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Title: President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended
Source:
Operation Iraqi Freedom
URL Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/rele ... 2003/05/print/20030501-15.html
Published: Apr 26, 2007
Author: The Bush Keepers and Handlers
Post Date: 2007-04-26 19:57:29 by ...
Keywords: None
Views: 381
Comments: 21
On May 01, 2007, four years will have elapsed since George W Bush costumed himself to resemble a person who had honorably served in the military, pranced around the deck of an aircraft carrier like one of the Village People and delived the idiotic speech below: Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln At Sea Off the Coast of San Diego, California THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. (Applause.) And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country. President George W. Bush poses with flight deck crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln May 1, 2003. White House photo by Paul Morse In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment -- yet, it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage, your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other, made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free. (Applause.) Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of precision and speed and boldness the enemy did not expect, and the world had not seen before. From distant bases or ships at sea, we sent planes and missiles that could destroy an enemy division, or strike a single bunker. Marines and soldiers charged to Baghdad across 350 miles of hostile ground, in one of the swiftest advances of heavy arms in history. You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American Armed Forces. This nation thanks all the members of our coalition who joined in a noble cause. We thank the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, who shared in the hardships of war. We thank all the citizens of Iraq who welcomed our troops and joined in the liberation of their own country. And tonight, I have a special word for Secretary Rumsfeld, for General Franks, and for all the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States: America is grateful for a job well done. (Applause.) The character of our military through history -- the daring of Normandy, the fierce courage of Iwo Jima, the decency and idealism that turned enemies into allies -- is fully present in this generation. When Iraqi civilians looked into the faces of our servicemen and women, they saw strength and kindness and goodwill. When I look at the members of the United States military, I see the best of our country, and I'm honored to be your Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.) In the images of falling statues, we have witnessed the arrival of a new era. For a hundred of years of war, culminating in the nuclear age, military technology was designed and deployed to inflict casualties on an ever-growing scale. In defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Allied forces destroyed entire cities, while enemy leaders who started the conflict were safe until the final days. Military power was used to end a regime by breaking a nation. Today, we have the greater power to free a nation by breaking a dangerous and aggressive regime. With new tactics and precision weapons, we can achieve military objectives without directing violence against civilians. No device of man can remove the tragedy from war; yet it is a great moral advance when the guilty have far more to fear from war than the innocent. (Applause.) President George W. Bush walks across the tarmac with NFO Lt. Ryan Phillips to Navy One, an S-3B Viking jet, at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego Thursday, May 1, 2003. Flying to the USS Abraham Lincoln, the President will address the nation and spend the night aboard ship. White House photo by Susan Sterner In the images of celebrating Iraqis, we have also seen the ageless appeal of human freedom. Decades of lies and intimidation could not make the Iraqi people love their oppressors or desire their own enslavement. Men and women in every culture need liberty like they need food and water and air. Everywhere that freedom arrives, humanity rejoices; and everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear. (Applause.) We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people. (Applause.) The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq. (Applause.) The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men -- the shock troops of a hateful ideology -- gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the "beginning of the end of America." By seeking to turn our cities into killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could destroy this nation's resolve, and force our retreat from the world. They have failed. (Applause.) In the battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed the Taliban, many terrorists, and the camps where they trained. We continue to help the Afghan people lay roads, restore hospitals, and educate all of their children. Yet we also have dangerous work to complete. As I speak, a Special Operations task force, led by the 82nd Airborne, is on the trail of the terrorists and those who seek to undermine the free government of Afghanistan. America and our coalition will finish what we have begun. (Applause.) From Pakistan to the Philippines to the Horn of Africa, we are hunting down al Qaeda killers. Nineteen months ago, I pledged that the terrorists would not escape the patient justice of the United States. And as of tonight, nearly one-half of al Qaeda's senior operatives have been captured or killed. (Applause.) The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We've removed an ally of al Qaeda, and cut off a source of terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the regime is no more. (Applause.) In these 19 months that changed the world, our actions have been focused and deliberate and proportionate to the offense. We have not forgotten the victims of September the 11th -- the last phone calls, the cold murder of children, the searches in the rubble. With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got. (Applause.) Our war against terror is proceeding according to principles that I have made clear to all: Any person involved in committing or planning terrorist attacks against the American people becomes an enemy of this country, and a target of American justice. (Applause.) Any person, organization, or government that supports, protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and equally guilty of terrorist crimes. Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups and seeks or possesses weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the civilized world -- and will be confronted. (Applause.) And anyone in the world, including the Arab world, who works and sacrifices for freedom has a loyal friend in the United States of America. (Applause.) Click here for a USS Abraham Lincoln photo essay. Our commitment to liberty is America's tradition -- declared at our founding; affirmed in Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms; asserted in the Truman Doctrine and in Ronald Reagan's challenge to an evil empire. We are committed to freedom in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in a peaceful Palestine. The advance of freedom is the surest strategy to undermine the appeal of terror in the world. Where freedom takes hold, hatred gives way to hope. When freedom takes hold, men and women turn to the peaceful pursuit of a better life. American values and American interests lead in the same direction: We stand for human liberty. (Applause.) The United States upholds these principles of security and freedom in many ways -- with all the tools of diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence, and finance. We're working with a broad coalition of nations that understand the threat and our shared responsibility to meet it. The use of force has been -- and remains -- our last resort. Yet all can know, friend and foe alike, that our nation has a mission: We will answer threats to our security, and we will defend the peace. (Applause.) Our mission continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed. The scattered cells of the terrorist network still operate in many nations, and we know from daily intelligence that they continue to plot against free people. The proliferation of deadly weapons remains a serious danger. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are we. Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend the homeland. And we will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike. (Applause.) The war on terror is not over; yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve, or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on to victory. (Applause.) Other nations in history have fought in foreign lands and remained to occupy and exploit. Americans, following a battle, want nothing more than to return home. And that is your direction tonight. (Applause.) After service in the Afghan -- and Iraqi theaters of war -- after 100,000 miles, on the longest carrier deployment in recent history, you are homeward bound. (Applause.) Some of you will see new family members for the first time -- 150 babies were born while their fathers were on the Lincoln. Your families are proud of you, and your nation will welcome you. (Applause.) We are mindful, as well, that some good men and women are not making the journey home. One of those who fell, Corporal Jason Mileo, spoke to his parents five days before his death. Jason's father said, "He called us from the center of Baghdad, not to brag, but to tell us he loved us. Our son was a soldier." Every name, every life is a loss to our military, to our nation, and to the loved ones who grieve. There's no homecoming for these families. Yet we pray, in God's time, their reunion will come. Those we lost were last seen on duty. Their final act on this Earth was to fight a great evil and bring liberty to others. All of you -- all in this generation of our military -- have taken up the highest calling of history. You're defending your country, and protecting the innocent from harm. And wherever you go, you carry a message of hope -- a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "To the captives, 'come out,' -- and to those in darkness, 'be free.'" Thank you for serving our country and our cause. May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless America. (Applause.) END 6:27 P.M. PDT
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#1. To: ... (#0)
The barf bag, please!
