    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [December 15, 2008]
    [Pages 1459-1462]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Military Personnel at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan
    December 15, 2008

        The President. Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome.
    Thanks for coming out to greet me at a kind of a strange hour.
    [Laughter] General, I appreciate your
    accommodating what I'm calling Rudolph One. [Laughter] After all, it is
    the holiday season. You might have heard, we made a little refueling
    stop in Baghdad earlier today. And now I'm proud to be back in
    Afghanistan. You might call it as--a early-morning wake-up call. Or in
    some of your cases, I might have shut--cut your evening off. We won't go
    there. [Laughter] In either case, I am proud to be with brave souls
    serving the United States of America.
        And my dear wife sends her very best regards.
    So on behalf of Laura and everybody else back home, Merry Christmas and
    a happy holidays. Congratulations on your tremendous accomplishments.
    And above all, thank you for volunteering to defend the United States of
    America.
        You know, they often say, ``What are you going to miss?'' I'll miss
    the airplane, of course. [Laughter] But I'm mainly going to miss being
    the Commander in Chief of such an outstanding group of men and women.
        I appreciate Sergeant Major Vince Camacho for his service. I want to thank Ambassador Bill
    Wood; the commanding general of U.S.
    Forces, Afghanistan, General David McKiernan; Brigadier General Mike Holmes,
    commanding general, 45th [455th]* Expeditionary Wing; soldiers of the
    101st Airborne, the Screaming Eagles.
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        *White House correction.
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        I told the General that I had the honor of
    going to Fort Campbell the other day. And I saw a lot of your comrades,
    and I saw a lot of your families. And they have a message for you: Air
    Assault!
        I thank the airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. I kind of
    like your motto: ``Start right, finish strong.''
        Audience members. Hooah!
        The President. Yes, that sounds pretty good for a guy with 36 days
    left. [Laughter]
        The soldiers of the 3d Brigade Combat Team; 1st Infantry Division,
    the Big Red One; soldiers of the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Task
    Force Warrior; I want to thank all the troops from our coalition
    partners.

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        I appreciate your countries for supporting this noble cause. I want
    to thank all the civilians, the diplomats, the Embassy personnel who are
    critical to our success. I thank all the other brave Americans here
    today, including members of the United States Navy, the United States
    Marine combat personnel, FBI agents----
        Audience members. Whoo!
        The President. And last but not least--[laughter]. They may sound
    small, but they're plenty tough. And last but not least, the 101st Army
    Band. You probably played some high notes to keep the folks awake.
    [Laughter]
        Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was 8 years
    ago. When I took office in 2001, the Taliban was brutally repressing the
    Afghan people. Girls were denied access to school. People who did not
    submit to the regime's radical beliefs were beaten in the public or
    executed in soccer stadiums. Al Qaida had freedom rein to operate the
    country--in the country. And it was here in Afghanistan that the
    terrorists planned the attacks of September the 11th, 2001.
        After that date, America gave the Taliban a choice: You can turn
    over the leaders of Al Qaida, or you can share in their fate. And when
    they refused, our just demands were enforced by the United States
    military. And thanks to you, the Taliban has gone from power, the Al
    Qaida training camps are closed, and 25 million Iraqis are free. And the
    American people, your loved ones, are more secure.
        Removing the Taliban was a landmark achievement, but our work did
    not end there. See, we could have replaced one group of thugs with
    another strongman. But all that would have done is invited the same
    problems that brought us the Al Qaida safe havens and the attacks on
    America in the first place. Those were the mistakes of the 1980s and
    1990s, and we were not going to repeat them again in the 21st century.
        So America set an ambitious goal to help Afghanistan's young
    democracy grow and thrive and emerge as an alternative to the ideology
    of hate and extremism and terror. This is a difficult and long effort.
    It's not easy to do this. It would have been so much simpler to say we
    got rid of one bunch and here's another one. But that's not what we
    believe is right. We want to lay the foundation of peace for generations
    to come. We want to do the hard work now so our children and our
    grandchildren can grow up in a peaceful world.
        So we rallied good allies to our side, including every member of
    NATO. We've developed civilian experts in the form of [civilian]*
    reconstruction teams. And together with the determined people of
    Afghanistan, we are making hopeful gains.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        *White House correction.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Thanks to you, girls are back in school across Afghanistan. Does
    that matter? I think it does. I think it does. Thanks to you, boys are
    playing soccer again and flying kites and learning to be Boy Scouts.
    Thanks to you, access to health care is up dramatically. Thanks to you,
    Afghanistan's economy has more than doubled in size. And thanks to you,
    the Afghan people are preparing to go to the polls next year for another
    round of free elections. Thanks to you, Afghanistan has a democratic
    Government that is no longer an enemy of America; it is a friend of
    America.
        The enemies of freedom in Afghanistan are determined, no question
    about it. And the fight has been tough, I don't need to tell you. This
    is a large country. It has a long way--it's a long way away from a
    modern economy with a viable infrastructure. It's hard to get around
    Afghanistan. Yet we have a strategic interest, and I believe a moral
    interest, in a prosperous and peaceful democratic Afghanistan. And no
    matter how long it takes, we will help the people of Afghanistan
    succeed.
        As a sign of our commitment, we've increased American troop levels
    in Afghanistan. Our NATO allies have done the same, and so have the
    Afghan people. The Afghan

