Bush - Between the Lines

BUSH: Thank you for the warm welcome.

I’m honored once again to be with the supporters of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Since the day President Ronald Reagan set out the vision for this endowment, the world has seen the swiftest advance of democratic institutions in history. And Americans are proud to have played our role in this great story.
Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia – our best friends are all democratic now!

Our nation stood guard on tense borders. We spoke for the rights of dissidents and the hopes of exiles. We aided the rise of new democracies on the ruins of tyranny.
*Haiti, Venezuela, Congo . . . the list goes on *

BUSH: And all the costs and sacrifice of that struggle has been worth it because from Latin America to Europe to Asia we’ve gained the peace that freedom brings.

• No peace in Africa? Iraq is not in Asia? Israel?*

In this new century, freedom is once again assaulted by enemies, determined to roll back generations of democratic progress. Once again, we’re responding to a global campaign of fear with a global campaign of freedom. And once again, we will see freedom’s victory.

• the natives just don’t get it — the puppet regimes controlled by Washington third-tier bureaucrats is the real freedom! Self-determination, even if messy, is fearful*

(APPLAUSE)

Again, I want to thank you for inviting me back. Thank you for the short introduction.

(LAUGHTER)

I appreciate Carl Gershman.

I want to welcome former Congressman Dick Gephardt, who is a board member of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Let the naive know that both parties are in it together

It’s good to see you, Dick.

BUSH: And I appreciate Chris Cox, who’s the chairman of the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission and a board member for the National Endowment of Democracy, for being here as well.

And I want to thank all the other board members.

I appreciate the secretary of state, Condi Rice, who has joined us. Alongside her, our secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld.

Thank you all for being here.

I’m proud as well that the newly sworn-in chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the first Marine ever to hold that position, is with us today, General Peter Pace.

(APPLAUSE)

And I thank members of the diplomatic corps who are here, as well.

BUSH: Recently, our country observed the fourth anniversary of a great evil and looked back on a great turning point in our history.

We still remember a proud city covered in smoke and ashes, a fire across the Potomac, and passengers who spent their final moments on Earth fighting the enemy. We still remember the men who rejoice in every death, and Americans in uniform rising to duty. And we remember the calling that came to us on that day and continues to this hour.
Kabul was already ashes, so we found ourselves another city to destroy – Baghdad – same enemy you know

We will confront this mortal danger to all humanity. We will not tire or rest until the war on terror is won.

• China is the next target — most of humanity lives there, you know! wink wink, War on an abstract noun — hmmm — how do you subdue an abstract noun?*

(APPLAUSE)

The images and experience of September the 11th are unique for Americans.

BUSH: Yet the evil of that morning has reappeared on other days in other places — in Mombasa and Casablanca and Riyadh and Jakarta and Istanbul, in Madrid, in Beslan, in Taba and Natanya and Baghdad and elsewhere.

• Yes, definitely in Baghdad!*

In the past few months, we’ve seen a new terror offensive with attacks in London, Sharm el-Sheikh and a deadly bombing in Bali once again.

• the war will not end until all the bombs in the world are confiscated. 56 British died in London – that is the equivalent of 56,000 non-Anglo-Saxons — get the point? wink wink *

All these separate images of destruction and suffering that we see on the news can seem like random and isolated acts of madness. Innocent men and women and children have died simply because they boarded the wrong train or worked in the wrong building or checked into the wrong hotel.

• or elected the wrong government, or authorized their government to kill innocents*

And while the killers choose their victims indiscriminately, their attacks serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil but not insane.

• er, last time they were brainswashed madrassah-educated fanatics beng on senseless killing *

Some call this evil Islamic radicalism. Others militant jihadism.

• still others all it Christian evangelism and Zionism*

BUSH: Still, others Islamo-fascism.

• still others, neocon imperialism*

Whatever it’s called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom.

• it is very different fromt the ideals of Western philosophers and the founding fathers of America. Its goal is the establishment of the 21st century for America, by the greatest military ever put together, and create an empire that rules every human on this globe, and denies all freedom of self-determination*

These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Jews and Hindus and also against Muslims from other traditions that they regard as heretics.

