From the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, President George W. Bush said: “The terrorists affiliated with or inspired by al Qaeda are the smallest, but most lethal group. They are led by a brutal terrorist named Zarqawi. He’s al Qaeda’s chief operations officer in Iraq. He has stated his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. The terrorists have ambitions; they have goals. They want to stop the advance of freedom in Iraq. They want to make Iraq what Afghanistan was under the Taliban — a safe haven from which they can plot attacks against our people. There is no limit to their brutality. They kill the innocent to achieve their aims. This is an enemy without conscience — and against such enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept anything less than complete victory.”
– Transcript, “President Discusses Iraqi Elections, Victory in the War on Terror,” George W. Bush – White House Archives online, Accessed on 9/2/2016