THE PRESIDENT: Thanks, Captain Smith, for your kind
introduction. Thank you all for being here, and thank you for the warm
welcome. I am honored to stand with the men and women of the Reserve
Officers Association. For more than 80 years, this organization has
stood up for America and its citizen-soldiers, and I appreciate your
contribution to our country. We're safer because you stand ready to put
on the uniform. I am grateful for your service, and I am proud to be
your Commander-in-Chief.
I want to speak to you today about the struggle between moderation
and extremism that is unfolding across the broader Middle East. At this
moment, terrorists and extremists are fighting to overthrow moderate
governments in the region, so they can take control of countries and use
them as bases from which to attack America and from which to impose
their hateful ideology. This is the challenge of our time. This is the
call of a generation, to stand against the extremists and support
moderate leaders across the broader Middle East, to help us all secure a
future of peace.
This week in Washington, I met with two courageous leaders who are
working for peace -- President Karzai of Afghanistan, and President
Musharraf of Pakistan. These leaders understand the stakes in the
struggle -- in the ideological struggle of the 21st century. They
understand the stakes from a personal perspective, as well, since the
extremists have tried to assassinate them. They are courageous people.
They have seen the destruction that terrorists have caused in their own
country, and they know this, that the only way to stop them is to work
together and to stay on the offense. By standing with brave leaders like
these, we are defending civilization itself, and we're building a more
peaceful world for our children and grandchildren.
I appreciate very much the Ambassador from Afghanistan, Ambassador
Jawad, and Ambassador Durrani from Pakistan for joining us here today.
Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) I appreciate members of my
administration who have joined us, I appreciate people wearing the
uniform who have joined us. I appreciate those from Walter Reed who have
joined us, and from Bethesda. (Applause.) I thank you for your
sacrifice.
I also want to thank those from Walter Reed and Bethesda who are
giving you the help you need to recover from your wounds. It gives me
great comfort to be able to tell the loved ones of those who wear our
uniform that if you get hurt you will receive first class, compassionate
care from the United States military. And so to the healers who are
here, thank you for doing your duty and providing these brave folks the
help they need to recover.
Earlier this month, our nation marked the fifth anniversary of the
September the 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. We paused on that day to
remember the innocent people who were killed that day. We paused to
remember the rescue workers who rushed into burning towers to save
lives. After 9/11, I stood in the well of the House of Representatives
and declared that every nation, in every region, had a decision to make
-- either you were with us, or you stood with the terrorists. Two
nations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, made very different decisions -- with
very different results.
Five years ago, Afghanistan was ruled by the brutal Taliban regime.
Under the Taliban and al Qaeda, Afghanistan was a land where women were
imprisoned in their own homes, where men were beaten for missing prayer
meetings, where girls couldn't even go to school. What a hopeless
society that was, under the rule of these hateful men. Afghanistan was
the home to terrorist training camps. Under al Qaeda and the Taliban,
Afghanistan was a terrorist safe haven and a launching pad for the
horrific attacks that killed innocent people in New York City on
September the 11th, 2001.
After 9/11, America gave the leaders of the Taliban a choice. We told
them that they must turn over all the leaders of al Qaeda hiding in
their land. We told them they must close every terrorist training camp
and hand over every terrorist to appropriate authorities. We told them
they must give the United States full access to the terrorist training
camps, so they could make sure they were no longer operating. We told
them these demands were not up for negotiation, and that if they did not
comply immediately and hand over the terrorists, they would share in the
same fate as the terrorists.
I felt these were reasonable demands. The Taliban regime chose
unwisely -- so within weeks after the 9/11 attacks, our coalition
launched Operation Enduring Freedom. By December 2001, the Taliban
regime had been removed from power, hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda
fighters had been captured or killed, and the terrorist camps where the
enemy had planned the 9/11 attacks were shut down. We did what we said
we were going to do. We made our intentions clear. We gave the Taliban a
chance to make the right decision. They made the wrong decision, and we
liberated Afghanistan. (Applause.)
