For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 25, 2003
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice Remarks to Veterans of Foreign Wars
Remarks by Condoleezza Rice Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
at the 104th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
As Prepared for Delivery
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
San Antonio, Texas
Thank you for this opportunity to speak, and thank you for the
Dwight David Eisenhower Distinguished Service Award. It is an honor to
receive an award named for one of America's greatest soldier-statesmen
-- a man who helped guide America and our allies to victory in a world
war and then the Cold War. The values of service and sacrifice that
Dwight Eisenhower embodied are also at the heart of this organization.
For more than a century, you have been doing the important work of
helping to ensure that our veterans and our active-duty soldiers
receive the respect and the benefits they deserve. In all of your
activities, you honor the dead by helping the living, and it is a
privilege to be with you.
It has been almost two years since the September 11 attacks, and it
is worth taking a moment to reflect and report on the strategy that
America has pursued in responding to that awful day.
No less than December 7, 1941, September 11, 2001 forever changed
the lives of every American and the strategic perspective of the United
States. That day produced an acute sense of our vulnerability to
attacks hatched in distant lands, that come without warning, bringing
tragedy to our shores.
We have marked real progress since September 11, but we get regular
reminders that the world continues to be an unsafe place. Last week,
terrorists struck in Baghdad and Jerusalem, killing more than three
dozen innocent people. These bombings confirm that our enemies are
engaged in a war on freedom, and they will target all people living in
freedom -- including women, children, or relief workers. The ultimate
goal of the terrorists is to impose a system based on tyranny and
oppression, and they terrorize free people to break our spirit and our
resolve. But we cannot and will not shrink from this fight. The
freedoms and the way of life we hold sacred are at stake.
From the very beginning of this war on terror, President Bush has
delivered a clear and consistent message to the terrorists. In a
speech just nine days after the September 11 attacks, he said, "Our war
on terror begins with al Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not
end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found,
stopped, and defeated."
And following last week's bombing in Baghdad, he said, "Our will
cannot be shaken. We will persevere through every hardship. We will
continue this war on terror until the killers are brought to justice.
And we will prevail."
The President has backed up these words with action. We have taken
the fight to the terrorists themselves -- using all instruments of our
national power to root out terror networks and hold accountable states
that harbor terrorists.
The war on terror must be fought on the offense -- defense of the
homeland is a vital mission -- but the President has been clear, we
will take the fight to the terrorists.
As a result, nearly two-thirds of al Qaida's senior leaders,
operational managers, and key facilitators have been captured or
killed, and the rest are on the run -- permanently.
That's a tribute to the skill of our troops and our intelligence
officials, many of whom have operated under extreme weather conditions
on extended missions far from home.
Rooting the Taliban out of Afghanistan was the first battle because
they had provided the home base and primary sanctuary for al Qaida.
Today, across the globe, unparalleled law enforcement and intelligence
cooperation efforts are underway, successfully breaking up and
disrupting terrorist networks.
And the United States and many other nations are helping Afghans
rebuild their country and form a representative government, with
democratic institutions, so that Afghanistan is never again a haven for
terrorism.
Confronting Saddam Hussein was also essential. His regime posed a
threat to the security of the United States and the world. This was a
regime that pursued, had used, and possessed weapons of mass
destruction.
He had links to terror; had twice invaded other nations; defied the
international community and seventeen UN resolutions for twelve years;
and gave every indication that he would never disarm and never comply
with the just demands of the world. That threat could not be allowed
to remain -- and to grow.
Now that Saddam's regime is gone, the people of Iraq are more free
and seeing real progress. Step by step, normal life in Iraq is being
reborn as basic services are restored -- in some cases beyond pre-war
levels -- transportation networks are rebuilt and the economy is
revived.
Banks are opening throughout the country and a new currency --
without Saddam Hussein's picture -- is being prepared. America's
service men and women, working with Iraqis and coalition forces, are
helping to usher in these improvements. Our troops in Baghdad and
other cities are operating under difficult conditions, and we are
committed to providing them with the support they need to get the job
done.
Saddam's removal means people everywhere need no longer fear his
weapons, his aggression, and his cruelty. The war on terror is greatly
served by the end of this source of instability in the world's most
volatile region.
