Mr. Speaker, yesterday, President Bush addressed supporters of the National Endowment for Democracy about the War on Terrorism. As he spoke at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center about our country's continued efforts to spread…
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, President Bush addressed supporters of the National Endowment for Democracy about the War on Terrorism. As he spoke at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center about our country's continued efforts to spread democracy and defeat terrorism around the globe, I was reminded of the tremendous parallels between the 40th and 43rd Presidents of the United States.
Over 20 years ago, Ronald Reagan advanced the idea of peace through strength. Today, we are witnessing the greatest spread of freedom in the history of the world. I am grateful for President Bush's leadership and his continued commitment to turning Ronald Regan's vision into a reality.
Please see the following copy of President Bush's speech.
The President: Thank you all. Thank you all. Please be
seated. Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm honored once
again to be with the supporters of the National Endowment for
Democracy. Since the day President Ronald Reagan set out the
vision for this Endowment, the world has seen the swiftest
advance of democratic institutions in history. And Americans
are proud to have played our role in this great story.
Our nation stood guard on tense borders; we spoke for the
rights of dissidents and the hopes of exile; we aided the
rise of new democracies on the ruins of tyranny. And all the
cost and sacrifice of that struggle has been worth it,
because, from Latin America to Europe to Asia, we've gained
the peace that freedom brings.
In this new century, freedom is once again assaulted by
enemies determined to roll back generations of democratic
progress. Once again, we're responding to a global campaign
of fear with a global campaign of freedom. And once again, we
will see freedom's victory.
Vin, I want to thank you for inviting me back. And thank
you for the short introduction. I appreciate Carl Gershman. I
want to welcome former Congressman Dick Gephardt, who is a
board member of the National Endowment for Democracy. It's
good to see you, Dick. And I appreciate Chris Cox, who is the
Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and
a board member for the National Endowment of Democracy, for
being here, as well. I want to thank all the other board
members.
I appreciate the Secretary of State, Condi Rice, who has
joined us--alongside her, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld.
Thank you all for being here. I'm proud, as well, that the
newly sworn-in Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the first Marine
ever to hold that position, is with us today--General Peter
Pace. I thank the members of the Diplomatic Corps who are
here, as well.
Recently our country observed the fourth anniversary of a
great evil, and looked back on a great turning point in our
history. We still remember a proud city covered in smoke and
ashes, a fire across the Potomac, and passengers who spent
their final moments on Earth fighting the enemy. We still
remember the men who rejoiced in every death, and Americans
in uniform rising to duty. And we remember the calling that
came to us on that day, and continues to this hour: We will
confront this mortal danger to all humanity. We will not
tire, or rest, until the war on terror is won.
The images and experience of September the 11th are unique
for Americans. Yet the evil of that morning has reappeared on
other days, in other places--in Mombasa, and Casablanca, and
Riyadh, and Jakarta, and Istanbul, and Madrid, and Beslan,
and Taba, and Netanya, and Baghdad, and elsewhere. In the
past few months, we've seen a new terror offensive with
attacks on London, and Sharm el-Sheikh, and a deadly bombing
in Bali once again. All these separate images of destruction
and suffering that we see on the news can seem like random
and isolated acts of madness; innocent men and women and
children have died simply because they boarded the wrong
train, or worked in the wrong building, or checked into the
wrong hotel. Yet while the killers choose their victims
indiscriminately, their attacks serve a clear and focused
ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not
insane.
Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant
Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called,
this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam.
This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent,
political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and
subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that
denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists
distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder
against Christians and Jews and Hindus--and also against
Muslims from other traditions, who they regard as heretics.
Many militants are part of global, borderless terrorist
organizations like al Qaeda, which spreads propaganda, and
provides financing and technical assistance to local
extremists, and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like
September the 11th. Other militants are found in regional
groups, often associated with al Qaeda--paramilitary
insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia,
and the Philippines, and Pakistan, and Chechnya, and Kashmir,
and Algeria. Still others spring up in local cells, inspired
by Islamic radicalism, but not centrally directed. Islamic
radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches
than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives,
fighting on scattered battlefields, share a similar ideology
and vision for our world.
We know the vision of the radicals because they've openly
stated it--in videos, and audiotapes, and letters, and
declarations, and websites. First, these extremists want to
end American and Western influence in the broader Middle
East, because we stand for democracy and peace, and stand in
the way of their ambitions. Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin
Laden, has called on Muslims to dedicate, quote, their
``resources, sons and money to driving the infidels out of
their lands.'' Their tactic to meet this goal has been
consistent for a quarter-century: They hit us, and expect us
to run. They want us to repeat the sad history of Beirut in
1983, and Mogadishu in 1993--only this time on a larger
scale, with greater consequences.
