[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 36 (Monday, September 11, 2006)]
[Pages 1576-1583]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia

September 7, 2006

    Thank you all very much. Please be seated. Thank you. Sonny, thanks 
for the introduction. Thanks for your leadership. It's always a pleasure 
to be in Georgia. I appreciate you coming, and I appreciate this chance 
to speak here before the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. And I thank 
you for what you do. For 15 years, you've been researching and writing 
on issues that matter. You take on tough questions; you apply innovative 
thinking; you push for action; and you do it all without regard to 
politics. Come on up to Washington. [Laughter]
    I have come here to Atlanta to continue a series of speeches marking 
the fifth anniversary of the September the 11th, 2001, attacks. Last 
week at the American Legion Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, I 
outlined the ideological struggle between the forces of moderation and 
liberty and the forces of extremism across the Middle East. On Tuesday 
in Washington, I described our enemies in their own words and set 
forward a strategy to defeat them. Yesterday I announced that the men we 
believe orchestrated the 9/11 attacks have been transferred to 
Guantanamo Bay, and I called on the United States Congress to pass 
legislation creating military commissions to bring these people to 
justice.
    Today I'll deliver a progress report on the steps we have taken 
since 9/11 to protect the American people, steps we've taken to go on 
the offense against the enemy, and steps we are taking to win this war 
on terror.
    Today I traveled with two United States Senators who clearly see the 
issues before us, and I appreciate and I'm proud to be associated and 
friends with Senator Saxby Chambliss and Senator Johnny Isakson.

[[Page 1577]]

    I do thank Brenda Fitzgerald for encouraging the board of governors 
to invite me and for taking the lead for the Georgia Public Policy 
Foundation. And I want to thank the board of governors for your kind 
invitation. I appreciate very much being with Major General Terry 
Nesbitt. He's the director of the Georgia office of Homeland Security.
    Joining us today is a man I got to know quite well under trying 
circumstances, and that would be Lieutenant General Russ Honore of the 
United States Army--Honore. He issued one of the great lines I've ever 
heard, and you're welcome to use it--``Don't get stuck on stupid.'' It's 
good advice for people in Washington, DC. [Laughter]
    I welcome the other State and local officials here. Thank you all 
for letting me come by.
    In Atlanta, you know the pain of terrorism firsthand. This summer, 
you marked the 10th anniversary of the bombing in Centennial Olympic 
Park. That was the act of one madman. Next Monday is the fifth 
anniversary of an attack on our Nation, and on that day, we awoke to a 
new kind of terrorism. Instead of a localized strike, we faced multiple 
attacks by a network of sophisticated and suicidal extremists. In the 
years since, we've come to learn more about our enemies. We've learned 
more about their dark and distorted vision of Islam. We've learned about 
their plan to build a radical Islamic empire stretching from Spain to 
Indonesia. We learned about their dreams to kill more Americans on an 
even more devastating scale. That's what they have told us. As 
President, I took an oath to protect this country, and I will continue 
using every element of national power to pursue our enemies and to 
prevent attacks on the United States of America.
    Over the past 5 years, we have waged an unprecedented campaign 
against terror at home and abroad, and that campaign has succeeded in 
protecting the homeland. At the same time, we've seen our enemies strike 
in Britain, Spain, India, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, Jordan, Israel, 
Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. We've seen that the extremists 
have not given up on their dreams to strike our Nation. Just last month, 
police and intelligence officers from Great Britain, with the help of 
the United States and other allies, helped break up a terror cell in 
London. Working together, we foiled a suicide plot to blow up passenger 
planes on their way to the United States.
    Many Americans look at these events and ask the same question: Five 
years after
9/11, are we safer? The answer is, yes, America is safer. We are safer 
because we've taken action to protect the homeland. We are safer because 
we are on the offense against our enemies overseas. We're safer because 
of the skill and sacrifice of the brave Americans who defend our people. 
Yet 5 years after 9/11, America still faces determined enemies, and we 
will not be safe until those enemies are finally defeated.
    One way to assess whether we're safer is to look at what we have 
done to fix the problems that the 9/11 attacks revealed. And so today 
I'll deliver a progress report. The information about the attacks in 
this report is largely drawn from the work of the 9/11 Commission and 
other investigations of the terrorist attacks. I'll begin by looking 
back at four key stages of the 9/11 plot, the gaps in our defenses that 
each stage exposed, and the ways we've addressed those gaps to make this 
country safer.
    In the first key stage of the 9/11 plot, Al Qaida conceived and 
planned the attacks from abroad. In the summer of 1996, Usama bin Laden 
issued a fatwa from Afghanistan that said this: ``By the grace of Allah, 
a safe base here is now available.'' And he declared war on the United 
States. A month later, the Taliban seized control of Kabul and formed an 
alliance with Al Qaida. The Taliban permitted bin Laden to operate a 
system of training camps in the country which ultimately instructed more 
than 10,000 in terrorist tactics. Bin Laden was also free to cultivate a 
global financing network that provided money for terrorist operations. 
With his fellow Al Qaida leaders, Usama bin Laden used his safe haven to 
prepare a series of attacks on America and on the civilized world.
    In August 1998, they carried out their first big strike, the bombing 
of two U.S. Embassies in east Africa, which killed more than 200 people 
and wounded thousands. Shortly after the Embassy bombings, bin Laden 
approved another attack. This one was called

