    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [September 9, 2006]
    [Pages 1635-1637]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    September 9, 2006

        Good morning. This Monday our Nation will mark the fifth anniversary
    of the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. On this solemn occasion,
    Americans will observe a day of prayer and remembrance, and Laura and I
    will travel to New York City, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon to take
    part in memorial ceremonies. Our Nation honors the memory of every
    person we lost on that day of terror, and we pray that the Almighty will
    continue to comfort the families who had so much taken away from them.
        On this anniversary, we also remember the brutality of the enemy who
    struck our country and renew our resolve to defeat this enemy and secure
    a future of peace and freedom.
        So this week, I've given a series of speeches about the nature of
    our enemy, the stakes of the struggle, and the progress we have made
    during the past 5 years. On

    [[Page 1636]]

    Tuesday in Washington, I described in the terrorists' own words what
    they believe, what they hope to accomplish, and how they intend to
    accomplish it. We know what the terrorists intend because they have told
    us. They hope to establish a totalitarian Islamic empire across the
    Middle East, which they call a caliphate, where all would be ruled
    according to their hateful ideology.
        Usama bin Laden has called the 9/11
    attacks ``a great step towards the unity of Muslims and establishing the
    righteous caliphate.'' Al Qaida and its allies reject any possibility of
    coexistence with those they call ``infidels.'' Hear the words of Usama
    bin Laden: ``Death is better than living on this Earth with the
    unbelievers amongst us.'' We must take the words of these extremists
    seriously, and we must act decisively to stop them from achieving their
    evil aims.
        On Wednesday at the White House, I described for the first time a
    CIA program we established after 9/11 to detain and question key
    terrorist leaders and operatives, so we can prevent new terrorist
    attacks. This program has been invaluable to the security of America and
    its allies and helped us identify and capture men who our intelligence
    community believes were key architects of the September the 11th
    attacks.
        Information from terrorists held by the CIA also helped us uncover
    an Al Qaida cell's efforts to obtain biological weapons, identify
    individuals sent by Al Qaida to case targets for attacks in the United
    States, stop the planned strike on a U.S. Marine base in Djibouti,
    prevent an attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, and help break up a
    plot to hijack passenger planes and fly them into Heathrow Airport or
    the Canary Wharf in London.
        Information from the terrorists in CIA custody has also played a
    role in the capture or questioning of nearly every senior Al Qaida
    member or associate detained by the U.S. and its allies since this
    program began. Were it not for this program, our intelligence community
    believes that Al Qaida and its allies would have succeeded in launching
    another attack against the American homeland. We have largely completed
    our questioning of these men, and now it is time that they are tried for
    their crimes.
        So this week, I announced that the men we believe orchestrated the
    9/11 attacks had been transferred to Guantanamo Bay. And I called on
    Congress to pass legislation creating military commissions to try
    suspected terrorists for war crimes. As soon as Congress acts to
    authorize these military commissions, we will prosecute these men and
    send a clear message to those who kill Americans: No matter how long it
    takes, we will find you and bring you to justice.
        As we bring terrorists to justice, we're acting to secure the
    homeland. On Thursday in Atlanta, I delivered a progress report on the
    steps we have taken since 9/11 to protect the American people and win
    the war on terror. We are safer today because we've acted to address the
    gaps in security, intelligence, and information sharing that the
    terrorists exploited in the 9/11 attacks. No one can say for sure that
    we would have prevented the attacks had these reforms been in place in
    2001, yet we can say that terrorists would have found it harder to plan
    and finance their operations, harder to slip into our country
    undetected, and harder to board the planes, take control of the
    cockpits, and succeed in striking their targets.
        America still faces determined enemies. And in the long run,
    defeating these enemies requires more than improved security at home and
    military action abroad. We must also offer a hopeful alternative to the
    terrorists' hateful ideology. So America is taking the side of
    democratic leaders and reformers and supporting the voices of tolerance
    and moderation across the Middle East. By advancing freedom and

    [[Page 1637]]

    democracy as the great alternative to repression and radicalism and by
    supporting young democracies like Iraq, we are helping to bring a
    brighter future to this region, and that will make America and the world
    more secure.
        The war on terror will be long and difficult, and more tough days
    lie ahead. Yet we can have confidence in the final outcome because we
    know what America can achieve when our Nation acts with resolve and
    clear purpose. With vigilance, determination, and courage, we will
    defeat the enemies of freedom, and we will leave behind a more peaceful
    world for our children and our grandchildren.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 7:50 a.m. on September 8 in the
    Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September
    9. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press
    Secretary on September 8 but was embargoed for release until the
    broadcast. In his address, the President referred to Usama bin Laden,
    leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.