On this anniversary, we also remember the brutality of
the enemy who struck our country and renew our resolve to defeat this
enemy and secure a future of peace and freedom.
So this week I've given a series of speeches about the nature of our
enemy, the stakes of the struggle, and the progress we have made during
the past five years. On Tuesday in Washington, I described in the
terrorists own words what they believe, what they hope to accomplish,
and how they intend to accomplish it. We know what the terrorists
intend, because they have told us. They hope to establish a totalitarian
Islamic empire across the Middle East, which they call a Caliphate,
where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology.
Osama bin Laden has called the 9/11 attacks, "A great step towards
the unity of Muslims and establishing the righteous [Caliphate]." Al
Qaeda and its allies reject any possibility of coexistence with those
they call "infidels." Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: "Death is
better than living on this earth with the unbelievers amongst us." We
must take the words of these extremists seriously, and we must act
decisively to stop them from achieving their evil aims.
On Wednesday at the White House, I described for the first time a CIA
program we established after 9/11 to detain and question key terrorist
leaders and operatives, so we can prevent new terrorist attacks. This
program has been invaluable to the security of America and its allies,
and helped us identify and capture men who our intelligence community
believes were key architects of the September the 11th attacks.
Information from terrorists held by the CIA also helped us uncover an
al Qaeda cell's efforts to obtain biological weapons, identify
individuals sent by al Qaeda to case targets for attacks in the United
States, stop the planned strike on a U.S. Marine base in Djibouti,
prevent an attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, and help break up a
plot to hijack passenger planes and fly them into Heathrow Airport or
the Canary Wharf in London.
Information from the terrorists in CIA custody has also played a role
in the capture or questioning of nearly every senior al Qaeda member or
associate detained by the U.S. and its allies since this program began.
Were it not for this program, our intelligence community believes that
al Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack
against the American homeland. We have largely completed our questioning
of these men, and now it is time that they are tried for their crimes.
So this week I announced that the men we believe orchestrated the
9/11 attacks had been transferred to Guantanamo Bay. And I called on
Congress to pass legislation creating military commissions to try
suspected terrorists for war crimes. As soon as Congress acts to
authorize these military commissions, we will prosecute these men and
send a clear message to those who kill Americans: No matter how long it
takes, we will find you and bring you to justice.
As we bring terrorists to justice, we're acting to secure the
homeland. On Thursday in Atlanta, I delivered a progress report on the
steps we have taken since 9/11 to protect the American people and win
the war on terror. We are safer today because we've acted to address the
gaps in security, intelligence, and information sharing that the
terrorists exploited in the 9/11 attacks. No one can say for sure that
we would have prevented the attacks had these reforms been in place in
2001 -- yet, we can say that terrorists would have found it harder to
plan and finance their operations, harder to slip into our country
undetected, and harder to board the planes, take control of the
cockpits, and succeed in striking their targets.
America still faces determined enemies. And in the long run,
defeating these enemies requires more than improved security at home and
military action abroad. We must also offer a hopeful alternative to the
terrorists' hateful ideology. So America is taking the side of
democratic leaders and reformers and supporting the voices of tolerance
and moderation across the Middle East. By advancing freedom and
democracy as the great alternative to repression and radicalism, and by
supporting young democracies like Iraq, we are helping to bring a
brighter future to this region -- and that will make America and the
world more secure.
The war on terror will be long and difficult, and more tough days lie
ahead. Yet, we can have confidence in the final outcome, because we know
what America can achieve when our Nation acts with resolve and clear
purpose. With vigilance, determination and courage, we will defeat the
enemies of freedom, and we will leave behind a more peaceful world for
our children and our grandchildren.
Thank you for listening. |