• distort the idea of freedom to propagate imperial cover for greedy corporations and discount the value of the lives of Muslims and Africans and all other colonized people*

BUSH: Many militants are part of global borderless terrorist organizations like Al Qaida, which spreads propaganda and provides financing and technical assistance to local extremists and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like September 11th.

• most Western politicians are appointed by the borderless corporations like . . . which provide financing and technical know-how to subjugate countries, especially oil-rich ones like Equatorial Guinea, Venezuela and Iraq, to be exploited.*

Other militants are found in regional groups often associated with Al Qaida; paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia and the Philippines and Pakistan and Chechnya and Kashmir and Algeria.

• like the KKK and the Christian Coalition*

Still others spring up in local cells inspired by Islamic radicalism but not centrally directed.
like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson

BUSH: Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives fighting on scattered battlefields share a similar ideology and vision for our world.

We know the vision of the radicals because they’ve openly stated it in videos and audiotapes and letters and declarations and Web sites.

First, these extremists want to end American and Western influence in the broader Middle East, because we stand for democracy and peace and stand in the way of their ambitions.

• they have the temerity to ask us to leave*

Al Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden, has called on Muslims to dedicate, quote, “their resources sons and money to driving infidels out of their lands.”

• just as you asked American mothers to give their boys for the sake of freedom *

BUSH: Their tactic to meet this goal has been consistent for a quarter century: They hit us and expect us to run.

They want us to repeat the sad history of Beirut in 1983 and Mogadishu in 1993, only this time on a larger scale with greater consequences.

Second, the militant network wants to use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country, a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against non-radical Muslim governments.

• a country given to them on a platter by the US invasion*

BUSH: Over the past few decades, radicals have specifically targeted Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Jordan for potential takeover.

• each of these countries has a freedom-loving democratic government which does not care about the interest of the US, only its own people! *

They achieved their goal for a time in Afghanistan. Now they’ve set their sights on Iraq.

Bin Laden has stated the whole world is watching this war and the two adversaries: It’s either victory and glory or misery and humiliation.
take your pick — the time for glorious victory is gone

The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity, and we must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war on terror.
correction please: first,war on occupation; second, war for oil

Third, the militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia.

• the masses are so stupid, how can they be democratic?*

BUSH: With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people and to blackmail our government into isolation.

• and maye create a more fair world*

Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical or extreme. Well, they are fanatical and extreme and they should not be dismissed.

BUSH: Our enemy is utterly committed. As Zarqawi has vowed, “We will either we achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life.”
because the alternate is eternal slavery. Live free or die! – New Hamphsire slogan — anyone?

And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history.
huh?

Evil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply.
oh I get it now! You are free to resign at any moment, Mr. Bush!

Defeating a militant network is difficult because it thrives like a parasite on the suffering and frustration of others.

The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution.
What else can an occupied person think?

They exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting them through radical mosques as the pawns of terror.

And they exploit modern technology to multiply their destructive power. Instead of attending faraway training camps, recruits can now access online training libraries to learn how to build a roadside bomb or fire a rocket-propelled grenade.

• America abhors technology for warfare. Dueling and swords is the gentlemanly thing to do, you know*

BUSH: And this further spreads the threat of violence, even within peaceful democratic societies.

The influence of Islamic radicalism is also magnified by helpers and enablers. They have been sheltered by authoritarian regimes: allies of convenience like Syria and Iran that share the goal of hurting America and moderate Muslim governments and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West and America and on the Jews.
Jews? Oh, you mean Israelis? smart cookie – you Bush! You called them moderates a few paragraphs back when you were talking aout Zarqawi taking them over!

The radicals depend on front operations such as corrupted charities which direct money to terrorist activity. They are strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of radical, intolerant versions of Islam in unstable parts of the world.
so many supporters, kill them all

The militants are aided as well by elements of the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, that feed conspiracy theories and speak of so-called “American war on Islam” with seldom a word about American actions to protect Muslims in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo, Kuwait and Iraq.
while Fox News is so balanced and fair

BUSH: Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions of our coalition in Iraq, claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals.

I would remind them that we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001, and Al Qaida attacked us anyway.
and al-Qaida was not in Iraq in March 2003, but we attacked it anyway

The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse.
yes, the radical neocons

The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi Freedom, and yet militants killed more than 180 Russian school children in Beslan.
Russia has no other problems, not even in Chechnya. I hope my audience does not read the news, or pretends it does not since I don’t read any

BUSH: Over the years, these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence: Israeli presence on the West Bank or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia or the defeat of the Taliban or the crusades of a thousand years ago.

