    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [June 5, 2007]
    [Pages 685-690]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Democracy and Security Conference in Prague
    June 5, 2007

        Thank you all. President Ilves, Foreign
    Minister Schwarzenberg, distinguished
    guests: Laura and I are pleased to be back in
    Prague, and we appreciate the gracious welcome in this historic hall.
    Tomorrow I'll attend the G-8 summit, where I will meet with the leaders
    of the world's most powerful economies. This afternoon I stand with men
    and women who represent an even greater power: the power of human
    conscience.
        In this room are dissidents and democratic activists from 17
    countries on 5 continents. You follow different traditions, you practice
    different faiths, and you face different challenges. But you are united
    by an unwavering conviction: That freedom is the nonnegotiable right of
    every man, woman, and child, and that the path to lasting peace in our
    world is liberty.
        This conference was conceived by three of the great advocates for
    freedom in our time: Jose Maria Aznar,
    Vaclav Havel, and Natan Sharansky. I thank them for the invitation to address this
    inspiring assembly and for showing the world that an individual with
    moral clarity and courage can change the course of history.
        It is fitting that we meet in the Czech Republic, a nation at the
    heart of Europe and of the struggle for freedom on this continent. Nine
    decades ago, Tomas Masaryk proclaimed Czechoslovakia's independence
    based on the ``ideals of modern democracy.'' That democracy was
    interrupted, first by the Nazis and then by the Communists, who seized
    power in a shameful coup that left the Foreign Minister dead in the
    courtyard of this palace.
        Through the long darkness of the Soviet occupation, the true face of
    this nation was never in doubt. The world saw it in the reforms of the
    Prague Spring and the principled demands of Charter 77. Those efforts
    were met with tanks and truncheons and arrests by secret police. But the
    violent would not have the final word. In 1989, thousands gathered in
    Wenceslas Square to call for their freedom. Theaters like Magic Lantern
    became headquarters for dissidents. Workers left their factories to
    support a strike, and, within weeks, the regime crumbled. Vaclav
    Havel went from prisoner of state to head of
    state. And the people of Czechoslovakia brought down the Iron Curtain
    with a Velvet Revolution.
        Across Europe, similar scenes were unfolding. In Poland, a movement
    that began in a single shipyard freed people across a nation. In
    Hungary, mourners gathered at Heroes Square to bury a slain reformer and
    bury their Communist regime as well. In East Germany, families came
    together for prayer meetings and found the strength to tear down a wall.
    Soon, activists emerged from the attics and church basements to

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    reclaim the streets of Bulgaria and Romania and Albania and Latvia and
    Lithuania and Estonia. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved peacefully in this
    very room. And after seven decades of oppression, the Soviet Union
    ceased to exist.
        Behind these astounding achievements was the triumph of freedom in
    the battle of ideas. The Communists had an imperial ideology that
    claimed to know the directions of history. But in the end, it was
    overpowered by ordinary people who wanted to live their lives and
    worship their God and speak the truth to their children. The Communists
    had the harsh rule of Brezhnev and Honecker and Ceausescu. But in the
    end, it was no match for the vision of Walesa
    and Havel, the defiance of Sakharov and
    Sharansky, the resolve of Reagan and
    Thatcher, the fearless witness of John
    Paul. From this experience, a clear lesson has emerged: Freedom can be
    resisted, and freedom can be delayed, but freedom cannot be denied.
        In the years since liberation, Central and Eastern European nations
    have navigated the difficult transition to democracy. Leaders made the
    tough reforms needed to enter NATO and the European Union. Citizens
    claimed their freedom in the Balkans and beyond. And now, after
    centuries of war and suffering, the continent of Europe is at last in
    peace.
        With this new era have come new threats to freedom. In dark and
    repressive corners of the world, whole generations grew up with no voice
    in their government and no hope in their future. This life of oppression
    bred deep resentment. And for many, resentment boiled over into
    radicalism and extremism and violence. The world saw the result on
    September the 11th, 2001, when terrorists based in Afghanistan sent 19
    suicidal men to murder nearly 3,000 innocent people in the United
    States.
        For some, this attack called for a narrow response. In truth, 9/11
    was evidence of a much broader danger, an international movement of
    violent Islamic extremists that threatens free peoples everywhere. The
    extremists's ambition is to build a totalitarian empire that spans all
    current and former Muslim lands, including parts of Europe. Their
    strategy to achieve that goal is to frighten the world into surrender
    through a ruthless campaign of terrorist murder.
