For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 1, 2002
National Security Advisor Speaks at Conference
Remarks by the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to the Conservative Political Action Conference
Marriott Crystal Gateway
Arlington, Virginia
11:50 A.M. EST
DR. RICE: Well, thank you very much for that warm
reception and for that terrific introduction, and I really
appreciate. It's a great honor to speak to this group
today. I'd very much like to thank David Keene, the Chairman
of CPAC, and the leaders of the 70 co-sponsoring organizations for
having me here to say a few words to you about the campaign on which we
are engaged here in the United States of America, in Afghanistan, in
every country in the world. This is truly a global
campaign.
Organizations such as CPAC fill an invaluable role in our
society. You are an incubator of ideas and a wellspring of
energy that sustains the causes that we care about. And
today, as free men and women who come together to foster change through
honest debate, you represent the best in America, and it reminds us of
the values for which we are fighting. You embody -- as
America embodies -- the principles that are worth fighting to
defend: Liberty, democracy, and pluralism.
I know that later this afternoon, you're going to talk to a panel
about seismic shifts caused by September 11th. And those
shifts were very much in evidence when the President addressed the
state of our Union on Tuesday night.
Imagine for a moment that someone had sat you down on September
10th, placed a tape in your VCR and told you that, here's what the
President's next State of the Union Address is going to sound
like. Each of us placed in those circumstances would have
reacted in two ways, both at the same time. As we heard him,
and as we viewed the window through which we had just climbed, our
stomachs would have churned with the knowledge that our nation and the
world had suffered such a great catastrophe. And behind our
veil of ignorance, we would have been driven and, in fact, reluctant at
the same time to ask the questions, who and what and where and
particularly why September 11th.
But second, our hearts would have been filled with enormous pride,
knowing that a great nation once again had set its sights on great
causes, that our defense of liberty is unabashed and unafraid and
morally clear.
On September 10th, we could not have known that America would prove
itself so stalwart in the face of such a great challenge. We
could not have known that there could be so many countless acts of
selflessness and outpouring to ease the suffering of our fellow
citizens, and a renewed appreciation of the duties, the
responsibilities and the privileges of citizenship. And we
could barely have imagined the seismic shifts that were about to occur
in international politics.
One of the most important and one of the most immediate shifts has
been a renewed appreciation of American national
power. Specifically, the importance of a powerful military
used responsibly in the service of our values.
If you go back just a little while, there was a lot of speculation
that the future of the American armed forces actually lay largely in
so-called operations other than war, in policing civil and ethnic
conflicts and in humanitarian missions. Well, I don't hear
anybody saying that any more. (Applause.)
The fact is that there are real threats out
there. Freedom still faces ruthless enemies. And
America and its allies have to deter and, if necessary, defeat them.
Our military has done extraordinary things in the past four
months. It has shown its power and its
precision. It has fought an enemy unlike any we have faced
in our history, and we've helped liberate a nation. It has
really been extraordinary to witness from the inside, as those of you
who have been watching from without have seen, what this military can
do.
When we woke up on September 12th and began planning our response,
I can tell you that the American military didn't exactly have an
operational plan on the shelf, a template that said "Afghanistan
Campaign." We especially didn't have a template on the shelf
that said, your ground forces are going to be on horseback --
(laughter) -- your 19th century ground forces with your 21st century
air power.
And the President was making clear to those who were planning the
campaign every day that he wanted the use of American military force to
be meaningful and effective. He was not going to use
pinpricks to deal with the circumstances in which we found
ourselves. (Applause.)
He understood immediately that only the decisive use of American
military power maintains our credibility. But he also told
people that we weren't going to respond rashly or do something just for
the sake of doing something.
In a very short time frame, we did have a campaign plan for
Afghanistan. It was a plan that was daring in conception and
difficult in execution. It was truly outside the box, and
eventually it was successful. It was successful because the
way was paved by strong diplomacy. It was successful because
we had a President who was determined and focused and
patient. It was successful because we had a
commander-in-chief who let his military do the
job. (Applause.)
And it was successful because our military forces are the strongest
and best equipped and most professional in the history of the
world. (Applause.)
Tuesday night, the world saw the President resolve to ensure that
our forces remain without peer. He will ask in his budget
for an additional $48 billion for our armed forces, the single largest
increase since Ronald Reagan was President. And, as
President Bush said Tuesday night, while the price of freedom and
security is high, it is never too high. Whatever it costs to
defend our nation, we will pay it. (Applause.)
As a result of our resolve, the Taliban regime has been routed and
all that remains of it is remnant. Afghanistan is no longer
a terrorist-sponsored state but, rather, a state that is trying to make
its way to a better future for its people.
But al Qaeda is far from finished. It operates in dozens
of countries around the world and it threatens many
more. And the President has made clear that we and our
allies will not rest until the threat from al Qaeda and the network
itself is no more. (Applause.)