In fact, we’re not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We’re facing a radical ideology with unalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world.
yes we are and the radical ideology has the power of the world’s biggest economy and biggest military at its disposal.

BUSH: No act of ours invited the rage of the killers, and no concession, bribe or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder.
But I just said they were not insane

On the contrary, they target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence.
like violence being used to plant democracy in the Middle East

Against such an enemy there is only one effective response: We will never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory.

• Said like Zarqawi! Well done Mr. Bush*

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century.
yes it does, the threat of American imperialism

Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses.

Osama bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, quote, “what is good for them and what is not.” And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers.
wealth like yours, Mr. Bush. Only thing is, he gave it up

BUSH: He assures them that this is the road to paradise, though he never offers to go along for the ride.

• wanna take a ride in a non-armoured Humvee in Fallujah?*

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for human life.

• like the bomb victims of Baghdad?*

We’ve seen it in the murders of Daniel Pearl, Nicholas Berg and Margaret Hassan and many others.

In a courtroom in the Netherlands, the killer of Theo Van Gogh turned to the victim’s grieving mother and said, “I do not feel your pain because I believe you are an infidel.”

And in spite of this veneer of religious rhetoric, most of the victims claimed by the militants are fellow Muslims.

BUSH: When 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing or Iraqi teachers are executed at their school or hospital workers are killed caring for the wounded, this is murder, pure and simple; the total rejection of justice and honor and moral and religion.

• Saddam made sure this would not happen – he had rule of law*

These militants are not just the enemies of America or the enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of Islam and the enemies of humanity.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: We have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before, in the heartless zealotry that led to the gulags and the Cultural Revolution and the killing fields.
yes, very similar to “shock and awe” over Baghdad

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be in an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies.
or the freedom-loving, against terrorists

In truth, they have endless ambitions of imperial domination and they wish to make everyone powerless except themselves.
sssshhhh. not so openly

Under their rule, they have banned books and desecrated historical monuments and brutalized women.
ruined libraries, looted museums . . .

BUSH: They seek to end dissent in every form and to control every aspect of life and to rule the soul itself.
sympathizing is now a crime in the US

While promising a future of justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing for a future of oppression and misery.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent.
they must be occupied by US forces to be really free

Zarqawi has said that Americans are, quote, “the most cowardly of God’s creatures,” but let’s be clear: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs and cuts the throat of a bound captive and targets worshipers leaving a mosque.

BUSH: It is courage that liberated more than 50 million people. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against the enemies of a rising democracy. And it is courage and the cause of freedom that once again will destroy the enemies of freedom.

• only if we keep occupying them*
  (APPLAUSE)

BUSH: And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure.

By fearing freedom, by distrusting human creativity and punishing change and limiting the contributions of half the population, this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible and human society successful.

The only thing modern about the militants’ vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past, a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself.
oh yeah! at least they don’t teach “intelligent design” to kids

BUSH: And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt: Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation decline and collapse.

Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future.

• Amen!*

(APPLAUSE)

We didn’t ask for this global struggle, but we’re answering history’s call with confidence and a comprehensive strategy.

Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience, constant pressure, and strong partners in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and beyond.

• Amen!*

BUSH: Working with these partners, we’re disrupting militant conspiracies, destroying their ability to make war, and working to give millions in a troubled region of the world a hopeful alternative to resentment and violence.

• Amen!*

First, we’re determined to prevent the attacks of terrorist network before they occur. We’re reorganizing our government to give this nation a broad and coordinated homeland defense. We’re reforming our intelligence agency for the incredibly difficult task of tracking enemy activity, based on information that often comes in small fragments from widely scattered sources here and abroad.

We’re acting, along with the governments from many countries, to destroy the terrorist networks and incapacitate their leaders.

• Amen!*

Together, we’ve killed or captured nearly all of those directly responsible for the September the 11th attacks, as well as some of bin Laden’s most senior deputies, Al Qaida managers and operatives in more than 24 countries: the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing who was chief of Al Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf, the mastermind of the Jakarta and the first Bali bombings, a senior Zarqawi terrorist planner who was planning attacks in Turkey, and many of Al Qaida’s senior leaders in Saudi Arabia.