        To confront this enemy, America and our allies have taken the
    offensive with the full range of our military, intelligence, and law
    enforcement capabilities. Yet this battle is more than a military
    conflict. Like the cold war, it's an ideological struggle between two
    fundamentally different visions of humanity. On one side are the
    extremists who promise paradise, but deliver a life of public beatings
    and repression of women and suicide bombings. On the other side are huge
    numbers of moderate men and women, including millions in the Muslim
    world, who believe that every human life has dignity and value that no
    power on Earth can take away.
        The most powerful weapon in the struggle against extremism is not
    bullets or bombs; it is the universal appeal of freedom. Freedom is the
    design of our Maker and the longing of every soul. Freedom is the best
    way to unleash the creativity and economic potential of a nation.
    Freedom is the only ordering of a society that leads to justice. And
    human freedom is the only way to achieve human rights.
        Expanding freedom is more than a moral imperative; it is the only
    realistic way to protect our people in the long run. Years ago, Andrei
    Sakharov warned that a country that does not respect the rights of its
    own people will not respond to the rights of its neighbors. History
    proves him right. Governments accountable to their people do not attack
    each other. Democracies address problems through the political process,
    instead of blaming outside scapegoats. Young people who can disagree
    openly with their leaders are less likely to adopt violent

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    ideologies. And nations that commit to freedom for their people will not
    support extremists; they will join in defeating them.
        For all these reasons, the United States is firmly committed to the
    advance of freedom and democracy as the great alternatives to repression
    and radicalism. We have a historic objective in view. In my second
    Inaugural Address, I pledged America to the ultimate goal of ending
    tyranny in our world. Some have said that qualifies me as a dissident
    President. If standing for liberty in the world makes me a dissident, I
    wear that title with pride.
        America pursues our freedom agenda in many ways, some vocal and
    visible, others quiet and hidden from view. Ending tyranny requires
    support for the forces of conscience that undermine repressive societies
    from within. The Soviet dissident Andrei Amalrik compared a tyrannical
    state to a soldier who constantly points a gun at his enemy, until his
    arms finally tire and the prisoner escapes. The role of the free world
    is to put pressure on the arms of the world's tyrants and strengthen the
    prisoners who are trying to speed their collapse.
        And so I meet personally with dissidents and democratic activists
    from some of the world's worst dictatorships, including Belarus and
    Burma and Cuba and North Korea, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. At this conference,
    I look forward to meeting other dissidents, including some from Iran and
    Syria. One of those dissidents is Mamoun Homsi.
    In 2001, this man was an independent member of the Syrian Parliament who
    simply issued a declaration asking the Government to begin respecting
    human rights. For this entirely peaceful act, he was arrested and sent
    to jail, where he spent several years beside other innocent advocates
    for a free Syria.
        Another dissident I will meet here is Rebiya Kadeer of China, whose
    sons have been jailed in what we believe
    is an act of retaliation for her human rights activities. The talent of
    men and women like Rebiya is the greatest resource of their nations, far
    more valuable than the weapons of their army or their oil under the
    ground. America calls on every nation that stifles dissent to end its
    repression, to trust its people, and to grant its citizens the freedom
    they deserve.
        There are many dissidents who couldn't join us because they are
    being unjustly imprisoned or held under house arrest. I look forward to
    the day when a conference like this one includes Alyaksander
    Kazulin of Belarus, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Oscar Elias Biscet of Cuba, Father Nguyen Van Ly of Vietnam, Ayman Nour of Egypt.
    The daughter of one of these political prisoners is in this room. I
    would like to say to her and all the families: I thank you for your
    courage; I pray for your comfort and strength; and I call for the
    immediate and unconditional release of your loved ones.
        In the eyes of America, the democratic dissidents today are the
    democratic leaders of tomorrow. So we're taking new steps to strengthen
    our support. We recently created a Human Rights Defenders Fund, which
    provides grants for the legal defense and medical expenses of activists
    arrested or beaten by repressive governments. I strongly support the
    Prague Document that your conference plans to issue, which states that
    ``the protection of human rights is critical to international peace and
    security.'' And in keeping with the goals of that declaration, I have
    asked Secretary Rice to send a directive to
    every U.S. Ambassador in an unfree nation: Seek out and meet with
    activists for democracy; seek out those who demand human rights.
