[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 19 (Monday, May 12, 2003)]
[Pages 568-571]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Commencement Address at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, 
South Carolina

May 9, 2003

    Thank you all very much. Thank you all. President Sorensen and 
Governor Sanford, members of the South Carolina congressional delegation 
and State officials, members of the faculty, trustees, the families, 
distinguished guests, and members of the Class 2003, thank you for the 
warm welcome to this great State and to this fine university. I'm 
honored to be with you on graduation day as you all become proud alumni 
of the University of South Carolina.
    I work every day with a distinguished graduate of USC, and I brought 
him along this afternoon, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card of the 
Class of 1971.
    Andy is a superb public servant and an honorable man. His loyalty to 
this university runs deep, and sometimes he gets carried away. 
[Laughter] I don't mind the chicken finger Wednesdays at the White 
House. [Laughter] I don't even mind his shag dancing in the West Wing. 
[Laughter] But it's a little much when Andy shows up on the day of the 
Clemson game dressed as ``Cocky.'' [Laughter]
    I am so thankful for the invitation to be the speaker this 
afternoon. When I arrived, I heard an old boy standing outside. He said, 
``We're honored to have the President speaking with us today. It's 
almost as good as last year when Lou Holtz was the speaker.'' [Laughter]
    Today marks a great achievement for this graduating class. You've 
put your talents to good use; you're seeing the rewards of your hard 
work. Congratulations to each one of you.
    I also congratulate the men and women who gave their best to this 
and every class, the fine professors of the University of South 
Carolina. And I join the graduates in thanking the people whose love and 
sacrifice made this day possible, the parents of the graduates of the 
Class of 2003.
    Forty-six years ago, Senator John F. Kennedy came to this campus to 
address the graduating class of 1957. He spoke of the great problems of 
that time, including, he said, ``untangling the strife-ridden, hate-
ridden Middle East.'' In the decades since, that strife and hate 
sometimes seemed like a distant tragedy having little to do with 
America.
    After September the 11th, 2001, your generation and our whole 
country knows better. In an age of global terror and weapons of mass 
destruction, what happens in the Middle East greatly matters to America. 
The bitterness of that region can bring violence and suffering to our 
own cities. The advance of freedom and peace in the Middle East would 
drain this bitterness and increase our own security.
    So today I want to discuss with you a great goal for this Nation. We 
will use our influence and idealism to replace old hatreds with new 
hopes across the Middle East. A time of historic opportunity has 
arrived. A dictator in Iraq has been removed from power. The terrorists 
of that region are now seeing their fate--the short, unhappy life of the 
fugitive. Reformers in the Middle East are gaining influence, and the 
momentum of freedom is growing. We have reached a moment of tremendous 
promise, and the United States will seize this moment for the sake of 
peace.
    The future of peace requires the defeat of terror. So America and a 
large coalition of nations are waging a global and unrelenting war 
against the terrorists, and we are winning.
    In the battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed one of the most 
oppressive regimes on Earth, and we destroyed many of the terrorists it 
harbored. Across six continents, America and our friends and allies have 
been hunting down the terrorists one by one and bringing them to 
justice.
    And in the battle of Iraq, we faced a regime that aided terrorists, 
armed itself with weapons of mass destruction to threaten the peace, and 
persecuted its own people. And today that regime is no more.
    During these 20 months, the world has seen the resolve of the 
American people. And the world has seen the power and the skill and the 
bravery of American Armed Forces. Our men and women in uniform have 
acted

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with courage and decency, in the proudest traditions of this Nation. And 
our Nation is grateful. And for those of you who are going into the 
ROTC, you will be entering a military that will remain second to none.
    Our Nation is strong. Our greatest strength is that we serve the 
cause of liberty. We support the advance of freedom in the Middle East 
because it is our founding principle and because it is in our national 
interest. The hateful ideology of terrorism is shaped and nurtured and 
protected by oppressive regimes. Free nations, in contrast, encourage 
creativity and tolerance and enterprise. And in those free nations, the 
appeal of extremism withers away.
    Free governments do not build weapons of mass destruction for the 
purpose of mass terror. Over time, the expansion of liberty throughout 
the world is the best guarantee of security throughout the world. 
Freedom is the way to peace.
    Some believe that democracy in the Middle East is unlikely, if not 
impossible. They argue that the people of the Middle East have little 
desire for freedom or self-government. These same arguments have been 
heard before in other times, about other people. After World War II, 
many doubted that Germany and Japan, with their histories of autocratic 
rule and aggressive armies, could ever function as free and peaceful 
societies. In the cold war we were told that imperial communism was 
permanent and the Iron Curtain was there to stay.
    In each of these cases--in Germany, in Japan, in Eastern Europe, and 
in Russia--the skeptics doubted; then history replied. Every milestone 
of liberty over the last 60 years was declared impossible until the very 
moment it happened. The history of the modern world offers a lesson for 
the skeptics: Do not bet against the success of freedom.
    Freedom has advanced because the desire for liberty and justice is 
found in every human heart. And the men and women of the Muslim world, 
one-fifth of all humanity, share this hope of liberty. Freedom has 
advanced because it is a way to lift millions out of poverty and improve 
their lives. Where freedom is denied, people live in isolation and 
stagnation. Where freedom is welcome, people in every culture can 
flourish. And freedom is advanced in our time because at crucial moments 
brave men and women have worked and sacrificed for it. And the United 
States has taken their side. This is how dissidents and political 
prisoners became the leaders of newly free countries. And this is how 
former enemies became loyal friends of the United States.
    The Middle East presents many obstacles to the advance of freedom. 
And I understand that this transformation will be difficult. Recently, a 
group of 30 Arab scholars issued a report describing a freedom deficit 
in Arab countries, citing in particular a lack of human rights and poor 
education. They also identified the social oppression of women as a 
major barrier to progress. And they are correct. No society can succeed 
and prosper while denying basic rights and opportunities to the women of 
their country.
    For all the challenges, we also see hopeful signs of change. About 
half of all the Muslim people live under democratic rule in nations from 
Turkey to Indonesia. The Governments of Bahrain and Morocco have held 
recent and free elections. And Jordan will hold elections next month. 
The people of Qatar have approved a new constitution guaranteeing basic 
freedoms. Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has proposed a new Arab 
charter calling for internal reform and enhanced political participation 
in nations of that region.
    And in Iran, the desire for freedom is stirring. In the face of 
harsh repression, Iranians are courageously speaking out for democracy 
and the rule of law and human rights. And the United States strongly 
supports their aspirations for freedom.
    Those who feed hatred want to create a faultline between East and 
West. Yet in the growing desire for freedom throughout the Muslim world, 
there is no clash of civilizations. When terrorists and tyrants resist 
and attack freedom, they are resisting and attacking the hopes of 
Muslims everywhere. When terrorists go on missions of suicide and 
murder, they defile the high ethical teachings of Islam itself. Their 
true ambition is to dominate and control and remake whole societies in 
their own cruel image. Repression of the kind practiced by Saddam 
Hussein and the Taliban is not the wave of the future. Free