• while they have no recruitment or promotion *

BUSH: Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious Al Qaida terrorist plots since September the 11th, including three Al Qaida plots to attack inside the United States. We’ve stopped at least five more Al Qaida efforts to case targets in the United States or infiltrate operatives into our country.

Because of the steady progress, the enemy is wounded. But the enemy is still capable of global operations.
with the largest military at its disposal

BUSH: Our commitment is clear: We will not relent until the organized, international terror networks are exposed and broken and their leaders held to account for their acts of murder.

• Amen!*

Second, we’re determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation.

• Amen!*

The United States, working with Great Britain, Pakistan and other nations, has exposed and disrupted a major black market operation in nuclear technology led by A.Q. Khan.

• hmm . . who gave Canada nuclear technology? or to Sweden? or to Denmark? . . . oh they are white, sorry*

Libya has abandoned its chemical and nuclear programs as well as long-range ballistic missiles.

• good natives*

In this last year, America and our partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative have stopped more than a dozen shipments of suspected weapons technology, including equipment for Iran’s ballistic missile program.

This progress has reduced the danger to free nations, but it has not removed it.

• Bomb Iran!!!!*

BUSH: Evil men who want to use horrendous weapons against us are working in deadly earnest to gain them. And we’re working urgently to keep weapons of mass destruction out of their hands.

Third, we’re determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration with terrorists, and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror.

The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them, because they’re equally as guilty of murder.

(APPLAUSE)
yes, they are equally guilty — terrorizing the free humans of the world has a price that must eventually be paid

BUSH: Any government that chooses to be an ally of terror has also chosen to be an enemy of civilization. And the civilized world must hold those regimes to account.
particularly the allies of Zionism

Fourth, we’re determined to deny the militant’s control of any nation which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror.

For this reason, we’re fighting beside our Afghan partners against remnants of the Taliban and their Al Qaida allies. For this reason, we’re working with President Musharraf to oppose and isolate the militants in Pakistan. And for this reason, we’re fighting the regime remnants and terrorists in Iraq.
*sshhh. . . the militants are free in all three *

The terrorists’ goal is to overthrow a rising democracy, claim a strategic country as a haven for terror, destabilize the Middle East and strike America and other free nations with ever-increasing violence.
typo: America, not other free nations

BUSH: Our goal is to defeat the terrorists and their allies at the heart of their power. And so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq.

Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive, specific military plan. Area by area, city by city, we’re conducting offensive operations to clear out enemy forces and leaving behind Iraqi units to prevent the enemy from returning.

Within these areas, we’re working for tangible improvements in the lives of Iraqi citizens. And we’re aiding the rise of an elected government that unites the Iraqi people against extremism and violence.
it will take them decades to enjoy the confidence and security they enjoyed with Saddam

This work involves great risk for Iraqis and for Americans and coalition forces.

BUSH: Wars are not won without sacrifice and this war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve.

The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we’ve ever faced. They’re unconstrained by any notion of our common humanity or by the rules of warfare.
oh the Guantanamo rules. WHAT? common humanity? and cluster bombs? whole villages blown because soldiers are too scared to go in by foot? common humanity? gimme a break!

No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead, nor should they overlook the advantages we bring to this fight.

Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-defeating pessimism. It is not justified.

With every random bombing and with every funeral of a child it becomes more clear that the extremists are not patriots or resistance fighters. They are murderers at war with the Iraqi people themselves.
exactly, wearing US army uniforms

In contrast, the elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress: from tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the writing of a constitution in the space of two and a half years.
and already indicted for $1b fraud – they learn fast from us

BUSH: With our help, the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new confidence with every passing month.

At the time of our Fallujah operations 11 months ago there were only a few Iraqi army battalions in combat. Today there are more than 80 Iraqi army battalions fighting the insurgency alongside our forces.

Progress isn’t easy, but it is steady.

BUSH: And no fair-minded person should ignore, deny or dismiss the achievements of the Iraqi people.

Some observers question the durability of democracy in Iraq. They underestimate the power and appeal of freedom.