The liberation of Afghanistan was a great achievement -- and for
those of you who served in that effort, thank you. I thank you on behalf
of America, and the Afghan people thank you. But we knew that it was
only the beginning of our mission in Afghanistan. See, the liberation
was only the start of an important mission to make this world a more
peaceful place. We learned the lesson of the 1980s, when the United
States had helped the Afghan people drive the Soviet Red Army from
Kabul, and then decided our work was finished, and left the Afghans to
fend for themselves.
The Taliban came to power and provided a sanctuary for bin Laden and
al Qaeda, and we paid the price when the terrorists struck our nation
and killed nearly 3,000 people in our midst. So after liberating
Afghanistan, we began the difficult work of helping the Afghan people
rebuild their country, and establish a free nation on the rubble of the
Taliban's tyranny.
With the help of the United Nations and coalition countries, Afghan
leaders chose an interim government. They wrote and approved a
democratic constitution. They held elections to choose a new President
and they elected leaders to represent them in a new Parliament. In those
parliamentary elections, more than six million Afghans defied terrorist
threats and cast their ballots. They made it clear they wanted to live
in a free society. As I travel around the country, I tell people that
I'm not surprised when people say, I want to live in liberty. I believe
liberty is universal. I believe deep within the soul of every man, woman
and child on the face of the Earth is a desire to live in freedom. And
when we free people, we not only do our duty to ourselves, but we help
the rise of decent human beings.
As Afghans have braved the terrorists and claimed their freedom,
we've helped them, and we will continue to help them. It's in our
interests that we help this young democracy survive and grow strong. We
helped them build security forces they need to defend their democratic
gains. In the past five years, our coalition has trained and equipped
more than 30,000 soldiers in the Afghan National Army -- and at this
moment, several thousand more are in training at a Kabul Military
Training Center. These Afghan soldiers are on the front lines with
coalition troops. Some have suffered terrible wounds in battle, others
have given their lives in the fight against the terrorists. Afghans in
uniform are determined to protect their nation and fight our common
enemies -- and we're proud to fight alongside such brave allies.
Our coalition has also trained about 46,000 members of the Afghan
National Police. The training of the Afghan police has not gone as
smoothly as that of the army. The police have faced problems with
corruption and substandard leadership. And we've made our concerns known
to our friends in the Afghan government. When we see a problem, we
adjust, we change. And so this year, President Karzai's government
announced a new team to lead the National Police. As the police become
more capable, and better led, and more disciplined, they will gain
legitimacy and they will earn the respect of the Afghan people.
Listen, the Afghan people want to live in a peaceful world. It's
important for the American citizens to understand an Afghan mother wants
the same thing for her child that our mothers' want for our children,
the chance to grow up and realize dreams, the chance to live in peace.
And it's important for the Afghan government to provide the kind of
security so the citizens have trust that their government can enable the
peace to evolve in that strife-ridden part of the world.
The army and police are good fighters. At this moment, more than
21,000 American troops and more than 20,000 personnel from 40 countries
are deployed in Afghanistan. In the summer of 2003, NATO took over the
International Security Assistance Force -- it's called ISAF, in
Afghanistan -- NATO's first mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area.
Other nations besides the United States understand the importance of
helping this young democracy survive and thrive and grow. Since then,
NATO has expanded ISAF from a small force that was operating only in
Kabul into a robust force that has taken responsibility for security in
nearly 60 percent of the country. And this week, NATO announced that it
would take over security operations in all of Afghanistan in the coming
weeks. Under the plan, the U.S. will transfer 12,000 of our troops that
are now serving in the country to the NATO force, while the rest will
remain under coalition command and continue anti-terrorist operations
across the country.
We saw the effectiveness of NATO forces this summer, when NATO took
responsibility from the United States for security operations in
Southern Afghanistan. The Taliban saw the transfer of the region from
the United States to NATO control as a window of opportunity. They saw
it as an opportunity to test the will of nations under than the United
States. See, they've been testing our will. And they understand it's
strong, and they need to understand it will remain strong. (Applause.)
