[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
[October 25, 2004]
[Pages 2705-2713]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks in Council Bluffs, Iowa
October 25, 2004

    The President. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all. Thanks for 
coming. I appreciate you being here. Laura and I 
are so honored so many came out to say hello. You're lifting our 
spirits.

[[Page 2706]]

    I want to thank all the Iowans who are here. Thank you for coming. I 
want to thank those of you from the great State of Nebraska who took 
the--[applause]. We are here to not only ask for the vote in this part 
of the world; we're here to ask for your help. We're here to say that we 
need your help coming down the stretch. We need you to make the phone 
calls, find your friends and neighbors and encourage them to go to the 
polls. With your help, we will carry Iowa and win a great victory on 
November the 2d.
    So when I asked Laura to marry me, she was a 
public school librarian, and she said--and some of you will probably be 
able to relate to this--she said, ``Fine, I will marry you, but make me 
a promise.'' I said, ``What is it?'' She said, ``Promise me I'll never 
have to give a political speech.'' [Laughter] I said, ``You've got a 
deal.'' Fortunately, she didn't hold me to that promise. She's giving a 
lot of speeches, and when she speaks the American people see a warm, 
strong, great First Lady.
    Audience members. Laura! Laura! Laura!
    The President. I'm proud of my runningmate, Dick Cheney. Now, look, I fully admit he does not have the waviest 
hair in this race. [Laughter] But I want to assure you, I didn't pick 
him because of his hairdo. [Laughter] I picked him because of his 
experience. I picked him because of his judgment.
    We had breakfast with Rudy at our ranch in Crawford. We've just come 
from Greeley, Colorado. We're headed to Davenport, Iowa. I tell you, 
it's a great joy to travel with Rudy Giuliani. I'm proud to have his support, and I'm honored to call him 
friend. And by the way, his wife, Judith, is 
traveling with us too.
    So the last time I saw Senator Grassley, I turned to Laura and said, 
``Laura, you know the South Lawn has got a lot of grass on it, and we're 
looking for somebody to come and mow it.'' [Laughter] Let me tell you 
something about your Senator. When it came time to cut the taxes on the 
working people of this country, Senator Grassley led the charge in the 
United States Senate. When it came time to strengthen Medicare to make 
sure our seniors got prescription drug coverage and rural hospitals were 
treated fairly, Senator Grassley led the United States Senate. I know 
the people of Iowa are proud to call him Senator. I'm proud to call him 
Mr. Chairman.
    I want to thank Congressman Steve King from 
Iowa for joining us today. Congressman, you're doing a fine job. I 
appreciate you being here.
    I want to thank all the grassroots activists who are here. I want to 
thank those of you who are putting up the signs. I want to thank those 
of you who are making the phone calls. I want to thank you for what 
you're going to do, which is turn out a big vote on November the 2d.
    I want to thank my friend Michael W. Smith for singing for you this evening.
    I want to thank all of you who are here who wear our Nation's 
uniform. Thank you for your service. I want to thank the veterans who 
are here for having set such a great example for our military. And I 
want to thank our military families for the sacrifices you have made.
    In the last week of this campaign, I will continue to talk about my 
vision for a more hopeful America. I'm committed to low taxes and 
spending discipline. We'll talk about how to make sure the 
entrepreneurial spirit is strong in America. I'll talk about how to make 
sure our farm economy remains strong in America.
    In the next 4 years, we'll stay on the path of reform and results in 
our schools, so no child is left behind in America. I'll remind people 
we have a plan to make sure health care is more affordable and 
accessible and that in all we do to reform health care, we'll make sure 
the decisions are made between doctors and patients, not by officials in 
Washington, DC. I will remind the people that over the next 4 years, 
we'll keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and we'll 
strengthen the

