President Bush, launching a massive media campaign in Iraq, said in a nationally televised address Thursday, "Your nation will soon be free." British ally, Tony Blair assured Iraqis that coalition soldiers are "friends and liberators, not your conquerors."
The separate addresses, taped on Tuesday while Bush and Blair ended their war summit in Northern Ireland, were being aired by the U.S. military as part of a new information program being televised to the Iraqi people.
"Our only enemy is Saddam's brutal regime - and that regime is your enemy as well," Bush said, according to excerpts released jointly by the White House and the prime minister's office.
Blair, in his message for the new station called "Towards Freedom," told Iraqis that the United States and Britain had not wanted war.
"But in refusing to give up his weapons of mass destruction, Saddam gave us no choice but to act. Now that the war has begun, it will be seen through to the end," the prime minister said.
"The goals of our coalition are clear and limited," Bush said. He said they included, ending Saddam's regime, ridding the nation of weapons of mass destruction, providing security, respecting religious traditions, building a representative government and creating a sovereign nation.
"The nightmare that Saddam Hussein has brought to your nation will soon be over," the US leader said in a two-and-a-half minute address. "You deserve to live as free people. And I assure every citizen of Iraq: Your nation will soon be free."
The station will broadcast from a U.S. C-130 Hercules aircraft circling in the skies over Iraq, beaming five hours of programming five days a week to the former Iraqi state TV terrestrial channel, Blair's office said.
The programming will come from the U.S. and British military as well as rebroadcasts from independent news outlets in both countries, the White House said.
Starting Saturday, the US and Britain will also publish a newspaper in southern Iraq, with an initial circulation of 10,000, the White House added. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
