WASHINGTON,
July 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- the following is the remarks by the
President on the global war on terror:
Charleston Air
Force Base
Charleston,
South Carolina
11:50 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT:
Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you, Colonel. Thanks for the
hospitality and kind introduction. I'm proud to be with the men and
women of the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, the Army and the
Coast Guard. Thanks for serving. Thanks for wearing the uniform of
the United States of America.
I'm proud to
be back here in the great state of South Carolina. I'm proud to be
with some of the Palmetto State's finest citizens. I'm glad to be
eating lunch with you. The food is pretty good, Colonel. (Laughter.)
I always like a good barbecue.
I also am
proud to be with the military families. You know, our troops are
obviously engaged in a tough struggle, tough fight, a fight that I
think is noble and necessary for our peace. And so are our families.
Our military families endure the separations. They worry about their
loved ones. They pray for safe return. By carrying out these
burdens, our military families are serving the United States of
America, and this country is grateful to America's military
families. (Applause.)
I appreciate
Colonel Millander leading the 437th Airlift Wing here at the
Charleston Airbase. Thank you for the tour. Nice big airplanes
carrying a lot of cargo. And it's good to see the amazing operations
that take place here to keep our troops supplied.
I'm honored
here to be with Deb, as well. That's Red's wife. I call him Red; you
call him Colonel. He did a smart thing; he married a woman from
Texas. (Applause.) So did I. (Laughter.) And Laura sends her very
best to you all.
I'm proud to
be here with Mark Bauknight -- Colonel Bauknight -- Acting Commander
of they're 315th Airlift Wing, and his wife Leslie.
I am traveling
today with one of the true stalwarts of freedom, a man who
understands the stakes of the war we're in, and a man who strongly
supports the military in accomplishing the mission that we've sent
you to do, and that's Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
(Applause.)
This base is
represented by Congressman Henry Brown, of South Carolina.
(Applause.) He understands what I understand; when we have somebody
in harm's way, that person deserves the full support of the Congress
and the President. And you'll have the full support of the President
of the United States during this war against these radicals and
extremists.
I appreciate
the Lieutenant Governor of this state, Andre Bauer. Thanks for
coming, Governor. I'm proud to be here with the Speaker of the House
of Representatives for South Carolina, State Representative Bobby
Harrell. Mr. Speaker, thanks for coming.
We've got some
mayors with us, and I appreciate the mayors being here today: Mayor
Riley, Mayor Hallman, Mayor Summey. I'm honored that you all would
take time out of your busy schedule to come by and pay tribute to
these men and women who serve our nation so ably.
I'm proud to
be with Chairman Tim Scott of the Charleston County Council. I'm
proud to be with other state and local officials. And I'm really
glad to be with you all. Thank you for your courage.
Since the
attacks of September the 11th, 2001, the Airmen of Team Charleston
have deployed across the globe in support in the war on terror.
During the liberation of Afghanistan, air crews from Team Charleston
flew hundreds of sorties to transport troops and deliver supplies,
and help the liberation of 25 million people.
Team
Charleston is playing a crucial role in Iraq. Every day C-17s lift
off from Charleston carrying tons of vital supplies for our troops
on the front lines. Your efforts are saving lives and you're
bringing security to this country. Every member of Team Charleston
can take pride in a great record of accomplishment. And America is
grateful for your courage in the cause of freedom. And your courage
is needed.
Nearly six
years after the 9/11 attacks, America remains a nation at war. The
terrorist network that attacked us that day is determined to strike
our country again, and we must do everything in our power to stop
them. A key lesson of September the 11th is that the best way to
protect America is to go on the offense, to fight the terrorists
overseas so we don't have to face them here at home. And that is
exactly what our men and women in uniform are doing across the
world.
The key
theater in this global war is Iraq. Our troops are serving bravely
in that country. They're opposing ruthless enemies, and no enemy is
more ruthless in Iraq than al Qaeda. They send suicide bombers into
crowded markets; they behead innocent captives and they murder
American troops. They want to bring down Iraq's democracy so they
can use that nation as a terrorist safe haven for attacks against
our country. So our troops are standing strong with nearly 12
million Iraqis who voted for a future of peace, and they so for the
security of Iraq and the safety of American citizens.
There's a
debate in Washington about Iraq, and nothing wrong with a healthy
debate. There's also a debate about al Qaeda's role in Iraq. Some
say that Iraq is not part of the broader war on terror. They
complain when I say that the al Qaeda terrorists we face in Iraq are
part of the same enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001.
