of troops, how many and when are they coming home, that is still what military commanders know they must grapple with.
They will be watching this election very closely, as Christiane says, to look at the Sunni voter turnout. The feeling is, if there is a large Sunni voter turnout, that will be very good news. The more Sunnis that participate in a new stable, permanent Iraqi government, then the less ability of the insurgency to fight against the Iraqis in their own country. That Iraq will begin to take more responsibility for its own security, paving the way for U.S. troops to come home and for less U.S. troops to be sent next year.
The immediate plan by the military, withdraw about 20,000 troops soon after the election. And then let the numbers drift down a bit. Reduce levels by about 10,000 over the first several months of 2006. Do that by simply not replacing the troops that are due to come home.
And they hope by this time next year to be down to about 100,000 troops in Iraq. That would be a significant reduction from the current level of 155,000 -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Thank you so much.
Well, today's speech is the president's fourth on Iraq in two weeks. The first came November 30 at the U.S. Naval Academy. There Mr. Bush unveiled his plan for victory. He stressed progress in training Iraqi troops and police.
Seven days later, the president spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations. The theme that day: rebuilding Iraq's shattered economy.
On Monday, the president traveled to Philadelphia to promote democracy in Iraq.
Today, in Washington, he previews tomorrow's election and discusses what he sees as the overall progress in Iraq since the U.S. invasion.
The White House hopes the series of speeches will build public support for the president's war policies. Is it working?
Let's talk to Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley in Washington this morning. And in London, CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.
Good to see both of you.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Fred. WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Well, Candy, let me begin with you. Bush says he wants to see a big turnout. Why is that alone so important?
CROWLEY: Well, because it shows that the Iraqi people are eager to go to the polls, that they are participating in this attempt to give them some form of democratic government. So, I mean, this is -- this is one of the moments that the administration hopes will lift up public opinion, Washington opinion, on -- on Iraq in general.
It's the in-between parts, when the news is all about the number of U.S. deaths, the number of Iraqi deaths, that really drag down the poll numbers. When moments like this come, we saw it in January, we are seeing it now, this is a time when Americans can look at the television set, see people raising their paint-dipped fingers to show Iraqis, to show that they've voted. It's a positive sort of hopeful sign, the sort of news that the Bush administration really needs to get out there, and genuine news at this point that convinces the American people that this has been worth it.
So the more people that show up, the more it shows that there has been progress.
WHITFIELD: And Bill, less than 30 minutes ago we heard a pre- buttal, leading Democrats who made a challenge to the president's victory in Iraq speeches, saying, "Victory has to be measured in many different ways: militarily, economically, and politically."
How right is Senator Harry Reid, Bill?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Americans do not believe that President Bush -- do not say that President Bush has made any serious headway in offering a plan for victory. Only 38 percent in our current polling believe that the Bush administration has a plan for victory in Iraq. That is down from 41 percent just a month ago.
So you can't say the president has made any headway in convincing Americans that victory is ahead.
The elections should be a big boost. Americans respond to facts on the ground, or at least what they perceive to be happening in Iraq. And as Candy indicated, twice before this year, in January and again in October, there have been successful elections in Iraq. And at each time there's been a big boost in public support for the president's mission in this -- in the war.
WHITFIELD: But this election is kind of...
SCHNEIDER: So we can expect to see the same thing to happen tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: This election this year, it's kind of three time -- or third time is a charm. Does it seem as persuasive to Americans how significant and potentially important this is for this country's independence?
SCHNEIDER: Fredricka, hope springs eternal. I was surprised that the response to the October constitutional referendum, which was even bigger than the response to the January 30 election in Iraq -- and I expect to see Americans encouraged.
WHITFIELD: All right.
SCHNEIDER: If there is widespread participation, as Christiane indicated, then I think Americans will be encouraged to believe that the end may be in sight.
WHITFIELD: All right. And Bill, we are seeing the president now making his way into the Woodrow Wilson Center, there at the Reagan Building, about to take the podium. This being the fourth and we are told the final speech in this package of victory for Iraq speeches.
Let's listen in.
AMB. JOSEPH GILDENHORN, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SWITZERLAND: And welcome to the Ronald Reagan Building and the Wilson Center.
