The United States of America faithfully pledges to restore Iraq's sovereignty on—or even before—this date. That is our Nation's bond.


epublic of Iraq will be the focus of many things for many people in the coming months and years. So much is at stake for both the foes and the friends of human freedoms.

Strategically placed geographically and in time, what happens in Iraq will determine whether despotism and terror retain their grips on the region and the world for another fifty years, or are fought back, crushed and finally extinguished—buried as deeply in the ground as nationalist socialism was over a half century ago.

To the foes of liberty, Iraq is their last chance to cripple the resolve of the world's democracies, reeling them away one by one from any hope of ever dissolving in this century the highest concentrations of tyranny, war, and despair seen on our planet since Nazi storm troopers spread a reign of terror across another entire continent and threatened to engulf the rest of the world with it. Meeting no real resistance from the then much stronger powers surrounding them, until it was nearly too late, the Nazis were allowed to take over country after country either internally or by direct invasion, successfully export their seductive ideals as far away as Imperial Japan, and form with such other dictatorships an axis bent on enslaving the world under its sole, absolute power.

To the friends of liberty, Iraq is seen as the best chance the world will ever have for some time to help the peoples of that region establish, right in the heart of the Middle East, their first-ever democracy—a fledgling one that will grow only with the support of other democracies until it can stand on its own. Once solidly in place, a democratic Iraq and its people will become much more prosperous than any of its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia. Regionally, it will be a much stronger political and economic force than it ever was, standing in stark contrast to those despotic regimes that now aid and abet terrorist organizations, and shaping the region's future for the betterment of all its peoples.

The only hope Iraq has of establishing true democracy for itself is our proving to the Iraqi people that the coalition will keep its word to them and will faithfully stand alongside them no matter what the increasingly desperate foes of liberty throw our way.

Iraq's enemies can be counted on to step up their attacks before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty in an attempt to delay or stop it. They will try to hit any targets they believe will force us to break our word or cause the Iraqi people to retreat. They have already seen how certain politicians in this country, like Democratic Senator Joeseph R. Biden, Jr., prove useful to them in that first regard. They see such politicians consistently standing for a much weaker international response to their aggressions, and hope to supply these helpful tools with enough political ammunition back home—in the form of horrifying and gruesome images on CNN et al.—to further the thugs and terrorists' aims in Iraq. They also know the people of Iraq are made of stronger stuff, not acquiescing when attacked, with many of the fathers, sons, brothers, nephews, and uncles of the Iraqi policemen injured or killed in those attacks bravely volunteering to take their place protecting all Iraqis. According to one recruit, "It's worth the danger because of the love for our country."

Iraq's friends are ensuring that this patriot and all others willing to defend their country's newfound freedoms are completely able to do so. We will also continue to support and help train the Iraqi Civilian Defense Corps after the transfer of sovereignty. The trust we have built between us and the Iraqi people in those efforts has been vital to their success. It is critical that we further cement that trust by doing whatever it takes to keep our word and place Iraq's sovereignty in the hands of the Iraqi people themselves on or before June 30.

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