Our gratitude to the American people is immense and we should never be embarrassed to express it.

We must acknowledge that for scores of years the Iraqis have offered martyrs and victims but have not been able to change the regime.

As president of Iraq, I shall strive to represent the diversity of a country that has too often in the past denied difference.

Wishful thinking is one thing, and reality another.

Rather, it is through conciliation and compromise that we are building a fair Iraq, a just state for all its peoples.

I believe the democratic transformation in Iraq will lead to change in Middle East.

The Kurdish people welcome the no-fly zone protection, contrary to the Iraqi regime that is against it.