Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., President George
Bush delivered a stunning speech in defense of the war in Iraq and the war
against global terrorism.
http://www.whitehouse.gov

excerpts:

"The images and experience of September the 11th are unique for Americans.
Yet the evil of that morning has reappeared on other days, in other places .
All these separate images of destruction and suffering that we see on the
news can seem like random and isolated acts of madness.Yet 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.
Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still
others, Islamo-fascism. .

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

".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.
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 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. Evil men, obsessed with ambition and
unburdened by conscience, must be taken very seriously -- and we must stop
them before their crimes can multiply.

".we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed.
We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave
whole nations and intimidate the world. 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. On the contrary: They target nations whose
behavior they believe they can change through violence. 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. .

"Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our
losses and leaving Iraq now. This is 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? Having removed a dictator who hated 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.

"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. This enemy considers
every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence.
In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve and we
will win that victory."