They claim that the organization called al Qaeda in Iraq is an Iraqi
phenomenon, that it's independent of Osama bin Laden and that it's
not interested in attacking America.
That would be
news to Osama bin Laden. He's proclaimed that the "third world war
is raging in Iraq." Osama bin Laden says, "The war is for you or for
us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and disgrace forever."
I say that there will be a big defeat in Iraq and it will be the
defeat of al Qaeda. (Applause.)
Today I will
consider the arguments of those who say that al Qaeda and al Qaeda
in Iraq are separate entities. I will explain why they are both part
of the same terrorist network -- and why they are dangerous to our
country.
A good place
to start is with some basic facts: Al Qaeda in Iraq was founded by a
Jordanian terrorist, not an Iraqi. His name was Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
Before 9/11, he ran a terrorist camp in Afghanistan. He was not yet
a member of al Qaida, but our intelligence community reports that he
had longstanding relations with senior al Qaida leaders, that he had
met with Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Zawahiri.
In 2001,
coalition forces destroyed Zarqawi's Afghan training camp, and he
fled the country and he went to Iraq, where he set up operations
with terrorist associates long before the arrival of coalition
forces. In the violence and instability following Saddam's fall,
Zarqawi was able to expand dramatically the size, scope, and
lethality of his operation. In 2004, Zarqawi and his terrorist group
formally joined al Qaida, pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden, and
he promised to "follow his orders in jihad."
Soon after,
bin Laden publicly declared that Zarqawi was the "Prince of Al Qaida
in Iraq" -- and instructed terrorists in Iraq to "listen to him and
obey him." It's hard to argue that al Qaida in Iraq is separate from
bin Laden's al Qaida, when the leader of al Qaida in Iraq took an
oath of allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
According to
our intelligence community, the Zarqawi-bin Laden merger gave al
Qaida in Iraq -- quote -- "prestige among potential recruits and
financiers." The merger also gave al Qaida's senior leadership --
quote -- "a foothold in Iraq to extend its geographic presence ...
to plot external operations ... and to tout the centrality of the
jihad in Iraq to solicit direct monetary support elsewhere." The
merger between al Qaida and its Iraqi affiliate is an alliance of
killers -- and that is why the finest military in the world is on
their trail.
Zarqawi was
killed by U.S. forces in June 2006. He was replaced by another
foreigner -- an Egyptian named Abu Ayyub al-Masri. His ties to the
al Qaida senior leadership are deep and longstanding. He has
collaborated with Zawahiri for more than two decades. And before
9/11, he spent time with al Qaida in Afghanistan where he taught
classes indoctrinating others in al Qaida's radical ideology.
After Abu
Ayyub took over al Qaida's Iraqi operations last year, Osama bin
Laden sent a terrorist leader named Abd al-Hadi al Iraqi to help
him. According to our intelligence community, this man was a senior
advisor to bin Laden, who served as his top commander in
Afghanistan. Abd al-Hadi never made it to Iraq. He was captured, and
was recently transferred to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.
The fact that bin Laden risked sending one of his most valued
commanders to Iraq shows the importance he places on success of al
Qaida's Iraqi operations.
According to
our intelligence community, many of al Qaida in Iraq's other senior
leaders are also foreign terrorists. They include a Syrian who is al
Qaida in Iraq's emir in Baghdad, a Saudi who is al Qaida in Iraq's
top spiritual and legal advisor, an Egyptian who fought in
Afghanistan in the 1990s and who has met with Osama bin Laden, a
Tunisian who we believe plays a key role in managing foreign
fighters. Last month in Iraq, we killed a senior al Qaida
facilitator named Mehmet Yilmaz, a Turkish national who fought with
al Qaida in Afghanistan, and met with September the 11th mastermind
Khalid Shaikh Muhammad, and other senior al Qaida leaders.
A few weeks
ago, we captured a senior al Qaida in Iraq leader named Mashadani.
Now, this terrorist is an Iraqi. In fact, he was the highest ranking
Iraqi in the organization. Here's what he said, here's what he told
us: The foreign leaders of Al Qaida in Iraq went to extraordinary
lengths to promote the fiction that al Qaida in Iraq is an Iraqi-led
operation. He says al Qaida even created a figurehead whom they
named Omar al-Baghdadi. The purpose was to make Iraqi fighters
believe they were following the orders of an Iraqi instead of a
foreigner. Yet once in custody, Mashadani revealed that al-Baghdadi
is only an actor. He confirmed our intelligence that foreigners are
at the top echelons of al Qaida in Iraq -- they are the leaders --
and that foreign leaders make most of the operational decisions, not
Iraqis.