Second, the militant network wants to use the vacuum
created by an American retreat to gain control of a country,
a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war
against non-radical Muslim governments. Over the past few
decades, radicals have specifically targeted Egypt, and Saudi
Arabia, and Pakistan, and Jordan for potential takeover. They
achieved their goal, for a time, in Afghanistan. Now they've
set their sights on Iraq. Bin Laden has stated: ``The whole
world is watching this war and the two adversaries. It's
either victory and glory, or misery and humiliation.'' The
terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war
against humanity. And we must recognize Iraq as the
central front in our war on terror.
Third, the militants believe that controlling one country
will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all
moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical
Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. With
greater economic and military and political power, the
terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to
develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to
intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and to
blackmail our government into isolation.
Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical
or extreme. Well, they are fanatical and extreme--and they
should not be dismissed. Our enemy is utterly committed. As
Zarqawi has vowed, ``We will either achieve victory over the
human race or
we will pass to the eternal life.'' And the civilized world
knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler
to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and
genocide before leaving the stage of history. Evil men,
obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience, must be
taken very seriously--and we must stop them before their
crimes can multiply.
Defeating the militant network is difficult, because it
thrives, like a parasite, on the suffering and frustration of
others. The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a
culture of victimization, in which someone else is always to
blame and violence is always the solution. They exploit
resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting
them through radical mosques as the pawns of terror. And they
exploit modern technology to multiply their destructive
power. Instead of attending faraway training camps, recruits
can now access online training libraries to learn how to
build a roadside bomb, or fire a rocket-propelled grenade--
and this further spreads the threat of violence, even within
peaceful democratic societies.
The influence of Islamic radicalism is also magnified by
helpers and enablers. They have been sheltered by
authoritarian regimes, allies of convenience like Syria and
Iran, that share the goal of hurting America and moderate
Muslim governments, and use terrorist propaganda to blame
their own failures on the West and America, and on the Jews.
These radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted
charities, which direct money to terrorist activity. They're
strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of
radical, intolerant versions of Islam in unstable parts of
the world. The militants are aided, as well, by elements of
the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism,
that feed conspiracy theories and speak of a so-called
American ``war on Islam''--with seldom a word about American
action to protect Muslims in Afghanistan, and Bosnia,
Somalia, Kosovo, Kuwait, and Iraq.
Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened
by the actions of our coalition in Iraq, claiming that our
presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the
rage of radicals. I would remind them that we were not in
Iraq on September the 11th, 2001--and al Qaeda attacked us
anyway. The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an
issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse.
The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi
Freedom, and yet the militants killed more than 180 Russian
schoolchildren in Beslan.
Over the years these extremists have used a litany of
excuses for violence--the Israeli presence on the West Bank,
or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, or the defeat
of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In
fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be
soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with
inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and
intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of
the killers--and no concession, bribe, or act of
appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder.
On the contrary: They target nations whose behavior they
believe they can change through violence. Against such an
enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never
back down, never give in, and never accept anything less than
complete victory.
The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great
challenge of our new century. Yet, in many ways, this fight
resembles the struggle against communism in the last century.
Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is
elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to
speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is
to tell Muslims, quote, ``what is good for them and what is
not.'' And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege
considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers
and suicide bombers. He assures them that his--that this is
the road to paradise--though he never offers to go along for
the ride.
Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that
innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political
vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for
human life. We've seen it in the murders of Daniel Pearl,
Nicholas Berg, and Margaret Hassan, and many others. In a
courtroom in the Netherlands, the killer of Theo Van Gogh
turned to the victim's grieving mother and said, ``I do not
feel your pain--because I believe you are an infidel.'' And
in spite of this veneer of religious rhetoric, most of the
victims claimed by the militants are fellow Muslims.
When 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing, or Iraqi
teachers are executed at their school, or hospital workers
are killed caring for the wounded, this is murder, pure and
simple--the total rejection of justice and honor and morality
and religion. These militants are not just the enemies of
America, or the enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of
Islam and the enemies of humanity. We have seen this kind of
shameless cruelty before, in the heartless zealotry that led
to the gulags, and the Cultural Revolution, and the killing
fields.
Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues
totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved
party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies.
In truth they have endless ambitions of imperial domination,
and they wish to make everyone powerless except themselves.
Under their rule, they have banned books, and desecrated
historical monuments, and brutalized women. They seek to end
dissent in every form, and to control every aspect of life,
and to rule the soul, itself. While promising a future of
justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing for a
future of oppression and misery.
Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive
of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in
liberty are weak and decadent. Zarqawi has said that
Americans are, quote, ``the most cowardly of God's
creatures.'' But let's be clear: It is cowardice that seeks
to kill children and the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the
throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a
mosque. It is courage that liberated more than 50 million
people. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against
the enemies of a rising* * *.
And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism,
contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By
fearing freedom--by distrusting human creativity, and
punishing change, and limiting the contributions of half the
population--this ideology undermines the very qualities that
make human progress possible, and human societies successful.
The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the
weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim
vision is defined by a warped image of the past--a
declaration of war on the idea of progress, itself. And
whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the
outcome is not in doubt: Those who despise freedom and
progress have condemned themselves to isolation, decline,
and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future,
free peoples will own the future.
We didn't ask for this global struggle, but we're answering
history's call with confidence, and a comprehensive strategy.
Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience,
constant pressure, and strong partners in Europe, the Middle
East, North Africa, Asia and beyond. Working with these
partners, we're disrupting militant conspiracies, destroying
their ability to make war, and working to give millions in a
troubled region of the world a hopeful alternative to
resentment and violence.
First, we're determined to prevent the attacks of terrorist
networks before they occur. We're reorganizing our government
to give this nation a broad and coordinated homeland defense.
We're reforming our intelligence agencies for the incredibly
difficult task of tracking enemy activity, based on
information that often comes in small fragments from widely
scattered sources, here and abroad. We're acting, along with
the governments from many countries, to destroy the terrorist
networks and incapacitate their leaders. Together, we've
killed or captured nearly all of those directly responsible
for the September the 11th attacks; as well as some of bin
Laden's most senior deputies; al Qaeda managers and
operatives in more than 24 countries; the mastermind of the
USS Cole bombing, who was chief of al Qaeda operations in the
Persian Gulf; the mastermind of the Jakarta and the first
Bali bombings; a senior Zarqawi terrorist planner, who was
planning attacks in Turkey; and many of al Qaeda's senior
leaders in Saudi Arabia.
Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted
at least ten serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September
the 11th, including three al Qaeda plots to attack inside the
United States. We've stopped at least five more al Qaeda
efforts to case targets in the United States, or infiltrate
operatives into our country. Because of this steady progress,
the enemy is wounded--but the enemy is still capable of
global operations. Our commitment is clear: We will not
relent until the organized international terror networks are
exposed and broken, and their leaders held to account for
their acts of murder.
Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass
destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies
who would use them without hesitation. The United States,
working with Great Britain, Pakistan, and other nations, has
exposed and disrupted a major black-market operation in
nuclear technology led by A.Q. Khan. Libya has abandoned its
chemical and nuclear weapons programs, as well as long-range
ballistic missiles. And in the last year, America and our
partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative have
stopped more than a dozen shipments of suspected weapons
technology, including equipment for Iran's ballistic missile
program.
This progress has reduced the danger to free nations, but
has not removed it. Evil men who want to use horrendous
weapons against us are working in deadly earnest to gain
them. And we're working urgently to keep weapons of mass
destruction out of their hands.
Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support
and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. State sponsors like Syria
and Iran have a long history of collaboration with
terrorists, and they deserve no patience from the victims of
terror. The United States makes no distinction between those
who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor
them, because they're equally as guilty of murder. Any
government that chooses to be an ally of terror has also
chosen to be an enemy of civilization. And the civilized
world must hold those regimes to account.
Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of
any nation, which they
would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror. For
this reason, we're fighting beside our Afghan partners
against remnants of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies.
For this reason, we're working with President Musharraf to
oppose and isolate the militants in Pakistan. And for this
reason, we're fighting the regime remnants and terrorists in
Iraq. The terrorist goal is to overthrow a rising democracy,
claim a strategic country as a haven for terror, destabilize
the Middle East, and strike America and other free nations
with ever-increasing violence. Our goal is to defeat the
terrorists and their allies at the heart of their power--and
so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq.
Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving
forward with a comprehensive, specific military plan. Area by
area, city by city, we're conducting offensive operations to
clear out enemy forces, and leaving behind Iraqi units to
prevent the enemy from returning. Within these areas, we're
working for tangible improvements in the lives of Iraqi
citizens. And we're aiding the rise of an elected government
that unites the Iraqi people against extremism and violence.
This work involves great risk for Iraqis, and for Americans
and coalition forces. Wars are not won without sacrifice--and
this war will require more sacrifice, more time, and more
resolve.
The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we've ever faced.
They're unconstrained by any notion of our common humanity,
or by the rules of warfare. No one should underestimate the
difficulties ahead, nor should they overlook the advantages
we bring to this fight.
Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-
defeating pessimism. It is not justified. With every random
bombing and with every funeral of a child, it becomes more
clear that the extremists are not patriots, or resistance
fighters--they are murderers at war with the Iraqi people,
themselves.
