Reply #2: Excerpts from Bush's PC [View All]

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Bush:

Coalition forces have encountered serious violence in some areas of Iraq.

Our military commanders report that this violence is being instigated by three groups.

In the south of Iraq, coalition forces face riots and attacks that are being incited by a radical cleric ...

. . . these instigations of violence come from different factions, they share common goals. They want to run us out of Iraq and destroy the democratic hopes of the Iraqi people.

The violence we have seen is a power grab by these extreme and ruthless elements. It's not a civil war. It's not a popular uprising. Most of Iraq is relatively stabile. Most Iraqis by far reject violence and oppose dictatorship...

Iraq will either be a peaceful democratic country or it will again be a source of violence, a haven for terrorists and a threat to America and to the world. By helping secure a free Iraq, Americans serving in that country are protecting their fellow citizens...

Troop strength now and in the future is determined by the situation on the ground. If additional forces are needed, I will send them. If additional resources are needed, we will provide them...

One central commitment of that mission is the transfer of sovereignty back to the Iraqi people. We have set a deadline of June 30. It is important that we meet that deadline.

The consequences of failure in Iraq would be unthinkable. Every friend of America in Iraq would be betrayed to prison and murder as a new tyranny arose. Every enemy of America in the world would celebrate, proclaiming our weakness and decadence and using that victory to recruit a new generation of killers.

We will succeed in Iraq. We're carrying out a decision that has already been made and will not change. Iraq will be a free, independent country and America and the Middle East will be safer because of it.