For Immediate Release
September 30, 2004

Global Message

From remarks by Secretary of State Powell in an interview with Al Jazeera, 9/29/04

The United States government knows that the situation in Iraq is tough, but there is no pessimism: It is clear the insurgency will be defeated and that elections will happen because not only the United States wants this, but the Iraqis want this.

America will not be deterred from achieving the goal of eliminating a terrible dictatorship and putting in place a democracy.

Some people are causing trouble because they don't want the Iraqi people to be free, don't want them to vote, or to choose their own leaders. They want the Iraqi people to have a totalitarian regime again. This has to be resisted, not just by the coalition, but by the whole civilized world.

There are Iraqi leaders, Iraqi soldiers, and Iraqi policemen who are coming out every day to try to take their country back from terrorists and individuals who want to go back to the past.

The insurgents and terrorists will be defeated and the Iraqi people will have the democracy they deserve and want.

The elections will happen in January of next year because the date was set by the Iraqi Interim Government and was called for by the United Nations resolution.

The world should do everything possible to improve the security situation in Iraq so that all Iraqis have a chance to vote.