Here at the Woodrow Wilson Center, it is our founding mission to serve as a living memorial to a great American president, Woodrow Wilson. President Wilson served at a time of great testing, the U.S. entry into World War I.
He said, and I quote, "The world must be safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty."
President Bush, too, serves at a time of great...
WHITFIELD: We are listening to Ambassador Gildenhorn there of the Reagan Building as he makes his instruction to the president.
I want to bring back in Candy Crowley and Bill Schneider.
And Candy, let me involve you here, in that I wonder how much pressure there is on the White House not to convince the American public with his victory in Iraq speeches, given the slumping poll -- oh, sorry about that, Candy. I'll get your comments after we hear from the president.
Let's listen in right now.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, all. Thank you very much. Please be seated.
Thank you for the warm welcome.
I'm delighted to be here with the men and women of the Wilson Center. According to your mission statement, the center was created to bring together two groups: political leaders and scholars. I see some of the political leaders who are here, and I presume you've invited me to uphold the scholars' end. (LAUGHTER)
BUSH: I've come to discuss an issue of vital importance to the American people. And that is victory on the war on terror.
September the 11th, 2001, our nation awoke to a sudden attack, and we accepted new responsibilities. We are confronting new dangers with firm resolve.
We are hunting down the terrorists and their supporters. We will fight this war without wavering. And we will prevail.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front. And over the last few weeks I've been discussing our political, economic, and military strategy for victory in that country.
An historical election will take place tomorrow in Iraq. And as millions of Iraqis prepare to cast their ballots, I want to talk today about why we went into Iraq, why we stayed in Iraq, and why we cannot and will not leave Iraq until victory is achieved.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: I want to thank Ambassador Gildenhorn for inviting me and introducing me, and I want to thank the members of the board of trustees who are here.
I appreciate Lee Hamilton, who serves our nation so well in so many different capacities.
Thank you for being the president and director of the Woodrow Wilson Center.
I'm proud to be traveling today with members of my cabinet: Secretary of State Condi Rice; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; and Secretary of Homeland Security Mike Chertoff.
Thank you all for coming.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: I appreciate members of the Congress who are here. Thanks for taking time to come.
I want to thank members of the Diplomatic Corps that have joined us today.
And thank you all for being here, as well.
We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom. Most of the focus now is on this week's elections, and rightly so.
Iraqis will go to the polls to choose a government that will be the only constitutional democracy in the Arab world. Yet, we need to remember that these elections are also a vital part of a broader strategy for protecting the American people against the threat of terrorism.
We saw the future the terrorists intend for our nation on that fateful morning of September the 11th, 2001. That day we learned that vast oceans and friendly neighbors are no longer enough to protect us.
September the 11th changed our country. It changed the policy of our government.
We adopted a new strategy to protect the American people. We would hunt down the terrorists wherever they hide. We would make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them. And we would advance our security at home by advancing freedom in the Middle East.
September the 11th also changed the way I viewed threats like Saddam Hussein.
We saw the destruction terrorists could cause with airplanes loaded with jet fuel. And we imagined the destruction they could cause with even more powerful weapons.
At the time, the leaders of both political parties recognized this new reality. We cannot allow the world's most dangerous men to get their hands on the world's most dangerous weapons.
In an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize we will have waited too long.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: We removed Saddam Hussein from power because he was a threat to our security. He had pursued and used weapons of mass destruction. He sponsored terrorists. He ordered his military to shoot at American and British pilots patrolling the no-fly zones.
He invaded his neighbors. He fought a war against the United States and a broad coalition. He had declared that the United States of America was his enemy.
Over the course of a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply with more than a dozen United Nations resolutions, including demands that he respect the rights of the Iraqi people, disclose his weapons, and abide by the terms of a 1991 cease-fire. He deceived international inspectors, and he denied them the unconditional access they needed to do their jobs.
When a unanimous Security Council gave him one final chance to disclose and disarm or face serious consequences, he refused to comply with that final opportunity.