Let me be very clear, the terrorists know that a free Iraq can
change the face of the Middle East. That is why they, together with
the remnants of the old regime, are fighting as if this is a life and
death struggle. It is -- and the terrorists will lose. Already there
are new opportunities for a different kind of Middle East.
Despite the horrific events of recent days, we have seen real
progress toward peace for Israelis and Palestinians. At the Red Sea
Summits in June, Israelis, Palestinians, and neighboring Arab states
united behind the vision the President has set forth -- a vision for
two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and
security. Israeli leaders increasingly understand that it is in
Israel's interest for Palestinians to govern themselves, in a state
that is viable, peaceful, democratic, and committed to fighting
terror. Israel has to fulfill its responsibilities to help that
peaceful state emerge.
A new Palestinian leadership is emerging that understands -- and
says, in Arabic and English -- that terror is not a means to
Palestinian statehood, but rather the greatest obstacle to statehood.
Amidst this progress came last week's familiar images of bloodshed
and violence by those who would use terror to destroy the hopes for
peace. But the terrorists will not succeed -- and terrorist networks
must be dismantled. President Bush remains committed to the course he
laid out at the Red Sea Summits because it is the only course that will
bring a durable peace and lasting security.
Transformation in the Middle East will require a commitment of many
years. I do not mean that we will need to maintain a military presence
in Iraq, as was the case in Europe. I do mean that America and our
friends and allies must engage broadly throughout the region, across
many fronts, including diplomatic, economic, and cultural. And -- as
in Europe -- our efforts must work in full partnership with the peoples
of the region who share our commitment to human freedom.
The transformation of the Middle East is the only guarantee that it
will no longer produce ideologies of hatred that lead men to fly
airplanes into buildings in New York or Washington.
We must remain patient. When Americans begin a noble cause, we
finish it. We are 117 days from the end of major combat operations in
Iraq. That is not very long.
There is an understandable tendency to look back on America's
experience in post-War Germany and see only the successes. But as some
of you here today surely remember, the road we traveled was very
difficult. 1945 through 1947 was an especially challenging period.
Germany was not immediately stable or prosperous. SS officers --
called "werewolves" -- engaged in sabotage and attacked both coalition
forces and those locals cooperating with them -- much like today's
Baathist and Fedayeen remnants.
It is also true that democracy is not easy. Its institutions are
not the natural embodiment of human nature. And our own history should
remind us that the union of democratic principle and practice is always
a work in progress. When the Founding Fathers said "We the People,"
they did not mean me. My ancestors were considered three-fifths of a
person.
Knowing the difficulties of America's own history, we should always
be humble in singing freedom's praises. But America's voice should
never waver in speaking out on the side of people seeking freedom.
And the people of the Middle East share the desire for freedom. We
have an opportunity -- and an obligation -- to help them turn this
desire into reality. And we must work with others to create a world
where terror is shunned and hope is the provenance of every living
human. That is the security challenge -- and moral mission -- of our
time.
I am confident we will meet this challenge, because the central
players will include America's men and women in uniform. Just as
America's soldiers of yesteryear made priceless contributions to the
security of Europe following World War II, and then to the security and
prosperity of Asia in the next decade, the professionalism and
commitment of our soldiers will help countries like Afghanistan and
Iraq recover from years of tyranny and steadily move toward democracy
and prosperity. In both nations, our troops face difficult conditions,
and America appreciates their sacrifice.
Every one of America's soldiers, like every one of you, took an
oath to defend this nation. There is no higher calling, and America
and the world are a better place thanks to your labors. All of you are
also part of a rich military tradition that reaches back more than two
centuries, and which is being carried forward today by our men and
women in uniform. There is a common bond of duty and honor among those
who have served, and a respect for those who have marched down the same
path.
A sergeant with the 82nd Airborne who is stationed in Iraq captured
this spirit in a moving letter he wrote recently to America's
veterans. This sergeant wrote,
"With the longing of home in our hearts, we do here what needs to
be done so that the generations that follow mine will know of the
freedoms I've enjoyed for so long. . . . Through your blood and sweat,
we have the America that is, and I will give my all to make sure that
is how it will be. From this generation to the ones that came before,
I thank you."
And on behalf of President Bush, I thank you, for all that you have
done to advance human freedom in the United States and throughout the
world.
Thank you.
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