We will pursue its members by every means at our
disposal. We will disrupt its plans, destroy its bases,
arrest its members, break up its cells and choke off its
finances. And our enemy is not just al Qaeda, but every
terrorist group of global reach. This is not just our
struggle; it is the struggle of the civilized world.
The United States has made clear to leaders on every continent that
there is no such thing as a good terrorist and a bad
terrorist. You cannot condemn al Qaeda and hug
Hamas. (Applause.)
The United States draws no distinction between the terrorists and
the regimes that feed, train, supply and harbor them. Simply
put, harboring terrorists isn't a very good business to be in right
now. (Applause.)
Now, many nations are trying hard to do the right thing, to improve
their border security, to enforce their laws, to improve their ability
to track terrorists in their movements and finances. And the
United States is actively helping countries to improve their immune
systems against terrorism.
On the other hand, there are some who, shall we say, are not moving
with alacrity to shut down terror within their borders. They
have been put on notice.
The President also put the world on notice on Tuesday night, that
our nation will do everything in its power to deny the world's most
dangerous powers the world's most dangerous weapons. It is a
stubborn and extremely troubling fact that the list of states that
sponsor terror and the lists that are seeking to acquire weapons of
mass destruction happens to overlap substantially. And we
know that if an al Qaeda type organization were to come into possession
of a weapon of mass destruction, they would have no hesitation to use
it.
In his State of the Union, the President was crystal clear about
the growing danger posed by such states as North Korea, Iran and Iraq
that pursue weapons of mass destruction. The President is
calling on the world, on our friends and our allies, to join us in
preventing these regimes from developing and deploying these weapons,
either directly or through stateless terrorist
surrogates. This is a serious matter and it requires a
serious response.
North Korea is now the world's number one merchant for ballistic
missiles, open for business with anyone, no matter how malign the
buyer's intentions.
The United States has offered a roadmap for reciprocal steps that
would enable North Korea to take a better course. We've had
no serious response from Pyongyang.
Iraq continues to threaten its neighbors, the neighborhood, and its
own people, and it continues to flaunt obligations that it undertook in
1991. And that can mean only one thing: It
remains a dangerous regime, and it remains a regime determined to
acquire these terrible weapons.
And Iran. Iran's direct support of regional and global
terrorism and its aggressive efforts to acquire weapons of mass
destruction belie any good intentions it displayed in the days after
the world's worst terrorist attacks in history.
All of these nations have a choice to make -- to abandon the course
they now pursue. Unfortunately, these terrible regimes have
shown no inclination to do so. But the United States and the
world have only one choice, and that is to act with determination and
resolve.
As the President said, we must not and we will not wait on events
while dangers gather, and we will use every tool at our disposal to
meet this grave global threat. We will work to strengthen
nonproliferation regimes and export controls. We will use
our new and budding relationship with Russia to redouble our efforts to
prevent the leakage of dangerous materials and
technologies. And we will move ahead with a missile defense
system that can do the job, unconstrained by the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty. (Applause.)
This President is determined and committed to protecting America,
our forces, our allies and our friends from terror that comes packaged
atop a missile. And the United States is unequivocal in its
resolve to do what we must to insure ourselves. As the
President said, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.
But even as we address today's multiple challenges, even as we
recognize that the war on terrorism is one that will have to be fought
for a long time to come, we can look ahead to tremendous opportunities
that are before us. We want to leave this world not just
safer, but better. We are committed to a world of greater
trade, of greater democracy and greater human rights for all the
world's people wherever they live. September 11th makes this
commitment more important, not less. Because, ladies and
gentlemen, you know that America stands for something
real. It stands for rights that are inalienable and truths
that are self-evident. It stands for compassion and hope.
September 11th reintroduced America to a part of itself that some
had forgotten or that some thought we no longer had. And we
will carry this better part of ourselves out into the wider world.
We are a generous people. President Bush and the United
States of America are committed to channeling our noble energies into
an effort to encourage development and education and opportunity
throughout the world, including the Muslim world. On every
continent, in every land, this President, the education President at
home, wants to press the goal of education for all
abroad. Because there is one remarkable thing about
education. It allows you to remake yourself into something
new. It opens up to you the full range of possibilities of
what you can be.
You know, I am, of course, a professor at Stanford
University. And I can tell you that one of the most
heartening things about being a professor in a great university is the
students that you meet. You look out at your student body
and you recognize that at this elite university, there may be one
student who's a fourth generation Stanford legatee, but sitting right
next to that student is a kid whose parents might be migrant farm
workers, or a kid from rural America who is the first to go to school
in his or her family. And you think, that's what this
country is about, it's a belief that it really doesn't matter where you
came from; it matters where you're going.