At any point along the way, Saddam Hussein could have avoided war by complying with the just demands of the international community. The United States did not choose war. The choice was Saddam Hussein's. When we made the decision to go into Iraq, many intelligence agencies around the world judged that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. This judgment was shared by the intelligence agencies of governments who did not support my decision to remove Saddam. And it is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.
As president, I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq. And I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities. And we are doing just that.
At the same time, we must remember that an investigations after the war by chief weapons inspector Charles Duelfer found that Saddam was using the U.N. oil-for-food program to influence countries and companies in an effort to undermine sanctions, with the intent of restarting his weapons programs once the sanctions collapsed and the world looked the other way.
Given Saddam's history, and the lessons of September the 11th, my decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision. Saddam was a threat, and the American people and the world is better off because he is no longer in power.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator. It is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in its place.
As I stated in a speech in the lead-up to the war, a liberated Iraq has showed the power of freedom to transform the Middle East by bringing hope and progress to the lives of millions. So we are helping the Iraqi people build a lasting democracy that is peaceful and prosperous, and an example for the broader Middle East.
The terrorists understand this. And that is why they have now made Iraq the central front in the war on terror.
The enemy of freedom in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists and Saddamists and terrorists. The rejectionists, ordinary Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs who missed the privileged status they had under the regime of Saddam Hussein. We believe that over time most of this group will be persuaded to support the democratic Iraq, led by a federal government that is strong enough to protect minority rights.
We are encouraged by the indications that many Sunnis intend to participate in tomorrow's elections.
The Saddamists are former regime loyalists who harbor dreams of returning to power. And they are 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 the security forces of a free Iraq.
The terrorists affiliated with or inspired by al Qaeda are the smallest but most lethal group. They are led by a brutal terrorist named Zarqawi. He's al Qaeda's chief operations officer in Iraq. He has stated his allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
The terrorists have ambitions. They have goals. They want to stop the advance of freedom in Iraq. They want to make Iraq what Afghanistan was under the Taliban, a safe haven from which they can plot attacks against our people.
There is no limit to their brutality. They kill the innocent to achieve their aims.
This is an enemy without conscience. And again, such enemy, there is only one effective response. We will never back down, we will never give in. And we will never accept anything less than complete victory.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Last month my administration released a document called the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." And in recent weeks I've been discussing our strategy with the American people.
At the U.S. Naval Academy, I spoke about how we changed our approach to training Iraqi security forces so they can take the fight to the enemy and eventually take responsibility for the security of their citizens without major foreign assistance.
Iraqi forces are becoming more and more capable. This time last year there was only a handful of Iraqi battalions ready for combat. Now there are more than 125 Iraqi army and police combat battalions in the fight against the terrorists. Of these, more than 70 Iraqi battalions are fighting side by side with coalition forces, and more than 50 others are taking the lead in the fight.
So far in December there have been more than 900 combat operations in Iraq at the company level or above, and 75 percent of these involved Iraqi security forces either in the lead or fighting side by side with our coalition. As these Iraqi forces grow in size and strength, American and coalition forces can concentrate on training Iraqis and hunting down high-valued targeted like Zarqawi and his associates.
Last week before the Council on Foreign Relations I explained how we changed our approach to help Iraqis hold and rebuild cities taken from the enemy and how to help them revitalize Iraq's infrastructure and economy. Today, many cities like Mosul and Najaf are coming back to life, and Iraq's economy is growing.
Thousands of new businesses have opened in Iraq. Personal income is up. And according to one survey, seven in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve in the next year.
Earlier this week at the Philadelphia World Affairs Council I spoke in-depth about how we changed our approach to helping the Iraqis build their democracy. At the request of Iraqi leaders we accelerated the transition to Iraqi self-government. We set four major milestones to guide Iraq's transition to constitutional democracy: the transfer sovereignty, elections for a transitional government, the adoption of a democratic constitution, and elections for a new government under that constitution.
In spite of the violence, Iraqis have met every milestone. And this is changing the political landscape in Iraq.
Sunni Arabs who failed to participate in the January elections are now campaigning vigorously in this week's elections. And we can expect a higher turnout of Sunni voters.
As Sunnis join the political process, Iraqi democracy becomes more inclusive and the terrorists and Saddamists are becoming marginalized.
