[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[February 15, 2007]
[Pages 146-155]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
February 15, 2007
Thank you all. Thank you, Mr. President. [Laughter] That's got kind of a nice ring to it.
[Laughter] Chris, thanks for inviting me. I appreciate the chance to
come and share some thoughts with the men and women of AEI. I admire AEI
a lot; I'm sure you know that. After all, I have been consistently
borrowing some of your best people. More than 20 AEI scholars have
worked in my administration. A few have returned to the fold; you're
going to have to wait 2 more years to get another one to return to the
fold. Dick Cheney is occupied. [Laughter] He
sends his best.
I appreciate what the AEI stands for. This institute has been a
tireless voice for the principles of individual liberty, free
enterprise, limited government, and a strong national defense. And no
one embodied these principles better than the late Ambassador Jeane
Kirkpatrick. She was a professor, author, diplomat, Presidential
adviser, and a key architect in our victory in the cold war.
In 2003, I had the honor of asking her to lead the U.S. delegation
to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. And I would like to share
with you what she told that commission. She said, ``[America's] national
policy is to assert that all human beings are born free; all human
beings are equal in inherent rights and human dignity.'' That's the
policy of the Bush administration as well. I believe in the universality
of freedom, and I believe that this country--this grand country of ours
has an obligation to help people realize the blessings of freedom. I
appreciate so very much that Jeane Kirkpatrick was such a well-spoken
advocate for that basic truth. I am proud to join you in paying tribute
to her life and the legacy of a great American stateswoman.
I appreciate the board of directors of the AEI for giving me this
forum. Thanks for trying to stay on the leading edge of thought as well.
It's really important that ideas be conceived, circulated, and embraced.
I want to thank Members of the Congress who have joined us today--there
they are. Good, yes. [Laughter] All friends: Pete King from New York, Trent Franks from
Arizona, Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida,
and fellow Texan, Mike McCaul. Thanks for
coming; appreciate you being here. I thank the members of the diplomatic
corps who have joined us; proud you're here. Thanks for taking time out
of a busy schedule to come and hear this address. I appreciate members
of the United States Armed Forces who have joined us. I thank the
dignitaries and friends of the AEI and members of my administration who
have joined. Don't linger--[laughter]--get back to work. But thank you
for being here. [Laughter] I fully expect you to stay awake for the
entire address. [Laughter]
As scholars and thinkers, you are contributing to a nationwide
debate about the direction of the war on terror. A vigorous debate is
healthy for our country--it really is--and I welcome the debate. It's
one of the true hallmarks of a free society, where people can get up and
express their beliefs in a open forum. Yet 5 years into this war, there
is one principle of which every member of every party should be able to
agree on--in other words, after all the debate, there is one thing we
all ought to be able to agree on, and that is: We've got to fight the
terrorists overseas so we don't have to face them here at home again.
We're acting on that principle. Since the attacks of September the
11th, we have been on the offense. I believe the best way to do our duty
in securing the homeland is to stay on the offense. And we're not alone.
That's what our fellow citizens have got to understand. We're not in
this
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fight against extremists and murderers alone.
Recently in the Philippines, that country's special forces conducted
raids in which they killed two top leaders of an Al Qaida-affiliated
terrorist organization--a group that we believe was responsible for
kidnaping four American citizens and killing two of them. In Tunisia,
authorities recently broke up a terrorist cell that was planning to
attack the American and British Embassies. In Spain, police captured
several fugitives wanted for aiding the escape of terrorists responsible
for the Madrid train bombings. In the past year, nations including
Denmark, Italy, France, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Turkey, Canada, and
Britain have broken up terrorist cells. The enemy is active, and so are
those of us who love freedom. It's in the interests of the United States
to encourage other nations not to relent and not to give in, but to keep
the pressure on those who try to have their way by murdering the
innocent. And that's exactly what we'll continue to do.
This war against the terrorists, this war to protect ourselves,
takes place on many fronts. One such front is Iraq. We're on the offense
in Iraq, as we should be, against extremists and killers. I recently
announced a new strategy for Iraq. It's a plan that demands more from
the Iraqi Government. Not only do we demand more from the Iraqi
Government, but so do--the Iraqi people demand more from the Iraqi
Government. They want to live in peace. It's important for our fellow
citizens to understand, a mother in downtown Baghdad wants her child to
be able to walk the streets peacefully, just like mothers here in
America want their children to be able to go to a playground and play
peacefully.
