[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 50 (Monday, December 22, 2008)]
[Pages 1542-1546]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

December 17, 2008

    Thank you very much. Please be seated. Thank you for the warm 
welcome. I'm sorry I'm late. [Laughter] But I am honored to be back at 
the Army War College. A few weeks ago, you celebrated this college's 
107th birthday. I was interested to learn that the school was originally 
located across the street from the White House. Apparently after a few 
years on Pennsylvania Avenue, it was time to pack up your bags. 
[Laughter] Laura and I know the feeling. [Laughter]
    General Williams, thank you for your leadership. Sergeant Major 
Powell, thank you for greeting me.
    I'm traveling today with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Jim 
Peake. I assume he got a seat. [Laughter] Peake, how are you--finally, 
yes! [Laughter] He actually was a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Army War 
College. He claimed he was the president of the class. [Laughter] But he 
also modestly informed me that the reason why is because he was the 
oldest member of the class. [Laughter] Anyway, Mr. Secretary, thanks for 
your service.
    Students, faculty, and staff, it's good to be with you.
    Over the past century, this important institution has become one of 
our Nation's most revered places. It really has been. After all, the 
graduates of this college are legendary--

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and perhaps I'm looking at legends--Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, 
George Patton to Norm Schwarzkopf, Tommy Franks, and a man who I visited 
with recently, Ray Odierno. I want to thank you for continuing this 
college's noble tradition of military scholarship. I thank you for 
volunteering to serve our Nation during a time of war. I appreciate the 
officers from our partner nations who are studying here and who are 
strengthening their countries' friendship with the United States.
    I know many of you have served overseas in the war on terror. This 
weekend I was honored to make one final trip to the frontlines in Iraq 
and Afghanistan. During my trip, I had the opportunity to spend time 
with men and women in uniform, and I've got to tell you, there is 
nothing better, to be the Commander in Chief and stand in front of brave 
souls who bring such dignity to the United States of America.
    They say, ``What are you going to miss?'' I'm going to miss a lot of 
things, like no traffic jams on the way from Harrisburg. [Laughter] But 
I'm most going to miss being the Commander in Chief. It is amazing to 
serve with people who are willing to stand up and step forward to 
address the great challenge to freedom and democracy of our time. We 
have been called to action, and many have agreed to serve.
    You know, the threat alert--emerged long before September the 11th. 
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the followers of a hateful and twisted 
ideology grew in strength and number. In lands where repression and 
despair reigned, these extremists found willing recruits for their 
murderous vision. They unleashed an unprecedented campaign of terror 
against the United States, attacking the World Trade Center in 1993, 
bombing two of our Embassies in Africa in 1998, striking the USS Cole in 
2000.
    For many years, our Nation viewed these attacks as isolated 
incidents, and we responded with limited measures. That changed on 
September the 11th, 2001. On that morning, Americans woke to news of a 
plane crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Within 
the span of 90 minutes, a second plane struck the South Tower, a third 
one pierced the rings of the Pentagon, and a fourth vanished from the 
skies above Pennsylvania. By nightfall, the sun had set on a very 
different world. With rumors of more attacks swirling, Americans went to 
bed wondering what the future would bring.
    On that night, virtually no one would have predicted that more than 
7 years would pass without another terrorist attack on our soil. It's 
not a matter of luck. It is a tribute to the dedicated men and women who 
work day and night to defend our great land. It's the result of tough 
decisions that we began making immediately after September the 11th.
    You see, in those uncertain first weeks, there was no obvious 
precedent to follow. We faced a choice among many different courses of 
action. On one end of the spectrum, we could have responded with a 
purely defensive strategy, hunkering down behind our borders and 
retreating from the world stage. On the other end of the spectrum, we 
could have sought revenge through instant retaliation, attacking nations 
that support terror with no broader strategy to address the root cause 
of the problem.
    I rejected both these extremes in favor of a deliberate and 
comprehensive approach, one where we used all elements of our national 
power to keep America safe at home, the understanding we needed to take 
the fight to the enemy abroad, and the idea of promoting liberty as the 
alternative to terror.
    Last week, I spoke at West Point about transforming our military to 
wage this war. And today I'm going to talk to you about the strategy we 
pursued to keep our country safe, the results we've achieved, and the 
institutions we leave behind for future Presidents to carry on this 
struggle.
    After September the 11th, we fundamentally reshaped our strategy for 
protecting the American people around three core principles. First, we 
recognized that our homeland security and intelligence capabilities were 
inadequate. So we launched the largest reorganization of the Federal 
Government since the beginning of the cold war with one overriding 
purpose, and that was to prevent new attacks.
    Secondly, we recognized that even with the best defenses, we could 
not afford to wait for the terrorists to attack again. So we