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people, not tyrants or murderers, will set the course of history.
    Freedom is taking hold in Afghanistan and Iraq, countries of more 
than 50 million newly liberated people, countries building for 
themselves the institutions of self-government. And our Nation has 
special responsibilities to these countries, responsibilities we will 
keep. In Afghanistan, America and our allies are helping to build roads 
and train police and rebuild schools. This summer, at townhall meetings 
across the country, Afghans will discuss the working draft of a new 
constitution. And in the fall, a national assembly will convene to 
ratify the constitution of a free and democratic Afghanistan.
    The Afghan people face continued struggles in rebuilding their 
Government and the nation, but the days when women were beaten in the 
streets and executed on soccer fields are over.
    In Iraq, we are restoring electricity and water and providing 
medicines and supplies and removing the thugs who threaten the peace and 
order of the country. Iraqi citizens have conducted two major 
conferences to discuss their country's future and place themselves to 
the path of self-government.
    Soon, Iraqis from every ethnic group will choose members of an 
interim authority. The people of Iraq are building a free society from 
the ground up, and they are able to do so because the dictator and his 
regime are no more.
    America is working with governments and reformers throughout the 
Middle East. We are strengthening ties through our Middle East 
partnership initiative. As a further step, Secretary Powell and Trade 
Representative Zoellick will meet with regional leaders in Jordan next 
month to discuss an agenda of economic and political and social 
progress. Progress will require increased trade, the engine of economic 
development.
    The combined GDP of all Arab countries is smaller than that of 
Spain. Their peoples have less access to the Internet than the people of 
sub-Sahara Africa. The Arab world has a great cultural tradition, but is 
largely missing out on the economic progress of our time. Across the 
globe, free markets and trade have helped defeat poverty and taught men 
and women the habits of liberty. So I propose the establishment of a 
U.S.-Middle East free trade area within a decade, to bring the Middle 
East into an expanding circle of opportunity, to provide hope for the 
people who live in that region.
    We will work with our partners to ensure that small and mid-sized 
businesses have access to capital and support efforts in the region to 
develop central laws on property rights and good business practices. By 
replacing corruption and self-dealing with free markets and fair laws, 
the people of the Middle East will grow in prosperity and freedom.
    Making the most of economic opportunities will require broader and 
better education, especially among women who have faced the greatest 
disadvantages. We will work to improve literacy among girls and women, 
building on similar efforts in Afghanistan and Morocco and Yemen. We'll 
provide resources for the translation of early reading books into Arabic 
and donate those books to primary schools in the region.
    And ultimately, both economic success and human dignity depend on 
the rule of law and honest administration of justice. So America will 
sponsor, with the Government of Bahrain, a regional forum to discuss 
judicial reforms. And I'm pleased that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day 
O'Connor has agreed to help lead this effort.
    As trade expands and knowledge spreads to the Middle East, as women 
gain a place of equality and respect, as the rule of law takes hold, all 
peoples of that region will see a new day of justice and a new day of 
prosperity.
    For generations, one of the most tragic problems in the Middle East 
has been the conflict in the Holy Land. Yet now with a liberated Iraq, 
with new leadership for the Palestinian people, with efforts of leaders 
like President Mubarak and Crown Prince Abdullah, the hope of peace is 
renewed.
    If the Palestinian people take concrete steps to crack down on 
terror, continue on a path of peace, reform, and democracy, they and all 
the world will see the flag of Palestine raised over a free and 
independent nation.
    All sides of this conflict have duties. Israel must take tangible 
steps now to ease the suffering of Palestinians and to show respect for 
their dignity. And as progress is made toward

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peace, Israel must stop settlement activity in the occupied territories. 
Arab nations must fight terror in all forms and recognize and state the 
obvious once and for all: Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state 
at peace with its neighbors.
    The way forward in the Middle East is not a mystery; it is a matter 
of will and vision and action. The way forward depends on serving the 
interests of the living instead of settling the accounts of the past.
    To seize this moment, I am sending Secretary Powell to the Middle 
East to call all the parties to their responsibilities. Secretary Powell 
leaves on this mission tonight. He carries with him my personal 
commitment: America will work without tiring to achieve two states, 
Israel and Palestine, living side by side in security and prosperity and 
in peace.
    You are living in an historic time for our country. When America was 
attacked 20 months ago, many thought that an age of fear and terror had 
arrived. Yet the world has seen something very different. America is 
fighting against grave threats wherever they may gather.
    We're determined to help build a Middle East that grows in hope 
instead of resentment. Because of the ideals and resolve of this Nation, 
you and I will not live in an age of terror. We will live in an age of 
liberty.
    I wish each of you well in the careers and lives that await you. I 
thank you for the invitation, for the honorary degree, and for the 
privilege of sharing this proud day with the University of South 
Carolina Class of 2003.
    May God bless you, and may God continue to bless America. Thank you 
very much.

Note: The President spoke at 3:16 p.m. in the Carolina Center. In his 
remarks, he referred to Andrew A. Sorensen, president, and Lou Holtz, 
head football coach, University of South Carolina; Gov. Mark Sanford of 
South Carolina; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and President 
Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. The Office of the Press Secretary also released 
a Spanish language transcript of this address.