Bush: Do Not Give Up on This Fight for Freedom
In a nationally televised address on Sunday, President Bush assured the nation of the hope in battling for freedom in Iraq, asking the American people not to give up on this fight.
WASHINGTON – In a nationally televised address on Sunday, President Bush assured the nation of the hope in battling for freedom in Iraq, asking the American people not to give up on this fight.
"For every scene of destruction in Iraq, there are more scenes of rebuilding and hope," said Bush in his first Oval Office address since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. "For every life lost, there are countless more lives reclaimed. And for every terrorist working to stop freedom in Iraq, there are many more Iraqis and Americans working to defeat them.
"My fellow citizens: not only can we win the war in Iraq – we are winning the war in Iraq."
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Iraq just came out of its historic parliamentary elections on Thursday where there was little violence and nearly 11 million Iraqis with purple-inked fingers.
Bush called Thursday "a landmark day in the history of liberty" as millions of Iraqis around the world had participated in electing the first full-term parliament since the 2003 invasion.
"This election will not mean the end of violence. But it is the beginning of something new: constitutional democracy at the heart of the Middle East," said Bush.
As the votes are being tallied with results expected in a couple of weeks, Michael Cromartie, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said he was "optimistic" about the election.
"I think there's real hope and possibilities in Iraq," he told The Christian Post on Saturday. "The culture of Iraq has been largely Muslim for some time but with the fall of Saddam Hussein, there are real possibilities for new understandings of what a society that's largely Islamic is and should be. And I think the elections give us a real indication that those who said that people would not respond to democratic rule of law are mistaken, and the enthusiastic turnout for elections is one indication of that."
In his address, Bush commended all those who took part in the "achievement" of the election, but reminded the American people of the work still yet to be done.
"There is more testing and sacrifice before us," he said.
Bush took responsibility for mistakes in Iraq, which drew praise from both Democrats and Republicans.
"I know that some of my decisions have led to terrible loss - and not one of those decisions has been taken lightly," he said.
While also acknowledging those who disagree with Bush's decision, he asked for the patience of the American people in this battle for freedom.
"I do not expect you to support everything I do, but tonight I have a request: do not give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), stated, "You cannot have a democracy where you have militias," according to CNN. But he added, "There's hope now where there was no hope before."
Calling the improvement of religious freedom and human rights in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein "one of the uncovered stories in the national media," Cromartie noted," While there are still problems in Iraq, there was simply no religious freedom and no human rights under Saddam.
"I can't predict anything except one has to be hopeful when societies are opened up to writing their own constitutions and holding their own elections."
Bush closed his address on a note of hope for the Christmas season with words from a Christmas carol written during the Civil War.
"God is not dead, nor [does] He sleep; the Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on Earth, good-will to men."
