Jalal Talabani Quotations

More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris, and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes.

Of course, some opposition members who failed in the elections, or some who did not take part in the elections must have something to say. They cannot admit the facts and the realities, but these are the facts and the realities.

No country, including the US, would dare stop Baghdad from approaching Tehran since Iraq is an independent state,

Now we are living in a country with a very democratic climate.

No political decision to eliminate Saddam Hussein has been taken and the judiciary is independent.

I have good news for the Iraqi people on this historic day. An agreement has been reached on amendments to the draft constitution,

If there would be a necessity, why not? The Americans have in many places military bases.

I did not say that the British troops will pull out because I am not the commander-in-chief of the British military,

Lose in Iraq and then all of the gains that democrats and dissidents have made across a vast swathe of the Islamic world, not just the Middle East, will be lost,

Mr. President, you are a visionary, great statesman. We salute you. We are grateful to you. We'll never forget what you have done for our people.

Many countries in the world have such council as it is an advisory one, which studies issues and submit its suggestions and recommendations.

I am sure you will turn this sadness and agony into a feeling of hatred toward the killers,

Furthermore, the Iraqis do not want to be more Palestinians than the Palestinians themselves,

I explained to the United States officials here that the Iraqi opposition, Kurds included ... have tens of thousands of armed people,

For those who call for an immediate pull-out of American troops, we say that we honor the sacrifices the United States has made,

I expected that one day when Iraq becomes a country where citizens are equal that a Kurd would be a president, and why not?

I believe that the reaction should be one of public support and public welcome. Even the inhabitants complained and are annoyed by the delinquent operations.

I believe that we are about to face a new strategy of the neighboring countries, especially by the brothers who support Iraq and the Iraqi people.

But those who are pro-Saddam are very difficult to reach agreement with, because they are still dreaming to bring back the dictatorship, which is of course refused by the big majority of the Iraqi people.

But, we must understand this reality-the leadership of any people is responsible for their own policy, and must not put responsibility on the shoulders of others.

but everybody had reservations. This is part of democracy. If the people do not approve it, we will draft another constitution.

build the new Iraqi state on democracy and freedom.

Today, Iraq is facing one of the most brutal campaigns of terror at the hands of the forces of darkness,

We are finding new mass graves every day. Saddam Hussein committed a crime by using chemical weapons... He waged two wars on Iran and Kuwait. He murdered and executed hundreds and hundreds of Iraqis.

We support the principle of democratic change, even with American assistance.

Huge efforts were exerted, and principal issues have been settled, but this crucial project needs closer examination, and therefore, more time,

he was able to take important confessions from Saddam Hussein and he has signed these confessions and there is video and audio for these confessions.

He killed people to protect them, ... He put hundreds of thousands of people in mass graves to protect Iraq.

I am a man of principles. I cannot forego my principles for the sake of my post. If there is a clash between the post and the principles, I will give up the post and keep the principles,

I am here to further develop the history-honored relations between the two countries. I also come to thank the Iranian government and nation for their sincere help to Iraq,

If those who call themselves Iraqi resistance want to make contact with me, I will welcome them. I want to listen to all Iraqis.

If those who call themselves the Iraqi resistance desired to contact me, I would welcome them. I would not refuse to meet any Iraqi who wants to meet me. But of course that does not mean I will accept what he says.

He was always planning to have different places to hide himself from, from the people. Iraq is a wide country. You have many places that some person can hide themselves for awhile. But I don't think he will be able to hide himself forever.

He -- with two vice presidents and with the prime minister and his deputies and with the speaker of the house -- they are forming a collective leadership,

God willing, the draft will be ready by tomorrow as many of the contentious issues have already been resolved,

There are no obstacles but discussions on federalism in the south and the relation between religion and state.

What do you want us to do, go kiss them?

There is no excuse for Arab Sunnis to boycott the vote now that we have responded to all their demands and suggestions,

There is no excuse or justification for the Sunni brothers to boycott after we accepted all their demands and suggestions without changing a letter in them, ... Their task now is to participate with us and vote 'yes' for the constitution, and cooperate with us to fight terrorism and the people who want to destroy the country.

There is no basis for the phantom claims that the Kurds intend to form their own independent state.

My reply was that the Kurdish people welcome the presence of American forces in Kurdistan in order to defend the freedom they enjoy and to prevent being attacked with weapons of mass destruction.

Some of our demands were met so the party has endorsed the constitution and is urging people to vote 'Yes',

stand with the Iraqi people as they move forward with the Democratic process.

I will carry out my duties as head of the presidential council, and I will acknowledge your trust and trust of the Iraqi people, who have freely elected you in our free Iraq,

I will not sign, neither his sentence nor that of anybody else,

My not signing does not mean that I will block the decision of the court,

I swore to respect the Iraqi democratic regime and the Iraqi laws.

I think that the majority of Iraqi people, including some Arab Sunnis, will vote for 'yes' in the referendum.