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    Army and police have grown. I call it a quiet surge. It's a surge that
    hasn't gotten much attention. But it has an unmistakable message: The
    Taliban has gone from power, and it's not coming back. Al Qaida
    terrorists have lost their safe haven in Afghanistan, and they're not
    going to get it back. Afghanistan will be a successful society and a
    hopeful society and a free society. And Afghanistan will never again be
    a safe haven for terrorists to attack the United States of America.
        In recent months, the violence has increased in some parts of
    Afghanistan. This is partly because we're going into new areas where the
    terrorists have never been challenged before. And if the enemy are
    fighting back, they don't like it when we show up. But ultimately, they
    will be no match for the Afghan people or her coalition partners. And
    they're certainly no match for the men and women of the United States
    military.
        I am confident we will succeed in Afghanistan because our cause is
    just, our coalition and Afghan partners are determined. And I am
    confident because I believe freedom is a gift of an Almighty to every
    man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth. Above all, I know the
    strength and character of you all. As I conclude this final trip, I have
    a message to you and to all who serve our country: Thank you for making
    the noble choice to serve and protect your fellow Americans.
        What you're doing in Afghanistan is an--is important, it is
    courageous, and it is selfless. It's akin to what American troops did in
    places like Normandy and Iwo Jima and Korea. Your generation is every
    bit as great as any that has come before. And the work you do every day
    is shaping history for generations to come.
        Because of you, America now has a strong friend and partner in the
    fight against extremism in a pivotal part of the world. Because of you,
    people across the broader east--Middle East now have an example of a
    more hopeful path, a model of liberty that can prevail over tyranny and
    terror. Because of you, killers who wanted to take the lives of
    Americans back home have been brought to justice before they reached our
    shores. And because of you and all who work to protect our Nation,
    America has done something many said was impossible: We have gone more
    than 7 years without a terrorist attack on our homeland.
        This time of year is especially a time when we thank the Almighty
    for our freedoms. And we think of those who laid down their lives to
    protect those freedoms. Back home their children are growing up without
    a mom or a dad. But all of our children are growing up with something
    else: the promise of a safer America, the promise of a better world, and
    the more likelihood for peace.
        This is a lasting memorial, all who have sacrificed here in
    Afghanistan. And thanks to you, that memorial will be achieved, and the
    sacrifice of your comrades will not have been in vain. We think of the
    comrades who have been wounded. And our Nation pledges that we will give
    them all the care and all the support they need to recover.
        And finally, we think of your families back home. You've got a loved
    one wondering what you're doing, how you're doing; I want you to do me a
    favor: When you get back to wherever you're getting back to, call them,
    e-mail them, or write them. Tell them you love them and tell them the
    Commander in Chief thanks them for their sacrifice, thanks them for
    loving you like they do, and thanks for--thank them for standing with
    you as you serve the noble cause of peace.
        I am proud to be with you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
    May God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of
    America.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:38 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to
    Command Sgt. Maj. Vincent Camacho, USA, 101st Airborne Division (Air
    Assault).

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