Foreign
terrorists also account for most of the suicide bombings in Iraq.
Our military estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of suicide
attacks in Iraq are carried out by foreign-born al Qaida terrorists.
It's true that today most of al Qaida in Iraq's rank and file
fighters and some of its leadership are Iraqi. But to focus
exclusively on this single fact is to ignore the larger truth: Al
Qaida in Iraq is a group founded by foreign terrorists, led largely
by foreign terrorists, and loyal to a foreign terrorist leader --
Osama bin Laden. They know they're al Qaida. The Iraqi people know
they are al Qaida. People across the Muslim world know they are al
Qaida. And there's a good reason they are called al Qaida in Iraq:
They are al Qaida … in … Iraq.
Some also
assert that al Qaida in Iraq is a separate organization because al
Qaida's central command lacks full operational control over it. This
argument reveals a lack of understanding. Here is how al Qaida's
global terrorist network actually operates. Al Qaida and its
affiliate organizations are a loose network of terrorist groups that
are united by a common ideology and shared objectives, and have
differing levels of collaboration with the al Qaida senior
leadership. In some cases, these groups have formally merged into al
Qaida and take what is called a "bayaat" -- a pledge of loyalty to
Osama bin Laden. In other cases, organizations are not formally
merged with al Qaida, but collaborate closely with al Qaida leaders
to plot attacks and advance their shared ideology. In still other
cases, there are small cells of terrorists that are not part of al
Qaida or any other broader terrorist group, but maintain contact
with al Qaida leaders and are inspired by its ideology to conduct
attacks.
Our
intelligence community assesses that al Qaida in Iraq falls into the
first of these categories. They are a full member of the al Qaida
terrorist network. The al Qaida leadership provides strategic
guidance to their Iraqi operatives. Even so, there have been
disagreements -- important disagreements -- between the leaders,
Osama bin Laden and their Iraqi counterparts, including Zawahiri's
criticism of Zarqawi's relentless attacks on the Shia. But our
intelligence community reports that al Qaida's senior leaders
generally defer to their Iraqi-based commanders when it comes to
internal operations, because distance and security concerns preclude
day-to-day command authority.
Our
intelligence community concludes that -- quote -- "Al Qaida and its
regional node in Iraq are united in their overarching strategy." And
they say that al Qaida senior leaders and their operatives in Iraq
-- quote -- "see al Qaida in Iraq as part of al Qaida's
decentralized chain of command, not as a separate group."
Here's the
bottom line: Al Qaida in Iraq is run by foreign leaders loyal to
Osama bin Laden. Like bin Laden, they are cold-blooded killers who
murder the innocent to achieve al Qaida's political objectives. Yet
despite all the evidence, some will tell you that al Qaida in Iraq
is not really al Qaida -- and not really a threat to America. Well,
that's like watching a man walk into a bank with a mask and a gun,
and saying he's probably just there to cash a check.
You might
wonder why some in Washington insist on making this distinction
about the enemy in Iraq. It's because they know that if they can
convince America we're not fighting bin Laden's al Qaida there, they
can paint the battle in Iraq as a distraction from the real war on
terror. If we're not fighting bin Laden's al Qaida, they can argue
that our nation can pull out of Iraq and not undermine our efforts
in the war on terror. The problem they have is with the facts. We
are fighting bin Laden's al Qaida in Iraq; Iraq is central to the
war on terror; and against this enemy, America can accept nothing
less than complete victory. (Applause.)
There are
others who accept that al Qaida is operating in Iraq, but say its
role is overstated. Al Qaida is one of the several Sunni jihadist
groups in Iraq. But our intelligence community believes that al
Qaida is the most dangerous of these Sunni jihadist groups for
several reasons: First, more than any other group, al Qaida is
behind most of the spectacular, high-casualty attacks that you see
on your TV screens.
Second, these
al Qaida attacks are designed to accelerate sectarian violence, by
attacking Shia in hopes of sparking reprisal attacks that inspire
Sunnis to join al Qaida's cause.
Third, al
Qaida is the only jihadist group in Iraq with stated ambitions to
make the country a base for attacks outside Iraq. For example, al
Qaida in Iraq dispatched terrorists who bombed a wedding reception
in Jordan. In another case, they sent operatives to Jordan where
they attempted to launch a rocket attack on U.S. Navy ships in the
Red Sea.
