Posted on 10/28/2005 4:23:51 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2005 – President Bush opened a major speech about the war on terror today by praising the military and crediting veterans for the solid example they've set for today's troops waging a fight he said the United States won't abandon. "We will never back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept less than complete victory," Bush told a servicemembers, veterans and business leaders in Norfolk, Va.
The president emphasized that the United States is not to blame for the violence it has suffered at the hands of terrorists. "No act of ours invited the rage of killers, and no consequence, bribe or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans of murder," he said.
Acquiescing to the terrorists would only encourage them and advance their efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, destroy Israel, intimidate Europe, assault the American people, and blackmail the U.S. government into isolation, he said.
"The stakes could not be higher," Bush told the group, noting that terrorists won't hesitate to strike the United States and its friends and allies around the world again if permitted.
"We did not ask for this global struggle, but we are answering history's call with confidence and a comprehensive strategy," he said.
That strategy has several fronts, Bush explained. It includes:
Preventing terrorist attacks before they occur; Keeping terrorists from getting access to weapons of mass destruction; Denying terrorists support and sanctuary from outlaw regimes or states that sponsor terrorism; and Preventing militants from gaining control of any nation for use as a home base or launching pad for terrorism. Working with its partners around the world, the United States is disrupting militant's conspiracies and their ability to make war, while giving millions of people in troubled regions an alternative to the hatred and violence terrorists endorse, Bush said. But as those efforts continue, Bush acknowledged, the fight is far from over, and the road ahead will be long and difficult. "Wars are not won without sacrifice, and this war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve," he said.
The United States has made a choice and won't be swayed from its commitment to defeating terrorism, the president said. "We will confront this mortal danger to our humanity, and we will not tire and we will not rest until the war on terror is won," he said.
To members of the armed forces who will carry the largest share of that burden, Bush said, "This country's with you, and the commander in chief's incredibly proud of you.
"And to the veterans, thanks for setting such a good example," the president continued. "I'm proud of your service."
No one knows exactly how the course of the war on terror will proceed, where it will take the nation, or what sacrifices lie ahead, Bush told the group. "But we do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice," he said.
VICTORY
That's an interesting take on things and I would tend to agree that it is one of the conditions. ...probably one of the most difficult though.
My only problem with the war on terror is that it's next to impossible, if not impossible, to define victory in this war. Terror will always be used by the weak to raise the visibility of their "cause". It's cheap, easy and one guy/gal can do it.
IMHO, despite our best intentions/efforts, we will be very hard pressed to put the islamo-terror Gennie back in the bottle. Coupled with the general fact that the public can only stomach so many of it's own coming home in body bags, the next few years will be a somewhat of a, er, "challenge" for the powers that be and our armed forces. Personally, I think we project intentions too much and we need to go more "black" with things. The WOT is not a conventional war and we need to fight it as such.
Was reading an interesting article last night written by someone from the Naval Postgraduate School focusing on cyberterror as it relates to conventional terror. Some here my find it interesting too:
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cyber/docs/npgs/terror.htm
The really interesting part about this article is that it was written in 1995. Kinda weird to look back 10 years and see what's changed.
The president emphasized that the United States is not to blame for the violence it has suffered at the hands of terrorists.
"No act of ours invited the rage of killers, and no consequence, bribe or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans of murder," he said. The problem is that this news saturated country wants something to happen in a week. GW said that this will take some thime. I remember the state of the union many people on the left havent.
Our President has never lied to the country, the only reason is that we never found any WMD's is that Saddam had time to send then to Iran or destroy then.
BTT
Thanks for the ping!
So you're saying the conflict will never end? lol Not a good outlook.
You are correct, that is a possibility. At the very least we'll need to assist the moderate majority to stand up to tyranny and reclaim their religion from the zealots. Provided of course that those moderates still exist.
My only concern about this course is that suddenly we confirm the islamic fear that this IS actually a jedeo-christian war against islam. That's the worst case scenario for us and them and opens up a whole 'nother can of really big ugly worms. Ugh.
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