[[Page 1578]]

the ``planes operation.'' Our intelligence agencies believe it was 
suggested by a fellow terrorist named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed--or KSM. 
KSM's plan was to hijack commercial airliners and to crash them into 
buildings in the United States. He and bin Laden selected four 
preliminary targets--the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Capitol 
Building, and the White House. The ``planes operation'' would become the 
9/11 plot, and by the middle of 1999, KSM was at work recruiting suicide 
operatives to hijack the airplanes.
    The first stage of the 9/11 plot exposed serious flaws in America's 
approach to terrorism. Most important, it showed that by allowing states 
to give safe haven to terrorist networks that we made a grave mistake. 
So after 9/11, I set forth a new doctrine: Nations that harbor or 
support terrorists are equally guilty as the terrorists and will be held 
to account. And the Taliban found out what we meant. With Afghan allies, 
we removed the Taliban from power, and we closed down the Al Qaida 
training camps. Five years later, Taliban and Al Qaida remnants are 
desperately trying to retake control of that country. They will fail. 
They will fail because the Afghan people have tasted freedom. They will 
fail because their vision is no match for a democracy accountable to its 
citizens. They will fail because they are no match for the military 
forces of a free Afghanistan, a NATO Alliance, and the United States of 
America.
    Our offensive against the terrorists includes far more than military 
might. We use financial tools to make it harder for them to raise money. 
We're using diplomatic pressure, and our intelligence operations are 
used to disrupt the day-to-day functions of Al Qaida. Because we're on 
the offense, it is more difficult for Al Qaida to transfer money through 
the international banking system. Because we're on the offense, Al Qaida 
can no longer communicate openly without fear of destruction. And 
because we're on the offense, Al Qaida can no longer move widely without 
fearing for their lives.
    I learned a lot of lessons on 9/11, and one lesson is this: In order 
to protect this country, we will keep steady pressure, unrelenting 
pressure on Al Qaida and its associates. We will deny them safe haven. 
We will find them, and we will bring them to justice.
    Key advantages that Al Qaida enjoyed while plotting the 9/11 attack 
in Afghanistan have been taken away, and so have many of their most 
important leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. For the past 3 
years, KSM has been in the custody of the Central Intelligence Agency. 
He's provided valuable intelligence that has helped us kill or capture 
Al Qaida terrorists and stop attacks on our Nation. I authorized his 
transfer to Guantanamo Bay, and the sooner the Congress authorizes the 
military commissions I have called for, the sooner Khalid Sheikh 
Mohammed will receive the justice he deserves.
    In the second key stage of the 9/11 plot, KSM and bin Laden 
identified, trained, and deployed operatives to the United States. 
According to the 9/11 Commission, two of the first suicide hijackers to 
join the plot were men named Hazmi and Mihdhar. KSM's plan was to send 
these two men to infiltrate the United States and train as pilots so 
they could fly the hijacked planes into buildings. Both operatives 
attended a special training camp in Afghanistan, and then traveled to 
Malaysia and Thailand to prepare for their trip to America. KSM doctored 
Hazmi's passport to help him enter the United States. And from Thailand, 
the two men flew to Los Angeles in January of 2000. There they began 
carrying out the plot from inside our Nation. They made phone calls to 
planners of the attack, overseas, and they awaited the arrival of the 
other killers.
    Our intelligence community picked up some of this information. CIA 
analysts saw links between Mihdhar and Al Qaida, and officers tracked 
Mihdhar to Malaysia. Weeks later, they discovered that he had been 
accompanied by Hazmi and that Hazmi had flown to Los Angeles. This gave 
the CIA reason to be suspicious of both these men. Yet at the time, 
there was no consolidated terrorist watch list available to all Federal 
agencies and State and local governments. So even though intelligence 
officers suspected that both men were dangerous, the information was not 
readily accessible to American law enforcement, and the operatives 
slipped into our country.

[[Page 1579]]

    Since 9/11, we've addressed the gaps in our defenses that these 
operatives exploited. We've upgraded technology. We've added layers of 
security to correct weaknesses in our immigration and visa systems. 
Today, visa applicants like Hazmi or Mihdhar would have to appear face 
to face for interviews. They would be fingerprinted and screened against 
an extensive database of known or suspected terrorists. And when they 
arrived on American soil, they would be checked again to make sure their 
fingerprints matched the fingerprints on their visas. Those procedures 
did not exist before 9/11. With these steps, we made it harder for 
these--people like these guys to infiltrate our country.
    Nine-Eleven also revealed the need for a coordinated approach to 
terrorist watch lists. So we established common criteria for posting 
terrorists on a consolidated terrorist watch list that is now widely 
available across Federal, State, and local jurisdictions. Today, 
intelligence community officials would immediately place terrorist 
suspects like Hazmi and Mihdhar on a consolidated watch list. And the 
information from this list is now accessible at airports, consulates, 
border crossings, and for State and local law enforcement. By putting 
terrorists' names on a consolidated watch list, we've improved our 
ability to monitor and to track and detain operatives before they can 
strike.
    Another top priority after 9/11 was improving our ability to monitor 
terrorist communications. Remember, I told you the two had made phone 
calls outside the country. At my direction, the National Security Agency 
created the terrorist surveillance program. Before 9/11, our 
intelligence professionals found it difficult to monitor international 
communications such as those between the Al Qaida operatives secretly in 
the United States and planners of the 9/11 attacks. The terrorist 
surveillance program helps protect Americans by allowing us to track 
terrorist communications so we can learn about threats like the 9/11 
plot before it is too late.
    Last year, details of the terrorist surveillance program were leaked 
to the news media, and the program was then challenged in court. That 
challenge was recently upheld by a Federal district judge in Michigan. 
My administration strongly disagrees with the ruling. We are appealing 
it, and we believe our appeal will be successful. Yet a series of 
protracted legal challenges would put a heavy burden on this critical 
and vital program. The surest way to keep the program is to get explicit 
approval from the United States Congress. So today I'm calling on the 
Congress to promptly pass legislation providing additional authority for 
the terrorist surveillance program, along with broader reforms in the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
    When the FISA was passed in 1978, there was no widely accessible 
Internet, and almost all calls were made on fixed landlines. Since then, 
the nature of communications has changed quite dramatically. The 
terrorists who want to harm America can now buy disposable cell phones 
and open anonymous e-mail addresses. Our laws need to change to take 
these changes into account. If Al Qaida commander or associate is 
calling into the United States, we need to know why they're calling. And 
Congress needs to pass legislation supporting this program.
    In the third key stage of the 9/11 plot, the rest of the 19 Al Qaida 
operatives arrived in the United States. The first two hijackers in 
America, Hazmi and Mihdhar, had given up flight training, so Khalid 
Sheikh Mohammed selected operatives from a cell in Germany to become the 
new pilots. These men, led by Mohammed Atta, obtained visas, and they 
traveled to the United States, and then they enrolled in flight training 
schools. Atta and his team visited airports and flight training centers 
along the east coast, including here in Georgia. Atta was pulled over by 
police. On his way--one of his co-conspirators, the terrorist who would 
go on to pilot Flight 93, was also stopped. Yet there was no information 
that the men were dangerous, so the officers treated the encounters as 
routine traffic stops. By September the 10th, the hijackers had moved to 
their final destinations near major airports and were ready to execute 
their attacks.
    As these terrorists finalized their plans, Al Qaida dispatched 
another operative named Moussaoui to the United States. Moussaoui took 
flight lessons in Oklahoma and Minnesota. He communicated with an Al 
Qaida leader abroad. But he remained isolated from

[[Page 1580]]

the other operatives and was not a suicide hijacker on the day of the 
attacks, didn't participate in the 9/11 attacks.
    During this stage, law enforcement and intelligence authorities 
failed to share the insights they were learning about the 9/11 plot. For 
example, the FBI intelligence analyst working at the CIA came across 
information that raised her suspicions about Hazmi and Mihdhar. But she 
did not relay her concerns to FBI criminal investigators because of a 
wall--or ``the wall'' that had developed over the years between law 
enforcement and intelligence. You see, throughout the Government, there 
was an assumption that law enforcement and intelligence were legally 
prohibited from sharing vital information. At one point, key officials 
from the CIA, the intelligence branch of the FBI, the criminal branch of 
the FBI were all sitting around the same table in New York, but they 
believed that ``the wall'' prohibited them from telling each other what 
they knew about Hazmi and Mihdhar, and so they never put the pieces 
together.
    By the summer of 2001, intelligence about a possible terrorist 
attack was increasing. In July, an FBI agent in Phoenix noted that a 
large number of suspicious men were attending flight schools in Arizona. 
He speculated that this activity might be part of a bin Laden plan to 
attack inside the United States. The following month, the FBI field 
office in Minneapolis began an investigation into Moussaoui. He was soon 
arrested on immigration charges, and Minneapolis agents sought a FISA 
warrant to search his computer. FBI headquarters turned them down, 
saying the case did not justify a FISA request because there was not 
enough intelligence tying Moussaoui to a foreign power. The FBI later 
learned that Moussaoui had attended an Al Qaida training camp in 
Afghanistan, but the information didn't arrive until September the 13th.
    It is clear, after 9/11, that something needed to be done to the 
system; something needed to be changed to protect the American people. 
And it is clear to me that this started with transforming the FBI to 
ensure that it effectively and quickly respond to potential terrorist 
attacks. And so now the top priority of the FBI, since 9/11--the culture 
of that important agency, full of decent people, has changed. The top 
priority is to protect the American people from terrorist attack. The 
Bureau has hired large numbers of counterterrorism agents and analysts. 
They're focusing resources on what they need to do to protect America. 
They created a unified National Security Branch to coordinate terrorist 
investigations. They expanded the number of Joint Terrorism Task Forces. 
And the Bureau is submitting more FISA requests in terrorist cases. In 
other words, they understand the challenge, and the FBI is changing to 
meet those challenges. The FBI is responding to terrorist threats like 
Moussaoui more quickly, more effectively, and with more resources. At 
every level, America's law enforcement officers now have a clear goal--
to identify, locate, and stop terrorists before they can kill again.
    Since the attacks, we've also worked with Congress to do something 
about that wall that prevented intelligence and criminal investigators 
from talking to each other. The wall made no sense. It reflected an old 
way of thinking. And so I called upon Congress to pass a piece of 
legislation that would tear down the wall, and that was called the 
PATRIOT Act. The PATRIOT Act has increased the flow of information 
within our Government, and it has helped break up terrorist cells in the 
United States of America. And the United States Congress was right to 
renew the terrorist act--the PATRIOT Act, the terrorist prevention act 
called the PATRIOT Act.
    We created the National Counterterrorism Center, where law 
enforcement and intelligence personnel work side by side in the same 
headquarters. This center hosts secure video teleconferences every day 
that allow for seamless communication among the FBI, the CIA, and other 
agencies. Now officials with critical threat information are sitting at 
the same table and sharing information. We created the position of the 
Director of National Intelligence to operate the intelligence community 
as a single unified enterprise. We set up the Terrorist Screening 
Center, which maintains the Government's master list of suspected 
terrorists and helps get this information in the hands of State and 
local law enforcement. Today, a police officer who

[[Page 1581]]

stops a driver for a routine traffic violation can access terrorist 
watch lists and be automatically directed to the Terrorist Screening 
Center if there's a match.
    We've learned the lessons of September the 11th. We're changing how 
people can work together. We're modernizing the system. We're working to 
connect the dots to stop the terrorists from hurting America again.
    The fourth and final stage of the 9/11 plot came on the morning of 
the attack. Starting around 6:45, the 19 hijackers, including Hazmi and 
Mihdhar, checked in, cleared security, and boarded commercial jets bound 
for the west coast. Some of the hijackers were flagged by the passenger 
prescreening system. But because the security rules at the time focused 
on preventing bombs on airplanes, the only precaution required was to 
hold the operatives' checked baggage until they boarded the airplane. 
Several hijackers were also carrying small knives or box cutters, and 
when they reached the security checkpoints, they set off metal 
detectors. The screeners wanded them but let them board their planes 
without verifying what had set off the alarms. When the flights took 
off, the men hijacked each plane in a similar way: They stabbed or 
subdued the pilots and crew; they seized control of the cockpit; and 
they started flying the airplane. By 9:03 a.m., the hijackers had driven 
two of the flights in the World Trade Center. By 9:37, they had struck 
the Pentagon. And shortly after 10 a.m., the fourth plane crashed into a 
field in Pennsylvania. The passengers realized what was happening, and 
they rose up against their captors. These brave passengers saved 
countless lives on the ground; they likely spared the Capitol or the 
White House from destruction; and they delivered America its first 
victory in the war on terror.
    We have taken many steps to address the security gaps that the 
hijackers exploited that morning. We created the Transportation Security 
Administration to ensure that every passenger and every bag is screened. 
We increased the number of Federal air marshals on domestic and 
international flights. We trained and authorized thousands of pilots to 
carry firearms. We hardened cockpit doors to prevent terrorists from 
gaining access to the controls. We merged 22 Government agencies into a 
single Department of Homeland Security and tripled spending for homeland 
security on our airlines, on our ports, and our borders and other 
critical areas. We will continue to provide the resources necessary to 
secure this homeland.
    Even if all the steps I've outlined this morning had been taken 
before 9/11, no one can say for sure that we would have prevented the 
attack. We can say that if America had these reforms in place in 2001, 
the terrorists would have found it harder to plan and finance their 
operations, harder to slip into the country undetected, and harder to 
board the airplanes and take control of the cockpits and succeed in 
striking their targets.
    We are grateful to all those who have worked to implement these 
important reforms. We're grateful to our Federal and State and local law 
enforcement officers who are working tirelessly to protect our country. 
We're grateful to all the intelligence and homeland security and 
military personnel. Together these dedicated men and women are keeping 
their fellow Americans safe, and Americans are proud of their important 
service to our country.
    On the morning of 9/11, we saw that the terrorists have to be right 
only once to kill our people, while we have to be right every time to 
stop them. So we had to make a larger choice about how to respond to the 
threats to our country. Some suggested that our effort should be purely 
defensive, hunkering down behind extreme homeland security and law 
enforcement measures. Others argue that we should respond overseas, but 
that our action should be limited to direct retaliation for 9/11. I 
strongly disagree with both approaches. Nine-Eleven lifted the veil on a 
threat that is far broader and more dangerous than we saw that morning, 
an enemy that was not sated by the destruction inflicted that day and is 
determined to strike again. To answer this threat and to protect our 
people, we need more than retaliation; we need more than a reaction to 
the last attack; we need to do everything in our power to stop the next 
attack.
    And so America has gone on the offense across the world. And here 
are some of the results. We've captured or killed many of the

[[Page 1582]]

most significant Al Qaida members and associates. We've killed Al 
Qaida's most visible and aggressive leader to emerge after 9/11, the 
terrorist Zarqawi in Iraq. We've kept the terrorists from achieving 
their key goal, to overthrow governments across the broader Middle East 
and to seize control. Instead, the governments they targeted--such as 
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia--have become some of the most valuable allies 
in the war on terror. These countries are joined by the largest 
coalition in the history of warfare--more than 90 nations determined to 
find the terrorists, to dry up their funds, to stop their plots, and to 
bring them to justice.
    This coalition includes two nations that used to sponsor terror but 
now help us fight it--the democratic nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. In 
Afghanistan, President Karzai's elected Government is fighting our 
common enemies. In showing the courage he's showing, he's inspired 
millions across the region. In Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki's unity 
Government is fighting Al Qaida and the enemies of Iraq's democracy. 
They're taking increasing responsibility for the security of their free 
country.
    The fighting in Iraq has been difficult, and it has been bloody, and 
some say that Iraq is a diversion from the war on terror. The terrorists 
disagree. Usama bin Laden has proclaimed that the ``third world war is 
raging'' in Iraq. Al Qaida leaders have declared that Baghdad will be 
the capital of the new caliphate that they wish to establish across the 
broader Middle East. It's hard to believe that extremists would make 
large journeys across dangerous borders to endure heavy fighting and to 
blow themselves up on the streets of Baghdad for a so-called 
``diversion.'' The terrorists know that the outcome in the war on terror 
will depend on the outcome in Iraq. And so to protect our citizens, the 
free world must succeed in Iraq.
    As we fight the enemies of a free Iraq, we must also ensure that Al 
Qaida, its allies, and the extremists never get their hands on the tools 
of mass murder. When we saw the damage the terrorists inflicted on 9/11, 
our thoughts quickly turned to the devastation that could have been 
caused with weapons of mass destruction. So we launched the 
Proliferation Security Initiative--a coalition of more than 70 countries 
that are cooperating to stop shipments related to deadly weapons. 
Together with Russia, we're working on a new Global Initiative to Combat 
Nuclear Terrorism. We worked with Great Britain to persuade Libya to 
give up its nuclear weapons program, and now the components of that 
program are secured right here in the United States. We uncovered the 
black market nuclear network of A.Q. Khan, who was shipping equipment to 
Iran and North Korea--that network is now out of business. And now the 
world is uniting to send a clear message to the regime in Tehran: Iran 
must end its support of terror;; it must stop defying its international 
obligations; and it must not obtain a nuclear weapon.
    Our enemies have fought relentlessly these past 5 years, and they 
have a record of their own. Bin Laden and his deputy Zawahiri are still 
in hiding. Al Qaida has continued its campaign of terror with deadly 
attacks that have targeted the innocent, including large numbers of 
fellow Muslims. The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq have killed 
American troops and thousands of Iraqis. Syria and Iran have continued 
their support for terror and extremism. Hizballah has taken innocent 
life in Israel and succeeded briefly in undermining Lebanon's democratic 
Government. Hamas is standing in the way of peace with Israel. And the 
extremists have led an aggressive propaganda campaign to spread lies 
about America and incite Muslim radicalism. The enemies of freedom are 
skilled, and they are sophisticated, and they are waging a long and 
determined war. The free world must understand the stakes of this 
struggle. The free world must support young democracies. The free world 
must confront the evil of these extremists. The free world must draw 
full measure of our strength and resources to prevail.
    We see that full measure and the strength of this Nation in the men 
and women in uniform who fight this war and we have--and who have given 
their lives in the cause of liberty and freedom. One of these soldiers 
was a young lieutenant named Noah Harris, who was killed last summer in 
Iraq when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb. Noah grew up here in 
Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia. He volunteered