I made Baghdad the top security priority. In other words, it's
important, in order to achieve our objective, that the capital city of
this grand country be secure. And I sent reinforcements to our troops so
they can accomplish that mission. I spent a lot of time with members of
my administration thinking about the way forward in Iraq. And we
listened to a lot of opinions and a lot of different ideas. In the end,
I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance for
success.
And the reason why I mention success is, it's important for us to
succeed. It's important for us to help this young democracy fight off
the extremists so moderation can prevail. It's important for us to stand
with this young democracy as they live--as they try to build a society
under the most modern Constitution written in the Middle East, a
Constitution approved by millions of their citizens.
One of the interesting things that I have found here in Washington
is, there is strong disagreement about what to do to succeed, but there
is strong agreement that we should not fail. People understand the
consequences of failure. If we were to leave this young democracy before
the job is done, there would be chaos, and out of chaos would become
vacuums, and into those power vacuums would flow extremists who would be
emboldened, extremists who want to find safe haven.
As we think about this important front in the war against extremists
and terrorists, it's important for our fellow citizens to recognize this
truth: If we were to leave Iraq before the job is done, the enemy would
follow us home.
Our new commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is now on the ground in Baghdad. I visited him by secure
video yesterday. He reports that coalition troops are arriving on
schedule. He says the Iraqi Government is following through on its
commitment to deploy three additional army brigades in the capital.
Prime Minister Maliki has said, ``Part of
our strategy is to put more Iraqis in the fight in the capital city to
achieve our objective,'' and he's doing that. So far, coordination
between Iraqi and coalition forces has been good--they are beginning
joint operations
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to secure the city by chasing down the terrorists and insurgents and the
criminals and the roaming death squads. They're doing what the Iraqi
people want in Baghdad; they want a peaceful life.
The initial signs of progress are encouraging. Yet it's important
for us to recognize that this is the beginning of what will be a
difficult operation in the Iraqi capital. Our troops are risking their
lives. As they carry out the new strategy, they need our patience, and
they need our support. When General David Petraeus's nomination was considered 3 weeks ago in the United States
Senate, the Senators voted unanimously to confirm him to his new
position, and I appreciate that affirmation, that strong statement for
this good general.
Now the House is debating a resolution that disapproves of our new
strategy. This may become the first time in the history of the United
States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that
is necessary to succeed in that battle.
Members of Congress have every right to express their opinion, and I
fully expect them to do so. The resolution they're now debating is
nonbinding. Soon the Congress is going to vote on a piece of legislation
that is binding, a bill to provide emergency funding for our troops. Our
men and women in uniform are counting on their elected leaders to
provide them with the support they need to accomplish their mission. We
have a responsibility--Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility
to give our troops the resources they need to do their job and the
flexibility they need to prevail.
As we implement a new strategy in Iraq, we are also taking new steps
to defeat the terrorists and extremists in Afghanistan. My
administration has just completed a top-to-bottom review of our strategy
in that country, and today I want to talk to you about the progress we
have made in Afghanistan, the challenges we face in Afghanistan, and the
strategy we're pursuing to defeat the enemies of freedom in Afghanistan.
It wasn't all that long ago that we learned the lessons of how
terrorists operate. It may seem like a long time ago--5 years is a long
time in this day and age of instant news cycles--but it really isn't all
that long ago, when you think about the march of history. In
Afghanistan, we saw how terrorists and extremists can use those safe
havens, safe havens in a failed state, to bring death and destruction to
our people here at home.
It was an amazing turning point in the history of our country,
really, when you think about it. It was a defining moment for the 21st
century. Think about what I just said, that in the remote reaches of the
world, because there was a failed state, murderers were able to plot and
plan and then execute a deadly attack that killed nearly 3,000 of our
citizens. It's a lesson that we've got to remember. And one of the
lessons of that September the 11th day is that we cannot allow
terrorists to gain sanctuary anywhere; we must not allow them to
reestablish the safe haven they lost in Afghanistan.