In contrast, the elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be
strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of
history, Iraq has made incredible political progress--from
tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the writing
of a constitution, in the space of two-and-a-half years. With
our help, the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and
new confidence with every passing month. At the time of our
Fallujah operations 11 months ago, there were only a few
Iraqi army battalions in combat. Today there are more than 80
Iraqi army battalions fighting the insurgency alongside our
forces. Progress isn't easy, but it is steady. And no fair-
minded person should ignore, deny, or dismiss the
achievements of the Iraqi people.
Some observers question the durability of democracy in
Iraq. They underestimate the power and appeal of freedom.
We've heard it suggested that Iraq's democracy must be on
shaky ground because Iraqis are arguing with each other. But
that's the essence of democracy: making your case, debating
with those who you disagree--who disagree, building consensus
by persuasion, and answering to the will of the people. We've
heard it said that the Shia, Sunnis and Kurds of Iraq are too
divided to form a lasting democracy. In fact, democratic
federalism is the best hope for unifying a diverse
population, because a federal constitutional system respects
the rights and religious traditions of all citizens, while
giving all minorities, including the Sunnis, a stake and a
voice in the future of their country. It is true that the
seeds of freedom have only recently been planted in Iraq--but
democracy, when it grows, is not a fragile flower; it is a
healthy, sturdy tree.
As Americans, we believe that people everywhere--
everywhere--prefer freedom to slavery, and that liberty, once
chosen, improves the lives of all. And so we're confident, as
our coalition and the Iraqi people each do their part, Iraqi
democracy will succeed.
Some observers also claim that America would be better off
by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a
dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the
United States and other free nations be more safe, or less
safe, with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its
people, and its resources? Having removed a dictator who
hated free peoples, we will not stand by as a new set of
killers, dedicated to the destruction of our own country,
seizes control of Iraq by violence.
There's always a temptation, in the middle of a long
struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and
problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of
fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant
world, but it's not the world we live in. The enemy is never
tired, never sated, never content with yesterday's brutality.
This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as
an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace
without victory. We will keep our nerve and we will win that
victory.
The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is
to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and
resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle
East. This is a difficult and long-term project, yet there's
no alternative to it. Our future and the future of that
region are linked. If the broader Middle East is left to grow
in bitterness, if countries remain in misery, while radicals
stir the resentments of millions, then that part of the world
will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger, and
for our generation and the next. If the peoples of that
region are permitted to choose their own destiny, and advance
by their own energy and by their participation as free men
and women, then the extremists will be marginalized, and the
flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will
slow, and eventually end. By standing for the hope and
freedom of others, we make our own freedom more secure.
America is making this stand in practical ways. We're
encouraging our friends in the Middle East, including Egypt
and Saudi Arabia, to take the path of reform, to strengthen
their own societies in the fight against terror by respecting
the rights and choices of their own people. We're standing
with dissidents and exiles against oppressive regimes,
because we know that the dissidents of today will be the
democratic leaders of tomorrow. We're making our case through
public diplomacy, stating clearly and confidently our belief
in self-determination, and the rule of law, and religious
freedom, and equal rights for women, beliefs that are right
and true in every land, and in every culture.
As we do our part to confront radicalism, we know that the
most vital work will be done within the Islamic world,
itself. And this work has begun. Many Muslim scholars have
already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing Chapter 5,
Verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent
human being is like killing all humanity, and saving the life
of one person is like saving all of humanity. After the
attacks in London on July the 7th, an imam in the United Arab
Emirates declared, ``Whoever does such a thing is not a
Muslim, nor a religious person.'' The time has come for all
responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology
that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles a noble
faith.
Many people of the Muslim faith are proving their
commitment at great personal risk. Everywhere we have engaged
the fight against extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and
joined the fight, becoming partners in a vital cause. Afghan
troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers
are sacrificing to defeat al Qaeda in their own country.
These brave citizens know the stakes--the survival of their
own liberty, the future of their own region, the justice and
humanity of their own tradition--and that the United States
of America is proud to stand beside them.
With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a
global ideological struggle, our time in history will be
remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And
yet the fight we have joined is also the current expression
of an ancient struggle between those who put their faith in
dictators and those who put their faith in the people.
Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always
claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand
vision--and they end up alienating decent people across the
globe. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that
regimented societies are strong and pure--until those
societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and
would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women
are weak and decadent--until the day that free men and women
defeat them.
We don't know the course of our own struggle--the course
our own struggle will take--or the sacrifices that might lie
ahead. We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is
worth our sacrifice. We do know the love of freedom is the
mightiest force of history. And we do know the cause of
freedom will once again prevail.
May God bless you.