Defending American Lives and Liberty
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush has taken the fight to the terrorists. After September 11, the President put the world on notice that we will hold any person or regime that harbors or supports terrorists as guilty of terrorism as the terrorists themselves.
America will not wait for new threats to grow and fester. We will face new challenges ? swiftly, surely, and with steely resolve. We cannot forget that the terrorists remain determined to kill as many Americans as possible, both abroad and here at home, and would like nothing more than to use the world?s most deadly weapons against us. With such an enemy, no negotiated peace is possible; no policy of containment or deterrence will prove effective.
We will either fight the terrorists abroad, or face the consequences at home. In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone.We must work to change the conditions of hopelessness and resentment that provide fertile ground for terrorist recruitment. Above all, this requires bringing freedom to people for whom it has been too long denied, for free people do not support terror.
Consider the historic gains made by promoting freedom. Under the President?s leadership:
* Fifty million people have been liberated from despotic, totalitarian regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
* The terrorist camps in Afghanistan have been destroyed. The Afghan government is conducting its own democratic elections and is an ally in the hunt to bring Al Qaeda terrorists to justice.
* Supported by coalition allies, the men and women of our Armed Forces have brought Saddam Hussein ? a declared enemy of America and supporter of terrorism who had the capability and a proven willingness to produce and use weapons of mass destruction ? to justice. The brutal regime of Saddam Hussein is gone. An interim government is leading the Iraqi people to freedom.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush has taken the fight to the terrorists. After September 11, the President put the world on notice that we will hold any person or regime that harbors or supports terrorists as guilty of terrorism as the terrorists themselves.
America will not wait for new threats to grow and fester. We will face new challenges ? swiftly, surely, and with steely resolve. We cannot forget that the terrorists remain determined to kill as many Americans as possible, both abroad and here at home, and would like nothing more than to use the world?s most deadly weapons against us. With such an enemy, no negotiated peace is possible; no policy of containment or deterrence will prove effective.
We will either fight the terrorists abroad, or face the consequences at home. In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone.We must work to change the conditions of hopelessness and resentment that provide fertile ground for terrorist recruitment. Above all, this requires bringing freedom to people for whom it has been too long denied, for free people do not support terror.
Consider the historic gains made by promoting freedom. Under the President?s leadership:
* Fifty million people have been liberated from despotic, totalitarian regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
* The terrorist camps in Afghanistan have been destroyed. The Afghan government is conducting its own democratic elections and is an ally in the hunt to bring Al Qaeda terrorists to justice.
* Supported by coalition allies, the men and women of our Armed Forces have brought Saddam Hussein ? a declared enemy of America and supporter of terrorism who had the capability and a proven willingness to produce and use weapons of mass destruction ? to justice. The brutal regime of Saddam Hussein is gone. An interim government is leading the Iraqi people to freedom.