Terrorism, the kind of hatred and the kind of hopelessness that
gets foisted on people around the world, cannot stand in a world in
which people have that kind of hope. And that's why
education in practical skills, rather than education in hatred is so
important to peace and stability in the long run.
We are moving quickly, with places like Pakistan, to help them
improve their educational systems. We have a teacher
training initiative with Central America to improve the state of
teaching in those countries. And we are putting millions of
dollars into textbooks and into teacher training for new schools in
Afghanistan where, for the first time in years, young girls will have
that opportunity as well. (Applause.)
America is a remarkable country. One that finds its
unity of purpose not in common blood but in common
values. It is a country that rewards creativity and
entrepreneurship and tries to bring opportunity through education for
all. But in our hour of need, we found a country that has
been renewed in those values and a country that looked to honor and
family and to faith to get us through. There is a lot to do
ahead of us. But renewed in who we are, renewed in our
common purpose and our values, we will succeed. Thank you
very much. (Applause.)
I'm told that I can take a couple questions from the members of the
organization -- this is not a press conference.
Q You mentioned Russia briefly in your
presentation. I had an opportunity to spend time in Russia,
Moscow State University, and had an opportunity to meet with a lot of
the Russian people. And I just wanted to find out the type
of relationship that we have now with Russia following 9/11, how you
see that going in the near future. And if you could also
talk about Russia's actions in Chechnya? Do you think that
needs to be reexamined in light of the attack on our -- in New York
City? Because they perceive that as an attack on their own
soil and they wanted to go out and root out terrorism in Chechnya.
DR. RICE: Thank you very much. Yes, of
course.
First of all, all the way back at Ljubljana, which is when
President Putin and President Bush met for the first time, President
Bush said that he wanted to seek a new relationship with Russia that
was more in line with the post Cold War era, and in line with a Russia
that is in transition to better times for its people.
One reason that we were so concerned that the Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty and nuclear arms control not be somehow at the center of
the relationship, that was at the center of the relationship with the
Soviet Union. This is a different relationship with
Russia. It is one that is evolving and I think evolving in
very positive ways.
There could be nothing better than a Russia that is at peace with
its neighbors, that is moving toward democratic development, that is
developing markets that can take full advantage of an extremely
creative population. We want to see those things happen and
we have been aggressive in pressing our economic relations with Russia
and with others to try to help Russia fulfill that tremendous
potential.
We will have our differences. Russia is a big power, the
United States is a big power, and it's not as if everything will be
wiped away right immediately.
For instance, on Chechnya, we clearly have differences with the
Russian government about Chechnya. We've said to them that
we fully agree that the Chechen leadership should not involve itself
with terrorist elements in that region, and there are terrorist
elements in that region. But that not every Chechen is a
terrorist and that the Chechens' legitimate aspirations for political
solution should be pursued by the Russians. And we have been
very actively pressing the Russian government to move on the political
front with Chechnya.
But we have gotten very good cooperation from Russia in terms of
support for the war on terrorism. They understand that this
is a global campaign, and they've been extremely helpful. I
think it can only help our relationship to show us that we have this
common security problem and to continue to work.
Russia has a long way to go. We've been concerned about
issues of press freedom in Russia. We've made that known to
the government, and we'll continue to make that known. But
on the whole, on the whole, the transition that is taking place in
Russia and U.S.-Russian relations appear to be moving largely in the
right direction.
Q -- I would just like to hear your prognosis of how we are
going to get that trade promotion authority this session so that we can
move forward, and your prospects for a free trade area of the
Americas.
DR. RICE: Absolutely. Thank you very much for
the question.
Let me say there may be no more important thing that we can do for
countries that are struggling to find prosperity for their people than
to open trade relations to them. The President said the
other night -- and he's determined -- the House has acted, the Senate
needs to act. We need trade promotion authority.
This is not just an economic issue, although it will be good for
Americans and will bring jobs for Americans, and that cannot -- I can't
say that strongly enough. The highest, best jobs come with
opening trade. It is also a tool for democracy.
One of the first meetings that the President attended abroad was
the Summit of the Americas, in which it was remarkable to hear every
country there, many of them -- many of these leaders who had been
either jailed or in the opposition, in the '80s when you had military
governments in a lot of these places, say we have crushing problems in
our countries. People like Lagos of Chile or Fox of Mexico
saying we have crushing problems in our country. But the
answer to that is more trade, more democracy and a good relationship
with the United States.
We have to deliver on the promise of trade so that these countries
can bring themselves and their people out of poverty. It is
a better way to bring them out of poverty, frankly, than all the
development assistance we could possibly give. We do
development assistance. It's extremely
important. Institution building is important. But
trade is ultimately.
And so the ATPA, the Free Trade Agreement for the Americas, we're
pressing very hard. I think the prospects are good on the
international front. But the President needs that one tool
of trade promotion authority in order to be taken seriously in these
discussions.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 12:20 P.M. EST
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