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The Library
Fact Sheet: The New Way Forward in Iraq
Highlights of the Iraq Strategy Review (PDF)
9:01 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT:Good evening. Tonight in Iraq, the Armed Forces of theUnited States are engaged in a struggle that will determine the directionof the global war on terror -- and our safety here at home. The newstrategy I outline tonight will change America's course in Iraq, and helpus succeed in the fight against terror.
When I addressed you just over a year ago, nearly 12 million Iraqis hadcast their ballots for a unified and democratic nation. The elections of2005 were a stunning achievement. We thought that these elections wouldbring the Iraqis together, and that as we trained Iraqi security forces wecould accomplish our mission with fewer American troops.
But in 2006, the opposite happened. The violence in Iraq -- particularlyin Baghdad -- overwhelmed the political gains the Iraqis had made. AlQaeda terrorists and Sunni insurgents recognized the mortal danger thatIraq's elections posed for their cause, and they responded with outrageousacts of murder aimed at innocent Iraqis. They blew up one of the holiestshrines in Shia Islam -- the Golden Mosque of Samarra -- in a calculatedeffort to provoke Iraq's Shia population to retaliate.Their strategyworked. Radical Shia elements, some supported by Iran, formed deathsquads. And the result was a vicious cycle of sectarian violence thatcontinues today.
The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people -- and it isunacceptable to me. Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They havedone everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made,the responsibility rests with me.
It is clear that we need to change our strategy in Iraq. So my nationalsecurity team, military commanders, and diplomats conducted a comprehensivereview. We consulted members of Congress from both parties, our alliesabroad, and distinguished outside experts. We benefitted from thethoughtful recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel ledby former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman LeeHamilton. In our discussions, we all agreed that there is no magic formulafor success in Iraq. And one message came through loud and clear: Failurein Iraq would be a disaster for the United States.
The consequences of failure are clear:Radical Islamic extremists wouldgrow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better positionto topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oilrevenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuitof nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to planand launch attacks on the American people. On September the 11th, 2001, wesaw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bringto the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, Americamust succeed in Iraq.
The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially inBaghdad. Eighty percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30miles of the capital. This violence is splitting Baghdad into sectarianenclaves, and shaking the confidence of all Iraqis. Only Iraqis can endthe sectarian violence and secure their people. And their government hasput forward an aggressive plan to do it.
Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons: Therewere not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that hadbeen cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too manyrestrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewedthe new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes.They reportthat it does. They also report that this plan can work.
Now let me explain the main elements of this effort: The Iraqi governmentwill appoint a military commander and two deputy commanders for theircapital. The Iraqi government will deploy Iraqi Army and National Policebrigades across Baghdad's nine districts. When these forces are fullydeployed, there will be 18 Iraqi Army and National Police brigadescommitted to this effort, along with local police. These Iraqi forces willoperate from local police stations -- conducting patrols and setting upcheckpoints, and going door-to-door to gain the trust of Baghdad residents.
This is a strong commitment. But for it to succeed, our commanders say theIraqis will need our help. So America will change our strategy to help theIraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bringsecurity to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing Americanforce levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional Americantroops to Iraq. The vast majority of them -- five brigades -- will bedeployed to Baghdad. These troops will work alongside Iraqi units and beembedded in their formations. Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect thelocal population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind arecapable of providing the security that Baghdad needs.
Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previousoperations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences:Inearlier operations, Iraqi and American forces cleared many neighborhoods ofterrorists and insurgents, but when our forces moved on to other targets,the killers returned. This time, we'll have the force levels we need tohold the areas that have been cleared.In earlier operations, politicaland sectarian interference prevented Iraqi and American forces from goinginto neighborhoods that are home to those fueling the sectarian violence. This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter thoseneighborhoods -- and Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political orsectarian interference will not be tolerated.
I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders thatAmerica's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does notfollow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the Americanpeople -- and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time toact. The Prime Minister understands this. Here is what he told his peoplejust last week: "The Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe havenfor any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation."
This new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide bombings,assassinations, or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make every effortto ensure that our television screens are filled with images of death andsuffering. Yet over time, we can expect to see Iraqi troops chasing downmurderers, fewer brazen acts of terror, and growing trust and cooperationfrom Baghdad's residents. When this happens, daily life will improve,Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders, and the government will havethe breathing space it needs to make progress in other critical areas. Most of Iraq's Sunni and Shia want to live together in peace -- andreducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible.
A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. OrdinaryIraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visibleimprovements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will holdthe Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.
To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to takeresponsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. Togive every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will passlegislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it iscommitted to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects thatwill create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to holdprovincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-entertheir nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathificationlaws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq'sconstitution.
America will change our approach to help the Iraqi government as it worksto meet these benchmarks. In keeping with the recommendations of the IraqStudy Group, we will increase the embedding of American advisers in IraqiArmy units, and partner a coalition brigade with every Iraqi Army division. We will help the Iraqis build a larger and better-equipped army, and wewill accelerate the training of Iraqi forces, which remains the essentialU.S. security mission in Iraq.We will give our commanders and civiliansgreater flexibility to spend funds for economic assistance. We will doublethe number of provincial reconstruction teams.These teams bring togethermilitary and civilian experts to help local Iraqi communities pursuereconciliation, strengthen the moderates, and speed the transition to Iraqiself-reliance.And Secretary Rice will soon appoint a reconstructioncoordinator in Baghdad to ensure better results for economic assistancebeing spent in Iraq.
As we make these changes, we will continue to pursue al Qaeda and foreignfighters. Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq. Its home base is AnbarProvince. Al Qaeda has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraqoutside the capital. A captured al Qaeda document describes theterrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. Thiswould bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy,building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the UnitedStates at home and abroad.
Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders,and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local triballeaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda. And as aresult, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a seriousblow to the terrorists. So I have given orders to increase American forcesin Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will work with Iraqi andtribal forces to keep up the pressure on the terrorists. America's men andwomen in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan -- and wewill not allow them to re-establish it in Iraq.
Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity andstabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This beginswith addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terroristsand insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran isproviding material support for attacks on American troops. We will disruptthe attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iranand Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providingadvanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.
We're also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protectAmerican interests in the Middle East.I recently ordered the deploymentof an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expandintelligence-sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure ourfriends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraqto help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work withothers to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating theregion.
We will use America's full diplomatic resources to rally support for Iraqfrom nations throughout the Middle East. Countries like Saudi Arabia,Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf States need to understand that an Americandefeat in Iraq would create a new sanctuary for extremists and a strategicthreat to their survival. These nations have a stake in a successful Iraqthat is at peace with its neighbors, and they must step up their supportfor Iraq's unity government. We endorse the Iraqi government's call tofinalize an International Compact that will bring new economic assistancein exchange for greater economic reform. And on Friday, Secretary Ricewill leave for the region, to build support for Iraq and continue theurgent diplomacy required to help bring peace to the Middle East.
The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than amilitary conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the otherside are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared theirintention to destroy our way of life. In the long run, the most realisticway to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful alternative tothe hateful ideology of the enemy, by advancing liberty across a troubledregion. It is in the interests of the United States to stand with thebrave men and women who are risking their lives to claim their freedom, andto help them as they work to raise up just and hopeful societies across theMiddle East.
From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian Territories, millions ofordinary people are sick of the violence, and want a future of peace andopportunity for their children. And they are looking at Iraq.They wantto know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country to theextremists, or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the choice forfreedom?
The changes I have outlined tonight are aimed at ensuring the survival of ayoung democracy that is fighting for its life in a part of the world ofenormous importance to American security. Let me be clear: The terroristsand insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, and they will make the yearahead bloody and violent. Even if our new strategy works exactly asplanned, deadly acts of violence will continue -- and we must expect moreIraqi and American casualties.The question is whether our new strategywill bring us closer to success. I believe that it will.
Victory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship. Butvictory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world -- a functioningdemocracy that polices its territory, upholds the rule of law, respectsfundamental human liberties, and answers to its people. A democratic Iraqwill not be perfect. But it will be a country that fights terroristsinstead of harboring them -- and it will help bring a future of peace andsecurity for our children and our grandchildren.
This new approach comes after consultations with Congress about thedifferent courses we could take in Iraq. Many are concerned that theIraqis are becoming too dependent on the United States, and therefore, ourpolicy should focus on protecting Iraq's borders and hunting down al Qaeda. Their solution is to scale back America's efforts in Baghdad -- orannounce the phased withdrawal of our combat forces. We carefullyconsidered these proposals. And we concluded that to step back now wouldforce a collapse of the Iraqi government, tear the country apart, andresult in mass killings on an unimaginable scale. Such a scenario wouldresult in our troops being forced to stay in Iraq even longer, and confrontan enemy that is even more lethal. If we increase our support at thiscrucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, wecan hasten the day our troops begin coming home.
In the days ahead, my national security team will fully brief Congress onour new strategy. If members have improvements that can be made, we willmake them. If circumstances change, we will adjust. Honorable people havedifferent views, and they will voice their criticisms.It is fair to holdour views up to scrutiny. And all involved have a responsibility toexplain how the path they propose would be more likely to succeed.
Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key members ofCongress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that will help uscome together across party lines to win the war on terror. This group willmeet regularly with me and my administration; it will help strengthen ourrelationship with Congress. We can begin by working together to increasethe size of the active Army and Marine Corps, so that America has the ArmedForces we need for the 21st century. We also need to examine ways tomobilize talented American civilians to deploy overseas, where they canhelp build democratic institutions in communities and nations recoveringfrom war and tyranny.
In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to haveextraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defendus. These young Americans understand that our cause in Iraq is noble andnecessary -- and that the advance of freedom is the calling of our time. They serve far from their families, who make the quiet sacrifices of lonelyholidays and empty chairs at the dinner table.They have watched theircomrades give their lives to ensure our liberty. We mourn the loss ofevery fallen American -- and we owe it to them to build a future worthy oftheir sacrifice.
Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice, andresolve. It can be tempting to think that America can put aside theburdens of freedom. Yet times of testing reveal the character of a nation. And throughout our history, Americans have always defied the pessimistsand seen our faith in freedom redeemed. Now America is engaged in a newstruggle that will set the course for a new century. We can, and we will,prevail.
We go forward with trust that the Author of Liberty will guide us throughthese trying hours. Thank you and good night.
END 9:21 P.M. EST
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