Each of the changes we have made in our approach in Iraq is helping us meet the hard realities and the facts on the ground. We have adapted our tactics. We have fixed what was not working. And we have listened to those who know best, our military commanders and the Iraqi people.
Our tactics continue to change, but our goal in Iraq has not changed: a free and democratic Iraq.
I strongly believe a democratic Iraq is a crucial part of our strategy to defeat the terrorists, because only democracy can bring freedom and reconciliation to Iraq and peace to this troubled part of the world.
Our efforts to advance freedom in Iraq are driven by our vital interests and our deepest beliefs. America was founded on the principle that all men are created equal. And we believe that the people of the Middle East desire freedom as much as we do.
History has shown that free nations are peaceful nations. And as Iraqi democracy takes hold, Iraqi citizens will have a stake in a calm and a peaceful future.
As we advance the cause of freedom in Iraq, our nation can proceed with confidence, because we have done this kind of work before. After World War II, President Harry Truman believed that the way to help bring peace and prosperity to Asia was to plant the seeds of freedom and democracy in Japan.
Like today, there were many skeptics and pessimists who said that the Japanese were not ready for democracy. Fortunately, President Harry Truman stuck to his guns. He believed, as I do, in freedom's power to transform an adversary into an ally. And because he stayed true to his convictions, today Japan is one of the world's freest and most prosperous nations, and one of America's closest allies in keeping the peace.
The spread of freedom to Iraq and the Middle East requires the same confidence and persistence. And it will lead to the same results. (APPLAUSE)
BUSH: The people of Iraq are now seeing some of the tangible benefits of their new democracy. They see that as freedom advances their lives are improving.
Iraqis have approved a bold constitution that guarantees the rule of law and freedom of assembly, and property rights, and freedom of speech in the press, and women's rights and the right to vote. They see their freedom increasingly being defended by their own soldiers and police instead of foreign forces. And they see that freedom is bringing opportunity and a better life.
Iraqis still face many challenges, including security and reconstruction and economic reform. But they are building a strong democracy that can handle these challenges. And that will be a model for the Middle East. Freedom in Iraq will inspire reformers from Damascus to Tehran.
This new Iraq shares our deepest values and it shares our most determined enemies. By helping Iraqis build a nation that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself, we will gain an ally in the war on terror and a partner for peace in the Middle East.
The stakes in Iraq are high. And we will not leave until victory has been achieved.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Today there is an intense debate about the importance of Iraq to the war on terror. The constant headlines about car bombings and killings have led some to ask whether our presence in Iraq has made America less secure.
This view presumes that if we were not in Iraq the terrorists would be leaving us alone. The reality is that the terrorists have been targeting America for years, long before we ever set foot in Iraq.
We were not in Iraq in 1993 when the terrorists tried to blow up the World Trade Center in New York. We were not in Iraq in 1998 when the terrorists bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. We were not in Iraq in 2000 when the terrorists killed 17 American sailors aboard the USS Cole. And there wasn't a single American soldier in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001, when the terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people in the worst attack on our home since Pearl Harbor.
These acts are part of a grand strategy by the terrorists. Their stated objective is to drive the United States and coalition forces out of the Middle East so they can gain control of Iraq and use that country as a base from which to launch attacks against America, overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East, and establish a totalitarian Islamic empire that stretches from Spain to Indonesia.
Hear the words of the terrorists. In a letter to the terrorist leader Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader Zawahiri has outlined plans that will unfold in several stages.
These are his words: "Expel the Americans from Iraq. Establish an Islamic authority over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq. Extend the jihad way through secular countries neighboring Iraq."
To achieve these goals, the terrorists are targeting innocent men, women and children. The enemy has only the ability to create chaos for the cameras with spectacular acts of violence.
They know they can not defeat us militarily. So they are trying to break our will in the hopes of getting America to leave the battlefield early. And they site Vietnam as a reason they can prevail.
Zawahiri in his letter to Zarqawi wrote, "The aftermath of the collapse of the American power in Vietnam and how they ran and left their agents is noteworthy."