So the Taliban massed an estimated 800 to 900 fighters near Kandahar
to face the NATO force head on. And that was a mistake. Earlier this
month, NATO launched Operation Medusa. Together with the Afghan National
Army, troops from Canada, and Denmark, and the Netherlands, and Britain,
and the United States engaged the enemy -- with operational support from
Romanian, and Portuguese, and Estonian Forces. According to NATO
Commanders, NATO forces killed hundreds of Taliban fighters. NATO's
Supreme Allied Commander, General Jones, a United States Marine, says
this about the NATO operation in Southern Afghanistan: "The Taliban
decided to make a test case of this region r. And they paid a very heavy
price for it.. [The operation sent a] signal to the insurgents [that]
NATO forces would not back down." The operation also sent a clear
message to the Afghan people: that NATO is standing with you. I
appreciate the courage of the NATO forces. I appreciate the governments
of our allies in NATO understanding the importance of helping the Afghan
people achieve their dream, and that is a stable country. The people
from NATO must understand that they're helping a young democracy defend
itself and protect its people. And in so doing, they're helping to lay
the foundation of peace in the ideological struggle of the 21st century.
(Applause.)
The NATO deployment has begun to bring security and reconstruction to
a region that had previously had little, and has allowed the United
States and Afghan forces to stay on the offense. And so we launched
another major offensive in the East called Operation Mountain Fury. The
operation is ongoing. It's aimed at clearing out enemy safe havens in
five Afghan provinces -- including three provinces bordering Pakistan.
The operation is being led by about 4,000 Afghan forces, and supported
by about 3,000 of our finest. As Afghan and coalition forces clear out
the enemy, then we will follow up with reconstruction assistance -- so
we can improve the quality of life for local Afghans, and help extend
the authority of the central government to distant areas of the country.
See, the enemy understands what we're doing, and they don't like it.
That's why they're reacting the way they're reacting. They understand
that the arrival of Afghan and coalition forces in the region means that
the government is beginning to win the hearts of the people. In many of
these regions, the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, and drug traffickers,
and criminal elements have enjoyed free reign. There hasn't been any
countervailing force to their presence. And you can imagine how that
makes innocent people feel, you know, when you've got these killers in
your midst. It creates an atmosphere of fear. As a matter of fact,
people like al Qaeda, whose ideology is hateful, have got one major tool
at their disposal: they kill innocent life to create fear. What a
contrast it is to the United States of America, and coalition partners,
and decent Afghans to belieeve in hope. (Applause.)
These haters of humanity know that when the government in Kabul can
reach out and improve the lives of local Afghans in distant parts of the
country, the population will gain confidence in Afghanistan's democracy.
That's part of the struggle, this ideological struggle we're engaged in.
And so they are going to try to do everything they can to stop the
progress. And they'll fight Afghan and coalition forces. And that's what
you're seeing today.
But they do more than just fight our forces. They destroy schools and
they destroy clinics; they do everything in their power to intimidate
local folks. The enemies of a free Afghanistan are brutal and they're
determined -- and we're not going to let them succeed. (Applause.) NATO,
and coalition, and Afghan forces will continue to fight the enemy. We
will stay on the offense, and we're going to help this government of
President Karzai bring a better life to his people.
To bring a better life to the Afghan people, our coalition and NATO
forces have deployed 23 Provincial Reconstruction Teams across
Afghanistan. These teams are important because we're talking about a
country that has been torn apart because of war over the years. The
teams are led by Sweden, and Norway, and Germany, and Hungary, and
Italy, and Spain, and Lithuania, and Canada, and Britain, and the
Netherlands, and the United States. And these teams are bringing
security and reconstruction assistance to distant regions of the
country. And to link the distant regions to the capital, we've got a
strategy -- it's called building roads. This is a country that is in
dire need for transportation. And since the liberation of Afghanistan,
we've provided more than $4.5 billion for reconstruction throughout the
country. We're helping with electricity, and irrigation, and water, and
sanitation, and other necessities.
