9/17/03 - A U.S. PLEDGE - 2003-09-17
On September 11, 2001, as President Bush said, the United States “saw the face of a new adversary."
Terrorists attacked the United States on September 11th, 2001. On that day, says President George W. Bush, the U.S. “saw the face of a new adversary -- an enemy that plots in secret, an enemy that rejects the rules of war, an enemy that rejoices in the murder of the innocent”: “We made a pledge that day, and we have kept it. We are bringing the guilty to justice. We are taking the fight to the enemy.” This new war requires a new strategy. In Afghanistan, the U.S. led a coalition that took decisive action against the extremist Taleban regime that oppressed its own people, denied rights to women, and gave sanctuary to al-Qaida terrorists. As President Bush says, the U.S. “sent a message that is now understood throughout the world”: “If you harbor a terrorist, if you support a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, you’re just as guilty as the terrorists. And the Taleban found out what we meant.” The Taleban are no longer in power in Afghanistan. And a U.S.-led coalition is hunting the al-Qaida terrorists wherever they still hide –- from Pakistan to the Philippines to the Horn of Africa. President Bush points out that nearly two-thirds of al-Qaida’s leaders have been captured or killed: “The rest of them are dangerous, but the rest of them can be certain we’re on their trail. Our resolve is firm. The resolve of this nation is clear. No matter how long it takes, we will bring justice to those who plot against America. And we have pursued the war on terror in Iraq. Our coalition enforced the demands of the U-N Security Council, in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history.” Now the U.S. is working with the Iraqi people to build a democratic society. But the terrorists want the coalition to leave Iraq before the work is done. That won’t happen, says President Bush. “We will win this essential victory.”