Saddam Hussein was found in a hole, hiding. Saddam Hussein, the once all-powerful tyrant who used his brutal dictatorship to intimidate and destroy lives, will no longer be able to do so in Iraq. He sits in a prison cell. And the Iraqi people are free. (Applause.)

Fifty-five of the top officials, former officials in that regime -- of the 55, 45 have been captured or killed. The other 10 have got to be nervous. (Laughter and applause.) They're out there -- they're out there trying to shake our will. See, these people are murderers. They'll take innocent life to try to convince others that freedom isn't worth it. They will kill indiscriminately -- they don't care who -- to try to shake our confidence, to try to get in the heads of the American people. They don't understand America. America will never be intimated by thugs and assassins. (Applause.)

We're making progress. It's important for you to know that we're on the offensive in Iraq. As I said the other night, we're leading over 1,600 patrols a day, 180 raids every week. I mean, we're chasing them down. We're bringing them and foreign terrorists to justice there, so we don't have to face them in America. We're bringing them there because we understand freedom is vital for our future, freedom in Iraq is vital for our future.
.....
More Iraqis are now coming forward. They realize the killings that are taking place -- sometimes maybe by foreign terrorists, obviously sometimes by former Baathist officials -- will stop the march to freedom. They want to be free. You've got to understand, these people, like you and I, love freedom. It's in everybody's heart. And Pachachi understands that, and so does the Governing Council.

Freedom is happening in Iraq. And you've got to understand why it's important. Freedom in the heart of the Middle East, freedom and democracy in the place that has breeded resentment and terror, is in our national interests. A free Iraq will help change the world. A free Iraq will help change a neighborhood that needs to change. A free Iraq will make it easier for our children to grow up in a peaceful society.

People say, what are you doing in the long-term? We know what you're doing in the short-term, we can hear you and see you -- you're sending troops after the killers. What about the long-term plan against terrorists? Free societies do not breed terrorism. Free societies are peaceful nations. What we're doing for the long-term, we're promoting freedom. (Applause.)

The world is changing for the better.

posted by Blicero : 5/10/2004 12:43:00 AM