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launched a global campaign to take the fight to the terrorists abroad, 
to dismantle their networks, to dry up their financing, and find their 
leaders and bring them to justice. We sent a clear message that America 
will make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor 
them.
    Immediately after September the 11th, we gave the Taliban in 
Afghanistan two options: surrender the leaders of Al Qaida, or you can 
share in their fate. When the regime leaders made their choice, we made 
ours. We removed the Taliban from power, we shut down the terrorist 
training camps, and we liberated more than 25 million Afghans.
    After 9/11, we also reexamined the danger posed by Iraq, a country 
that combined support for terror, the development and use of weapons of 
mass destruction, aggression against its neighbors, routine attacks on 
American forces, systemic violations of U.N. resolutions. We concluded 
that the world could not tolerate such a destabilizing and dangerous 
force in the heart of the Middle East. I offered Saddam Hussein a final 
chance to resolve the issue peacefully. It was his choice to make. And 
when he refused, we acted with a coalition of nations to protect our 
people and liberate 25 million Iraqis.
    Thirdly, we recognized that the war on terror is more than a battle 
of arms. It is an ideological struggle for hearts and minds. And to 
prevail, we must counter the terrorists' hateful ideology with a more 
hopeful alternative based on liberty and justice. So after removing the 
threatening regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, we refused to take the easy 
course of trading one strongman for another. Instead, we stayed to help 
young democracies emerge as beacons for hope for people across the 
Middle East. We increased our support for democratic reformers and 
dissidents around the world. We expanded our efforts to combat the 
conditions of despair and hopelessness that give rise to rage and 
radicalism.
    While there's room for honest and healthy debate about the decisions 
I've made--and there's plenty of debate--there can be no debate about 
the results in keeping America safe.
    Here at home we prevented numerous terrorist attacks, including an 
attempt to bomb fuel tanks at JFK Airport, a plot to blow up airliners 
bound for the east coast, a scheme to attack a shopping mall in the 
Chicago area, and a plan to destroy the tallest skyscraper in Los 
Angeles. We'll never know how many lives have been saved. But this is 
for certain: Since 9/11, there's not been another terrorist attack on 
American soil.
    And this is certain as well: Around the world, we're driving the 
terrorists from their safe havens. We are choking off their financing. 
We are severely disrupting their operations. Together with our allies, 
we killed or captured hundreds of Al Qaida leaders and operatives, 
including the architect of the September the 11th attacks, Khalid Sheikh 
Mohammed. And thanks to the success of the surge, the courage of our 
troops, and the determination of the Iraqi people, we have delivered a 
devastating blow to Al Qaida in the land Usama bin Laden once called the 
central battleground in the war on terror.
    In the broader struggle between freedom and terror, people around 
the world have made their choice clear. In Afghanistan, 8 million men 
and women went to the polls to elect a President for the first time in 
their history. In Iraq, 12 million people defied the terrorists and 
elected a representative government. You know, one of the things I'll 
never forget are the ink-stained fingers of people who had a chance to 
vote their conscience. In countries from Liberia and Lebanon to Georgia 
and Ukraine, citizens have taken to the streets to cast off the chains 
of tyranny and demand their God-given right for freedom. And around the 
world, more people live in liberty than at any other time in human 
history.
    This is a hopeful beginning. Yet it is only a beginning. Like the 
struggle against communism during the cold war, the struggle against 
terror will be a generational conflict, one that will continue long 
beyond my Presidency. As my administration leaves office next month, we 
will leave behind the institutions and tools our country needs to 
prevail in the long struggle ahead.
    We'll leave behind a vastly upgraded network of homeland defenses. 
Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers are working together 
more closely than ever before.

