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Our goal is to defend the American people, and to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and to liberate the Iraqi people. Coalition military operations are focused on achieving several specific objectives: to end the regime of Saddam Hussein by striking with force on a scope and scale that makes clear to Iraqis that he and his regime are finished. Next, to identify, isolate and eventually eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, production capabilities, and distribution networks. Third, to search for, capture, drive out terrorists who have found safe harbor in Iraq. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can find related to terrorist networks in Iraq and beyond. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can find related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction activity. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian relief, food and medicine to the displaced and to the many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people, and which they will need to develop their country after decades of neglect by the Iraqi regime. And last, to help the Iraqi people create the conditions for a rapid transition to a representative self-government that is not a threat to its neighbors and is committed to ensuring the territorial integrity of that country.
Torie Clark, March 29:
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MS. CLARKE: (In progress.) Good afternoon everybody. Significant progress continues in the coalition campaign in Iraq. Let me take just a couple of minutes to remind everyone of the eight mission objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as Secretary Rumsfeld described just a week ago.
First, end the regime of Saddam Hussein; second, capture or drive out terrorists sheltered in Iraq; third, collect intelligence on terrorist networks; fourth, collect intelligence on Iraq's illicit weapons-of-mass-destruction activity; five, destroy the weapons of mass destruction, the systems and the facilities; sixth, secure Iraq's oil fields and natural resources for the Iraqi people; seven, end the sanctions and immediately deliver humanitarian relief; and the final objective, to help the Iraqi people transition to a non-threatening, representative form of self-government that preserves the territorial integrity of Iraq.