    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [November 11, 2005]
    [Pages 1699-1709]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the War on Terror in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania
    November 11, 2005

        Thank you all very much. Thank you all for coming. Please be seated.
    Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm glad to be back in Pennsylvania, and
    I'm proud to be the first sitting President to visit Monroe County. I'm
    especially pleased to see so many military veterans with us today. Those
    who have risked their lives for our freedom have the respect and
    gratitude of our Nation on Veterans Day and on every day.
        Tobyhanna is a fitting place to commemorate Veterans Day. For the
    better part of a century, this facility has provided critical services
    for our Armed Forces. Around the clock and around the world, personnel
    from here maintain technology that our troops use to take the fight to
    the enemy. From Afghanistan to Kuwait to Baghdad International Airport,
    technicians from Tobyhanna are carrying out dangerous missions with
    bravery and skill. I know you're proud of them, and so is the Commander
    in Chief.
        Tobyhanna is also home to a thriving community of military families.
    Your support for those who wear the uniform and your support of each
    other through difficult times brings great pride to our country.

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    The American people stand with our military families.
        I want to thank Colonel Ellis for
    allowing me to come and give you this speech today. Thank you for your
    service to our country, Colonel Ellis. I want to thank Senator
    Specter and Congressman Kanjorski and Congressman Sherwood for
    joining us today. It was good to have them on Air Force One. I
    appreciate their service to our country. And I want to thank all the
    State and local officials, and I want to thank all the veterans.
        Today our Nation pays tribute to those veterans, 25 million veterans
    who have worn the uniform of the United States of America. Each of these
    men and women took an oath to defend America, and they upheld that oath
    with honor and decency. Through the generations, they have humbled
    dictators and liberated continents and set a standard of courage and
    idealism for the entire world. This year, 3.5 million veterans celebrate
    the 60th anniversary of freedom's great victory in World War II. A
    handful of veterans who live among us in 2005 stood in uniform when
    World War I ended 87 years ago today. These men are more than 100 years
    old. Many of their lives have touched three different centuries, and
    they can all know that America will be proud of their service.
        On Veterans Day, we also remember the troops who left America's
    shores but did not live to be thanked as veterans. On this Veterans Day,
    we honor the courage of those who were lost in our current struggle. We
    think of the families who lost a loved one; we pray for their comfort.
    And we remember the men and women in uniform whose fate is still
    undetermined, our prisoners of war and those missing in action. America
    must never forget their courage, and we will not stop searching until we
    have accounted for every soldier and sailor and airman and marine
    missing in the line of duty.
        All of America's veterans have placed the Nation's security before
    their own lives. Their sacrifice creates a debt that America can never
    fully repay. Yet, there are certain things that Government can do. My
    administration remains firmly committed to serving America's veterans.
        Since I took office, my administration has increased spending for
    veterans by $24 billion, an increase of 53 percent. In the first 4 years
    as President, we increased spending for veterans more than twice as much
    as the previous administration did in 8 years, and I want to thank the
    Members of the Congress and the Senate for joining me in the effort to
    support our veterans.
        We've increased the VA's medical care budget by 51 percent,
    increased total outpatient visits, increased the number of prescriptions
    filled, and reduced the backlog of disability claims. We've committed
    more than $1.5 billion to modernizing and expanding VA facilities so
    that veterans can get better care closer to home. We've expanded grants
    to help homeless veterans in all 50 States and the District of Columbia,
    because we strongly believe no veteran who served in the blazing heat or
    bitter cold of foreign lands should have to live without shelter in our
    own country.
        I've joined with the veterans groups to call on Congress to protect
    the flag of the United States in the Constitution of the United States.
    In June, the House of Representatives voted for a constitutional
    amendment to ban flag desecration. I urge the United States Senate to
    pass this important amendment.
        At this hour, a new generation of Americans is defending our flag
    and our freedom in the first war of the 21st century. The war came to
    our shores on September the 11th, 2001. That morning, we saw the
    destruction that terrorists intend for our Nation. We know that they
    want to strike again. And our Nation has made a clear choice: We will
    confront this mortal danger to all humanity; we will not tire or rest
    until the war on terror is won.