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The number of Border Patrol agents has doubled since 2001. Our airports 
and seaports have bolstered screening procedures. Major cities have 
installed early-warning systems for detecting biological and 
radiological attacks. And to better coordinate a comprehensive strategy 
for keeping our people safe, we have a new Cabinet-level Department of 
Homeland Security.
    We'll leave behind a revamped intelligence community that has new 
tools for staying one step ahead of our enemies. Under the new Director 
of National Intelligence, Federal agencies are collecting and sharing 
information more effectively than ever before. At the new National 
Counterterrorism Center, representatives from 16 different Federal 
agencies are working side by side to track any new threat. The FBI--
agents and analysts have shifted their focus from investigating 
terrorist attacks after they happen to gathering intelligence to prevent 
them from happening in the first place. The Treasury Department--there 
are new programs to shut down financing for terrorism. The CIA--human 
intelligence capabilities have improved. More operations officers have 
deployed overseas to penetrate the terrorist organizations. There's a 
program to interrogate key terrorist leaders. At the NSA, there are 
expanded efforts to monitor terrorist communications around the world. 
We need to quickly figure out who the terrorists are talking to and what 
they're saying in order to protect the homeland.
    We will leave behind new technologies and resources for our military 
to keep the pressure on the enemy. Our forces are more mobile and more 
agile and better positioned now to deploy to trouble spots around the 
world. On the battlefield, they have access to real-time intelligence 
that would have been unimaginable just a couple of years ago. With 
weapons like the Predator drone in our arsenal, our troops can conduct 
precision strikes on terrorists in hard-to-reach areas while sparing 
innocent life. At institutions like the Army War College, our men and 
women in uniform are studying new counterinsurgency and counterterrorism 
strategies, because we're going to depend on you. Long after I'm gone, 
Presidents will count on you.
    We will leave behind a strong coalition of more than 90 nations--
composing almost half the world--who have committed to combating terror 
and sharing intelligence and keeping our citizens safe. This coalition 
includes Saudi Arabia, the nation that produced 15 of the 9/11 hijackers 
and now serves as a staunch ally in the war on terror. This coalition 
includes Pakistan, a country that was a supporter of the Taliban before 
September the 11th and today is a strong partner of the United States. 
This coalition includes two of America's newest and most courageous 
friends, the free nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. This coalition 
includes members of the new Proliferation Security Initiative and the 
new Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, who are working to 
prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
    We will leave behind new programs to help change the conditions of 
suffering and hopelessness that give rise to extremism and terror. In 
Afghanistan and Iraq, new Provincial Reconstruction Teams are helping 
rebuild war-torn communities and revive local economies and restore 
basic government services. On the continent of Africa, millions are 
receiving lifesaving treatment, thanks to America's Emergency Plan for 
AIDS Relief. And around the world, countries that govern wisely and open 
up their economy and invest in the health and education of their people 
are receiving strong support through Millennium Challenge grants.
    And finally, we leave behind an unprecedented commitment to 
extending the reach of liberty and democracy. Key organizations devoted 
to supporting freedom enjoy stronger government support than ever 
before. Official U.S. policy now requires our diplomats to seek out and 
support dissidents and democratic reformers in unfree nations. And it is 
now the stated policy of the United States to seek the end of tyranny in 
all nations, for all time.
    Until that day comes, the United States will not rest in our fight 
against oppression and terror. As President, I've had no higher 
responsibility than waging this struggle for the security and liberty of 
our people. After 9/11, I vowed that I would never forget the wounds 
from that day, and I'm not. That day

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defined my Presidency, and that day changed the course of history. And 
while we cannot know the path ahead, we can be confident in the 
destination: a world where the American people are safe and children 
around the world grow up with hope and peace.
    We can be confident because freedom is universal. I strongly believe 
there's an Almighty, and a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman, 
and child on the face of the Earth is freedom. We can be confident 
because we're blessed with men and women who willingly put the welfare 
of their nation before themselves. As long as we have defenders of such 
character and courage, our Nation will always be in good hands, and the 
future will always be bright.
    So I thank you for inviting me today. I thank you for having given 
me the honor of a lifetime to serve as your Commander in Chief. God 
bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:58 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Maj. Gen. Robert M. Williams, USA, commandant, U.S. Army War College, 
who introduced the President; and Command Sgt. Maj. Jose M. Powell, USA, 
U.S. Army War College; Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA (Ret.), former 
commander, and Gen. Tommy R. Franks, USA (Ret.), former commander, U.S. 
Central Command; Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, USA, commanding general, 
Multi-National Force--Iraq; Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida 
terrorist organization; and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of these remarks.