[[Page 2707]]

system for our children and our grandchildren.
    I will tell the people we'll continue to promote a culture of life 
in which every person matters and every being counts. I will remind them 
that we'll protect family and marriage, which are the foundations of our 
society. And I will tell the people that I'll name Federal judges who 
know the difference between personal opinion and the strict 
interpretation of the law.
    Yet, all progress we hope to make depends on the security of our 
Nation. We face enemies who hate our country and would do anything to 
harm us. We will fight these enemies with every asset of our national 
power. We will do our duty and protect the American people.
    And that's what I want to talk to you and the good people of Iowa 
and Nebraska about today, our national security. In the last 4 years, 
we've been through a lot of history. We saw a ruthless sneak attack on 
the United States. We learned of heroism on doomed airplanes. We saw the 
bravery of rescuers rushing toward danger. We have seen our military 
bring freedom to the oppressed and justice to our enemy. Our Nation has 
shown its character to the world. We are proud to be Americans.
    We are now nearing the first Presidential election since September 
the 11th, 2001. People of the United States will choose the leader of 
the free world in the middle of a global war. The choice is not only 
between two candidates; it's between two directions in the conduct of 
the war on terror. The American voters must answer these questions: Will 
America return to the defensive, reactive mindset that sought to manage 
the dangers to our country?
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Or will we fight a real war, with the goal of 
victory? In every critical aspect, my opponent 
and I see the war on terror differently, and Americans need to consider 
those differences as they make a vital choice.
    First, I believe that America wins wars by fighting on the 
offensive. When I saw all those images of fire and death on September 
the 11th, I made a decision: Our country will not sit back and wait for 
future attacks; we will prevent those attacks by going after the enemy.
    And so since that day, we are waging a global campaign from the 
mountains of central Asia to the deserts of the Middle East, from the 
Horn of Africa to the Philippines. And those efforts are succeeding. 
Since September the 11th, 2001, more than three-quarters of Al Qaida's 
key members and associates have been brought to justice, and the rest of 
them know we're on their trail.
    After September the 11th, we set a new direction for American policy 
and endorsed a doctrine that is clear to all: If you support or harbor 
terrorists, you're equally guilty of terrorist murder.
    We destroyed the terror camps that trained thousands of killers in 
Afghanistan. We removed the Taliban from power. We persuaded the 
Governments in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to recognize the enemy and to 
join the fight. We ended the regime of Saddam Hussein, which sponsored terror, and we know that America and 
the world are safer with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
    Audience members. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
    The President. We sent a message to Libya--we sent a clear message 
to Libya, which has now given up its weapons of mass destruction 
programs. We have acted through diplomacy and force to shrink the area 
where the terrorists can freely operate. And our strategy has the 
terrorists on the run.
    My opponent has a different point of view.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He says that by fighting 
terrorists in the Middle East, America has, quote, ``created terrorists 
where they did not exist.''

[[Page 2708]]

    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. This is his argument, that 
terrorists are somehow less dangerous or fewer in number if America 
avoids provoking them.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. But this represents a fundamental misunderstanding of 
the enemy. We're dealing with killers who have made the death of 
Americans the calling of their lives. If America were not fighting these 
killers west of Baghdad and in the mountains of Afghanistan and 
elsewhere, what does Senator Kerry think they 
would do? Would they begin leading productive lives of service and 
charity?
    Audience members. No-o-o!
    The President. Would the terrorists who behead innocent people on 
camera just be quiet and peaceful citizens if we had not liberated Iraq?
    Audience members. No-o-o!
    The President. We are fighting the terrorists with our military in 
Afghanistan and Iraq and beyond so we do not have to face them in the 
streets of our cities.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. America is not to blame for terrorist hatred, and no 
retreat by America would appease them. We don't create terrorists by 
fighting them; we defeat the terrorists by fighting them.
    Our second difference concerns Iraq. I believe victory in Iraq is 
essential to victory in the war on terror, and we have had a strategy to 
achieve that victory. The stakes in that country are high. If a terror 
regime were allowed to reemerge in Iraq, terrorists would again find a 
home, a source of funding, and vital support. They would correctly 
conclude that free nations do not have the will to defend themselves. As 
Iraq succeeds as a free society at the heart of the Middle East, an ally 
in the war on terror, and a model for hopeful reform in a troubled 
region, the terrorists will suffer a crushing defeat and every free 
nation will be more secure.
    We are still confronting serious violence from determined enemies. 
Yet, the Iraqi Interim Government, with American and coalition support, 
is making progress, week by week. Along with Iraqi forces, we're on the 
offensive in Fallujah and north Babil. We've restored Government control 
in Samarra and Tall `Afar and Najaf. More than 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, 
police, and border guards are already trained and equipped and bravely 
serving their country. And more than 200,000 will be in place at the end 
of next year. An Iraqi independent electoral commission is up and 
running. Political parties are planning campaigns, and free and fair 
Iraqi elections will be held on schedule this coming January.
    The despicable executions of unarmed Iraqi security forces show the 
evil nature of the terrorists we fight and prove those terrorists are 
enemies of the Iraqi people and the American people and the civilized 
world. The terrorists and insurgents hate our progress and fight our 
progress, but they will not stop our progress.
    We will stay on the offense, and we will prevail. We will help 
Iraqis get on the path to stability and democracy as quickly as 
possible, and then our troops will return home with the honor they have 
earned.
    My opponent has a different view.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. The Senator calls America's 
mission in Iraq a ``mistake,'' a ``diversion,'' a ``colossal error.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. And then says he's the 
right man to win the war.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You cannot win a war you do not believe in fighting.
    On Iraq, my opponent has a strategy of 
pessimism and retreat. He has talked about artificial timetables to pull 
our troops out. He has sent the signal that America's overriding goal in 
Iraq would be to leave, even if the job is not done.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!

