to enjoy today's Dose of W!Posted on 02/11/2004 2:19:03 PM PST by GretchenEE
President Bush, at the Fort Lesley J. McNair National Defense University in Washington, announced new measures to counter the threat of weapons of mass destruction, for toughter international safeguards to keep nuclear arms technology from falling into the wrong hands.
He plans to attend the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
Welcome to Sanity Island to enjoy today's Dose of W!
A serious photo for a serious subject, weapons of mass destruction
QUOTE OF THE DAY: The greatest threat before humanity today is the possibility of secret and sudden attack with chemical or biological or radiological or nuclear weapons. ...
In the past, enemies of America required massed armies, and great navies, powerful air forces to put our nation, our people, our friends and allies at risk. In the Cold War, Americans lived under the threat of weapons of mass destruction, but believed that deterrents made those weapons a last resort. What has changed in the 21st century is that, in the hands of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction would be a first resort. ...
America, and the entire civilized world, will face this threat for decades to come. We must confront the danger with open eyes, and unbending purpose. I have made clear to all the policy of this nation: America will not permit terrorists and dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most deadly weapons.
America faces the possibility of catastrophic attack from ballistic missiles armed with weapons of mass destruction. So that is why we are developing and deploying missile defenses to guard our people. The best intelligence is necessary to win the war on terror and to stop proliferation. So that is why I have established a commission that will examine our intelligence capabilities and recommend ways to improve and adapt them to detect new and emerging threats.
We're determined to confront those threats at the source. We will stop these weapons from being acquired or built. We'll block them from being transferred. We'll prevent them from ever being used.
[He addressed Iran and North Korea's truculence on the subject, and our efforts to overcome it; also, the black market operatives in WMD technology / sales, honoring the British intelligence service and other governments that worked with our own, for success against the likes of A.Q. Khan of Pakistan. He further outlined some intercepts of threatening materials, such as the BBC China, a German-owned ship transporting centrifuge parts, stopped by German and Italian authorities.]
Breaking this network is one major success in a broad-based effort to stop the spread of terrible weapons. We're adjusting our strategies to the threats of a new era. America and the nations of Australia, France and Germany, Italy and Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom have launched the Proliferation Security Initiative to interdict lethal materials in transit.
Our nations are sharing intelligence information, tracking suspect international cargo, conducting joint military exercises. We're prepared to search planes and ships, to seize weapons and missiles and equipment that raise proliferation concerns ... Three more governments -- Canada and Singapore and Norway -- will be participating in this initiative. We'll continue to expand the core group of PSI countries.
Today, I announce seven proposals to strengthen the world's efforts to stop the spread of deadly weapons. (See link for specifics: Bush Proposes New Measures To Counter Terrorism.
We will proceed as if the lives of our citizens depend on our vigilance, because they do. Terrorists and terror states are in a race for weapons of mass murder, a race they must lose. Terrorists are resourceful; we're more resourceful. They're determined; we must be more determined. We will never lose focus or resolve. We'll be unrelenting in the defense of free nations, and rise to the hard demands of dangerous times.
2. Please wait to posto photos till the "all clear" is sounded. Thanks!
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Finally, a[n intriguing] smile
Returning to White House with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and National Security Council weapons expert Bob Joseph 
This doesn't like like 'im to me, but the Yahoo! caption says, "This undated file photo shows President George W. Bush as a Texas Air National Guard fighter pilot." 
"America and the nations of Australia, France and Germany, Italy and Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom have launched the Proliferation Security Initiative to interdict lethal materials in transit...."
More evidence of unilateralism. When will it end?
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