Our coalition is working with President Karzai to strengthen the
institutions of Afghans -- Afghanistan's young democracy. We understand
that the institutions must be strengthened and reformed for democracy to
survive. And one of the areas most in need of reform is the nation's
legal system. Recently, President Karzai took important steps to
strengthen the rule of law, when he appointed a new Attorney General and
judges to serve on Afghanistan's Supreme Court. Our coalition is helping
his government institutionalize these changes. Italy, for example, is
helping to train Afghan judges, and prosecutors, and public defenders,
and court administrators so all Afghans can receive equal justice under
the law.
And from the beginning, our actions in Afghanistan have had a clear
purpose -- in other words, our goals are clear for people to understand
-- and that is to rid that country of the Taliban and the terrorists,
and build a lasting free society that will be an ally in the war on
terror. (Applause.) And from the beginning, the American people have
heard the critics say we're failing -- but their reasons keep changing.
In the first days of Operation Enduring Freedom, the critics warned that
we were heading toward a "quagmire." And then when the Taliban fell, and
operations began in Iraq, the critics held up the multinational
coalition in Afghanistan as a model, and said it showed that everything
we were doing in Iraq was wrong. And now some of the critics who praised
the multinational coalition we built in Afghanistan claim that the
country is in danger of failing because we don't have enough American
troops there.
Look, in order to win war, in order to win the ideological struggle
of the 21st century, it is important for this country to have a clear
strategy, and change tactics to meet the conditions on the ground, not
try to constantly respond to the critics who change their positions. And
so I listen to the advice of those who matter in Afghanistan, and that
is President Karzai and our commanders. (Applause.) We will continue to
help Afghanistan's government defeat our common enemies.
I've constantly told the American people we must defeat the enemy
overseas, so we do not have to face them here at home. (Applause.) I
will continue to remind the American people that you deal with threats
before they materialize. In this war that we're in, it is too late to
respond to a threat after the -- after we've been attacked. I'm not
going to forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001, and I know you
won't either. We must take threats seriously now, in order to protect
the American people.
So we're going to help the people of Afghanistan, and help them build
a free nation. We're going to help them be a successful part of
defeating an ideology of hate with an ideology of hope. And think what
that will mean for reformers and moderate people in a region that has
been full of turmoil. Imagine the effect it will have when they see a
thriving democracy in their midst.
No, this ideological struggle of the 21st century will require tough
military action, good intelligence, it will require the United States to
give our folks on the front line of terror the tools necessary to
protect us, including listening to phone calls from al Qaeda coming into
the country so we know what they're getting ready to attack or
questioning people we capture on the battlefield. That's what it's going
to include. (Applause.)
But it also means helping the millions who want to live in liberty to
do so. In the long term, we will help our children and grandchildren
live in a peaceful world by encouraging the spread of liberty.
Five years ago, another country that faced a choice was Pakistan. At
the time of 9/11, Pakistan was only one of three nations that recognized
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda had a large presence in
Pakistan. There was a strong radical Islamic movement in that country.
Some of the 9/11 hijackers were housed and trained in Pakistan.
Pakistan's future was in doubt -- and President Musharraf understood
that he had to make a fundamental choice for his people. He could turn a
blind eye and leave the people hostage to the extremists, or he could
join the free world in fighting the extremists and the terrorists.
President Musharraf made the choice to fight for freedom, and the United
States of America is grateful for his leadership.
Within two days of the September the 11th attacks, the Pakistani
government committed itself to stop al Qaeda operatives at its border,
to share intelligence on terrorist activities and movements, and to
break off all ties with the Taliban government if it refused to hand
over Bin Laden and the al Qaeda. President Musharraf's decision to fight
the terrorists was made at great personal risk. They have tried to kill
him as a result of his decision, because they know he has chosen to side
with the forces of peace and moderation, and that he stands in the way
of their hateful vision for his country.