Our goal in Afghanistan is to help the people of that country to
defeat the terrorists and establish a stable, moderate, democratic state
that respects the rights of its citizens, governs its territory
effectively, and is a reliable ally in this war against extremists and
terrorists. Oh, for some that may seem like an impossible task. But it's
not impossible if you believe what Jeane Kirkpatrick said, and that
freedom is universal; that we believe all human beings desire to live in
freedom and peace.
Over the past 5 years, we've made real progress toward the goal I
just described. In 2001, Afghanistan was a totalitarian nightmare, a
land where girls could not go to school, where religious police roamed
the streets, where women were publicly whipped, where there were summary
executions in the Kabul soccer stadium, and where the terrorists
operated freely--they
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ran camps where they planned and trained for horrific attacks that
affected us and other nations.
Today, 5 short years later, the Taliban have been driven from power,
Al Qaida has been driven from its camps, and Afghanistan is free. That's
why I say, ``We have made remarkable progress.'' Afghanistan has a
democratically elected President named Hamid Karzai. I respect him. I appreciate his courage. Afghanistan
has a National Assembly chosen by the Afghan people in free elections.
Under the Taliban, women were barred from public office. Today,
Afghanistan's Parliament includes 91 women. President Karzai has appointed the first woman
to serve as a Provincial governor.
Under the Taliban, free enterprise was stifled. Today, the Afghan
economy has doubled in size since liberation. Afghanistan has attracted
$800 million in foreign investment during that time.
Under the Taliban, there were about 900,000 children in school.
Today, more than 5 million children are in school; about 1.8 [million]*
of them are girls.
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*White House correction.
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Under the Taliban, an estimated 8 percent of Afghans had access to
basic health care. Today, the United States has built or renovated 681
health clinics across the country. Now more than 80 percent of Afghans
have access to basic health coverage--health care.
Under the Taliban, Afghans fled the country in large numbers,
seeking safety abroad. Today, more than 4.6 million Afghan refugees have
come home, in one of the largest return movements in history.
In today's Afghanistan, people are free to speak their minds;
they're free to begin to realize dreams. In today's Afghanistan, there's
a NATO Alliance that is taking the lead to help provide security for the
people of Afghanistan. In today's Afghanistan, the terrorists who once
oppressed the Afghan people and threatened our country are being
captured and killed by NATO forces and soldiers and police of a free
Afghanistan. Times have changed. Our work is bringing freedom. A free
Afghanistan helps make this country more secure.
We face a thinking enemy, and we face a tough enemy. They watch our
actions, they adjust their tactics, and in 2006, this enemy struck back
with vengeance. As freedom began to spread, an enemy that cannot stand
the thought of a free society tried to do something about it, tried to
stop the advance of this young democracy. It's not the only place in the
world where the enemy struck back in 2006. They struck back in Iraq.
They struck in Lebanon. This should be a lesson for our fellow citizens
to understand--where these group of people find freedom, they're willing
to resort to brutal tactics.
It's an interesting enemy--isn't it?--an enemy that can't stand the
thought of somebody being able to live a peaceful life, a life of hope,
an optimistic life. And it's an enemy we've got to take seriously.
Across Afghanistan last year, the number of roadside bombs almost
doubled, direct fire attacks on international forces almost tripled, and
suicide bombings grew nearly fivefold. These escalating attacks were
part of a Taliban offensive that made 2006 the most violent year in
Afghanistan since the liberation of the country.
And so the fundamental question is, how do you react? Do you say:
``Maybe it's too tough? Let's just kind of let this young democracy
wither and fade away.'' Do we forget the lessons of September the 11th?
And the answer is, absolutely not.
And so the Taliban offensive that was launched was turned back by
incredible courage of the Afghan soldiers and by NATO forces that stood
strong. You see, I believe the Taliban felt that they could exploit
weakness. I believe that they said to themselves: ``If we can, we'll
test NATO and cause NATO leaders to turn their back on this young
democracy.'' After the fierce battles throughout the year 2006, the
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Taliban had failed in their objective of taking and holding new
territory.