[[Page 2709]]

    The President. That sends the wrong message. It sends the wrong 
message to Iraqis, who need to know that America will never cut and run. 
That sends the wrong message to our troops and the troops of our 
coalition, who need to know that we will honor their sacrifice by 
completing the mission. My opponent has the 
wrong strategy for the wrong country at the wrong time. On this vital 
front of the war on terror, protest is not a policy, retreat is not a 
strategy, and failure is not an option. As long as I am the Commander in 
Chief, America will never retreat in the face of terrorism.
    Third, I believe that American leadership is indispensable to 
winning the war on terror. Ever since September the 11th, 2001, America 
has sounded a certain trumpet. We have stated clearly the challenge to 
civilization, and we have rallied many nations to oppose it. More than 
90 nations are actively engaged in the war on terror. All 26 NATO 
nations have personnel in either Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. NATO has 
taken leadership of an international force in Afghanistan, the first 
out-of-area deployment in the history of our Alliance. Japan has 
deployed forces to Iraq, the first overseas mission in the history of 
their democracy. Forces from South Korea are in Iraq as well. America 
has led. Many have joined. And America and the world are safer.
    My opponent takes a different approach. He 
believes that instead of leading with confidence, America must submit to 
what he calls a ``global test.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I'm not making that up. [Laughter] He was standing right about just there when I heard him say 
it. As far as I can tell, that means our country must get permission 
from foreign capitals before we act in our own self-defense.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. As President, I will always work with other countries 
and seek their advice. But there is a world of difference between 
working with good allies and giving a few reluctant nations veto power 
over our role in the world. I will never submit our national security 
decisions to the veto of a foreign government.
    In addition to a ``global test,'' my opponent promises what he calls a ``golden age'' of diplomacy to 
charm critical governments all over the world.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. I don't see much diplomatic skill in Senator 
Kerry's habit of insulting America's closest 
friends. He has called the countries serving alongside us in Iraq, 
quote, ``a trumped-up coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought, 
and the extorted.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Even last week, my opponent 
said that we have, quote, ``hardly anyone with us in Iraq.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. That is a deeply offensive way to treat some 30 
nations that are in Iraq, especially the 14 nations that have lost 
forces in our cause. How can Senator Kerry 
denigrate the contributions of countries led by the likes of Tony 
Blair of Great Britain, John Howard of Australia, or Silvio Berlusconi of Italy or Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland and then expect other leaders to stand 
with America in the future? You cannot expand an alliance by showing 
contempt for those already in it. In this time of challenge to 
civilization, America has found strong and responsible allies. They 
deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician.
    Fourth, I believe that America will gain long-term security by 
promoting freedom and hope and democracy in the broader Middle East. The 
job of a leader is to look ahead, and our country must look ahead. In 20 
years from now, if the Middle East is dominated by dictators and mullahs 
who build weapons of mass destruction and harbor terrorists, our 
children and grandchildren will live in a nightmare world of danger. 
That does not have to happen. By taking the side of reformers and 
democrats