• well said*

We’ve heard it suggested that Iraq’s democracy must be on shaky ground because Iraqis are arguing with each other. But that’s the essence of democracy: making your case, debating with those who disagree, building consensus by persuasion and answering to the will of the people.
unless someon comes in with bombs to enforce democracy

We’ve heard it said that the Shias, Sunnis and Kurds of Iraq are too divided to form a lasting democracy.

BUSH: In fact, democratic federalism is the best hope for unifying a diverse population, because a federal constitutional system respects the rights and religious traditions of all citizens while giving all minorities, including the Sunnis, a stake and a voice in the future of their country.

It is true that the seeds of freedom have only recently been planted in Iraq but democracy, when it grows, is not a fragile flower. It is a healthy, sturdy tree.

(APPLAUSE)

As Americans, we believe that people everywhere — everywhere prefer freedom to slavery and that liberty, once chosen, improves the lives of all.

BUSH: And so we’re confident, as our coalition and the Iraqi people each do their part, Iraqi democracy will succeed.
play your role — Amen!!

Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. It’s a dangerous illusion refuted with a simple question: Would the United States and other free nations be more safe or less safe with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people and its resources?
was this thinkable 2 years ago?

Having removed a dictator and aided free peoples, we will not stand by as a new set of killers dedicated to the destruction of our own country seizes control of Iraq by violence.
as we seized it by violence — only we have that right

BUSH: There’s always a temptation in the middle of a long struggle to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder.

This would be a pleasant world, but it’s not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday’s brutality.

The enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence.

In Iraq, there is no peace without victory.
well said, and you have already celebrated your victory on the ship, so which victory can we count on now?

BUSH: We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory.

(APPLAUSE)

The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East.

This is a difficult, long-term project, yet there’s no alternative to it. Our future and the future of that region are linked.
such odds worry me . .. sounds very iffy

If the broader Middle East is left to grow in bitterness, if countries remain in misery, while radicals stir the resentments of millions, then that part of the world will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger for our generation and the next.

BUSH: If the peoples in that region are permitted to chose their own destiny and advance by their own energy and by their participation as free men and women, then the extremists will be marginalized and the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will slow and eventually end.
just stop supporting puppets, so simple

By standing for the hope and freedom of others we make our own freedom more secure.

• well said, and their freedom is in the free expression of their political aspirations*

America is making this stand in practical ways. We’re encouraging our friends in the Middle East, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to take the path of reform, to strengthen their own societies in the fight against terror by respecting the rights and choices of their own people.
any bombs to encourage more?

We’re standing with dissidents and exiles against oppressive regimes, because we know that the dissidents of today will be the democratic leaders of tomorrow.

• or the swindlers of tomorrow, like a few Iraqis we know*

BUSH: We’re making our case through public diplomacy, stating clearly and confidently our belief in self-determination and the rule of law and religious freedom and equal rights for women; beliefs that are right and true in every land and in every culture.

(APPLAUSE)

As we do our part to confront radicalism, we know that the most vital work will be done within the Islamic world itself.

BUSH: And this work has begun.

Many Muslim scholars have already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing Chapter 5, Verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all humanity, and saving the life of one person is like saving all of humanity.
Which verse of the Bible will stop you, Mr. President?

After the attacks in London on July the 7th, an imam in the United Arab Emirates declared, “Whoever does such a thing is not a Muslim, nor a religious person.”

The time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends and defiles a noble faith.

Many people of the Muslim faith are proving their commitment at great personal risk. Everywhere we have engaged the fight against extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and joined the fight, becoming partners in a vital cause.

BUSH: Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat Al Qaida in their own country.

These brave citizens know the stakes: the survival of their own liberty, the future of their own region, the justice and humanity of their own tradition. And the United States of America is proud to stand beside them.

(APPLAUSE)

With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And yet the fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle between those who put their faith in dictators and those who put their faith in the people.
America’s faith is in the dictators of the Middle East

BUSH: Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision. And they end up alienating decent people across the globe.
just as you said – murder in Iraq is justified for your grand vision

Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure until those societies collapse in corruption and decay.

Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent until the day that free men and women defeat them.

We don’t know the course of our own struggle, the course our own struggle will take, or the sacrifices that might lie ahead.

BUSH: We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice. We do know the love of freedom is the mightiest force of history. And we do know the cause of freedom will once again prevail.

• against the occupiers, Amen!!*

May God bless you.

(APPLAUSE)

END