        People living in tyranny need to know they are not forgotten. North
    Koreans live in a closed society where dissent is brutally suppressed,
    and they are cut off from their brothers and sisters to the south. The
    Iranians are a great people who deserve to chart their own future, but
    they are denied their liberty by a handful of extremists whose pursuit
    of nuclear weapons prevents their country from taking its rightful place

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    amongst the thriving. The Cubans are desperate for freedom, and as that
    nation enters a period of transition, we must insist on free elections
    and free speech and free assembly. And in Sudan, freedom is denied and
    basic human rights are violated by a government that pursues genocide
    against its own citizens. My message to all those who suffer under
    tyranny is this: We will never excuse your oppressors; we will always
    stand for your freedom.
        Freedom is also under assault in countries that have shown some
    progress. In Venezuela, elected leaders have resorted to shallow
    populism to dismantle democratic institutions and tighten their grip on
    power. The Government of Uzbekistan continues to silence independent
    voices by jailing human rights activists. And Vietnam recently arrested
    and imprisoned a number of peaceful religious and political activists.
        These developments are discouraging, but there are more reasons for
    optimism. At the start of the 1980s, there were only 45 democracies on
    Earth. There are now more than 120 democracies; more people now live in
    freedom than ever before. And it is the responsibility of those who
    enjoy the blessings of liberty to help those who are struggling to
    establish their free societies.
        So the United States has nearly doubled funding for democracy
    projects. We're working with our partners in the G-8 to promote the rise
    of a vibrant civil society in the Middle East through initiatives like
    the Forum for the Future. We're cooperating side by side with the new
    democracies in Ukraine and Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. We congratulate the
    people of Yemen on their landmark presidential election and the people
    of Kuwait on elections in which women were able to vote and run for
    office for the first time. We stand firmly behind the people of Lebanon
    and Afghanistan and Iraq as they defend their democratic gains against
    extremist enemies. These people aremaking tremendous sacrifices for
    liberty. They deserve the admiration of the free world, and they deserve
    our unwavering support.
        The United States is also using our influence to urge valued
    partners like Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to move toward
    freedom. These nations have taken brave stands and strong action to
    confront extremists, along with some steps to expand liberty and
    transparency. Yet they have a great distance still to travel. The United
    States will continue to press nations like these to open up their
    political systems and give greater voice to their people. Inevitably,
    this creates tension. But our relationships with these countries are
    broad enough and deep enough to bear it. As our relationships with South
    Korea and Taiwan during the cold war prove, America can maintain a
    friendship and push a nation toward democracy at the same time.
        We're also applying that lesson to our relationships with Russia and
    China. The United States has strong working relationships with these
    countries. Our friendship with them is complex. In the areas where we
    share mutual interests, we work together. In other areas, we have strong
    disagreements. China's leaders believe that they can continue to open
    the nation's economy without opening its political system. We disagree.
    In Russia, reforms that were once promised to empower citizens have been
    derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development. Part
    of a good relationship is the ability to talk openly about our
    disagreements. So the United States will continue to build our
    relationships with these countries, and we will do it without abandoning
    our principles or our values.
        We appreciate that free societies take shape at different speeds in
    different places. One virtue of democracy is that it reflects local
    history and traditions. Yet

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    there are fundamental elements that all democracies share: freedom of
    speech, religion, press, and assembly; rule of law enforced by
    independent courts; private property rights; and political parties that
    compete in free and fair elections. These rights and institutions are
    the foundation of human dignity, and as countries find their own path to
    freedom, they must find a loyal partner in the United States of America.
        Extending the reach of freedom is a mission that unites democracies
    around the world. Some of the greatest contributions are coming from
    nations with the freshest memories of tyranny. I appreciate the Czech
    Republic's support for human rights projects in Belarus and Burma and
    Cuba. I thank Germany and Poland and the Czech Republic and Hungary and
    Slovenia and Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia for contributing to
    the new United Nations Democracy Fund. I'm grateful for the commitment
    many new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe are making to
    Afghanistan and Iraq. I appreciate that these countries are willing to
    do the hard work necessary to enable people who want to be free to live
    in a free society.
        In all these ways, the freedom agenda is making a difference. The
    work has been difficult, and that is not going to change. There will be
    triumphs and failures, progress and setbacks. Ending tyranny cannot be
    achieved overnight. And of course, this objective has its critics.