    [[Page 1701]]

        In the 4 years since September the 11th, the evil that reached our
    shores 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
    have seen a new terror offensive with attacks on London and Sharm el-
    Sheikh, another deadly strike in Bali, and this week, a series of
    bombings in Amman, Jordan, that killed dozens of innocent Jordanians and
    their guests.
        All these separate images of destruction and suffering that we see
    on the news can seem like random, isolated acts of madness--innocent men
    and women and children who 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,
    and 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, 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
    Hindus and Jews and against Muslims, themselves, who do not share their
    radical vision.
        Many militants are part of a global, borderless terrorist
    organization like Al Qaida, which spreads propaganda and provides
    financing and technical assistance to local extremists and conducts
    dramatic and brutal operations like the attacks of September the 11th.
    Other militants are found in regional groups often associated with Al
    Qaida, paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like
    Somalia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Chechnya, 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 have openly stated
    it in videos and audiotapes and letters and declarations and on 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, their sons, and money to driving the infidels
    out of our lands.'' The tactics of Al Qaida and other Islamic extremists
    have been consistent for a quarter of a century: They hit us, and they
    expect us to run.
        Last month, the world learned of a letter written by Al Qaida's
    number-two man, a guy named Zawahiri.
    And he wrote this letter to his chief deputy in Iraq, the terrorist
    Zarqawi. it, Zawahiri points to the
    Vietnam war as a model for Al Qaida. This is what he said, ``The
    aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam and how they ran
    and left their agents is noteworthy.'' The terrorists witnessed a
    similar response after the attacks of American troops in Beirut in 1983
    and Mogadishu in 1993. They believe that America can be made to run
    again, only this time on a larger scale, with greater consequences.
        Secondly, 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 have specifically
    targeted Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Jordan for potential
    takeover. They achieved their goal, for a time, in Afghanistan, and now
    they've

    [[Page 1702]]

    set their sights on Iraq. In his recent letter, Zawahiri writes that Al Qaida views Iraq as, quote, ``The place
    of the greatest battle.'' The terrorists regard Iraq as the central
    front in their war against humanity. We must recognize Iraq as the
    central front in our war against the terrorists.
        Third, these 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. Zawahiri
    writes that the terrorists, quote, ``Must not have their mission end
    with the expulsion of the Americans from Iraq.'' He goes on to say:
    ``The jihad requires several incremental goals: Expel the Americans from
    Iraq; establish an Islamic authority over as much territory as you can
    to spread its power in Iraq; extend the jihad wave to the secular
    countries neighboring Iraq.''
        With the greater economic and military and political power they
    seek, 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. They are fanatical and extreme, but 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 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've been sheltered by authoritarian regimes, allies of
    convenience like Iran and Syria, that share the goal of hurting America
    and modern Muslim governments, and use terrorist propaganda to blame
    their own failures on the West, on America, and on the Jews.
        This week, the Government of Syria took two disturbing steps. First,
    it arrested Dr. Kamal Labwani for serving as an advocate for democratic
    reform. Then President Asad delivered a strident speech that attacked
    both the Lebanese Government and the integrity of the Mehlis
    investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister.
    The Government of Syria must do what the international community has
    demanded, cooperate fully with the Mehlis investigation and stop trying
    to intimidate and destabilize the Lebanese Government. The Government of
    Syria must stop exporting violence and start importing democracy.
        The radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted
    charities, which direct money to terrorist activity. They are
    strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of radical,
    intolerant versions of Islam into 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

    [[Page 1703]]

    word about American action to protect Muslims in Afghanistan and Bosnia
    and Somalia and Kosovo and Kuwait and Iraq or seldom a word about our
    generous assistance to Muslims recovering from natural disasters in
    places like Indonesia and Pakistan.
        Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by our
    actions 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. 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 150 Russian
    schoolchildren in Beslan.
        Over the years, these extremists have used a litany of excuses for
    violence, the Israeli presence on the West Bank, the U.S. military
    presence in Saudi Arabia, the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of
    1,000 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 the
    inalterable objectives to enslave whole nations and intimidate the
    world. No act of ours invited the rage of 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; we will never give in;
    we will 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.'' 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 this road--that this
    is the road to paradise, though he never offers to go along for the
    ride. [Laughter]
        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 have seen it in
    the murders of Daniel Pearl and Nicholas Berg and Margaret Hassan and so
    many others. In a courtroom in the Netherlands, the killer of Theo van
    Gogh turned to the victim's grieving
    mother and said, ``I don't feel your pain
    because I believe you're an infidel.'' And in spite of this veneer of
    religious rhetoric, most of the victims claimed by the militants are
    fellow Muslims.
        Recently, in the town of Huwaydar, Iraq, a terrorist detonated a
    pickup truck parked along a busy street lined with restaurants and
    shops, just as residents were gathering to break the daylong fast
    observed during Ramadan. The explosion killed at least 25 people and
    wounded 34. When unsuspecting Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast are
    targeted for death or 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing or Iraqi
    teachers are executed at their school, 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 they are the enemies of
    humanity. And we have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before in the
    heartless zealotry that led to the gulags, 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

