Washington: ruling out any compromise short of a regime change in Iraq, US President
George Bush has declared that the "day of freedom" was drawing near for
the "oppressed" people of Iraq.
Addressing a group of businessmen at Kennesaw in Georgia on February 20, Bush said
United States has to defend its own security and has a broader cause to liberate the
people of Iraq from a "violent dictator".
"For the oppressed people of iraq, people whose lives we care about, the day of
freedom is drawing near," Bush said.
The Iraqi people today are not treated with dignity, but they have a right to live
in dignity, he added.
A free Iraq, said Bush, can be a source of hope for all the Middle East. Instead of
threatening its neighbours and harbouring terrorists, Iraq can be an example of
progress and prosperity.
"If we liberate the Iraqi people, they can rest assured that we will help them build
a country that is disarmed, peaceful, united and free," he said.
"Our goal is peace. And achieving peace requires resolve and action by free nations.
In a more peaceful world, the American people will not live in fear, and the Iraqi
people will not live in oppression," he said.
The disarmament of Iraq, he said, will also demonstrate that free nations have the
will and resolve to defend peace.
"By defeating this threat, we will show other dictators that the path of aggression
will lead to their own ruin."
PTI
