    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [October 6, 2005]
    [Pages 1520-1527]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the National Endowment for Democracy
    October 6, 2005

        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 exiles. 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 rollback 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. [Laughter] 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

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    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 rejoice 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, 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 Qaida, 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 Qaida,
    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 web sites.
    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 Qaida's leader, Usama 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 nonradical Muslim
    governments. Over the past few decades, radicals

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    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. The 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
    Qaida 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
    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

    [[Page 1523]]

    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 coldblooded 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 democracy. And it is courage in the
    cause of freedom that once again will destroy the enemies of freedom.
        And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains
    inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom--by
    distrusting human creativity

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    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 Qaida managers and operatives in more than 24 countries:
    the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, who was chief of Al Qaida
    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 Qaida's senior leaders in Saudi
    Arabia.
        Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least
    10 serious Al Qaida terrorist plots since September the 11th, including
    3 Al Qaida plots to attack inside the United States. We've stopped at
    least five more Al Qaida 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

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    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 Qaida 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 2\1/2\
    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 Shi'a, 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,

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    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,
    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 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

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    in a vital cause. Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants.
    Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat Al Qaida 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 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.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:07 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building
    and International Trade Center. In his remarks, he referred to Vin
    Weber, chairman, and Carl Gershman, president, National Endowment for
    Democracy; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Usama bin
    Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; Mohammed Bouyeri,
    who was convicted of the November 2, 2004, murder of film director Theo
    van Gogh; Anneke van Gogh, mother of Theo van Gogh; Abd al-Rahim al-
    Nashiri, Al Qaida's chief of operations for the Persian Gulf; Nurjaman
    Riduan Isamuddin (also known as Hambali), Al Qaida's chief operational
    planner in Southeast Asia, who was captured in Thailand on August 11,
    2003; Abu Azzam, Al Qaida operative in Iraq; A.Q. Khan, former head of
    Pakistan's nuclear program; President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; and
    former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.