    [[Page 1704]]

    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, to control
    every aspect of life, to rule the soul itself. While promising a future
    of justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing 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
    us 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 from tyranny. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil
    against the enemies of rising democracies. And it is courage in the
    cause of freedom that will once again 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 and punishing change and limiting the
    contributions of half a 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 and 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 with a comprehensive strategy.
    Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience, constant
    pressure, and strong partners in Europe and in the Middle East and North
    Africa and Asia and beyond. Working with these partners, we're
    disrupting militant conspiracies; we're destroying their ability to make
    war; and we're working to give millions in a troubled region a hopeful
    alternative to resentment and violence.
        First, we're determined to prevent attacks of the terrorist networks
    before they occur. We are 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, both here and abroad. And we're acting,
    along with governments from other countries, to destroy the terrorist
    networks and incapacitate their leadership.
        Together with our partners, we've disrupted a number of serious Al
    Qaida terrorist plots since September the 11th, including several plots
    to attack inside the United States. Our coalition against terror has
    killed or captured nearly all those directly responsible for the
    September the 11th attacks. We've captured or killed several of bin
    Laden's most serious deputies: Al Qaida
    managers and operatives in more than 24 countries; the mastermind of the
    USS Cole bombing, who was chief of Al Qaida's operations in the Persian
    Gulf; the mastermind of the
    bombings in Jakarta and Bali; a senior Zarqawi
    terrorist planner, who was planning
    attacks in Turkey; and many of their senior leaders in Saudi Arabia.
        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

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    exposed and broken and their leaders are held to account for their
    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 and 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 its long-range ballistic missiles. And in the past
    year, America and our partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative
    have stopped more than a dozen shipments of suspect weapons technology,
    including equipment for Iran's ballistic missile program.
        This progress has reduced the danger to free nations, but it 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 the weapons of mass murder out of the hands of the fanatics.
        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 guilty of murder.
        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. This
    mission has brought new and urgent responsibilities to our Armed Forces.
    American troops are fighting beside Afghan partners and against remnants
    of the Taliban and their Al Qaida allies. We're working with President
    Musharraf to oppose and isolate the
    militants in Pakistan. 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 increasing violence. Our
    goal is to defeat the terrorists and their allies at the heart of their
    power, so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq.
        Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a
    comprehensive plan. Our strategy is to clear, hold, and build. We're
    working to clear areas from terrorist control, to hold those areas
    securely, and to build lasting, democratic Iraqi institutions through an
    increasingly inclusive political process. In recent weeks, American and
    Iraqi troops have conducted several major assaults to clear out enemy
    fighters in Baghdad and parts of Iraq.
        Two weeks ago, in Operation Clean Sweep, Iraq and coalition forces
    raided 350 houses south of Baghdad, capturing more than 40 of the
    terrorist killers. Acting on tips from local citizens, our forces have
    recently launched air strikes against terrorist safe houses in and
    around the towns of Ubaydi and Husaybah. We brought to justice
    two key senior Al Qaida
    terrorist leaders. And in Mosul, coalition forces killed an Al Qaida
    cell leader named Muslet, who was
    personally involved in at least three videotaped beheadings. We're on
    the hunt. We're keeping pressure on the enemy.
        And thousands of Iraqi forces have been participating in these
    operations, and even more Iraqis are joining the fight. Last month,
    nearly 3,000 Iraqi police officers graduated from 10 weeks of basic
    training. They'll now take their places along other brave Iraqis who are
    taking the fight to the terrorists across their own country. Iraqi
    police and security forces are helping to clear terrorists from their
    strongholds, helping to hold onto areas that we've cleared. They're
    working to prevent the enemy from returning. Iraqi forces are using
    their local expertise to maintain security and to build political and
    economic institutions that will help improve the lives of their fellow
    citizens.

