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For Immediate Release
April 29, 2003

Global Message

Iraqis are moving toward democracy and embracing the responsibilities of active citizenship. Every day, life in Iraq improves as Coalition troops work to secure unsafe areas and bring food and medical care to those in need.

The work of building a new Iraq will take time. That nation is recovering not just from weeks of conflict, but from decades of totalitarian rule.

We are dispatching teams across Iraq to assess the critical needs of the Iraqi people. We're clearing land mines and working to recover artifacts looted from the National Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad.

Iraqi citizens are working closely with Coalition troops to restore order to their cities and improve the life of their nation.

Our engineers are meeting with Iraqi engineers, more Iraqis are getting the electricity they need, and we're working to make Iraq's drinking water clean and dependable.

We're working to give every Iraqi access to immunizations and emergency treatment, and giving health care to sick children and pregnant women.

Because Iraq is now free, economic sanctions are pointless. It is time for the United Nations to lift the sanctions so the Iraqi people can use some resources to build their own prosperity.

As freedom takes hold, the Iraqi people will choose their own leaders and government. America has no intention of imposing our form of government or our culture. Yet we will ensure that all Iraqis have a voice in the new government and all citizens have their rights protected.

Iraq can be an example of peace and prosperity and freedom to the entire Middle East. It will be a hard journey, but Iraq will have a steady friend in the American people.