In the past, al Qaeda has said that American pullouts of Lebanon and Somalia have showed them that America is weak and could be made to run. And now the terrorists think they can make America run in Iraq.
There is only one way that terrorists can prevail, if we lose our nerve and leave before the job is done. And that is not going to happen on my watch.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Some in Washington are calling for a rapid and complete withdrawal of our forces in Iraq. They say that our presence there is the cause for instability in Iraq and that the answer is to set a deadline to withdraw.
I disagree. I've listened carefully to all the arguments. And there are four reasons why I believe that setting an artificial deadline would be a recipe for disaster.
First, setting an artificial deadline will send the wrong message to the Iraqis. As Iraqis are risking their lives for democracy, it would tell them that America's more interested in leaving than helping them succeed and put at risk all the democratic progress they have made over the past year.
Secondly, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the enemy. It would tell them that if they wait long enough America will cut and run. It would vindicate the terrorist tactics of beheadings and suicide bombings and mass murder. It would embolden the terrorists and invite new attacks on America.
Third, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the region and the world. It would tell our friends and supporters that America is a weak and unreliable ally, and that when the going gets tough, America will retreat.
Finally, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the most important audience, our troops on the front line. It would tell them that America is abandoning the mission they are risking their lives to achieve, and that the sacrifice of their comrades killed in this struggle has been in vain.
I make this pledge to the families of the fallen: We will carry on the fight, we will complete their mission, and we will win.
(APPLAUSE)
Victory will be achieved by meeting certain objectives. When the terrorists and Saddamist can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy. When the Iraqi security forces can protect their own people, and when Iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists to plot attacks against our country. These objectives, not timetables set by politicians in Washington, will drive our force levels in Iraq. As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down, and when victory is achieved, our troops will then come home with the honor they have earned.
(APPLAUSE)
One of the blessings of our free society is that we can debate these issues openly, even in a time of war. Most of the debate has been a credit to our democracy. Some have launched irresponsible charges. They say that we act because of oil, that we act in Iraq because of Israel, or because we misled the American people. Some of the most irresponsible comments about manipulating intelligence have come from politicians who saw the same intelligence I saw, and then voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein.
These charges are pure politics. They hurt the morale of our troops. Whatever our differences in Washington, our men and women in uniform deserve to know that once our politicians vote to send them into harm's way, our support will be with them in good days, in bad, and we will settle for nothing less than complete victory.
(APPLAUSE)
Before this victory comes, we still have a lot of difficult work ahead. We made real progress in the last two-and-a-half years, and the terrorists see this progress, and they're determined to stop it. These enemies are not going to give up because of a successful election. They know that as democracy takes root in Iraq, their hateful ideology will suffer a devastating blow. So we can expect violence to continue. We can also expect that the elections will be followed by days of uncertainty. We may not know for certain who has won the elections until the early part of January, and that's important for our citizens to understand. It's going to take a while.
It's also going to take a while for them to form a government. The work ahead will require patience of the Iraqi people and will require our patience as well, yet we must remember that a free Iraq is in our interests, because a free Iraq will be a beacon of hope, and as the Middle East grows in liberty, the American people will become safer and our nation will be more secure. The work ahead will also require continued sacrifice. Yet, we can be confident, because history has shown the power of freedom to overcome tyranny. And we can be confident, because we have on our side the greatest force for freedom in human history, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.
(APPLAUSE)
One of these men was a Marine lieutenant named Ryan McGlothlin from Lebanon, Virginia. Ryan was a bright young man who had everything going for him, and he always wanted to serve our nation. He was the valedictorian of his high school class. He graduated from William and Mary with near perfect grade averages, and he was on a full scholarship at Stanford where he was working towards a doctorate in chemistry. Two years after the attacks of September the 11th, the young man who had the world at his feet came home from Stanford for a visit. He told his dad, I just don't feel like I'm doing something that matters. I want to serve my country. I want to protect our land from terrorists, so I joined the Marines. When his father asked him if there was some other way to serve, Ryan replied that he felt a special obligation to step up because he had been given so much. Ryan didn't support me in the last election, but he supported our mission in Iraq, and he supported his fellow Marines. Ryan was killed last month fighting the terrorists near the Iraq/Syrian boarder.
