Posted on 09/11/2006 7:02:04 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON -- President Bush, marking five years since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Monday the war against terror is nothing less than "a struggle for civilization" and must be fought to the end. He said defeat would surrender the Middle East to radical dictators with nuclear weapons.
"We are fighting to maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations," Bush said in remarks prepared for a prime-time address from the Oval Office. Two months before November elections, the president attempted to spell out in graphic terms the stakes he sees in the unpopular war in Iraq and the broader war on terror.
The address was coming at the end of a day in which Bush honored the memory of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks that rocked his presidency and thrust the United States into a costly and unfinished war against terror.
"Our nation has endured trials, and we face a difficult road ahead," he said.
It was a day of mourning, remembrance and resolve. Before his address, Bush visited New York, Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon to place wreaths and console relatives of the victims.
Five years ago, the attacks transformed Bush's presidency and awakened the world to Osama bin Laden -- who is still at large -- and his band of al-Qaida terrorists. While the public has soured on the war in Iraq, which Bush calls the central front in the war on terror, the president still gets high marks for his handling of Sept. 11.
Terrorism has been a potent political issue for Republicans, and they hope to capitalize on it in the November elections. GOP lawmakers are anxious about holding control of both houses of Congress.
Congress has approved $432 billion for Iraq and the war on terrorism. At least 2,666 U.S. servicemen and women have died in Iraq. The toll in Afghanistan is 272.
"America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over," the president said. "And so do I. But the war is not over -- and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious."
"If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons," Bush said. "We are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world."
White House officials said Bush's speech was not intended to outline new strategy. Rather, it was portrayed as an appeal for unity and a commitment to win the struggle against terror at a time when the war in Iraq is widely opposed. There was no mention of Iraq in the excerpts of the speech, but officials said Bush would talk about it in his address.
"This struggle has been called a clash of civilizations," the president said. "In truth it is a struggle for civilization." He said the United States was standing with democratic leaders and reformers, offering a path away from radicalism.
"Winning this war will require the determined efforts of a unified country," the president said. "So we must put aside our differences and work together to meet the test that history has given us. ... We will defeat our enemies."
While Bush urged resolve, the two co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission accused the Bush administration and Congress of a continued lack of urgency in protecting the country. About half of their 41 recommendations to better secure Americans, offered in July 2004, have become law.
"Where in the world have we been for five years?" said former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who was joined by his Republican counterpart, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean. Hamilton spoke of failures to put first responders on the same radio spectrum so they can talk to each other during an emergency -- as firefighters and police officers who died in the World Trade Center could not in 2001.
The 9/11 attacks changed the political tone in Washington and abroad -- but only briefly.
"We had an astonishing moment of unity in America and around the world," former President Clinton told a Jewish conference in Washington. That has given way to bitter political divisions between Democrats and Republicans. Many nations that rushed to stand with the United States now accuse the Bush administration of failing to honor human rights, tolerance and diversity of cultures.
Still, dozens of lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, joined on the steps of the Capitol Monday to remember the attacks, singing "God Bless America" as they had five years ago.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Monday, "Five years later, we have to continue to move forward with unity, urgency and in the spirit of international cooperation, because we are not yet fully healed and not yet as safe as we should be."
Bush began the day in New York with firefighters and police officers at a Lower East Side firehouse. He stood in front of a door salvaged from a fire truck destroyed on Sept. 11. It was a cloudless morning reminiscent of the sunny day when two hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
The mourners silently bowed their heads, at 8:46 a.m. and again at 9:03 a.m., marking the moments when the planes slammed into the towers. The attacks killed 2,749 people.
Bush spent time talking with the first responders about what they had been through the last five years, spokesman Tony Snow said.
The next stop was in Shanksville, Pa., where Bush and his wife stood without umbrellas in a chilly rain to lay a wreath honoring the 40 passengers and crew killed when United Airlines Flight 93 plowed into a Pennsylvania field. The terrorists apparently had been planning on crashing the plane into the White House or the Capitol until passengers stormed the cockpit to take control.
"We stand here today with pride because of heroism," said Hamilton Peterson, whose father and stepmother died when the plane went down.
The Rev. Paul H. Britton, whose brother, Marion Britton, died on Flight 93, offered a prayer for all as well as for Bush, whom he called "our conscience and our heart."
Bush had an emotional meeting with relatives of the Shanksville victims. "There were some people who were still clearly grieving about what happened five years ago," Snow said.
Speaking of kooks, did anyone catch the CSPAN press conference of Press for the Truth with some family members wanting to press for yet another investigation? They want the truth about 911?
And we will damn well do something about that. We have NOT lost and we WILL NOT lose!
LLS
i am in no way a pak. apologist, but from everything i have read, musharraf (sp) is walking a fine line domestically. There have been multiple attempts to kill him, and presumably if he pushes too far too much, he will indeed be killed. For bush, the question is what can replace musharraf that would be stable and more favorable to the united states? I honestly don't know what junta or government party that would be.
I don't expect anyone to match Bush as the leader of the WOT. And surely any Democrat would be very dangerous at this point. But for any decent Republican good enough to get his party's nomination, I think the public war weariness would be more of an influence on the campaign (in emphasis) than on their governance once in office.
Very good speech by W. tonight. He said all the right things in the limited time he feels he can take.
With Bush's strong statements in recent weeks, I'm now paying attention to what he's saying again. Hope more voters are, too.
It's easy to say Iran is the most serious threat now. But we didn't have resolutions against Iran then, they weren't at the stage they are now or with that maniac in charge at the time. We were forced to look at Saddam's decade of threats about destroying our country and his noncompliance with agreements at the end of the Gulf War. We couldn't just take his word so we took action. If we had such a tough time with Iraq, what would we have had with Iran? We are forced to deal with the Middle East in particular because they live that culture of terrorism and those regimes offer the most likely place for al Qaeda, the terrorism that struck us on 9/11, to get WMD and deal a more severe blow. That's why Demonrats and the people that say only Bin Laden, Afghanistan are the problem got it all wrong because we have to be on offense and take out these barbarians.
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