[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[May 31, 2003]
[Pages 574-578]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks to the People of Poland in Krakow, Poland
May 31, 2003
My friend, Mr. President, it's
really good to be with you again and, of course, the First
Lady. Mr. Prime Minister, Your Eminence, distinguished guests, citizens of
Poland. I'm honored to be in the city of Krakow, where so many landmarks
give witness to Poland's history and Poland's faith.
From this castle, Polish kings ruled for centuries in a tradition of
tolerance. Below this hill lies the market square where Kosciuszko swore
loyalty to the first democratic constitution of Europe. And at Wawel
Cathedral in 1978, a Polish cardinal began his journey to a conclave in
Rome and entered history as Pope John Paul II,
and I are pleased to make our second visit to this beautiful country,
and we bring with us the friendship and the good wishes of the American
people.
In Warsaw 2 years ago, I affirmed the commitment of my country to a
united Europe, bound to America by close ties of history, of commerce,
and of friendship. I said that Europe must finally overturn the bitter
legacy of Yalta and remove the false boundaries and spheres of influence
that divided this continent for too long. We have acted on this
commitment. Poland, the United States, and our Allies have agreed to
extend NATO eastward and southward, bringing the peace and security of
our Alliance to the young democracies of Europe.
As the Atlantic Alliance has expanded, it has also been tested.
America and European countries have been called to confront the threat
of global terror. Each nation has faced difficult decisions about the
use of military force to keep the peace. We have seen unity and common
purpose. We have also seen debate, some of it healthy, some of it
divisive.
I have come to Krakow to state the intentions of my country. The
United States is committed to a strong Atlantic Alliance to ensure our
security, to advance human freedom, and to keep peace in the world.
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Poland struggled for decades to gain freedom and to fully
participate in life in Europe, and soon you will be a member of the
European Union. You also struggled to become a full member of the
Atlantic Alliance, yet you have not come all this way, through
occupations and tyranny and brave uprisings, only to be told that you
must now choose between Europe and America. Poland is a good citizen of
Europe, and Poland is a close friend of America, and there is no
conflict between the two.
America owes our moral heritage of democracy and tolerance and
freedom to Europe. We have sacrificed for those ideals together, in the
great struggles of the past. In the Second World War, the forces of
freedom came together to defeat nazism. In the cold war, our
transatlantic Alliance opposed imperial communism. And today, our
alliance of freedom faces a new enemy, a lethal combination of terrorist
groups, outlaw states seeking weapons of mass destruction, and an
ideology of power and domination that targets the innocent and justifies
any crime.
This is a time for all of us to unite in the defense of liberty and
to step up to the shared duties of free nations. This is no time to stir
up divisions in a great Alliance.
For America, our resolve to fight terror was firmly set on a single
day of violence and sorrow. The attacks of September the 11th, 2001,
changed my country. On that morning, the American people saw the hatred
of our enemies and the future of grief they intend for us. The American
Government accepted a mission to strike and defeat the terror network
and to hold accountable all who harbor it and all who support it.
For my country, the events of September the 11th were as decisive as
the attack on Pearl Harbor and the treachery of another September, in
1939. And the lesson of all those events is the same: Aggression and
evil intent must not be ignored or appeased; they must be opposed early
and decisively.
We are striving for a world in which men and women can live in
freedom and peace, instead of fear and chaos. And every civilized nation
has a stake in the outcome. By waging this fight together, we will speed
the day of final victory.
One of the main fronts in this war is right here in Europe, where Al
Qaida used the cities as staging areas for their attacks. Europe's
capable police forces and intelligence services are playing essential
roles in hunting the terrorists. And Poland has led the effort to
increase antiterror cooperation amongst Central and Eastern European
nations, and America is grateful.
Some challenges of terrorism, however, cannot be met with law
enforcement alone. They must be met with direct military action. The
Taliban regime in Afghanistan chose to support and harbor Al Qaida
terrorists, and so that regime is no more. The dictator in Iraq pursued weapons of mass murder, cultivated ties to
terror, and defied the demands of the United Nations, so his regime has
been ended.
In the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq, Polish forces served with
skill and honor. America will not forget that Poland rose to the moment.
Again you have lived out the words of the Polish motto: ``For your
freedom and ours.''
In order to win the war on terror, our Alliances must be strong.
Poland and America are proud members of NATO, and NATO must be prepared
to meet the challenges of our time. This is a matter of capability and a
matter of will. Our common security requires European Governments to
invest in modern military capabilities, so our forces can move quickly
with a precision that can strike the guilty and spare the innocent. NATO
must show resolve and foresight to act beyond Europe, and it has begun
to do so. NATO has agreed to lead security forces in Afghanistan and to
support our Polish Allies in Iraq. A strong NATO Alliance, with a broad
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vision of its role, will serve our security and the cause of peace.
The greatest threat to peace is the spread of nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons, and we must work together to stop proliferation. The
countries of the G-8 committed last year to aiding Russia and others in
securing and eliminating deadly weapons that remain from the Soviet era.
