The National Intelligence Estimate confirms that we are
up against a determined and capable enemy. The NIE lists four underlying
factors that are fueling the extremist movement: first, long-standing
grievances such as corruption, injustice, and a fear of Western
domination; second, the jihad in Iraq; third, the slow pace of reform in
Muslim nations; and fourth, pervasive anti-Americanism. It concludes
that terrorists are exploiting all these factors to further their
movement.
Some in Washington have selectively quoted from this document to make
the case that by fighting the terrorists 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 are provoking them.
Here is what Prime Minister Tony Blair said this week about that
argument: "This terrorism isn't our fault. We didn't cause it. It's not
the consequence of foreign policy." Prime Minister Blair is right. We do
not create terrorism by fighting terrorism. The terrorists are at war
against us because they hate everything America stands for, and because
they know we stand in the way of their ambitions to take over the Middle
East. We are fighting to stop them from taking over Iraq and turning
that country into a safe haven that would be even more valuable than the
one they lost in Afghanistan.
Iraq is not the reason the terrorists are at war against us. Our
troops were not in Iraq when terrorists first attacked the World Trade
Center in 1993, or when terrorists blew up our embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania, or when they bombed the USS Cole, or when they killed nearly
3,000 people on September the 11th, 2001. Five years after the 9/11
attacks, some people in Washington still do not understand the nature of
the enemy. The only way to protect our citizens at home is to go on the
offense against the enemy across the world. When terrorists spend their
days working to avoid capture, they are less able to plot, plan, and
execute new attacks on our people. So we will remain on the offense
until the terrorists are defeated and this fight is won.
In my recent speeches, I've said we are in the early hours of a long
struggle for civilization, and that our safety depends on the outcome of
the battle in Iraq. The National Intelligence Estimate declares
"perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to
continue the struggle elsewhere." It also says that "Should jihadists
leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we
judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight."
Withdrawing from Iraq before the enemy is defeated would embolden the
terrorists. It would help them find new recruits to carry out even more
destructive attacks on our Nation, and it would give the terrorists a
new sanctuary in the heart of the Middle East, with huge oil riches to
fund their ambitions. America must not allow this to happen. We are a
Nation that keeps its commitments to those who long for liberty and want
to live in peace. We will stand with the nearly 12 million Iraqis who
voted for their freedom, and we will help them fight and defeat the
terrorists there, so we do not have to face them here at home.
Thank you for listening. |