I think that there is no justification or excuse for the Sunnis to boycott,

I think the future of Iraq will be democratic, pluralistic and federal. After the toppling of the regime there will be a democratic system that will be fair for all its citizens.

It is legitimate for you to think about withdrawing your troops, but it must be done gradually and in consultation with the Iraqi government.

I think a sentence will be passed on Saddam Hussein before my term ends,

Our Sunni Arabs brothers made a big mistake when they boycotted the elections. But they are an important group and we cannot ignore them and therefore they must take part in the democratic process.

I think most of the Arab Sunnis have agreed to this constitution. And those who do not agree with it do not represent the Arab Sunnis,

I wish that all Iraqi Arabs, Kurds and others vote 'Yes' to the draft constitution which represents their ambition to build a democratic, federal, united and independent state,

I will try my best to convince my colleagues that we must have a comprehensive policy towards those who are fighting the regime.

I think the Iraqi Liberation Act, is useful, very important, it's for the first time assuring Iraqi people that America wants to end dictatorship and replace it with a democratic system.

I think the Iraqi minister of human rights wanted to show them which kind of democracy now we have,

I think the majority (of all Iraqis) will vote yes,

It is a historic day. We have closed a sad chapter in the history of the Kurdish people.

I thank Turkish officials for their decision not to send troops to Iraq. Turkey is a friendly country, and I want a new page to be opened between us.

I think, we will be able at the end of this month to replace many units from the allied forces, but we must have a common agreement between your government and our government for the timetable of the removal forces.

I think we will be able to be the model of democracy and prosperity in the Middle East,

Italy did not participate in a war operation,

We need American troops to intimidate our neighbors.

Time and again the U.S. has given the world its most precious resource in the cause of freedom, the lives of its most talented and courageous young men and women.

We have the right to be proud in saying that today was a day of national consensus, ... So congratulations to our people for their constitution.

The presidency and the cabinet must both take part in running the state, like foreign policy and the finance, defense, interior and oil ministries.

We are in desperate need of your experience, investment and your moral support for the effort to fight terrorism.

The American army will be very warmly welcomed in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The aspirations of Sunni Arabs should be met, ... the constitution is to serve everybody and not only one community of the Iraqi society.

We've done our best to dispel Ankara's concerns over Kurdish independence movements.

We have more than 100,000 (Kurdish resistance fighters), and Syria also has tens of thousands. These forces can liberate Iraq with the support of the United States, with cooperation and coordination with American forces.

We need to ignore some petty or nonessential or marginal issues in order to achieve national unity for Iraq, including the unity of the opposition.

We in the Iraqi opposition have a common stand that the opposition forces, assisted by regional and international states including the United States, must undertake comprehensive democratic changes.

Unlike Pakistan, which is a Muslim but not Arab country, Iraq is an active member in the Arab League and committed to the decisions of the Arab summit in Beirut,

We need to unite and maintain peace as this incident can divert Iraq from the constitution to violence,

We are not single people coming to power as individuals. We are representing huge forces of this country.

We have no war among Iraqis, ... We have some thousands criminals who came from outside of the country, fighting against our people, trying to kill civilians and innocent people.

We believe that the United States should coordinate and cooperate with the Iraqi opposition, and must not entertain any idea of making changes behind the opposition's back.

We have to renew ties with Turkey to remove the chill in relations in the past.

We do not have one party which got the majority. We have different groups, different parties.

We hope that by the end of 2006, our security forces are up to the level of taking responsibility from many American troops, with complete agreement with Americans,

We hope that this constitution will be accepted by all Iraqis and that it will be for everybody. We are optimistic ...

we hope the people will accept this constitution, but we don't deny there are some disputes.

will continue to pursue this endeavor to the end.

We must not shy away from this support to eliminate the dictatorship and bring about a democratic, federal, pluralistic rule in Iraq.

We are trying to build - as soon as possible - our military forces.

You and your (Kurdish) brothers are the heroes of liberating Iraq,

We honor the sacrifices the United States has made.

We reached agreement today for parliament to open on March 16.

We want that American forces will be special guidance, not to engage in daily work or operations ... We want Americans to be far from the daily sacrificing. It's our duty to sacrifice for our people and for our country.

We still hope that by bilateral dialogue we see that we can solve this problem,

The only book that cannot be changed is the Koran.

We are not living in a country where a party with a two-vote majority in Parliament can rule - this is not Iraq. If the Shiites and Kurds will cooperate, there will be a majority, but this is not right, and not the correct way to rule the country.

What I stated was that the Kurdish people are ready to welcome American forces in order to protect the Kurdish people in the region.

We on our part have reaffirmed our commitment to the unity, independence, sovereignty and security of Iraq.

Those who think terrorism in Iraq is the result of the presence of multinational forces are wrong,

We should not be hasty regarding the issues and the constitution should not be born crippled, ... We are keen to have an early constitution, but the constitution should be completed in all of its items in a proper manner that appeals to all components of the Iraqi people so that the whole people interact with the whole constitution.

We should respect the demands of the Sunnis because the constitution is not to serve only a certain category of people but for the whole of Iraq,