In his pocket was a poem that Ryan had read at his high school graduation,and it represented the spirit of this fine marine. The poem was called "Don't Quit."
In our fight to keep America free, we'll never quit. We've lost wonderful Americans like Ryan McGlothlin. We cherish the memory of each one. We pray the loved ones -- we pray for the loved ones they've left behind, and we count it a privilege to be citizens of a country they serve. We also honor them by acknowledging that their sacrifice has brought us to this moment, the birth of a free and sovereign Iraqi nation that will be a friend of the United States and a force for good in a troubled region of the world.
The story of freedom has just begin in the Middle East. And when the history of these days is written, it will tell how America once again defended its own freedom by using liberty to transform nations from bitter foes to strong allies. And history will say that this generation, like generations before, laid the foundation of peace for generations to come.
May god bless you all. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
WHITFIELD: President Bush there making his fourth and final appeal in his victory for Iraq, a series of speeches there at the Woodrow Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building there, in the nation's capital. Now doing a lot of shaking of hands with supporters out there, as well as he had a number of his cabinet members who came out there.
He laid his plan there, saying that that they will stay the course, meaning the United States will stay the course in this war in Iraq. At the same time, talking about the encouragement that will come from this vote just a few hours away as Iraqis will select a permanent parliament. Just before this speech, we were joined by political analysts Bill Schneider, as well as political correspondent Candy Crowley.
And we heard from the president there, Candy and Bill, that he says he is committed to staying the course, especially, if not alone, for the families of the military men and women serving in Iraq, and that it's important that this country, Iraq, be able to protect itself, and not to hand over this country to terrorists. Did he do a convincing job any differently today than he has in the previous three speeches, Candy, about why it's important for the U.S. to be invested in this country of Iraq?
CROWLEY: Fred, we've seen some improvement in the polls. A poll that CNN had out yesterday showed a five-point increase in the number -- the percentage of Americans who believe that it was not a mistake to go to war. Now at 50 percent, that's still, you know, a country deeply divided, but it's up by five points.
I don't think any speech in isolation -- I think the White House would tell you this -- you know, makes a case. I think it is a constant sort of adapting to what's going on, on the ground in Iraq, in Washington D.C., in the halls of Congress, and moving and acting towards those.
Now this was part of a rollout. I mean, the crown on these four speeches is the election in Iraq. I mean this was just a slow roll towards those elections, to say to the American people, look, something good is happening here.
WHITFIELD: Bill, the president said the U.S. did not choose war in this speech. He said the choice was Saddam Hussein's. Who is he trying to convince?
SCHNEIDER: He's trying to convince Americans and the world, because there's a lot of question about this. This is seen as a war of choice by many people around the world. I'm in London right now. You hear endless complaints about the war in Iraq against both President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. It's a cause of great unpopularity for the Bush administration around the world. It's a message to Americans and to the world that it was Saddam Hussein who failed to cooperate with the U.N. inspectors, and it's a way, really, of saying this wasn't a question of whether he did or did not have weapons of mass destruction.
The one thing that I heard new from the president today was when he said Saddam Hussein was using the oil-for-food program to influence other countries to restart his own weapons program. Meaning no, we didn't find weapons of mass destruction, but we now know the president is reporting that he intended to restart the weapons of mass destruction program, because he had had weapons of mass destruction in the past.
WHITFIELD: And did you sense from the president that it was that much more important to underscore the need for removing Saddam Hussein? Absent were the words weapons of mass destruction as a whole, in terms of a reason to go to war?
SCHNEIDER: Yes. Yes. He laid out the whole case against Saddam Hussein, including the danger that he presented to the United States and to the world, probably more cogently and coherently than I've heard him do in the past. And of course, he criticized those who are critical of his decision to go to war in the first place.
But the president packaged it all in one speech here. And basically, his larger message was, it is in the security interest -- I choose that word, that's his word -- in the security interest of the United States of America to have democracy in Iraq, which we hope, they hope, will be fostered by the election tomorrow. That that will help protect Americans.