[[Page 2710]]

in the Middle East, we will gain allies in the war on terror; we'll 
isolate the ideology of murder; and we will help defeat the despair and 
hopelessness that feeds terror. By spreading freedom and liberty, the 
world will become a much safer place for future generations.
    Progress in the broader Middle East toward freedom will not come 
easily. Yet, that progress is coming faster than many would have said 
possible. Across a troubled region, we're seeing a movement toward 
elections and greater rights for women and open discussions for peaceful 
reform. The election in Afghanistan this month and the election in Iraq 
next January will be counted as landmark events in the history of 
liberty.
    My opponent looks at things differently. 
He is not only skeptical of--about democracy in Iraq; he's not made 
democracy a priority of his foreign policy. But what is his long-term 
answer to the threat of terror? Is he content to watch and wait as anger 
and resentment grow for more decades in the Middle East, feeding more 
terrorism until radicals without conscience gain the weapons to kill 
without limit? Ignoring the root causes of terror, turning a blind eye 
to the oppression and despair of millions may be easier in the short 
run. But we learned on September the 11th that if violence and 
fanaticism are not opposed at their source, they will find us where we 
live.
    Instead of offering his own agenda for freedom, my opponent complains that we're trying to, quote, ``impose 
democracy on people in the broader Middle East.'' Is that what he sees 
in Afghanistan, unwilling people having democracy forced upon them? We 
did remove the Taliban by force, but democracy is rising in that country 
because the Afghan people, like people everywhere, want to live in 
freedom.
    No one forced them to register by the millions or to stand in long 
lines to vote. For many people, that historic election was a day they 
will never forget. One man in western Kabul arrived to vote at 7 a.m. He 
said, ``I didn't sleep all night. I wanted to be the first in my polling 
station.'' My fellow citizens, freedom is on the march, and it's 
changing the world.
    We are witnessing big and hopeful events. I believe that people 
across the world, people in the Middle East want to live in freedom. I 
believe this because freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom 
is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.
    Our fifth great difference concerns the role of the Presidency. A 
President has to lead with consistency and strength. In a war, sometimes 
your tactics have to change but not your principles. Americans have seen 
how I do my job. Even when you might not agree with me, you know what I 
believe and where I stand and what I intend to do.
    Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
    The President. Thank you all. On good days and on bad days, whether 
the polls are up or the polls are down, I am determined to win the war 
on terror, and I will always support the men and women who do the 
fighting.
    My opponent has taken a different 
approach.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. It's fair to say that consistency has not been 
his strong point.
    Audience members. Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
    The President. Senator Kerry says that 
we're better off with Saddam Hussein out of 
power, except when he declares that removing Saddam made us less safe. 
He stated in our second debate that he always believed that Saddam was a 
threat, except, a few questions later, when he said Saddam Hussein was 
not a threat.
    Audience members. Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
    The President. He says he was right when 
he voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein but that I was

[[Page 2711]]