[[Page 1583]]

for the Army after September the 11th, 2001. He told his dad that people 
had an obligation to serve a cause higher than themselves. In Iraq, 
Lieutenant Harris was an officer known for his toughness and his skill 
in battle and for the Beanie Babies that he carried with him to hand out 
to the Iraqi children. He was also known for the photo of his parents' 
home in Ellijay that he used as a screensaver on his computer. When his 
troops asked why he chose that picture, he explained, ``That is why I'm 
here.''
    Lieutenant Harris understood the stakes in Iraq. He knew that to 
protect his loved ones at home, America must defeat our enemies 
overseas. If America pulls out of Iraq before the Iraqis can defend 
themselves, the terrorists will follow us here, home. The best way to 
honor the memory of brave Americans like Lieutenant Harris is to 
complete the mission they began--so we will stay; we will fight; and we 
will win in Iraq.
    The war on terror is more than a military conflict; it is the 
decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. And we're only in its 
opening stages. To win this struggle, we have to defeat the ideology of 
the terrorists with a more hopeful vision. So a central element in our 
strategy is the freedom agenda. We know from history that free nations 
are peaceful nations. We know that democracies do not attack each other 
and that young people growing up in a free and hopeful society are less 
likely to fall under the sway of radicalism. And so we're taking the 
side of democratic leaders and reformers across the Middle East. We're 
supporting the voices of tolerance and moderation in the Muslim world. 
We're standing with mothers and fathers in every culture who want to see 
their children grow up in a caring and peaceful world. And by leading 
the cause of freedom in the vital region, we will change the conditions 
that give rise to radicalism and hatred and terror. We will replace 
violent dictatorships with peaceful democracies. We'll make America, the 
Middle East, and the world more secure.
    In the early days after 9/11, I told the American people that this 
would be a long war, a war that would look different from others we have 
fought, with difficulties and setbacks along the way. The past 5 years 
have proven that to be true. The past 5 years have also shown what we 
can achieve when our Nation acts with confidence and resolve and clear 
purpose. We've learned the lessons of 9/11, and we have addressed the 
gaps in our defenses exposed by that attack. We've gone on the offense 
against our enemies and transformed former adversaries into allies. We 
have put in place the institutions needed to win this war. Five years 
after September the 11th, 2001, America is safer, and America is winning 
the war on terror. With vigilance, determination, courage, we will 
defeat the enemies of freedom, and we will leave behind a more peaceful 
world for our children and our grandchildren.
    God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 10:24 a.m. at the Cobb Galleria Center. In 
his remarks, he referred to Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia; Brenda 
Fitzgerald, chairman, board of governors, Georgia Public Policy 
Foundation; Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, USA, commanding general, First 
United States Army; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist 
organization; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, senior Al Qaida leader responsible 
for planning the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, who was captured 
in Pakistan on March 1, 2003; U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern 
District of Michigan Anna Diggs Taylor; Zacarias Moussaoui, an Al Qaida 
operative who was sentenced on May 4 for helping to plan the September 
11, 2001, terrorist attack; President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan; Prime 
Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq; and Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of the 
Egyptian Islamic Jihad and senior Al Qaida associate. He also referred 
to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 
(9/11 Commission).