Juan Carlo / Star staff
Retired Gen. Tommy Franks autographs Easter eggs at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Friday. He led U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Posted on 08/28/2004 9:38:47 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
The United States cannot stand idly by when faced with potential overseas threats, retired four-star Gen. Tommy Franks told a packed house Friday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley.
"Terrorists look at weakness and they read it like weakness," Franks said. "If you want to stand up to terrorists, you'd better stand up to terrorists."
Franks spoke to more than 400 supporters and later signed copies of his memoir, "American Soldier." The book recounts Franks' life, his experiences as a soldier and his thoughts on the war on terrorism.
In 2000, Franks was assigned as commander-in-chief, United States Central Command, and led U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. He retired last year.
The general kept his speech informal, preferring to walk back and forth across the stage to connect with the audience rather than stay behind the podium. He alternated between serious and light-hearted, poking fun at presidential political ads, television military analysts and even his own previous, admittedly long-winded speeches.
But Franks' mission on this day was to tell the audience that the United States was right in attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan and getting rid of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
"The strategy of pre-emption of terrorist attacks is a good strategy," he said.
America should have gone after terrorists when it had the chance, he said, naming as examples the killings of Marines in Beirut in 1983, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. He then blasted Bush administration critics for blaming the president for not taking steps to stop the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The United States of America did not bring on the attacks of 9/11. Terrorists did," Franks said. "There's enough blame to go around."
Franks said he doesn't believe the next terrorist attack will come from Afghanistan but that the U.S. should focus on Iran and other countries he believes are possible threats.
Critical of campaigns
Franks also criticized scrutiny over the Vietnam War records of President Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, saying that the real focus should be how either man would improve conditions in Iraq and fight the war on terrorism.
"We're better served by what the United States of America is going to do over the next four years," he said. "Leave what happened 30 years ago in the past."
Franks said pulling troops out of Iraq on a fixed timetable, rather than pulling out when conditions are right, would be a mistake. Of the war plan in Iraq, he said the execution of the invasion was a "good" one, and people shouldn't expect the country to turn around quickly.
'This is hard work'
"No plan is ever perfect. It was a good plan," he said. He said a reporter once asked him, "Can't we do any better?" "The answer is, we can't do any better. This is hard work."
Retired Gen. Tommy Franks autographs Easter eggs at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Friday. He led U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
General Franks understands what problem we're facing. I'm glad he is speaking up in this. It's obvious the people of this country, led by the media, are suffering from denial. 9/11 is a signal to a new war, one we don't seem to understand involves the Middle East. And for all the critics, Franks got it right in saying this is a messy situation. The Middle East, where this problem originates, has got to be changed and the regimes defeated. It isn't going to happen overnight. Kerry and the Demonrats clearly think the enemy is Bush and the Republicans, not the terrorists.
I predict that quote will stand the test of time.
stand up to terrorists
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