In recent months, the intensity of the fighting has died down--
that's only natural. It does every year when the snow and ice set in
there in Afghanistan. But even in these winter months, we stayed on the
offense against the Taliban and Al Qaida. This January, NATO
reconnaissance units observed a major Taliban incursion from Pakistan--
with about 150 Taliban fighters crossing the border into the Paktika
Province. So NATO and Afghan forces launched a coordinated air assault
and ground assault, and we destroyed the Taliban force. A large number
of enemy fighters were killed; they were forced to retreat, where they
were engaged by Pakistani troops.
Just 2 weeks ago, NATO launched an air strike against Taliban
fighters who had seized the town of Musa Qala in Helmand Province. A key
Taliban commander was brought to justice.
The snow is going to melt in the Hindu Kush Mountains, and when it
does, we can expect fierce fighting to continue. The Taliban and Al
Qaida are preparing to launch new attacks. Our strategy is not to be on
the defense, but to go on the offense. This spring, there is going to be
a new offensive in Afghanistan, and it's going to be a NATO offensive.
And that's part of our strategy: relentless in our pressure. We will not
give in to murderers and extremists.
And we're focused on five key goals that I want to share with you.
First, the United States and our allies will help President
Karzai increase the size and capabilities of
the Afghan security forces. After all, for this young democracy to
survive in the long term, they'll have their own security forces that
are capable and trained. We don't have to teach them courage. These
folks understand courage. They're willing to fight for their country.
They're willing to defend this young democracy. And so it's in our
interest and the interest of NATO countries to provide training so they
have more strong fighters--so we're going to increase the size of the
national police from 61,000 to 82,000 by the end of 2008. And we'll help
them develop new specialties: new civil order brigades,
counternarcotics, and border surveillance.
We're going to increase the Afghan Army--today, it's 32,000; that's
not enough to do the job in this vast country--to 70,000 by the end of
2008. It's one thing to get them trained and one thing to get them
uniforms, but they're also going to have to have ways to move around
their country. So we're going to add Commando battalions, a helicopter
unit, combat support units. In other words, we're going to help this
young democracy have a fully integrated security force that will respond
to the commands of the elected officials.
Capable troops need intelligence. This is a war that requires good
intelligence on all fronts. So the United States and our allies will
work with Afghanistan's leaders to improve human intelligence networks,
particularly in the areas that are threatened by the Taliban. Together
with the Afghan Government and NATO, we created a Joint Intelligence
Operations Center in Kabul--so all the forces fighting the terrorists in
Afghanistan have a common picture of the enemy. That may sound simple to
those of us who have gotten used to sophisticated systems to protect
ourselves. This is important innovation in Afghanistan.
America and our allies are going to stand with these folks. That's
the message I want to deliver to the Afghanistan people today. Free
debates are important, but our commitment is strong: We will train you,
we will help you, and we will stand with you as you defend your new
democracy.
The second part of our strategy is to work with our allies to
strengthen the NATO force in Afghanistan. Today, Afghanistan is NATO's
most important military operation. Isn't it interesting that NATO is now
in Afghanistan? I suspect 20 years ago, if a President stood in front of
AEI and said, ``I'll make a prediction
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to you that NATO would be a force for freedom and peace outside of
Europe,'' probably never would have invited the person back. [Laughter]
Today, NATO is in Afghanistan. And I thank the leaders of the NATO
countries for recognizing the importance of Afghanistan in our own
security and enhancing the security of our own countries.
For NATO to succeed, member nations must provide commanders on the
ground with the troops and the equipment they need to do their jobs.
Many allies have made commitments of additional forces and support, and
I appreciate those commitments, but not nearly as much as the people in
Afghanistan appreciate them. Norway, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic
have all agreed to send special operation forces to Afghanistan.
Britain, Poland, Turkey, and Bulgaria have agreed to additional troops.
Italy has agreed to send aircraft. Romania will contribute to the EU
police mission. Denmark, Greece, Norway, and Slovakia will provide
funding for Afghan security forces. Iceland will provide airlift. The
people of Afghanistan need to know that they've got a lot of friends in
this world who want them to succeed.
For NATO to succeed, allies must make sure that we fill the security
gaps. In other words, when there is a need, when our commanders on the
ground say to our respective countries, ``We need additional help,'' our
NATO countries must provide it in order to be successful in this
mission.
As well, allies must lift restrictions on the forces they do provide
so NATO commanders have the flexibility they need to defeat the enemy
wherever the enemy may make a stand. The alliance was founded on this
principle: An attack on one is an attack on all. That principle holds
true whether the attack is on the home soil of a NATO nation or on
allied forces deployed on a NATO mission abroad. By standing together in
Afghanistan, NATO forces protect our own people. And they must have the
flexibility and rules of engagement to be able to do their job.
Third, the United States and our allies will help President
Karzai improve Provincial governance and
develop Afghanistan's--and to help develop Afghanistan's rural economy.
Many Afghans in remote regions fight with the Taliban simply because
there are no other jobs available. The best way to dry up Taliban
recruits is to help Afghanistan's Government create jobs and
opportunity. So NATO is operating 25 Provincial Reconstruction Teams
across the country. These teams are made up of civilian and military
experts. They are helping the Afghan Government extend its reach into
distant regions; they're improving security; and they're helping to
deliver reconstruction assistance. In other words, I just described
military operations that are necessary, but in order for these young
democracies to survive, there's got to be more than just military. There
has to be political development and tangible evidence that a government
can provide opportunity and hope. And these Provincial Reconstruction
Teams do just that.
These teams will help build irrigation systems, improve power
production, provide access to microcredit. The idea is to encourage
entrepreneurship, job formation, enterprise. These teams will undertake
new efforts to train Provincial and local leaders. We take democracy for
granted. Democracy hasn't exactly been rooted deeply in the Afghan
history. It takes awhile for people to understand how to function as an
elected official. It takes help for people to understand the obligations
to respond to the people. And these teams will train Provincial and
local leaders.
Another key element to bringing stability to Afghanistan is building
roads. Lieutenant General Eikenberry, who
served with distinction in Afghanistan, just finished his tour; he was
the senior commander there. He said, really, something very interesting
that caught my attention. He said, ``Where the roads end in Afghanistan,
the Taliban
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begin.'' And so in order to help the security of this country, the
international community has stepped up its roadbuilding campaign across
Afghanistan. So far, the United States and other nations have completed
construction of more than 4,000 miles of roads--that sounds like a lot,
and it is a lot. We're also talking about a big country.
Much of the ring road--we call it the ring road--that links
Provincial capitals to Kabul is pretty well complete. And that's
important, because, first of all, roadbuilding brings jobs to young men
who might be recruited by the Taliban. But roads enable people to get
commerce to centers of trade. In other words, roads promote enterprise.
Enterprise provides hope. Hope is what defeats this ideology of
darkness. And so we're going to build another 1,000 roads [1,000 miles
of roads]* in 2007. It's an important effort, and our allies need to
follow through on their commitments to help this young democracy have a
road system that will enable it to flourish and survive.
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*White House correction.
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Fourth, the United States and our allies will help President
Karzai reverse the increase in poppy
cultivation that is aiding the Taliban. After a decline in 2005,
Afghanistan saw a marked increase in poppy cultivation last year. This
is a direct threat to a free future for Afghanistan. I have made my
concerns to President Karzai pretty clear--not pretty clear, very
clear--and that in order for him to gain the confidence of his people
and the confidence of the world, he's got to do something about it, with
our help.
The Taliban uses drug money to buy weapons--they benefit from this
cultivation--and they pay Afghans to take up arms against the
Government. And so we're helping the President
in a variety of ways to deal with the problem. First, he has established
what's called a Central Narcotics Tribunal in Kabul. One way to deal
with the drug problem is for there to be a push back to the drug
dealers, and a good way to push back on the drug dealers is, convict
them and send them to prison. He has improved the Afghan Eradication
Force, this is mobile units that can deploy across the country to help
governors in their eradication efforts.
We're supporting him. We're supporting him through direct aid on
these mobile units, and we're supporting him to expand alternative
livelihood programs. I mean, look, these poppy growers are trying to
make a living. And the idea is to provide these farmers with credit and
seeds and fertilizer and assistance to bring their products to market.
So the strategy to eliminate poppies is to encourage the Government to
eradicate and to provide alternative means for a livelihood and to help
have the roads so that when somebody grows something somebody wants to
buy in Kabul, there's a road to be able to take the product along to the
markets.
It's important, and we're going to stay focused on the poppy issue.
And when the President and his Government is
able to make progress on it, it will really inspire countries who want
to help to do more.
Finally, we're going to help President Karzai fight corruption. And one place where he needs help is
in the judicial system. There's nothing more discouraging when justice
is not fair. And Afghans too often see their courts run by crooked
judges. It's important to have the confidence of the people in a free
society. Crooked judges makes it hard to earn that confidence.
And so we're--President Karzai, to his
credit, has established a Criminal Justice Task Force that is now after
public corruption. This task force has 400 prosecutors, [prosecutions]*
and there are ongoing investigations. The United States, Britain, and
Norway are providing full-time prosecutors, judges, police, and defense
attorneys to mentor their Afghan counterparts. And I appreciate our own
citizens going over there. Must be neat, really; I guess ``neat'' isn't
a sophisticated word, but it must be
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heartening to be somebody who's helping this young democracy develop a
judicial system that is worthy. And I cannot--thank our citizens for
taking time out of their lives to go.
The United States has built or renovated 40 judicial facilities.
We've distributed more than 11,000 copies of the Afghan Constitution.
We've trained more than 750 Afghan judges and lawyers and prosecutors.
The United States and Italy have helped the Afghan Government establish
a National Legal Training Center in Kabul. The international community
is helping this new Government build a justice system so they can
replace the rule of the Taliban with the rule of law.
Now, there's another part of our strategy I want to share with you,
and that is to help President Musharraf
defeat the terrorists and extremists who operate inside of Pakistan.
We're going to work with Pakistan and Afghanistan to enhance cooperation
to defeat what I would call a common enemy. Taliban and Al Qaida
fighters do hide in remote regions of Pakistan--this is wild country.
This is wilder than the Wild West. And these folks hide and recruit and
launch attacks.
The President understands our desire to
work with him to eliminate this kind of action. People say: ``Well, do
you think President Musharraf really understands the threat of
extremists in his midst?'' I said, ``Yes, I do.'' You know how I know?
They've tried to kill him. Al Qaida has launched attacks against the
President of this country. He understands. He also understands that
extremists can destabilize countries on the border or destabilize
countries from which they launch their attacks. And so he's launched
what they call a frontier strategy, and that is to find and eliminate
the extremists and deliver better governance and economic opportunity.
We're helping him in these efforts. It's in our interest to help
him. We provided him--we've helped him equip his security forces that
are patrolling the border regions with Afghanistan. We're funding
construction of more than 100 border outposts, which will provide their
forces with better access to remote regions of this part of the country.
We've given him high-tech equipment to help the Pakistani forces locate
the terrorists attempting to cross the border. We're funding an air
wing, with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, to give Pakistan better
security, better swift response, and better surveillance.
President Musharraf is going to better
be able to now deal with this problem. Bob Gates went out and visited with him recently--had a good
response. He's an ally in this war on terror, and it's in our interest
to support him in fighting the extremists.
I also had an interesting meeting at the White House last
September--and that is, I hosted a private dinner with President
Musharraf and President Karzai, right there in what's called the Family Dining Room. It
was a fascinating discussion. Clearly there are different histories and
different anxieties about the way forward. We did reach some agreements,
however--that it's in all our interests for people to work together, for
example, to improve intelligence sharing. It's in our interest to expand
trade between these two countries. In other words, on the one hand, it's
in our interest to work closely on security for security operations, but
it's also in our mutual interest--all three of our interests--to provide
different alternatives for people to choose from.
Remember, I said earlier that oftentimes, people support the
Taliban--or sometimes, they support the Taliban in Afghanistan because
it's the only job they can find. If that's the case--and I believe it's
true--we need to help these folks provide an economy that gives hope.
And so one way we can do this is what we call reconstruction opportunity
zones that exist on both sides of the Pak and Afghan border. These zones
will give residents the chance to export locally made products to the
United States, duty free. That's our contribution.
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Got a vast market, wealthy country with a lot of consumers, and it's not
going to take much to provide hope if we can get little manufacturing
enterprises set up, local entrepreneurs to be able to manufacture goods
and sell them here in our country. It's a tiny contribution for us and a
major contribution for providing the conditions necessary for stability.
Well, I'm going to continue to work with both the leaders. It's a useful role
for the President of the United States to be in constant contact with
both Presidents, to remind them of the great obligations we have to
fight the extremists and to help people realize dreams.
So our strategy in this country is robust and important. A lot of
attention here in the United States is on Iraq. One reason I've come to
address you is, I want to make sure people's attention is also on
Afghanistan. I'm asking Congress for $11.8 billion over the next 2 years
to help this young democracy survive. I've ordered an increase in U.S.
forces in Afghanistan. We've extended the stay of 3,200 troops now in
the country, for 4 months, and we'll deploy a replacement force that
will sustain this increase for the foreseeable future.
These forces and funds are going to help President Karzai defeat common enemies. Success in Afghanistan is
important for our security. We are engaged in a long ideological
struggle between the forces of moderation and liberty versus the forces
of destruction and extremism. And a victory for the forces of liberty in
Afghanistan will be a resounding defeat in this ideological struggle.
It's in our national interest that we succeed, that we help President
Karzai and the people of Afghanistan succeed. And I'm confident that
with persistence and patience and determination, we will succeed.
And the biggest source for success is the Afghan people themselves.
They want their freedom. Freedom is universal. Jeane Kirkpatrick was
right: People around the world, regardless of their faith, their
background, or their gender, want to be free. There is tangible evidence
in Afghanistan: Eight million people went to the polls to choose their
President in a free election. We take it for
granted. But 8 million people said, ``We want to be free.'' Imagine how
far that society has come from the days of the Taliban. There's courage
in that country. People are showing faith in freedom and courage to
defend that freedom.
I want to tell you an interesting story about an Afghan security
officer at Camp Phoenix near Kabul.
This fellow has worked at this base for 4 years--nearly 4 years. His job
was to guard the front gate and screen cars before they are allowed to
approach a U.S. military checkpoint. He is very popular with our troops;
people who have gotten to know him like him a lot. They appreciate his
courage and his personality, and they call him Rambo. [Laughter] Must
have been a lot for the Afghan citizen to be called Rambo, but that's
what they call him.
One day Rambo was on duty, a car
loaded with explosives tried to crash through the front gate--they were
attempting to get to our troops. This fellow did not hesitate; he jumped
in the car, and he prevented the terrorist from exploding the device. He
saw somebody who was about to harm our citizens, our troops; he then
jumps into the car and stops the attack. A U.S. Army sergeant then
responded, helped him pull the guy out of the car.
One of our U.S. soldiers who was there said this, he said:
``He saved our lives. I promised him
I'd name my first-born son after him.'' The guy is hoping for a boy.
[Laughter]
It's a human story. It's a story that speaks of courage and
alliance, respect for life. To me, it's a story that says, these people
in Afghanistan want to do what is necessary to survive and succeed, and
it's in our interest to help them.
I am really proud that our Nation helped liberate the 25 million
people of that country. We should be proud to stand alongside
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the people of Afghanistan, the newly liberated Afghanistan. And I know
we're all proud of the men and women who have helped liberate that
country--the men and women who wear our uniform who helped liberate that
country and continue to make the sacrifices necessary.
I thank you for giving me a chance to come and talk about a strategy
for success, a strategy that is part of our efforts to make sure that a
generation of Americans, beyond our generation, will look back and say:
``They did their duty to protect the homeland, and as a result, we can
live in peace.''
God bless.
Note: The President spoke at 10:05 a.m. at the Mayflower Hotel. In his
remarks, he referred to Christopher DeMuth, president, American
Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research; Gen. David H. Petraeus,
USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq; Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki of Iraq; Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, USA, commander, Combined
Forces Command--Afghanistan; President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan;
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates; and Afghan security officer Jamal
``Rambo'' Udin. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a
Spanish language transcript of these remarks.