        Some say that ending tyranny means imposing our values on people who
    do not share them, or that people live in parts of the world where
    freedom cannot take hold. That is refuted by the fact that every time
    people are given a choice, they choose freedom.
        We saw that when the people of Latin America turned dictatorships
    into democracies, when the people of South Africa replaced apartheid
    with a free society, and the people of Indonesia ended their long
    authoritarian rule. We saw it when Ukrainians in orange scarves demanded
    that their ballots be counted. We saw it when millions of Afghans and
    Iraqis defied the terrorists to elect free governments. At a polling
    station in Baghdad, I was struck by the words of an Iraqi. He had one leg, and he told a reporter, ``I would have
    crawled here if I had to.'' When democracy--was democracy--I ask the
    critics: Was democracy imposed on that man? Was freedom a value he did
    not share? The truth is that the only ones who have to impose their
    values are the extremists and the radicals and the tyrants.
        And that is why the Communists crushed the Prague Spring and threw
    an innocent playwright in jail and trembled at the sight of a Polish
    Pope. History shows that ultimately, freedom conquers fear. And given a
    chance, freedom will conquer fear in every nation on Earth.
        Another objective--objection is that ending tyranny will unleash
    chaos. Critics point to the violence in Afghanistan or Iraq or Lebanon
    as evidence that freedom leaves people less safe. But look who's causing
    the violence: it's the terrorists; it's the extremists. It is no
    coincidence that they are targeting young democracies in the Middle
    East. They know that the success of free societies there is a mortal
    threat to their ambitions and to their very survival. The fact that our
    enemies are fighting back is not a reason to doubt democracy. It is
    evidence that they recognize democracy's power. It is evidence that we
    are at war. And it is evidence that free nations must do what it takes
    to prevail.
        Still, some argue that a safer goal would be stability, especially
    in the Middle East. The problem is that pursuing stability at the
    expense of liberty does not lead to peace, it leads to September the
    11th, 2001. The policy of tolerating tyranny is a moral and strategic
    failure. It is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century.
        Others fear that democracy will bring dangerous forces to power,
    such as Hamas

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    in the Palestinian Territories. Elections will not always turn out the
    way we hope, yet democracy consists of more than a single trip to the
    ballot box. Democracy requires meaningful opposition parties, a vibrant
    civil society, a government that enforces the law and responds to the
    needs of its people. Elections can accelerate the creation of such
    institutions. In a democracy, people will not vote for a life of
    perpetual violence. To stay in power, elected officials must listen to
    their people and pursue their desires for peace; or, in democracies, the
    voters will replace them through free elections.
        Finally, there's the contention that ending tyranny is unrealistic.
    Well, some argue that extending democracy around the world is simply too
    difficult to achieve. That's nothing new. We've heard that criticism
    before, throughout history. At every stage of the cold war, there were
    those who argued that the Berlin Wall was permanent and that people
    behind the Iron Curtain would never overcome their oppressors. History
    has sent a different message.
        The lesson is that freedom will always have its skeptics, but that's
    not the whole story. There are also people like you and the loved ones
    you represent: men and women with courage to risk everything for your
    ideals. In his first address as President, Vaclav Havel proclaimed: ``People, your Government has returned to
    you!'' He was echoing the first speech of Tomas Masaryk who was, in
    turn, quoting the 17th-century Czech teacher Comenius. His message was
    that freedom is timeless. It does not belong to one government or one
    generation. Freedom is the dream and the right of every person in every
    nation in every age.
        The United States of America believes deeply in that message. It was
    the inspiration for our founding when we declared that ``all men are
    created equal.'' It was the conviction that led us to help liberate this
    continent and stand with the captive nations through their long
    struggle. It is the truth that guides our Nation to oppose radicals and
    extremists and terror and tyranny in the world today. And it is the
    reason I have such great confidence in the men and women in this room.
        I leave Prague with a certainty that the cause of freedom is not
    tired and that its future is in the best of hands. With unbreakable
    faith in the power of liberty, you will inspire your people, you will
    lead your nations, and you will change the world.
        Thanks for having me, and may God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:07 p.m. in the Large Hall at Czernin
    Palace. In his remarks, he referred to President Toomas Ilves of
    Estonia; Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and former President
    Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic; former Prime Minister Jose Maria
    Aznar of Spain; Natan Sharansky, former Soviet dissident and author;
    former President Lech Walesa of Poland; and former Prime Minister
    Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom.