    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [March 11, 2008]
    [Pages 346-353]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville
    March 11, 2008

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you for the warm welcome.
    Nothing better than being introduced by a fellow Texan. [Applause] And it's good to see some of my Texas buddies
    here--[applause]--like my friend Evans from
    Dallas. Good to see you, Tony. Thanks for letting me come by.
        This is kind of a rambunctious crowd. [Laughter] I really am pleased
    to be with you. For 64 years, this association has brought together some
    of the most memorable voices of the--our Christian community here in
    America. You've preached the blessings of grace and understanding and
    patience. I've needed all three during my time as President. [Laughter]
        I was very young when I first learned about obedience to a higher
    power, and my mother sends her best to you.
    [Laughter] I am surrounded by strong women and have been all my
    wife. [Laughter] And speaking about a strong and
    gracious woman, Laura sends her love and best.
        We have something else in common: Each of us has had doors opened to
    us by the same man. He led the way
    for America's religious broadcasters. He brought the Gospel to millions,
    and many years ago, he helped me change my life. And today, this good
    man is recovering from surgery in North Carolina, and please join me in
    sending our love and prayers to Billy Graham. A lot of Americans love
    Billy Graham, and I'm one. So, Billy, we're thinking about you.
        He has led countless Americans to
    the grace and goodness of the Almighty, and each of you performs the
    same mission every day. You renew the poor in spirit, you bring comfort
    to those in anguish, and you show millions the path to salvation and the
    peace of God.
        I thank you for guiding the faithful. I thank you for strengthening
    America's families. I thank you for standing up for our values,
    including the right to life. And I appreciate your firm belief in the
    universality of freedom. I believe and I know most of you, if not all of
    you, believe that every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth
    has been given the great gift of liberty by an Almighty God. And today I
    want to speak about this precious gift, the importance of protecting
    freedom here at home, and the call to offer freedom to others who have
    never known it.
        But before I do, I do want to thank Dr. Ron Harris and his wife Judy, straight out of
    Arlington, Texas. Appreciate other members of the National Religious
    Broadcasters Executive Committee. I thank Dr. Frank Wright and his wife Ruth.
        I appreciate Members of Congress who have come today: Congressman
    Mike Pence of Indiana, Congressman Lincoln
    Davis of Tennessee, and Congresswoman Marsha
    Blackburn of Tennessee. Thank you all for
    coming. Proud to be with you.
        This organization has had many important missions, but none more
    important than ensuring our airways--America's airways--stay open to
    those who preach the good news. The very first amendment to our
    Constitution includes the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion.
    Founders believed these unalienable rights were

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    endowed to us by our Creator. They are vital to a healthy democracy, and
    we must never let anyone take those freedoms away.
        I mention this because there's an effort afoot that would jeopardize
    your right to express your views on public airways. Some Members of
    Congress want to reinstate a regulation that was repealed 20 years ago.
    It has the Orwellian name called the fairness doctrine. Supporters of
    this regulation say we need to mandate that any discussion of so-called
    controversial issues on the public airwaves includes equal time for all
    sides. This means that many programs wanting to stay on the air would
    have to meet Washington's definition of balance. Of course, for some in
    Washington, the only options--opinions that require balancing are the
    ones they don't like. [Laughter]
        We know who these advocates of so-called balance really have in
    their sights: shows hosted by people like Rush Limbaugh or James Dobson or many
    of you in here today. By insisting on so-called balance, they want to
    silence those they don't agree with. The truth of the matter is, they
    know they cannot prevail in the public debate of ideas. They don't
    acknowledge that you are the balance, that you give voice--[applause].
    The country should not be afraid of the diversity of opinions. After
    all, we're strengthened by diversity of opinions.
        If Congress truly supports the free and open exchange of ideas, then
    there is a way they can demonstrate that right now. Republicans have
    drafted legislation that would ban reinstatement of the so-called
    fairness doctrine. Unfortunately, Democratic leaders in the House of
    Representatives have blocked action on this bill. So in response, nearly
    every Republican in the House has signed onto what's called a discharge
    petition that would require Congress to hold an up-or-down vote on the
    ban. Supporters of this petition are only 24 signatures away.
        I do want to thank Mike Pence, who is with us
    today, and Congressman Greg Walden for pressing
    this effort and defending the right for people to express themselves
    freely. And I urge other Members to join in this discharge petition. But
    I'll tell you this: If Congress should ever pass any legislation that
    stifles your right to express your views, I'm going to veto it.
        We love freedom in America, and we're the leader of the world not
    because we try to limit freedom, but because we've helped to spread it.
    You and I know that freedom has the power to transform lives. You and I
    know that free societies are more peaceful and more prosperous. You and
    I know that if given the chance, men and women and children in every
    society on Earth will choose a life of freedom, if just given a chance.
    Unless, of course, you don't believe freedom is a gift from the
    Almighty. The liberty we value is not ours alone. Freedom is not
    America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to all humanity.
        It is no coincidence that the region of the world that is the least
    free is also the most violent and dangerous. For too long, the world was
    content to ignore oppression--oppressive forms of government in the
    Middle East in the name of stability.
        The result was that a generation of young people grew up with little
    hope of improving their lives, and many fell under the sway of violent
    extremism. The birthplace of three of the world's great religions became
    the home of suicide bombers. And resentments that began on the streets
    in the Middle East killed innocent people in trains and airplanes and
    office buildings around the world.
        September the 11th, 2001, was such a day. We saw firsthand how the
    lack of freedom and opportunity in the Middle East directly affects our
    safety here at home. Nineteen men killed nearly 3,000 people because
    someone convinced them that they were acting in the name of God. Murder
    of the innocent to achieve political objectives is wrong and must be
    condemned.
        These murderers were not instruments of a heavenly power; they were
    instruments

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    of evil. And we have seen their kind before. It's important not to
    forget the lessons of history. We must remember the extermination of
    Jews in Nazi death camps were--was evil. The crimes of Pol Pot were
    evil. And the genocide in Rwanda was conducted because people's hearts
    were hardened. This kind of enemy must be confronted, and this kind of
    enemy must be defeated.
        This is the calling of our time. Generations are often called into
    action for the defense of liberty, and this is such a time. Since 9/11,
    we're on the offense. My most important duty and the most important duty
    of those of us who serve you in Government is to protect the innocent
    from attack. And so we're on the offense. My view is, is that if we
    press the enemy, if we bring them to justice, if we defeat them
    overseas, we won't have to face them here--is the best strategy to
    protect America in the short term.
        But that only works in the short term. The best way to defeat the
    enemy in the long term is to defeat their hateful ideology with a vision
    based upon hope, and that is, a society is based upon liberty. If you
    believe in the universality of freedom, then you'll recognize that
    people, if given a chance--just given a chance--will seize the moment
    and marginalize the extremists and isolate the radicals.
        Hopeful societies are those which will eventually provide the
    protection we want here in America. And it'll happen, unless America
    loses its vision and its nerve. It's going to happen, unless we forget
    the lessons of history.
        I want to share one story with you. Some of you may have heard me
    tell you this before. But one of my best friends in the international
    community, someone with whom I spent a lot of time talking about how to
    defeat extremism and defend the peace, was the Prime Minister of
    Japan. And what I found most interesting
    was the history of my family. My father,
    like many of your relatives, signed up to fight the sworn enemy, the
    Japanese. And 60 years later, his son is at the peace table planning and
    thinking about how we can confront this form of extremism in the short
    term and the long term. Something happened between Ensign Bush and Bush
    President 43. And what happened was, Japan adopted liberty as the core
    of its political system.
        Freedom can transform societies. Freedom can--transforms enemies
    into allies. And someday, if the United States is steadfast and
    optimistic, people will--a President will be able to say, amazing thing
    happened; I sat down at the table with a leader of Muslims' nations, all
    aiming to keep the peace, to spread freedom, and keep America secure.
        We're engaged in this struggle all across the world. And of course,
    the two most notable theaters in this ideological struggle are
    Afghanistan and Iraq. Some seem to believe that one of these battles is
    worth fighting and the other isn't. In other words, there is a good war
    and a bad war. You know, these--the enemy are fighting hard in both
    countries to seize power and impose their brutal vision. The theaters
    are part of the same war, the same calling, the same struggle. And
    that's why it is essential we succeed.
        Seven years ago, Afghanistan was a haven for America's enemies.
    Under the protection of the Taliban, the September 11th--9/11 hijackers
    trained and plotted. We worked with--because we worked with brave
    Afghans, because we upheld doctrine that said, if you harbor a
    terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist, we removed the
    Taliban from power, thereby freeing 25 million people from the clutches
    of a brutal, barbaric regime.
        The camps used by the terrorists have been dismantled. The Taliban
    was removed from power. And then we took on a task that we knew would be
    as difficult but as essential for keeping our enemies from regaining
    power, and that is, we offered to help the Afghan people replace tyranny
    with freedom. We did the short-term job

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    of denying safe haven, but we did something else. We said, we want to
    help you live lives based upon liberty. And it was a daunting task, when
    you really put it in perspective. The Afghan people had little
    experience with democracy. It's a foreign concept. We've grown up in it
    here. In Afghanistan, you say democracy, they're not exactly sure what
    you're talking about.
        Afghan people under the Taliban didn't have any constitution or any
    of the normal institutions of a free and stable government. Afghanistan
    was one of the poorest countries in the world, with few natural
    resources and a population that thought it was condemned to unspeakable
    suffering.
        In the entire nation, there were only 30 miles of paved road. Only 9
    percent of the population had access to health care. Under the strict
    control of the Taliban, women were treated like chattel, and girls could
    not attend school. Children lived in hatred and misery, and they were
    not even permitted an act as simple as flying a kite. It was a backward,
    brutal society.
        But we had better aspirations for the people of Afghanistan. We set
    our sights high because we believe in the universality of freedom. We
    trusted in the power of freedom to transform the country, a certain
    trust that has to go with basic principles in life. And we're seeing the
    results. Eight million Afghans went to the polls to elect a
    President for the first time in their history.
    Afghans drafted a new Constitution and elected a National Assembly. With
    the support of international partners, the Afghan economy has doubled in
    size. There are now more than 1,500 miles of paved roads. A majority of
    the population has access to health care. Women have seats in the
    parliament. Girls attend school again. And one small but telling sign is
    this: Afghan children are flying kites again.
        A free society is emerging, and the fundamental question facing the
    United States of America and our friends and allies is, is it worth it
    and necessary? I believe it is necessary, and I strongly believe it's
    worth it. Afghanistan has got a lot of challenges. They got to overcome
    corruption; they got to fight narcotics trafficking; and they got to
    strengthen the Government at all levels. They face a vicious and brutal
    enemy that is determined to regain power and deny the people of
    Afghanistan their freedom.
        We saw the nature of this enemy when Taliban extremists invaded an
    Afghan school. They kidnaped six teachers. They beat the schoolchildren
    with sticks to scare them away from attending classes. We saw the nature
    of this enemy when extremists beheaded the principal of an Afghan high
    school and forced his wife and children to watch. We saw the nature of
    this enemy last summer when Taliban extremists paid an Afghan boy to
    push a cart carrying explosives into a crowded marketplace, and the
    terrorists detonated the cart, killing the boy and Afghan security
    officials.
        This enemy sees no value in human life. And they continue their
    campaign of bloody and horrific attacks, all attempting to demoralize
    the people of Afghanistan and all attempting to wait the coalition out.
    For the sake of humanity and for the sake of the safety of our people,
    for the sake of human life and human dignity, and for the sake of the
    security of the United States of America, we will stop this murderous
    movement now, before it finds a new path to power. The temptation is to
    say--[applause]. I believe it is important for administrations to
    confront problems now and not pass them on to other people. And that's
    the choice I have made for the sake of peace and freedom.
        Our forces made progress last year in partnering with local Afghans
    against the enemy in eastern Afghanistan, which was an insurgent
    stronghold. Now the Taliban and its allies are seeking to launch new
    attacks against the people. In other words, these are relentless
    killers. Their methods and their immorality have alienated many of the
    people who once supported them.

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        It's amazing what happens when there's a contrast--ideological
    contrast presented to people with clarity. Do you want to live in
    freedom, or do you want your little girl denied the opportunity to go to
    school? Afghans across the country are fighting back. More than 50,000
    Afghans have stepped forward to serve the Afghan Army; 76,000 have
    joined the police force. They've invested in this fight, and they need
    our help. That's what they're saying: They want help. And we're going to
    give it to them. It's in our interests that we support these people.
        In the year ahead, the United States will work with our allies and
    the Afghan people in an aggressive effort to counter the enemy. This
    spring, the United States is increasing our military commitment to the
    country. We're sending a Marine expeditionary unit and an infantry
    battalion, totaling more than 3,200 additional marines, to train Afghan
    forces and to support the offense against the Taliban in southern
    Afghanistan.
        NATO allies and other partners are also in the fight. Many of these
    allies, particularly the Canadians and the Australians, the Dutch, the
    Danes, and the British, are taking on some of the most difficult
    missions in dangerous areas. You may have recently heard about one young
    Brit who fought against the Taliban. It was Prince Harry of Wales. When he returned to England, he said this:
    ``If you spoke to a lot of the other guys who came off the plane with
    me, there are plenty of people willing to go back and serve their
    country.'' And we admire that spirit, and so do the people of
    Afghanistan.
        In a few weeks, I'm going to attend the NATO summit in Bucharest.
    I'm going to thank our allies for standing with the people, the brave
    people of this young democracy. I will remind them that we're not only
    in a mission to protect our own security, we're on a humanitarian
    mission that will free young girls to be able to realize their dreams.
        I will also ask NATO to join the United States in doing even more.
    Now is the time for nations to make the hard decisions necessary so our
    children can grow up in a more peaceful world. I will call upon more
    international assistance to help Afghanistan on the road to freedom. We
    know what's at stake, and we know what we have to do. And so we're going
    to help the people of Afghanistan realize the blessings of liberty.
        The other front in this ideological struggle is Iraq. And just as we
    did in Afghanistan, we removed a lethal threat to our national security.
    The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my
    Presidency, it is the right decision at this point in my Presidency, and
    it will forever be the right decision.
        And again we took on a difficult task that we knew was essential to
    keeping America's enemies from gaining power. We did not take the easy
    path of replacing one dictator with another. Instead, we offered Iraqis
    a chance to build a future of freedom. In that effort, our coalition
    faced--also faced daunting challenges. Like Afghanistan, Iraq had little
    experience with true democracy. Iraqis held nationwide votes for
    President, but it turns out, only one candidate was on the ballot. In
    1995, Saddam Hussein received 99 percent of the vote. And 7 years later,
    he did a little better--[laughter]--he got 100 percent of the vote.
    [Laughter]
        As Iraqis lived through these grotesque charades, they were rounded
    up at random by secret police. Women were raped by Iraqi authorities.
    Citizens were mutilated and dumped into mass graves. And Shi'a and Sunni
    and Kurds were oppressed and pitted against one another.
        Despite the divisions and challenges, I believed, as did many in my
    administration, that freedom has the power to transform this country,
    that freedom has the power to provide hope after despair. And so we
    reached out to the population, and the Iraqi people responded. Together,
    Shi'a,

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    Kurds, and an increasing number of Sunnis joined America to advance a
    bold vision, and that is to build a lasting democracy in the heart of
    the Middle East.
        Twelve million Iraqis braved threats of violence and went to the
    polls to elect a representative Government. You might remember those
    days of people waving purple-ink-stained fingers. Iraqis drafted one of
    the most democratic Constitutions in the Arab world. And hundreds of
    thousands of Iraqis have raised their hands and risked their lives to
    defend their nation.
        The enemy saw these advances and were determined to stop them. They
    mounted horrific acts of violence designed to exploit sectarian
    divisions and incite further killing. And in these acts, we again saw
    the nature of the enemy. We saw the nature of this enemy when they
    killed a young boy and then boobytrapped his body so it would explode
    when his family came to retrieve him. We saw the nature of this enemy
    when terrorists put children in the backseat of a car so they could pass
    a security checkpoint and then blew up the car with the children still
    inside. We saw the nature of the enemy just over a month ago when they
    sent two mentally retarded, troubled Iraqi women wearing suicide vests
    into crowded marketplaces. The vests exploded, killing the women and
    dozens of innocent people.
        Anyone who doubts the importance of defeating this vicious enemy
    need only imagine what would happen if we were driven out of Iraq before
    the job was finished. What would happen if they seized territory from--
    to be able to have safe haven? And what would happen if they seized oil
    fields and used their wealth to attack America and our allies?
        These are vicious people who know no bounds of humanity. They would
    not hesitate to murder. It's essential for our citizens to understand
    this. And that is why this war must be fought, and that is why this
    war--this enemy must be defeated.
        I wish I didn't have to talk about war. No President wants to be a
    war President. But when confronted with the realities of the world, I
    have made the decision that now is the time to confront, now is the time
    to deal with this enemy, and now is the time to spread freedom as the
    great alternative to the ideology they adhere to. [Applause] Thank you
    all.
        Just over a year ago, things were not going well in Iraq. Terrorists
    and extremists were succeeding in their efforts to plunge Iraq into
    chaos. American peace and security required us to defeat this enemy,
    just as I said. So my administration reviewed our strategy and changed
    course, with victory in mind. I sent reinforcements into Iraq in a
    dramatic policy that's now being called the surge.
        We also changed the way our troops were used. U.S. and Iraqi forces
    began living together among the Iraqi people to help drive the
    terrorists out. Our forces stayed around to ensure the terrorists did
    not return. We launched a civilian surge to help local governments
    deliver economic resources in the wake of the security gains. We
    launched a diplomatic surge, with an expanded and active role for
    international organizations like the United Nations and the G-8. We've
    encouraged its neighbors to help this young society flourish and recover
    from the brutality of a dictator.
        The Iraqi people saw these efforts. They had renewed faith in
    America's commitment to the fight. As you can imagine, during that
    period of time, a lot of folks were wondering: ``Is America going to
    stay with us? Do they understand our deep desire to live in freedom? Can
    we count on them?'' And when they found out they could, they launched a
    surge of their own. Increasing numbers of Sunni leaders have turned
    against the terrorists and begun to reclaim their communities. The
    Government in Baghdad has stepped forward as well. They've added more
    than 100,000 new Iraqi soldiers and police during last year. They're
    beginning to pass laws in

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    Baghdad. They passed a budget on time. [Laughter]
        Folks who were involved in the insurgency have now decided they want
    to be a part of their Government. The Iraqi people have begun to see
    what freedom offers. They've seen what the enemy plans, and they have
    chosen to stand on the side of freedom. And America stands with them.
        Next month, General Petraeus and
    Ambassador Ryan Crocker will return to
    Washington to report on the progress in Iraq and offer their
    recommendations. And I will carefully consider their recommendations. I
    can report this to you, though, that since the surge began, sectarian
    killings are down; Al Qaida has been driven from many strongholds it
    once held. I strongly believe the surge is working, and so do the
    Iraqis.
        And as a return on our success--in other words, as we get more
    successful--troops are able to come home. They're not coming home based
    upon defeat or based upon opinion polls or based upon focus groups or
    based upon politics, they're coming home because we're successful. And
    the pace of that withdrawal has been determined, and then the commanders
    will take a further assessment. But I want to assure you, just like I
    assure military families and the troops, the politics of 2008 is not
    going to enter into my calculation; it is the peace of the years to come
    that will enter into my calculation.
        The gains in Iraq are tenuous, they're reversible, and they're
    fragile. And there is much more work to be done. This enemy is
    resilient, and they attack. They use asymmetrical warfare; they use
    suicide vests. Just yesterday the enemy killed eight of our soldiers in
    two separate attacks. And I know you join me in offering our prayers to
    their loved ones, that the good Lord will provide them strength and
    comfort during the ultimate test.
        We mourn every loss of life. We also know that the reason why the
    enemy uses such brutal tactics is they're trying to shake our nerve. And
    frankly, that's not hard to do in America because we're a compassionate
    people. We value life, and we care. We really do want to reach out to
    others, and when we see this kind of horrific killing, it affects us,
    all of us.
        It also must send a message to us that we must be determined and
    steadfast. We're determined to defeat this enemy, and you just got to
    know, so are the people of Iraq. Millions who have suffered decades of
    tyranny and torment now are beginning to see hope. And for the sake of
    the security and for the sake of peace and for the sake of generation of
    kids coming up, the United States will help the Iraqis succeed.
        And the effects of a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan will reach
    beyond the borders of those two countries. I believe that success of
    these two countries will show others the way. It will show others what's
    possible. And we undertake this work because we believe that every human
    being bears the image of our Maker. That's why we're doing this. No one
    is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave.
        People of all faiths and all backgrounds deserve the chance at a
    future of their own choosing. That's what America believes. After all,
    those were the ideals that helped create our Nation. Those ideals were
    an honorable achievement of our forefathers, and now it's the urgent
    requirement of this generation.
        The work before our country is hard, and it has risks. It's just
    hard work. And yet I don't see that as a reason to avoid it. Our enemies
    are ruthless, but they're going to be defeated. They've got the capacity
    to blow people up through these suicides, but you notice none of the
    leaders ever are the suicide bombers, however. [Laughter] But we got
    something more powerful. We got determination, we got will, and we got
    freedom at our disposal.
        Evil in some form will always be with us, and we must never be
    afraid to face it. I know you understand that. I also know that you
    understand that for those who are on the frontlines and for those who
    struggle

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    against evil, they can be helped through prayer. And I appreciate your
    prayers. I appreciate your prayers to help comfort millions of people. I
    appreciate the fact that you pray for our troops and their families. And
    I appreciate the prayers that you have directed my way. I feel your
    prayer. I am--I can't tell you how meaningful they have been, to help
    Laura and me deal with--do our job. And I can
    report to you this: that the prayers of the people have affected us, and
    that being the President has been a joyous experience.
        And so I thank you for what you do. I thank you for giving me a
    chance to come and share some of my thoughts with you. God bless you,
    and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and
    Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Ronald L. Harris,
    chairman, National Religious Broadcasters Executive Committee, who
    introduced the President; Anthony T. Evans, founder and president, The
    Urban Alternative; evangelist Rev. William F. Graham, Jr.; Frank Wright,
    president, National Religious Broadcasters; radio show host Rush
    Limbaugh; James Dobson, radio show host and founder of Focus on the
    Family; former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; President
    Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan; and Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding
    general, Multi-National Force--Iraq. The Office of the Press Secretary
    also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.