I welcome Poland's decision to join this effort. And I call on America's
G-8 partners to follow through on their financial commitments so that we
can stop proliferation at one of its sources.
When weapons of mass destruction or their components are in transit,
we must have the means and authority to seize them. So today I announce
a new effort to fight proliferation called the Proliferation Security
Initiative. The United States and a number of our close allies,
including Poland, have begun working on new agreements to search planes
and ships carrying suspect cargo and to seize illegal weapons or missile
technologies. Over time, we will extend this partnership as broadly as
possible to keep the world's most destructive weapons away from our
shores and out of the hands of our common enemies.
In the last 20 months, the world has seen the determination of my
country and many others to fight terror. Yet, armed force is always the
last resort. And Americans know that terrorism is not defeated by
military power alone. We believe that the ultimate answer to hatred is
hope. And as we fight the forces of terror, we must also change the
conditions in which terror can take root.
Terrorism is often bred in failing states, so we must help nations
in crisis to build a civil society of free institutions. The ideology of
terror takes hold in an atmosphere of resentment and hopelessness, so we
must help men and women around the world to build lives of purpose and
dignity. In the long term, we add to our security by helping to spread
freedom and alleviate suffering. And this sets a broad agenda for
nations on both sides of the Atlantic.
In Africa, the spread of HIV/AIDS threatens millions and the
stability of an entire continent. The United States has undertaken a
comprehensive, $15-billion effort to prevent AIDS and to treat AIDS and
provide humane care for its victims. I urge our partners in Europe to
make a similar commitment, so we can work together in turning the tide
against AIDS.
Global hunger is a chronic challenge, and we have a crisis in
Africa. The United States is establishing an emergency fund so we can
rush help to countries where the first signs of famine appear. The
nations of Europe can greatly help in this effort with emergency funds
of their own. I hope European Governments will reconsider policies that
discourage farmers in developing countries from using safe biotechnology
to feed their own people.
Wealthy nations have the responsibility to help the developing world
and to make certain our help is effective. Through the Millennium
Challenge Account, I have proposed a 50-percent increase in America's
core development assistance. This aid will go to where it will do the
most good, not to corrupt elites but to nations that are ruled justly,
nations that invest in the health and education of their people, and
nations that encourage economic freedom. If European Governments will
adopt the same standards, we can work side by side in providing the kind
of development aid that helps transform entire societies.
One of the greatest sources of development and growth in any society
is trade. America and Europe should lead the effort to bring down global
trade barriers. A world that trades in freedom can bring millions of
people into a growing circle of prosperity.
And America and Europe must work closely to develop and apply new
technologies that will improve our air and water quality and protect the
health of the world's people.
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America and Europe are called to advance the cause of freedom and
peace, and these two commitments are inseparable. It is human rights and
private property, the rule of law and free trade and political openness
that undermine the appeal of extremism and create the stable environment
that peace requires. We are determined to demonstrate the power of these
ideals in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq. And these ideals
will provide the foundation for a reformed and peaceful and independent
Palestinian state.
Today in the Middle East, the emergence of new Palestinian
leadership which has condemned terror is a hopeful sign that the parties
can agree to two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in
peace and security.
Early next week, I will go to the Middle East to meet with the
Palestinian ``Abu Mazen'' and Israeli Prime
Ministers and other leaders in the region. I
will remind them that the work ahead will require difficult decisions. I
will remind them that for peace to prevail, all leaders must fight
terrorism and shake off old arguments and old ways. No leader of
conscience can accept more months and years of humiliation and killing
and mourning. I will do all that I can to help the parties reach an
agreement and then to see that that agreement is enforced.
To meet these goals of security and peace and a hopeful future for
the developing world, we welcome, we need the help, the advice, and the
wisdom of our European friends and allies. New theories of rivalry
should not be permitted to undermine the great principles and
obligations that we share. The enemies of freedom have always preferred
a divided Alliance because when Europe and America are united, no
problem and no enemy can stand against us.
Within an hour's journey of this castle lies a monument to the
darkest impulses of man. Today I saw Auschwitz, the sites of the
Holocaust and Polish martyrdom, a place where evil found its willing
servants and its innocent victims. One boy imprisoned there was branded
with the number A70713. Returning to Auschwitz a lifetime later, Elie
Wiesel recalled his first night in the camp: ``I
asked myself, `God, is this the end of your people, the end of mankind,
the end of the world?'''
With every murder, a world was ended. And the death camps still bear
witness. They remind us that evil is real and must be called by name and
must be opposed. All the good that has come to this continent, all the
progress, the prosperity, the peace, came because beyond the barbed
wire, there were people willing to take up arms against evil.
And history asks more than memory, because hatred and aggression and
murderous ambitions are still alive in the world. Having seen the works
of evil firsthand on this continent, we must never lose the courage to
oppose it everywhere.
Through the years of the Second World War, another legacy of the
20th century was unfolding here in this city of Krakow. A young
seminarian, Karol Wojtyla,