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        At the same time, Iraqis are making inspiring progress toward
    building a democracy. Last month, millions of Iraqis turned out to vote,
    and they approved a new Constitution that guarantees fundamental
    freedoms and lays the foundation for lasting democracy. Many more Sunnis
    participated in this vote than in January's historic elections, and the
    level of violence was lower.
        Now, Iraqis are gearing up for December 15th elections, when they
    will go to the polls to choose a government under the new Constitution.
    The new government will serve a 4-year term, and it will represent all
    Iraqis. Even those who voted against the Constitution are now organizing
    and preparing for the December elections. Multiple Sunni Arab parties
    have submitted a list of candidates, and several prominent Sunni
    politicians are running on other slates. With two successful elections
    completed and a third coming up next month, the Iraqi people are proving
    their determination to build a democracy united against extremism and
    violence.
        The work ahead involves great risk for Iraqis and for American and
    coalition forces. We've lost some of our Nation's finest men and women
    in this war on terror. Each of these men and women left grieving
    families and left loved ones at home. Each of these patriots left a
    legacy that will allow generations of fellow Americans to enjoy the
    blessings of liberty. Each loss of life is heartbreaking. And the best
    way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the
    mission and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.
        The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we've ever faced,
    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, with every
    funeral of a child, it becomes more clear that the extremists are not
    patriots or resistance fighters; they're 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 ratification of a constitution in the space of 2\1/2\
    years.
        I have said, as Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down. And with
    our help, the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new
    confidence with each passing month. At the time of our Fallujah
    operations a year ago, there were only a few Iraqi army battalions in
    combat. Today, there are nearly 90 Iraqi army battalions fighting the
    terrorists alongside our forces. General David Petraeus says, ``Iraqis are in the fight. They're fighting and
    dying for their country, and they're fighting increasingly well.'' This
    progress is not easy, but it is steady. And no fairminded person should
    ignore, deny, or dismiss the achievements of the Iraqi people.
        And our debate at home must also be fairminded. One of the hallmarks
    of a free society and what makes our country strong is that our
    political leaders can discuss their differences openly, even in times of
    war. When I made the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Congress approved it with strong
    bipartisan support. I also recognize that some of our fellow citizens
    and elected officials didn't support the liberation of Iraq. And that is
    their right, and I respect it. As President and Commander in Chief, I
    accept the responsibilities and the criticisms and the consequences that
    come with such a solemn decision.
        While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the
    conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of
    how that war began. Some Democrats and antiwar critics are now claiming
    we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why
    we went

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    to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate
    investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the
    intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.
        They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world
    agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein.
    They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing
    his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many
    of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who
    explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this
    way: ``When I vote to give the President of the United States the
    authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is
    because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction
    in his hands is a threat and a grave threat to our security.'' That's
    why more than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate, who had access
    to the same intelligence, voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from
    power.
        The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national
    interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges.
    These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an
    enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless
    enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that
    their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand
    behind them. Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain
    firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that
    whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong; our Nation
    is united; and we will settle for nothing less than 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 difficult,
    and it's a long-term project, yet there is no alternative to it. Our
    future and the future of the region are linked. If the broader Middle
    East is left to grow in bitterness, if countries remain in misery while
    radicals stir the resentment of millions, then that part of the world
    will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger in our
    generation and for the next.
        If the peoples of that region are permitted to choose their own
    destiny and advance by their own energy and participation of 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 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 and to protect the United
    States, we know that a lot of vital work will be done within the Islamic
    world itself. And the work is beginning. 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 of humanity and saving the life of one person is like saving
    all humanity. After the attacks of July--on July 7th in London, 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

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    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've engaged the fight against
    extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and joined the fight, becoming
    partners in this vital cause. Afghan troops are in combat against
    Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat Al Qaida in
    their 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 this 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 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.
        Thank you for coming. May God bless our veterans. May God bless our
    troops in harm's way, and may God continue to bless the United States of
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. at the Tobyhanna Army Depot. In
    his remarks, he referred to Col. Tracy L. Ellis, USA, commander,
    Tobyhanna Army Depot; Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of the Egyptian Islamic
    Jihad and senior Al Qaida associate; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab
    Al Zarqawi; Kamal Labwani, secretary general, Liberal Democratic Union
    of Syria; President Bashar al-Asad of Syria; Detlev Mehlis, head, United
    Nations International Independent Investigation Commission into the
    assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon; 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; A.Q. Khan, former head of
    Pakistan's nuclear weapons program; President Pervez Musharraf of
    Pakistan; Nashwan Mijhim Muslet, senior Al Qaida terrorist cell leader
    in Mosul, Iraq; Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, former commander,
    Multi-National Security Transition Command--Iraq; and former President
    Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

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