And most
important for the people who wonder if the fight in Iraq is worth
it, al Qaida in Iraq shares Osama bin Laden's goal of making Iraq a
base for its radical Islamic empire, and using it as a safe haven
for attacks on America. That is why our intelligence community
reports -- and I quote -- "compared with [other leading Sunni
jihadist groups], al Qaida in Iraq stands out for its extremism,
unmatched operational strength, foreign leadership, and
determination to take the jihad beyond Iraq's borders."
Our top
commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has said that al Qaida is
"public enemy number one" in Iraq. Fellow citizens, these people
have sworn allegiance to the man who ordered the death of nearly
3,000 people on our soil. Al Qaida is public enemy number one for
the Iraqi people; al Qaida is public enemy number one for the
American people. And that is why, for the security of our country,
we will stay on the hunt, we'll deny them safe haven, and we will
defeat them where they have made their stand. (Applause.)
Some note that
al Qaida in Iraq did not exist until the U.S. invasion -- and argue
that it is a problem of our own making. The argument follows the
flawed logic that terrorism is caused by American actions. Iraq is
not the reason that the terrorists are at war with us. We were not
in Iraq when the terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993.
We were not in Iraq when they attacked our embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania. We were not in Iraq when they attacked the USS Cole in
2000. And we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001.
Our action to
remove Saddam Hussein did not start the terrorist violence -- and
America withdrawal from Iraq would not end it. The al Qaida
terrorists now blowing themselves up in Iraq are dedicated
extremists who have made killing the innocent the calling of their
lives. They are part of a network that has murdered men, women, and
children in London and Madrid; slaughtered fellow Muslims in
Istanbul and Casablanca, Riyadh, Jakarta, and elsewhere around the
world. If we were not fighting these al Qaida extremists and
terrorists in Iraq, they would not be leading productive lives of
service and charity. Most would be trying to kill Americans and
other civilians elsewhere -- in Afghanistan, or other foreign
capitals, or on the streets of our own cities.
Al Qaida is in
Iraq -- and they're there for a reason. And surrendering the future
of Iraq to al Qaida would be a disaster for our country. We know
their intentions. Hear the words of al Qaida's top commander in Iraq
when he issued an audio statement in which he said he will not rest
until he has attacked our nation's capital. If we were to cede Iraq
to men like this, we would leave them free to operate from a safe
haven which they could use to launch new attacks on our country. And
al Qaida would gain prestige amongst the extremists across the
Muslim world as the terrorist network that faced down America and
forced us into retreat.
If we were to
allow this to happen, sectarian violence in Iraq could increase
dramatically, raising the prospect of mass casualties. Fighting
could engulf the entire region in chaos, and we would soon face a
Middle East dominated by Islamic extremists who would pursue nuclear
weapons, and use their control of oil for economic blackmail or to
fund new attacks on our nation.
We've already
seen how al Qaida used a failed state thousands of miles from our
shores to bring death and destruction to the streets of our cities
-- and we must not allow them to do so again. So, however difficult
the fight is in Iraq, we must win it. And we can win it.
Less than a
year ago, Anbar Province was al Qaida's base in Iraq and was written
off by many as lost. Since then, U.S. and Iraqi forces have teamed
with Sunni sheiks who have turned against al Qaida. Hundreds have
been killed or captured. Terrorists have been driven from most of
the population centers. Our troops are now working to replicate the
success in Anbar in other parts of the country. Our brave men and
women are taking risks, and they're showing courage, and we're
making progress.
For the
security of our citizens, and the peace of the world, we must give
General Petraeus and his troops the time and resources they need, so
they can defeat al Qaida in Iraq. (Applause.)
Thanks for
letting me come by today. I've explained the connection between al
Qaida and its Iraqi affiliate. I presented intelligence that clearly
establishes this connection. The facts are that al Qaida terrorists
killed Americans on 9/11, they're fighting us in Iraq and across the
world, and they are plotting to kill Americans here at home again.
Those who justify withdrawing our troops from Iraq by denying the
threat of al Qaida in Iraq and its ties to Osama bin Laden ignore
the clear consequences of such a retreat. If we were to follow their
advice, it would be dangerous for the world -- and disastrous for
America. We will defeat al Qaida in Iraq.
In this
effort, we're counting on the brave men and women represented in
this room. Every man and woman who serves at this base and around
the world is playing a vital role in this war on terror. With your
selfless spirit and devotion to duty, we will confront this mortal
threat to our country -- and we're going to prevail.
I have
confidence in our country, and I have faith in our cause, because I
know the character of the men and women gathered before me. I thank
you for your patriotism; I thank you for your courage. You're living
up to your motto: "one family, one mission, one fight." Thank you
for all you do. God bless your families. God bless America.
(Applause.)