wrong to use force against Saddam Hussein. [Laughter] Now my opponent is 
throwing out the wild claim that he knows where bin Laden was in the fall of 2001 and that our military passed up 
the chance to get him in Tora Bora. This is an unjustified criticism of 
our military commanders in the field. This is the worst kind of Monday 
morning quarterbacking. And that's what we've come to expect from 
Senator Kerry.
    In fact, our commander in Afghanistan, General Tommy Franks recently wrote this about Tora Bora: ``The 
Senator's understanding of events does not 
square with reality.'' The General said that American Special Forces 
were actively involved in the search for terrorists in Tora Bora and 
that intelligence reports at the time placed bin Laden in any of several countries.
    Before Senator Kerry got into political 
difficulty and revised his views, he saw our actions in Tora Bora 
differently. In the fall of 2001, on national TV, Senator Kerry said 
this, ``I think we have been doing this pretty effectively, and we 
should continue to do it that way.'' At the time, the Senator said about 
Tora Bora, ``I think we've been smart. I think the administration 
leadership has done it well, and we are on the right track.'' Well, all 
I can tell you is that I am George W. Bush, and I approve of that 
message.
    Yet, Senator Kerry's record on national 
security has a far deeper problem than election-year flip-flopping. On 
the largest national security issues of our time, he has been 
consistently and dangerously wrong. When Ronald Reagan was confronting 
the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war, Senator Kerry said that 
President Reagan's policy of peace through strength was making America 
less safe.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. He voted against many of 
the weapons systems critical to our defense buildup.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and President Reagan was right.
    When former President Bush led a 
coalition against Saddam Hussein in 1991, 
Senator Kerry voted against the use of force 
to liberate Kuwait.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. If his view had prevailed, 
Saddam Hussein today would dominate the 
Middle East and possess the world's most dangerous weapons. History has 
shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and former President Bush was right.
    In 1994, just one year after the first bombing of the World Trade 
Center, Senator Kerry proposed massive cuts in 
America's intelligence budget, so massive that even his Massachusetts 
colleague, Ted Kennedy, opposed them.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. History has shown that Senator Kerry was wrong and--we've got to be fair--Senator 
Kennedy was right.
    Just last year, American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan needed $87 
billion for body armor and hazard pay, vehicles, weapons, and bullets. 
First, Senator Kerry said, ``It would be 
irresponsible to vote against the troops.'' Then he voted against the 
troops.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. You might remember perhaps the most famous quote of 
the 2004 campaign when he said, ``I actually 
did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.'' History has 
shown that Senator Kerry was right, then wrong--[laughter]--then briefly 
right, and wrong again. Since then, on the 87 billion, my opponent has 
said, ``The whole thing is a complicated matter.'' There's nothing 
complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
    During the last 20 years, in key moments of challenge and decision 
for America, Senator Kerry has chosen the 
position of weakness and inaction. With that record, he stands in 
opposition not just to me but to the great tradition of the Democratic

[[Page 2712]]

Party. The party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy 
is rightly remembered for confidence and resolve in times of war and 
hours of crisis. Senator Kerry has turned his back on ``pay any price'' 
and ``bear any burden.'' He's replaced those commitments with ``wait and 
see'' and ``cut and run.''
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. Many Democrats in this country do not recognize their 
party anymore. Today I want to speak to every one of them. If you 
believe that America should lead with strength and purpose and 
confidence in our ideals, I would be honored to have your support, and 
I'm asking for your vote.
    All the differences I outlined today add up to one big difference, 
and it's important for our fellow citizens to understand that 
difference. Senator Kerry says that September 
the 11th did not change him much at all.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. His policies make that clear. He says the war on terror is primarily a law enforcement and 
intelligence gathering operation.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. His top foreign policy 
adviser says, ``The war is just like a 
metaphor, like the war on poverty.'' The Senator's goal is to go back to 
the mindset of the 1990s, when terrorism was seen as a nuisance and was 
fought with subpoenas and a few cruise missiles.
    Audience members. Boo-o-o!
    The President. There's a major problem with that. The calm--the era 
of calm he longs for was only a shallow 
illusion of peace. We now know that throughout the 1990s, the terrorists 
were training and plotting against us. They saw our complacency as 
weakness. And so their plans became more ambitious and their attacks 
became more deadly until, finally, the Twin Towers became Ground Zero 
and the Pentagon was in flames.
    My outlook was changed on September the 11th. A few days after the 
attacks, I stood with Rudy where 
buildings fell. I will never forget the evil of our enemy and the 
suffering of our people. I know we are fighting a war. And I remember 
the workers in the hardhats there at Ground Zero, yelling at me at the 
top of their lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' A fellow grabbed me by the 
arm, and he looked me in the eye, and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' 
From that day forward, I've gotten up every morning thinking about how 
to better protect our country. I will never relent in defending America, 
whatever it takes.
    In a new term, we will finish the work we have started. We will 
stand against terror and stand for freedom and peace we all want. And on 
November the 2d, my fellow Americans, I ask you to stand with me.
    God bless. On to victory. Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:51 p.m. at the Mid-America Center. In his 
remarks, he referred to former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York 
City, and his wife, Judith; entertainer Michael W. Smith; Prime Minister 
Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; Prime Minister John Howard of 
Australia; Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy; President 
Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization; and Gen. Tommy R. Franks, USA (Ret.), 
former combatant commander, U.S. Central Command.

[[Page 2713]]