President Musharraf's courageous choice to join the struggle against
extremism has saved American lives. His government has helped capture or
kill many senior terrorist leaders. For example, Pakistani forces helped
capture Abu Zubaydah -- a man we believe to be a trusted associate of
Osama bin Laden. Pakistani forces helped capture another individual
believed to be one of the key plotters of the 9/11 attacks -- Ramzi bin
al Shibh. Pakistani forces helped capture the man our intelligence
community believes masterminded the 9/11 attacks -- Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed.
Once captured, these men were taken into custody of the Central
Intelligence Agency. The questioning of these and other suspected
terrorists provided information that helped us protect the American
people. They helped us break up a cell of Southeast Asian terrorist
operatives that had been groomed for attacks inside the United States.
They helped us disrupt an al Qaeda operation to develop anthrax for
terrorist attacks. They helped us stop a planned strike on a U.S. Marine
camp in Djibouti, and to prevent a planned attack on the U.S. Consulate
in Karachi, and to foil a plot to hijack passenger planes and to fly
them into Heathrow Airport and London's Canary Wharf.
Were it not for the information gained from the terrorists captured
with the help of Pakistan, our intelligence community believes that al
Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack
against the American homeland. Our close cooperation with the government
of Pakistan has saved American lives -- and America is grateful to have
a strong and steadfast ally in the war against these terrorists.
(Applause.)
President Musharraf understands that the terrorists hide in remote
regions and travel back and forth across the border between Afghanistan
and Pakistan. And so we're helping his government establish stronger
control over these border areas. We are helping him to equip the
nation's paramilitary Frontier Corps that is policing the border
regions. The United States is funding the construction of more than 100
border outposts, which will provide Pakistani forces with better access
to remote areas of the country's western border. We're providing
high-tech equipment to help Pakistani forces better locate terrorists
attempting to cross the border. We are funding an air wing with
helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to give Pakistan better security and
surveillance capabilities.
And as we work with President Musharraf to bring security to his
country, we're also supporting him as he takes steps to build a modern
and moderate nation, that will hold free and fair elections next year.
In an address to his fellow citizens earlier this year, President
Musharraf declared this: "We have to eliminate extremism in our society.
It will eat us up from within. So it is my appeal to all of you to shun
extremism. Adopt the path of moderation.. we will eliminate this
extremism in our society and then Pakistan will be considered a
moderate, developed country." President Musharraf has a clear vision for
his country as a nation growing in freedom and prosperity and peace. And
as he stands against the terrorists and for the free future of his
country, the United States of America will stand with him. (Applause.)
In both Pakistan and Afghanistan, America has strong allies who are
committed to rooting out the terrorists in their midst. And with their
help, we've killed or captured hundreds of al Qaeda leaders and
operatives -- and we put the others on the run. Osama Bin Laden and
other terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: No
matter how long it takes, we will find you, and we're going to bring you
to justice. (Applause.)
On Wednesday night, I had dinner with Presidents Musharraf and Karzai
at the White House. We had a long and we had a frank conversation about
the challenges we face in defeating the extremists and the terrorists in
their countries, and providing the people of these two nations an
alternative to the dark ideology of the enemy. We discussed the best
ways to improve intelligence sharing so that we can target and eliminate
the leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
We resolved to strengthen the institutions of civil society in both
countries. We agreed on the need to support tribal leaders on both sides
of the border. By helping these local leaders build schools, and roads,
and health clinics, we will help them build a better life for their
communities, and strengthen their hand against -- to fight against the
extremists. It was clear from our conversation that our three nations
share the same goals: We will defeat the Taliban, we will defeat al
Qaeda, and the only way to do it is by working together.
Our meeting took place at a time when there is a debate raging in
Washington about how best to fight the war on terror. Recently, parts of
a classified document called the National Intelligence Estimate was
leaked to the press. As I said yesterday in Alabama, it's an indication
that we're getting close to an election. (Laughter.) The NIE is a
document that analyzes the threat we face from terrorists and extremists
-- and its unauthorized disclosure has set off a heated debate here in
the United States, particularly in Washington.