That's a connection that's not very obvious. Why does democracy in Iraq protect Americans from attack? Well, he tried to lay that out by saying it prevents Iraq from becoming a nest of terrorism and he also portrayed this as a new Cold War, something he's done in the past.
He talked about the effort by the Islamic radicals, our enemies, to found an empire that he says would stretch from Spain to Indonesia. Essentially drawing a parallel with the war against communism, the Cold War, and with the war against fascism. That this is a massive threat to the West and to the United States. So for President Bush, it's all about American security.
WHITFIELD: All right, political analyst Bill Schneider, political correspondent Candy Crowley out of Washington. Bill in London, thank you to both.
And when we come back, four cities in America, four perspectives on the war in Iraq. I'll speak with an Iraqi-American -- you're looking at them all right there -- a veteran of this war, and two fathers who have sent their sons off to fight. One is still in Iraq. One never returned.
Also ahead...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the news back home, it's always going to be an exciting story, the attack or the bombing. There's not going to be any stories in the news about soldiers and policemen going to school and giving kids new pens and new schoolbooks and things like that, those kind of operations that we do on a daily basis.
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WHITFIELD: Our Anderson Cooper goes on patrol with U.S. forces in Baquba.
And, what do you think needs to happen for a stable democracy in Iraq? Visit CNN.com and share your thoughts. We'll read some of your comments a little bit later on in this program.
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BUSH: And it's true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrongs. As president, I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq. And I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities, and we're doing just that.
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WHITFIELD: President Bush has just wrapped up his fourth and final speech leading up to tomorrow's historic election in Iraq.
Joining us with reaction, two military fathers with opposing views on the war. In New York, Ronald Griffin, whose son Kyle was killed in Iraq. Good to see you. He supports the U.S. mission.
RONALD GRIFFIN, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: Good morning.
WHITFIELD: Michael McPhearson is a Gulf War veteran whose son is serving in Iraq right now. He opposes the war and he joins us now from St. Louis. Good to see you as well.
MICHAEL MCPHEARSON, VETERAN FOR PEACE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And from Memphis, John Crawford, an Iraq war veteran and the author of "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell." Good to see you as well. Thanks for being with us.
And in Boston, Zainab Al-Suwaij, an Iraqi-American and executive director of the American-Islamic Congress. And welcome to you, as well.
ZAINAB AL-SUWAIJ, AMERICAN-ISLAMIC CONGRESS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Thanks to all off for being with us. Ronald, let me begin with you. We heard the president say he's going to stay the course and he is vowing to military families in particular not to abandon the country of Iraq until Iraqis can take care of themselves, until it is no longer a safe haven for terrorists. Were these words comforting and convincing to you?
GRIFFIN: Comforting, yes. I was convinced from the start of the war that we were doing the right thing. Kyle was...
WHITFIELD: Never for a moment did you change your mind about it? Even especially after losing your son?
GRIFFIN: Not for a second. It was -- Kyle was born on 9/11. That was his birthday. He was at Fort Benning, Georgia, when the planes hit the World Trade Center. I knew he was going to war. I followed the debate every which way. The papers, CNN, C-SPAN. I followed the war. And something what the president said today was, when they passed the Resolution 1441, in that resolution, it says it's the last chance. WHITFIELD: But does it not seem that most Americans understood why go to a war after 9/11 to Afghanistan, but many did not understand -- and you're seeing the slipping poll numbers, who -- you know, many Americans are doubting now the significance of going to war in Iraq and what it has now become and whether there is indeed victory at the end.
GRIFFIN: If you go back and follow the whole scenario right from 9/11 through to the time that the war started, there was a very good case made for why we went there.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let me...
GRIFFIN: And I don't think the case has ever been changed.
WHITFIELD: All right, Michael, you heard the president today. You've heard him over the last couple of weeks where he was launched into victory in Iraq speeches. How convincing -- how much more convincing is it for you now when you have been on record as being a strong opponent of this war, even with a son now serving?
MCPHEARSON: Yes, first I want to thank the Iraq soldier for his service and give my condolences to the Gold Star father whose son died in service to our country.
GRIFFIN: Thank you.
MCPHEARSON: Yes. I'm not convinced at all. The president continues to say the same things over and over.