Dinner is now in my keyboard.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition This needs to played weekly to the sheeple.
It's fun to go back and read the Freeper threads on events like this. A few months ago I was bored and went back to read the original thread on FR about the Saddam Statue being pulled down. Too funny. So delusional. And the same posters who said the most embarrassing things about that staged event- like comparing it to the wall coming down or the end of WWII- haven't learned a GD'ed thing- indeed- they are even more delusional.
Please don't make fun of us. I was probably one of those very posters on that thread. "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either — but right through the human heart." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
I'm too embarrassed to go back and see what I wrote. I hope they purged my pom- pom writings of yesteryear.
What? No link? lol
#2. To: ... (#0)
#3. To: ... (#0)
In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. (Applause.)
#4. To: ... (#0)
#5. To: Burkeman1 (#4)
#6. To: Burkeman1 (#4)
It's fun to go back and read the Freeper threads on events like this.
#7. To: Burkeman1 (#4)
A few months ago I was bored and went back to read the original thread on FR about the Saddam Statue being pulled down. Too funny.
A new truth movement friendly digg type site: Zlonk it!
#8. To: Fred Mertz, Robin (#6)
Yeah- I go back and read some of my stuff from then- though I was always against the war- I still clung to myths of DC's inherent goodness and our noble paladin troops being purer than the driven snow. Ughhh. So embarrassing. I also displayed some of the same ugly "blame the victim" mentality that you see BOTS routinely do about Iraqis- like how they don't appreciate us noble good Americans for "liberating" them and how "savage" they are and unworthy of our efforts to "help them".
#9. To: ... (#0)
Were this posted today, it would have to have come from The Onion.
#10. To: Critter (#7)
They don't make it easy to go back and find this stuff. I had to wade through a lot of crap to find it.
#11. To: Burkeman1 (#10)
No shit. That's why I was saddened that you didn't have a link. hehehe I'll try to find it.
They don't make it easy to go back and find this stuff.
A new truth movement friendly digg type site: Zlonk it!
#12. To: All (#0)
.
#13. To: Burkeman1 (#10)
Is this it: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/888903/posts?q=1&;page=1
A new truth movement friendly digg type site: Zlonk it!
#14. To: Critter (#13)
18 posted on 04/09/2003 7:20:09 AM PDT by theriotcat [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ] LOL. Yep. That was it. Post 3- the Berlin wall reference already! My fav is the one above though.
To: WarSlut Not a dry eye in my house
#15. To: Burkeman1 (#14)
Awesome, not just a tiny bit of symbolism there...a US tank HELPING ordinary free Iraqi citizens topple a dictator I guess Janene Garafalo thinks the inspectors could have done it 21 posted on 04/09/2003 7:22:04 AM PDT by ewing I like this one. I was just thinking that Garafalo called it better than Rumsfeld when this post popped up on the freeper thread.
To: WarSlut
.
#16. To: Burkeman1 (#14)
The CBS radio news just played a story from one of the northern cities and the din from the jubilation can only be described as deafening. Really thrilling. 6 posted on 04/09/2003 7:05:24 AM PDT by WillVoteForFood [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] LMAO!
To: All
A new truth movement friendly digg type site: Zlonk it!
#17. To: Burkeman1, Critter, lodwick, Ferret Mike (#8)
you know what's really embarrassing? i was a dollar a day donator and used to cheerlead on the snookathon threads. on LP, jjbrouwer once copied and pasted a post of mine from one. i was sickening. :P
So embarrassing
#18. To: Critter, christine (#16)
The CBS radio news just played a story from one of the northern cities and the din from the jubilation can only be described as deafening. Really thrilling. 6 posted on 04/09/2003 7:05:24 AM PDT by WillVoteForFood [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] LMAO! They're singing WE SHALL OVERCOME in Arabic!
To: All
#19. To: christine (#17)
I think over the nearly 4 years I had posting on FR I donated about 1200 bucks. I think I got you beat for being a sucker of those snookerthons.
#20. To: ... (#0)
that made me laugh out loud.
four years will have elapsed since George W Bush costumed himself to resemble a person who had honorably served in the military, pranced around the deck of an aircraft carrier like one of the Village People
#21. To: ... (#0)
His God has and will continue to bless Amerika. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...
May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless America. (Applause.)
If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man. Albert Einstein
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