Some have selectively quoted from this document to make the case that
by fighting the terrorists, by fighting them in Iraq we are making our
people less secure here at home. This argument buys into the enemy's
propaganda that the terrorists attack us because we're provoking them. I
want to remind the American citizens that we were not in Iraq on
September the 11th, 2001. (Applause.)
And this argument was powerfully answered this week by Prime Minister
Tony Blair. Here is what he said. He said, "I believe passionately
[that] we will not win until we shake ourselves free of the wretched
capitulation to the propaganda of the enemy, that somehow we are the
ones responsible." (Applause.) He went on to say, "This terrorism is not
our fault. We didn't cause it. And It is not the consequence of foreign
policy." He's right. You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism.
(Applause.) If that ever becomes the mind set of the policymakers in
Washington, it means we'll go back to the old days of waiting to be
attacked and then respond. Our most important duty is to protect the
American people from a future attack, and the way to do so is to stay on
the offense against the terrorists. (Applause.)
Iraq is not the reason the terrorists are at war against us. They are
at war against us because they hate everything America stands for -- and
we stand for freedom. We stand for people to worship freely. One of the
great things about America is, you're equally American if you're a Jew,
a Muslim, a Christian, an agnostic or an atheist. What a powerful
statement to the world about the compassion of the American people that
you're free to choose the religion you want in our country. They can't
stand the thought that people can go into the public square in America
and express their differences with government. They can't stand the
thought that the people get to decide the future of our country by
voting. Freedom bothers them because their ideology is the opposite of
liberty, it is the opposite of freedom. And they don't like it because
we know they know we stand in their way of their ambitions in the Middle
East, their ambitions to spread their hateful ideology as a caliphate
from Spain to Indonesia.
We'll defeat the terrorists in Iraq. We'll deny them the safe haven
to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan. We're going to make it
harder for them to recruit a new generation of terrorists, and we're
going to help the Iraqis build a free society. It's a hopeful country
that sends a powerful message across the broader Middle East, and serves
with those of us who believe in moderation and hope as an ally in the
war against these extremists.
We can have confidence in the outcome of the war on terror -- because
our nation is determined. We've done this kind of hard work before, and
we have succeeded. And we can be confident because we've got incredible
men and women who wear our nation's uniform. (Applause.) I am constantly
amazed at the incredible courage that our fellow citizens who wear the
uniform show on a regular basis.
I think of two Navy SEALs named Matthew Axelson and Danny Deetz. In
June of 2005, they were part of a SEAL team operating deep in the
mountains of Afghanistan on a mission to kill or capture a Taliban
leader. They were discovered, and they were soon surrounded in a
mountain ravine by 30 to 40 Taliban fighters. During the firefight that
ensued, Axelson urged an injured teammate to escape, and he provided
cover before suffering a mortal wound. Fighting nearby, his partner
Deetz was also mortally wounded, but he too stood his ground and kept
firing until finally, he finally died.
Because of the courage of Petty Officers Axelson and Deetz, their
wounded teammate made it out alive. For their heroism, these two Petty
Officers were awarded the Navy Cross. But I want you to hear what Petty
Officer Deetz's wife said about her husband and his comrades in arms.
She said, "Danny and his brothers went toward evil and ran forward and
gave their last breath."
We live in freedom because of the courage of men like Matthew and
Danny. And we will honor their sacrifice by completing the mission.
(Applause.) From Afghanistan and Iraq to Africa and Southeast Asia, we
are engaged in a struggle against violent extremists -- a struggle which
will help determine the destiny of the civilized world. We've borne
these responsibilities before, and we have seen our faith in freedom
vindicated by history. In this young century, a new generation of
Americans is being called to defend liberty -- and once again the cause
of liberty and peace will prevail.
Thank you for coming. God bless. |