Bush told a gathering in Philadelphia World Affairs Council that Iraqis faced the challenge of maintaining their newfound freedoms in a tough neighbourhood.
Iraq’s neighbour to the east, Iran, is actively working to undermine a free Iraq, Bush said.
The U.S. President in unusually harsh language said that Tehran was opposed to democracy prevailing in Iraq. Iran doesn’t want democracy in Iraq to succeed because a free Iraq threatens the legitimacy of Iran’s oppressive theocracy.
The vast majority of Iraqis do not want to live under an Iranian-style theocracy, Bush said, adding that the U.S. would stand with the Iraqi people against such a threat.
Today the call of liberty is being heard in Baghdad, in Basra and other Iraqi cities, and its sound is echoing across the broader Middle East. From Damascus to Tehran, people hear it and they know it means something. It means that the days of tyranny and terror are ending and a new day of hope and freedom is dawning, the U.S. President added.