WHITFIELD: What did you hope to hear from the president?
MCPHEARSON: Well, I would like for him to say that he's going to bring the troops home. And understand that the soldiers have done their job, they've gotten rid of Saddam Hussein, which is a good thing. And it's time for them to come home now.
WHITFIELD: And he addressed that on withdrawal. He says, "We're not leaving until the job is done. It's not going under my watch." And then he gave reasons...
MCPHEARSON: I heard him say that several times.
WHITFIELD: ... as to why.
MCPHEARSON: Yes, I heard him say that. I've heard him say that several times before. But I think the reality on the ground is that our soldiers are in the way of the Iraqi people finding the political solution they need so they can live together, similar to here in our country when we had a civil war, or even when we had the civil rights movement. That had to happen between the people here in the United States, not other people coming in and trying to help us figure it out. So we've done our job there. Now it's time for us to leave and support them as much as we can from here or outside. And the world has to support them. But the Iraqis have to figure out their future, not us. WHITFIELD: John, you've served in the war in Iraq. You've authored a book, "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell." The president says this helps establish freedom that only democracy could do. Knowing the country, knowing as a veteran of a war there, are you convinced that it is just that simple and that victory is at hand?
JOHN CRAWFORD, AUTHOR, "IRAQ WAR VETERAN": I'm not sure it's simple at all. Even creating a democracy doesn't establish them as an ally. Hugo Chavez has won three Democratic elections in a row overwhelmingly. And they're not exactly our ally, if not our enemy.
But I don't think there's a simple solution at all. There weren't terrorists in Iraq when we invaded, as it turned up in the 9/11 Commission. There certainly are now though, and I think that this is the forefront of the war on terror, and I do think we need to stay until we can establish an economic and a social base that will stop that.
WHITFIELD: Zanaib, this is a historic opportunity for the Iraqi people. No one argues that. But do you see that an election, just hours away, is a milestone not just for the Iraqi people, but for neighboring nations as well? And possibly a turning point for other countries, especially the U.S., involved in this ongoing war there?
AL-SUWAIJ: Of course. Absolutely. I mean, Iraqis are very eager to have this election and they are very thankful for all the help that the United States provided the whole country with in liberating them from the brutality of Saddam Hussein and his regime. And if you look at the polls right now, you will see the big number, how many people are -- about 71 percent of the population are very optimistic about the future of Iraq for the upcoming years after this election.
And Iraq also will set a best example for many neighboring countries who are starting to look at democracy in a different way and a new way totally.
WHITFIELD: But at the same time, do you worry at all about high expectations from this election when we know that very little campaigning could take place because of the security, or lack thereof issues. We're also hearing reports today about phony ballots that have been found along the Iran border. And so how confident should the Iraqi people be about who might win from this election, or is the primary point that people are getting a chance to vote at all? And who wins is actually secondary, perhaps.
AL-SUWAIJ: There are a lot of concerns, of course. But at the same time, there is a lot of optimists. People are optimistic about the future after this election. And at least this is steps that they are taking themselves. And also, Iraq has been through a lot before and a lot of challenges, and I think people are aware of the terror and the danger around them, and they are ready to take the step for the future to make the future of their children better.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much to all of you, John Crawford, Zanaib Al-Suwaij, Ronald Griffin, Michael McPhearson, thanks to all of you for sticking around with us and giving us your point of view following the president's Victory for Iraq speech.
AL-SUWAIJ: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And more of CNN LIVE TODAY right after this.
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WHITFIELD: We want to update you on a story that we continue to watch here at CNN. That out of Missouri, out of Lesterville, Missouri, where a reservoir has been breached, and a large volume of water has been moving downstream, threatening a park where officials told us earlier. It didn't appear as though any campers were there. So no one's lives have been threatened at the park. But that large downstream of water did sweep away one house, a tractor-trailer off a highway, and now you're looking at some new video right now of presumably some rescue and emergency vehicles that are now moving into the areas that are considered to be more volatile.
We do know that a family of five was also rescued. But no reports of any serious injuries. Some people are being treated instead for hypothermia now. Now of course we'll continue to keep a close watch on that throughout the day. Your international news begins right now.
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